Croustades of Venice, Meringued

Line some small buttered fruit pie circles, three-quarters of an inch high and two and a quarter inches in diameter, with fine foundation paste (No. 135), or else puff paste parings (No. 146); raise an edge and pinch it; place them on a baking sheet and egg the edges of each pie over twice. Put into a vessel four spoonfuls of fecula or arrowroot, six ounces of vanilla sugar, a grain of salt, eight whole eggs and eight yolks; mix well with a whisk and dilute with a pint and a half of cream or rich milk; strain the preparation through a sieve and then pour it into a saucepan containing four ounces of fresh butter; stir on the fire until the butter is entirely melted, and with this preparation fill the small pies, then put them into a slack oven to cook without browning; when the cream has set and the paste is cooked, remove the croustades and leave them till nearly cold. Cover the tops with meringue, forming it into a dome; decorate this, leaving a hollow in the center and dredge vanilla sugar over the whole; return them to a slow oven to brown to a fine light golden color, then take them from their molds and finish decorating with apricot marmalade (No. 3675) pushed through a cornet and some angelica and preserved cherries (demi-sucre).

For a Large Croustade.—Line a shallow hot pie mold with fine foundation paste (No. 135) or puff paste parings (No. 146); lay it on a baking sheet and fill it up with the same preparation as for the above; put it into a slack oven to cook for one hour. When the cream has set and the paste is cooked take out the croustade and let get partly cold before unmolding; cover it with meringue (No. 140), shaping it as a dome; decorate and finish the same as for the above.