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Chestnut Cakes

Put about twenty or thirty chestnuts on a gridiron over a clear fire, and cook until the skins can be easily removed. Skin them and put them into a mortar, with two or three ounces of butter and a little well-whipped cream, and pound well; then rub the mass through a fine sieve, using care to see that the mixture is not too wet. When all has been passed through, put it into a basin and mix in half its weight in sifted crushed loaf-sugar, slightly flavored with vanilla. Form the mixture into small cakes, placing them on a well-buttered baking-sheet, make a slight incision on the top of each, brush them over with the yolk of an egg, and bake to a good color in a hot oven. When done, remove them from the baking-sheet, and serve. Chous Crisped (Pralined) with Almonds.

Pour one breakfast cupful each of milk and water into a saucepan with two ounces of butter, and bring them to the boil; then remove the pan from the fire, and work in a sufficient quantity of flour to form a soft paste. Place the saucepan back on the fire, and mix until all the lumps are broken up and the paste is perfectly smooth, and let it dry over the fire for a few minutes; then mix in one ounce of butter and two or three eggs, and stir these well in, adding three ounces of crushed loaf sugar, a little salt, two tablespoonfuls of whipped cream, and one tablespoonful of orange-flower water. Work the paste into small cakes, decorate them with blanched and chopped almonds, brush over with egg, dust with powdered sugar, place them in a slow oven, and bake to a light color. Then serve at once. When mixing the paste, care must be had not to mix it too thick.