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Other Sweet Dishes: Soften
GRAPE JUICE CHARLOTTE RUSSE 1 teaspoonful of granulated White of 1 egg gelatine 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice 1/4 cup of grape juice 1/2 cup of double cream 1/2 cup of sugar Candied violets 1/2 cup of hot grape juice Ladyfingers Soften the gelatine in the fourth a cup of grape juice and dissolve in the hot juice; add the sugar and lemon juice and let become cold. Beat the white of egg dry and gradually beat the grape mixture into it. Continue beating until the mixture will hold its shape (have the mixture in ice-water meanwhile), then turn into the glasses lined with ladyfingers. With pastry bag and star tube decorate with the cream, beaten firm, and the candied violets. ORANGE MARMALADE MOLD 1 tumbler of orange marma- 1/4 cup of cold water lade 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice 3/4 cup of boiling water if convenient 1/4 package of gelatine Soften the gelatine in the cold water and dissolve in the hot water; add the marmalade and lemon juice. Stir occasionally until the mixture begins to thicken, then turn into mold. Serve with cream. Strawberry and raspberry jam be used in the same way.
Two cold gelatine desserts scaled for a household of two. The measurements need translating, and the first recipe has a problem that cannot be worked around.
- Raw egg whiteThe grape juice charlotte russe is built on an egg white that is never heated — the gelatine is dissolved in hot juice, then the mixture is cooled before it touches the egg. Uncooked white carries a Salmonella risk, and the beaten foam is held at room temperature while it is piped and decorated. Use a current recipe if you want this dessert.
- The marmalade mold is a different matterThat second recipe contains no egg and no dairy until the cream is poured at table. It is simply gelatine, boiling water, marmalade and lemon juice.
- A tumblerA drinking tumbler in this period holds about 8 fluid ounces, so read it as one cup of marmalade — roughly the amount in a small jar.
- A quarter package of gelatineGranulated gelatine was sold in boxes of about an ounce, roughly four level tablespoons, so a quarter package is about a tablespoon. One modern envelope (7 g, about 2 1/4 teaspoons) is close enough to use in its place.
- Double creamIn an American book of this date 'double cream' means thick, whippable cream; ordinary heavy cream is the substitute. British double cream is richer than the book intends but works.
- Candied violetsStill sold by confectionery and baking suppliers, usually as crystallised violet petals. Any candied flower or a few fresh berries serves the same decorative purpose.
- Softening and dissolvingGelatine must sit in the cold liquid until it swells and looks granular-translucent, several minutes, before the hot liquid goes in. Hot liquid poured onto dry granules leaves undissolved threads that show up in the set mold.
- YieldSmall quantities: the charlotte russe fills a few stemmed glasses, the marmalade mixture makes roughly two cups. Chill the mold until firmly set before turning it out.
The charlotte russe is generally traced to Antonin Carême, who is said to have named the ladyfinger-lined cold cream in honour of his Russian patron; by the early 1900s it was a familiar American restaurant and bakery dessert, and in some cities was sold in a reduced form as a sponge cup filled with whipped cream. The grape juice version belongs to a narrower moment. Commercial unfermented grape juice, pressed and pasteurised for the temperance market, became widely available in the United States in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, and cookbooks of the early 1900s put it everywhere a little wine colour or flavour had once been wanted — in jellies, ices, punches and exactly this sort of moulded cream. The orange marmalade mold shows the other economy of a small kitchen: a jar off the shelf, a spoonful of gelatine, and a dessert that requires no cooking at all beyond boiling water.