(3042). Cherry Fritters - Fresh Or Brandied (Beignets De Cerises Fraiches Ou A L'Eau-De-Vie)

Select some large and fine fresh cherries, remove the pits and lay the fruit in a bowl to sprinkle over with sugar, pour on a few spoonfuls of kirsch and let macerate for one hour. Then drain and thread eight of them on a silver skewer or a straw; roll these in lady finger dust and dip in frying batter (No. 137); plunge them into hot frying fat and when the paste is fried and well colored drain off the fritters on a cloth, sponge them and dredge over with vanilla sugar, then dress them in a pyramid on a folded napkin. Serve at the same time a cherry sauce made with cherry puree and flavored with kirsch.

For Brandied Cherry Fritters

Prepare as above, using brandied cherries; besprinkle with sugar when the pits have been removed and finish as above. For the sauce, crush four ounces of sour cherries, put this into a copper pan with a pint of red Bordeaux wine, four ounces of sugar, a small piece of cinnamon and the peel of one lemon; leave to cook for a few minutes, then strain the liquid through a sieve and return it to the pan; thicken with a little fecula diluted in a small quantity of cold water and strain this sauce once more through the sieve; now add to it a heavy handful of candied cherries washed in hot water and serve.

(3043). Cream Of Rice Fritters (Beignets De Creme De Riz)

Dissolve ten ounces of rice flour in a bowl with one quart of cold milk; pass this through a sieve into a saucepan, and add to it a grain of salt, three ounces of butter, two spoonfuls of sugar and the fourth part of a vanilla bean; stir over a slow fire until it comes to a boil, then continue to cook the preparation for twenty minutes on the side of the range, adding to ii a little raw cream.

Take out the vanilla, and pour into another saucepan, then reduce it for a few moments. When consistent take it from the lire and mix in with it three ounces of pulverized macaroons, a piece of fresh butter, and five or six well-beaten whole eggs. When the preparation has been thoroughly mingled prepare some wafer sheets, three and a half inches by twoandahalf; soften them between two damp napkins, and lav on the preparation run through a pocket into sticks three-quarters of an inch in diameter, having them the whole length of the leaves; roll them into cylindrical and fasten the edges firmly, or else it may be poured directly on a baking sheet without wafers, dampened with cold water, to the thickness of three-quarters of an inch, and then set aside to cool for a few hours. Divide the preparation into pieces, three-quarters of an inch wide by three and a half inches long, or an inch and a half cubes, or else in rounds measuring one and five-eighths inches in diameter by three-quarters thick; roll the fritters in pulverized macaroons, then in beaten eggs and lastly in bread-crumbs: plunge them into hot frying fat, a few at a time, and when they have attained a fine color drain and wipe, bestrew with powdered vanilla-flavored sugar and dress on a folded napkin.