Antique recipes for cold desserts from June 1896.

Date Meringue

This is a delicate dessert, and may be quickly made in a case of unexpected company, if one has at hand the necessary ingredients. Beat the whites of five eggs to a stiff froth, add three tablespoonfuls of sugar, and one-half pound of dates, stoned and cut up fine. Bake fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. Serve, as soon as cool, with thick, sweet cream or a custard made with the yolks.

Strawberry Bananas

Select six firm, good-sized bananas, split them open carefully, and remove the pulp. Beat the pulp to a cream, measure, and add half as many strawberries, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and one tablespoonful of sherry or orange juice. Mix well together, being very careful not to make the pulp too liquid, then fill the banana skins and stand them on ice. To serve properly, the bananas should be tied with narrow ribbons of green and dull-red. When strawberries are not in season, peaches, cherries, or orange pulp may be used, changing the flavoring accordingly.

Green Currant Pie

Strip currants, two-thirds grown, from the stem; stew until soft. Sweeten to taste and pour into a pie dish. Dredge with flour or cornstarch, and add a half teacupful of seeded raisins to a pie. Bake slowly.  Serve cold.

Caramel Pudding

This is a dainty dessert for a hot day. Place a cupful of light brown sugar in a saucepan over the stove until it browns and has a caramel taste. Add a tablespoonful of butter and half a cupful of sweet milk and let it cook twelve minutes. Add to it nearly a pint of milk and two and a half tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, stirring constantly. When very stiff and well-cooked, remove from the stove, flavor with vanilla and pour into moulds.  Serve with whipped cream.

Coffee Mousse

A teacupful of the strongest and clearest coffee must be made, using a quarter of a pound of coffee to a teacupful of water. Put the coffee, when made, with two yolks of eggs and an ounce of sugar, in a double boiler, and stir over the fire till the mixture thickens; then let it get cold.

Whip a pint of cream quite stiff, and add the coffee to it by degrees so that it is smooth and thick. Serve this either frozen or simply cold in teacups with saucers.

Gooseberry Meringue

Boil two quarts of green gooseberries in a little water and some moist sugar; pulp them through a sieve, and lay the pulp at the bottom of a shallow pie dish. Beat up the yolks of three eggs and add to them three-quarters of a pint of milk; pour this on the top of the fruit, and place in moderate oven to bake. When nearly done, whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, mix in lightly one ounce sugar and pile it on the custard. Return it to the oven to brown.