Recipes For Junket

Plain Junket.--In the stomachs of all animals that use milk as food is found a digestive ferment known as rennin. This is taken from the stomachs of calves, made up commercially, and sold in the form of tablets called junket. When these tablets are used properly with milk, they coagulate the milk and make an excellent dessert that resembles custard and that is very easy to digest. Because of its nature and qualities, this kind of dessert is used largely for invalids and children. The following recipe gives the proportion and directions for making this dessert in its simplest form.

PLAIN JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 junket tablet
1 Tb. cold water
1 qt. milk
4 Tb. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring

Dissolve the junket tablet in the cold water. Warm the milk very slowly to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, testing the temperature to make sure that it is right. If a thermometer is not on hand, this can be done by dropping a drop on the back of the hand. When neither heat nor cold can be felt from this drop of milk, it may be known to be very near the body temperature, the temperature at which rennin is active. If temperature is found to be too high, the milk must be cooled before the tablet is added. When the desired temperature has been reached, add the sugar, the alt, the junket dissolved in the water, and the flavoring. Then pour all into individual molds and keep it where it will remain warm for about 10 minutes, at the end of which it should be firm like a custard and may be cooled. Keep the junket cool until it is to be served, when it may be turned out of the mold or served in it. As junket will turn to whey if it is broken with a spoon to any extent, serving it in the mold is the better plan.

Junket With. Fruit.--The addition of fruit to junket, as in the dish illustrated in Fig. 8, makes an attractive dessert for both sick and well people. If the fruit used is permissible in the diet of an invalid, its combination with junket adds variety to the diet. In the making of this dessert, all juice should be carefully drained from the fruit before the junket is poured over it. Canned or fresh fruits may be used with equally good results.

JUNKET WITH FRUIT (Sufficient to Serve Eight)

1 junket tablet
1 Tb. cold water
1 qt. milk
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Flavoring
8 halves of canned peaches or
1 c. of berries or small fruit

Make a junket as directed in the preceding recipe. Drain all juice from the fruit and place a half peach or a spoonful of fruit in the bottom of each of the eight molds and pour the junket over it to fill the mold. Let it solidify and serve cold.

CHOCOLATE JUNKET.--Chocolate added to plain junket not only varies the junket dessert, but also adds food value, since chocolate contains a large quantity of fat that is easily digested by most persons. Where the flavor of chocolate is found agreeable, such junket may be served in place of the plain junket.

CHOCOLATE JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

3 c. milk
2 sq. chocolate
6 Tb. sugar
3/4 c. water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 junket tablet

Heat the milk to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, testing in the manner explained in Art. 62. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan, add to it the sugar and 1 cupful of water, and cook until smooth; then cool and add to the warm milk, putting in the salt, vanilla, and junket tablet dissolved in cupful of the water. Turn the junket into a dish or into molds and let stand in a warm place until set; then chill and serve. In preparing this recipe, it will be well to note that if sweet chocolate is used less sugar than is specified may be employed.

CARAMEL JUNKET.--In the making of caramel junket, browned, or caramelized, sugar and water take the place of part of the milk, and while a certain amount of the sugar is reduced in the browning, the caramel is still very high in food value and adds nutritive material to the dessert. There is nothing about caramel junket to prevent its being given to any one able to take plain junket, and if it is made correctly it has a very delightful flavor.

CARAMEL JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Six)

3 c.     milk
1/2 c.   sugar
1/2 c.   boiling water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp.   vanilla
1        junket tablet
         Whipped cream
1/4 c.   chopped nuts

Heat the milk to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Caramelize the sugar by melting it in a saucepan directly over the flame until it is a light-brown color; then stir in the boiling water and cook until the caramel and the water become a sirup, after which cool and add to the milk Add the salt, the vanilla, and the junket tablet dissolved in a tablespoonful of cold water Pour the mixture into a dish, let it stand in a warm place until it sets; then chill, cover with sweetened whipped cream, sprinkle with chopped nuts, and serve.