In the two recipes previously described no decorations are used. But when there is an opportunity of decorating a hot dessert, such as a charlotte or an omelette soufflée, fruits cooked in a heavy sugar syrup are used, Then glacéed cherries and angelica are arranged on or around them for a final bright sparkle. Many hot desserts are coated with apricot sauce which should he heated.
Here is a useful trick that will help you when serving a flaming dessert. Use liqueur that has been slightly warmed and sprinkle the dessert with sugar before pouring the spirit on. Remember, too, that canned fruit has been cooked already and will be too soft if boiled. so merely heat it.
Omelette for Two
Medium-sized omelettes are as a rule better than larger ones because an omelette made of too many eggs is difficult to handle. Mix 3 to 4 eggs lightly with a fork and add ¼ teaspoon salt. Be careful not to overheat the eggs. Place 1 tablespoon butter in an omelette pan and let it become hazelnut brown. Put the eggs in the butter and stir briskly with a fork to prevent the eggs from sticking to the pan. They should congeal immediately upon contact with the hot butter. Roll the omelettee by moving the skillet and folding both sides with a fork. Invert a serving dish over the pan, then turn the pan and dish over to slip the omelette onto the dish.
Omelette au Rbum
Spread an omelette with jam or marmalade and roll it. Warm 2 or 3 ounces of rum in a pan. Turn the omelette onto a hot serving dish and sprinkle it with sugar. Pour 2 or 3 ounces of warm rum over the omelette. Light the rum and spoon the Homing spirit over the omelette. Serve immediately.
Charlotte de Poultries (Apple Charlotte)
Cut enough bread in fairly thin slices to cover the bottom and sides of a charlotte mold or deep casserole. Dip the bread in melted butter and cover the bottom and sides of the mold with over-lapping slices of the bread. This gives the finished pudding more rigidity.
Peel and quarter enough apples to fill the mold and cook in a little butter until they are soft and thick and all surplus juice is cooked away. Add a little sugar or a little lemon juice, depending on the taste of the apples. Fill the mold with apples and bake it on a heavy baking sheet in a hot oven (425° F.) for 40 to 45 minutes, or until if is golden-brown. If a heavy baking sheet is not availe, set the mold in a shallow pan with coarse salt in the bottom to prevent the bottom from browning too much. Let the mold stand for 5 to 10 minutes after removing from the oven and then invert it on a warm serving dish. Serve the charlotte with hot apricot sauce (see page 60).
Ananas à la Crème (Cream-filled Pineapple)
Remove the top of a fresh pineapple and cut out the inside pulp, leaving a shell about ½ inch thick. Cut the pulp in thin slices and cook them in a light sugar syrup for about 10 minutes. Fill the pineapple with alternating layers of crème pâtissière (see September, 1951) and the cooked pineapple, starting and finishing with the crème. Reserve some slices of pineapple for garnishing. Sprinkle with macaroon crumbs and a little melted butter. Bake in D hot oven (425° F.) until golden-brown. Arrange the pineapple on a hot serving dish and garnish with the remaining pineapple slices, coating them with apricot sauce. Canned pineapple may be similarly prepared in a baking dish.
Poires des Vignerons (Pears in Red Wine)
Peel, core, and mince 5 or 6 apples. Cook until soft in I tablespoon butter with ¼ cup sugar and a piece of stick cinnamon. Discard the cinnamon and add 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts. Bring to a boil 5 ounces of red wine, 1 cup sugar, a small piece of stick cinnamon, and a piece of lemon rind. Peel 6 pears and poach them in the wine syrup until soft. Put the apple mixture in a serving bowl and arrange the pears on top. Cook the syrup until it is reduced CO about half the original quantity and pour it over the pears. Just before serving. warm 2 ounces of rum or cognac, pour over all, and ignite at the table.
Hot rice pudding à l'anglaise is simple and very good. But rice can be used as the base of many hot desserts, and for this purpose I have always prepared a kind of rice custard which is creamy and light and which lends itself to croquettes, molded puddings, and many other dishes. The dessert is then more delectable than is ever possible when plain boiled rice is the base. In making this foundation, called rice for entremets, the trick is to cook the rice partially and then rinse out surplus starch that might make the final mixture gummy or sticky. When it is time to finish the cooking in milk, remember that unless you have a heavy pan and can turn down the heat very low it is wiser to use a doe boiler to prevent scorching.
Hot Rice Pudding à l'Anglaise
Cook 2 cups milk, ½ cup rice, and a small piece of vanilla bean in a double boiler for about 45 minutes, Stirring from time to time. Mix together 2 egg yolks, ¼ cup sugar, and ¼ cup cream and stir gently into the rice and milk. Bring to the boiling point, remove the vanilla bean, and turn the rice into a baking dish. Brown quickly in a very hot oven or under the broiler flame. Serve hot with cream.
Kiev for Entremets (Rice for Desserts)
Wash 1 cup rice in cold water, put it in a saucepan, and add cold water to cover generously. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Drain the rice in a sieve and rinse well in running cold water. Return the rice to the pan or put it in the top of a doe boiler with 2 ½ cups scalded milk, 6 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and a piece of vanilla bean. Bring to a boil and add 1 tablespoon butter. Cover the pan and simmer very gently for about ½ hour or cook in the top of a doe boiler for about 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender. Toss the rice with a fork to separate the grains and add 3 egg yolks mixed with 2 tablespoons cream, tossing all together carefully with a fork. Spread the mixture on a platter to cool.
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