Thursday, October 20, 2005
It is not something on which one can make a living, but tonight, slogging through the egg research, I had a moment of purest research-based incandescent happiness, the kind where your immediate surroundings fall away from you because you're enraptured by what you see on the page in front of you. Call me a sap, call me a nerd, call me a sentimental fool, but I am delighted by this beautiful piece of writing, found in The Virginia House-wife by Mary Randolph, originally published in 1824, now published in facsimile by the University of South Carolina Press, with historical notes and commentaries by the grand and brilliant Karen Hess. (This is another book that really deserves a post of its own, which gives me an idea...) Although it is no longer necessary to rinse salt from butter or to stone raisins, the advice here still holds true; if you follow Mrs. Randolph's directions, your cakes will be the better for them. If you happened to read today's lead article in the Dining In/Dining Out section of the New York Times, and you asked yourself, "Is there really no middle ground between Rachael Ray and haute cuisine/celebrity chefs/foam-and-sous-vide nerds/elite foodies?", get yourself a copy of The Virginia House-wife, and know the answer: There is a middle ground. It's called home cooking, and while not all of it is adaptable from generation to generation, century to century, a formidable amount of it is. It is embedded in our history -- it *is* our history -- and it would be a shame to lose it.
Without further ado...
OBSERVATIONS ON PUDDINGS AND CAKES.
The salt should always be washed from butter, when it is to be used in any thing that has sugar for an ingredient, and also from that which is melted to grease any kind of mould for baking, otherwise, there will be a disagreeable salt taste on the outer side of the article baked. Raisins should be stoned and cut in two, and have some flour sifted over them, stir them gently in the flour, and take them out free from lumps; the small quantity that adheres to them will prevent their sticking together, or falling in a mass to the bottom. Eggs must be fresh, or they will not beat well; it is better to separate the yelks from the whites always, though it is a more troublesome process, but for some things it is essential to do so; when they are to be mixed with milk, let it cool after boiling, or the eggs will poach, and only set it on the fire a few minutes to take off the raw taste of the eggs, stirring it all the time. Currants require washing in many waters to cleanse them; they must be picked and well dried, or they will stick together. Almonds should be put in hot water till the skins will slip off, which is called blanching; they must always be pounded with rose or orange flower water, to prevent their oiling. When cream is used, put it in just before the mixture is ready; much beating will decompose it. Before a pudding or cake is begun, every ingredient necessary for it must be ready; when the process is retarded by neglecting to have them prepared, the article is injured. The oven must be in a proper state, and the paste in the dishes or moulds ready for such things as require it. Promptitude is necessary in all our actions, but never moreso than when engaged in making cakes and puddings. When only one or two eggs are to be used, cooks generally think it needless to beat them; it is an error; eggs injure every thing unless they are made light before they are used. Cloths for boiling puddings should be made of German sheeting; an article less thick will admit the water and injure the pudding.
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Bakerina at 12:37 AM in
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Beautiful. And there have been times when I have needed to be reminded:
“When only one or two eggs are to be used, cooks generally think it needless to beat them; it is an error; eggs injure every thing unless they are made light before they are used.”
Yummy. So which will it be this weekend. Pudding or cake? Cake or pudding?
must...get...those raisins...stoned...cool…
I love the advice about rose water or orange water to keep almonds from “oiling”. I think I will try it to see if it means that almonds are less likely to turn into almond butter in a food processor- especially nice because I make a cake with ground almonds that uses orange flower water anyway.
BTW, and completely unrelated to your post, I am thinking about trying to make puff pastry for the first time. This is not my usual sort of thing, really, but I can’t afford to buy the premade stuff I like, and I’m not at all crazy about the way the supermarket puff pastry tastes. Is there a method you suggest? (I don’t necessarily need a whole recipe, point me in the right direction and I’ll find it.)
Lindy! I was just visiting your page! What are the odds? 
I share your pain on puff pastry; the good stuff is very dear, the affordable stuff is just plain rank. Making puff the classic way is a bit of a palaver, but it’s fun to do at least once.
Since I’m at the office, I don’t have my books to hand, but I’m pretty sure that Nick Malgieri’s How to Bake contains, if nothing else, his recipe for Quick Puff Pastry, which is made in a food processor. It’s not quite as flaky as the classic, but it’s still pretty flaky, and delicious, too. (Nick is the head of the pastry program at my culinary alma mater; in our school text, the classic puff and the quick puff recipes were side by side, but I can’t remember if he has the classic puff in How to Bake.
I’m trying to think where else you might find recipes. Anne Willan’s La Varenne Pratique might have one, and I’m sure that The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum has one, too. I’ll double-check once I get home.
I don’t actually fathom the whole concept of odds. It always seems to me that if there’s any chance of something happening, it might as well be 50%, because, well, either it will happen, or it won’t. I realize this is symptomatic of some sort of cognitive impairment.
It does seem like maybe I should try one of the “quick” types of puff pastry- anapestic also favors this , and recommended the Julia Child/Dorie Greenspan one. I seem to have that here, and the Pie and Pastry Bible too, but I’d actually been thinking about buying How to Bake and this would be a good excuse.
All additional tips appreciated. I have no pastry marble. Is this fatal?
BTW, there is a newish Mancini storefront in the strip. My friends’ daughter worked there this summer. The people are truly so nice, that I feel guilty about finding their pasty bread gruesome. .
I’m was with Jamie on asking if it will be pudding or cake, but now I’m thinking: Will it be pudding cake?
I’m surprised that you don’t have your own bakery since you’re so good at it and you love it so much. Everything you post about on here that you make is so mouth watering.
Oh, Bak, I made a custard/pudding thing this morning, thinking of this exquisite quote all the while. I did beat the eggs, though I did not flour the raisins (as there were no raisins to be floured) but I was comforted all the while by this idea that doing these little tasks with thought and dignity and craftsmanship is a long tradition alive and well in these crazy times. Sometimes, when I bother to measure accurately, I can be a part of that soul nourishing history.
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Beautiful. And there have been times when I have needed to be reminded:
“When only one or two eggs are to be used, cooks generally think it needless to beat them; it is an error; eggs injure every thing unless they are made light before they are used.”