The encyclopædia of practical cookery

without a cover on the pan. Put on the cover, remove the pan from the fire, and let it stand until it becomes lukewarm ; then strain, and pour it through a fine sieve. To each quart of this add 41b. of sugar, put it into a saucepan, and boil to the feather degree ( see Sugar-boiling). Turn it out on to a well-oiled marble slab, let it get nearly cold, turn in the edges, work it well with a spatula and then with the hands, and cut it into shapes ; it is then ready for use. Or the sugar may be boiled to the ball degree, and after being turned out on to the slab and cooled, grated Cocoa-nut sprinkled over and worked in ; and should it be required for casting bonbons, it must be re-melted by gentle heat. Cocoa-nut Frost on Custard.— Pare a Cocoa-nut, and let it steep in cold water for some time. Blanch Jib. of sweet almonds and pound them in a mortar with a little rose-water to prevent their oiling. Put 1 pint of milk over the fire, let it boil up, and then stir in Jib. of white powdered sugar ; when this is melted, add the almond paste. Beat up four eggs till they are quite light, and when the almond paste has boiled for three minutes in the milk, pour it on the eggs by degrees, and mix them well together. Put the mixture over the fire, and boil it gently till pretty thick ; then let it cool, and when quite cold, pour it into a deep glass dish. Take the Cocoa-nut from the water, dry it, grate it, and then heap it high over the custard. Sift some powdered sugar on top, and serve. Cocoa-nut Hardbake. — Put the thin slices from half a Cocoa-nut before the fire or in the oven to dry, arrange them on an oiled marble slab, keeping them about ^in. apart, sprinkle a good quantity of nonpareils in the cavities, and over all pour a sufficient quantity of sugar boiled to the crack degree (see Sugar-boiling), with cream of tartar in proportion, and coloured with cochineal, to coat to the required thickness — say about Jin. Let it cool, mark it into squares or otherwise, break it asunder when cold, and pack away in boxes. Care must be taken in pouring over the sugar not to disturb the nonpareils or Cocoa-nut more than possible. A quarter - of-an-ounce of cream of tartar is sufficient for 71b. of sugar. Cocoa-nut Ice. — Put three finely-grated Cocoa-nuts and their milk into a saucepan with 3qts. of filtered water, set the pan on the fire, and boil for about ten minutes. Pour the whole into a pan, cover it over, and let it infuse until it is nearly cold ; then strain it through a fine sieve into a freezer packed in ice, squeezing through as much as possible, and mix in thoroughly 20oz. of powdered loaf sugar and the whites of three eggs. Work the freezer vigorously, and when the ice is set, use as required. Cocoa-nut Jap. — (1) Put 41b. of finely-grated Cocoa-nut into a copper kettle or basin, add 2Jlb. of jiowdered sugar, and place the vessel on the fire to boil to the ball degree ( see Sugar-boiling). Have ready a slightly-greased marble slab, with iron bars on it to regulate the thickness, pour the syrup over, and let it get cold. Cover it over with a good supply of caster sugar, and with a sharp knife cut it into cubes ; it is then ready for use. (2) Proceed as for No. 1, using 21b. of cornmeal and 21b. of Cocoa-nut instead of all Cocoa-nut.