Fifth Avenue Cream

A stirred custard set lightly with gelatin — the dessert usually called Spanish cream. The recipe as printed has one obvious typographical casualty and one measurement that will read oddly to anyone used to modern gelatin envelopes.

• "12 C sugar"This is a printer's loss of the fraction bar: read it as 1/2 cup. Half a cup to a pint of milk is right for a lightly sweetened set custard; twelve cups would be absurd.
• The gelatinOne teaspoon of granular gelatin to a pint of milk gives a barely-there set — a pourable cream that slumps in the glass rather than a moulded shape. A standard Knox envelope is about 2 1/4 teaspoons and will set a pint firmly enough to unmould. Decide which you want before you start.
• Blooming"Soak until it softens in a little water" means about 2 tablespoons cold water and five minutes. Add it to the hot milk off the direct boil and stir until no grains remain on the back of the spoon; undissolved gelatin sets in threads.
• Do not let the yolks boilThis is the hinge. Once the beaten yolks go in, the custard must be held below a simmer and stirred constantly until it coats a spoon — roughly 175-180F. The instruction to add them "as it comes to a boil" is the one place the original will fail you.
• The uncooked whitesThe stiff whites are folded into a custard that has already cooled, so they are never heated. Use pasteurized whites if you are serving anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immune-compromised.
• Folding"Slightly cool" means still fluid but no longer warm to the finger. Too hot and the whites deflate; too cold and the gelatin has already begun to grip and you get lumps of set custard through the foam.
• FlavoringUnspecified. A teaspoon of vanilla is the usual default; sherry, almond or lemon extract would also suit, though the recipe gives no indication which was intended.
• Setting and yieldChill at least four hours, longer at the lower gelatin quantity. A pint of milk plus whipped cream serves four to six in small glasses.