I whipped up this cold coffee treat with Kay Francis collector Kenton Bymaster.
Kay Francis isn't nearly as well known as she should be. Her film career only ran from 1929 to 1946 and many of these films weren't revived for decades until Turner Classic Movies started showing them. Several of them are also available on DVD including the popular "Forbidden Hollywood" collections that feature her pre-code work. She famous quipped, "I can't wait to be forgotten", but that is not likely to happen.
The Recipe
This recipe is from Food and Fashions of 1934 and was gifted to me by my friend Krista Lawler.
Coffee Souffle
Mix 1 1/2 cups strong coffee, 1 tablespoon gelatine, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup milk. Heat in a double broiler, add yolks of 3 eggs slightly beaten and mix and 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook until it thickens. Add the whites of the eggs beaten stiff and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Mold, chill and serve with whipped cream.
Special Guest
Kenton Bymaster is an Ohio born movie fan who relocated to Los Angeles as soon as he was out of high school. He is a fan of Pre-Code, Soap Opera, and collecting and restoring posters. Kenton works at Warner Bros. in Archival Mastering where he has been on staff for over 20 years, is a black cat owner and loves to cook and entertain.
The Final Product
This recipe gave me an excuse to whip out my mint condition 1930s jello mold that I found on ebay.
Kenton and I both found that the mixture doesn't thicken very well on the stove no matter how much you stir it. Overall it turned out well, but we also discovered that it disintegrates
very quickly quickly and you need to serve and eat it asap. We both agree that it is best to let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.
As you will see in the video, the power went out on my entire block during this episode. I was very stressed, but it finally came back on and I was able to get back on track. That said, I did some stress eating and consumed much of my final product on camera, so the finished souffle picture below is from Kenton.
If you want to learn more about Kay Francis, check out the following book:
There are plenty of Kay Francis films on DVD and on streaming services like Amazon Prime if you'd like to check them out! These are just a few of the titles to get you started.....