The new century cookery book

Slit the chestnuts, boil them long enough to remove the shells and inner skins ; put them in a stewpan with enough water to cover the vanilla-pod and three ounces of sugar, and cook them till they are quite soft without breaking. Take them up and allow to drain on a sieve. Put the vanilla-pod in with the coffee, add the remainder of the sugar and the cream when nearly boiling, stir in the egg-yolks, and work over the fire till it begins to thicken, then strain. Dish up the chestuuts and pour the prepared sauce over them. Serve cold With whipped cream if liked. 1743. Bordure aux Fraises d la Madrid. — 1 pint bavaroise custard (No. 1680), £ pint whipped cream, 1 oz. vanilla sugar, 1 oz. best rice, cooked in milk, a small punnet of scarlet strawberries, 1 gill wine-jelly. Prepare the bavaroise as directed, cook a handful of strawberries so as to extract the juice, sweeten with sugar, and strain a couple of tablespoonfuls into the jelly (the latter must be stiff enough to allow this incorporation to set). Wash and cook the rice in milk ; when done sweeten with a little sugar and stir into the bavaroise. Mask one or two border-moulds with the prepared jelly (the latter must be a pretty red colour), decorate with picked strawberries and angelica. Mix about half the cream into the rice and bavaroise custard, and when cool enough pour this into the prepared border-moulds. Place it on the ice to set. To serve, unmould it on a round entremets dish ; fill the centre with whipped and sweetened cream mixed with the remainder of strawberries and send to table. 1744. Bordure de Marrons a la Chantilly. — About 1 pint Spanish chestnuts, half their weight of loaf sugar, about J pint of milk, ^ oz. French leaf gelatine, 2 inches vanilla-pod, 1 gill cream, ^ oz. vanilla sugar, 1 oz. chocolate, 1 gill sweet jelly. Wipe and shell the chestnuts, scald them in boiling water, and remove the skins. Cook till tender in milk, together with the vanillapod. When done take out the vanilla and rub through a wire sieve. (The chestnut puree should weigh about eight ounces.) Put the loaf sugar in a stewpan, add about a gill of water, and reduce to a syrup. Dissolve the gelatine, and strain with the syrup ; mix the chestnut juice with this, and stir over the fire until it becomes quite smooth ; turn into a basin and let cool. Melt the chocolate with the jelly, strain, and let cool a little; mask the inside of a border-mould with this, and put on the ice to set ; then fill up with the half-set chestnut mixture and keep cool to set well. Whip the cream till stiff, sweeten with vanilla sugar, and put on a sieve to drain. Immerse the mould in tepid water, wipe it with a cloth, turn out on a dish. Dress the cream in the centre in the shape of a pyramid, and serve. 1745. Bordure aux Prunes a la Creme. — 1 lb. prunes, j lb. loaf sugar, 1 gill claret, the rind of half a lemon thinly cut, 1 inch cinnamon stick, \ oz. leaf gelatine, 1 gill cream.