How To Make Compotes

Compote Of Apples

Peel and core some apples, boil them in a light syrup with the rind of lemon pared very thin, and a few cloves. When done, remove the peel and cloves and allow the apples to get cold. Line a compote-case with tart paste, put a sheet of paper in next the paste and fill the center with flour; set in oven to bake. When done and cold, remove the flour and the paper; place boiled rice then in the center and pile the apples around in the shape of a pyramid; mask them over with diluted apricot jam and ornament the compote with preserved cherries and angelica cut up into various shapes, also a few shredded almonds. Care should be taken that the case suits the shape of the dish it is to be served in. Remove the case and ornament the pastry with icing.

Compote Of Cherries

Cut off the stems from one pound of cherries to about three-quarters of an inch in length. Then put one-half pound of sugar in a sugar-boiler and add two quarts of water. Boil for three minutes; then put in the cherries, place the cover on the boiler and boil for five minutes longer. Remove the cherries, put them on a strainer and let them drain; then place them on a compote-dish with the stalks sticking up. Reduce the syrup to 30 degrees, and after it is cool, pour it over the cherries, and serve.

Compote Of Chestnuts

Take the brown skins off about fifty chestnuts and put in boiling water till the inner skin comes off easily; then put in a copper sugar-boiler, laying them flat on the bottom, cover with a syrup at 160 degrees Fahr. and let simmer for thirty minutes. When done, strain the syrup and reduce to 30 degrees Fahr.; before doing so, flavor with the rind of an orange. Put the chestnuts in a dish and strain the syrup over them.

Cranberry Compote

Pick off the stems from about one quart of cranberries. Put three-fourths of a pound of crushed loaf-sugar in a saucepan with one and one-half pints of water and the rind of a lemon thinly pared; place the saucepan over a moderate fire and let the contents boil till reduced to a thick syrup. Put the cranberries in and stir them constantly over the fire with a wooden spoon for ten minutes. At the end of that time, remove the cranberries from the fire, allow them to become cold, then turn them into a compote dish, or any variety of fancy dish, dust caster-sugar over them, and serve.

Compote Of Red Currants

Put one pound of ripe red currants into a basin with half a pound of caster-sugar. Press the currants with a wooden spoon, and when the sugar has partly dissolved in the juice, pour the whole into a pan and boil up, and turn into a compote dish when cool. Leave it for two hours, when, if it has been properly prepared, it will set to a jelly and be ready for use.

Compote Of Figs

Put in a basin the required quantity of figs with the juice and peel of one or two lemons; pour over sufficient boiling water to cover and leave until cold. For every two pounds of fruit, put in a preserving-pan half a pound of granulated sugar and one pint ot water, boil until the sugar is dissolved, then drain the figs and put them in the syrup with one thinly-sliced lemon without seeds, and simmer gently until tender. Leave the figs in the syrup until cold, then group them in the center of a glass dish, pour the syrup over, and serve.