Pear Charlotte

Cut some thin slices of stale bread, without the crust, and cut out a round with a one and one-half inch in diameter tin-cutter, then cut some heart-shaped pieces of bread, and dip them and the round piece in warmed butter. Put the latter at the bottom of a plain round charlotte mould, arrange the heart-shaped pieces overlapping each other round it, cut the slices of bread into strips one and one-half inches wide and of the height of the mould, dip them in butter and stand them all round the mould, also overlapping each other. Pare and core fifteen pears, cut them in quarters, put them in a sautepan with a little butter and vanilla sugar, and fry them. Put the pears in the mould when cooked, and brown the charlotte in the oven. Turn the charlotte out on a hot dish, mask it with reduced apricot jam, and serve.

Pineapple Charlotte

A charlotte mould should be lined with paper and some lady-fingers pointed on one side and arranged like a rosette with their glazed sides at the bottom of the mould; then place some long thin biscuits the same height as the mould, around the sides, standing upright, and place the mould in pounded ice. Mix with a pint of pineapple syrup, three-quarters of an ounce of dissolved gelatine, a small quantity of grated lemon-peel and the juice of an orange; strain the liquor through a sieve into a sugar-boiler and stir it over a fire until it becomes of the consistency of cream, then remove and mix with it half a pint of whipped cream and half a pound of either fresh pineapple cut into small pieces, or the preserved pineaple. Then fill the lined mould with this preparation and leave it for about an hour to become set. Turn the charlotte out onto a folded napkin, and serve.

Conde Apricots

Divide and remove the kernels from some apricots and stew in a light syrup until done, together with the rind of a little lemon, pared thin. Next prepare a border of rice suited to the dish to be used and fill the center with the apricot; pour some whipped cream over it just before serving with a sprinkle of pistachio nuts chopped very fine.