Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Fruit, To Bottle, with Sugar.— Procure the fruit dry and sound, and drop it gently into bottles (those with wide mouths and glass stoppers are the best) ; put the bottles in a kettle of water, but do not wet the corks ; let them stay till the fruits are ready to burst, then put in the corks, and wax them over to exclude the air. The bottles must be kept in a dry place. Gooseberries, plums, currants, can all be done in this way. Fruit, To Candy. — Make a syrup with one pound of good sugar and half a tea-spoonful of water. When boiling, put in any preserved fruits, and stir gently until they get crystallised ; then take them out, and dry them in an oven or before the fire, but do not let them get coloured. Fruit, Vol-au-vent of. — This is an exceedingly delicate branch of cookery, and requires much skill and care. A vol-au-vent should be mride of "French puff paste" (sec Puff Paste, r rench) . Brush the paste over with lemon-juice before folding for the last time. RoU out to the desired thickness, and place the paste on a baking-tin. Cut into shape with a tin-cutter or plate, and brush the centre with PRTT 235 ) PRY white of egg, leaving a margin all round unmoistened, that it may rise the better. Make a deep incision, an inch from the edge, in a circular form; separate the edges well, without cutting quite through, and put the paste to rise in a good brisk oven. When sufficiently risen, lift oif the middle portion that was marked out, and scoop out the dough, without cutting qiute through or injuring the edge. Fill the hollow with bread, and put the vol-au-vent again into the oven. Brush over with egg, and cover with sifted sugar; when done, take out the | bread, and put strawberries or raspberries, i beaten up and mixed with pounded sugar, on the inside of the vol-au-vent. Serve with whipped cream over the top. Time, to bake, three-quarters of an hour. Fruit Wafers, for Dessert.— Extract the juice from cherries, currants, or any kind of fruit, by putting them into a jar in the oven, or by standing the jar in boiling water. To every pound of juice add the same weight of sugar, and stir over a slow tire until the juice becomes thick; then butter some papers, and cover with the mixture, which keep in a slow oven until they loosen from the paper, and can be turned. Dry thoroughly, and cut into shapes. Keep in a box, each layer divided by paper ; they are best if kept near a fire. Frumenty. — To a quarter of a pint of wheat, that has been boiled tender in milk, but not pulped, add a quart of new milk or cream, a stick of cinnamon, equal quantities of sugar and well-washed currants, three ounces of each, and boil for fifteen minutes longer. Take the mixture off the fire, and stir in (if only milk be used) the beaten yolks of three eggs and a glass of brandy ; send to table in a junket bowl, to be served in cups. Time to boil wheat, from three to four hours. Probable cost. Is.