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Burnt Almond Refrigerator Cake
1/2 cup sugar, caramelized 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup sugar salt 3 egg yolks, well beaten 2 tablespoons granulated gelatine 1/2 cup cold water 3/4 cup blanched and finely chopped almonds 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 egg whites, stiffly beaten 1 cup cream 36 lady fingers Caramelize sugar, dissolve in milk and scald. Add sugar, salt and egg yolks, and cook till mixture thickens. Add gelatine dissolved in cold water. Chill. Add almonds, vanilla, egg whites and cream. Line mold with lady fingers, pour in half the mixture and repeat until mold is filled. Place in ice box 24 hours to harden. Turn out of mold, garnish with whipped cream. Serves ten to twelve.
A charlotte-style moulded dessert built on a caramel custard set with gelatine. The hinge is temperature control at two moments: the custard must thicken without boiling, and the gelatine base must be chilled to the point of thickening before the whites and cream go in.
- Caramel into milkMelt the first ½ cup sugar dry in a heavy pan until deep amber, then add the milk off the heat and warm it back to a scald. Cold milk on hot caramel spatters violently and seizes the sugar into a lump, which then has to be dissolved back over low heat.
- Custard temperature"Cook till mixture thickens" means a stirred custard taken to about 170-175F, thick enough to coat a spoon. Above 180F the yolks curdle; use a double boiler if the pan is thin.
- Gelatine quantityTwo tablespoons of granulated gelatine is roughly 2 to 2½ modern quarter-ounce envelopes. Two envelopes will set this firmly enough to unmould; more will make it rubbery.
- The saltNo quantity is given; a pinch, on the order of 1/8 teaspoon, to sharpen the caramel is the likely intent.
- Chill to the mounding stageAfter the gelatine goes in, chill only until the mixture is the consistency of raw egg white and mounds slightly on a spoon. Fold in whites and cream then. Folded in too soon they thin out and the finished cake sets in layers; too late and the base is already rigid and streaks.
- The creamThe list says one cup cream and nothing more. Use heavy cream whipped to soft peaks, not poured in liquid, or the mixture will be too loose to hold its shape against the ladyfingers.
- Raw whitesThe whites are folded in uncooked and never heated afterwards. If serving anyone very young, elderly, pregnant or immune-compromised, use pasteurized whites.
- Mould and ladyfingersThirty-six ladyfingers, split, will line a 2-quart charlotte mould or a deep 8-inch springform. Soft sponge-type ladyfingers press against the mould better than crisp Italian savoiardi, which stay hard at the centre.
- Setting and unmouldingTwenty-four hours in a modern refrigerator does no harm, though the cake is set in six to eight. To turn it out, dip the mould in warm water for five seconds, loosen the rim with a thin knife and invert onto a chilled plate.