Florendines

These are made of any sort of fruit, stewed in its own juice or in sweetmeat syrup, but when practicable, without any water. A pint of this fruit is mixed with half a pint of fresh butter, and half a pint of powdered sugar stirred together to a light cream, and then mixed with three well-beaten eggs, and the fruit stirred in alternately with the beaten butter and sugar. Have ready baked shells of puff-paste, ready to be filled with the mixture. The fruit may be apples, quinces, peaches, gooseberries, currants, raspberries. Cranberries, gooseberries, and currants, require additional sugar, as they are naturally very sour. If you use plums or cherries for any sort of cooking, stone them first.

Peach Pies

Take a sufficient number of fine juicy freestone peaches. Clingstones are very hard and insipid when raw, and still more tasteless when cooked. Peel the peaches and quarter them, having removed the stones. Stew them in their own juice, and while hot make them very sweet with white sugar. When you put them to stew, place among them a bunch of fresh green peach leaves, to be removed when the peaches are done. Or, cook with them some peach kernels, blanched in hot water, to be picked out when the stewing is finished. Peach leaves or kernels communicate a flavor which to most persons is pleasant. Have ready some puff-paste shells; baked, and beginning to cool. Fill them to the top with the stewed peaches, and pile on them some whipped cream sweetened, and flavored with noyau or rose-water.

A Fruit Charlotte

Have ready a large fresh almond sponge cake, or lady cake. Cut a round or circular piece to fit the bottom of a great glass bowl. Also, about twelve or fourteen oblong slices, to stand up all round to line the sides. Have ready two quarts or more of ripe strawberries or raspberries. Mash the fruit to a jam, and having made it very sweet with white sugar, spread it thickly over the pieces of cake. Lay the circular piece of cake in the bottom of the bowl and stand up the others all round the sides, all close to each other or wrapping over a little. Proceed to fill the bowl with the fruit; and when half way up, put on another layer of sliced cake spread with fruit. Then fill up with fruit to the top. Have ready a quart of whipped cream flavored with vanilla or bitter almonds. Heap it high on the bowl, and set it in a cool place till it goes to table. This is a very fine article for a nice dessert, and can be prepared at a short notice, and without going down stairs, as it requires no cooking.

For the whipped cream, you may pile the bowl with any sort of white ice-cream ready made, and if there is no fresh fruit in season, substitute marmalade or fruit jelly.

If you have no large bowl you may serve up this charlotte in glass or china saucers, laying in the bottom of each a circular slice of cake spread over with ripe fruit or marmalade. Fill up with the same, and finish with whipped cream, or icecream heaped on the top.