Recipe for "spanish-cream"

NAME

     SPANISH-CREAM - Exquisite New Zealand custard dessert
     This dessert was a family favourite, and although we used to
     eat it in conjunction with some flavored jellies, it's deli-
     cious in its own right.  The recipe comes  from  my  mother,
     and I don't know what the Spanish part signifies.

INGREDIENTS (serves six)

     600 ml    milk (one Imperial pint)
     20 ml     gelatine
     2         eggs
     2.5 ml    vanilla essence
     60 g      sugar

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Save a small amount of the milk; put the rest in a
               saucepan, together with the sugar and vanilla, and
               heat.
          (2)  Separate the egg whites and save for later.   Beat
               the  egg  yolks with the remainder of the milk and
               add to the heating mixture.
          (3)  Stir to ensure the sugar is dissolved and bring to
               near  boiling  point  to thoroughly cook the eggs.
               Do not actually boil.
          (4)  Take the saucepan  off  the  heat.   Dissolve  the
               gelatine  in  60 ml of boiling water and stir into
               hot custard.
          (5)  Pour into serving dish and put  into  refrigerator
               to cool.
          (6)  When mixture has cooled and almost set (it  should
               be  shivery at this point) thoroughly beat the egg
               whites until stiff and fold them in using a  metal
               spoon.  Return mixture to refrigerator to properly
               set.

NOTES

     The texture of this dessert is supposed to  be  semi-fluffy.
     In this regard, step 6 is somewhat critical.  If you fold in
     the egg whites too soon, the liquid  custard  won't  support
     them and you end up with a two-layer result-solid custard on
     top, very light on the bottom.  Some people may  like  this,
     but  it's  not the way I make it.  On the other hand, if you
     leave things too long, it becomes difficult to fold  in  the
     egg whites at all.
     It's a good idea to whip the custard a little  with  a  fork
     prior  to folding in the whites.  This breaks up the custard
     a little.
     Depending on sweetness of taste, you may wish to  alter  the
     amount  of  sugar.   Our  family had a sweet tooth, and I've
     reduced the original quantity as it is.
     One of the amazing things about this dessert is that it's so
     easy to make, and yet tastes so good.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 20 minutes +  setting.   Precision:
     approximate measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Peter C. Maxwell,
     Computer Science Dept., Uni. of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
     peterm%cadvax.oz@seismo.css.gov