Creams, Custards and Cheesecakes : Part 1

Cassell's Vegetarian Cookery: A Manual of Cheap and Wholesome Diet
By A. G. Payne

(Page 12 of 16)

Creams. - Creams may be divided into two classes - whipped cream, flavored in a variety of ways and the solid molds of cream, which when turned out look extremely elegant, but which when tasted are somewhat disappointing. These latter molds owe their firmness and consistency to the addition of isinglass, and, as this substance is not allowed in vegetarian cookery, we should be able to dispense with cream served in this form, nor are we losers by so doing.

The ordinary mold of cream is too apt to taste like spongy liver, and, so far as palate is concerned, is incomparably inferior to the more delicate whipped creams. Just in the same way a good rich custard made with yolks of eggs is spoilt by being turned into a solid custard by the addition of gelatin. In order to have good whipped cream, the first essential is to obtain pure cream.

This greatly depends upon the neighborhood in which we live. In country houses, away from large towns, there is as a rule no trouble, whereas in London really good cream can only be obtained with great difficulty. There is a well-known old story of the London milkman telling the cook who complained of the quality of the cream to stir it up, as the cream settled at the bottom. We will not enter into the subject of the adulteration of cream in big cities, as probably many of these stories are gross exaggerations, though it is said that pigs' brains and even horses' brains have been used for the purpose of giving the cream a consistency, while undoubtedly turmeric has been used to give it a color.

We will suppose that we have, say, a quart of really good thick cream. All that is necessary is to beat up the cream with a whisk till it becomes a froth. This is much more easily done in cold weather than in hot, and, if the weather be very warm, it is best to put the tin or pan containing the cream into ice an hour or two before it is used. Old French cookery-books recommend the addition of a little powdered gum, not bigger than a pea and the gum recommended is that known as tragacanth. Others again beat up the white of an egg to a stiff froth and add this to the cream. It is a good plan when the cream fails to froth completely to take off the top froth and drain it on a sieve placed upside down.

The cream that drains through can be added to what is left and re-whipped. It is also a good plan to make whipped cream some time before it is wanted, and, indeed, it can be prepared with advantage the day before. When the cream is drained (we are supposing a quart to have been used) it should be mixed with three or four ounces of very finely powdered sugar, as well as the particular kind of flavoring that will give the cream its name. For instance, we can have, if liqueurs are allowed -

Maraschino Cream. - This is simply made by mixing a small glass of maraschino with some whipped cream, properly sweetened.

Coffee Cream. - Make a very strong infusion of pure coffee that has been roasted a high color. It will be found best to re-roast coffee berries in the oven if you have not got a proper coffee-roaster. Pound the berries in a pestle and mortar, or grind them very coarsely; then make a strong infusion with a very small quantity of water and strain it till it is quite bright. This is mixed with the whipped sweetened cream.

Chocolate Cream. - Take about two ounces of the very best chocolate and dissolve it in a little boiling water; let it get cold and then mix with the whipped sweetened cream.

Vanilla Cream. - Vanilla cream is nicest when a fresh vanilla pod is used for the purpose, but a more simple process is to use a little essence of vanilla.

Orange Cream. - Rub some lumps of sugar on the outside of an orange and pound this sugar very finely and then mix it with the whipped cream.

Lemon Cream. - Proceed exactly as in making orange cream, only substituting lemon for orange.

Strawberry Cream. - The juice only of the strawberry should be used. This juice should be mixed with the powdered sugar and then used for mixing with the whipped cream. It is a mistake, in making creams, to have too much flavoring. The juice of a quarter of a pound of ripe red strawberries would be sufficient for a quart of cream.

Pistachio Cream. - Take about half a pound of pistachio kernels, throw them for a minute or two into boiling water and then rub off the skins, throwing them into cold water like you do in blanching almonds. Pound these in a mortar with a tablespoonful of orange-flower water and mix a little spinach extract to give it a color. Now mix this with the whipped sweetened cream very thoroughly. This bright green cream makes a very elegant dish.

Custards. - Good custard forms, perhaps, the best cold sweet sauce known. It can be made very cheaply, and, on the other hand, it may be made in such a manner as to be very expensive. We will first describe how to make the most expensive kind of custard, as very often we can gather ideas from a high-class model and carry them out in an inexpensive way. The highest class custard is made by only using yolks of eggs instead of whole eggs and we can use cream in addition to milk.

The great art in making custard is to take care it does not curdle. Six yolks of eggs, half a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, sweetened, would, of course, form a very expensive custard. An ordinary custard can be made as follows: - Take four large or five small eggs, beat them up very thoroughly and add them gradually to a pint of sweetened milk that has been boiled separately.

Cassell & Company, Limited: London, Paris & Melbourne. 1891.