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Chocolate Sponge
Separate the yolk and whites of three eggs, beat them and stir together, adding a third of a cup II2 of sugar, a pinch of salt, a teaspoonful of vanilla and six tablespoonfuls of cocoa. Now soften a tablespoonful of gelatin in a quarter of a cup of cold water and dissolve in a quarter of a cup of boiling water, beat well and when cool add to the other mixture. Pour into a wet mold and set in ice box to chill. Serve with whipped cream.
This is a gelatin "sponge" built on raw egg — the eggs are beaten in and never heated at any stage. That single fact governs everything below.
- The eggs are never cookedNothing in the method brings the eggs above room temperature. A quarter cup of boiling water carrying a tablespoon of gelatin, stirred into a cold egg-and-cocoa base and then further cooled before combining, contributes a negligible amount of heat; the mixture then sits in the refrigerator. Raw shell eggs carry a risk of Salmonella that is not removed by chilling, and this dessert is served to be eaten cold and uncooked.
- Why chilling does not helpRefrigeration slows bacterial growth but does not destroy pathogens already present in or on the egg. A set gelatin also gives no visual or textural clue that anything is wrong. If you want a chocolate sponge or mousse of this type, use a current recipe built on a cooked custard base or on pasteurised eggs.
- "II2" in the textThis appears to be a stray page number that has drifted into the line rather than a measurement. The sugar quantity is a third of a cup.
- Cocoa, then and nowSix tablespoons is a great deal of cocoa for three eggs, and period American cocoa was commonly natural (non-alkalised) and more acidic than Dutch-process powder, which is also widely sold today. That acidity affects how such a mixture tastes and how much sugar it needs.
- Gelatin strengthA tablespoon of granulated gelatin is roughly a modern quarter-ounce envelope plus a little more. Sheet gelatin and older "box" gelatins were not equivalent in setting power, so quantities copied out of books of this era rarely translate directly.
- Ice boxAn ice box is an insulated cabinet cooled by a block of ice, warmer and less stable than a modern refrigerator; figures in the region of 45-50"history_history_verdict_placeholder":null,"x":"x
"Sponge" in American dessert books of the early twentieth century did not mean sponge cake; it generally meant a gelatin whipped or beaten until it held air, producing something between a jelly and a mousse. Snow puddings, lemon sponges and prune whips all belong to the same family, and such dishes became more common as inexpensive granulated gelatin was sold in packets from around the 1890s onward, in place of the laborious business of boiling calves' feet or isinglass. They were cheap, they looked impressive unmoulded, and they stretched a few eggs into a dish for a table. The whole appeal was that nothing needed baking, and that same appeal is exactly what makes the raw egg here a problem for a modern kitchen.