Original White House Cookbook

Pare and slice the peaches just before sending to table. Cover the glass dish containing them to exclude the air as much as possible, as they soon change color. Do not sugar them in the dish — they then become preserves, not fresh fruit. Pass the powdered sugar and cream with them. SNOW PYRAMID. Beat to a stiff foam the whites of half a dozen eggs, add a small teacupful of currant jelly and whip all together again. Fill half full of cream as many saucers as you have guests, dropping in the centre of each saucer a tablespoonful of the beaten eggs and jelly in the shape of a pyramid. JELLY FRITTERS. Make a batter of three eggs, a pint of milk and a pint bowl of wheat flour or more, beat it light ; put a tablespoonful of lard or beef fat in a frying or omelet pan, add a saltspoonful of salt, making it boiling hot, put in the batter by the large spoonful, not to close ; when one side is a delicate brown, turn the other ; when done, take them on to a dish with a d’oyley over it ; put a dessertspoonful of firm jelly or jam on each and serve. A very nice dessert. STEWED APPLES. No. 1. Take a dozen green tart apples, core and slice them, put into a saucepan with just enough water to cover them, cover the saucepan closely, and stew the apples until they are tender and clear ; then take them out, put them into a deep dish and cover them ; add to the juice in the saucepan a cupful of loaf sugar for every twelve apples, and boil it half an hour, adding to the syrup a pinch of mace and a dozen whole cloves just ten minutes before taking from the fire ; pour scalding hot over the apples and set them in a cold place ; eat ice cold with cream or boiled custard. STEWED APPLES No. 2. Apples cooked in the following way look very pretty on a tea-table and are appreciated by the palate. Select firm round greenings, pare neatly and cut in halves ; place in a shallow stewpan with sufficient boiling water to cover them and a cup of sugar to every six apples. Each half should cook on the bottom of the pan and be removed from the others so as not to injure its shape. Stew slowly until the pieces are very tender ; remove to a glass dish carefully, boil the syrup a half hour longer, pour it over the apples and eat cold. A few pieces, of lemon boiled in the syrup add to the flavor. BAKED PEARS. Pare and core the pears without dividing ; place them in a pan and Fill up the orifice with brown sugar; add a little water and let them bake until perfectly tender. Nice with sweet cream or boiled custard. STEWED PEARS. Stewed pears with a thick syrup make a fine dessert dish accompanied with cake. Peel and cut them in halves, leaving the stems on and scoop out the cores. Put them into a saucepan, placing them close together, with the stems uppermost. Pour over sufficient water, a cup of sugar, a few whole cloves and some sticks of cinnamon, a tablespoonful of lemon juice. Cover the stewpan closely, to stew gently till the fruit is done, which will depend on the quality of the fruit. Then take out the fruit carefully and arrange it on a dish for serving. Boil down the syrup until quite thick ; strain it and allow it to cool enough to set it; then pour it over the fruit.