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Twelve Sponge Finger-biscuits
Half an ounce of Gelatine.
One gill of Milk. water Half a pint of Double Cream.
One dessertspoonful of Castor Sugar.
Thirty drops of Essence of Vanilla.
Take a pint soufflé-tin and line it carefully with the biscuits, fitting them close to each other; cut off the tops of the biscuits that stand above the tin. Put the gelatine and milk in a stewpan water on the fire to melt. Whip the cream to a stiff froth; add the sugar and vanilla to it. Strain the melted gelatine into the cream, mix it well, and pour it carefully into the mould, not to disarrange the biscuits. When set, turn out and serve. milk liable to curdle with gelatine-
A charlotte russe in miniature: a vanilla cream set with gelatine inside a case of sponge fingers. The printed text carries a manuscript correction — milk struck out in favour of water, with the note that milk is liable to curdle with gelatine — and that correction is worth following.
- Water, not milkThe amended text is the one to use: soften and melt the gelatine in a gill of water. Gelatine dissolved into milk over direct heat can catch and separate, and the cream supplies all the richness the sweet needs.
- A gillIn a British book of this period a gill is a quarter of an imperial pint, 5 fl oz or about 140 ml. The half pint of double cream is 10 fl oz, roughly 285 ml.
- Gelatine strengthHalf an ounce is about 14 g. Victorian gelatine varied in strength and was generally less reliable than modern leaf or powder; with today's product something in the region of 8-9 g (three or four leaves, depending on the brand) should be enough to set this quantity of liquid to a clean slice without rubberiness.
- Melting it"On the fire to melt" means gentle heat only — warm until the granules disappear and the liquid is clear, never to a boil. Boiling weakens the set, and gelatine poured in scalding will thin the whipped cream on contact. Let it cool to blood heat first, then strain it in while whisking.
- Whipping the cream"Stiff froth" beaten by hand is probably nearer to what we would now call a soft peak. Stop while the cream still flows off the whisk in a ribbon; over-beaten double cream turns grainy and will not fold smoothly around the gelatine.
- The tinA pint soufflé-tin is a straight-sided mould of 20 fl oz, about 570 ml — a small charlotte mould or a deep cake tin of the same capacity. The recipe asks only that the biscuits be fitted close to each other and those standing above the tin trimmed flush with the rim; a trimmed disc or a few offcuts on the base is an optional addition.
- Setting and turning outChill at least four hours, better overnight. To unmould, dip the tin for three or four seconds in hot water and invert onto the serving dish; the trimmed ends now sit against the dish, and any gap at the top can be masked with a little more whipped cream.
- Sweetness and yieldOne dessertspoonful of castor sugar is barely two teaspoons — the biscuits carry most of the sweetness. Thirty drops of vanilla essence is roughly a third of a teaspoon. A pint mould should serve about six in small wedges.
History: This belongs to the charlotte russe family, the cold cousin of the baked apple charlotte, and the form is generally traced to Antonin Carême in the early nineteenth century — traditionally, though not documentably, named for a Russian patron. The sponge fingers are the same biscuits sold as savoiardi or boudoir biscuits, and many households bought them ready-made rather than baking them. A cold sweet of this kind could be made the day before, set in a mould, turned out at the table, and needed no oven at the moment it was wanted. The manuscript note about milk curdling with gelatine reads like a correction made by a cook who had tried it.