“"My wife ran all over the parish to get provisions for the feast. She and the girls spent the greater part of the night helping the old cook make pastries, whipped creams, blanc-mange, biscuits, and a lot of sweet stuff that I wouldn't give for one steak of fresh codfish, such as one gets on the Banks of Newfoundland. Mr. Jules, for his part, did things up in style. That night he sent out two messengers, one to the northeast, the other to the southwest, carrying invitations; so that by six o'clock the next evening, thanks to his good management, my house was full of guests, who were whirling around like so many gulls, while I was anchored in Quebec, and poor madame, in spite of a frightful cold, was doing the honors of the house with the best grace possible. What do you think, gentlemen, of a trick like that; and what have you to say in your defense, you wolf in sheep's clothing?"”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
When cream is not procurable, which will sometimes happen in the depth of winter, almonds, if plentifully used, will afford a very good substitute, though the finer blanc-mange is made from the foregoing receipt. On four ounces of almonds, blanched and beaten to the smoothest paste, and moistened in the pounding with a few drops of water, to prevent their oiling, pour a pint of boiling quince-juice; stir them together, and turn them into a strong cloth, of which let the ends be held and twisted different ways by two persons, to express the cream from the almonds; put the juice again on the fire, with half a pound of sugar, and when it boils, throw in nearly an ounce of fine isinglass; simmer the whole for five minutes, take off the scum, stir the blanc-mange until it is nearly cold, then mould it for table. Increase the quantity both of this and of the preceding blanc-mange, when a large dish of either is required.
Sources: The passage is from Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, Cameron of Lochiel, tr. Roberts, Charles G. D., Sir, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Acton, Modern cookery for private families of 1845, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — ochre cloth, teapot stamp.