Various Hot Entremets.

2605—MINCE PIES

_Constituents._—One lb. of chopped suet; one and one-third lbs. of cold, cooked fillet of beef, cut into very small dice; one lb. of pipped raisins; one lb. of currants and an equal quantity of sultanas; one lb. of candied rinds; half lb. of peeled and chopped raw apples; the chopped _zest_ and the juice of an orange; two-thirds oz. of allspice; one-sixth pint of brandy; and the same measure of Madeira and rum.

Thoroughly mix the whole; pour it into an earthenware jar; cover the latter, and let the preparation macerate for a month.

_Preparation._—Line some deep, buttered tartlet moulds with ordinary short paste; garnish them with the above preparation; cover with a thin layer of puff-paste, having a hole in its centre; seal down this layer, _gild_, and bake in a hot oven.

2606—CÉLESTINE OMELET

Make an omelet from two eggs, and garnish it either with cream, stewed fruit or jam. Make a somewhat larger omelet, and stuff it with a different garnish from the one already used; enclose the first omelet in the second, and roll the latter up in the usual way. Sprinkle with icing sugar, and glaze in the oven or with a red-hot iron.

2607—EGGS A LA RELIGIEUSE

Bake a somewhat deep flawn-crust without colouration, and have it of a size in proportion to the number of eggs it has to contain. Coat it inside with a layer of _pralin_, and dry the latter well in a mild oven.

Meanwhile poach the required number of fresh eggs in boiling milk, sugared to the extent of a quarter lb. per quart, and keep them somewhat soft. Drain them, and set them in the crust. Between each egg place a small slice of pine-apple, cut to the shape of a cock’s comb. Thicken the poaching-milk with five eggs and six egg-yolks per quart; pass it through a strainer: pour the preparation over the eggs, and put the flawn in a mild oven, that the cream may be poached and slightly coloured.

2608—PAIN PERDU OR GILDED CRUST

Cut some slices one-half inch thick from a brioche or a stale loaf and dip them in cold sugared and vanilla-flavoured milk. Drain the slices; dip them in some slightly-sugared beaten eggs, and place them in a frying-pan containing some very hot clarified butter. Brown them on both sides; drain them; sprinkle them with vanilla sugar, and dish them on a napkin.

2609—FRUIT SUPRÊME A LA GABRIELLE

Prepare (1) a border of apples, stewed as for a Charlotte, thickened with eggs, and poached in a buttered and ornamented border mould.

(2) A _macédoine_ of fruit, the quantity of which should be in proportion to the capacity of the mould and consisting of quartered pears, cooked in syrup; pine-apple, cut into large lozenges; half-sugared cherries; angelica, stamped into leaf-shapes by means of the fancy-cutter; and currants and sultanas, swelled in syrup. Set all these fruits in a sautépan.

To every pint of the pear-syrup add one lb. of sugar, and cook the mixture to the _small-ball_ stage. This done, reduce it by adding one-sixth pint of very thick almond milk; pour this over the fruit, and simmer very gently for ten minutes. Turn out the border of apples, poached in a _bain-marie_, upon a dish, and surround it with a border of candied cherries. Complete the _macédoine_ away from the fire with a little very best butter; pour it into the border, and sprinkle on it some peeled and finely-splintered almonds.

2610—SCHALETH A LA JUIVE

Line a greased iron saucepan, or a large mould for “Pommes Anna,” with a thin layer of ordinary noodle paste, and fill it up with the following preparation:—For a utensil large enough to hold one and a half quarts:—one and three quarter lbs. of stiffly stewed russet apples; one and a quarter lbs. in all of pipped Malaga raisins, currants, and sultanas (swelled in tepid water) in equal quantities; the finely chopped half-_zests_ of an orange and a lemon; a mite of grated nutmeg; four oz. powdered sugar; four whole eggs and the yolks of six; and a quarter of a pint of Malaga wine. Mix the whole well, in advance.

Cover with a layer of noodle paste; seal the latter well down round the edges; _gild_, and make a slit in the top for the escape of steam. Bake it in a moderate oven for fifty minutes, and let it rest ten minutes before turning it out.

2611—ENGLISH TARTS

These tarts are made in deep pie or pastry-dishes. Whatever be the fruit used, clean it, peel it, or core it, according to its nature. Some fruits are sliced while others are merely quartered or left whole.

Set them in the dish, to within half inch of its brim; sprinkle them with moist or powdered sugar, and (in the case of fruit with firm pulps like apples) with a few tablespoonfuls of water.

This addition of water is optional and, in any case, may be dispensed with for aqueous fruits. First cover the edges of the dish, which should be moistened slightly, with a strip of short paste, an inch wide. Then cover the dish with a layer of puff-paste, which seal down well to the strip of paste, already in position and slightly moistened for the purpose. With a brush moisten the layer of paste constituting the cover of the tart; sprinkle it with sugar, and set the tart to bake in a moderate oven.

All English tarts are made in this way, and all fruits may be used with them even when, as in the case of gooseberries, they are green.

Accompany these tarts by a sauceboat of raw-cream or by a custard pudding (No. 2406).