The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;

Winter Cream Cheese

Take twenty quarts of new milk warm from the cow; strain it into a tub; have ready four quarts of good cream boiled to put to it, and about a quart of spring water, boiling hot, and stir all well together; put in your earning, and stir it well in; keep it by the fire till it is well come. Then take it gently into a sieve to whey it, and after that put it into a vat, either square or round, with a cheese-board upon it, of two pounds weight at first, which is to be increased by degrees to six pounds; turn it into dry cloths two or three times a day for a week or ten days, and salt it with dry salt, the third day. When you take it out of the vat, lay it upon a board, and turn and wipe it every other day till it is dry. It is best to be made as soon as the cows go into fog.

The cheeses are fit to eat in Lent, sometimes at Christmas, according to the state of the ground.

To make Cream Cheese without Cream

Take a quart of milk warm from the cow and two quarts of boiling water. When the curd is ready for the cheese-vat, put it in, without breaking it, by a dishful at a time, and fill it up as it drains off. It must not be pressed. The cheese-vat should have holes in it all over like a colander. Take out the cheese when it will bear it, and ripen it upon rushes: it must be more than nine inches deep.

Damson Cheese

Take the damsons full ripe, and squeeze out the stones, which put into the preserving-pan, with as much water as will cover them: let them simmer till the stones are quite clear, and put your fruit into the liquor. Take three pounds of good powder sugar to six pounds of fruit; boil it very fast till quite thick; then break the stones, and put the whole kernels into it, before you put it into moulds for use.

Another

Boil up one pound of damsons with three quarters of a pound of sugar; when the fruit begins to break, take out the stones and the skins; or, what is a better way, pulp them through a colander. Then peel and put in some of the kernels; boil it very high; it will turn out to the shape of any pots or moulds, and is very good.

French Cheese

Boil two pints of milk and one of cream, with a blade of mace and a little cinnamon: put the yolks of three eggs and the whites of two, well beaten, into your milk, and set on the fire again, stirring it all the while till it boils. Take it off, and stir it till it is a little cooled; then put in the juice of two lemons, and let it stand awhile with the lemons in it. Put it in a linen strainer, and hang it up to drain out the whey. When it is drained dry, take it down, and put to it a spoonful or two of rose-water, and sweeten it to your taste: put it into your pan, which must be full of holes; let it stand a little; put it into your dish with cream, and stick some blanched almonds about it.

Italian Cheese

One quart of cream, a pint of white wine, the juice of three lemons, a little lemon-peel, and sugar to your taste; beat it with a whisk a quarter of an hour; then pour it on a buttered cloth, over a sieve, to drain all night, and turn it out just before it is sent to table. Strew comfits on the top, and garnish as you like.

Lemon Cheese – very good

Into a quart of thick sweet cream put the juice of three lemons, with the rind finely grated; sweeten it to your taste; beat it very well; then put it into a sieve, with some fine muslin underneath it, and let it stand all night. Next day turn it out, and garnish with preserved orange or marmalade.

Half the above quantity makes a large cheese. Do not beat it till it comes to butter, but only till it is near coming. It is a very pretty dish.

Cheesecake. No. 1

Take four quarts of new milk and a pint of cream; put in a blade or two of mace, with a bag of ambergris; set it with as much runnet as will bring it to a tender curd. When it has come, break it as you would a cheese, and, when you have got what whey you can from it, put it in a cloth and lay it in a pan or cheese-hoop, placing on it a weight of five or six pounds, and, when you find it well pressed out, put it into an earthen dish, bruising it very small with a spoon. Then take two ounces of almonds, blanch and beat them with rose-water and cream; mix these well together among your curd; sweeten them with loaf-sugar; put in something more than a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, with the yolks of six eggs mixed together. When you are ready to put it into crust, strew in half a pound of currants; let the butter boil that you make your crust with; roll out the cakes very thin. The oven must not be too hot, and great care must be taken in the baking. When they rise up to the top they are sufficiently done.

Cheesecake. No. 2

Blanch half a pound of the best sweet almonds, and beat them very fine. Add two spoonfuls of orange-flower or rose-water, half a pound of currants, half a pound of the finest sugar, beaten and sifted, and two quarts of thick cream, which must be kept stirred over a gentle fire. When almost cold, add eight eggs, leaving out half the whites, well beaten and strained, a little beaten mace and finely powdered cinnamon, with four well pounded cloves. Mix them well into the rest of the ingredients, keeping it still over the fire as before. Pour it well beaten into puff-paste for the oven, and if it be well heated they will be baked in a quarter of an hour.

Cheesecake. No. 3

Take two quarts of milk, make it into curd with a little runnet; when it is drained as dry as possible, put to it a quarter of a pound of butter; rub both together in a marble mortar till smooth; then add one ounce of almonds blanched; beat two Naples biscuits, and about as much crumb of roll; put seven yolks of eggs, but only one white; season it with mace and a little rose-water, and sweeten to your taste.

Cheesecake. No. 4

Break one gallon of milk with runnet, and press it dry; then beat it in a mortar very small; put in half a pound of butter, and beat the whole over again until it is as smooth as butter. Put to it six eggs, leaving out half the whites; beat them very light with sack and rose-water, half a nutmeg grated, half a quarter of a pound of almonds beaten fine with rose-water and a little brandy. Sweeten to your taste; put in what currants you like, make a rich crust, and bake in a quick oven.

Cheesecake. No. 5

A quart of milk with eight eggs beat together; when it is come to a curd, put it into a sieve, and strain the whey out. Beat a quarter of a pound of butter with the curd in a mortar, with three eggs and three spoonfuls of sugar; pound it together very light; add half a nutmeg and a very little salt.

Cheesecake. No. 6

Take a pint of milk, four eggs well beaten, three ounces of butter, half a pound of sugar, the peel of a lemon grated; put all together into a kettle, and set it over a clear fire; keep stirring it till it begins to boil; then mix one spoonful of flour with as much milk as will just mix it, and put it into the kettle with the rest. When it begins to boil, take it off the fire, and put it into an earthen pan; let it stand till the next morning; then add a quarter of a pound of currants, a little nutmeg, and half a glass of brandy.

Almond Cheesecake

Blanch six ounces of sweet and half an ounce of bitter almonds; let them lie half an hour on a stove or before the fire; pound them very fine with two table-spoonfuls of rose or orange-flower water; put in the stewpan half a pound of fresh butter, add to this the almonds, six ounces of sifted loaf-sugar, a little grated lemon-peel, some good cream, and the yolks of four eggs; rub all well together with the pestle; cover the pattypans with puff paste, fill them with the mixture, and bake it half an hour in a brisk oven.

Cocoa-nut Cheesecakes

Take a cocoa-nut, which by many is thought far superior to almonds; grate it the long way; put to it some thick syrup, mixing it by degrees. Boil it till it comes to the consistence of cheese; when half cold add to it two eggs; beat it up with rose-water till it is light: if too thick, add a little more rose-water. When beaten up as light as possible, pour it upon a fine crust in cheesecake pans, and, just before they are going into the oven, sift over some fine sugar, which will raise a nice crust and much improve their appearance. The addition of half a pound of butter just melted, and eight more eggs, leaving out half of the whites, makes an excellent pudding.

Cream Cheesecake

Two quarts of cream set on a slow fire, put into it twelve eggs very well beat and strained, stir it softly till it boils gently and breaks into whey and a fine soft curd; then take the curd as it rises off the whey, and put it into an earthen pan; then break four eggs more, and put to the whey; set it on the fire, and take off the curd as before, and put it to the rest: then add fourteen ounces of butter, half a pound of light Naples biscuit grated fine, a quarter of a pound of almonds beat fine with rose-water, one pound of currants, well washed and picked, some nutmeg grated, and sugar to your taste: a short crust.

Curd Cheesecake

Just warm a quart of new milk; put into it a spoonful of runnet, and set it near the fire till it breaks. Strain it through a sieve; put the curd into a pan, and beat it well with a spoon. Melt a quarter of a pound of butter, put in the same quantity of moist sugar, a little grated nutmeg, two Naples biscuits, grated fine, the yolks of four eggs beat well, and the whites of two, a glass of raisin wine, a few bitter almonds, with lemon or Seville orange-peel cut fine, a quarter of a pound of currants plumped; mix all well together, and put it into the paste and pans for baking.

Lemon Cheesecake

Grate the rind of three to the juice of two lemons; mix them with three sponge biscuits, six ounces of fresh butter, four ounces of sifted sugar, half a gill of cream, and three eggs well beaten. Work them well, and fill the pan, which must be lined with puff-paste; lay on the top some candied lemon-peel cut thin.

Another

Boil the peel of two lemons till tender; pound it in a mortar very fine; blanch and pound a few almond kernels with the peel. Mix a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar, a quarter of a pound of butter, the yolks of six eggs, all together in the mortar, and put it in the puff-paste for baking. This quantity will make twelve or fourteen cakes.

Orange Cheesecake

Take the peel of one orange and a half and one lemon grated; squeeze out the juice; add a quarter of a pound of sugar, and a quarter of a pound of melted butter, four eggs, leaving out the whites, a little Naples biscuit grated, to thicken it, and a little white wine. Put almonds in it if you like.

Scotch Cheesecake

Put one ounce of butter into a saucepan to clarify; add one ounce of powder sugar and two eggs; stir it over a slow fire until it almost boils, but not quite. Line your pattypans with paste; bake the cakes of a nice brown, and serve them up between hot and cold.

Cherries, to preserve. No. 1

Take either morella or carnation; stone the fruit; to morella cherries take the jelly of white currants, drawn with a little water, and run through a jelly-bag; to a pint and a half of jelly, add three pounds of fine sugar. Set it on a quick fire; when it boils, skim it, and put in a pound of stoned cherries. Let them not boil too fast at first; take them off at times; but when they are tender boil them very fast till they are very clear and jelly; then put them into pots or glasses. The carnation cherries must have red currant jelly; if you have not white currant jelly for the morella, codling jelly will do.

Cherries, to preserve. No. 2

To three quarters of a pound of cherries stoned take one pound and a quarter of sugar; leave out a quarter of a pound to strew on them as they boil. Put in the preserving-pan a layer of cherries and a layer of sugar, till they are all in; boil them quick, keeping them closely covered with white paper, which take off frequently, and skim them; strew the sugar kept out over them; it will clear them very much. When they look clear they are done enough. Take them out of the syrup quite clear from the skim; strain the syrup through a fine sieve; then put to it a quarter of a pint of the juice of white currants, put them into the pan again, and boil it till it is a hanging jelly. Just before it is quite done put in the cherries; give them a boil, and put them into pots. There must be fourteen spoonfuls of water put in at first with the cherries.

Cherries, to preserve. No. 3

Stone the cherries, and to twelve pounds of fruit put nine pounds of sugar; boil the sugar-candy high; stir it well; throw in the cherries; let them not boil too fast at first, stirring them often in the pan; afterwards boil them fast till they become tender.

Morella Cherries, to preserve

When you have stalked and stoned your cherries, put to them an equal weight of sugar: make your syrup, skim it, and take it off the fire. Skim it again well, and put in your cherries, shaking them with care in the pan. Boil them, not on a quick fire, lest the fruit should crack; and take them off the fire several times. Let them boil till done; put your cherries into pots; strain the syrup through muslin, and boil it again till thoroughly done.

Morella Cherries, to preserve in Brandy

Take two pounds of morella cherries, when not too ripe, but finely coloured, weighed with their stalks and stones. Put a quart of water and twelve ounces of double-refined sugar into a preserving-pan, and set it over a clear charcoal fire. Let it boil a quarter of an hour; skim it clean, and set it by till cold. Then take away the stalks and stones, and, when the syrup is quite cold, put the stoned cherries into the syrup, set them over a gentle fire, and let them barely simmer till their skins begin to rise. Take them from the fire; pour them into a basin; cut a piece of paper round of the size of the basin; lay it close upon the cherries while hot, and let them stand so till next day. Set a hair sieve in a pan, and pour the cherries into it; let them drain till the syrup is all drained out: boil the syrup till reduced to two-thirds, and set it aside till cold. Put your cherries into a glass jar; put to them a spoonful of their own syrup and one of brandy, and continue to do so till the jar is filled within two inches of the top: then put over it a wet bladder, and a piece of leather over that; tie it down close, and keep it in a warm place.

If you do not mind the stones, merely cut off the stalks of the cherries.

Brandy Cherries

To each bottle of brandy add half a pound of white sugar-candy: let this dissolve; cut the large ripe morella cherries from the tree into a glass or earthen jar, leaving the stalks about half the original length. When the jar is full, pour upon the cherries the brandy as above. Let the fruit be completely covered, and fill it up as the liquor settles. Cork the jar, and tie a leather over the top. Apricot kernels blanched and put in are an agreeable addition.

Cherries, to dry

Stone the cherries, and to ten pounds when stoned put three pounds of sugar finely beaten. Shake the cherries and sugar well together; when the sugar is quite dissolved, give them a boil or two over a slow fire, and put them in an earthen pot. Next day scald them, lay them on a sieve, and dry them in the sun, or in a oven, not too hot. Turn them till they are dry enough, then put them up; but put no paper.

Liquor for dried Cherries

Take some red currants, and boil them in water till it is very red; then put it to your cherries and sugar it; this makes them of a good colour.

Cherry Jam

Take twelve pounds of stoned cherries; boil and break them as they boil, and, when you have boiled all the juice away, and can see the bottom of the pan, put in three pounds of sugar finely beaten: stir it well in; give the fruit two or three boils, and put it in pots or glasses, and cover with brandy paper.

Cocoa

Take three table-spoonfuls of cocoa and one dessert spoonful of flour; beat them well together, and boil in a pint and a half of spring water, upon a slow fire, for two or three hours, and then strain it for use.

Cocoa-Nut Candy

Grate a cocoa-nut on a fine bread grater; weigh it, and add the same quantity of loaf-sugar: melt the sugar with rose-water, of which, for a small cocoa-nut, put six table-spoonfuls. When the syrup is clarified and boiling, throw in the cocoa-nut by degrees; keep stirring it all the time, whilst boiling, with a wooden slice, to prevent it burning to the bottom of the pan, which it is very apt to do, unless great care is taken. When the candy is sufficiently boiled, spread it on a pasteboard previously rubbed with a wet cloth, and cut it in whatever shape you please.

To know when the candy is sufficiently boiled, drop a small quantity on the pasteboard, and if the syrup does not run from the cocoa-nut, it is done enough; when the candy is cold, put it on a dish, and keep it in a dry place.

Coffee, to roast

For this purpose you must have a roaster with a spit. Put in no more coffee than will have room enough to work about well. Set it down to a good fire; put in every now and then a little fresh butter, and mix it well with a spoon. It will take five or six hours to roast. When done, turn it out into a large dish or a dripping-pan, till it is quite dry.

Another way

Take two pounds of coffee, and put it into a roaster. Roast it one hour before a brisk fire; add two ounces of butter, and let it roast till it becomes of a fine brown. Watch, that it does not burn. Two hours and a half will do it. Take half a pound for eight cups.

Coffee to make the foreign way

Take Demarara – Bean Dutch coffee – in preference to Mocha coffee; wash it well. When it is very clean, put it in an earthen vessel, and cover it close, taking great care that no air gets to it; then grind it very thoroughly. Put a good half pint of coffee into a large coffee-pot, that holds three quarts, with a large table-spoonful of mustard; then pour upon it boiling water. It is of great consequence that the water should boil; but do not fill the coffee-pot too full, for fear of its boiling over, and losing the aromatic oil. Then pour the whole contents backwards and forwards several times into a clean cup or basin, wiping the basin or cup each time – this will clear it sufficiently. Let it then stand ten minutes, after which, when cool, pour it clear off the grounds steadily, into clean bottles, and lay them down on their sides, well corked. Do not throw away your coffee grounds, but add another table-spoonful of mustard to them, and fill up the vessel with boiling water, doing as before directed. Be sure to cork the bottles well; lay them down on one side, and before you want to use them set them up for a couple of hours, in case any sediment should remain. Let it come to the boil, always taking care that it is neither smoked nor boils over. All coffee should be kept on a lamp while you are using it.

By following this receipt as much coffee will be obtained for threepence as you would otherwise get for a shilling; and it is the best possible coffee.

To make Cream rise in cold weather

Dip each pan or bowl into a pail of boiling water before you strain the milk into it. Put a close cover over each for about ten minutes: the hot steam causes the cream to rise thick and rich.

Cream, to fry

Take two spoonfuls of fine flour and the yolks of four eggs; grate in the rind of one lemon; beat them well with the flour, and add a pint of cream. Mix these very well together; sweeten to your taste, and add a bit of cinnamon. Put the whole in a stewpan over a slow fire; continue to stir it until it is quite hot; but it must not boil. Take out the cinnamon; beat two eggs very well, and put them into the cream; butter a pewter dish; pour the cream in it; put it into a warm oven to set, but not to colour it. When cold, cut it into pieces, and have ready a stewpan or frying-pan, with a good deal of lard; dredge the cream with flour; fry the pieces of a light brown, grate sugar over them, glaze with a salamander, and serve them very hot.

Artificial Cream and Curd

A pint of good new milk, nine whites of eggs beat up, and well stirred and mixed with the milk; put it on a slow fire to turn; then take it off, and drain it through a fine sieve, and set it into a basin or mould. To make the cream for it, take a pint of milk and the yolks of four eggs well beat, boil it with a bit of cinnamon over a slow fire; keep it constantly stirring; when it is as thick as rich cream, take it off, and stir it a little while afterwards.

Cream of Rice

Wash and well clean some very good rice; put it into a stewpan, with water, and boil it gently till quite soft, with a little cinnamon, if agreeable to the taste. When the rice is boiled quite soft, take out the cinnamon. Then take a large dish, and set it on a table: have a clean tamis – a new one would be better – a tamis is only the piece of flannel commonly used in kitchens for passing sauces through – and give one end of the tamis to a person on the opposite side of the table to hold, while you hold the other end with your left hand. Having a large wooden spoon in your right, you put two or three spoonfuls of boiled rice into this tamis, which is held over the large dish, and rub the rice upon it with the spoon till it passes through into the dish. Whatever sticks to the tamis take off with a silver spoon and put into the dish. When you have passed the quantity you want, put it in a basin. It should be made fresh every day. Warm it for use in a small silver or tin saucepan, adding a little sugar and Madeira, according to your taste.

Almond Cream

Make this in the manner directed for pistachio cream, adding half a dozen bitter almonds to the sweet.

Barley Cream

Take half a pint of pearl barley, and two quarts of water. Boil it half away, and then strain it out. Put in some juice of lemons; sweeten it to your taste. Steep two ounces of sweet almonds in rose-water; and blanch, stamp, and strain them through into the barley, till it is as white as milk.

French Barley Cream

Boil your barley in two or three waters, till it looks white and tender; pour the water clean from the barley, and put as much cream as will make it tolerably thick, and a blade or two of mace, and let it boil. To a pint and a half of cream put two ounces of almonds, blanched and ground with rose-water. Strain them with cold cream; put the cream through the almonds two or three times, wringing it hard. Sweeten to your taste; let it boil; and put it in a broad dish.

Chocolate Cream

Boil a quart of thick cream, scraping into it one ounce of chocolate. Add about a quarter of a pound of sugar; when it is cold put nine whites of eggs; whisk it, and, as the froth rises, put it into glasses.

Citron Cream

To a quarter of a pound of citron pounded put three gills of cream: mill it up with a chocolate-stick till the citron is mixed; put it in sugar if needful.

Clotted Cream

Set the milk in the usual way; when it has stood twelve hours, it is, without being skimmed, to be placed in a stove and scalded, of course not suffered to boil, and then left to stand again for twelve hours; then take off the cream which floats at the top in lumps, for which reason it is called clotted cream; it may be churned into butter; the skim milk makes cheese.

Coffee Cream

Take two ounces of whole coffee, one quart of cream, about four ounces of fine sugar, a small piece of the yellow rind of a lemon, with rather less than half an ounce of the best picked isinglass. Boil these ingredients, stirring them now and then, till the cream is highly flavoured with the coffee. It might, perhaps, be better to flavour the cream first, and then dissolve the isinglass and put it to it. Take it off the fire; have ready the yolks of six eggs beaten, which add to the cream, and continue to beat it till it is about lukewarm, lest the eggs should turn the cream. Strain the whole through a fine sieve into the dish in which you mean to serve it, which must be first fixed into a stewpan of boiling water, that will hold it so commodiously, that the bottom only will touch the water, and not a drop of the water come to the cream. Cover the cream with the lid of a stewpan, and in that lid put two or three bits of lighted charcoal, moving them from one part to another, that it may all set alike; it should only simmer. When it has done in this manner for a short time, take off the cover of the stewpan; if not done enough, cover it again, and put fresh charcoal; it should be done so as to form a weak jelly. Take it off, and keep it in a cool place till you serve it. If you wish to turn it out in a mould, boil more isinglass in it. Tea cream is made in the same manner.