Cassell's dictionary of cookery

half a pound of sweet almonds and half a pound of white sugar. Blanch, peel, and pound the almonds, add the sugar, and moisten the mixture to a stiff paste with white of egg. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on a pastry-board, and roll the almond paste upon it a quarter of an inch thick. Take a plain mould about six inches in diameter, line the sides with a band of paste one and a half inches deep, and join the ends securely together with white of egg. Stamp out a round of the paste a little larger than the bottom of the mould. Bake both in a gentle oven. When the paste is dry take it out of the oven, remove the band from the mould, and stick it upon the round. Put the case again in the oven, let it remain till it becomes slightly coloured, then let it get quite cold. When wanted, fill it with any nicely-flavoured whipped cream, piling the cream as high as possible. Valentia Wine. — Put a quart of rum and a quart of unsweetened gin into a jar. Add three quarts of cold water, three pints of boiling milk, one pound and a half of loaf sugar broken into small pieces, the thin rind and strained juice of nine lemons, six cloves, an inch of stick cinnamon, an inch of whole ginger, one large nutmeg grated, and a pennyworth of saffron tied in muslin. Stir the mixture briskly for a few minutes, cover closely, and let it remain untouched for three hours. Pass it through a jelly-bag till it is quite clear, and bottle for use. This wine may be used at once. Vanilla. — Vanilla is a plant which grows in tropical America, the fruit of which is remarkable for its fragrant odour and delicious flavour. Vanilla may be bought by weight, but the essence is the form in which generally used. [illustration: VANILLA. (Vanilla Aromatica.) Showing Flower and Aromatic Seed-Capsules.] Vanilla and Currant Bombe.— Take equal quantities of vanilla cream ice and red currant water-ice. Line a bombe mould with currant water-ice an inch thick. Fill the centre with vanilla cream ice, close the mould, and put it in ice till it is firmly set. Turn it out just before it is wanted, and cut it in slices convenient for serving. Dish these on a napkin. _ Vanilla Cream.— Soak an ounce of gelatine in cold water for half an hour. Break a pod of vanilla into small pieces, and soak these in a pint of boiling milk till the latter is pleasantly and rather strongly flavoured. Add six ounces of powdered sugar and the wellbeaten yolks of four or six eggs. Put this custard into a jug, set it in a saucepan of water, and stir it imtil it begins to thicken, but it must not boil. Drain and add the gelatine, stirring the custard o£ the fire ; the heat of the custard will dissolve it. Pour the cream into an oUed mould, and set it in a cool place tUl stiff. If liked, this cream may be enriched by the addition of a pint of whipped cream, which should be stirred lightly into the mixture after the gelatine is dissolved. When this addition is made, two additional eggs and another half-ounce of gelatine will be required. The essence, instead of the pod of vanilla, may be used to flavour the cream. Time, about ten minutes to thicken the custard. Probable cost, if made without cream, Is. lOd. Sufiicient for nearly a quart of cream. Vanilla Cream {sec Cream, Vanilla). Vanilla, Cream Whipped with {see Cream Whipped with Vanilla).