A guide to modern cookery

Quantities.—One lb. of sugar, twelve eggs, thirteen oz. of flour, eight oz. of butter, and the quantity of pelt thought sufficient. Proceed exactly as in the preceding recipe, in everything pertaining to the working of the paste. This paste is baked in buttered and dredged cases, in which it is spread in layers one and one-quarter inches thick, that it may rise to about one and three-quarter inches thick, while baking. 2378—LADY’S-FINGER BISCUIT PASTE Stir one lb. of sugar and sixteen egg-yolks in a basin until the preparation has whitened slightly and has reached the ribbon stage. Now add a tablespoonful of orange-flower water ; mix therewith twelve oz. of sifted flour, followed by sixteen egg-whites, whisked to a stiff froth. Take care to effect the mixture by raising and cutting the preparation with the spatula, that the former may be quite light. To Shape the Biscuits.—Put the paste, little by little, into a canvas piping-bag, fitted with a pipe of one-half inch bore. Close the bag; lay the biscuits on sheets of strong paper; sprinkle them with powdered sugar, and rid them of any superfluous sugar by holding the sheets end upwards. Jerk a few drops of water upon the biscuits by means of a moistened brush in order to assist the beading of the sugar, and remember that a very moderate oven is the best for the effecting of this beading. 2379—SAVOY-BISCUIT PASTE Stir one lb. of sugar and fourteen egg-yolks in a basin until the preparation reaches the ribbon stage. Flavour with vanilla sugar; add six oz. of very dry, sifted flour mixed with six oz. of fecula, and finally mix therewith the fourteen egg-whites, which should be in a very stiff froth. Carefully set the preparation in buttered and fecula-dredged moulds, filling the latter only two-thirds full, and leaving the remaining third to be covered by the rising of the paste while baking. Bake in a regular, moderate oven. 2380—PATE A BISCUIT MANQUE Stir one lb. of sugar with eighteen egg-yolks in a basin until the preparation is white and light. Add three tablespoonfuls of rum, thirteen oz. of sifted flour, and ten oz. of melted butter, carefully poured away. Mix, raising it with the spatula in so doing. Set the preparation in special buttered and dredged moulds, filling the latter only two-thirds full with it. Bake in a moderate oven. 2381—PUNCH BISCUIT PASTE Stir one lb. of sugar, twelve egg-yolks, and three eggs in a basin, until the whole becomes frothy. Aromatise with a bare tablespoonful of orange sugar, the same amount of lemon sugar, and three tablespoonfuls of best rum, and add twelve oz. of sifted flour, ten oz. of melted butter, and the whites of eight eggs whisked to a stiff froth. Mix with the usual precautions, that the paste may not be heavy. Bake the preparation in buttered moulds, in cases or in rings, according to the purpose it is intended for. Use a moderate oven. 2382—ORDINARY MERINGUE Whisk the whites of eight eggs until they are as stiff as it is possible to make them. Sprinkle them with one lb. of powdered sugar, and mix them with the latter carefully, that they may retain all their lightness. 2383—MERINGUE A L’ITALIENNE Cook one lb. of sugar to the large-ball stage, and meanwhile whisk the whites of eight eggs to a stiff froth, so as to have them ready simultaneously with the sugar. Pour the cooked sugar into the egg-whites, slowly and without a pause, and mix up briskly with the whisk. 2384—MERINGUE A L’ITALIENNE (another recipe) Mix one lb. of very best powdered sugar and the whites of eight eggs in an untinned copper basin. Place the utensil on hot cinders or on the side of the stove, that the preparation may be lukewarm while in progress.