Cakes, pastry and dessert dishes

Front matter

This is a reproduction of a book from the McGill University Library collection.

Title: Cakes, pastry and dessert dishes

Author: Hill, Janet McKenzie, 1852-1933

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

Introduction..

I Cake Making.12

Introduction

“Cakes are baked for the joyful occasion, the social gathering, the feast. In their history is summed up an amount of ingenuity, the mere trac¬ ing of which affords to the philosophical inquirer after the development of human affairs the greatest intellectual pleasure; cakes signalize an evolution of culture and are a measure of culture.”

“Meringues are classical confections having a good prospect of immortality, as they can not easily be improved, spoiled, or altered.”

“Baron Liebig ascribed the fact that members of the Universal Peace Congress at Frankfort ate twice the quantity of puddings known to ordinarily suffice for the same number of persons, to the cir¬ cumstance that a number of the Peace Congress men were total abstainers from alcoholic liquids.” The value of sweets in satisfying specific desires can not be ignored.

“The art of manipulating the flour of cereals with various admixtures for the production of several qualities of paste or dough is one of the most im¬ portant achievements of human ingenuity.”

MEASUREMENTS

All measures are level.

Flour is measured after once sifting, the cup is filled with a spoon, and leveled with a knife. The measuring cup for dry materials holds one half pint; it is divided into thirds on one side, and fourths, or quarters, on the other side.

The proper measuring cup for liquids holds one cup and a quarter; a spout for pouring adds to the value of the cup. A full cup (half pint) of liquid can not be carried without loss in a half-pint cup, thus the fifth section is simply for convenience in use, and the cup proper ends at the same point as in the cup for dry ingredients.

To measure half a cup of butter or shortening, press the article into the cup solidly and on a line with the ridge indicating half a cup. To measure a cup, pack solidly to the top and make level with a knife; fractions of a cup are measured in the same manner as the half cup.

Measure a tablespoonful or a teaspoonful of material in the same way as the cup is measured. For half a spoonful, level the material with a knife, then divide lengthwise of the spoon; for a quarter spoonful, divide a half spoonful crosswise.

TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

3 teaspoonfuls liquid

= I tablespoonful

4 tablespoonfuls

= 1 cup

l 6 tablespoonfuls

= I cup

2 cups

= I pint

4 cups or 2 pints

= I quart

2 cups granulated sugar

I cup granulated sugar

2 cups butter

= J pound

= 4 ounces or i pound

cups confectioner’s sugar

I pint milk or water

10 eggs (without shells)

8 eggs (with shells)

2 tablespoonfuls butter

= I ounce

4 tablespoonfuls butter

= 2 ounces or i cup

2 tablespoonfuls granulated sugar

= I ounce

4 tablespoonfuls flour

= I ounce

TABLE OF PROPORTIONS

I teaspoonful flavoring extract to i quart custard or cream I tablespoonful flavoring extract to i quart mixture to be frozen I cup, or less, sugar to i quart milk for custards, etc.

I cup sugar to I quart milk or cream for ice

cream

4 eggs to I quart milk for plain cup custard

6-8 eggs to I quart milk for custards to be

turned from mold

i package or ^ ounce gelatine to l scant pint liquid

i package or l ounce gelatine to I scant quart liquid

CONCERNING THE INGREDIENTS FOR SWEET DISHES

FLOUR

Pastry flour is called for in all the recipes save those in which yeast is used. With yeast use bread flour. Flour is sifted once before measuring and is sifted afterwards with leavening ingredients,, and spices, when these are called for.

SUGAR

Sugar of some variety is an ingredient in most dessert dishes; if the sugar does not enter into the dish itself it is used in the sauce with which the dish is served. Brown and maple sugar give variety in flavor; confectioner’s sugar is desirable for special purposes, but granulated sugar is the variety of sugar most largely used.

Brown and confectioner’s sugar are sifted before use.

Caramel, or burnt sugar as it is sometimes errone¬ ously called, is a form of sugar particularly prized.

Caramel is produced by stirring sugar over a quick Are until it melts and becomes an ambertinted syrup. Nothing is added to the sugar, and the stirring must be constant; as the sugar melts it first takes on the appearance of flake tapioca, but gradually, under continued heat and constant stirring (to avoid burning at any point), the sugar becomes an amber-colored liquid. As soon as this stage is reached, the saucepan must be removed instantly from the fire, as with continued heat the syrup will burn to carbon very quickly. In prac¬ tice, as the temperature of sugar at the caramel stage is very high, and heat enough is retained to darken the syrup after it is removed from the range, the pan should be lifted from the fire before the syrup has attained quite the desired shade.

Caramel is used to sweeten and also for its agree¬ able flavor; as it loses some of its sweetening properties during cooking, a little more sugar must be taken than otherwise would be used. Caramel becomes solid on removal from heat. When the caramel is to be added to a liquid, add water to it, and cover the dish while the caramel melts in the wa¬ ter to a syrup, let boil a few minutes, then it is ready for use.

PRALINE

Cook one cup of sugar to caramel, add half a pound of blanched and dried almonds and let cook an instant; turn on an oiled marble or agate plate and let become cold. Pound in a wooden bowl with a pestle, rub through a sieve, and pound again and again whatever will not pass through the sieve, until the whole is reduced to powder. Store in a tightly closed box in a dry place. Use in ice cream or custard, or to sprinkle on the outside of a dessert.

CREAM

Cream for use in desserts may be purchased in half-pint or larger bottles. Two grades of cream are sold; thin cream and heavy, or double, cream. Cream siphoned from the top of a milk bottle is also available for every use but piping. Heavy cream may be beaten firm enough for piping in a very few minutes. Thin cream or cream from the milk bottle does not beat dry enough for piping, but mixed with twice the bulk, or a little less, of heavy cream, may be beaten firm enough for use in parfaits. Bavarian and other creams, and for use as a sauce. Cream that is beaten dry loses in flavor, and unless it is to be used in piping where each line of the tube should be shown, it is prefer¬ able to cut down the beating as much as possible. Pasteurized cream beats just as readily as cream not so treated. Some brands of condensed milk may be beaten to a fluffy consistency and used with gelatine in parfaits, charlottes. Bavarian cream, etc.

A good Dover egg beater is one of the best appli¬ ances for beating cream. The bowl in which the cream is set to beat should be of such shape and size that the cream very nearly covers the part of the beater coming in contact with it. In turning, the blades of the beater should not strike against the sides of the bowl. The beater should be held lightly in the bowl and should beat the cream, not the bowl. If the cream flies from the bowl, cut out a round of paper large enough to come several inches beyond the top of the bowl, cut out the center to allow the beater to emerge, and spread this closely over the top of the bowl. Do not beat too long or the cream will be changed to butter.

Half-beaten cream is less dry and gives better tasting dishes than cream beaten firm; it also has more volume and “goes farther” than cream beaten dry.

Cream in the Country. Sometimes in the country it is a matter of economy to buy milk and set it aside for cream. By this means the skimmed milk is available for bread, cottage cheese, cream

Special Cup for Measuring Liquid. Measuring Cup of Flour. One Half Tablespoonful Flour. — Page 2.

Candied Mint Leaves. — Page p.

Cutters for Small Cakes. — Page $4.

soups, etc. The cream should be taken from the milk after it has stood in a cool place, preferably a refrigerator kept for that purpose, from eighteen to twenty-four hours. If removed without much milk, such cream corresponds to double cream.

Cream in the Recipes. In recipes where cream for piping is called for, use double cream; in Bavarian creams, Charlotte Russe, and parfaits, use one half cup of cream turned from the top of a quart bottle of milk with each cup of double cream.

EGGS

Eggs preserved in waterglass are very satisfactory in most dishes, but when possible it is preferable to have fresh eggs for sponge cake, doughnuts, custards, and boiled frosting.

Eggs are used to produce lightness of texture and to thicken a mixture. Eggs add to the nutri¬ ment of all dishes in which they are used. Yolks of eggs are richer than the whites and give tender¬ ness to the product in which they are employed.

Beating Eggs. When lightness in the finished product is sought for, the whites and yolks are sepa¬ rated ; the whites are beaten until very light and the yolks until thick and light-colored.

If the eggs are used simply to thicken liquid, and lightness is not necessarily desirable, beat the whole egg, without separating the white and yolk, until the white and yolk are thoroughly broken up and blended.

When eggs are added for richness, and much firmness is not essential, as in soft custard, yolks are preferable to the whole egg. If custards are to be turned from molds and hold the shape of the mold, some whites must be retained.

Keeping Left Over Whites and Yolks. Whites of eggs covered over may be kept in a cool place several days. Yolks of eggs must be covered to exclude as much air as possible; if protected with care (to avoid drying the outside), they also may be kept several days.

CHOCOLATE AND COCOA

Chocolate and cocoa are, occasionally, a wel¬ come addition to many sweet dishes. Cocoa may be added directly to butter and sugar creamed for cake or cookies. To add chocolate to milk or cream, melt the chocolate over boiling water, add a little sugar and a little boiling water, and stir to a smooth consistency, then add more sugar and gradually stir in the milk to be used. Have the milk hot if possible. If eggs are to be used, beat again, then gradually stir in the milk and chocolate. In this way the chocolate gives an even tint to the whole mixture, and no flakes of chocolate are discernible.

Almonds, pistachio, and other nuts, candied violets, rose petals, angelica, citron, raisins, dried currants, and canned fruits are all articles that, used judiciously, add to the appearance of sweet dishes. Small quantities of these things will last a long time, and the expense of their addition to a dish is negligible. A candied cherry, or a pistachio nut, or half an English walnut meat, chopped and added to a service of ice cream or certain gelatine dishes is quite enough to change the character of the dish.

CANDIED ROSE PETALS, PANSIES, MINT LEAVES,

ETC.

(For Use in Decorating Cake)

Set an ounce of gum arabic and half a cup of cold water over the fire in a double boiler and stir while melting. When cold, use in brushing over the leaves, petals, or blossoms. If flowers are used, the stem must be covered with the solution, as also both sides of leaves and petals.

Run a needle with thread through the stem end of each leaf or blossom and hang in the wind to dry; both ends of the thread might be fastened to the rope of the clothesline. Each leaf must be kept apart from the others, that when dried the surface be completely encased in gum arabic.

More gum arabic may be added, if the mixture be too thin to dry well. Make a syrup of half a cup of water, one tablespoonful red-label Karo, and one cup of sugar. Let boil to 234° F. When cold, dip the prepared leaves into the syrup, draw each leaf, on both sides, on the edge of the sauce¬ pan, to remove superfluous syrup ; drop two or three tiny white round candies on one end, then dredge both sides with granulated sugar, or dip one side in the sugar, then set the candies on the other side and dredge with sugar. Let dry on table oilcloth.

PRESERVED MARRONS, WHITE GRAPES, OR HALF NUT MEATS GLACE

(For Decorating Desserts)

2 cups granulated sugar 2 tablespoonfuls white-label Karo, or I tablespoonful glucose I cup water

Cook as boiled frosting until the mixture begins to tinge with yellow, remove to a saucepan of boiling water, drop in the articles one by one ; cover with the syrup; lift out to an inverted tin pan. Reheat the syrup when necessary. Use a candy dipper or an oyster fork. Before dipping the chestnuts, wash the syrup from them and wipe dry. Leave short stems on the grapes.

TERMS USED IN MANIPULATING INGRE¬ DIENTS

Stirring is done by moving a spoon round and round, in ever-widening circles, until the ingre¬ dients are thoroughly blended. The ingredients may be dry, or liquid, or both.

Sifting is necessary to remove from flour foreign matter that may be present and to lighten it. Dry ingredients are sifted together in order to mix them thoroughly.

Beating is done by cutting down with a spoon from the top to the bottom of a mixture, bringing the spoon up to the surface, passing over and down through the mixture again and again. The object is to introduce air into the mixture and lighten it.

Cutting and Folding is the process by which whites of eggs or cream, beaten stiff, may be in¬ corporated into another mixture without loss of the air bubbles formed. Put the two mixtures together. With a spoon cut down to the bottom of the dish, turn, bring to the top and fold over the mixture thus brought to the surface. Repeat until the ingredients are blended.