1286. Parisian Nougats

Ingredients, required: - Eight ounces of pistachio-kernels, four ounces of sugar, and one stick of vanilla.

Scald the pistachios, remove the skins, absorb all the moisture by gently rubbing them in a napkin, then split each kernel into halves, and put them to dry on a baking-sheet in the screen. Pound the vanilla with one ounce of sugar, sift it, and then put this and the four ounces of pounded sugar into a small sugar-boiler, together with a tea-spoonful of the prepared extract of cochineal : stir these over the stove-fire with a wooden spoon until the sugar is entirely melted, and as soon as it begins to purl on the surface, immediately add the pistachios, and gently mix the whole together, taking care not to bruise the pistachios. The nougat must now be spread out in the form of a square on a baking-sheet or marble slab (previously oiled), to the thickness of about the eighth part of an inch ; some roughly-broken granite sugar should be strewed over the surface, and before it becomes cold, the square must be divided into two bands, and then again each of these cut in about a dozen small oblong nougats. When about to send to table, pile them up in close circular rows on a napkin, and serve.

* Granite-sugar is generally prepared by breaking up some loaf-sugar of the finest quality into very small pieces with the end of a rolling-pin; after sifting away all the fine-sugar, the pieces are then passed through a colander with large holes. All that passes through this may be used for the above purpose. But when the granite is required finer, it must be riddled through a wire sieve.

1287. Small Nougats, A La Chantilly

Ingredients required: - Three-quarters of a pound of ripe filberts, and six ounces of pounded sugar.

Scald the nuts, remove the skin, then split each kernel in four - lengthwise, and put them to dry on a baking-sheet in the oven ; mean-while, stir the sugar in the boiler over the fire in the usual manner, and as soon as it is ready, mix in the above; have half a dozen small da-riole-moulds ready, oiled inside, put some of the nougat into each of the moulds, and use a small stick made of hard wood (about half an inch in diameter) to work the nougat up the sides, or into the flutes of the moulds; pare away all that may rise above the edge of the moulds, and then turn them out on to a baking-sheet. About eighteen will suffice for a dish. Several persons should assist in moulding these nougats, in order to insure their all being of one color; otherwise, from being frequently obliged to warm the nougat, it is liable to become dark.

When about to send these nougats to table, each should be filled with some whipped cream flavored with vanilla or maraschino, and a few strawberries (when in season) placed on the top; dish them up neatly in a pyramidal form on a napkin.

1288. Genoese Cakes

Ingredients required: - Half a pound of flour, half a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, four eggs, a small glass of brandy, and a little salt,

Mix the flour, sugar, eggs, brandy, and salt well together in a basin with a wooden spoon ; then add the butter (merely melted by the side of the fire), and when this is thoroughly incorporated with the batter, pour it into an appropriate-sized baking-sheet, previously spread with butter, to the thickness of about a quarter of an inch, and bake this in an oven moderately heated.

When the Genoese paste is done, it should be turned out upon a sheet of paper, and cut or stamped out, either in circular, oblong, oval, angular, leaf-like, or any other fancy shapes that taste may suggest. These may then be decorated with white of egg and sugar prepared as for meringues (No. 1298), or with icing prepared as directed for wedding cakes (No. 1277), and ornamented with pistachio-kernels, currants, etc. Those cut in the form of leaves, rings, oblongs, etc, may be ornamented by forming a design composed of leaves and pearls (using for that purpose some meringue-paste in a paper cornet, or small biscuit-forcer) ; when the Genoese cakes are ornamented in this manner, shake some fine sugar over them with a dredger, and dry them either in the screen or at the entrance of the oven; then, finish decorating them by placing some neat stripes or dots of any kind of bright preserve, such as red-currant jelly, apple jelly, apricot jam, green-gage jam, etc, between the leaves or pearls of the white of egg decoration. By these means a very pretty effect is produced, and as no artificial or unwholesome substance is used in the composition, it may be partaken of with safety.