SC - Re: A couple questions . . .

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Here are some modern recipes for similar Almond Cookies to the ones we've
been discussing. naturally, as soon as i wnt looking for Ratafia cakes they
dissapeared off the face off the earth. i can't find the recipe anywhere,
but I'm hindered by 2 chicken-pocky kids, so it will be a while 'till i can
really hunt for it.

In the Meantime:

Almond Whirls (from the late 40s early 50s)

2 egg whites
6 oz ground almonds
3 oz castor sugar
1 egg
A squeeze of lemon juice
rice paper 
glace' cherries

Whisk th egg whites and add the ground almonds, sugar, and sufficient beaten
egg and lemon juice to give a soft paste. Put the mixture into a forcing bag
fitted with a large star nozzle, and pipe small whirls onto a baking tin
lined with rice paper. Decorate each biscuit with a piece of glace cherry,
brush with a little egg white, and bake in a moderately hot oven (350
degrees) for 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Rout Cakes (which I may have confused with Ratafia, but will keep looking)

Whoops, I just found Ratafia. That's what they drank with the rout cakes.
Here's the whole blurb and recipe, for those interested:

Excerpt from Farmhouse Cookery, Recipes From The Country Kitchen, Reader's
Digest Books, London, 1980

Rout Cakes

"During the 18th and 19th centuries as Rout meant a large gathering of
people--not by any means a disorderly gathering as the term would suggest
now. A favorite social event among the wealthier classes was the Rout Party,
when a large assembly of people would gather for an evening reception. Their
drink would be ratafia--brandy flavored with almond or apricot kernels--or
lemonade mixed with spirits. There would also be dishes laden with tiny
ornamental biscuits made with almonds or hazlenuts. These wer so much part
of the occaision that they earned themselves the name of Rout Cakes.
Nowadays, they often go by their french name, petits fours."  (!!!!)

Preparation time 45 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Pre-heat the oven to 170 C (325 F) Gas mark 3

Ingredients for about 18 cakes



A sheet of rice paper
1 egg white
3 ozs ground almonds or ground hazlenuts
1 1/2 ozs castor sugar
1/4 tsp almond essence (if using almonds)
A few glace' cherries
a few strips of angelica
a few split, blanched almonds
a few pieces of crystellized ginger

For the glaze
2 teaspoons castor sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 ozs plain chocolate (optional)

Line a baking sheet with the rice paper.  Whisk the egg white very stiffly
and fold in the almonds or hazlenuts, and the sugar. Add the almond essence
if using almonds.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 in. star nozzle. Pipe
about 18 small rings, fingers, and circles, leaving a little space round
each cake. Decorate each shape with a piece of cherry, angellica, almond, or
ginger.

Bake the cakes on the middle shelf of the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes
until lightly browned.

Make the glaze by dissolving the remaining sugar in the milk. Brush the
cakes with this immediately after removing from the oven, then lift each one
onto a cooling rack.

When the cakes are quite cold, remove any excess rice paper from the edges.
If you like, you can dip the ends of some of the finger shapes into melted
chocolate and then leave it to harden.


Hope you like these English sweets .


Aoife

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