Mold (baking)

“ To remove a molded dessert from the mold before serving, first clean the mold thoroughly of ice and salt and wipe it dry with a cloth. Then remove the cover and allow it to stand for a few minutes in a warm place. This treatment will cause the outside of the frozen mixture to melt slightly and permit it to slip easily from the mold. A warm cloth or warm water is sometimes used to melt the surface, and it accomplishes the work more quickly; but when the mold is so treated it is likely not to look so well. ”

“ Molding Ice-Creams.—Put the frozen ice-cream into the mold, filling it entirely full; press it down to force out any air bubbles. Rub butter around the edge where the lid fits on. Lay a wet thin paper over the top, and put on the lid. Fill the edges around the lid with butter or lard. Precaution. This will harden, and make the joints tight. Too much care cannot be taken to prevent the salt water leaking into the mold. Imbed the mold in ice and salt for from one to six hours. Mousses require four to six hours, and parfaits two to three hours. ”

“ Molds feed upon all cakes or breads, upon meat, cheese, and many raw vegetables. They are almost sure to grow upon flour if it is allowed to get damp. Moisture seems necessary for their growth. Jelly is a substance particularly favorable to molds for this reason. Shoes, leather, cloth, paper, or even moist wood will give food enough to support their growth. At least one troublesome disease, ringworm, is due to the growth of molds in the skin.
What Mold does to Foods.—Mold usually changes the taste of the material it grows upon, rendering it "musty" and sometimes unfit to eat. ”

“ Wash and hull berries, sprinkle with sugar and let stand one hour; mash and rub through fine sieve; add gelatine which has been soaked in cold water and dissolved in boiling water. Set in pan of ice water and stir until it begins to thicken; fold in whipped cream. Put into mold, cover, pack in salt and ice, 1 part salt to 3 parts ice; let stand 4 hours. Raspberries, peaches, shredded pineapple, or other fruit can be substituted for strawberries.
SOUPS
The basis of all good soups is the stock or liquid in which bones, cooked or uncooked meat or vegetables have been boiled. ”

“ Stand the mold or molds in a pan of water, covering them one half or a little more. Cover them with a greased paper and let them poach in a slow oven ten to fifteen minutes for small, and twenty minutes for large molds. If the center feels firm to the touch they are done. The water must not be allowed to boil; slow cooking is necessary to have them tender. Let the molds stand a minute in the water, then invert on a cloth to let the moisture drain off, and unmold them on the dish on which they are to be served. ”

“ If a small mould or a number of small moulds are to be used in a large cooker-pail, stand them upon a rack or similar device to raise them until there may be no difficulty in filling the cooker-pail at least two-thirds full of water. The cover as well as the mould should be greased on the inside with [155] the same fat as that used in the dough or with butter. If a bread mould is not available, an empty baking-powder can, coffee can, or any tin can or box with straight sides which has a tight-fitting cover may be used, providing it is found by trial to be water-tight. ”

“ Mix corn starch, sugar and salt together with a little of the cold milk. Put remainder of milk on to scald with chocolate, which has been cut into small pieces. As soon as chocolate is dissolved, stir in the corn starch mixture. Cook until thick and smooth, stirring constantly. Set over hot water and cook about 20 minutes longer. Add flavoring; pour into a mold which has been wet in cold water. Chill, and serve cold with sweetened whipped cream. ”

“ Butter is not well suited to the growth of mold, but the paper used for lining the tubs, or wrapping the prints is an excellent medium for mold growth. The wood of the tub also furnishes ample food for this type of life, especially where the wood contains any sap. One other essential condition for mold growth is a supply of oxygen. The mold spores are widely disseminated, and are always to be found on the butter tubs and on the paper. ”

“ Blend with salt, salad dressing, lemon juice and mix well. Fold in pineapple, cherries, nuts, bananas and marshmallows. Whip cream till thick (not stiff) , and fold into cheese mixture. Turn into freezing trays of refrigerator. Freeze until firm with cold control set at coldest setting. Yield: 8 to 10 servings.
MOLDED SALADS: Before using the mold or molds when making gelatin salads, rinse them in cold water. Leave excess moisture on the molds, or brush molds lightly with salad oil. If square sided molds are used they can be lined with strips of cellophane. ”

“ Keep the storage areas clean and free of decaying fruit and vegetables; otherwise, molds and bacteria will spread to your sound produce.
If you store nuts (especially peanuts) , soybeans, other dry beans or peas, make every effort to prevent growth of molds. Moisture, temperature, and time are necessary to promote their growth. A harmful toxin may be produced if mold growth is allowed to progress. It is important that storage areas be regularly checked so as to avoid this type of contamination. ”

“ In the case of the cheddar cheese and other types of hard cheese, it is essential that their surfaces be kept clean, and not discolored by the growth of molds, which find favorable conditions for growth on the surface of the cheese in the moist atmosphere of the curing room. The molding of cheddar cheese can be prevented by covering the cheese with a layer of paraffin which stops the development of the mold spores, by shutting off the necessary supply of oxygen. ”

“ Too great or very little heat will prevent growth and kill everything except the spores. They obtain their food from the material on which they live. This they are able to do by means of digestive enzymes given out by the rootlike parts, by means of which the molds cling to the bread. These digestive enzymes change the starch of the bread to sugar and the protein to a soluble form which will pass by osmosis into cells of the mold. Thus the mold is able to absorb food material. These foods are then used to supply energy and make protoplasm. ”

“ The leaven or yeast acts upon the saccharine mucilage of the dough, and, by the aid of heat and moisture, disengages carbonaceous matter, which, uniting with oxygen, forms carbonic acid gas. This, being prevented from escaping by the gluten of the dough, causes the mass to become light and spongy. During the process of baking, the increased heat disengages more of the fixed air, which is further prevented from escaping by the formation of the crust. The superfluous moisture having been expelled, the substance becomes firm, and retains that spongy hollowness which distinguishes good bread. ”

“ The surface may be strewed with currants, fillets of pistachios or coarse sugar, and cut into different forms with tin cutters.
It may also be formed into baskets, vases, etc. Oil the interior of a mold, and spread the nogat over it, whilst warm, as thin and even as possible. To save the fingers from being burned, it may be spread with a lemon. Detach it from the mold when warm, and let it remain until cold, that it may [Pg 23] retain its shape perfectly, then fasten the different parts together with caramel sugar. ”

“ Fruit may be molded in the jelly by chilling part of mixture, adding fruit, then jelly; chilling and so on until mold is filled.
Jelly Roll
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 tablespoons hot water
currant or other jelly
Sift dry ingredients; stir in beaten eggs; add hot water slowly; beat until smooth; pour into large well greased pan. Batter should be spread very thin and not more than 1/4 inch thick when baked. Bake in moderate oven 8 to 10 minutes. Turn out on sheet of brown paper; beat jelly with fork and spread on cake. ”

“ These caverns are always very moist and have a temperature ranging from 35° to 44° F., so that the growth of the fungus is retarded considerably. The spread of the mold throughout the ripening mass is also assisted in a mechanical way. The partially-matured cheese are run through a machine that pricks them full of small holes. These slender canals allow the mold organism to penetrate the whole mass more thoroughly, the moldy straw matting upon which the ripening cheese are placed helping to furnish an abundant seeding of the desired germ. ”

“ Among the more important foreign types of cheese that are characterized by the development of mold is Roquefort, so named from the district in France in which it is made. This cheese is made from sheep's milk, in much the same manner as cheddar. The characteristic process in its preparation is the inoculation of the curd, at the time it is put to press, with the spores of a particular kind of mold, a type closely related to the ordinary green mold of bread and cheese. The mold for inoculation is grown on bread, the whole mass being dried so that it can be powdered ”

“ Scald milk in double boiler. Mix corn starch with a little cold milk; add beaten eggs, sugar and a few grains of salt; mix well and add slowly to scalded milk, stirring until it thickens. Cool and add fruit, which has been put through food chopper. The fruit is a matter of taste. It may be 2 tablespoons raisins, 1 tablespoon citron, 1 tablespoon cherries, 1 tablespoon blanched almonds and 1 tablespoon candied pineapple. Freeze, but not too stiff; put into mold and pack in ice and salt until ready to serve. ”

“ The loaf is baked in order to kill the ferment, to render the starch soluble, to expand the carbonic acid gas and drive off the alcohol, to stiffen the gluten and to form a crust which shall have a pleasant flavor. Much of the indigestibility of bread is owing to the imperfect baking; unless the interior of the loaf has reached the sterilizing point, 212° F., the bacteria contained in the yeast will not be killed, and some of the gas will remain in the centre of the loaf. The scientific method of baking bread is to fix the air cells as quickly as possible at first. ”

“ Care of food after cooking.—Bread, cake, cookies, and pastry should be cooled on a rack, or spread out in such a way that they do not steam. They should then be placed in a tin box or stone jar, which has been cleaned by washing and scalding with boiling water, and thoroughly dried. This process destroys any mold that might be lurking about. Keep paraffin paper on hand to cover this class of food in its box or jar. This will prevent too rapid drying out. Do not use cloth. It flavors the bread or cake, no matter how clean it may be. ”

“ With many varieties of cheese, especially some of the foreign types, the presence of mold on the exterior is not regarded as detrimental; in fact a limited development is much desired. In hard rennet cheese as cheddar or Swiss, the market demands a product free from mold, although it should be said that this condition is imposed by the desire to secure a good-looking cheese rather than any injury in flavor that the mold causes. Mold spores are so widely distributed that, if proper temperature and moisture conditions prevail, these spores will always develop. ”

“ Bacteria, yeasts and molds should have been destroyed if the food was properly processed.
When you open the container, look for such danger signs as spurting, cloudy or frothy liquid, an “off” odor, deterioration, or slimy texture. A foamy or murky appearance and patches of mold are visible signs of 319 spoilage. That ordinary looking mold on home-canned food may indicate the presence of a much more deadly problem: botulism.
ALWAYS label home-canned foods.
Destroy food if any of these signs are obvious; discard out of reach of humans and animals. ”

“ As cold water is warmer than the ordinary freezing mixture, after you lift the can or mold, wipe off the salt, hold it for a minute under the cold water spigot, then quickly wipe the top and bottom and remove the lid. Loosen the pudding with a limber knife, hold the mold a little slanting, give it a shake, and nine times out of ten it will come out quickly, having the perfect shape of the can or mold. If the cream still sticks and refuses to come out, wipe the mold with a towel wrung from warm water. ”

“ Such treatment insures, of course, a very rapid growth of these plants, inside as well as outside. Most commonly, however, the cheese-maker depends upon his straw mats for the molds, and expects them to grow chiefly on the surface. The molds which develop in the cheese are not all of the same species. The common blue mold is most usual, but most cheeses are not properly ripened until several species of molds grow together within them. ”

“ Mold can grow on virtually any organic substance. Most buildings are full of organic materials that mold can use as food, including paper, cloth, wood, plant material, and even soil. In most cases, temperature is not an issue; some molds grow in warm areas, while others prefer cool locations such as bread stored in a refrigerator. Often, more than one type of mold can be found growing in the same area, although conditions such as moisture, light, and temperature may favor one species of mold over another. ”

“ Put the mold in a cool place, and let it become thoroughly cold. Have one pint of milk in a bowl; break in four eggs, add a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar and a teaspoonful of lemon essence. Beat well for five minutes; strain through a sieve into another bowl, and fill the mold with this cream. Place it in a tin pan filled with water to half the [361] height of the mold, and place in a very moderate oven for forty-five minutes. When of a good golden color remove, and cool for at least two hours. Turn it on a dessert-dish, and serve with its own juice. ”