Original White House Cookbook

For two molds of medium size, soak half a box of gelatine in half a cupful of water for two hours. Add one and a half cupfuls of boiling water and strain. Then add two cupfuls of sugar, one of orange juice and pulp and the juice of one lemon. Stir until the mixture begins to cool, or about flve minutes ; then add the whites of six eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Beat the whole until so stiff that it will only just pour into molds lined with sections of orange. Set away to cool. STRAWBERRY CHARLOTTE. Make a boiled custard of one quart of milk, the yolks of six eggs and three-quarters of a cupful of sugar; flavor to taste. Line a glass fruitdish with slices of sponge cake dipped in sweet cream ; lay upon this ripe strawberries sweetened to taste ; then a layer of cake and strawberries as before. When the custard is cold pour over the whole. Now beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, add a tablespoonful of sugar to each egg and put over the top. Decorate the top with the largest berries saved out at the commencement. Raspberry charlotte may be made the same way. CHARLOTTE RUSSE. (Fine.) Whip one quart of rich cream to a stiff froth and drain well on a nice sieve. To one scant pint of milk add six eggs beaten very light; make very sweet ; flavor high with vanilla. Cook over hot water till it is a thick custard. Soak one full ounce of Cox’s gelatine in a very little water and warm over hot water. When the custard is very cold beat in lightly the gelatine and the whipped cream. Line the bottom of your mold with buttered paper, the side with sponge cake or lady-fingers fastened together with the white of an egg. Fill with the cream, put in a cold place, or, in summer, on ice. To turn out, dip the mold for a moment in hot water. In draining the whipped cream, all that drips through can be re-whipped. CHARLOTTE RUSSE. Cut stale sponge cake into slices about half an inch thick and line three molds with them, leaving a space of half an inch between each slice ; set the molds where they will not be disturbed until the Ailing is ready. Take a deep tin pan and fill about one-third full of either snow or pounded ice and into this set another pan that will hold at least four quarts. Into a deep bowl or pail (a whip churn is better) put one and a half pints of cream (if the cream is very thick take one pint of cream and a half pint of milk) ; whip it to a froth and when the bowl is full, skim the froth into the pan which is standing on the ice and repeat this until the cream is all froth ; then with a spoon draw the froth to one side and you will find that some of the cream has gone back to milk ; turn this into the bowl again and whip as before ; when the cream is all whipped, stir into it two-thirds of a cup of powdered sugar, one teaspoonful of vanilla and half of a box of gelatine, which has, been soaked in cold water enough to cover it for one hour and then put in boiling water enough to dissolve it (about half a cup) ; stir from the bottom of the pan until it begins to grow stiff ; fill the molds and set them on ice in the pan for one hour, or until they are sent to the table. When ready to dish them, loosen lightly at the sides and turn out on a flat dish.