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Macaroon Souffle
Scald one dozen macaroons in a cupful of milk; pour gradually upon the beaten yolks of three eggs and cook over hot water until thickened slightly. Fold into the mixture the stiffly beaten white of three eggs and bake in a buttered mould set in hot water for about twenty minutes. Turn from mould, sprinkle the top with French fruit chopped fine, and surround with whipped cream.
A steamed-baked custard soufflé that depends entirely on the crumbs for flavour and sweetness, so the choice of macaroon decides the dish.
- Which macaroonIn this period a macaroon usually meant a small almond-paste and egg-white cookie, crisp outside and slightly chewy within, not a French macaron sandwich; coconut macaroons also existed by then, but almond is the likelier intent here. A dozen small ones is roughly 3 to 4 oz; crush or crumble them before scalding so they break down in the milk.
- No sugar is listed, and that is deliberateNo sugar is listed -- all the sweetness comes from the macaroons and the garnish. If your macaroons are on the dry, lightly sweetened side, a tablespoon of sugar beaten with the yolks will not hurt the structure.
- Scald means about 180FHeat the cupful of milk until it steams and shivers at the edges, then stir in the crumbs and let them soften. Adding the hot milk gradually to the yolks is tempering; do it in a thin stream, whisking, or you get sweet scrambled egg.
- "Cook over hot water until thickened slightly"A double boiler, and the target is a thin custard that coats a spoon, around 170 to 175F. Push it further and the yolks curdle, which no amount of folding will disguise.
- Fold cool, not hotLet the custard drop to lukewarm before folding in the whites, or they deflate on contact. Fold in three additions and stop while streaks are just gone.
- Oven temperatureThe book gives none. Bake the mould in its water bath at 325 to 350F; the water should come halfway up the sides and should not be allowed to boil, which would drive the edges tough while the centre stays loose.
- Twenty minutes suits a small mouldThat timing assumes a pint-and-a-half mould or a set of individual ones. A deeper mould will need 35 to 45 minutes. It is done when the centre is just set and barely trembles; a soufflé baked in a bain-marie is firm enough to unmould, unlike a dish soufflé, but overbaking makes it weep.
- French fruitCandied or glacé fruit — cherries, apricot, angelica, citron — chopped fine. Any good mixed candied peel and glacé cherries stand in for it.
- YieldServes four as written, or six if you fill small individual moulds. Unmould and garnish at the table; it settles within a few minutes of leaving the oven.
This recipe leans on the cook's ability to buy macaroons rather than bake them: bakeries and grocers sold almond macaroons by the pound, and dozens of recipes of the period treat them as a pantry ingredient, crumbed into charlottes, puddings and trifles the way ladyfingers and stale sponge cake were. The technique is the old custard-soufflé pudding, baked in a water bath so it holds its shape when turned out, and its French dressing — glacé fruit on top, whipped cream around the base — reflects how thoroughly American genteel cooking of the era looked to France for the finish, whatever the groundwork underneath.