No. 3207

Harrison Pudding

Pouding a la Harrison

Have some half-set sweet jelly (No. 106) and with a camel's hair brush wet the bottom and sides of a plain and very cold cylindrical mold (Fig. 150); bestrew the inside with peeled and chopped pistachios, pressing them so that they form a compact layer, then turn the mold on ice for two or three minutes; incrust it upright. Put into a small basin about three-quarters of a pound of blanc-mange preparation (No. 3138) of a proper consistency and flavored with orange peel; stir it on ice to harden, then incorporate slowly into it a pint and a half of whipped cream but slightly sweetened. Two minutes after fill up the cold mold with this in layers intermingled with macaroons soaked in kirsch; freeze the mold for one hour longer in unsalted ice, then dip it in hot water and unmold the contents on a very cold dish.

← No. 3206 Castellane Pudding Cold Entremets — Creams, Jellies & Charlottes No. 3208 Lafayette Pudding →

For the Modern Kitchen

A moulded cold entremet built in three stages: a jelly-and-pistachio lining, a lightened blancmange, and macaroons soaked in kirsch. Nothing here is difficult, but the whole thing depends on working cold and fast.

The hinge: everything must be coldThe jelly is brushed on at the half-set stage so it grips the mould instead of running down, and the pistachios go on before it fully sets. Chill the mould in the freezer beforehand, work in short bursts, and return it to ice between steps.
"Incrust" and "unsalted ice"To incrust is to pack the mould upright in a bed of crushed ice. The ice is specified without salt; salted ice drops well below freezing and would turn the cream to a hard ice, whereas plain ice holds the mould at around 32F, so the pudding sets firm but stays creamy. A refrigerator at its coldest setting is a rough substitute, though it will not hold the mould as cold.
Camel's hair brushA soft, fine pastry brush. Any silicone brush is too stiff and will drag the setting jelly off the mould wall.
Quantities in modern termsThree-quarters of a pound of blanc-mange preparation is about 1 1/2 cups; a pint and a half of whipped cream is 3 cups, measured after whipping. The cylindrical mould wants a capacity of about 1 1/2 quarts.
Blanc-mange, No. 3138Ranhofer's blanc-mange is an almond-milk cream set with gelatine, not the cornstarch pudding the name later came to mean in America. It must be stirred over ice to the thickness of unwhipped cream before the whipped cream goes in -- too loose and it will not hold the layers, too set and it turns to lumps.
MacaroonsAlmond macaroons, dry and crisp, not the coconut or French sandwich kinds. Ranhofer has them soaked in kirsch; take care that they do not take up so much that they collapse into the cream.
UnmouldingDip in hot water for a few seconds only -- long enough to release the jelly film, not long enough to melt the pistachio layer. Turn out onto a plate that has been chilled, or the base will slump.
YieldA 1 1/2-quart mould serves eight to ten. Assemble the day it is served; the macaroons soften and the jelly lining weeps after about twenty-four hours.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the repertoire he cooked at Delmonico's in New York, and many of his cold entremets carry a person's name. Naming a dish for a statesman or a distinguished diner was standard practice in the grand-restaurant kitchen, and the Harrison here may be Benjamin Harrison, president from 1889 to 1893, though Ranhofer, as usual, gives no explanation. The construction itself is older than the name: a jelly-lined mould decorated with chopped pistachios, filled with a gelatine cream lightened with whipped cream and layered with liquor-soaked biscuit, is the standard nineteenth-century French charlotte-and-pudding formula, endlessly varied by changing the flavouring and the garnish and then relabelled for whoever was being flattered that season.