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Cream Dressing II
1 teaspoon mustard 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons flour 1 1/2 teaspoons powdered sugar Few grains cayenne 1 teaspoon butter Yolk 1 egg 1/3 cup vinegar 1/2 cup thick cream, sweet or sour Mix dry ingredients, add butter, egg, and vinegar slowly. Cook over boiling water, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens; cool, and add to heavy cream, beaten until stiff.
Boiled Dressing I 1/4 tablespoon salt 1 teaspoon mustard 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar Few grains cayenne 1 1/2 tablespoons flour Yolks 2 eggs 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter 3/4 cup milk 1/4 cup vinegar Mix dry ingredients, add yolks of eggs slightly beaten, butter, milk, and vinegar very slowly. Cook over boiling water until mixture thickens; strain and cool.
A cooked egg-and-vinegar base folded into whipped cream — the softer, richer relative of boiled dressing, meant for fruit salads, cabbage and cold chicken.
- The hinge: cool the base completelyWarm custard will deflate whipped cream on contact and can turn it greasy. Chill the cooked mixture to room temperature or colder before folding it in, and fold rather than stir.
- Mustard means dry mustardA teaspoon of "mustard" in a book of this period is powdered English-style mustard, not prepared mustard from a jar. Prepared mustard would add both vinegar and bulk.
- Powdered sugarIn books of this period this generally meant sugar ground finer than granulated rather than today's cornstarch-blended confectioners' sugar. In such a small quantity granulated sugar substitutes without harm, since the mixture is cooked and dissolves anyway.
- Cook over boiling waterA double boiler, or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Over direct heat the single yolk can catch and curdle; over water the mixture thickens to a coating consistency somewhere in the region of 170-180F.
- "Thick cream, sweet or sour"Sweet cream here means ordinary heavy cream. Modern cultured sour cream will not whip to stiffness — if you want the sour version, whip heavy cream and fold in two or three tablespoons of sour cream at the end, or simply beat the cream and accept the sharpness of the vinegar base.
- Strain if it breaksAny yolk that sets into threads should be pressed through a fine sieve while the base is still warm. Lumps will not disperse once the cream is in.
- Yield and keepingSomething over a cup once the cream is folded in, enough for a salad for six. Because it contains whipped cream it slackens within a few hours; make it the same day and dress the salad at the table.