No. 765

Tartlets with Cream and Parmesan Cheese Garnishing

Garniture de Tartelettes a la Creme au Parmesan

Roll out a timbale paste (No. 150), very thin, and with it line some large, flat tartlet molds; prick the bottom paste and strew over some grated parmesan cheese, and in the center of each one lay a small pat of butter. Beat up in a bowl, five raw egg-yolks, dilute with one pint of raw cream, add a grain of salt, a pinch of flour, a pinch of sugar, some pepper, strain, and add a handful of grated parmesan; then pour it into the lined molds so as to fill them up, set these molds on a baking sheet, and push them carefully into a slack oven to let cook for fifteen minutes, more or less according to the size of the molds; leave them at the warm oven door for five minutes, then unmold quickly and dress them on folded napkins or around a remove.

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For the Modern Kitchen Do not make this as written.

A savory cream custard baked in pastry shells, meant to be turned out and set around a larger dish. Two things decide whether it works: a very gentle oven, and letting the custard settle before you unmold.

Slack ovenRoughly 300-325F. Anything hotter risks curdling the custard, and it will weep when unmolded. Fifteen minutes suits smallish shells; the recipe itself says to adjust for the size of the molds. Judge by a center that is set but still trembles, roughly 170-175F.
Timbale paste (No. 150)Ranhofer's lining paste is a firm, low-moisture short pastry, closer to a French pâte à foncer than to flaky pie dough; consult No. 150 for its exact composition. An all-butter shortcrust rolled very thin stands in for it.
No blind bakingThe shells go into the oven raw, which is why the paste is pricked and the oven kept low. The paste and custard set together; a pre-baked shell will overbrown in the time the custard needs.
Custard ratioFive yolks to one pint (2 cups) of cream is a soft, rich set that will just hold its shape out of the mold. If you want tartlets that unmold cleanly and stand up as a garnish, add a whole egg to the yolks.
"A grain of salt"Literally a very small pinch. Parmesan carries most of the seasoning here, and there are two doses of it, so salt lightly; if you taste the custard before filling, note that it contains raw egg and cream.
Strain, then add cheeseFollow the order given. Straining removes yolk membrane and any flour lumps; the grated parmesan goes in afterward so it is not caught in the sieve.
The five minutes at the doorResting the molds in the oven's residual warmth appears intended to let the custard firm at the edges so it releases in one piece. Unmold while hot, as directed.
Around a removeA "remove" was broadly the substantial dish that followed or replaced the soup or fish course. These tartlets are a garnish arranged around it, or dressed on folded napkins.

A Little History

This is item 765 in Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894), the vast record of his thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and it sits in a long chapter of garnishings, dozens of small constructions whose only purpose was to be arranged around something larger. That such labor went into a border for a platter says a good deal about service à la russe in a grand American restaurant of the period: the centerpiece was carved and served, and the garnish established the dish's rank. The filling itself is an old and durable idea, unsweetened egg-and-cream custard baked in pastry, the same formula behind the tarts of northeastern France that the twentieth century learned to call quiche; Ranhofer treats it as ordinary technique rather than a regional specialty. Parmesan appears constantly in his savory work, both strewn in the shell and stirred into the cream.