401

CHAPTER XVI.
PASTRY.

Mould for French Pies, or Passeroles of Rice.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

The greatest possible cleanliness and nicety should be observed in making pastry. The slab or board, paste-rollers, tins, cutters, stamps, everything, in fact, used for it, and especially the hands (for these last are not always so scrupulously attended to as they ought to be), should be equally free from the slightest soil, or particle of dust. The more expeditiously the finer kinds of crust are made and despatched to the oven, and the less they are touched the better. Much of their excellence depends upon the baking also; they should have a suffi­cient degree of heat to raise them quickly, but not so fierce a one as to colour them too much before they are done, and still less to burn them. The oven-door should remain closed after they are put in, and not removed until the paste is set. Large raised pies require a steadily sustained, or, what is technically called, a soaking heat, and to ensure this the oven should be made very hot, then cleared, and closely shut from half to a whole hour before it is used, to concentrate the heat. It is an advan­tage in this case to have a large 402 log or two of cord-wood burned in it, in addition to the usual firing.

In mixing paste, the water should be added gradually, and the whole gently drawn together with the fingers, until suffi­cient has been added, when it should be lightly kneaded until it is as smooth as possible. When carelessly made, the surface is often left covered with small dry crumbs or lumps; or the water is poured in heedlessly in so large a proportion that it becomes necessary to add more flour to render it workable in any way; and this ought parti­cularly to be avoided when a certain weight of all the ingredients has been taken.

TO GLAZE OR ICE PASTRY.

The fine yellow glaze appropriate to meat-pies, is given with beaten yolk of egg, which should be laid on with a paste-brush, or a small bunch of feathers: if a lighter colour be wished for, whisk the whole of the egg together, or mix a little milk with the yolk.

The best mode of icing fruit-tarts before they are sent to the oven is, to moisten the paste with cold water, to sift sugar thickly upon it, and to press it lightly on with the hand; but when a whiter icing is preferred, the pastry must be drawn from the oven when nearly baked, and brushed with white of egg, whisked to a froth; then well covered with the sifted sugar, and sprinkled with a few drops of water before it is put in again: this glazing answers also very well, though it takes a slight colour, if used before the pastry is baked.

FEUILLETAGE, OR PINE FRENCH PUFF PASTE.

This, when made by a good French cook, is the perfection of rich light crust, and will rise in the oven from one to six inches in height; but some practice is, without doubt, necessary to accomplish this. In summer it is a great advan­tage to have ice at hand, and to harden the butter over it before it is used; the paste also between the intervals of rolling is improved by 403 being laid on an oven-leaf over a vessel containing it. Take an equal weight of good butter free from the coarse salt which is found in some, and which is disadvan­tageous for this paste, and of fine dry, sifted flour; to each pound of these allow the yolks of a couple of eggs, and a small teaspoonful of salt. Break a few small bits of the butter very lightly into the flour, put the salt into the centre, and pour on it suffi­cient water to dissolve it (we do not quite understand why the doing this should be better than mixing it with the flour, as in other pastes, but such is the method always pursued for it); add a little more water to the eggs, moisten the flour gradually, and make it into a very smooth paste, rather lithe in summer, and never exceedingly stiff, though the opposite fault, in an extreme, would render the crust unmanageable. Press, in a soft thin cloth, all the moisture from the remainder of the butter, and form it into a ball, but in doing this, be careful not to soften it too much. Should it be in an unfit state for pastry, from the heat of the weather, put it into a basin, and set the basin in a pan of water mixed with plenty of salt and saltpetre, and let it remain in a cool place for an hour if possible, before it is used. When it is ready (and the paste should never be commenced till it is so), roll the crust out square,* and of suffi­cient size to enclose the butter, flatten this a little upon it in the centre, and then fold the crust well over it, and roll it out thin as lightly as possible, after having dredged the board and paste-roller with a little flour: this is called giving it one turn. Then fold it in three, give it another turn, and set it aside, where it will be very cool, for a few minutes; give it two more turns in the same way, rolling it each time very lightly, but of equal thickness, and to the full length that it will reach, taking always especial care that the butter shall not break through the paste. Let it again be set aside 404 to become cold; and after it has been twice more rolled and folded in three, give it a half-turn, by folding it once only, and it will be ready for use.

Equal weight of the finest flour and good butter; to each pound of these, the yolks of two eggs, and a small saltspoonful of salt: 6½ turns to be given to the paste.

* The learner will perhaps find it easier to fold the paste securely round it in the form of a dumpling, until a little experience has been acquired.

VERY GOOD LIGHT PASTE.

Mix with a pound of sifted flour six ounces of fresh, pure lard, and make them into a smooth paste with cold water; press the buttermilk from ten ounces of butter, and form it into a ball, by twisting a clean cloth round it. Roll out the paste, put the ball of butter in the middle, close it like an apple-dumpling, and roll it very lightly till it is less than an inch thick; fold the ends into the middle, dust a little flour over the board and paste-roller, and roll the paste thin a second time, then set it aside for three or four minutes in a very cool place; give it two more turns, as they are technically called, and after it has again been left a few minutes, roll it out twice more, folding it each time in three. This ought to render it fit for use. The sooner this paste is sent to the oven after it is made, the lighter it will be: if allowed to remain long before it is baked, it will be tough and heavy.

Flour, 1 lb.; lard, 6 ozs.; butter, 10 ozs.; little salt.

ENGLISH PUFF-PASTE.

Break lightly into a couple of pounds of dried and sifted flour, eight ounces of butter; add a pinch of salt, and suffi­cient cold water to make the paste; work it as quickly and as lightly as possible, until it is smooth and pliable, then level it with the paste-roller till it is three-quarters of an inch thick, and place regularly upon it six ounces of butter in small bits; fold the paste like a blanket pudding, roll it out again, lay on it six ounces more of butter, repeat the rolling, dusting each time a little flour over the board and paste, add again six ounces of butter, and roll the paste out thin three or four times, folding the ends into the middle.

405

Flour, 2 lbs.; little salt; butter, 1 lb. 10 ozs.

If very rich paste be required, equal portions of flour and butter must be used; and the latter may be divided into two, instead of three parts, when it is to be rolled in.

CREAM CRUST.
(Very good.)

Stir a little fine salt into a pound of dry flour, and mix gradually with it suffi­cient very thick sweet cream to form a smooth paste; it will be found suffi­ciently good for common family dinners, without the addition of butter; but to make an excellent crust, roll in four ounces in the usual way, after having given the paste a couple of turns. Handle it as lightly as possible in making it, and send it to the oven as soon as it is ready; it may be used for fruit tarts, cannelons, puffs, and other varieties of small pastry, or for good meat-pies. Six ounces of butter to the pound of flour will give a very rich crust.

Flour, 1 lb.; salt, 1 small saltspoonful (more for meat-pies); rich cream, ½ to ¾ pint; butter, 4 ozs.; for richest crust, 6 ozs.

PATE BRISEE, OR FRENCH CRUST FOR HOT OR COLD MEAT-PIES.

Sift two pounds and a quarter of fine dry flour, and break into it one pound of butter, work them together with the fingers till they resemble fine crumbs of bread, then add a small teaspoonful of salt, and make them into a firm paste, with the yolks of four eggs, well beaten, mixed with half a pint of cold water, and strained: or (for a somewhat richer crust of the same kind), take two pounds of flour, one of butter, the yolks of four eggs, half an ounce of salt, and less than the half pint of water, and work the whole well until the paste is perfectly smooth.

Flour, 2¼ lbs.; butter, 1 lb.; salt, 1 small teaspoonful; yolks of eggs, 4; water, ½ pint. Or: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 1 lb.; yolks of eggs, 4; water, less than ½ pint.

406

FLEAD CRUST.

Flead is the provincial name for the leaf, or inside fat of a pig, which makes excellent crust when fresh, much finer, indeed, than after it is melted into lard. Clear it quite from skin, and slice it very thin into the flour, add suffi­cient salt to give flavour to the paste, and make the whole up smooth and firm with cold water; lay it on a clean dresser, and beat it forcibly with a rolling-pin until the flead is blended perfectly with the flour. It may then be made into cakes with a paste-cutter, or used for pies, round the edges of which a knife should be passed, as the crust rises better when cut than if merely rolled to the proper size. With the addition of a small quantity of butter,* which should be rolled in after the paste is made, it will be found equal to fine puff-crust, with the advan­tage of being more easy of digestion.

* Six ounces of flead, with two of butter, to the pound of flour, will make good common crust; half as much again, with the same weight of flour, excellent crust: a teaspoonful of salt will be required with either.

COMMON SUET-CRUST FOR PIES.

In many families this is preferred both for pies and tarts, to crust made with butter, as being much more whole­some: but it should never be served unless especially ordered, as it is to some persons peculiarly distasteful. Chop the suet extremely fine, and add from six to eight ounces of it to a pound of flour, with a few grains of salt, mix these with cold water into a firm paste, and work it very smooth. Some cooks beat it with a paste-roller, until the suet is perfectly blended with the flour; but the crust is lighter without this. In exceedingly sultry weather the suet, not being firm enough to chop, may be sliced as thin as possible, and well beaten into the paste after it is wetted.

Flour, 2 lbs.; beef or veal kidney-suet, 12 to 16 ozs.; salt (for fruit-pies), ¼ teaspoonful, for meat-pies 1 teaspoonful.

407

VERY SUPERIOR SUET-CRUST.

Strip the skin entirely from some fresh veal or beef kidney-suet; chop, and then put it into the mortar, with a small quantity of pure-flavoured lard, oil, or butter, and pound it perfectly smooth: it may then be used for crust in the same way that butter is in making puff-paste, and in this form will be found a most excellent substi­tute for it, for hot pies or tarts. It is not quite so good for those which are to be served cold. Eight ounces of suet pounded with two of butter, and worked with the fingers into a pound of flour will make an exceedingly good short crust; but for a very rich one the proportion must be increased.

Good short crust: flour 1 lb.; suet, 8 ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; salt, ½ teaspoonful. Richer crust: suet 16 ozs.; butter, 4 ozs.; flour, 1½ lb.; salt, 1 small teaspoonful.

VERY RICH SHORT CRUST FOR TARTS.

Break lightly, with the least possible handling, six ounces of butter into eight of flour; add a dessert­spoonful of pounded sugar, and two or three of water; roll the paste, for several minutes, to blend the ingredients well, folding it together like puff-crust, and touch it as little as possible.

Flour, 8 ozs.; butter, 6 ozs.; pounded sugar, 1 dessert­spoonful; water, 1 to 2 spoonsful.

BRIOCHE PASTE.

The brioche is a rich, light kind of unsweetened bun, or cake, very commonly sold, and served to all classes of people in France, where it is made in great perfection by good cooks and pastrycooks. It is fashionable now at English tables, though in a different form, serving principally as a crust to enclose rissoles, or to make cannelons and fritters. We have seen it recom­mended for a vol-au-vent, for which we should say it does not answer by any means so well as the fine puff-paste called feuilletage. The large proportion of butter and 408 eggs which it contains render it to many persons highly indigestible; and we mention this to warn invalids against it, as we have known it to cause great suffering to persons out of health. To make it, take a couple of pounds* of fine dry flour, sifted as for cakes, and separate eight ounces of this from the remainder to make the leaven. Put it into a small pan, and mix it lightly into a lithe paste, with half an ounce of yeast, and a spoonful or two of warm water; make two or three slight incisions across the top, throw a cloth over the pan, and place it near the fire for about twenty minutes, to rise. In the interval make a hollow space in the centre of the remainder of the flour, and put into it half an ounce of salt, as much fine sifted sugar, and half a gill of cream, or a dessert­spoonful of water; add a pound of butter, as free from moisture as it can be, and quite so from large grains of salt; cut it into small bits, put it into the flour, and pour on it one by one six fresh eggs freed from the specks; then with the fingers work the flour gently into this mass until the whole forms a perfectly smooth, and not stiff paste: a seventh egg, or the yolk of one, or even of two, may be added with advan­tage if the flour will absorb them; but the brioche must always be workable, and not so moist as to adhere to the board and roller disagreeably. When the leaven is well risen spread this paste out, and the leaven over it; mix them well together with the hands, then cut the whole into several portions, and change them about that the leaven may be incorporated perfectly and equally with the other ingredients: when this is done, and the brioche is perfectly smooth and pliable, dust some flour on a cloth, roll the brioche in it, and lay it into a pan; place it in summer in a cool 409 place, in winter in a warm one. It is usually made over-night, and baked in the early part of the following day. It should then be kneaded up afresh the first thing in the morning. To mould it in the usual form, make it into balls of uniform size, hollow these a little at the top by pressing the thumb round them, brush them over with yolk of egg, and put a second much smaller ball into the hollow part of each; glaze them entirely with yolk of egg, and send them to a quick oven for half an hour or more. The paste may also be made into the form of a large cake, then placed on a tin, or copper oven-leaf, and supported with a pasteboard in the baking; for the form of which see introductory page of Chapter XXIII.

Flour, 2 lbs.; yeast, ½ oz.; salt and sugar, each ½ oz.; butter, 1 lb.; eggs, 6 to 8.

* It should be remarked, that the directions for brioche-making are principally derived from the French, and that the pound in their country weighs two ounces more than with us: this difference will account for the difficulty of working in the number of eggs which they generally specify, and which render the paste too moist.

MODERN POTATOE PASTY.
(An excellent family dish.)

A tin mould of the construction shewn in the plate, with a perforated moveable top, and a small valve to allow the escape of the steam, must be had for this pasty, which is an excellent family dish, and which may be varied in numberless ways. Arrange at the bottom of the mould from two to three pounds of mutton cutlets, freed, according to the taste, from all or from the greater portion of the fat, then washed, lightly dredged on both sides with flour, and seasoned with salt and pepper, or cayenne. Pour to them suffi­cient broth or water to make the gravy, and add to it at pleasure, a table­spoonful of mushroom catsup or of Harvey’s sauce. 410 Have ready boiled, and very smoothly mashed, with about an ounce of butter and a spoonful or two of milk or cream, to each pound, as many good potatoes as will form a crust to the pasty of quite three inches thick; put the cover on the mould and arrange these equally upon it, leaving them a little rough on the surface. Bake the pasty in a moderate oven from three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a quarter, according to its size and its contents. Pin a folded napkin neatly round the mould, before it is served, and have ready a hot dish to receive the cover, which must not be lifted off until after the pasty is on the table.

Chicken, or veal and oysters; delicate pork chops with a seasoning of sage and a little parboiled onion, or an eschalot or two minced fine; partridges or rabbits neatly carved, mixed with small mushrooms, and moistened with a little good stock, will all give excellent varieties of this dish, which may be made likewise with highly-seasoned slices of salmon freed from the skin, sprinkled with fine herbs or intermixed with shrimps: clarified butter, rich veal stock, or good white wine, may be poured to them to form the gravy. To thicken this, a little flour should be dredged upon the fish before it is laid into the mould. Other kinds, such as cod, mullet, mackerel in fillets, salt fish (previously kept at the point of boiling till three parts done, then pulled into flakes and put into the mould with hard eggs sliced, a little cream, flour, butter, cayenne, and anchovy-essence, and baked with mashed parsneps on the top), will all answer well for this pasty. Veal, when used for it, should be well beaten first; sweetbreads, sliced, may be laid in with it.

For a pasty of moderate size, two pounds, or two and a half of meat, and from three to four of potatoes will be suffi­cient: a quarter-pint of milk or cream, two small teaspoonsful of salt, and from one to two ounces of butter must be mixed up with these last.*

* A larger proportion of cream and butter well dried into the potatoes over a gentle fire, after they are mashed, will render the crust of the pasty richer, and finer.

411

CASSEROLE OF RICE.

Proceed exactly as for Gabrielle’s pudding (see Chapter XVIII.), but substi­tute good veal-broth or stock for the milk, and add a couple of ounces more of butter. Fill the casserole when it is emptied, with a rich mince or fricassee, or with stewed oysters in a béchamel-sauce. French cooks make a very troublesome and elaborate affair of this dish, putting to the rice to make it “mellow,” a great deal of pot-top fat, slices of fat ham, &c., which must afterwards be well drained off, or picked out from it. As, however, we have given the receipt, it will be found an excellent dish, and of very elegant appearance, if moulded in a tasteful shape. It must have a quick oven to colour without too much drying it. For a large casserole a pound of rice and a quart of gravy will be required: a bit of bread is sometimes used in filling the mould, cut to the shape, and occupying nearly half the inside, but always so as to leave a thick and compact crust in every part.

A GOOD COMMON ENGLISH GAME PIE.

Raise the flesh entire from the upper side of the best end of a well-kept neck of venison, trim it to the length of the dish in which the pie is to be served, and rub it with a mixture of salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg. Cut down into joints a fine young hare which has hung from eight to fourteen days, bone the back and thighs, and fill them with force­meat No. 1, (page 170), but put into it a double portion of butter, and a small quantity of minced eschalots, should their flavour be liked, and the raw liver of the hare, chopped small. Line the dish with a rich short crust (see page 405), lay the venison in the centre, and the hare closely round and on it; fill the vacant spaces with more force­meat, add a few spoonsful of well-jellied gravy, fasten on the cover securely, ornament it or not, at pleasure, and bake the pie two hours in a well heated oven. The remnants and bones of the hare and venison may be stewed down into a small quantity of excellent soup, or with a less 412 proportion of water into an admirable gravy, part of which, after having been cleared from fat, may be poured into the pie. The jelly, added to its contents at first, can be made, when no such stock is at hand, of a couple of pounds of shin of beef, boiled down in a quart of water, which must be reduced quite half, and seasoned only with a good slice of lean ham, a few peppercorns, seven or eight cloves, a blade of mace, and a little salt. One pound and a half of flour will be suffi­cient for the crust; this, when it is so preferred, may be laid round the sides only of the dish, instead of entirely over it. The prime joints of a second hare may be substi­tuted for the venison when it can be more conve­niently procured.

Baked 2 hours.

Obs.—These same ingredients will make an excellent raised pie, if the venison be divided and intermixed with the hare; the whole should be highly seasoned, and all the cavities filled with the force­meat No. 18, (page 181.)* The top, before the paste is laid over, should be covered with slices of fat bacon, or with plenty of butter, to prevent the surface of the meat from becoming hard. No liquid is to be put into the pie until after it is baked, if at all. It will require from half to a full hour more of the oven than if baked in a dish.

* The second, or third-mentioned forcemeat of this number is meant; but the sausage-meat can be used, if more conve­nient.

MODERN CHICKEN PIE.

Skin and cut down into joints a couple of fowls, take out all the bones, and season the flesh highly with salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg; line a dish with a thin paste, and spread over it a layer of the finest sausage-meat, which has previously been moistened with a spoonful or two of cold water; over this, place closely together, some of the boned chicken joints, then more sausage-meat, and continue thus with alternate layers of each, until the dish is full; roll out, and fasten securely at the edges, a cover half an inch thick, trim off the superfluous paste, make an incision in the top, 413 lay some paste leaves round it, glaze the whole with yolk of egg, and bake the pie from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated oven. Lay a sheet or two of writing-paper over the crust, should it brown too quickly. Minced herbs can be mixed with the sausage-meat at pleasure, and a small quantity of eschalot also, where the flavour is much liked: it should be well moistened with water, or the whole will be unpalatably dry. The pie may be served hot or cold, but we would rather recom­mend the latter.

A couple of very young tender rabbits will answer exceedingly well for it instead of fowls, and a rim, or half paste in the dish will generally be preferred to an entire lining of the crust, which is now but rarely served, unless for pastry, which is to be taken out of the dish in which it is baked before it is sent to table.

A COMMON CHICKEN PIE.

Prepare the fowls as for boiling, cut them down into joints, season them with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg, or pounded mace; arrange them neatly in a dish bordered with paste, lay amongst them three or four fresh eggs, boiled hard, and cut in halves; pour in some cold water, put on a thick cover, pare the edge, and ornament it, make a hole in the centre, lay a roll of paste, or a few leaves round it, and bake the pie in a moderate oven from an hour to an hour and a half. The back and neck bones may be boiled down with a bit or two of lean ham, to make a little addi­tional gravy, which can be poured into the pie after it is baked.

PIGEON PIE.

Rim a large dish with fine puff-paste, and cover the bottom with a veal cutlet, or tender rump-steak, free from fat and bone, and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg, or pounded mace; prepare with great nicety as many freshly-killed young pigeons as the dish will contain in one layer; put into each a slice or ball of butter, seasoned with a little cayenne and mace; lay them into the dish with the breasts downwards, and between 414 and over them put the yolks of half a dozen or more of hard-boiled eggs; stick plenty of butter on them, season the whole well with salt and spice, pour in some cold water or veal-broth for the gravy, roll out the cover three-quarters of an inch thick, secure it well round the edge, ornament it highly, and bake it for an hour or more in a well-heated oven. It is a great improve­ment to fill the birds with small mushroom-buttons, prepared as for partridges (see Chapter XIII.)

BEEF-STEAK PIE.

From a couple to three pounds of rump-steak will be suffi­cient, for a good family pie. It should be well kept though perfectly sweet, for in no form can tainted meat be more offensive than when it is enclosed in paste. Trim off the coarse skin, and part of the fat, should there be much of it (many eaters dislike it altogether in pies, and when this is the case, every morsel should be carefully cut away). If the beef should not appear very tender, it may be gently beaten with a paste-roller till the fibre is broken, then divided into slices half as large as the hand, and laid into a dish bordered with paste. It should be seasoned with salt and pepper, or cayenne, and suffi­cient water poured in to make the gravy, and keep the meat moist. Lay on the cover, and be careful always to brush the edge in every part with egg or cold water, then to join it securely to the paste which is round the rim, trim both off close to the dish, pass the point of the knife through the middle of the cover, lay some slight roll or ornament of paste round it, and decorate the border of the pie in any of the usual modes, which are too common to require description. Send the pie to a well-heated, but not fierce oven for about an hour and twenty minutes. To make a richer beef-steak pie put bearded oysters in alternate layers with the meat, add their strained liquor to a little good gravy, in which the beards may be simmered a few minutes, to give it further flavour, and make a light puff paste for the crust. Some eaters like 415 it seasoned with a small portion of minced onion or eschalot when the oysters are omitted. Mushrooms improve all meat-pies.

1 to 1½ hour.

MUTTON PIE.
(Common.)

A pound and a quarter of flour will make suffi­cient paste for a moderate-sized pie, and two pounds of mutton freed from the greater portion of the fat will fill it. Butter a dish, and line it with about half the paste rolled thin; lay in the mutton evenly, and sprinkle over it three-quarters of an ounce of salt, and from half to a whole teaspoonful of pepper, according to the taste; pour in cold water to within an inch of the brim. Roll the cover, which should be quite half an inch thick, to the size of the dish; wet the edges of the paste with cold water or white of egg, be careful to close them securely, cut them off close to the rim of the dish, stick the point of the knife through the centre, and bake the pie an hour and a quarter in a well-heated oven.

Flour, 1¼ lb.; dripping, ½ lb. (or suet ½ lb. and butter, 2 ozs.). Mutton, 2 lbs.; salt, ¾ oz.; pepper, half to whole teaspoonful; water, ¼ pint: 1¼ hour.

A GOOD MUTTON PIE.

Lay a half-paste of short or of puff crust round a buttered dish; take the whole or part of a loin of mutton, strip off the fat entirely, and raise the flesh clear from the bones without dividing it, then slice it into cutlets of equal thickness, season them well with salt and pepper, or cayenne, and strew between the layers some finely minced herbs mixed with two or three eschalots, when the flavour of these last is liked; or omit them, and roll quite thin some good force­meat (which can be flavoured with a little minced eschalot at pleasure), and lay it between the cutlets: two or three mutton kidneys intermingled with the meat will greatly 416 enrich the gravy; pour in a little cold water, roll the cover half an inch thick, or more should the crust be short, as it will not rise like puff paste, close the pie very securely, trim the edges even with the dish, ornament the pie according to the taste, make a hole in the centre and bake it from an hour and a half to a couple of hours. The proportions of paste and meat may be ascertained by consulting the last receipt. Gravy made with part of the bones, quite cleared from fat, and left to become cold, may be used to fill the pie instead of water.

RAISED PIES.

These may be made of any size, and with any kind of meat, poultry, or game, but the whole must be entirely free from bone. When the crust is not to be eaten, it is made simply with a few ounces of lard or butter dissolved in boiling water, with which the flour is to be mixed (with a spoon at first, as the heat would be too great for the hands, but afterwards with the fingers) to a smooth and firm paste. The French, who excel greatly in this form of pie,* use for it a good crust which they call a pâte brisée (see page 405), and this is eaten usually with the meat which it contains. In either case the paste must be suffi­ciently stiff to retain its form perfectly after it is raised, as it will have no support to prevent its falling. 417 The celebrated Monsieur Ude gives the following direc­tions for moulding it to a proper shape without difficulty; and as inexperienced cooks generally find a little at first in giving a good appearance to these pies, we copy his instructions for them: “Take a lump of paste proportionate to the size of the pie you are to make, mould it in the shape of a sugar loaf, put it upright on the table, then with the palms of your hands flatten the sides of it; when you have equalized it all round and it is quite smooth, squeeze the middle of the point down to half the height of the paste,” then hollow the inside by pressing it with the fingers, and in doing this be careful to keep it in every part of equal thickness. Fill it,† roll out the cover, egg the edges, press them securely together, make a hole in the centre, lay a roll of paste round it, and encircle this with a wreath of leaves, or ornament the pie in any other way, according to the taste; glaze it with well beaten yolk of egg, and bake it from two to three hours in a well heated oven, if it be small, and from four to five hours if it be large, though the time must be regulated in some measure by the nature of the contents, as well as by the size of the dish.

Obs.—We know not if we have succeeded in making the reader comprehend that this sort of pie (with the exception of the cover, for which a portion must at first be taken off), is made from one solid lump of paste, which, after having been shaped into a cone, as Monsieur Ude directs, or into a high round, or oval form, is hollowed by pressing down the centre with the knuckles, and continuing to knead the inside equally round with the one hand, while the other is pressed close to the outside. It is desirable that the mode of doing this should be once seen by the learner, if possible, as mere verbal instructions are scarcely suffi­cient to 418 enable the quite-inexperienced cook to comprehend at once the exact form and appearance which should be given to the paste.

A VOL-AU-VENT.

This dish can be successfully made only with the finest and lightest puff-paste (see Feuilletage, page 402) as its height, which ought to be from four to five inches, depends entirely on its rising in the oven. Roll it to something more than an inch in thickness, and cut it to the shape and size of the inside of the dish in which it is to be served, or stamp it out with a fluted tin of proper dimensions; then mark the cover evenly about an inch from the edge all round, and ornament it and the border also, with a knife, as fancy may direct; brush yolk of egg quickly over them, and put the vol-au-vent imme­diately into a brisk oven, that it may rise well, and be finely coloured, but do not allow it to be scorched. In from twenty to thirty minutes, should it appear baked through, as well as suffi­ciently browned, draw it out, and with the point of a knife detach the cover carefully where it has been marked, and scoop out all the soft unbaked crumb from the inside of the vol-au-vent; then turn it gently on to a sheet of clean paper, to drain the butter from it. At the instant of serving, fill it with a rich fricassee of lobster,* or of sweetbreads, or with turbot à la crême, or with the white part of cold roast veal cut in thin collops not larger than a shilling, and heated in good white sauce with oysters (see minced veal and oysters, page 264), or with any other of the prepara­tions which we shall 419 indicate in their proper places, and send it imme­diately to table. The vol-au-vent, as the reader will perceive, is but the case, or crust, in which various kinds of delicate ragouts are served in an elegant form. As these are most frequently composed of fish, or of meats which have been already dressed, it is an economical as well as an excellent mode of employing such remains. The sauces in which they are heated must be quite thick, for they would otherwise soften, or even run through the crust. This, we ought to observe, should be examined before it is filled, and should any part appear too thin, fasten on it, with a little egg, a portion of the crumb which has been taken out, and then egg the whole of the inside lightly in order to make the loose parts of the vol-au-vent stick well together. This method is recom­mended by an admirable and highly experienced cook, but it need only be resorted to when the crust is not solid enough to hold the contents securely.

For moderate-sized vol-au-vent, flour, ½ lb.; butter, ½ lb.; salt, small saltspoonful; yolk, 1 egg; little water. Larger vol-au-vent, ¾ lb. flour; other ingredients in proportion: baked 20 to 30 minutes.

Obs.—When the vol-au-vent is cut out with the fluted cutter, a second, some sizes smaller, after being just dipped into hot water, should be pressed nearly half through the paste, to mark the cover. The border ought to be from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half wide.

* For this, the flesh of boiled lobsters requires to be merely heated slowly in some good béchamel, with which the coral of the fish can be blended, as with the sauce of page 129.

A VOL-AU-VENT OF FRUIT.

After the crust has been made and baked as above, fill it at the moment of serving with peaches, apricots, mogul, or any other richly flavoured plums, which have been stewed tender in syrup; lift them from this, and keep them hot while it is boiled rapidly almost to jelly; then arrange the fruit in the vol-au-vent, and pour the syrup over it. For the manner of preparing it, see compotes of fruit, Chapter XX; but increase the proportion of sugar nearly half, that the juice may be 420 reduced quickly to the proper consistency for the vol-au-vent. Skin and divide the apricots, and quarter the peaches, unless they should be very small.

ENGLISH OYSTER PATTIES.*

Line some small patty-pans with fine puff-paste, rolled thin, and to preserve their form when baked, put a bit of bread into each; lay on the covers, pinch and trim the edges, and send the patties to a brisk oven. Plump and beard from two to three dozens of small oysters; mix very smoothly a teaspoonful of flour with an ounce of butter, put them into a clean saucepan, shake them round over a gentle fire, and let them simmer for two or three minutes; throw in a little salt, pounded mace, and cayenne, then add, by slow degrees, two or three spoonsful of rich cream, give these a boil, and pour in the strained liquor of the oysters; next, lay in the fish, and keep them at the point of boiling for a couple of minutes. Raise the covers from the patties, take out the bread, fill them with the oysters and their sauce, and replace the covers. We have found it an improve­ment to stew the beards of the fish with a strip or two of lemon-peel, in a little good veal-stock for a quarter of an hour, then to strain and add it to the sauce. The oysters, unless very small, should be once or twice divided.

* These patties should be made small, with a thin crust, and be well-filled with the oysters and their sauce. The substi­tution of fried crumbs for the covers will vary them very agreeably. For lobster patties, prepare the fish as for a vol-au-vent, but cut it smaller.

EXCELLENT MEAT ROLLS.

Pound, as for potting (see page 356), and with the same proportion of butter and of seasonings, some half-roasted veal, chicken, or turkey. Make some force­meat by the receipt No. 1, Chapter VI., and form it into small rolls, not larger than a finger; wrap twice or thrice as much of the pounded meat equally round each of these, first moistening it with a teaspoonful of water; fold them in good puff-paste, and bake them from twelve 421 to fifteen minutes, or until the crust is perfectly done. A small quantity of the lean of a boiled ham may be finely minced and pounded with the veal, and very small mushrooms, prepared as for a partridge (page 337), may be substi­tuted for the force­meat.

PATTIES, TARTLETS, OR, SMALL VOLS-AU-VENTS.

These are quickly and easily made with two round paste-cutters, of which one should be little more than half the size of the other: to give the pastry a better appearance, they should be fluted. Roll out some of the lightest puff-paste to a half-inch of thickness, and with the larger of the tins cut the number of patties required; then dip the edge of the small shape into hot water, and press it about half through them. Bake them in a moderately quick oven from ten to twelve minutes, and when they are done, with the point of a sharp knife, take out the small rounds of crust from the tops, and scoop all the crumb from the insides of the patties, which may then be filled with shrimps, oysters, lobster, chicken, pheasant, or any other of the ordinary varieties of patty meat, prepared with white sauce. Fried crumbs may be laid over them instead of the covers, or these last can be replaced.

For sweet dishes, glaze the pastry, and fill it with rich whipped cream, preserve, or boiled custard; if with the last of these, put it back into a very gentle oven till the custards are set.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR TARTLETS.

For a dozen tartlets, cut twenty-four rounds of paste of the usual size, and form twelve of them into rings by pressing the small cutter quite through them; moisten these with cold water, or white of egg, and lay them on the remainder of the rounds of paste, so as to form the rims of the tartlets. Bake them from ten to twelve minutes, fill them with preserve while they are still warm, and place over it a small ornament of paste cut from the remnants, and baked gently of a light colour. Serve the tartlets cold, or if wanted hot for table, put them back into the oven for a minute after they are filled.

422

A SEFTON, OR, VEAL CUSTARD.

Pour boiling, a pint of rich, clear, pale veal-gravy on six fresh eggs, which have been well beaten and strained; sprinkle in directly the grated rind of a fine lemon, a little cayenne, some salt if needed, and a quarter teaspoonful of mace. Put a paste border round a dish, pour in first two ounces of clarified butter, and then the other ingredients; bake the sefton in a very slow oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until it is quite firm in the middle, and send it to table with a little good gravy. Very highly flavoured game-stock, in which a few mushrooms have been stewed, may be used for this dish with great advan­tage in lieu of veal-gravy; and a sauce made of the smallest mushroom-buttons, may be served with it in either case. The mixture can be baked in a whole paste, if preferred so; or in well-buttered cups, then turned out and covered with the sauce before it is sent to table.

Rich veal or game-stock, 1 pint; fresh eggs, 6; rind, 1 lemon; little salt and cayenne; pounded mace, ¼ teaspoonful; butter, 2 ozs.: baked 25 to 30 minutes, slow oven.

APPLE CAKE, OR GERMAN TART.

Work together with the fingers, ten ounces of butter and a pound of flour, until they resemble fine crumbs of bread; throw in a small pinch of salt, and make them into a firm smooth paste with the yolks of two eggs and a spoonful or two of water. Butter thickly, a plain tin cake or pie-mould (those which open at the sides, see plate, page 401, are best adapted to the purpose); roll out the paste thin, place the mould upon it, trim a bit to its exact size, cover the bottom of the mould with this, then cut a band the height of the sides, and press it smoothly round them, joining the edge, which must be moistened with egg or water, to the bottom crust; then stick upon them, to prevent their separation, a narrow and thin band of paste, also moistened. Next, fill the mould nearly to the brim with the following marmalade, which must be quite cold when it is put in. Boil 423 together, over a gentle fire at first, but more quickly afterwards, three pounds of good apples with fourteen ounces of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon, the strained juice of a large lemon, three ounces of the best butter, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a couple of lemons: when the whole is perfectly smooth and dry, turn it into a pan to cool, and let it be quite cold before it is put into the paste. In early autumn, a larger proportion of sugar may be required, but this can be regulated by the taste. When the mould is filled, roll out the cover and lay it carefully over the marmalade that it may not touch it; and when the cake is securely closed, trim off the superfluous paste, add a little pounded sugar to the parings, spread them out very thin, and cut them into leaves to ornament the top of the cake, round which they may be placed as a sort of wreath.* Bake it for an hour in a moderately brisk oven; take it from the mould, and should the sides not be suffi­ciently coloured put it back for a few minutes into the oven upon a baking tin. Lay a paper over the top, when it is of a fine light brown, to prevent its being too deeply coloured. This cake should be served hot.

Paste: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 10 ozs.; yolks of eggs, 2; little water. Marmalade: apples, 3 lbs.; sugar, 14 ozs. (more if needed); juice of lemon, 1; rinds of lemons, 2; butter, 3 ozs.: baked 1 hour.

* Or, instead of these, fasten on it with a little white of egg, after it is taken from the oven, some ready-baked leaves of almond-paste (see page 426), either plain or coloured.

TOURTE MERINGUÉE, OR, TART WITH ROYAL ICING.*

Lay a band of fine paste round the rim of a tart-dish, fill it with any kind of fruit mixed with a moderate proportion of sugar, roll out the cover very evenly, 424 moisten the edges of the paste, press them together carefully, and trim them off close to the dish; spread equally over the top, to within rather more than an inch of the edge all round, the whites of three fresh eggs beaten to a quite solid froth, and mixed quickly at the moment of using them, with three table­spoonsful of dry sifted sugar. Put the tart into a moderately brisk oven, and when the crust has risen well, and the icing is set, either lay a sheet of writing-paper lightly over it, or draw it to a part of the oven where it will not take too much colour. This is now a fashionable mode of icing tarts, and greatly improves their appearance.

Bake half an hour.

* The limits to which we are obliged to confine this volume, compel us to omit many receipts which we would gladly insert; we have, therefore, rejected those which may be found in almost every English cookery book, for such as are, we apprehend, less known to the reader: this will account for the small number of receipts for pies and fruit tarts, to be found in the present Chapter.

BARBERRY TART.

Barberries, with half their weight of fine brown sugar, when they are thoroughly ripe, and with two ounces more when they are not quite so, make an admirable tart. For one of moderate size, put into a dish rimmed with paste, three-quarters of a pound of the picked fruit, and six ounces of sugar in alternate layers; pour over them three table­spoonsful of water, put on the cover, and bake the tart half an hour. Another way of making it is, to line a shallow tin pan with very thin crust, to mix the fruit and sugar well together with a spoon, before they are laid in, and to put bars of paste across instead of a cover; or it may be baked without either.*

* The French make all their fruit-tarts thus, in large shallow pans. Plums, split and stoned (or if of small kinds, left entire), cherries and currants stripped from the stalks, and various other fruits, all rolled in plenty of sugar, are baked in the uncovered crust; or this is baked by itself, and then filled afterwards with fruit previously stewed tender.

GENOISES A LA REINE, OR, HER MAJESTY’S PASTRY.

Make some nouilles (see page 6) with the yolks of four fresh eggs, and when they are all cut, as directed, drop them lightly into a pint and a half of boiling cream (new milk will answer quite as well, or a portion of each may be used), in which six ounces of fresh 425 butter have been dissolved. When these have boiled quickly for a minute or two, during which time they must be stirred to prevent their knotting, add a small pinch of salt and six ounces of sugar, on which the rinds of two lemons have been rasped; place the saucepan over a clear and very gentle fire, and when the mixture has simmered from thirty to forty minutes take it off, stir briskly in the yolks of six eggs, and pour it out upon a delicately clean baking-tin that has been slightly rubbed in every part with butter; level the nouilles with a knife to something less than a quarter-inch of thickness, and let them be very evenly spread; put them into a moderate oven, and bake them of a fine equal brown: should any air-bladders appear, pierce them with the point of a knife. On taking the paste from the oven, divide it into two equal parts; turn one of these, the under-side uppermost, on to a clean tin or large dish, and spread quickly over it a jar of fine apricot-jam, place the other half upon it, the brown side outwards, and leave the paste to become cold; then stamp it out with a round or diamond-shaped cutter, and arrange the genoises tastily in a dish. This pastry will be found delicious the day it is baked, but its excellence is destroyed by keeping. Peach, green-gage, or magnum bonum jam, will serve in lieu of apricot, when more conve­nient. We strongly recom­mend to our readers the above preparation, baked in patty-pans, and served hot; or the whole quantity made into a pudding. From the smaller ones a little may be taken out with a teaspoon, and replaced with some preserve just before they are sent to table; or they may thus be eaten cold.

Nouilles of 4 eggs; cream or milk, 1½ pint; butter, 6 ozs.; sugar, 6 ozs.; rasped rinds of lemons, 2; grain of salt: 30 to 40 minutes. Yolks of eggs, 6: baked from 15 to 25 minutes.

ALMOND PASTE.

For a single dish of pastry, blanch seven ounces of fine Jordan almonds and one of bitter;* throw them into 426 cold water as they are done, and let them remain in it for an hour or two; then wipe, and pound them to the finest paste, moistening them occasionally with a few drops of cold water, to prevent their oiling; next, add to, and mix thoroughly with them, seven ounces of highly-refined, dried, and sifted sugar; put them into a small preserving-pan, or enamelled stewpan, and stir them over a clear and very gentle fire until they are so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched; turn the paste imme­diately into an earthen pan or jar, and when cold it will be ready for use.

Jordan almonds, 7 ozs.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; cold water, 1 table­spoonful; sugar, 7 ozs.

Obs.—The pan in which the paste is dried, should by no means be placed upon the fire, but high above it on a bar or trevet: should it be allowed by accident to harden too much, it must be sprinkled plentifully with water, broken up quite small, and worked, as it warms, with a strong wooden spoon to a smooth paste again. We have found this method perfectly successful; but, if time will permit, it should be moistened some hours before it is again set over the fire.

* When these are objected to, use half a pound of the sweet almonds.

TARTLETS OF ALMOND PASTE.

Butter slightly the smallest-sized tin patty-pans, and line them with the almond-paste rolled as thin as possible; cut it with a sharp knife close to their edges, and bake or rather dry the tartlets slowly at the mouth of a very cool oven. If at all coloured, they should be only of the palest brown; but they will become perfectly crisp without losing their whiteness if left for some hours in a very gently-heated stove or oven. They should be taken from the pans when two-thirds done, and laid, reversed, upon a sheet of paper placed on a dish or board, before they are put back into the oven. At the instant of serving fill them with bright-coloured whipped-cream, or with peach or apricot-jam; if the preserve be used lay over it a small star or other ornament cut from the same paste, and dried with the tartlets. Sifted sugar, instead of flour, must be 427 dredged upon the board and roller in using almond-paste. Leaves and flowers formed of it, and dried gradually till perfectly crisp, will keep for a long time in a tin box or canister, and they form elegant decorations for pastry. When a fluted cutter the size of the pattypans is at hand, it will be an improve­ment to cut out the paste with it, and then to press it lightly into them, as it is rather apt to break when pared off with a knife. To colour it, prepared cochineal, or spinach-green, must be added to it in the mortar.

MINCEMEAT.
(Author’s Receipt.)

To one pound of an unsalted ox-tongue, boiled tender and cut free from the rind, add two pounds of fine stoned raisins, two of beef kidney-suet, two pounds and a half of currants well cleaned and dried, two of good apples, two and a half of fine Lisbon sugar, from half to a whole pound of candied peel according to the taste, the grated rinds of two large lemons, and two more boiled quite tender, and chopped up entirely with the exception of the pips, two small nutmegs, half an ounce of salt, a large teaspoonful of pounded mace, rather more of ginger in powder, half a pint of brandy, and as much good sherry or madeira. Mince these ingredients separately, and mix the others all well before the brandy and the wine are added; press the whole into a jar, or jars, and keep it closely covered. It should be stored for a few days before it is used, and will remain good for many weeks. Some persons like a slight flavouring of cloves in addition to the other spices; others add the juice of two or three lemons, and a larger quantity of brandy. The inside of a tender and well-roasted sirloin of beef will answer quite as well as the tongue.

Of a fresh-boiled ox-tongue, or inside of roasted sirloin, 1 lb.; stoned raisins and minced apples, each 2 lbs.; currants and fine Lisbon sugar, each 2½ lbs.; candied orange, lemon, or citron-rind, 8 to 16 ozs.; boiled lemons, 2 large; rinds of two others, grated; 428 salt, ½ oz.; nutmegs, 2 small; pounded mace, 1 large teaspoonful, and rather more of ginger; good sherry or madeira, ½ pint; brandy, ½ pint.

Obs.—The lemons will be suffi­ciently boiled in from one hour to one and a quarter.

SUPERLATIVE MINCEMEAT.

Take four large lemons, with their weight of golden pippins pared and cored, of jar-raisins, currants, candied citron and orange-rind, and the finest suet, and a fourth part more of pounded sugar. Boil the lemons tender, chop them small, but be careful first to extract all the pips; add them to the other ingredients, after all have been prepared with great nicety, and mix the whole well with from three to four glasses of good brandy. Apportion salt and spice by the preceding receipt.*

* We think that the weight of one lemon, in meat, improves this mixture; or, in lieu of it, a small quantity of crushed macaroons added just before it is baked.

MINCE PIES.

Butter some tin pattypans well, and line them evenly with fine puff paste rolled thin; fill them with mincemeat, moisten the edges of the covers, which should be nearly a quarter-inch thick, close the pies carefully, trim off the superfluous paste, make a small aperture in the centre of the crust with a fork or the point of a knife, ice the pies with cold water and sifted sugar, (see page 402) or not, at pleasure, and bake them half an hour in a well-heated oven: lay a paper over them when they are partially done, should they appear likely to take too much colour.

½ hour.

MINCE PIES ROYAL.

Add to half a pound of good mincemeat an ounce and a half of pounded sugar, the grated rind and the strained juice of a large lemon, one ounce of clarified butter, and the yolks of four eggs; beat these well together and half-fill, or rather more, with the mixture some patty-pans lined with fine paste; put them into a moderate oven, and when the insides are just set, ice 429 them thickly with the whites of the eggs beaten to snow, and mixed quickly at the moment with four heaped table­spoonsful of pounded sugar; set them imme­diately into the oven again, and bake them of a fine light brown.

Mincemeat, ½ lb.; sugar, 1½ oz.; rind and juice, 1 large lemon; butter, 1 oz.; yolks, 4 eggs. Icing: whites, 4 eggs; sugar, 4 table­spoonsful.

PUDDING-PIES.

This form of pastry (or its name at least) is, we believe, peculiar to the county of Kent, where it is made in abundance, and eaten by all classes of people during Lent. Boil for fifteen minutes three ounces of ground rice* in a pint and a half of new milk, and when taken from the fire, stir into it three ounces of butter, and four of sugar; add to these six well beaten eggs, a grain or two of salt, and a flavouring of nutmeg or lemon-peel at pleasure. When the mixture is nearly cold, line some large patty-pans or some saucers with thin puff paste, fill them with it three parts full, strew the tops thickly with currants which have been cleaned and dried; and bake the pudding-pies from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

Milk, 1½ pint; ground rice, 3 ozs.: 15 minutes. Butter, 3 ozs.; sugar, ¼ lb.; nutmeg or lemon-rind; eggs, 6; currants, 4 to 6 ozs.: 15 to 20 minutes.

* Or rice-flour.

PUDDING-PIES.
(A commoner kind.)

One quart of new milk, five ounces of ground rice, butter, one ounce and a half (or more), four ounces of sugar, half a small nutmeg grated, a pinch of salt, four large eggs, and three ounces of currants.

COCOA-NUT CHEESE-CAKES.
(Jamaica Receipt.)

Break carefully the shell of the nut, that the liquid it contains may not escape.* Take out the kernel, wash it 430 in cold water, pare thinly off the dark skin, and grate the nut on a delicately clean bread-grater; put it, with its weight of pounded sugar, and its own milk, if not sour, or if it be, a couple of spoonsful or rather more of water, into a silver or block-tin saucepan, or a very small copper stewpan perfectly tinned, and keep it gently stirred over a quite clear fire until it is tender: it will sometimes require an hour’s stewing to make it so. When a little cooled, add to the nut, and beat well with it, some eggs properly whisked and strained, and the grated rind of half a lemon. Line some patty-pans with fine paste, put in the mixture, and bake the cheese-cakes from thirteen to fifteen minutes.

Grated cocoa-nut, 6 ozs.; sugar, 6 ozs.; the milk of the nut, or of water, 2 large table­spoonsful: 1 hour. Eggs, 5; lemon-rind, ½ 1: 13 to 15 minutes.

Obs.—We have found the cheese-cakes made with the above proportions very excellent indeed, but should the mixture be consi­dered too sweet, another egg or two can be added, and a little brandy also.

* This, as we have elsewhere stated, is best secured by boring the shell before it is broken.

LEMON CHEESE-CAKES.
(Christ-Church-College Receipt.)

Rasp the rind of a large lemon with four ounces of fine sugar, then crush, and mix it with the yolks of three eggs, and half the quantity of whites, well-whisked; beat these together thoroughly; add to them four table­spoonsful of cream, a quarter of a pound of oiled butter, the strained juice of the lemon,—which must be stirred quickly in by degrees,—and a little orange-flower brandy. Line small patty-pans with thin puff-paste, half fill them with the mixture, and bake them thirty minutes in a moderate oven.

Sugar, 4 ozs.; rind and juice, 1 large lemon; butter, 4 ozs.; cream, 4 table­spoonsful; orange-flower brandy, 1 table­spoonful: bake ½ hour.

VERY SUPERIOR LEMON CHEESE-CAKES.

Mix with eight ounces of pounded sugar the grated rinds of two fine large, or of three moderate sized lemons, and pour to them the strained juice of one and 431 a half, or two; add, by degrees, the well beaten yolks of twelve, and the whites of eight, eggs, with half a pound of butter dissolved in five table­spoonsful of rich cream; thicken the mixture over a gentle fire; set it by until it is nearly cold; half-fill with it small tin moulds lined with the finest paste, and bake the cheese-cakes thirty minutes in a rather quick oven.

Sugar, 8 ozs.; rinds of 2 large, or 3 moderate sized, lemons; juice of 1½ or 2½, if not large; yolks of 12, whites of 8, eggs; butter, ½ lb.; cream, 5 table­spoonsful: bake ½ hour.

COMMON LEMON TARTLETS.

Beat four eggs till they are exceedingly light, add to them gradually four ounces of pounded sugar, and whisk these together for five minutes; strew lightly in, if it be at hand, a dessert­spoonful of potatoe-flour, if not, of common flour well dried and sifted;* then throw into the mixture by slow degrees, three ounces of good butter, which should be dissolved, but only just luke-warm; beat the whole well, then stir briskly in, the strained juice and the grated rind of one lemon and a half. Line some patty-pans with fine puff paste rolled very thin, fill them two-thirds full, and bake the tartlets about twenty minutes, in a moderate oven.

Eggs, 4; sugar, 4 ozs.; potatoe-flour, or common flour, 1 dessert­spoonful; butter, 3 ozs.; juice and rind of 1½ full-sized lemon: baked 15 to 20 minutes.

* A few ratifias, or three or four macaroons rolled to powder, or a stale sponge or naples biscuit or two, reduced to the finest crumbs, may be substi­tuted for either of these: more lemon, too, can be added to the taste.

MADAME WERNER’S ROSENVIK CHEESE-CAKES.

Blanch and pound to the finest possible paste, four ounces of fine fresh Jordan almonds, with a few drops of lemon-juice or water, then mix with them, very gradually indeed, six fresh, and thoroughly well-whisked eggs; throw in by degrees twelve ounces of pounded sugar, and beat the mixture without intermission all the time; add then, the finely grated rinds 432 of four small, or of three large lemons, and afterwards, by very slow degrees, the strained juice of all. When these ingredients are perfectly blended, pour to them in small portions, four ounces of just liquified butter (six of clarified if exceedingly rich cheese-cakes are wished for), and again whisk the mixture lightly for several minutes; thicken it over the fire like boiled custard, and either put it into small pans or jars for storing,* or fill with it, one-third full, some patty-pans lined with the finest paste; place lightly on it a layer of apricot, orange, or lemon-marmalade, and on this pour as much more of the mixture. Bake the cheese-cakes from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven. They are very good without the layer of preserve.

Jordan almonds, 4 ozs.; eggs, 6; sugar, 12 ozs.; rinds and strained juice of 4 small, or of 3 quite large lemons; butter, 4 ozs. (6 for rich cheese-cakes); layers of preserve. Baked 15 to 20 minutes, moderate oven.

* This preparation will make excellent fanchonettes, or pastry-sandwiches. It will not curdle if gently boiled for two or three minutes (and stirred without ceasing), and it may be long kept afterwards.

NORFOLK CHEESE-CAKES.

Beat well together until they are perfectly smooth, three-quarters of a pound of cheese-curd and five ounces of butter; add to them two ounces of almonds, of which, five or six should be bitter ones, four ounces of sifted sugar, four eggs, leaving but two of the whites, three spoonsful of cream, two of brandy, a little mace or nutmeg, and if candied peel and currants are approved, one ounce and a half of the first, and three of the latter. Finish and bake the cheese-cakes as the preceding ones.

Curd, ¾ lb.; butter, 5 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; almonds, 2 ozs.; eggs, 4 yolks, 2 whites; cream, three table­spoonsful; brandy 2; little mace or nutmeg; currants (if added), 3 ozs.; candied orange or lemon-rind, 1½ oz.: 20 minutes.

FANCHONNETTES.

Roll out very thin and square, fine puff paste, lay it on a tin or copper oven-leaf, and cover it equally 433 to within something less than an inch of the edge with peach or apricot jam; roll a second bit of paste to the same size, and lay it carefully over the other, having first moistened the edges with beaten egg, or water; press them together securely, that the preserve may not escape; pass a paste brush or small bunch of feathers dipped in water over the top, sift sugar thickly on it, then with the back of a knife mark the paste into divisions of uniform size, bake it in a well-heated but not fierce oven for twenty minutes or rather more, and cut it while it is still hot, where it is marked. The fanchonnettes should be about three inches in length and two in width. In order to lay the second crust over the preserve without disturbing it, wind it lightly round the paste-roller, and in untwisting it, let it fall gently over the other part.

This is not the form of pasty called by the French fanchonnettes.

Fine puff paste, 1 lb.; apricot or peach jam, 4 to 6 ozs.: baked 20 to 25 minutes.

PASTRY SANDWICHES.

Divide equally in two, and roll off square and as thin as possible, some rich puff crust;* lay one-half on a buttered tin, or copper oven-leaf, and spread it lightly with fine currant, straw­berry, or raspberry jelly; lay the remaining half closely over, pressing it a little with the rolling-pin after the edges are well cemented together; then mark it into divisions, and bake it from fifteen to twenty minutes, in a moderate oven.

* Almond-paste is sometimes substituted for this.

LEMON SANDWICHES.

Substitute for preserve, in the preceding receipt, the lemon cheese-cake store-mixture of the following page.

STRAWBERRY TARTLETS. (GOOD.)

Take a full half-pint of freshly-gathered straw­berries, without the stalks; first crush, and then mix them with two ounces and a half of powdered sugar; stir to them, 434 by degrees, four well whisked eggs, beat the mixture a little, and put it into patty-pans lined with fine paste: they should be only three parts filled. Bake the tartlets from ten to twelve minutes.

CURRANT-JELLY TARTLETS, OR CUSTARDS.

Put four tablespoonsful of the best currant-jelly into a basin, and stir to it gradually twelve spoonsful of beaten egg; if the preserve be rich and sweet, no sugar will be required. Line some pans with paste rolled very thin, fill them with the custard, and bake them about ten minutes.*

* Strawberry or raspberry jelly will answer admirably for these.

RASPBERRY PUFFS.

Roll out thin some fine puff-paste, cut it in rounds or squares of equal size, lay some raspberry jam into each, moisten the edges of the paste, fold and press them together, and bake the puffs from ten to fifteen minutes. Strawberry, or any other jam will serve for them equally well.

STORE MIXTURE FOR LEMON TARTLETS,
Which will remain good for a year or two.

Put into a very clean stewpan or saucepan a quarter-pound of fresh butter, a pound of good sugar, beaten to powder, the yolks of six eggs, and the whites of four, whisked and strained, the grated rinds of two large lemons, and the strained juice of three; keep the whole stirred over a gentle fire until it is as thick as good cream. When it is quite cold, pour it into small jars or pans, and tie paper over it. When required for table, put it into patty-pans lined with thin puff-paste, and bake the cheese-cakes from fifteen to eighteen minutes. This is a very conve­nient store, especially quite in the country, where it is sometimes difficult to obtain the fresh fruit. The proportions may be varied so that the lemon shall predominate more or less, according to the taste; and the rinds may be rasped on part of the sugar before it is pounded; or they may be boiled tender, and 435 beaten to a paste previously to being mixed with the other ingredients: but the receipt, as we have given it, is exceedingly good.

Fresh butter, ¼ lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; yolks of 6 eggs; whites 4; rinds 2 lemons; juice of 3.

CHAPTER XVII.
BOILED PUDDINGS.

Ingoldsby Christmas pudding.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

All the ingredients for puddings should be fresh and of good quality. It is a false economy to use for them such as have been too long stored, as the slightest degree of mustiness or taint in any one of the articles of which they are composed will spoil all that are combined with it. Eggs should always be broken separately into a cup before they are thrown together in the same basin, as a single very bad one will occasion the loss of many, when this precaution is neglected. They should also be cleared from the specks with scrupulous attention, either with the point of a small three pronged fork, while they are in the cup, or by straining the whole through a fine hair sieve, after they are beaten. The perfect sweetness of suet and milk should be especially attended to, before they are mixed into a pudding, as nothing can be more offensive than the first, when it is over-kept, nor worse in its effect than the curdling of the milk, which is the certain result of its being ever so slightly soured.

Currants should be cleaned, and raisins stoned with 436 exceeding care; almonds and spices very finely pounded, and the rinds of oranges or lemons rasped or grated lightly off, that the bitter part of the skin may be avoided, when they are used for this, or for any other class of dishes; if pared, they should be cut as thin as possible.

Custard puddings, to have a good appearance, must be simmered only, but without ceasing; for if boiled in a quick and careless manner, the surface, instead of being smooth and velvety, will be full of holes, or honeycombed, as it is called, and the whey will flow from it and mingle with the sauce. A thickly-buttered sheet of writing-paper should be laid between the custard mixture and the cloth, before it is tied over, or the lid of the mould is closed upon it; and the mould itself, or the basin in which it is boiled, and which should always be quite full, must likewise be well buttered; and after it is lifted from the water, the pudding should be left in it for quite five minutes before it is dished, to prevent its breaking, or spreading about.

Batter is much lighter when boiled in a cloth, and allowed full room to swell, than when confined in a mould; it should be well beaten the instant before it is poured into it, and put into the water imme­diately after it is securely tied. The cloth should be moist and thickly floured, and the pudding should be sent to table as expeditiously as possible after it is done, as it will quickly become heavy. This applies equally to all puddings made with paste, which are rendered uneatable by any delay in serving them after they are ready: they should be opened a little at the top as soon as they are taken from the boiler or stewpan.

Plum-puddings, which it is now customary to boil in moulds, are both lighter and less dry, when closely tied in stout cloths well buttered and floured, especially when they are made in part with bread; but when this is done, care should be taken not to allow them to burn to the bottom of the pan in which they are cooked; and it is a good plan to lay a plate or dish under them, by way of precaution against this mischance: it will not 437 then so much matter whether they be kept floating or not. It is thought better to mix these entirely (except the liquid portion of them) the day before they are boiled, and it is perhaps an advan­tage when they are of large size, to do so, but it is not really necessary for small or common ones.

A very little salt improves all sweet puddings, by taking off the insipidity, and bringing out the full flavour of the other ingredients, but its presence should not be in the slightest degree perceptible. When brandy, wine, or lemon-juice is added to them it should be stirred in briskly, and by degrees, quite at last, as it would be likely otherwise to curdle the milk or eggs.

Many persons prefer their puddings steamed; but when this is not done, they should be dropped into plenty of boiling water, and be kept well covered with it until they are ready to serve; and the boiling should never be allowed to cease for an instant, for they soon become heavy if it be interrupted.

Pudding and dumpling-cloths should not only be laid into plenty of water as soon as they are taken off, and washed afterwards, as we shall direct, but it is essential to their perfect sweetness that they should be well and quickly dried (in the open air if possible), then folded and kept in a clean drawer. We have known them left wet by a careless servant, until, when brought forward for use, they were as offensive almost as meat that had been too long kept. To prevent their ever imparting an unpleasant flavour when used, they should be washed in a lye made with wood-ashes;* but when, from any circumstance, this cannot be done, and soap is used for them, they should be rinsed, and soaked in abundance of water, which should be changed several times.

* For further particulars on this point, see Appendix.

TO CLEAN CURRANTS FOR PUDDINGS OR CAKES.

Put them into a cullender, strew a handful of flour over them, and rub them with the hands to separate the lumps, and to detach the stalks; work them round in the cullender, and shake it well, when the small 438 stalks and stones will fall through it. Next pour plenty of cold water over the currants, drain, and spread them on a soft cloth, press it over them to absorb the moisture, and then lay them on a very clean oven-tin, or a large dish, and dry them very gradually (or they will become hard), either in a cool oven, or before the fire, taking care in the latter case that they are not placed suffi­ciently near it for the ashes to fall amongst them. When they are perfectly dry, clear them entirely from the remaining stalks, and from every stone that may be amongst them. The best mode of detecting these is, to lay the fruit at the far end of a large white dish, or sheet of paper, and to pass it lightly, and in very small portions, with the fingers, towards oneself, examining it closely as this is done.

TO MIX BATTER FOR PUDDINGS.

Put the flour and salt into a bowl, and stir them together; whisk the eggs thoroughly, strain them through a fine hair-sieve, and add them very gradually to the flour; for if too much liquid be poured to it at once it will be full of lumps, and it is easy, with care, to keep the batter perfectly smooth. Beat it well, and lightly with the back of a strong wooden spoon, and after the eggs are added thin it with milk to a proper consistency. The whites of the eggs beaten separately to a solid froth, and stirred gently into the mixture the instant before it is tied up for boiling, or before it is put into the oven to be baked, will render it remarkably light. When fruit is added to the batter it must be made thicker than when it is served plain, or it will sink to the bottom of the pudding. Batter should never stick to the knife when it is sent to table: it will do this both when a suffi­cient number of eggs are not mixed with it, and when it is not enough cooked. About four eggs to the half pound of flour will make it firm enough to cut smoothly.

SUET-CRUST, FOR MEAT OR FRUIT PUDDINGS.

Clear off the skin from some fresh beef kidney-suet, 439 and with a sharp knife slice it thin, free it entirely from fibre and mince it very fine: six ounces thus prepared will be found quite suffi­cient for a pound of flour. Mix them well together, add half a teaspoonful of salt for meat-puddings, and a third as much for fruit ones, and suffi­cient cold water to make the whole into a very firm paste; work it smooth, and roll it out of equal thickness when it is used. The weight of suet should be taken after it is minced. This crust is so much lighter, and more whole­some than that which is made with butter, that we cannot refrain from recom­mending it in preference to our readers. Some cooks merely slice the suet in thin shavings, mix it with the flour, and beat the crust with a paste-roller, till the flour and suet are perfectly incorporated.

Flour, 2 lbs.; suet, 12 ozs.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; water, 1 pint.

BUTTER CRUST FOR PUDDINGS.

When suet is disliked for crust, butter must supply its place, but any intermixture of lard is not so well for paste that is to be boiled. Eight ounces to the pound of flour will render it suffi­ciently rich for most eaters, and less will generally be preferred, rich crust of this kind being more indigestible by far than that which is baked. The butter may be lightly broken into the flour before the water is added, or it may be laid on, and rolled into the paste as for puff-crust. A small portion of salt must be added to it always, and for a meat pudding the same proportion as directed in the preceding receipt.*

Flour 1 lb.; butter, 8 ozs.; salt, for fruit puddings, ½ saltspoonful; for meat puddings, ½ teaspoonful.

* For kitchen, or for quite common family puddings, butter and clarified dripping are used sometimes in equal proportions. From three to four ounces of each will be suffi­cient for the pound and quarter of flour.

BEEF-STEAK, OR JOHN BULL’S PUDDING.

This, and all other meat puddings are more conve­niently 440 made in deep pans or basins having a thick rim, below which the cloths can be tied without the hazard of their slipping off; and as the puddings should by no means be turned out before they are sent to table, a basin or pan to match the dinner-service, at least in colour, is desirable.* Roll out a suet-crust to half an inch in thickness, line evenly with it a quart, or any other sized basin that may be preferred, and raise the crust from an inch and a half to two inches above the edge. Fill it with layers of well-kept rump-steak, neatly trimmed, and seasoned with salt and pepper, or cayenne; pour in some cold water to make the gravy; roll out the cover, moisten the edge, as well as that of the pudding, draw and press them together carefully, fold them over, shake out a cloth which has been dipped in hot water, wrung out, and well-floured, tie it over the pudding, gather the corners together, tie them over the top of the pudding, put it into plenty of fast-boiling water, and let it remain in from three to five hours, according to its size. The instant it is lifted out, stick a fork quite through the middle of the crust to prevent its bursting; remove the cloth quickly, and cut a small round or square in the top to allow the steam to escape, and serve the pudding imme­diately. Though not consi­dered very admissible to an elegantly served table, this is a favourite dish with many persons, and is said to be in great esteem with Sussex sportsmen, for whom it is often provided in preference to fare which requires greater exactness in the time of cooking, as an addi­tional hour’s boiling, or even more, will have little effect on a large 441 pudding of this kind, beyond reducing the quantity of gravy, and rendering it very thick.

Some cooks flour the meat slightly before it is laid into the crust, but we do not think it an improve­ment: where fat is liked, a portion may be added with the lean, but all skin and sinew should be carefully rejected. Beat the steak with a paste roller, should it not appear to be perfectly tender, and divide it into portions about the size of two fingers. Two or three dozens of oysters, bearded and washed free from grit in their own liquor, (which should afterwards be strained and poured into the pudding,) may be intermingled with the meat.

A true epicurean receipt for this dish, directs the crust to be made with veal-kidney suet, and filled with alternate layers of the inside of the sirloin, sliced and seasoned, and fine plump native oysters, intermixed with an occasional small slice of the veal fat.

* It is now customary in many families to have both meat and fruit puddings boiled, and served in pie or tart-dishes. They are lined entirely with very thin crust, or merely rimmed with it, according to taste; then filled, closed, and cooked in the usual manner. The plan is a good and conve­nient one, where the light upper-crust is preferred to the heavy and sodden part which is under the meat. In Kent and Sussex, shallow pans, in form somewhat resembling a large deep saucer, are sold expressly for boiling meat puddings.

SMALL BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.*

Make into a very firm, smooth paste, one pound of flour, six ounces of beef-suet, finely minced, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a pint of cold water. Line with this, a basin which holds a pint and a half. Season a pound of tender steak, free from bone and skin, with half an ounce of salt, and half a teaspoonful of pepper well mixed together; lay it in the crust, pour in a quarter-pint of water, roll out the cover, close the pudding carefully, tie a floured cloth over, and boil it three hours and a half. We give this receipt in addition to the preceding one, as an exact guide for the proportions of meat-puddings in general.

Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 ozs.; salt, ½ teaspoonful; water, 442 ½ pint; rump-steak, 1 lb.; salt, ½ oz.; pepper, ½ teaspoonful; water, ¼ pint: 3½ hours.

* To make Ruth Pinch’s celebrated pudding (known also as beef-steak pudding à la Dickens), substi­tute six ounces of butter for the suet in this receipt, and moisten the paste with the well-beaten yolks of four eggs, or with three whole ones, mixed with a little water; butter the basin very thickly before the crust is laid in, as the pudding is to be turned out of it for table. In all else proceed exactly as above.

SUPERLATIVE BEEF-PUDDING.

Take a fine woodcock that is ready for the spit, and put it into the middle of a large beef-pudding, laying the meat under, over, and round it; finish it as usual, and boil it four hours or more: the fine flavour of the bird will pervade the whole contents of the pudding.

PARTRIDGE PUDDING.

Skin a couple of well-kept partridges and cut them down into joints; line a deep basin with suet crust, observing the direc­tions given in the preceding receipts; lay in the birds, which should be rather highly seasoned with pepper or cayenne, and moderately with salt; pour in water for the gravy, close the pudding with care, and boil it from three hours to three and a half. The true flavour of the game is admirably preserved by this mode of cooking. When mushrooms are plentiful, put a layer of buttons, or small flaps, cleaned as for pickling, alternately with a layer of partridge, in filling the pudding, which will then be most excellent eating: the crust may be left untouched, and merely emptied of its contents, where it is objected to, or its place may be supplied with a richer one made of butter. A seasoning of pounded mace or nutmeg can be used at discretion. Puddings of veal, chickens, and young rabbits, may all be made by this receipt, or with the addition of oysters, which we have already noticed.

COMMON BATTER PUDDING.

Beat four eggs thoroughly, mix with them half a pint of milk, and pass them through a sieve, add them by degrees to half a pound of flour, and when the batter is perfectly smooth, thin it with another half pint of milk. Shake out a wet pudding cloth, flour it well, pour the batter in, leave it room to swell, tie it securely, and put it directly into plenty of fast-boiling water. An hour and ten minutes will boil it. Send it to table the 443 instant it is dished, with wine-sauce, a hot compote of fruit, or raspberry vinegar: this last makes a delicious pudding-sauce. Unless the liquid be added very gradually to the flour, and the mixture be well stirred and beaten as each portion is poured to it, the batter will not be smooth: to render it very light, a portion of the whites of the eggs, or the whole of them, should be whisked to a froth and stirred into it just before it is put into the cloth.

Flour, ½ lb.; eggs, 4; salt, ¾ teaspoonful; milk, 1 pint: 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Obs.—Modern taste is in favour of puddings boiled in moulds, but they are seldom or ever so light as those which are tied in cloths only: this parti­cularly applies to batter, and to plum-puddings. Where appearance is the first consideration we would recom­mend the use of the moulds, of course.

ANOTHER BATTER PUDDING.

Mix the yolks of three eggs smoothly with three heaped table­spoonsful of flour, thin the batter with new milk till it is of the consistency of cream, whisk the whites of eggs, apart, stir them into the batter, and boil the pudding in a floured cloth or buttered basin for an hour. Before it is served, cut the top quickly into large dice, half through the pudding, pour over it a small jarful of fine currant, raspberry, or straw­berry jelly, and send it to table without delay.

Flour, 3 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; salt, ½ teaspoonful; milk, from ½ to a whole pint: 1 hour.

Obs.—For a very large pudding, double the quantity of ingredients and the time of boiling will be required.

BLACK-CAP PUDDING.

Make a good light thin batter, and just before it is poured into the cloth stir to it half a pound of currants, well cleaned and dried; these will sink to the lower part of the pudding and blacken the surface. Boil it the usual time, and dish it with the dark side uppermost; 444 send very sweet sauce to table with it. Some cooks butter a mould thickly, strew in the currants, and pour the batter on them, which produces the same appearance as when the ingredients are tied in a cloth.

BATTER FRUIT PUDDING.

Butter thickly a basin which holds a pint and a half, and fill it nearly to the brim with good boiling apples pared, cored, and quartered; pour over them a batter made with four table­spoonsful of flour, two large or three small eggs, and half a pint of milk. Tie a buttered and floured cloth over the basin, which ought to be quite full, and boil the pudding an hour and a quarter. Turn it into a hot dish when done, and strew sugar thickly over it: this, if added to the batter at first renders it heavy. Morella cherries make a very superior pudding of this kind; and green goose­berries, damsons, and various other fruits, answer for it extremely well: the time of boiling it must be varied according to their quality and its size.

For a pint and half mould or basin filled to the brim with apples or other fruit; flour, 4 table­spoonsful; eggs, 2 large or 3 small; milk, ½ pint: 1¼ hour.

Obs.—Apples cored, halved, and mixed with a good batter, make an excellent baked pudding, as well as red currants, cherries, and plums of different sorts.

KENTISH SUET PUDDING.

To a pound and a quarter of flour put half a pound of finely minced beef-suet,* half a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter one of pepper; mix these into a smooth paste, with one egg well beaten, and a little cold milk or water; make it into the shape of a paste-roller, fold a floured cloth round it, tie the end tightly, and boil it for a couple of hours. In Kent this pudding is usually sent to table with boiled beef, and is sometimes cooked with it 445 also. It is very good sliced and broiled, or browned in a Dutch oven, after having become quite cold.

Flour, 1½ lb.; suet, ½ lb.; salt, ½ teaspoonful; half as much pepper; 1 egg; little milk or water: boiled 2 hours.

* A very common fault with bad and careless cooks is, that of using for paste and puddings suet coarsely chopped, which is, to many eaters, distasteful to the last degree.

ANOTHER SUET PUDDING.

Make into a somewhat lithe, but smooth paste, half a pound of fine stale bread-crumbs, three-quarters of a pound of flour, from ten to twelve ounces of beef-suet, chopped extremely small, a large half-teaspoonful of salt, and rather less of pepper, with two eggs and a little milk. Boil it two hours and a quarter.

A CHEAP SUET PUDDING.

With a pound of flour mix well an equal weight of good potatoes boiled and grated (or prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt, page 362), a quarter-pound of suet, and a small teaspoonful of salt. Make these into a stiff batter, with milk, and boil it one hour in a well-floured cloth.

APPLE, CURRANT, CHERRY, OR OTHER FRESH FRUIT PUDDING.

Make a paste as for a beef-steak pudding, either with suet or butter; lay into a basin a well floured cloth, which has been dipped into hot water, wrung dry, and shaken out; roll the paste thin, press it evenly into the basin upon the cloth, fill it with apples, pared, cored, and quartered; or with any other fruit; put on the cover, taking care to moisten the edges of the paste, to press them well together, and fold them over; gather up the ends of the cloth, and tie it firmly close to the pudding, which should then be dropped into plenty of fast-boiling water. When it is done, lift it out by twisting a strong fork into the corner of the cloth, turn it gently into the dish in which it is to be served, and cut imme­diately a small round or square from the top, or the pudding will quickly become heavy; send it to table without the 446 slightest delay, accom­panied by pounded, and by good Lisbon sugar, as many persons prefer the latter, from its imparting a more mellowed flavour to the fruit. A small slice of fresh butter, and some finely grated nutmeg are usually consi­dered improve­ments to an apple-pudding; the juice, and the grated rind of a lemon may be added with good effect, when the fruit is laid into the crust, especially in spring, when the apples generally will have become insipid in their flavour. When puddings are preferred boiled in moulds or basins, these must be thickly buttered before the paste is laid into them, and the puddings must be turned from them gently, that they may not burst.

Currant, gooseberry, or cherry-pudding, 1 to 1¼ hour. Greengage, damson, mussel, or other plum, 1 to 1½ hour. Apple-pudding from 1 to 2 hours, according to its size, and the time of year.

Obs.—If made of codlings, an apple-pudding will require only so much boiling as may be needed for the crust.

A COMMON APPLE PUDDING.

Make a light crust with one pound of flour, and six ounces of very finely-minced beef-suet, roll it thin, and fill it with one pound and a quarter of good boiling apples; add the grated rind and strained juice of a small lemon, tie it in a cloth, and boil it one hour and twenty minutes before Christmas, and from twenty to thirty minutes longer after Christmas. A small slice of fresh butter, stirred into it when it is sweetened will, to many tastes, be an acceptable addition; grated nutmeg, or a little cinnamon, in fine powder, may be substi­tuted for the lemon-rind when either is preferred. To convert this into a richer pudding, use half a pound of butter for the crust, and add to the apples a spoonful or two of orange, or of quince marmalade.

Crust: flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 ozs. Fruit, pared and cored, 1½ lb.; juice and rind of 1 small lemon (or some nutmeg or cinnamon in powder).

Richer pudding: flour, 1 lb.; butter, ½ lb.; in 447 addition to fruit, 1 or 2 table­spoonsful of orange or quince marmalade.

HER MAJESTY’S PUDDING.

Infuse in a pint of new milk half a pod of vanilla, cut into short lengths, and bruised; simmer them gently together for twenty minutes, and strain the milk through muslin to half a pint of cream; put these again on the fire in a clean saucepan, with three ounces of fine sugar, and pour them when they boil to the beaten yolks of eight very fresh eggs. Stir the mixture often, till it is nearly or quite cold, and boil it as gently as possible for an hour in a well buttered mould or basin that will just hold it. Let it stand for four minutes at least before it is turned out; dish it carefully, strew, and garnish it thickly with bunches of preserved barberries, or send it to table with a rich syrup of fresh fruit, or with clear fruit-jelly, melted. We have had often a compote (see Sweet Dishes) of currants, cherries, or plums served, and greatly relished with this pudding, which we can recom­mend to our readers as an extremely delicate one. The flavouring may be varied with bitter almonds, lemon-rind, noyeau, or aught else which may be better liked than the vanilla.

New milk, 1 pint; vanilla, ½ pod: 20 minutes. Cream, ½ pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; yolks of eggs, 8: 1 hour.

Obs.—The cook must be reminded that unless the eggs be stirred briskly as the boiling milk is gradually poured to them, they will be likely to curdle. A buttered paper should always be put over the basin before the cloth is tied on, for all custard puddings.

SMALL CUSTARD PUDDING.
Aldeburgh White Lion Receipt.

Dissolve in half a pint of new milk a dessert­spoonful of pounded sugar, and pour it to three well-beaten eggs; strain the mixture into a buttered basin, which should be full; lay a half sheet of buttered writing paper, and then a floured cloth over it, and tie them tightly on; 448 boil the pudding gently for twenty-five minutes, and let it stand four or five more before it is turned out, that it may not spread in the dish. Serve it with wine sauce.

New milk, ½ pint; sugar, 1 dessertspoonful; fresh eggs, 3: 25 minutes.

COMMON CUSTARD PUDDING.

Beat three eggs, whisk and put them into a pint basin, add to them suffi­cient milk to fill it; then strain, flavour and sweeten it with fine sugar; boil the pudding very softly for an exact half hour, let it stand a few minutes, dish, and serve it with sugar sifted over, and sweet sauce in a tureen, or send stewed goose­berries, currants, or cherries to table with it. A small quantity of lemon-brandy, or of ratifia can be added, to give it flavour, when it is made, or the sugar with which it is sweetened may be rasped on a lemon or orange, then crushed and dissolved in the milk; from an ounce and a half to two ounces will be suffi­cient for general taste.

PRINCE ALBERT’S PUDDING.

Beat to a cream half a pound of fresh butter,* and mix with it by degrees an equal quantity of pounded loaf-sugar, dried and sifted; add to these, after they have been well beaten together, first the yolks, and then the whites of five fresh eggs, which have been thoroughly whisked apart; now strew lightly in half a pound of the finest flour, dried and sifted, and last of all, half a pound of jar raisins weighed after they are stoned. Put these ingredients, perfectly mixed, into a well-buttered mould, or floured cloth, and boil the pudding three hours. Serve it with punch-sauce. We recom­mend a little pounded mace, or the grated rind of a small lemon, to vary the flavour of this excellent pudding; and that when a mould is used, slices of candied peel should be laid rather thickly over it after it is buttered.

449

Fresh butter, pounded sugar, flour, stoned raisins, each ½ lb.; eggs, 5: 3 hours.

* The ingredients may be mixed like those of the Sutherland puddings, page 472, with as good an effect, the raisins being thrown in last.

GERMAN PUDDING, AND SAUCE.

Stew, till very tender and dry, three ounces of whole rice in a pint and a quarter of milk; when a little cooled, mix with it three ounces of beef-suet, finely chopped, two ounces and a half of sugar, an ounce of candied orange or lemon-peel, six ounces of sultana raisins, and three large eggs well beaten and strained. Boil the pudding in a buttered basin, or in a well-floured cloth, for two hours and a quarter, and serve it with the following sauce:—Dissolve an ounce and a half of sugar broken small in two glasses of sherry, or of any other white wine, and stir them, when quite hot, to the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; then stir the sauce in a small saucepan held high above the fire until it resembles custard, but by no means allow it to boil, or it will instantly curdle; pour it over the pudding, or, if preferred, send it to table in a tureen. We think a full teaspoonful of lemon-juice added to the wine an improve­ment to this sauce, which is excellent; and we can recom­mend the pudding also to our readers.

Milk, 1¼ pint; rice, 3 ozs.: 1 hour, or more. Suet, 3 ozs.; sugar, 2½ ozs.; candied peel, 1 oz.; sultana raisins, 6 ozs.; eggs, 3 large: 2¼ hours. Sauce.—Sherry, 2 glasses; sugar, 1½ oz.; yolks of eggs, 3; little lemon-juice.

We have already, in a previous part of the volume, directed that the German sauce should be milled to a fine froth, and poured upon the pudding with which it is served: when this is not done, the quantity should be increased.

A CABINET PUDDING.

Split and stone three dozens of fine jar raisins, or take an equal number of dried cherries, and place either of them regularly, in a sort of pattern, in a thickly-buttered plain quart mould or basin; next, slice and lay into it three penny sponge-cakes, add to these two ounces of 450 ratifias, four maccaroons, an ounce and a half of candied citron, sliced thin, the yolks of four eggs with the whites of three only, thoroughly whisked, mixed with half a pint of new milk, then strained to half a pint of sweet cream, and sweetened with two ounces and a half of pounded sugar: these ought to fill the mould exactly. Steam the pudding, or boil it very gently for one hour; let it stand a few minutes before it is dished that it may not break; and serve it with good wine or brandy sauce.

Jar raisins, or dried cherries, 3 dozens (quart mould or basin); sponge-biscuits, 3; maccaroons, 4; ratifias, 2 ozs.; candied citron, 1½ oz.; yolks of 4 eggs, whites of 3; new milk, ½ pint; cream, ½ pint; sugar, 2½ ozs.; steamed or boiled, 1 hour.

Obs.—We have given this receipt, for which we are indebted to a friend, without any variation from the original, because on testing it we have found it very exact with regard to quantity and time; but though an extremely delicate and excellent pudding, a little flavouring would, we think, improve it: a small portion of the milk might be omitted, and its place supplied by ratifia, lemon-brandy, or ought else that should be preferred.

A VERY FINE CABINET PUDDING.

Butter thickly a mould of the same size as for the preceding pudding, and ornament it tastefully with dried cherries, or if these are not procurable, with the finest bloom raisins opened and stoned; lay lightly into it a quarter-pound of sponge-biscuit cut in slices, and intermixed with an equal weight of ratifias; sweeten with three ounces of sugar in lumps, and flavour highly with vanilla, or with the thin rind of half a fine lemon, and six sound bitter almonds bruised (should these be preferred), three-quarters of a pint of thin cream, or of cream and new milk mixed; strain and pour this hot to the well-beaten yolks of six eggs and the whites of two, and when the mixture is nearly cold, throw in gradually 451 a glass of good brandy; pour it gently, and by degrees, into the mould, and steam or boil the pudding very gently for an hour. Serve it with well-made wine-sauce. Never omit a buttered paper over any sort of custard-mixture; and remember that quick-boiling will destroy the good appearance of this kind of pudding. The liquid should be quite cold before it is added to the cakes, or the butter on the mould would melt off, and the decorations with it: preserved ginger, and candied citron in slices, may be used to vary these, and the syrup of the former may be added to give flavour to the other ingredients.

Dried cherries, 3 to 4 ozs.; sponge-biscuits, ¼ lb.; ratifias, 4 ozs.; thin cream, or cream and milk, ¾ pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; vanilla, ½ pod (or thin rind of ½ lemon and 6 bitter almonds bruised); yolks of 6 eggs, whites of 2; brandy, 1 wineglassful (preserved ginger and candied citron at choice): steamed, or gently boiled, 1 hour.

MISS BREMER’S PUDDING.

Blanch, dry, and beat to the smoothest possible paste, half a pound of fresh Jordan almonds and five or six bitter ones, and moisten them as they are done with a few drops of water, or a little white of egg, to prevent their oiling. Add to them in very small portions at first, or they will be lumpy, the yolks of seven fresh eggs, and the whites of two well beaten; then throw in gradually four ounces of pounded and sifted sugar, and whisk the mixture thoroughly till it looks very light; next, strew in, continuing the whisking, four ounces of fine bread-crumbs, and the grated rind of a lemon; and last of all, add four ounces of just-liquid butter, which must, by no means, be heated more than enough to dissolve it, and which must be poured in by slow degrees, and beaten thoroughly to the other ingredients, till there is no appearance of it left. Butter thickly a pint and a half mould, shake fine bread-crumbs thickly and equally over it, half fill it very gently with the pudding-mixture, and place lightly upon this a 452 layer of apricot-jam; put the remainder of the pudding carefully upon it, lay a buttered paper over the mould, then close it, or should there be no cover, tie a cloth securely round it, and boil the pudding a full hour. Serve it with German, or common sweet wine sauce.

Jordan almonds, ½ lb.; bitter ones, 5 or 6; yolks of 7 eggs, whites of 2; pounded sugar, 4 ozs.; bread-crumbs, 4 ozs.; lemon-rind, 1; butter, 4 ozs.; apricot-marmalade, 1 jarful: full hour.

VERY GOOD RAISIN PUDDING.

To three-quarters of a pound of flour add four ounces of fine crumbs of bread, one pound of beef-suet, a pound and six ounces of raisins, weighed after they are stoned, a quarter-teaspoonful of salt, rather more of ginger, half a nutmeg, an ounce and a half of candied peel, and four large or five small eggs, beaten, strained, and mixed with a cupful of milk, or as much more as will make the whole of the consistency of a very thick batter. Pour the mixture into a well floured cloth of close texture, that has been previously dipped into hot water, wrung, and shaken out. Boil the pudding in plenty of water for four hours and a half. It may be served with very sweet wine, or punch-sauce; but if made as we have directed, will be much lighter than if sugar be mixed with the other ingredients before it is boiled; and we have found it generally preferred to a richer plum-pudding.

Flour, ¾ lb.; bread-crumbs, 4 ozs.; beef-suet, 1 lb.; stoned raisins, 1 lb. 6 ozs.; candied peel, 1½ oz.; ½ nutmeg; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small; little salt and ginger: 4½ hours.

A SUPERIOR RAISIN PUDDING.

Grate very lightly, but quite fine, four ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf, and mix it with a quarter-pound of flour, twelve ounces of beef kidney-suet, minced small, a pound of stoned raisins, a little salt, half a small nutmeg, a saltspoonful of pounded ginger, half as much 453 mace, four ounces of good sugar, two of candied citron or orange-rind, four eggs, and two or three spoonsful of milk or brandy. Stir, and beat these ingredients thoroughly together, pour them into a thick, well-floured cloth, and boil the pudding for four hours.

Bread-crumbs and flour each, 4 ozs.; suet, 12 ozs.; stoned raisins, 1 lb.; salt, third of saltspoonful; ½ nutmeg; ginger, ½ teaspoonful; half as much mace; sugar, 4 ozs.; candied citron or orange-rind, 2 ozs.; eggs, 4; milk or brandy, 3 to 5 table­spoonsful: 4 hours.

Obs.—The remains of this pudding will answer well for the receipt that follows.

THE ELEGANT ECONOMIST’S PUDDING.

Butter thickly a plain mould or basin, and line it entirely with slices of cold plum or raisin pudding, cut so as to join closely and neatly together; fill it quite with a good custard, lay first a buttered paper, and then a floured cloth over it, tie them securely, and boil the pudding gently for an hour; let it stand ten minutes after it is taken up before it is turned out of the mould. This is a more tasteful mode of serving the remains of a plum-pudding than the usual one of broiling them in slices, or converting them into fritters. The German sauce, well milled or frothed, is generally much relished with sweet boiled-puddings, and adds greatly to their good appearance; but common wine, or punch-sauce, may be sent to table with the above quite as appropriately.

Mould or basin holding 1½ pint, lined with thin slices of plum-pudding; ¾ pint new milk boiled gently 5 minutes with grain of salt; 5 bitter almonds, bruised; sugar in lumps, 2½ ozs.; thin rind of ½ lemon, strained and mixed directly with 4 large well-beaten eggs; poured into mould while just warm; boiled gently 1 hour.

PUDDING A LA SCOONES.

Take of apples finely minced, and of currants, six ounces each; of suet, chopped small, sultana raisins, 454 picked from the stalks, and sugar, four ounces each, with three ounces of fine bread-crumbs, the grated rind, and the strained juice of a small lemon, three well-beaten eggs, and two spoonsful of brandy. Mix these ingredients perfectly, and boil the pudding for two hours in a buttered basin; sift sugar over it when it is sent to table, and serve wine or punch sauce apart.

Minced apples and currants, each, 6 ozs.; suet, sultana raisins, and sugar, each, 4 ozs.; bread-crumbs, 3 ozs.; lemon, 1; eggs, 3; brandy, 2 spoonsful: 2 hours.

INGOLDSBY CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS.

Mix very thoroughly one pound of finely-grated bread with the same quantity of flour, two pounds of raisins stoned, two of currants, two of suet minced small, one of sugar, half a pound of candied peel, one nutmeg, half an ounce of mixed spice, and the grated rinds of two lemons; mix the whole with sixteen eggs well-beaten and strained, and add four glasses of brandy. These proportions will make three puddings of good size, each of which should be boiled six hours.

Bread-crumbs 1 lb.; flour, 1 lb.; suet, 2 lbs.; currants, 2 lbs.; raisins, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1 lb.; candied peel, ½ lb.; rinds of lemons 2, nutmegs 1, mixed spice ½ oz.; salt, ¼ teaspoonful; eggs, 16; brandy, 4 glassesful: 6 hours.

Obs.—A fourth part of the ingredients given above, will make a pudding of suffi­cient size for a small party: to render this very rich, half the flour and bread-crumbs may be omitted, and a few spoonsful of apricot marmalade well blended with the remainder of the mixture.*

* Rather less liquid will be required to moisten the pudding when this is done, and four hours and a quarter will boil it.

COTTAGE CHRISTMAS PUDDING.

A pound and a quarter of flour, fourteen ounces of suet, a pound and a quarter of stoned raisins, four ounces of currants, five of sugar, a quarter-pound of potatoes smoothly mashed, half a nutmeg, a quarter teaspoonful of ginger, the same of salt, and of cloves in 455 powder: mix these ingredients thoroughly, add four well-beaten eggs with a quarter-pint of milk, tie the pudding in a well-floured cloth, and boil it four hours.

Flour, 1¼ lb.; suet, 14 ozs.; raisins stoned, 20 ozs.; currants, 4 ozs.; sugar, 5 ozs.; potatoes, ¼ lb.; ½ nutmeg; ginger, salt, cloves, ¼ teaspoonful each; eggs, 4; milk, ½ pint: 4 hours.

A BARFORD PLUM PUDDING.

Mix with a pound of suet finely chopped a pound of stoned raisins, five ounces of flour, two table­spoonsful of sugar, five eggs, a small pinch of salt, and half a nutmeg grated. Tie the pudding in a well-floured cloth, and boil it five hours. This receipt comes to us so highly recom­mended by persons who have the pudding often served at their table, that we may safely venture, we think, to insert it without testing it.

SMALL LIGHT PLUM PUDDING.

Put half a pint of fine bread-crumbs into a basin, and pour on them a quarter-pint of boiling milk; put a plate over them, and let them soak for half an hour; then mix with them half a pint of suet chopped extremely small, rather more of stoned raisins, three teaspoonsful of sugar, one of flour, three eggs, a tiny pinch of salt, and suffi­cient grated lemon-peel or nutmeg to flavour it lightly. Tie the pudding in a well-floured cloth, and boil it two hours.

Bread-crumbs, ½ pint; milk, ¼ pint; suet, ½ pint; raisins, nearly ¾ pint; sugar, 3 teaspoonsful, and 1 of flour; eggs, 3; little salt and nutmeg: 2 hours.

ANOTHER PUDDING, LIGHT AND WHOLESOME.*

With three ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf grated fine, and soaked in a quarter-pint of boiling milk, mix six ounces of suet minced very small, one ounce of dry bread-crumbs, ten ounces of stoned raisins, a little salt, the grated rind of a china-orange, and three eggs, leaving 456 out one white. Boil the pudding two hours, and serve it with very sweet sauce; put no sugar in it.

* Both this and the preceding pudding will be found very delicate, and well-suited to invalids.

VEGETABLE PLUM PUDDING.
(Cheap and good.)

Mix well together one pound of smoothly-mashed potatoes, half a pound of carrots boiled quite tender, and beaten to a paste, one pound of flour, one of currants, and one of raisins (full weight after they are stoned), three-quarters of a pound of sugar, eight ounces of suet, one nutmeg, and a quarter-teaspoonful of salt. Put the pudding into a well-floured cloth, tie it closely, and boil it four hours. The correspondent to whom we are indebted for this receipt, says, that the cost of the ingredients does not exceed half a crown, and that the pudding is of suffi­cient size for a party of sixteen persons. We can vouch for its excellence, but as it is rather apt to break when turned out of the cloth, a couple of eggs would perhaps improve it. Sweetmeats, brandy, and spices can be added at pleasure.

Mashed potatoes, 1 lb.; carrots, 8 ozs.; flour, 1 lb.; suet, ½ lb.; sugar, ¾ lb.; currants and raisins, 1 lb. each; nutmeg, 1; little salt: 4 hours.

AN EXCELLENT SMALL MINCEMEAT PUDDING.

Pour on an ounce of bread-crumbs suffi­cient boiling milk to soak them well; when they are nearly cold drain as much of it from them as you can, and mix them thoroughly with half a pound of mincemeat, a dessert­spoonful of brandy, and three eggs beaten and strained. Boil the pudding for two hours in a well-buttered basin, which should be full, and serve it with sauce made with a little melted butter, half a glass of white wine, a table­spoonful of brandy, half as much lemon-juice, and suffi­cient sugar to make it tolerably sweet.

Bread-crumbs, 1 oz.; mincemeat, ½ lb.; brandy, dessert­spoonful; eggs, 3: 2 hours.

THE AUTHOR’S CHRISTMAS PUDDING.

To three ounces of flour, and the same weight of fine, lightly-grated bread-crumbs, add six of beef kidney-suet, 457 chopped small, six of raisins weighed after they are stoned, six of well-cleaned currants, four ounces of minced apples, five of sugar, two of candied orange-rind, half a teaspoonful of nutmeg mixed with pounded mace, a very little salt, a small glass of brandy, and three whole eggs. Mix and beat these ingredients well together, tie them tightly in a thickly floured cloth, and boil them for three hours and half. We can recom­mend this as a remarkably light small rich pudding: it may be served with German wine, or punch-sauce.

Flour, 3 ozs.; bread-crumbs, 3 ozs.; suet, stoned raisins, and currants, each, 6 ozs.; minced apples, 4 ozs.; sugar, 5 ozs.; candied peel, 2 ozs.; spice, ½ teaspoonful; salt, few grains; brandy, small wineglassful; eggs, 3; 3½ hours.

A WELL PUDDING.

Make into a firm smooth paste, with cold water, one pound of flour, six ounces of finely-minced beef-suet, three quarters of a pound of currants, and a small pinch of salt, thoroughly mixed together. Form into a ball six ounces of good butter, and enclose it securely in about a third of the paste (rolled to a half-inch of thickness,) in the same way that an apple-dumpling is made; roll out the remainder of the paste, and place the portion containing the butter in the centre of it, with the part where the edge was drawn together turned downwards; gather the outer crust round it, and after having moistened the edge, close it with great care. Tie the pudding tightly in a well-floured cloth, and boil it for two hours and a half. It must be dished with caution that it may not break, and a small bit must be cut directly from the top, as in a meat-pudding. (See page 440).

This is a very favourite pudding in some parts of England; the only difficulty in making or serving it is to prevent the escape of the butter, which, if properly secured, will be found in a liquid state in the inside, on opening it. Some timid cooks fold it in three coverings 458 of paste, the better to guard against its bursting through, but there is no danger of this if the edges of the crust be well closed. When suet is objected to, seven ounces of butter may be substi­tuted for it. The currants are occasionally omitted.

Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 ozs.; currants, ¾ lb.; salt, small pinch; ball of butter, 6 ozs.: 2½ hours.

ROLLED PUDDING.

Roll out thin a bit of light puff-paste, or a good suet crust, and spread equally over it to within an inch of the edge, any kind of fruit jam. Orange marmalade, and mincemeat make excellent varieties of this pudding; and a deep layer of fine brown sugar, flavoured with the grated rind and strained juice of one very large, or of two small, lemons, answers for it extremely well. Roll it up carefully, pinch the paste together at the ends, fold a cloth round, secure it well at the ends, and boil the pudding from one to two hours, according to its size and the nature of the ingredients.*

* Half a pound of flour made into a paste with suet or butter, and covered with preserve, will be suffi­ciently boiled in an hour and a quarter.

BREAD PUDDING.

Sweeten a pint of new milk with three ounces of fine sugar, throw in a few grains of salt, and pour it boiling on half a pound of fine, and lightly-grated bread-crumbs, add an ounce of fresh butter, and cover them with a plate, let them remain for half an hour or more, stir to them four large well whisked eggs, and a flavouring of nutmeg, or lemon-rind; pour the mixture into a thickly-buttered mould or basin, which holds a pint and a half, and which ought to be quite full; tie a paper and cloth tightly over, and boil the pudding exactly an hour and ten minutes. This is quite a plain receipt, but by omitting two ounces of the bread, and adding more butter, one egg, a small glass of brandy, the grated rind of a lemon, and as much sugar as will sweeten the whole richly, a very excellent pudding will be obtained; candied orange-peel also has a good effect when sliced 459 thinly into it; and half a pound of currants is sometimes consi­dered an improve­ment.

New milk, 1 pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; salt, few grains; bread-crumbs, ½ lb.; eggs, 4 (5, if very small); nutmeg or lemon-rind at pleasure: 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Or: milk, 1 pint; bread-crumbs, 6 ozs.; butter, 2 to 3 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; eggs, 5; brandy, small glassful; rind 1 lemon. Further additions at choice: candied peel, 1½ oz.; currants, ½ lb.

BROWN BREAD PUDDING.

To half a pound of stale brown bread, finely and lightly grated, add an equal weight of suet, chopped small, and of currants cleaned and dried, with a half saltspoonful of salt, three ounces of sugar, the third of a small nutmeg grated, two ounces of candied peel, five well-beaten eggs, and a glass of brandy. Mix these ingredients thoroughly, and boil the pudding in a cloth for three hours and a half. Send wine sauce to table with it. The grated rind of a large lemon may be added with good effect.

Brown-bread, suet, and currants each 8 ozs.; sugar, 3 ozs.; candied peel, 2 ozs.; salt, ½ saltspoonful; ⅓ of small nutmeg; eggs, 5; brandy, 1 wineglassful: 3½ hours.

A GOOD BOILED RICE PUDDING.

Swell gradually,* and boil till quite soft and thick, four ounces and a half of whole rice in a pint and a half of new milk; sweeten them with from three to four ounces of sugar, broken small, and stir to them while they are still quite hot, the grated rind of half a large lemon, four or five bitter almonds, pounded to a paste, and four large well-beaten eggs; let the mixture cool, and then pour it into a thickly buttered basin, or mould, which should be quite full, tie a buttered paper and a floured cloth over it, and boil the pudding exactly an hour; let it stand two or three minutes before it is turned out, and serve it with sweet sauce, fruit syrup, 460 or a compote of fresh fruit. An ounce and a half of candied orange-rind will improve it much, and a couple of ounces of butter may be added to enrich it, when the receipt without is consi­dered too simple. It is excellent when made with milk highly flavoured with cocoa-nut (see Chapter XX).

Whole rice, 4½ ozs.; new milk, (or cocoa-nut-flavoured milk), 1½ pint; sugar, 3 to 4 ozs.; salt, a few grains; bitter almonds, 4 to 6; rind of ½ lemon; eggs, 4: boiled 1 hour.

* That is to say, put the rice into the milk while cold, heat it slowly, and let it simmer only until it is done.

CHEAP RICE PUDDING.

Wash six ounces of rice, mix it with three-quarters of a pound of raisins, tie them in a well-floured cloth, giving them plenty of room to swell; boil them exactly an hour and three-quarters, and serve the pudding with very sweet sauce: this is a nice dish for the nursery. A pound of apples pared, cored, and quartered, will also make a very whole­some pudding, mixed with the rice, and boiled from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.

Rice, 6 ozs.; raisins, ½ lb.: 2 hours. Or, rice, 6 ozs.; apples, 1 lb.: 1¼ to 1½ hour.

RICE-AND-GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.

Spread six ounces of rice equally over a moist and well-floured pudding-cloth, and place on it a pint of green goose­berries, measured after the heads and stalks have been trimmed off them. Gather the cloth up carefully round the fruit, give room for the rice to swell, and boil the pudding for an hour and a quarter. Very sweet sauce, or plenty of sugar must be eaten with it.

Rice, 6 ozs.; green gooseberries, 1 pint: 1½ hour.

TOMATA DUMPLINGS, OR PUDDINGS.
(An American Receipt.)

“In the manner of composition, mode of cooking, and saucing, the good housewife must proceed in the 461 same way as she would for an apple dumpling, with this exception, care must be taken in paring the tomata not to extract the seed, nor break the meat in the operation of skinning it. We have eaten tomatas raw without any thing;—cut up with pepper, salt, vinegar, and mustard;—fried in butter and in lard;—broiled and basted with butter;—stewed with and without bread, with cream and with butter;—and, with a clear conscience, we can say, we like them in every way they have ever been fixed for the palate; but of all the modes of dressing them, known to us, we prefer them when cooked in dumplings, for to us it appears that the steaming they receive in their dough-envelope increases in a very high degree that delicate spicy flavour which even in their uncooked state make them such decided favourites with the epicure.”

Obs.—It is possible that the tomata, which is, we know, abundantly grown and served in a great variety of forms in America, may there, either from a difference of climate, or from some advan­tages of culture, be produced in greater perfection than with us, and possess really “the delicate spicy flavour” attributed to it in our receipt, but which we cannot say we have ever yet discovered here; nor have we put its excellence for puddings to the proof, though some of our readers may like to do so.

FASHIONABLE APPLE DUMPLINGS.

These are boiled in small knitted or closely-netted cloths (the former have, we think, the prettiest effect), which give quite an ornamental appearance to an otherwise homely dish. Take out the cores without dividing the apples, which should be large, and of a good boiling sort, and fill the cavity with orange or lemon marmalade, enclose them in a good crust rolled thin, draw the cloths round them, tie them closely and boil them three-quarters of an hour. Lemon dumplings may be boiled in the same way.

¾ to 1 hour, if the apples be not of the best boiling kind.

462

ORANGE SNOW-BALLS.

Pick and wash half a pound of rice, put it into plenty of water, and boil it rather quickly for ten minutes, drain it well, and let it cool. Pare four large, or five small oranges, and clear from them entirely the thick white inner skin; spread the rice, in as many equal portions as there are oranges, upon some pudding or dumpling-cloths; tie the fruit separately in these, and boil the snow-balls for an hour and a half; turn them carefully on to a dish, and strew plenty of sifted sugar over them.

Rice, 8 ozs.; China oranges, 5; 1½ hour.

APPLE SNOW-BALLS.

Pare and core some large pudding-apples, without dividing them, prepare the rice as in the foregoing receipt, enclose them in it, and boil them one hour: ten minutes less will be suffi­cient should the fruit be but of moderate size. An agreeable addition to them is a slice of fresh butter, mixed with as much sugar as can be smoothly blended with it, and a flavouring of powdered cinnamon, or of nutmeg: this must be sent to table apart from them, not in the dish.

LIGHT CURRANT DUMPLINGS.

For each dumpling take three tablespoonsful of flour, two of finely-chopped suet, and three of currants; a slight pinch of salt, and as much milk or water as will make a thick batter of the ingredients. Tie the dumplings in well-floured cloths, and boil them a full hour: they may be served with very sweet wine-sauce.

LEMON DUMPLINGS.

Mix, with ten ounces of fine bread-crumbs, half a pound of beef-suet, chopped extremely small, one large table­spoonful of flour, the grated rind of two small lemons, or of a very large one, four ounces of pounded sugar, three large, or four small eggs beaten and 463 strained, and last of all the juice of the lemons, also strained. Divide these into four equal portions, tie them in well-floured cloths, and boil them an hour. The dumplings will be extremely light and delicate; if wished very sweet more sugar must be added to them.

SUFFOLK, OR HARD DUMPLINGS.

Mix a little salt with some flour, and make it into a smooth and rather lithe paste, with cold water or skimmed milk; form it into dumplings, and throw them into boiling water: in half an hour they will be ready to serve. A better kind of dumpling is made by adding suffi­cient milk to the flour to form a thick batter, and then tying the dumplings in small well-floured cloths. In Suffolk farm-houses they are served with the dripping-pan gravy of roast meat; and they are sometimes made very small indeed, and boiled with stewed shin of beef.

NORFOLK DUMPLINGS.

Take a pound of dough from a baking of very light white bread, and divide it into six equal parts; mould these into dumplings, drop them into a pan of fast-boiling water, and boil them quickly from twelve to fifteen minutes. Send them to table the instant they are dished, with wine-sauce or raspberry vinegar. In some counties they are eaten with melted butter well sweetened, and mixed with a little vinegar. They must never be cut, but should be torn apart with a couple of forks.

BOILED RICE TO BE SERVED WITH STEWED FRUITS, PRESERVES, OR RASPBERRY VINEGAR.

Take out the unhusked grains from half a pound of good rice, and wash it in several waters, tie it very loosely in a pudding cloth and boil it for three-quarters of an hour; it will then be quite solid, and resemble a pudding in appearance. Sufficient room must be given to allow the grain to swell to its full size, or it will be 464 hard; but too much space will render the whole watery. With a little experience the cook will easily ascertain the exact degree to be allowed for it. Four ounces of rice will require quite half an hour’s boiling; a little more or less of time will sometimes be needed, from the difference of quality in the grain.

Carolina rice, ½ lb.; boiled ¾ hour: 4 ozs. rice, ½ hour.

CHAPTER XVIII.
BAKED PUDDINGS.

Gâteau de Riz, or, French Rice Pudding.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

We have little to add here to the remarks which will be found at the commencement of the preceding Chapter, as they will apply equally to the prepara­tions of these and of boiled puddings.

All of the custard kind, whether made of eggs and milk only, or of sago, arrow-root, rice, ground or in grain, vermicelli, &c., require a very gentle oven, and are spoiled by fast-baking. Those made of batter, on the contrary, should be put into one suffi­ciently brisk to raise them quickly, but without scorching them. Such as contain suet and raisins must have a well-heated, but not a fierce oven, for as they must remain long in it to be thoroughly done, unless carefully managed, they will be either much too highly coloured, or too dry.

By whisking to a solid froth the whites of the eggs 465 used for any pudding, and stirring them softly into it at the instant of placing it in the oven, it will be rendered exceedingly light, and will rise very high in the dish; but as it will partake then of the nature of a soufflé, it must be despatched with great expedition to table from the oven, or it will become flat before it is served.

When a pudding is sufficiently browned on the surface (that is to say, of a fine equal amber-colour) before it is baked through, a sheet of writing paper should be laid over it, but not before it is set: when quite firm in the centre, it will be done.

Potatoe, batter, plum, and every other kind of pudding indeed, which is suffi­ciently solid to allow of it, should be turned reversed on to a clean hot dish from the one in which it is baked, and strewed with sifted sugar, before it is sent to table.

Minute directions for the preparation and management of each parti­cular variety of pudding will be found in the receipt for it.

ALMOND PUDDING.

On two ounces of fine white bread-crumbs pour a pint of boiling cream, and let them remain till nearly cold, then mix them very gradually with half a pound of sweet and six bitter almonds pounded to the smoothest paste, with a little orange-flower water, or, when this is not at hand, with a few drops of spring water, just to prevent their oiling; stir to them by degrees the well-beaten yolks of seven and the whites of three eggs, six ounces of sifted sugar, and four of clarified butter; turn the mixture into a very clean stewpan, and stir it without ceasing over a slow fire until it becomes thick, but on no account allow it to boil. When it is tolerably cool add a glass of brandy, or half a one of noyeau, pour the pudding into a dish lined with very thin puff paste, and bake it half an hour in a moderate oven.

Bread-crumbs, 2 ozs.; cream, 1 pint; pounded almonds, ½ lb.; bitter almonds, 6; yolks of 7, whites of 3 466 eggs; sugar, 6 ozs.; butter, 4 ozs.; brandy, 1 wineglassful, or ½ glass of noyeau: ½ hour moderate oven.

AN EXCELLENT LEMON-PUDDING.

Beat well together four ounces of fresh butter, creamed, and eight of sifted sugar; to these add gradually the yolks of six and the whites of two eggs, the grated rind and the strained juice of one large lemon:—this last must be added by slow degrees, and stirred briskly to the other ingredients. Bake the pudding in a dish lined with very thin puff-paste for three-quarters of an hour, in a slow oven.

Butter, 4 ozs.; sugar, ½ lb.; yolks of 6, whites of 2 eggs; large lemon, 1: ¾ hour, slow oven.

ANOTHER LEMON-PUDDING.
(Good.)

Stir over a slow fire until they boil, four ounces and a half of butter with seven ounces of pounded sugar, then pour them into a dish and let them remain till cold, or nearly so. Mix very smoothly a large dessert­spoonful of flour with six eggs that have been whisked and strained; add these gradually to the sugar and butter, with the grated rinds and the juice of two moderate-sized lemons; put a rim or a lining of puff-paste to the pudding, and bake it for an hour in a gentle oven.

Butter, 4½ ozs.; sugar, 7 ozs.; flour, 1 large dessert­spoonful; eggs, 6; lemons, 2: 1 hour, gentle oven.

Obs.—The proportion of butter in these puddings is less than is commonly used for them, but a larger quantity renders them so unwhole­somely rich that they are usually preferred with less. When a very powerful flavour of the fruit is liked, an addi­tional lemon may be used in either of these receipts. The rinds may be rasped on part of the sugar, instead of being grated. A couple of sponge-biscuits soaked in cream, then pressed dry, and very finely bruised, can be substi­tuted for the flour.

467

LEMON SUET-PUDDING.

To eight ounces of finely grated bread-crumbs, add six of fresh beef kidney-suet, free from skin, and minced very small, three and a half of pounded sugar, six ounces of currants, the grated rind and the strained juice of a large lemon, and four full-sized or five small well-beaten eggs; pour these ingredients into a thickly-buttered pan, and bake the pudding for an hour in a brisk oven, but draw it towards the mouth when it is of a fine brown colour. Turn it from the dish before it is served, and strew sifted sugar over it or not at pleasure: two ounces more of suet can be added when a larger proportion is liked. The pudding is very good without the currants.

Bread-crumbs, 8 ozs.; beef-suet, 6 ozs.; pounded sugar, 3½ ozs.; lemon, 1 large; currants, 6 ozs.; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small: 1 hour, brisk oven.

BAKEWELL PUDDING.

This pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several of our northern counties, where it is usually served on all holiday-occasions. Line a shallow tart-dish with quite an inch-deep layer of several kinds of good preserve mixed together, and intermingle with them from two to three ounces of candied citron or orange-rind. Beat well the yolks of ten eggs, and add to them gradually half a pound of sifted sugar; when they are well mixed, pour in by degrees half a pound of good clarified butter, and a little ratifia or any other flavouring that may be preferred; fill the dish two-thirds full with this mixture, and bake the pudding nearly an hour in a moderate oven. Half the quantity will be suffi­cient for a small dish.

Mixed preserves, 1½ to 2 lbs.; yolks of eggs, 10; sugar, ½ lb.; butter, 1 lb.; ratifia, lemon-brandy, or other flavouring to the taste: baked, moderate oven, ¾ to 1 hour.

Obs.—This is a rich and expensive, but not a very refined pudding. A variation of it, known in the 468 south as an Alderman’s Pudding is, we think, a better one. It is made without the candied peel, and with a layer of apricot-jam only, six ounces of butter, six of sugar, the yolks of six, and the whites of two eggs.

RATIFIA PUDDING.

Flavour a pint and a half of new milk rather highly with bitter almonds, blanched and bruised, or, should their use be objected to, with three or four bay-leaves and a little cinnamon; add a few grains of salt, and from four to six ounces of sugar in lumps, according to the taste. When the whole has simmered gently for some minutes, strain off the milk through a fine sieve or muslin, put it into a clean saucepan, and when it again boils stir it gradually and quickly to six well-beaten eggs which have been likewise strained; let the mixture cool, and then add to it a glass of brandy. Lay a half-paste round a well-buttered dish, and sprinkle into it an ounce of ratifias finely crumbled, grate the rind of half a lemon over,* and place three ounces of whole ratifias upon them, pour in suffi­cient of the custard to soak them; an hour afterwards add the remainder, and send the pudding to a gentle oven: half an hour will bake it.

New milk, 1½ pint; bitter almonds, 8 to 10 (or bay-leaves, 3 to 5, and bit of cinnamon); sugar, 4 to 6 ozs.; eggs, 6; brandy, 1 wineglassful; ratifias, 4 ozs.; rind ½ lemon: baked, ½ hour.

* A more delicate flavour is imparted by rasping the lemon-rind on sugar, and adding this to the mixture.

THE ELEGANT ECONOMIST’S PUDDING.

We have already given a receipt for an exceedingly good boiled pudding bearing this title, but we think the baked one answers even better, and it is made with rather more facility. Butter a deep tart-dish well, cut the slices of plum-pudding to join exactly in lining it, and press them against it lightly to make them adhere, as without this precaution they are apt to float off; pour in as much custard (previously thickened and left 469 to become cold), or any other sweet pudding-mixture as will fill the dish almost to the brim; cover the top with thin slices of the plum-pudding, and bake it in a slow oven from thirty minutes to a full hour, according to the quantity and quality of the contents. One pint of new milk poured boiling on an ounce and a half of tous les mois, smoothly mixed with a quarter-pint of cold milk, makes with the addition of four ounces of sugar, four small eggs, a little lemon-grate, and two or three bitter almonds, or a few drops of ratifia, an excellent pudding of this kind: it should be baked nearly three-quarters of an hour in a quite slack oven. Two ounces and a half of arrow-root may be used in lieu of the tous les mois, when this last is not procurable. We would especially recom­mend for trial the ingredients of the lemon-pudding of page 466,* with the plum-pudding crust, as likely to make a very superior variety of this dish: we have not had it tested, but think it could scarcely fail. It must be well, though slowly baked.

* Second receipt.

RICH BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.

Give a good flavour of lemon-rind and bitter almonds, or of cinnamon, if preferred, to a pint of new milk, and when it has simmered a suffi­cient time for this, strain and mix it with a quarter-pint of rich cream; sweeten it with four ounces of sugar in lumps, and stir it while still hot to five well-beaten eggs; throw in a few grains of salt, and move the mixture briskly with a spoon as a glass of brandy is added to it. Have ready in a thickly buttered dish three layers of thin bread and butter cut from a half-quartern loaf, with four ounces of currants, and one and a half of finely-shred candied peel, strewed between and over them; pour the eggs and milk on them by degrees, letting the bread absorb one portion before another is added: it should soak for a couple of hours before the pudding is taken to the oven, which should be a moderate one. Half an hour will bake it. It is very good when made with 470 new milk only; and some persons use no more than a pint of liquid in all, but part of the whites of the eggs may then be omitted. Cream may be substi­tuted for the entire quantity of milk at pleasure.

New milk, 1 pint; rind of small lemon, and 6 bitter almonds bruised (or a ½ drachm of cinnamon): simmered 10 to 20 minutes. Cream, ¼ pint; sugar, 4 ozs.; eggs, 6; brandy, 1 wineglassful. Bread and butter, 3 layers; currants, 4 ozs.; candied orange or lemon-rind, 1½ oz.: to stand 2 hours, and to be baked 30 minutes in moderate oven.

COMMON BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.

Sweeten a pint and a half of milk with four ounces of Lisbon sugar; stir it to four large well-beaten eggs, or to five small ones, grate half a nutmeg to them, and pour the mixture into a dish which holds nearly three pints, and which is filled almost to the brim with layers of bread and butter, between which three ounces of currants have been strewed. Lemon-grate, or orange-flower water can be added to this pudding instead of nutmeg when preferred. From three-quarters of an hour to an hour will bake it.

Milk, 1½ pint; Lisbon sugar, 4 ozs.; eggs, 4 large or 5 small; ½ small nutmeg; currants, 3 ozs.: baked ¾ to 1 hour.

A GOOD BAKED BREAD-PUDDING.

Pour, quite boiling, on six ounces (or three-quarters of a pint) of fine bread-crumbs and one ounce of butter, a pint of new milk, cover them closely, and let them stand till the bread is well-soaked; then stir to them three ounces of sugar, five eggs, leaving out two of the whites, two ounces of candied orange-rind, sliced thin, and a flavouring of nutmeg; when the mixture is nearly or quite cold pour it into a dish, and place lightly over the top the whites of three eggs beaten to a firm froth, and mixed at the instant with three large table­spoonsful of sifted sugar. Bake the pudding half an hour in a moderate oven. The icing may be 471 omitted, and an ounce and a half of butter, just warmed, put into the dish before the pudding, and plenty of sugar sifted over it just as it is sent to the oven.

Bread, 6 ozs.; butter, 1 oz.; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; eggs, 5 yolks, 3 whites; candied orange-rind, 2 ozs.; little nutmeg. Icing, 3 whites of eggs; sugar, 3 table­spoonsful: baked ½ hour.

ANOTHER BAKED BREAD-PUDDING.

Add to a pint of new milk a quarter-pint of good cream, and pour them boiling on eight ounces of bread-crumbs, and three of fresh butter; when these have stood half an hour covered with a plate, stir to them four ounces of sugar, six ounces of currants, one and a half of candied orange or citron, and five eggs.

A GOOD SEMOULINA PUDDING.

Drop lightly into a pint and a half of boiling milk two large table­spoonsful of semoulina, and stir them together as this is done, that the mixture may not be lumpy; continue the stirring for seven or eight minutes, then throw in two ounces of good butter, and three and a half of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon; next add the grated rind of a lemon, and while the semoulina is still hot beat gradually and briskly to it five well-whisked eggs; pour it into a buttered dish, and bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven.

New milk, 1½ pint; semoulina, 2½ ozs.: 7 to 8 minutes. Sugar, 3½ ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; rind of lemon; eggs, 5: baked in moderate oven ½ hour.

FRENCH SEMOULINA PUDDING;
Or, Gâteau de Semoule.

Infuse by the side of the fire, in a quart of new milk, the very thin rind of a fine fresh lemon, and when it has stood for half an hour bring it slowly to a boil; simmer it for four or five minutes, then take out the lemon-rind, and throw lightly into the milk, stirring it all the time, five ounces of the best quality of semoulina;* 472 let it boil over a gentle fire for ten minutes, then add four ounces of sugar roughly powdered, three of fresh butter, and less than a small quarter-teaspoonful of salt; boil the mixture for two or three addi­tional minutes, keeping it stirred without intermission; take it from the fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it briskly, and by degrees, the yolks of six eggs and of four whites well beaten together, and strained or prepared for use (as directed at page 435); four or five bitter almonds, pounded with a little sugar, will heighten the flavour pleasantly to many tastes. When the pudding is nearly cold pour it gently into a stewpan or mould, prepared as for the Gateau de Riz of page 474, and bake it in a very gentle oven from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.

* We have never in England, and rarely even in France, obtained any approaching in quality to some, which, in conjunction with a packet of vermicelli, equally good, was procured for us by a country chemist, from Mr. Barron, 18, Pall Mall, whose successor, Mr. A. Cobbett, supplies excellent articles of the same kind.

SUTHERLAND OR CASTLE PUDDINGS.

Take an equal weight of eggs in the shell, of good butter, of fine dry flour, and of sifted sugar. First, whisk the eggs for ten minutes, or until they appear extremely light; then throw in the sugar by degrees, and continue the whisking for four or five minutes; next, strew in the flour, also gradually, and when it appears smoothly blended with the other ingredients, pour the butter to them in small portions, each of which should be beaten in until there is no appearance of it left. It should previously be just liquified with the least possible degree of heat; this may be effected by putting it into a well-warmed saucepan, and shaking it round until it is dissolved. A grain or two of salt should be thrown in with the flour; and the rind of half a fine lemon rasped on sugar, or grated, if more conve­nient; or some pounded mace, or the store-flavouring of page 166, can be added at choice. Pour the mixture, 473 directly it is ready, into well-buttered cups, and bake the puddings from twenty to twenty-five minutes. When cold, they resemble good pound-cakes, and may be served as such. Wine-sauce should be sent to table with them.

Eggs, 4; their weight in flour, sugar, and butter; little salt; flavouring of pounded mace or lemon-rind.

Obs.—Three eggs are suffi­cient for a small dish of these puddings. They may be varied with an ounce or two of candied citron; or with a spoonful of brandy, or a little orange-flower water. The mode we have given of making them will be found perfectly successful if our direc­tions be followed with exactness. In a slack oven they will not be too much baked in half an hour.

MADELEINE PUDDINGS.
(To be served cold.)

Take the same ingredients as for the Sutherland puddings, but clarify an addi­tional ounce of butter; skim, and then fill some round tin pattypans with it almost to the brim, pour it from one to the other till all have received a suffi­cient coating to prevent the puddings from adhering to them, and leave half a teaspoonful in each; mix the remainder with the eggs, sugar, and flour, beat the whole up very lightly, fill the pans about two-thirds full, and put them directly into a rather brisk oven, but draw them towards the mouth of it when they are suffi­ciently coloured: from fifteen to eighteen minutes will bake them. Turn them out, and drain them on a sheet of paper. When they are quite cold, with the point of a knife, take out a portion of the tops, hollow the puddings a little, and fill them with rich apricot-jam, well mixed with half its weight of pounded almonds, of which two in every ounce should be bitter ones.

A FRENCH RICE PUDDING, OR GATEAU DE RIZ.

Swell gently in a quart of new milk, or in equal parts of milk and cream, seven ounces of the best Carolina 474 rice, which has been cleared of the discoloured grains, and washed and drained; when it is tolerably tender, add to it three ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar roughly powdered, a few grains of salt, and the lightly grated rind of a fine lemon, and simmer the whole until the rice is swollen to the utmost; then take it from the fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it quickly, and by degrees, the well-beaten yolks of six full-sized eggs. Pour into a small copper stewpan* a couple of ounces of clarified butter, and incline it in such a manner that it may receive an equal coating in every part; then turn it upside down for an instant, to drain off the superfluous butter; next throw in some exceedingly fine light crumbs of stale bread, and shake them entirely over it, turn out those which do not adhere, and with a small brush or feather, sprinkle more clarified butter slightly on those which line the pan. Whisk quickly the whites of the eggs to snow, stir them gently to the rice, and pour the mixture softly into the stewpan, that the bread-crumbs may not be displaced; put it imme­diately into a moderate oven, and let it remain in a full hour. It will then, if properly baked, turn out from the mould or pan well browned, quite firm, and having the appearance of a cake; but a fierce heat will cause it to break, and present an altogether unsightly appearance. In a very slack oven a longer time must be allowed for it.

New milk, or milk and cream, 1 quart; Carolina rice, 7 ozs.: ¾ hour. Fresh butter, 3 ozs.; sugar, in lumps, 5 ozs.; rind 1 large lemon: ¾ to 1¼ hour. Eggs, 6: baked in a moderate oven, 1 hour.

Obs.—An admirable variety of this Gâteau is made with cocoa-nut flavoured milk, or cream, (see Chapter XX.), or with either of these poured boiling on six ounces of Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and mixed with a dozen of bitter ones, then expressed from them 475 with strong pressure; it may likewise be flavoured with vanilla, or with candied orange-blossoms, and covered at the instant it is dished, with straw­berry, apple, or any other clear jelly.

* One which holds about five pints is well adapted to the purpose. When this is not at hand, a copper cake-mould may be substi­tuted for it. The stewpan must not be covered while the gâteau is baking.

A COMMON RICE PUDDING.

Throw six ounces of rice into plenty of cold water, and boil it gently from eight to ten minutes; drain it well, in a sieve, or strainer, and put it into a clean saucepan with a quart of milk; let it stew till tender, sweeten it with three ounces of sugar, stir to it, gradually, three large, or four small eggs, beaten and strained; add grated nutmeg, lemon-rind, or cinnamon, to give it flavour, and bake it one hour in a gentle oven.

Rice 6 ozs.; in water, 8 to 10 minutes. Milk, 1 quart: ¾ hour to 1 hour. Sugar, 3 ozs.; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small; flavouring of nutmeg, lemon-rind, or cinnamon: bake 1 hour, gentle oven.

RICHER RICE PUDDING.

Pick and wash very clean four ounces of whole rice, pour on it a pint and a half of new milk, and stew it slowly till quite tender; before it is taken from the fire, stir in two ounces of good butter, and three of sugar; when it has cooled a little, add four well whisked eggs, and the grated rind of half a lemon. Bake the pudding in a gentle oven from thirty to forty minutes. As rice requires long-boiling to render it soft in milk, it may be partially stewed in water, the quantity of milk diminished to a pint, and a little thick sweet cream mixed with it, before the other ingredients are added.

Rice, 4 ozs.; new milk, 1½ pint; butter, 2 ozs.; sugar, 3 ozs.; eggs, 4; rind of ½ lemon: 30 to 40 minutes, slow-oven.

RICE PUDDING MERINGUÉ.

Swell gently four ounces of Carolina rice in a pint and a quarter of milk or of thin cream; let it cool a little, and stir to it an ounce and a half of butter, three of 476 pounded sugar, a grain or two of salt, the grated rind of a small lemon, and the yolks of four large, or of five small eggs. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and lay lightly and equally over the top, the whites of the eggs, beaten as for sponge-cakes, and mixed at the instant with from four to five heaped table­spoonsful of sifted sugar. Bake the pudding half an hour in a moderate oven, but do not allow the meringue to be too deeply coloured; it should be of a clear brown, and very crisp. Serve it directly it is taken from the oven.

Rice, 4 ozs.; milk, or cream, 1¼ pint; butter, 1½ ozs.; sugar, 3 ozs.; rind, 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 4 or 5; the whites beaten to snow, and mixed with as many table­spoonsful of sifted sugar: baked ½ hour, moderate oven.

Obs.—A couple of ounces of Jordan almonds, with six bitter ones, pounded quite to a paste, will improve this dish, whether mixed with the pudding itself, or with the meringue.

GOOD GROUND RICE PUDDING.

Mix very smoothly five ounces of flour of rice (or of ground rice, if preferred), with half a pint of milk, and pour it into a pint and a half more that is boiling fast; keep it stirred constantly over a gentle fire from ten to twelve minutes, and be parti­cularly careful not to let it burn to the pan; add to it before it is taken from the fire, a quarter-pound of good butter, from five to six ounces of sugar, roughly powdered, and a half saltspoonful of salt; turn it into a pan, and stir it for a few minutes, to prevent its hardening at the top; then mix with it, by degrees, but quickly, the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of only two, the grated or rasped rind of a fine lemon, and a glass of brandy. Lay a border of rich paste round a buttered dish, pour in the pudding, strain a little clarified butter over the top, moisten the paste with a brush, or small bunch of feathers dipped in cold water, and sift plenty of sugar on it, but less over 477 the pudding itself. Send it to a very gentle oven to be baked three quarters of an hour.

Rice-flour (or ground rice), 5 ozs.; new milk, 1 quart: 10 to 12 minutes. Butter 4 ozs.; sugar, 5 to 6 ozs.; salt, ½ saltspoonful; yolks, 8 eggs; whites, 2; rind, 1 large lemon; brandy, large wineglassful: ¾ hour, slow oven.

Obs.—These proportions are suffi­cient for a pudding of larger size than those served usually at elegant tables; they will make two small ones; or two-thirds of the quantity may be taken for one of moderate size. Lemon-brandy or ratifia, or a portion of each may be used to give it flavour, with good effect; and it may be enriched, if this be desired, by adding to the other ingredients from three to four ounces of Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and by substi­tuting cream for half of the milk.

COMMON GROUND RICE PUDDING.

One pint and a half of milk, three ounces and a half of rice, three of Lisbon sugar, one and a half of butter, some nutmeg, or lemon-grate, and four eggs, baked slowly for half an hour, or more, if not quite firm.

GREEN GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.

Boil together, from ten to twelve minutes, a pound of green goose­berries, five ounces of sugar, and rather more than a quarter pint of water; then beat the fruit to a mash, and stir to it an ounce and a half of fresh butter; when nearly, or quite cold, add two ounces and a half of very fine bread-crumbs, and four well whisked eggs. Bake the pudding half an hour. To make a finer one of the kind, work the fruit through a sieve, mix it with four or five crushed Naples biscuits, and use double the quantity of butter.

Green gooseberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 ozs.; water, full ¼ pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Bread-crumbs, 2½ ozs.; eggs, 4: ½ hour.

Obs.—Spring fruit (rhubarb), is sometimes made into 478 this kind of pudding, but we cannot parti­cularly recom­mend it. It is infinitely better in a tart, or as a compote.

POTATOE PUDDING.

With a pound and a quarter of fine mealy potatoes, boiled very dry, and mashed perfectly smooth while hot, mix three ounces of butter, five and a half of sugar, five eggs, a few grains of salt, and the grated rind of a small lemon. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and bake it in a moderate oven for nearly three-quarters of an hour. It should be turned out and sent to table with fine sugar sifted over it; or for variety, red currant jelly, or any other preserve may be spread on it as soon as it is dished.

Potatoes, 1¼ lb.; butter, 3 ozs.; sugar, 5½ ozs.; eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1; salt, few grains: 40 to 45 minutes.

Obs.—When cold, this pudding eats like cake, and may be served as such, omitting, of course, the sugar, or preserve when it is dished.

A RICHER POTATOE PUDDING.

Beat well together fourteen ounces of mashed potatoes, four ounces of butter, four of fine sugar, five eggs, the grated rind of a small lemon, and a slight pinch of salt, add half a glass of brandy, and pour the pudding into a thickly buttered dish, ornamented with slices of candied orange or lemon-rind; pour a little clarified butter on the top, and then sift plenty of white sugar over it.

Potatoes, 14 ozs.; butter, 4 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1; little salt; brandy, ½ glassful; candied peel, 1½ to 2 ozs.; 40 minutes.

Obs.—The potatoes for these receipts should be lightly and carefully mashed, but never pounded in a mortar, as that will convert them into a heavy paste. The better plan is to prepare them by Captain Kater’s receipt, (page 362), when they will fall to 479 powder almost of themselves; or they may be grated while hot through a wire sieve. From a quarter to a half pint of cream is, by many cooks, added to potatoe puddings.

AN EXCELLENT SPONGE-CAKE PUDDING.

Slice into a well-buttered tart-dish three penny sponge cakes, and place on them a couple of ounces of candied orange or lemon-peel cut in strips. Beat well six eggs, and stir to them boiling a pint and a quarter of new milk, in which three ounces of sugar have been dissolved; grate in the rind of a small lemon, and when they are somewhat cooled, add half a wineglassful of brandy; while still warm, pour the mixture on to the cakes, and let it remain an hour; then strain an ounce and a half of clarified butter over the top, sift or strew pounded sugar rather thickly on it, and bake the pudding half an hour in a moderate oven.

Sponge-cakes, 3; candied peel, 2 ozs.; eggs, 6; new milk, 1¼ pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; lemon-rind, 1; brandy, ½ glass; butter, 1 oz.; sifted sugar, 1½ oz.: ½ hour.

THE DUCHESS’S PUDDING.

Mix with half a pound of potatoes very smoothly mashed, three quarters of a pound of mincemeat, the grated rind of half a lemon, a dessert­spoonful of sugar, and four large, or five small, eggs; pour the whole into a well-buttered dish, and put over the top clarified butter and sugar as in the preceding receipt. Bake the pudding for a full hour and twenty minutes.

Potatoes, ½ lb.; mincemeat, ¾ lb.; rind of lemon, ½ 1; sugar, dessert­spoonful; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small: 1 hour 20 minutes.

BAKED APPLE PUDDING; OR APPLE CUSTARD.

Weigh a pound of good boiling apples after they are pared and cored, and stew them till reduced to a perfectly smooth marmalade, with six ounces of sugar, and a small cupful of water; stir them often that they may 480 not stick to the pan. Mix with them while they are still quite hot, three ounces of butter, the grated rind and the strained juice of a lemon, and lastly, by degrees stir in the well beaten yolks of five eggs, and a dessert­spoonful of flour, or in lieu of the last, three or four Naple’s biscuits, or macaroons crushed small. Bake the pudding for a full half hour in a moderate oven, or longer should it not be quite firm in the middle. A little clarified butter poured on the top, with sugar sifted over, improves all baked puddings.

Apples, 1 lb.; sugar, 6 ozs.; water, 1 cupful; butter, 3 ozs.; juice and rind, 1 lemon; 5 eggs: ½ hour.

Obs.—Many cooks press the apples through a sieve after they are boiled, but this is not needful when they are of a good kind, and stewed, and beaten smooth.

ANOTHER BAKED APPLE PUDDING.

Stew, till smooth and dry, a pound of apples with seven ounces of sugar and a very little water; add to them five ounces of butter, the grated rinds of two moderate-sized lemons, and the juice of one and a half, the beaten yolks of six eggs, and the whites of three; do not add the eggs until the butter is dissolved, then stir them in quickly in small portions, beat the whole well together, add, if it can be obtained, two or three spoonsful of the syrup of preserved ginger, and one of flour, or a little crushed Naples’ biscuit; put a rim of paste round a dish, pour in the pudding, and bake it from half to three-quarters of an hour.

Apples, 1 lb.; sugar, 7 ozs.; water, 4 table­spoonsful; butter, 5 ozs.; rinds of 2 lemons, juice of 1½; yolks of eggs, 6, whites, 3; syrup of preserved ginger, 3 spoonsful: 30 to 45 minutes.

A COMMON BAKED APPLE PUDDING.

Boil a pound and a quarter of apples with a cupful of water and six ounces of brown sugar; when they are reduced to a smooth pulp, stir to them two ounces of butter, a table­spoonful of flour, or a handful of fine 481 bread-crumbs, and five well-beaten eggs; grate in half a nutmeg, or flavour the pudding with pounded cinnamon, and bake it nearly three quarters of an hour. More or less of sugar will be required for these puddings, according to the time of year, as the fruit is much more acid when first gathered than when it has been some months stored.

Apples, 1¼ lb.; water, 1 small cupful; sugar, 6 ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; flour, 1 table­spoonful, or bread-crumbs, 1 handful; ½ nutmeg; eggs, 5: ¾ hour.

ESSEX PUDDING. (CHEAP AND GOOD.)

Mix with a quarter-pound of mashed potatoes half a pound of good boiling apples minced, four ounces of brown sugar, four small eggs well beaten and strained, and a little grated lemon-peel or nutmeg. Increase the ingredients one-half, and add two ounces of butter, should a larger and better pudding be desired: about half an hour will bake it.

Potatoes mashed, 4 ozs.; apples, 8 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; eggs, 4: ½ hour.

DUTCH CUSTARD; OR BAKED RASPBERRY PUDDING.

Lay into a tart-dish a border of puff-paste, and a pint and a half of freshly-gathered raspberries, well mixed with three ounces of sugar. Beat thoroughly six large eggs with three ounces more of sugar, and pour it over the fruit: bake the pudding from twenty-five to thirty minutes in a moderate oven.

Break the eggs one at a time into a cup, and with the point of a small three-pronged fork take off the specks or germs, before they are beaten, as we have directed in page 485.

Raspberries, 1½ pint; sugar, 6 ozs.; eggs, 6: 25 to 30 minutes.

GABRIELLE’S PUDDING; OR SWEET CASSEROLE OF RICE.

Wash half a pound of the best whole rice, drain it on a hair-sieve, put it into a very clear stewpan or saucepan, and pour on it a quart of new milk cold. 482 Stir them well together, and place them near the fire that the rice may swell very gradually; then let it simmer as gently as possible for about half an hour, or until it begins to be quite tender; mix with it then two ounces of fresh butter, and two and a half of pounded sugar, and let it continue to simmer softly until it is dry and perfectly tender.* Before it is taken from the fire scrape into it the outside of some sugar which has been rubbed upon the rind of a fresh lemon. Have ready a tin mould of pretty form, well buttered in every part; press the rice into it while it is still hot, smooth the surface, and let it remain till cold. Should the mould be one which opens at the ends, like that shewn in the plate at page 401, the pudding will come out easily; but if it should be in a plain common one, just dip it into hot water to loosen it; turn out the rice, and then again reverse it on to a tin or dish; and with the point of a knife mark round the top a rim of about an inch wide; then brush some clarified butter over the whole pudding, and set it into a brisk oven. When it is of an equal light golden brown draw it out, raise the cover carefully where it is marked, scoop out the rice from the inside, leaving only a crust of about an inch thick in every part, and pour into it some preserved fruit warmed in its own syrup, or fill it with a compote of plums or peaches (see Chapter XX); or with some good apples boiled with fine sugar to a smooth rich marmalade. This is a very good as well as an elegant dish: it may be enriched with more butter, and by substi­tuting cream for the milk, in part, or entirely, but it is excellent without either.

Rice, ½ lb.; new milk, 1 quart: ½ hour. Fresh butter, 2 ozs.; pounded sugar, 2½ ozs.; rasped rind, 1 lemon: ½ hour or more.

Obs.—The precise time of baking the pudding cannot well be specified: it only requires colour.

* Unless the rice be boiled slowly, and very dry, it will not answer for the casserole.

483

VERMICELLI PUDDING.

Drop lightly into a pint and a half of boiling milk four ounces of fresh vermicelli, and keep it simmering and stirred gently for ten minutes, when it will have become very thick; then mix with it three ounces and a half of sugar, two ounces of butter, and a small pinch of salt. When the whole is well blended pour it out; beat it for a couple of minutes to cool it a little; then add by degrees five well-whisked eggs, the grated rind of a lemon, and just before it is put into the dish, a small glass of brandy: bake it from half to three-quarters of an hour. Vermicelli varies much in quality, and of some kinds three ounces will render the pudding quite firm enough.

Milk, 1½ pint; vermicelli, 4 ozs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 3½ ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; pinch of salt; eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1; brandy, 1 wineglassful: ½ to ¾ hour.

Obs.—This pudding requires, more than many others, a little clarified butter poured on the top, and sugar sifted over. Candied peel may be added to it with good effect; and three or four bitter almonds pounded, may be used to give it flavour instead of lemon-rind.

SMALL COCOA-NUT PUDDINGS.

Melt together over a slow fire two ounces of fresh butter cut small, and four of pounded sugar; pour them out when they have boiled a couple of minutes, and let them cool; mix with them two ounces of finely-grated cocoa-nut, an ounce of citron shred small, the grated rind of half a large lemon, and four eggs: when these have been well beaten together, add the strained juice of the half lemon; put the mixture into buttered patty-pans, or pudding-cups, sift sugar over and bake them half an hour in a moderate oven. This is an excellent and a perfectly new receipt; but in making use of it care should be taken to ascertain that the nut be fresh and sweet flavoured, as the slightest 484 degree of rancidity will spoil the puddings. They are better hot than cold, though very good either way.

Fresh butter, 2 ozs.; pounded sugar, ¼ lb.; cocoa-nut, 2 ozs.; candied citron, 1 oz.; rind and juice of ½ lemon; eggs, 4: ½ hour.

Obs.—The same ingredients may be made into one pudding only, and longer baked.

GOOD YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

To make a very good and light Yorkshire pudding, take an equal number of eggs and of heaped table­spoonsful of flour, with a teaspoonful of salt to six of these. Whisk the eggs well, strain, and mix them gradually with the flour, then pour in by degrees as much new milk as will reduce the batter to the consistency of rather thin cream. The tin which is to receive the pudding must have been placed for some time previously under a joint that has been put down to roast: one of beef is usually preferred. Beat the batter briskly and lightly the instant before it is poured into the pan, watch it carefully that it may not burn, and let the edges have an equal share of the fire. When the pudding is quite firm in every part, and well-coloured on the surface, turn it, to brown the under side. This is best accomplished by first dividing it into quarters. In Yorkshire it is made much thinner than in the south, roasted generally at an enormous fire, and not turned at all: currants there are sometimes added to it.

Eggs, 6; flour, 6 heaped tablespoonsful, or from 7 to 8 ozs.; milk, nearly or quite, 1 pint; salt, 1 teaspoonful: 2 hours.

Obs.—This pudding should be quite an inch thick when it is browned on both sides, but only half the depth when roasted in the Yorkshire mode. The cook must exercise her discretion a little in mixing the batter, as from the variation of weight in flour, and in the size of eggs, a little more or less of milk may be required: the whole should be rather more liquid than for a boiled pudding.

485

COMMON YORKSHIRE PUDDING.

Half a pound of flour, three eggs (we would recom­mend a fourth), rather more than a pint of milk, and a teaspoonful of salt.

NORMANDY PUDDING. (GOOD.)

Boil, till very soft and dry, eight ounces of rice in a pint and a half, or rather more, of water,* stir to it two ounces of fresh butter, and three of sugar, and simmer it a few minutes after they are added, then pour it out, and let it cool for use. Strip from the stalks as many red currants, or Kentish cherries, as will fill a tart-dish of moderate size, and for each pint of the fruit allow from three to four ounces of sugar. Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish with part of the rice; next, put in a thick layer of fruit and sugar; then one of rice and one of fruit alternately until the dish is full. Sufficient of the rice should be reserved to form a rather thick layer at the top; smooth this equally all over with a knife, and send the pudding to a moderate but not very slow oven, for half an hour, and more, should it be large. When two-thirds baked, it may be glazed with yolk of egg, brushed over, and fine sugar sifted on it. Morella cherries, with a little addi­tional sugar, make an excellent pudding of this kind.

* A quart of milk can be substituted for this; but with the fruit, water perhaps answers better.

DAMSON-AND-RICE PUDDING.

With five ounces of whole rice boiled soft and dry, mix an ounce of butter, ten ounces of damson-jam, a teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and five eggs. Beat the whole well together, and bake it about half an hour.

Rice, 5 ozs.; damson-jam, 10 ozs.; butter, 1 oz.; eggs, 5: ½ hour.

BARBERRY-AND-RICE PUDDING.

Mix ten ounces of barberries stripped from the stalks, 486 with four ounces of whole boiled rice, eight ounces of sugar, a small slice of butter, and five large, or six small eggs.

APPLE-AND-RICE PUDDING.

Boil together one pound of good pudding-apples, and six ounces of sugar, until they are reduced to a smooth pulp; stir them often to prevent their burning; mix with them four ounces of boiled rice, two ounces of butter, and five large eggs. Should the apples be very acid, increase the quantity of sugar: add lemon rind or juice, at pleasure. These puddings are better if mixed while the ingredients are warm.

Apples, 1 lb.; sugar, 6 ozs.; boiled rice, 4 ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; eggs, 5: 30 to 35 minutes.

COMMON RAISIN PUDDING.

Beat well together three-quarters of a pound of flour, the same quantity of raisins, six ounces of beef-suet, finely chopped, a small pinch of salt, some grated nutmeg, and three eggs that have been thoroughly whisked, and mixed with about a quarter-pint of milk, or less than this, should the eggs be large. Pour the whole into a buttered dish, and bake it an hour and a quarter. For a large pudding, increase the quantities one-half.

Flour and stoned raisins, each ¾ lb.; suet, 6 ozs.; salt, small pinch; nutmeg, ½ teaspoonful; eggs, 3; milk, ¼ pint: 1¼ hour.

A RICHER RAISIN PUDDING.

A pound of raisins weighed after they are stoned, ten ounces of beef-suet shred very fine, three-quarters of a pound of flour, a little salt, half a small nutmeg, or the grated rind of a lemon, four large eggs, and as much milk as may be needed to make the whole into a very thick batter. Mix, and beat the ingredients well, and bake the pudding rather longer than the preceding one. The addition of sugar will not be found an improve­ment to these puddings, as it destroys their lightness.

487

POOR AUTHOR’S PUDDING.

Flavour a quart of new milk by boiling in it for a few minutes half a stick of well-bruised cinnamon, or the thin rind of a small lemon; add a few grains of salt, and three ounces of sugar, and turn the whole into a deep basin; when it is quite cold, stir to it three well-beaten eggs, and strain the mixture into a pie-dish. Cover the top entirely with slices of bread free from crust, and half an inch thick, cut so as to join neatly, and buttered on both sides: bake the pudding in a moderate oven for about half an hour, or in a Dutch oven before the fire.

New milk, 1 quart; cinnamon, or lemon-rind; sugar, 3 ozs.; little salt; eggs, 3; buttered bread: baked ½ hour.

PUDDING A LA PAYSANNE.
(Cheap and good.)

Fill a deep tart-dish with alternate layers of well-sugared fruit, and very thin slices of the crumb of a light stale loaf; let the upper layer be of fruit, and should it be of a dry kind, sprinkle over it about a dessert­spoonful of water, or a little lemon-juice: raspberries, currants, and cherries, will not require this. Send the pudding to a somewhat brisk oven to be baked for about half an hour. The proportion of sugar used must be regulated, of course, by the acidity of the fruit. For a quart of ripe green-gages, split and stoned, five ounces will be suffi­cient. Apricots, peaches, and nectarines will scarcely require more; but damsons, bullaces, and various other plums will need a much larger quantity. A superior pudding of this kind is made by substi­tuting sponge-cake for the bread.

INDIAN PUDDING.

Put into a deep dish from six to eight ounces of rice that has been washed, and wiped in a dry cloth; just moisten it with milk, and set it into a gentle oven, add 488 milk to it at intervals, in small quantities, until the grain is swollen to its full size, and is tender, but very dry; then mix with it two dessert­spoonsful of fine sugar, and if it should be at hand, four or five table­spoonsful of rich cream. Fill a tart-dish almost to the brim with fruit properly sugared, heap the rice equally over it, leaving it rough, and bake it in a moderate oven for half an hour, unless the fruit should be of a kind to require a longer time; when very hard, it must be half stewed with the sugar before it is put into the dish. The rice may be swelled over a very slow fire when more conve­nient; and the Dutch or American oven will serve quite well to bake the pudding.

BAKED HASTY PUDDING.

Take from a pint of new milk sufficient to mix into a thin batter two ounces of flour, put the remainder, with a small pinch of salt, into a clean saucepan, and when it boils quickly, stir the flour briskly to it; keep it stirred over a gentle fire for ten minutes, pour it out, and when it has become a little cool, mix with it two ounces of fresh butter, three of pounded sugar, the grated rind of a small lemon, four large, or five small eggs, and half a glass of brandy, or as much orange-flower water. To these half a dozen bitter almonds, pounded to a paste, are sometimes added. Bake the pudding half an hour in a gentle oven.

New milk, 1 pint; flour, 2 ozs.: 10 minutes. Butter, 2 ozs.; sugar, 3 ozs.; eggs, 4 or 5; grated rind of lemon; brandy, or orange-flower water, ½ wine glassful.

489

CHAPTER XIX.
SOUFFLÉS, OMLETS, &c.

Silver Soufflé-pan and dish.

OBSERVATIONS ON OMLETS, FRITTERS, &C.

The composition and nature of a soufflé are altogether different, but there is no difficulty in making good omlets, pancakes, or fritters, and as they may be expeditiously prepared and served, they are often a very conve­nient resource when, on short notice, an addition is required to a dinner. The eggs for all of them should be well and lightly whisked; the lard for frying batter should be extremely pure in flavour, and quite hot when the fritters are dropped in; the batter itself should be smooth as cream, and it should be briskly beaten the instant before it is used. All fried pastes should be perfectly drained from the fat before they are served and sent to table promptly when they are ready. Eggs may be dressed in a multiplicity of ways, but are seldom, in any form, more relished than in a well-made and expeditiously served omlet. This may be plain, or seasoned with minced herbs, and a very little eschalot, when the last is liked, and is then called an “Omlette aux fines herbes;” or it may be mixed with minced 490 ham, or grated cheese; in any case, it should be light, thick, full-tasted, and fried only on one side; if turned in the pan, as it frequently is in England, it will at once be flattened and rendered tough. Should the slight rawness which is sometimes found in the middle of the inside, when the omlet is made in the French way, be objected to, a heated shovel, or a salamander, may be held over it for an instant, before it is folded on the dish. The pan for frying it should be quite small; for if it be composed of four or five eggs only, and then put into a large one, it will necessarily spread over it and be thin, which would render it more like a pancake than an omlet; the only partial remedy for this, when a pan of proper size cannot be had, is to raise the handle of it high, and keep the opposite side close down to the fire, which will confine the eggs to a smaller space. No gravy should be poured ever into the dish with it, and, indeed, if properly made, it will require none. Lard is preferable to butter for frying batter, as it renders it lighter; but it must not be used for omlets.

A COMMON OMLET.

From four to eight very fresh eggs may be used for this, according to the sized dish required. Half a dozen will generally be suffi­cient. Break them singly and carefully; clear them in the way we have already pointed out in the introduction to boiled puddings, or when they are suffi­ciently whisked pour them through a sieve, and resume the beating until they are very light. Add to them from half to a whole teaspoonful of salt, and a seasoning of pepper. Dissolve in a small frying-pan a couple of ounces of butter, pour in the eggs, and as soon as the omlet is well risen and firm throughout, slide it on to a hot dish, fold it together like a turnover, and serve it imme­diately; from five to seven minutes will fry it.

For other varieties of the omlet see the observations which precede this.

491

AN OMLETTE SOUFFLÉE.

Separate, as they are broken, the whites from the yolks of six fine fresh eggs; beat these last thoroughly, first by themselves and then with four table­spoonsful of dry, white sifted sugar, and the rind of half a lemon grated on a fine grater.* Whisk the whites to a solid froth, and just before the omlet is poured into the pan, mix them well, but lightly, with the yolks. Put four ounces of fresh butter into a very small and delicately clean omlet or frying pan, and as soon as it is all dissolved, add the eggs and stir them round, that they may absorb it entirely. When the under side is just set, turn the omlet into a well-buttered dish, and send it to a tolerably brisk oven. From five to ten minutes will bake it; and it must be served the instant it is taken out; carried, indeed, as quickly as possible to table from the oven. It will have risen to a great height, but will sink and become heavy in a very short space of time: if sugar be sifted over it, let it be done with the utmost expedition.

Eggs, 6; sugar, 4 tablespoonsful; rind, ½ lemon; butter, 4 ozs.: omlet baked, 5 to 10 minutes.

Obs.—A large common frying-pan will not answer for omlets: a very small one should be kept for them, when there is no regular omlet-pan.

* As we have before said, a much more delicate flavour is imparted by rasping the lemon-rind on sugar.

SOUFFLÉS.

The admirable lightness and delicacy of a well-made soufflé render it generally a very favourite dish, and it is now a fashionable one also. It may be greatly varied in its composition, but in all cases must be served the very instant it is taken from the oven; and even in passing to the dining-room it should, if possible, be prevented from sinking by a heated iron or salamander held above it. A common soufflé-pan may be purchased for four or five shillings, but those of silver or plated metal which are of the form shown at the commencement of 492 this chapter, are of course expensive; the part in which the soufflé is baked is placed within the more ornamental dish when it is drawn from the oven. A plain, round shallow cake-mould, with a strip of writing-paper six inches high, placed inside the rim will answer on an emergency to bake a soufflé in. The following receipt will serve as a guide for the proper mode of making it: the process is always the same whether the principal ingredient be whole rice boiled very tender in milk and pressed through a sieve, bread-crumbs soaked as for a pudding and worked through a sieve also, arrow-root, potato-flour, or ought else of which light puddings in general are made.

Take from a pint and a half of new milk or of cream suffi­cient to mix four ounces of flour of rice to a perfectly smooth batter; put the remainder into a very clean, well-tinned saucepan, and when it boils, stir the rice briskly to it; let it simmer, keeping it stirred all the time, for ten minutes or more should it not be very thick, then mix well with it two ounces of fresh butter, one and a half of pounded sugar, and the grated rind of a fine lemon (or let the sugar which is used for it be well rubbed on the lemon before it is crushed to powder); in two or three minutes take it from the fire, and beat quickly and carefully to it by degrees the yolks of six eggs; whisk the whites to a very firm solid froth, and when the pan is buttered, and all else quite ready for the oven, stir them gently to the other ingredients; pour the soufflé imme­diately into the pan and place it in a moderate oven, of which keep the door closed for a quarter of an hour at least. When the soufflé has risen very high, is of a fine colour, and quite done in the centre, which it will be in from half to three-quarters of an hour, send it instantly to table. The exact time for baking it depends so much on the oven that it cannot be precisely specified. We have known quite a small one not too much baked in forty-five minutes in an iron oven; but generally less time will suffice for them: the heat, however, should always be quite moderate.

493

New milk or cream, 1½ pint; flour of rice, 4 ozs.; fresh butter, 2 ozs.; pounded sugar, 1½ oz.; eggs, 6; grain of salt; rind, 1 lemon: 30 to 45 minutes.

Obs.—The soufflé may be flavoured with vanilla, orange-flowers, citron-rind, or ought else that is liked. Chocolate and coffee also may be used for it with soaked bread: a very strong infusion of the last, and an ounce or two of the other melted with a little water are to be added to the milk and bread.

KENTISH FRITTERS.

Beat up the whites of three eggs and the yolks of six with half a pound of flour, a cupful of milk, and a large teaspoonful of yeast; put the mixture into a jug, cover it, and set it by the fire until the next day, then add to the batter two large apples chopped fine, and fry the fritters as usual.

Whites of eggs, 3; yolks, 6; flour, 8 ozs.; milk, one cupful; yeast, 1 teaspoonful: 24 hours.

PLAIN COMMON FRITTERS.

Mix with three well beaten eggs a quarter-pint of milk, and strain them through a fine sieve; add them gradually to three large table­spoonsful of flour, and thin the batter with as much more milk as will bring it to the consistence of cream; beat it up thoroughly at the moment of using it, that the fritters may be light. Drop it in small portions from a spouted jug or basin into boiling lard; when lightly coloured on one side, turn them, drain them well from the lard as they are lifted out, and serve them very quickly. They are eaten generally with fine sugar, and orange or lemon juice: the first of these may be sifted thickly over them after they are dished, the oranges or lemons cut in two, and sent to table with them. The lard used for frying them should be fresh and pure-flavoured: it renders them more crisp and light than butter, and is, therefore, better suited to the purpose.

Eggs, 3; flour, 3 tablespoonsful; milk, ¼ to ½ pint.

494

PANCAKES.

These may be made with the same batter as fritters, if it be suffi­ciently thinned with an addi­tional egg or two, or a little milk or cream, to spread quickly over the pan: to fry them well, this ought to be small. When the batter is ready, heat the pan over a clear fire and rub it with butter in every part, then pour in suffi­cient batter to spread over it entirely, and let the pancake be very thin: in this case it will require no turning, but otherwise, it must be tossed over with a sudden jerk of the pan, in which the cook who is not somewhat expert will not always succeed; therefore the safer plan is to make them so thin that they will not require this. Keep them hot before the fire until a suffi­cient number are ready to send to table, then proceed with a second supply, as they should always be quickly served. Either roll them up and strew fine sugar over them, or spread them quickly with preserve, laying them one on the other. A richer kind of pancake may be made with a pint of cream, or of cream and new milk mixed, five eggs, or their yolks only, a couple of ounces of flour, a little pounded cinnamon or lemon-rind rasped on sugar and scraped into them, with two ounces more of pounded sugar, and two ounces of clarified butter: a few ratifias rolled to powder may be added at pleasure, or three or four macaroons.

From 4 to 5 minutes.

FRITTERS OF CAKE AND PUDDING.

Cut plain pound or rice cake into small square slices half an inch thick; trim away the crust, fry them slowly a light brown, in a small quantity of fresh butter, and spread over them when done a layer of apricot-jam, or of any other preserve, and serve them imme­diately. These fritters are improved by being moistened with a little good cream before they are fried: they must then be slightly floured. Cold plum pudding sliced down as thick as the cake, and divided into portions of equal size, and good form, then dipped into French or English 495 batter, and gently fried, will also make an agreeable variety of fritter.

MINCEMEAT FRITTERS.

With half a pound of mincemeat mix two ounces of fine bread-crumbs (or a table­spoonful of flour), two eggs well beaten, and the strained juice of half a small lemon. Mix these well, and drop the fritters with a dessert­spoon into plenty of very pure lard or fresh butter; fry them from seven to eight minutes, drain them on a napkin or on white blotting paper, and send them very hot to table. These fritters should be quite small.

Mincemeat, ½ lb.; bread-crumbs, 2 ozs. (or flour, 1 table­spoonful); eggs, 2; juice of ½ lemon: 7 to 8 minutes.

VENETIAN FRITTERS.
(Very good.)

Pick, wash, and drain three ounces of whole rice, put it into a full pint of cold milk, and bring it very slowly to boil; stir it often, and let it simmer gently until quite thick and dry. When about three parts done add to it two ounces of pounded sugar, and one of fresh butter, a grain of salt, and the grated rind of half a small lemon. Let it cool in the saucepan, and when only just warm mix with it thoroughly three ounces of currants, four of apples, chopped fine, a teaspoonful of flour, and three large or four small well-beaten eggs. Drop the mixture in small fritters, fry them in butter from five to seven minutes, and let them become quite firm on one side before they are turned: do this with a slice. Drain them as they are taken up, and sift white sugar over them after they are dished.

Whole rice, 3 ozs.; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2 ozs.; butter, 1 oz.; grated rind of ½ lemon; currants, 3 ozs.; minced apples, 4 ozs.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; a little salt; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small: 5 to 7 minutes.

FRITTERS OF SPRING FRUIT.

The rhubarb for these should be of a good sort, quickly grown, and tender. Pare, cut it into equal 496 lengths, and throw it into the French batter of page 154; with a fork lift the stalks separately, and put them into a pan of boiling lard or butter: in from five to six minutes they will be done. Drain them well and dish them on a napkin, or pile them high without one, and strew sifted sugar plentifully over them: they should be of a very light brown, and quite dry and crisp. The young stalks look well when left in their entire length, and only slightly encrusted with the batter, through which they should be merely drawn.

5 to 6 minutes.

APPLE, PEACH, APRICOT, OR ORANGE FRITTERS.

Pare and core without dividing the apples, slice them in rounds the full size of the fruit, dip them into the same batter as that directed for the preceding fritters; fry them a pale brown, and let them be very dry. Serve them heaped high upon a folded napkin, and strew sifted sugar over them. After having stripped the outer rind from the oranges, remove carefully the white bitter skin, and in slicing them take out the pips; then dip them into the batter and proceed as for the apple fritters. The peaches and apricots should be merely skinned, halved, and stoned before they are drawn through the batter; unless they should be not fully ripe, when they must first be stewed tender in a thin syrup.

8 to 12 minutes.

BRIOCHE FRITTERS.

The brioche-paste,* when good, makes very superior cannelons and fritters: it is, we should say, better in this form than in that of the bun or cake, in which it is seen so commonly abroad. Make it, for the fritters, into very small balls; roll them quite thin, put a teaspoonful or less of rich preserve into each, moisten the edges and fold the paste together securely, or with a small tin shape cut as many rounds of the brioche as are wanted, place some preserve in the centre of one-half of these, moisten the edges, lay the remainder lightly 497 over them, press them carefully together and restore them to a good form with the tin cutter, by trimming them with it to their original size; slip them gently into a pan of boiling lard, and fry them from four and a half to five minutes. Serve them very hot, crisp, and dry, piled on a folded napkin. The cannelons are made like those of paste, and are extremely good. They are sometimes filled with the lemon-cheesecake mixture of page 434, or with Madame Werner’s, 431, with the first of these they are even better than with preserve.

Fritters, 4½ to 5 minutes; cannelons, 5 to 6 minutes.

* For this, see page 407.

POTATOE FRITTERS.

See directions for potatoe puddings. The same mixture dropped in fritters into boiling butter, and fried till firm on both sides will be found very good.

LEMON FRITTERS.

Mix with six ounces of very fine bread-crumbs four of beef-suet, minced as small as possible, four ounces of pounded sugar, a small table­spoonful of flour, four whole eggs, well and lightly whisked, and the grated rind of one large or of two small lemons, with half or the whole of the juice, at choice; but before this last is stirred in, add a spoonful or two of milk or cream if needed. Fry the mixture in small fritters for five or six minutes.

CANNELONS.

Roll out very thin and evenly some fine puff-paste into a long strip of from three to four inches wide, moisten the surface with a feather dipped in white of egg, and cut it into bands of nearly two inches wide; lay some apricot or peach marmalade equally along these, and fold the paste twice over it, close the 498 ends carefully, and when all are ready slide them gently into a pan of boiling lard;* so soon as they begin to brown, raise the pan from the fire that they may not take too much colour before the paste is done quite through. Five minutes will fry them. Drain them well, and dry them on a soft cloth before the fire; dish them on a napkin, and place one layer crossing another, or merely pile them high in the centre. If well made, and served of a light brown and very dry, these cannelons are excellent: where lard is objected to butter may be used instead, but the paste will then be somewhat less light. Only lard of the purest quality will serve for the purpose.

5 minutes.

* Cannelons may be either baked or fried: if sent to the oven, they may first be glazed with white of egg or sugar.

CANNELONS OF BRIOCHE PASTE.

Proceed exactly as for the cannelons above, substi­tuting the brioche for the puff-paste, and rolling it as thin as possible, as it swells very much in the pan. It is a good plan to pass a notched paste-runner, should there be one at hand, lightly upon the edge of the second folding of the crust, which should reach about to the centre of the cannelon: precaution should always be taken to close the paste so as to prevent the escape of the preserve. Fine sugar may be sifted over these after they are dried and dished.—4 to 5 minutes.

CROQUETTES OF RICE.

Croquettes.

Wipe very clean, in a dry cloth, seven ounces of rice, 499 put it into a clean stewpan, and pour on it a quart of new milk, let it swell gently by the side of the fire, and stir it often that it may not stick to the pan, nor burn; when it is about half done, stir to it five ounces of pounded sugar, and six bitter almonds beaten extremely fine; the thin rind of half a fresh lemon may be added in the first instance. The rice must be simmered until it is soft, and very thick and dry; it should then be spread on a dish, and left till cold, when it is to be rolled into small balls, which must be dipped into beaten egg, and then covered in every part with the finest bread-crumbs. When all are ready, fry them a light brown in fresh butter, and dry them well before the fire, upon a sieve reversed and covered with a very soft cloth, or with a sheet of white blotting paper. Pile them in a hot dish, and send them to table quickly.

Rice, 7 ozs.; milk, 1 quart; rind of lemon: ¾ hour. Sugar, 5 ozs.; bitter almonds, 6: 40 to 60 minutes, or more. Fried, 5 to 7 minutes.

FINER CROQUETTES OF RICE.

Swell the rice in thin cream, or in new milk strongly flavoured with cocoa-nut (see page 509), add the same ingredients as in the foregoing receipt, and when the rice is cold, form it into balls, and with the thumb of the right hand hollow them suffi­ciently to admit in the centre a small portion of peach-jam, or of apricot-marmalade; close the rice well over it; egg, crumb, and fry the croquettes as usual. As, from the difference of quality, the same proportions of rice and milk will not always produce the same effect, the cook must use her discretion in adding, should it be needed, suffi­cient liquid to soften the rice perfectly: but she must bear in mind that if not boiled extremely thick and dry, it will be difficult to make it into croquettes.

SAVOURY CROQUETTES OF RICE.

These are made with the same preparation as the casserole of rice of Chapter XVI., but it must be boiled 500 very dry, and left to become quite cold before it is used. A few spoonsful of rich white sauce stirred into it when it is nearly tender, will improve it much. Form and hollow the croquettes as directed in the last receipt; fill them with a small portion of minced fowl, partridge, or pheasant, in a thick sauce, or with a stewed oyster or two cut in quarters; close the rice perfectly over them; egg, and crumb the croquettes, fry and serve them garnished with crisped parsley. French cooks mix sometimes a little grated Parmesan cheese with the rice at the moment it is taken from the fire, and roll the croquettes in more after they are egged; they press this on them, dip them again in egg, and then in the crumbs. Raise the pan high above the fire when the croquettes are lightly browned, that they may heat through; then heighten the colour, and lift them out imme­diately.

RISSOLES.

This is the French name for small fried pastry of various forms, filled with meat or fish previously cooked: they may be made with brioche, or with light puff-paste, either of which must be rolled extremely thin; cut it with a small round cutter fluted or plain; put a little rich mince, or good pounded meat, in the centre, and moisten the edges, and press them securely together that they may not burst open in the frying. The rissoles may be formed like small patties, by laying a second round of paste over the meat; or, like cannelons; they may, likewise, be brushed with egg, and sprinkled with vermicelli, broken small, or with fine crumbs. They are sometimes made in the form of croquettes, the paste being gathered round the meat, which must form a ball.

In frying them, adopt the same plan as for the croquettes, raising the pan as soon as the paste is lightly coloured. Serve all these fried dishes well drained, and on a napkin.

From 5 to 7 minutes, or less.

VERY SAVOURY RISSOLES.

Make the forcemeat No. 1, page 170, suffi­ciently firm 501 with unbeaten yolk of egg, to roll rather thin on a well-floured board; cut it into very small rounds, put a little pounded chicken in the centre of one half, moistening the edges with water, or white of egg, lay the remaining rounds over these, close them securely, and fry them in butter a fine light brown, drain and dry them well, and heap them in the middle of a hot dish, upon a napkin folded flat.

RISSOLES OF FISH.

Take perfectly clear from bones and skin, the flesh of any cold fish that can be pounded to an exceedingly fine paste; add to it, when in the mortar, from one-quarter to a third as much of good butter, and a high seasoning of cayenne, with a moderate one of mace and nutmeg. To these may be added, at pleasure, a few shrimps, or a little of any of the finer fish-sauces, or some lobster-coral. When the whole is well beaten and blended together, roll out some good puff-paste extremely thin, and with a small round tin-shape, cut out the number of rissoles required, put some of the fish into each of these, moisten the edges with white of egg, fold and press them securely together, and when all are ready, slip them gently into a pan of boiling lard or butter; fry them a pale brown, drain them well, and dry them on white blotting-paper, laid upon a sieve, reversed; but do not place them suffi­ciently near to scorch or colour them.

TO BOIL PIPE MACCARONI.

We have found always the continental mode of dressing maccaroni the best. English cooks sometimes soak it in milk and water for an hour or more, before it is boiled, that the pipes may be swollen to the utmost, but this is apt to render it pulpy, though its appearance may be improved by it. Drop it lightly, and by degrees, into a large pan of fast-boiling water, into which a little salt, and a bit of butter the size of a walnut, have previously been thrown, and of which the 502 boiling should not be stopped by the addition of the maccaroni. In from three-quarters of an hour to an hour this will be suffi­ciently tender; it should always be perfectly so, as it is otherwise indigestible, though the pipes should remain entire. Pour it into a large cullender, and drain the water well from it. It should be very softly boiled after the first minute or two.

¾ to 1 hour.

RIBBAND MACCARONI.

This is dressed in precisely the same manner as the pipe maccaroni, but requires only from fourteen to sixteen minutes’ boiling in water, and twenty or more in broth or stock.

DRESSED MACCARONI.

Four ounces of pipe maccaroni is suffi­cient for a small dish, but from six to eight should be prepared for a family party where it is liked. The common English mode of dressing it is with grated cheese, butter, and cream, or milk. French cooks substi­tute generally a spoonful or two of very strong rich jellied gravy for the cream; and the Italians, amongst their many other modes of serving it, toss it in rich brown gravy, with suffi­cient grated cheese to flavour the whole strongly. Another, and an easy mode of dressing it is to boil and drain it well, and to put it into a deep dish, strewing grated cheese on every layer, and adding bits of fresh butter to it. The top, in this case, should be covered with a layer of fine bread-crumbs, mixed with grated cheese; these should be moistened plentifully with clarified butter, and colour given to them in the oven, or before the fire; the crumbs may be omitted, and a layer of cheese substi­tuted for them. An excellent preparation of maccaroni may be made with any well-flavoured, dry white cheese, which can be grated easily, at much less cost than with the Parmesan, which is expensive, and in the country not always procurable even; we think that the rich brown gravy is also a great advan­tage 503 to the dish, which is further improved by a tolerably high seasoning of cayenne. These, however, are innovations on the usual modes of serving it in England.

After it has boiled quite tender, drain it well, dissolve from two to three ounces of good butter in a clean stewpan, with a few spoonsful of rich cream, or of white sauce, lay in part of the maccaroni, strew more cheese upon it, add the remainder of the maccaroni and the cheese, and toss the whole gently until the ingredients are well incorporated, and adhere to the maccaroni, leaving no liquid perceptible: serve it imme­diately.

Maccaroni, 6 ozs.; butter, 3 ozs.; Parmesan cheese, 6 ozs.; cream, 4 table­spoonsful.

Obs.—If preferred so, cheese may be strewed thickly over the maccaroni after it is dished, and just melted and browned with a salamander.

MACCARONI A LA REINE.

This is a very excellent and delicate mode of dressing maccaroni. Boil eight ounces in the usual way (see page 501), and by the time it is suffi­ciently tender, dissolve gently ten ounces of any rich, well-flavoured white cheese in full three-quarters of a pint of good cream, add a little salt, a rather full seasoning of cayenne, from half to a whole saltspoonful of pounded mace, and a couple of ounces of sweet fresh butter. The cheese should, in the first instance, be sliced very thin, and taken quite free of the hard part adjoining the rind; it should be stirred in the cream without intermission until it is entirely dissolved, and the whole is perfectly smooth: the maccaroni, previously well-drained, may then be tossed gently in it, or after it is dished, the cheese may be poured equally over the maccaroni. The whole, in either case, may be thickly covered before it is sent to table, with fine crumbs of bread fried of a pale gold colour, and dried perfectly, either before the fire or in an oven, when such an addition is consi­dered an improve­ment. As a matter of 504 precaution, it is better to boil the cream before the cheese is melted in it; rich white sauce, or béchamel, made not very thick, with an addi­tional ounce or two of butter, may be used to vary and enrich this preparation. If Parmesan cheese* be used for it, it must of course be grated. Half the quantity may be served.

Maccaroni, ½ lb.; cheese, 10 ozs.; good cream, ¾ pint (or rich white sauce); butter, 2 ozs. (or more); little salt, fine cayenne, and mace.

* The Parmesan being apt to gather into lumps, instead of mingling smoothly with the liquid, had perhaps better be avoided for this dish.

POLENTA, AN ITALIAN DISH. (GOOD.)

Throw into a quart of milk, when it is fast boiling, half a teaspoonful of salt, and then shake lightly into it five ounces of the best semoulina; stir the milk as this is added, and continue to do so from eight to ten minutes, letting the mixture boil gently during the time. It should be very thick, and great care must be taken to prevent its sticking to the saucepan, which should be placed over a clear fire on a bar or trevet, but not upon the coals. Pour the semoulina, when it is done, into a basin, which it will not fill by an inch or two, and let it remain some hours in a cool place, that it may become perfectly cold; it will then turn out quite solid, and like a pudding in appearance. Cut it with a large, sharp carving-knife, or a bit of thin wire, into half-inch slices; wash the basin into which it was poured at first, and butter it well; grate from six to eight ounces of good cheese (Parmesan, or any other), and mix with it a half teaspoonful of cayenne, and twice as much pounded mace; clarify from two to three ounces of fresh butter, and put a small quantity into the basin, strew in a little of the cheese, and then lay in the first slice of the semoulina, on this put a thick layer of the cheese, moisten it with some drops of butter, and place the second slice upon it, then more cheese and butter, and continue thus until all the semoulina is replaced in the basin, put plenty of cheese upon the top, 505 add the remainder of the clarified butter, and bake the mixture for about half an hour in a gentle oven. It should be of a fine golden colour when served. Turn it carefully into a dish, and send it instantly to table. A little rich brown gravy poured round might, to some tastes, improve it, but it is excellent without, and may be substi­tuted for maccaroni, which it much resembles in flavour. In Italy, the flour of Indian corn (maize), which is there called polenta, is used for it, but the semoulina, when good, answers the purpose perfectly. The dish may be enriched by adding butter to the milk, or by mixing with it a portion of cream; and it may be browned in a Dutch oven, when no other is in use.

New milk (or milk mixed with cream), 1 quart; salt, large ½ teaspoonful; semoulina, 5 ozs.: 10 minutes. Grated cheese, 6 to 8 ozs.; cayenne, ½ teaspoonful; mace, 1 small teaspoonful; butter, 2 to 3 ozs.: baked ½ hour, gentle oven.

Obs.—A plain mould can be used instead of the basin.

FORCED EGGS FOR SALAD.

Pound and press through the back of a hair-sieve, the flesh of three very fine, or of four moderate-sized anchovies, freed from the bones and skin. Boil six fresh eggs for twelve minutes, and when they are perfectly cold, halve them lengthwise, take out the yolks, pound them to a paste with a third of their volume of fresh butter; then add the anchovies, a quarter-teaspoonful of mace, and as much cayenne as will season the mixture well; beat these together thoroughly, and fill the whites of egg neatly with them. A morsel of garlic, not larger than a pea, perfectly blended with the other ingredients would to some tastes greatly improve this preparation: a portion of anchovy-butter (see page 152) or of potted ham, will supply the place of the fish in it very advan­tageously.

Eggs, 6; anchovies, 4; butter, size of 2 yolks; mace, ¼ teaspoonful; cayenne, third as much.

506

CHAPTER XX.
SWEET DISHES.

White and Rose-coloured Jelly.

TO PREPARE CALF’S FEET STOCK.*

The feet are usually sent in from the butcher’s ready to dress, but as a matter of economy† or convenience it is sometimes desirable to have them altogether prepared by the cook. Dip them into cold water, lay them into a deep pan, and sprinkle equally over them on both sides some rosin in fine powder; pour in as much boiling water as will cover them well, and let them remain for a minute or two untouched; then scrape the hair clean from them with the edge of a knife. When this is done, wash them very thoroughly both in hot and in cold water; divide them at the joint, split the claws, and take away the fat that is between them. Should the feet be large, put a gallon of cold water to the four, but from a pint to a quart less if they be of moderate size or small. Boil them gently down until the flesh has parted entirely from the bones, and the liquor is reduced nearly or quite half; strain, and let it stand till cold; remove every particle of fat from the top before it is used, and be careful not to take the sediment.

Calf’s feet, (large) 4; water, 1 gallon: 6 to 7 hours.

507

TO CLARIFY CALF’S FEET STOCK.

Break up a quart of the stock, put it into a clean stewpan with the whites of five large or of six small eggs, two ounces of sugar, and the strained juice of a small lemon; place it over a gentle fire, and do not stir it after the scum begins to form; when it has boiled five or six minutes, if the liquid part be clear turn it into a jelly-bag, and pass it through a second time should it not be perfectly transparent the first. To consumptive patients, and others requiring restoratives, but forbidden to take stimulants, the jelly thus prepared is often very acceptable, and may be taken with impunity, when it would be highly injurious made with wine. More white of egg is required to clarify it than when sugar and acid are used in larger quantities, as both of these assist the process. For blamange omit the lemon-juice, and mix with the clarified stock an equal proportion of cream (for an invalid new milk), with the usual flavouring and weight of sugar; or pour the boiling stock very gradually to some finely pounded almonds, and express it from them as directed for Quince Blamange, allowing from six to eight ounces to the pint.

Stock, 1 quart; whites of eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz.; juice, 1 small lemon: 5 to 8 minutes.

TO CLARIFY ISINGLASS.

The finely-cut purified isinglass, which is now in general use, requires no clarifying except for clear jellies: for all other dishes it is suffi­cient to dissolve, skim, and pass it through a muslin strainer. When two ounces are required for a dish, put two and a half into a delicately clean pan, and pour on it a pint of spring-water which has been gradually mixed with a teaspoonful of beaten white-of-egg; stir these thoroughly together, and let them heat slowly by the side of a gentle fire, but do not allow the isinglass to stick to the pan. When the scum is well risen, which it will 508 be after two or three minutes simmering, clear it off, and continue the skimming until no more appears, then, should the quantity of liquid be more than is needed, reduce it by quick boiling to the proper point, strain it through a thin muslin, and set it by for use: it will be perfectly transparent, and may be mixed lukewarm with the clear and ready-sweetened juice of various fruits, or used with the necessary proportion of syrup, for jellies flavoured with choice liqueurs. As the clarifying reduces the strength of the isinglass,—or rather as a portion of it is taken up by the white of egg,—an addi­tional quarter to each ounce must be allowed for this: if the scum be laid to drain on the back of a fine sieve which has been wetted with hot water, a little very strong jelly will drip from it.

Isinglass, 2½ ozs.; water, 1 pint; beaten white-of-egg, 1 teaspoonful.

SPINACH GREEN, FOR COLOURING SWEET DISHES, CONFECTIONARY, OR SOUPS.

Pound quite to a pulp, in a marble or Wedgwood mortar, a handful or two of young freshly-gathered spinach, then throw it into a hair-sieve, and press through all the juice that can be obtained from it; pour this into a clean white jar, and place it in a pan of water that is at the point of boiling, and which must be allowed only to just simmer afterwards; in three or four minutes the juice will be poached or set; take it then gently with a spoon, and lay it upon the back of a fine sieve to drain. If wanted for imme­diate use, merely mix it in the mortar with some finely-powdered sugar;* but if to be kept as store, pound it with as much as will render the whole tolerably dry; boil it to candy-height over a very clear fire, pour it out in cakes, and keep them in a tin box or canister. For this last preparation consult the receipt for orange-flower-candy.

* For soup, dilute it first with a little of the boiling stock, and stir it to the remainder.

509

PREPARED APPLE, OR QUINCE JUICE.

Pour into a clean earthen pan two quarts of spring water, and throw into it as quickly as they can be pared, cored, and weighed, four pounds of nonsuches, pearmains, Ripstone pippins, or any other good boiling apples of fine flavour. When all are done stew them gently until they are well broken, but not reduced quite to pulp; turn them into a jelly-bag, or strain the juice from them without pressure through a closely-woven cloth, which should be gathered over the fruit, tied, and suspended above a deep pan until the juice ceases to drop from it: this, if not very clear, must be rendered so before it is used for syrup or jelly, but for all other purposes once straining it will be suffi­cient. Quinces are prepared in the same way, and with the same proportions of fruit and water, but they must not be too long boiled or the juice will become red. We have found it answer well to have them simmered until they are perfectly tender, and then to leave them with their liquor in a bowl until the following day, when the juice will be rich and clear. They should be thrown into the water very quickly after they are pared and weighed, as the air will soon discolour them.

Water, 2 quarts; apples or quinces, 4 lbs.

COCOA-NUT-FLAVOURED MILK.
(For sweet dishes, &c.)

Pare the dark outer rind from a very fresh nut, and grate it on a fine and exceedingly clean grater; to every three ounces pour a quart of new milk, and simmer them very softly for three-quarters of an hour, or more, that a full flavour of the nut may be imparted to the milk without its being much reduced; strain it through a fine sieve, or cloth, with suffi­cient pressure to leave the nut almost dry: it may then be used for blamange, custards, rice and other puddings, light cakes and bread.

To each quart new milk, 3 ozs. grated cocoa-nut: ¾ to 1 hour.

510

Obs.—The milk of the nut, when perfectly sweet and good, may be added to the other with advan­tage. To obtain it, bore one end of the shell with a gimlet, and catch the liquid in a cup; and to extricate the kernel, break the shell with a hammer: this is better than sawing it asunder.

COMPOTES OF FRUIT.

We would particularly invite the attention of the reader to these whole­some and agreeable prepara­tions of fruit, which are much less served at English tables, generally, than they deserve to be. We have found them often peculiarly acceptable to persons of delicate habit, who were forbidden to partake of pastry in any form; and accom­panied by a dish of boiled rice, they are very preferable for children, as well as for invalids, to either tarts or puddings.

Compote of spring fruit.—(Rhubarb.) Take a pound of the stalks after they are pared, and cut them into short lengths; have ready a quarter-pint of water boiled gently for ten minutes with five ounces of sugar, or with six should the fruit be very acid, put it in, and simmer it for about ten minutes. Some kinds will be tender in rather less time, some will require more.

Obs.—Good sugar in lumps should be used generally for these dishes, and when they are intended for dessert the syrup should be enriched with an addi­tional ounce or two. Lisbon sugar will answer for them very well on ordinary occasions, but that which is refined will render them much more delicate.

Compote of green currants.—Spring water half pint; sugar five ounces; boiled together ten minutes. One pint of green currants stripped from the stalks; simmered three to five minutes.

Compote of green gooseberries.—This is an excellent compote if made with fine sugar, and very good with any kind. Break five ounces into small lumps and pour on them half a pint of water; boil these gently for ten minutes, and clear off all the scum; then add to 511 them a pint of fresh goose­berries freed from the tops and stalks, washed, and well drained. Simmer them gently from eight to ten minutes, and serve them hot or cold. Increase the quantity for a large dish.

Compote of green apricots.—Wipe the down from a pound of quite young apricots, and stew them very gently for nearly twenty minutes in syrup made with eight ounces of sugar and three-quarters of a pint of water, boiled together the usual time.

Compote of red currants.—A quarter-pint of water and five ounces of sugar: ten minutes. One pint of ready picked currants to be just simmered in the syrup from five to six minutes. This receipt will serve equally for raspberries, or for a compote of the two fruits mixed together. Either of them will be found an admirable accom­paniment to batter, custard, bread, ground rice, and various other kinds of puddings, as well as to whole rice plainly boiled.

Compote of Kentish or Flemish cherries.—Simmer five ounces of sugar with half a pint of water for ten minutes; throw into the syrup a pound of cherries weighed after they are stalked, and let them stew gently for twenty minutes: it is a great improve­ment to stone the fruit, but a larger quantity will then be required for a dish.

Compote of Morella cherries.—Boil together for fifteen minutes, five ounces of sugar with the half pint of water; add a pound and a quarter of ripe Morella cherries, and simmer them very softly from five to seven minutes: this is a delicious compote.

Compote of Damsons.—Four ounces of sugar and half a pint of water to be boiled for ten minutes; one pound of damsons to be added, and simmered gently from ten to twelve minutes.

Compote of the Magnum Bonum, or other large plums.—Boil six ounces of sugar with half a pint of water the usual time; take the stalks from a pound of plums, and simmer them very softly for twenty minutes. Increase the proportion of sugar if needed, 512 and regulate the time as may be necessary for the different varieties of fruit.

Compote of bullaces.—The large, or shepherds’ bullace, is very good stewed, but will require a considerable quantity of sugar to render it palatable unless it be quite ripe. Make a syrup with eight ounces, and three-quarters of a pint of water, and boil in it gently, from fifteen to twenty minutes, a pint and a half of the bullaces freed from their stalks.

Compote of Siberian crabs.—To three-quarters of a pint of water add six ounces of fine sugar, boil them for ten, or twelve minutes, and skim them well. Add a pound and a half of Siberian crabs without their stalks, and keep them just at the point of boiling for twenty minutes; they will then become tender without bursting. A few strips of lemon-rind and a little of the juice are sometimes added to this compote.

COMPOTE OF PEACHES.

Pare half a dozen ripe peaches, and stew them very softly from eighteen to twenty minutes, keeping them often turned in a light syrup, made with five ounces of fine sugar and a half-pint of water boiled together for ten minutes. Dish the fruit; reduce the syrup by quick boiling, pour it over the peaches, and serve them hot for a second-course dish, or cold for dessert. They should be quite ripe, and will be found delicious dressed thus. A little lemon-juice may be added to the syrup, and the blanched kernels of two or three peach or apricot stones.

Sugar, 5 ozs.; water, ½ pint: 10 minutes. Peaches, 6: 18 to 20 minutes.

Obs.—Nectarines, without being pared, may be dressed in the same way, but will require to be stewed somewhat longer, unless they be perfectly ripe.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR STEWED PEACHES.

Should the fruit be not perfectly ripe throw it into boiling water and keep it just simmering, until the skin can be easily stripped off. Have ready half a 513 pound of fine sugar boiled to a light syrup with three quarters of a pint of water; throw in the peaches, let them stew softly till quite tender, and turn them often that they may be equally done; after they are dished add a little strained lemon-juice to the syrup, and reduce it by a few minutes very quick boiling. The fruit is sometimes pared, divided, and stoned, then gently stewed until it is tender.

Sugar, 8 ozs.; water, ¾ pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Peaches 6 or 7; lemon-juice, 1 large teaspoonful.

STEWED BARBERRIES; OR COMPOTE D’EPINE-VINETTE.

Boil to a thin syrup half a pound of sugar and three-quarters of a pint of water, skim it well, and throw into it three-quarters of a pound of barberries stripped from the stalks; keep them pressed down into the syrup, and gently stirred: from five to seven minutes will boil them.

Sugar, 8 ozs.; water, ¾ pint: 12 to 15 minutes. Barberries, ¾ lb.: 5 to 7 minutes.

ANOTHER COMPOTE OF BARBERRIES FOR DESSERT.

When this fruit is first ripe it requires, from its excessive acidity, nearly its weight of sugar to render it palatable; but after hanging some time upon the trees it becomes much mellowed in flavour, and may be suffi­ciently sweetened with a smaller proportion. According to the state of the fruit then, take for each pound (leaving it in bunches) from twelve to sixteen ounces of sugar, and boil it with three-quarters of a pint of water till it forms a syrup. Throw in the bunches of fruit, and simmer them for five or six minutes. If their weight of sugar be used, they will become in that time perfectly transparent. As all vessels of tin affect the colour of the barberries, they should be boiled in a copper stewpan, or in a German enamelled one, which would be far better.

Barberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 12 to 16 ozs.; water, ¾ pint: fruit simmered in syrup 5 to 6 minutes.

514

GATEAU DE POMMES.

Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound of well refined sugar, and half a pint of water; then add a couple of pounds of nonsuches, or of any other finely-flavoured apples which can be boiled easily to a smooth pulp, and the juice of a couple of small or of one very large lemon. Stew these gently until the mixture is perfectly free from lumps, then boil it quickly, keeping it stirred, without quitting it, until it forms a very thick and dry marmalade. A few minutes before it is done add the finely grated rinds of a couple of lemons; when it leaves the bottom of the preserving-pan visible and dry, press it into moulds of tasteful form; and either store it for winter use, or if wanted for table, serve it plain for dessert, or ornament it with spikes of blanched almonds, and pour a custard round it for a second course dish.

Sugar, 1 lb.; water, ½ pint: 15 minutes. Nonsuches or other apples, 2 lbs.; juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons: 2 hours or more.

GATEAU OF MIXED FRUITS. (GOOD.)

Extract the juice from some fresh red currants by simmering them very gently for a few minutes over a slow fire; strain it through a folded muslin, and to one pound of it add a pound and a half of nonsuches or of freshly gathered codlings, pared, and rather deeply cored, that the fibrous part of the apple may be avoided. Boil these quite slowly until the mixture be perfectly smooth, then, to evaporate part of the moisture, let the boiling be quickened. In from twenty-five to thirty minutes draw the pan from the fire, and throw in gradually a pound and a quarter of sugar in fine powder; mix it well with the fruit, and when it is dissolved continue the boiling rapidly for twenty minutes longer, keeping the mixture constantly stirred; put it into a mould, and store it, when cold, for winter use; or serve it for dessert, or for the second course: in the latter 515 case decorate it with spikes of almonds blanched, and heap solid whipped cream round it, or pour a custard into the dish. For dessert it may be garnished with dice of the palest apple-jelly.

Juice of red currants, 1 lb.; nonsuches, or codlings (pared and cored), 1½ lb.: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 1½ lb.: 20 minutes.

Obs.—A portion of raspberries, if still in season, may be mixed with the currants for this gâteau, should their flavour be liked.

For other and excellent varieties of gâteaux of fruit, see Newton solid, and Damson solid, Chapter XXI. Ripe peaches and nonsuches will likewise do well for it. Codlings answer perfectly for the preceding receipt, and the preparation is of fine colour and very pleasant flavour: it ought to cut in clear firm slices.

JELLIES.

CALF’S FEET JELLY.

We hear inexperienced housekeepers frequently complain of the difficulty of rendering this jelly perfectly transparent; but by mixing with the other ingredients, while quite cold, the whites, and the crushed shells of a suffi­cient number of eggs, and allowing the head of scum which gathers on the jelly to remain undisturbed after it once forms, they will scarcely fail to obtain it clear. It should be strained through a thick flannel-bag of a conical form (placed before the fire, should the weather be at all cold, or the mixture will jelly before it has run through), and if not perfectly clear must be strained again and again till it become so; though we generally find that once suffices. Mix thoroughly in a large 516 stewpan five half pints of strong calf’s feet stock (see page 506), a full pint of sherry, half a pound of sugar, roughly powdered, the juice of two fine lemons, the rind of one and a half cut very thin, the whites and shells of four large eggs, and half an ounce of isinglass. Let these remain a few minutes off the fire, that the sugar may dissolve more easily; then let the jelly be brought to boil gradually, and do not stir it after it begins to heat. When it has boiled gently for sixteen minutes, draw it from the fire, and let it stand a short time before it is poured into the jelly-bag, under which a bowl should be placed to receive it. When clear and cool, put it into moulds that have been laid for some hours in water: these should always be of earthenware in preference to metal. If to be served in glasses, or roughed, the jelly will be suffi­ciently firm without the isinglass, of which, however, we recom­mend a small quantity to be thrown in always when the jelly begins to boil, as it facilitates the clearing.

Calf’s feet stock, 2½ pints; sugar, ½ lb.; sherry, 1 pint; juice of lemons, 2 large; rind of 1½; whites and shells of eggs, 4 large, or 5 small: 16 minutes.

Obs. 1.—After all the jelly has dropped through the bag, an exceedingly agreeable beverage is obtained by pouring in some boiling water; from one to three half-pints, according to the quantity of jelly which has been made. The same plan should be pursued in making orange or lemon jelly for an invalid.

Obs. 2.—As it is essential to the transparency of calf’s feet jelly of all kinds that the whole of the ingredients should be quite cold when they are mixed, and as the stock can only be measured in a liquid state, to which it must be reduced by heating, the better plan is, to measure it when it is first strained from the feet, and to put apart the exact quantity required for a receipt; but when this has not been done, and it is necessary to liquefy it, it must be left till quite cold again before it is used.

517

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR CALF’S FEET JELLY.

To four calf’s feet, well cleaned and divided, pour a gallon of water, and let them stew until it is reduced to rather less than two quarts; or if, after the flesh has quite fallen from the bones, the liquor on being strained off should exceed that quantity, reduce it by rapid boiling in a clean uncovered pan over a very clear fire. When it is perfectly firm and cold, take it, clear of fat and sediment, and add to it a bottle of sherry, which should be of good quality (for poor, thin wines are not well adapted to the purpose), three-quarters of a pound of sugar broken small, the juice of five large or of six moderate-sized lemons, and the whites, with the shells finely crushed, of seven eggs, or of more, should they be very small. The rinds of three lemons, pared extremely thin, may be thrown into the jelly a few minutes before it is taken from the fire; or they may be put into the jelly-bag previously to its being poured through, when they will impart to it a slight and delicate flavour, without deepening its colour much. If it is to be moulded, something more than half an ounce of isinglass should be dropped lightly in where the liquid becomes visible through the head of scum, when the mixture begins to boil; for if not suffi­ciently firm, it will break when it is dished. It may be roughed, or served in glasses without this addition; and in a liquid state will be found an admirable ingredient for Oxford or other punch.

Calf’s feet, 4; water, 1 gallon; to be reduced more than half. Sherry, 1 bottle; sugar, ¾ lb. (more to taste); juice of 5 large lemons, or of six moderate-sized; whites and shells of 7 eggs, or more if small; rinds of lemons, 3 (for moulding, nearly ¾ oz. of isinglass): 15 to 20 minutes.

Obs.—An excellent and whole­some jelly for young people may be made with good orange or raisin wine, instead of sherry; to either of these the juice of three or 518 four oranges, with a small portion of the rind, may be added instead of part of the lemons.

APPLE CALF’S FEET JELLY.

Pour a quart of prepared apple-juice (see page 509) on a pound of fresh apples pared and cored, and simmer them till well broken; strain the juice, and let it stand till cold, then measure, and put a pint and a half of it into a stewpan with a quart of calf’s feet stock (see page 500), nine ounces of sugar broken small, or roughly pounded, the juice of two fine lemons, and the thin rinds of one and a half, with the whites and shells of eight eggs. Let it boil gently for ten minutes, then strain it through a flannel-bag, and when cool put it into moulds. It will be very clear, and firm, and of pleasant flavour. Apples of good quality should be used for it, and the quantity of sugar must be regulated by the time of year, as the fruit will have lost much of its acidity during the latter part of the season. This receipt, which is the result of our own experiment, and which we have found very successful, was first tried just after Christmas, with pearmains and Ripstone pippins. A little syrup of preserved ginger, or a small glass of fine white brandy, would perhaps, to some tastes, improve the jelly; but we give it simply as we have proved it ourselves.

Prepared apple juice, 1 quart; fresh apples, 1 lb.: ½ to ¾ hour. Strained juice, 1½ pint; calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; sugar, 9 ozs.; juice of lemons, 2; rind of 1½; whites and shells of eggs, 8: 10 minutes.

Obs.—We would recommend the substi­tution of quinces for apples in this receipt as likely to afford a very agreeable variety: or equal portions of the two fruits might answer well.

Unless the stock be very stiff, add isinglass to this, as to the calf’s feet jelly, when it is to be moulded.

ORANGE CALF’S FEET JELLY.

To a pint and a half of firm calf’s feet stock, put a 519 pint of strained China orange juice, mixed with that of one or two lemons; add to these six ounces of sugar, broken small, the very thin rinds of three oranges and of one lemon, and the whites of six eggs with half the shells crushed small. Stir these gently over a clear fire until the head of scum begins to form, but not at all afterwards. Simmer the jelly for ten minutes from the first full boil; take it from the fire, let it stand a little, then pour it through a jelly-bag till perfectly clear. This is an original, and an entirely new receipt, which we can recom­mend to the reader, the jelly being very pale, beautifully transparent, and delicate in flavour: it would, we think, be peculiarly acceptable to such invalids as are forbidden to take wine in any form.

The proportions both of sugar and of lemon-juice must be somewhat varied according to the season in which the oranges are used.

Strong calf’s feet stock, 1½ pint; strained orange-juice, mixed with a small portion of lemon-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 6 ozs.; rinds of oranges, 3; of lemon, 1: 10 minutes.

Obs.—A small pinch of isinglass thrown into the jelly when it begins to boil will much assist to clear it. When the flavour of Seville oranges is liked, two or three can be used with the sweet ones.

ORANGE ISINGLASS JELLY.

To render this perfectly transparent the juice of the fruit must be filtered, and the isinglass clarified; but it is not usual to take so much trouble for it. Strain as clear as possible, first through a sieve or muslin, then through a thick cloth or jelly bag, one quart of China orange-juice, mixed with as much lemon-juice as will give an agreeable degree of acidity, or with a small proportion of Seville orange-juice. Dissolve two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of water, skim it well, throw in half a pound of sugar, and a few strips of the orange-rind, pour in the orange-juice, stir the whole well together, skim it clean and without allowing it to boil; strain it through a cloth or through a muslin, 520 many times folded. When nearly cold put it into the moulds. This jelly is sometimes made without any water, by dissolving the isinglass and sugar in the juice of the fruit.

Orange-juice, 1 quart; water, 1 pint; isinglass, 2½ ozs.; sugar, ½ lb.*

* In France, orange-jelly is very commonly served in the halved rinds of the fruit, or in little baskets made as we shall hereafter direct. See Appendix.

ORANGES FILLED WITH JELLY.

This is one of the fanciful dishes which make a pretty appearance on a supper table, and are acceptable when much variety is desired. Take some very fine China oranges, and with the point of a small knife cut out from the top of each a round about the size of a shilling; then with the small end of a tea or egg spoon, empty them entirely, taking great care not to break the rinds. Throw these into cold water, and make jelly of the juice, which must be well drained from the pulp, and strained as clear as possible. Colour one-half a fine rose colour with prepared cochineal, and leave the other very pale; when it is nearly cold, drain and wipe the orange rinds, and fill them with alternate stripes of the two jellies; when they are perfectly cold cut them in quarters, and dispose them tastefully in a dish with a few light branches of myrtle between them. Calf’s feet or any other variety of jelly, or different blamanges, may be used at choice to fill the rinds: the colours, however, should contrast as much as possible.

LEMON CALF’S FEET JELLY.

Break up a quart of strong calf’s-feet stock, which 521 should have been measured while in a liquid state; let it be quite clear of fat and sediment, for which a small addi­tional quantity should be allowed; add to it a not very full half-pint of strained lemon-juice, and ten ounces of sugar, broken small (rather more or less according to the state of the fruit), the rind of one lemon pared as thin as possible, or of from two to three when a full flavour of it is liked, and the whites, with part of the shells crushed small, of five large or of six small eggs. Proceed as for the preceding jellies, and when the mixture has boiled five minutes throw in a small pinch of isinglass; continue the boiling for five or six minutes longer, draw the pan from the fire, let it stand to settle; then turn it into the jelly-bag. We have found it always perfectly clear with once passing through; but should it not be so, pour it in a second time.

Strong calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; strained lemon-juice, short ½ pint; sugar, 10 ozs. (more or less according to state of fruit); rind of from 1 to 3 large lemons; whites and part of shells of 5 large or 6 small eggs: 5 minutes. Pinch of isinglass: 5 minutes longer.

Obs.—About seven large lemons will produce the half pint of juice. This quantity is for one mould only. The jelly will be found almost colourless unless much of the rinds be used, and as perfectly transparent as clear spring water: it is also very agreeable in flavour. For variety, part of the juice of the fruit might be omitted, and its place supplied by marischino, or any other rich white liqueur of appropriate flavour.

CONSTANTIA JELLY.

Infuse in a pint of water for five minutes the rind of half a Seville orange, pared extremely thin; add an ounce of isinglass; and when this is dissolved throw in four ounces of good sugar in lumps; stir well, and simmer the whole for a few minutes, then mix with it four large wineglassesful of Constantia, and strain the jelly 522 through a fine cloth of close texture; let it settle and cool, then pour it gently from any sediment there may be, into a mould which has been laid for an hour or two into water. We had this jelly made in the first instance for an invalid who was forbidden to take acids, and it proved so agreeable in flavour that we can recom­mend it for the table. The isinglass, with an addi­tional quarter-ounce, might be clarified, and the sugar and orange-rind boiled with it afterwards.

Water, 1 pint; rind ½ Seville orange: 5 minutes. Isinglass, 1 oz.; sugar, 4 ozs.: 5 to 7 minutes. Constantia, 4 large wineglassesful.

STRAWBERRY ISINGLASS JELLY.

A great variety of equally elegant and excellent jellies for the table may be made with clarified isinglass, clear syrup, and the juice of almost any kind of fresh fruit; but as the process of making them is nearly the same for all, we shall limit our receipts to one or two, which will serve to direct the makers for the rest. Boil together quickly for fifteen minutes one pint of water and three-quarters of a pound of very good sugar; measure a quart of ripe richly-flavoured straw­berries without their stalks; the scarlet answer best from the colour which they give; on these pour the boiling syrup, and let them stand all night. The next day clarify two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of water, as directed at the beginning of this chapter; drain the syrup from the straw­berries very closely, add to it two or three table­spoonsful of red currant juice, and the clear juice of one large or of two small lemons; and when the isinglass is nearly cold mix the whole, and put it into moulds. The French, who excel in these fruit-jellies, always mix the separate ingredients when they are almost cold; and they also place them over ice for an hour or so after they are moulded, which is a great advan­tage, as they then require less isinglass, and are in conse­quence much more delicate. When the fruit abounds, instead of throwing it into the 523 syrup, bruise lightly from three to four pints, throw two table­spoonsful of sugar over them, and let the juice flow from them for an hour or two; then pour a little water over, and use the juice without boiling, which will give a jelly of finer flavour than the other.

Water, 1 pint; sugar, ¾ lb.: 15 minutes. Strawberries, 1 quart; isinglass, 2½ ozs.; water, 1 pint (white of egg 1 to 2 teaspoonful); juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons.

Obs.—The juice of any fruit mixed with suffi­cient sugar to sweeten, and of isinglass to stiffen it, with as much lemon-juice as will take off the insipidity of the flavour, will serve for this kind of jelly. Pine-apples, peaches, and such other fruits as do not yield much juice, must be infused in a larger quantity of syrup, which must then be used in lieu of it. In this same manner jellies are made with various kinds of wine and liqueurs, and with the ingredients for punch as well; but we cannot further multiply our receipts for them.

FANCY JELLIES.

To give greater transparency of appearance to jelly, it is made often in a mould of this form, or a variation of it, somewhat resembling the lower compartment of this. The space left in the centre is sometimes filled with very light, whipped cream, flavoured and coloured so as to eat agreeably with it, and to please the eye as well: this may be 524 tastefully garnished with preserved or fresh fruit. Italian jelly is made by half-filling a mould of this, or any of more conve­nient shape, and laying round upon it in a chain, as soon as it is set, some blamange made rather firm, and cut of equal thickness and size with a small round cutter; the mould is then filled with the remainder of the jelly, which must be nearly cold, but not beginning to set. Brandied morella cherries, drained very dry, are sometimes dropped into moulds of pale jelly; and fruits, either fresh or preserved, are arranged in them with exceedingly good effect when skilfully managed; but this is best accomplished by having a mould for the purpose, with another of smaller size fixed in it by means of slight wires, which hook on to the edge of the outer one. By pouring water into this it may easily be detached from the jelly; the fruit is then to be placed in the space left by it, and the whole filled up with more jelly: to give the proper effect, it must be recollected that the dish will be reversed when sent to table.

QUEEN MAB’S PUDDING.
(An elegant summer dish.)

Throw into a pint of new milk the thin rind of a small lemon, and six or eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised; or substi­tute for these half a pod of vanilla, cut small, heat it slowly by the side of the fire, and keep it at the point of boiling until it is strongly flavoured, then add a small pinch of salt, and three-quarters of an ounce of the finest isinglass, or a full ounce should the weather be extremely warm; when this is dissolved, strain the milk through a muslin, and put it into a clean saucepan, with four ounces and a half of sugar in lumps, and half a pint of rich cream; give the whole one boil, and then stir it briskly and by degrees to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh eggs; next, thicken the mixture as a custard, over a gentle fire, but do not hazard its curdling; when it is of tolerable consistency, pour it out, and continue the stirring until it is half cold, then mix with it an ounce and a half of candied citron, 525 cut in small spikes, and a couple of ounces of dried cherries, and pour it into a mould rubbed with a drop of oil; when turned out it will have the appearance of a pudding. From two to three ounces of preserved ginger, well-drained and sliced, may be substi­tuted for the cherries, and an ounce of pistachio-nuts, blanched and split, for the citron; these will make an elegant variety of the dish, and the syrup of the ginger, poured round as sauce, will be a further improve­ment. Currants steamed till tender, and candied orange or lemon-rind, are often used instead of the cherries, and the well-sweetened juice of straw­berries, raspberries (white or red), apricots, peaches, or syrup of pine-apple, will make an agreeable sauce; a small quantity of this last will also give a delicious flavour to the pudding itself, when mixed with the other ingredients. Cream may be substi­tuted entirely for the milk, when its richness is consi­dered desirable.

New milk, 1 pint; rind 1 small lemon; bitter almonds, 6 to 8 (or, vanilla, ½ pod); salt, few grains; isinglass, ¾ oz. (1 oz. in sultry weather); sugar, 4½ ozs.; cream, ½ pint; yolks, 6 eggs; dried cherries, 2 ozs.; candied citron, 1½ oz. (or, preserved ginger, 2 to 3 ozs., and the syrup as sauce, and 1 oz. of blanched pistachio-nuts; or 4 ozs. currants, steamed 20 minutes, and 2 ozs. candied orange-rind). For sauce, sweetened juice of straw­berries, raspberries, or plums, or pine-apple syrup.

Obs.—The currants should be steamed in an earthen cullender, placed over a saucepan of boiling water, and covered with the lid. It will be a great improve­ment to place the pudding over ice for an hour before it is served.

NESSELRODE CREAM.

Shell and blanch (see page 400*) twenty-four fine Spanish chestnuts, and put them with three-quarters of a pint of water into a small and delicately clean saucepan. When they have simmered from six to eight 526 minutes, add to them two ounces of fine sugar, and let them stew very gently until they are perfectly tender; then drain them from the water, pound them, while still warm, to a smooth paste, and press them through the back of a fine sieve. While this is being done, dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in two or three spoonsful of water, and put to it as much cream as will, with the small quantity of water used, make half a pint; two ounces of sugar, about the third of a pod of vanilla, cut small, and well bruised, and a strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, pared extremely thin. Give these a minute’s boil, and then keep them quite hot by the side of the fire, until a strong flavour of the vanilla is obtained. Now, mix gradually with the chestnuts half a pint of rich, unboiled cream, strain the other half pint through a fine muslin, and work the whole well together until it becomes very thick; then stir to it a couple of ounces of dried cherries, cut into quarters, and two of candied citron, divided into very small dice. Press the mixture into a mould which has been rubbed with a particle of the purest salad-oil, and in a few hours it will be ready for table. The cream should be suffi­ciently stiff, when the fruit is added, to prevent its sinking to the bottom, and both kinds should be dry when they are used.

Chestnuts, large, 24; water, ¾ pint; sugar, 2 ozs.; isinglass, ½ oz.; water, 3 to 4 table­spoonsful; cream, nearly ½ pint; vanilla, ⅓ of pod; lemon-rind, ¼ of 1 large: infuse 20 minutes or more. Unboiled cream, ½ pint; dried cherries, 2 ozs.; candied citron, 2 ozs.

Obs.—When vanilla cannot easily be obtained, a little noyau may be substi­tuted for it, but a full weight of isinglass must then be used. Both this receipt and the following one are entirely new, and our direc­tions for them must be followed with exactness, should the reader wish to ensure their success.

* Receipt, Stewed Chestnuts.

CREME A LA COMTESSE, OR THE COUNTESS’S CREAM.

Prepare as above, boil and pound eighteen fine sound 527 chestnuts; mix with them gradually, after they have been pressed through a fine sieve, half a pint of rich sweet cream, dissolve in half a pint of new milk a half ounce of isinglass, then add to them from six to eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised, with two-thirds of the rind of a small lemon, cut extremely thin, and two ounces and a half of sugar; let these simmer gently for five minutes, and then remain by the side of the fire for a while. When the milk is strongly flavoured, strain it through muslin, press the whole of it through, and stir it by degrees to the chestnuts and cream; beat the mixture smooth, and when it begins to thicken put it into a mould rubbed with oil, or in one that has been dipped in water and shaken nearly free of the moisture. If put into a cool place, it will be ready for table in six or eight hours. It has a pretty appearance when partially stuck with pistachio-nuts, blanched, dried, and cut in spikes, their bright green colour rendering them very ornamental to dishes of this sort: as they are, however, much more expensive than almonds, they can be used more sparingly, or intermingled with spikes of the firm outer-rind of candied citron.

Chestnuts, 18; water, full ½ pint; sugar, 1 oz.; 15 to 25 minutes, or more. Cream, ½ pint; new milk, ½ pint; isinglass ½ oz.; bitter almonds, 6 to 8; lemon-rind, two-thirds of 1; sugar, 2½ ozs.*

Obs.—This is a very delicate kind of sweet dish, which we can parti­cularly recom­mend to our readers: it may be rendered more recherché by a flavouring of maraschino, but must then have a little addition of isinglass. The preparation, without this last ingredient, will be found excellent iced.

* The proportions both of this and of the preceding cream must be increased for a large mould.

SWISS CREAM, OR TRIFLE.
(Very good.)

Flavour pleasantly with lemon-rind and cinnamon, a 528 pint of rich cream, after having taken from it as much as will mix smoothly to a thin batter four teaspoonsful of the finest flour; sweeten it with six ounces of well-refined sugar, in lumps; place it over a clear fire in a delicately clean saucepan, and when it boils stir in the flour, and simmer it for four or five minutes, stirring it gently without ceasing; then pour it out, and when it is quite cold mix with it by degrees the strained juice of two moderate-sized and very fresh lemons. Take a quarter-pound of macaroons, cover the bottom of a glass dish with a portion of them, pour in a part of the cream, lay the remainder of the macaroons upon it, add the rest of the cream, and ornament it with candied citron, sliced thin. It should be made the day before it is wanted for table. The requisite flavour may be given to this dish by infusing in the cream the very thin rind of a lemon, and part of a stick of cinnamon, slightly bruised, and then straining it before the flour is added; or, these and the sugar may be boiled together, with two or three spoonsful of water, to a strongly flavoured syrup, which, after having been passed through a muslin strainer, may be stirred into the cream. Some cooks boil the cinnamon and the grated rind of a lemon with all the other ingredients, but the cream has then to be pressed through a sieve after it is made, a process which it is always desirable to avoid.

Rich cream, 1 pint; sugar, 6 ozs.; rind, 1 lemon; cinnamon, 1 drachm; flour, 4 teaspoonsful; juice, 2 lemons; macaroons, 4 ozs.; candied citron, 1 to 2 ozs.

TIPSY CAKE, OR BRANDY TRIFLE.

The old-fashioned mode of preparing this dish was to soak a light sponge or Savoy cake in as much good French brandy as it could absorb; then, to stick it full of blanched almonds cut into whole-length spikes, and to pour a rich cold boiled custard round it. It is more usual now to mix one glass of brandy with three of wine, to pour over the cake: with this the juice of half a lemon is sometimes mixed.

529

Chantilly Basket.

FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES.

Take a mould of any sort that will serve to form the basket on, just dip the edge of some macaroons in melted barley sugar, and fasten them together with it; take it out of the mould, keep it in a dry place till wanted, then fill it high with whipped straw­berry cream which has been drained on a sieve from the preceding day, and stick very fine ripe straw­berries over it. It should not be filled until just before it is served.*

* For more minute direction, see Appendix.

CREME MERINGUÉE.

Infuse in a pint of new milk the very thin rind of a lemon, with four or five bitter almonds bruised. As the quantity should not be reduced, it should be kept by the side of the fire until strongly flavoured, and not be allowed to boil more than two or three minutes. Sweeten it with three ounces of fine sugar in lumps, and when this is dissolved, strain, and mix the milk with half a pint of cream, then stir the whole gradually to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh eggs, and thicken it like boiled custard. Put it, when cold, into a deep dish, beat to a solid froth the whites of the six eggs, mix them with five table­spoonsful of pounded and sifted 530 sugar, and spread them evenly over the custard, which should be set imme­diately into a moderate oven, baked half an hour, and served directly it is taken out.

New milk, 1 pint; rind of 1 lemon; bitter almonds, 5; sugar, 3 ozs.; cream, ½ pint; yolks of eggs, 6; frothed whites of eggs, 6; sifted sugar, 5 table­spoonsful: baked ½ hour.

LEMON-CREAM, MADE WITHOUT CREAM.

Pour on the very thin rinds of two fresh lemons, and a pound of fine sugar broken small, or roughly powdered, one pint of boiling water, and let them remain an hour; then add the whites of six eggs and the yolks of two, previously well beaten together, and the juice of six lemons; mix these thoroughly, strain the whole into a deep jug, set this into a pan of boiling water, and stir the cream without intermission until it is well thickened; pour it out; continue the stirring at intervals until it is nearly cold, when it may be put into the glasses. In cool weather, this cream will remain good for several days, and it should always be made at least twenty-four hours before it is served.

Lemon rinds, 2; sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1 pint: 1 hour. Whites of 6 eggs; yolks of 2; juice of 6 lemons.

VERY GOOD LEMON CREAMS.

Pour over the very thin rinds of two moderate sized but perfectly sound, fresh lemons, and six ounces of sugar, half a pint of spring water, and let them remain six hours; add then the strained juice of the lemons, and five fresh eggs well beaten, and also strained; take out the lemon rind, and stir the mixture without ceasing over a gentle fire until it has boiled softly from six to eight minutes: it will not curdle as it would did milk supply the place of the water and lemon-juice. The creams are, we think, more delicate, though not quite so thick, when the yolks only of six eggs are used for them. They will keep well for nearly a week in really cold weather.

Rinds of lemons, 2; sugar, 6 ozs. (or 8 when a very 531 sweet dish is preferred); cold water, ½ pint: 6 hours. Juice of lemons, 2; eggs, 5: to be boiled softly 6 to 8 minutes.

Obs.—Lemon-creams may, on occasion, be more expeditiously prepared, by rasping the rind of the fruit upon the sugar which is used for them; or, by paring it thin, and boiling it for a few minutes with the lemon-juice, sugar, and water, before they are stirred to the eggs.

FRUIT CREAMS, AND ITALIAN CREAMS.

These are very quickly and easily made, by mixing with good cream a suffi­cient proportion of the sweetened juice of fresh fruit, or of well-made fruit jelly or jam, to flavour it: a few drops of prepared cochineal may be added to deepen the colour when it is required for any parti­cular purpose. A quarter-pint of straw­berry or raspberry jelly will fully flavour a pint of cream: a very little lemon-juice improves almost all compositions of this sort. When jam is used, it must first be gradually mixed with the cream, and then worked through a sieve, to take out the seed or skin of the fruit. All fresh juice, for this purpose, must, of course, be cold: that of straw­berries is best obtained by crushing the fruit and strewing sugar over it. Peaches, pine-apple, apricots, or nectarines, may be simmered for a few minutes in a little syrup, and this, drained well from them, will serve extremely well to mix with the cream when it has become thoroughly cold: the lemon-juice should be added to all of these. When the ingredients are well blended, lightly whisk or mill them to a froth; take this off with a skimmer as it rises, and lay it on a fine sieve reversed to drain, or if it is to be served in glasses, fill them with it at once.

Italian creams are either fruit-flavoured only, or mixed with wine like syllabubs, then whisked to a stiff froth and put into a perforated mould, into which a muslin is first laid; or into a small hair-sieve (which must also first be lined with the muslin), and left to drain until the following day, when the cream must be very gently 532 turned out, and dished, and garnished as fancy may direct.

VERY SUPERIOR WHIPPED SYLLABUBS.

Weigh seven ounces of fine sugar and rasp on it the rinds of two fresh sound lemons of good size, then pound or roll it to powder, and put it into a bowl with the strained juice of the lemons, two large glasses of sherry, and two of brandy; when the sugar is nearly or quite dissolved add a pint of rich cream, and whisk or mill the mixture well; take off the froth as it rises, and put it into glasses. These syllabubs will remain good for several days, and should always be made if possible, four and twenty hours before they are wanted for table. The full flavour of the lemon-rind is obtained with less trouble than in rasping, by paring it very thin indeed, and infusing it for some hours in the juice of the fruit.

Sugar, 7 ozs.; rind and juice of lemons, 2; sherry, 2 large wineglassesful; brandy, 2 wineglassesful; cream, 1 pint.

Obs.—These proportions are suffi­cient for two dozens or more of syllabubs: they are often made with almost equal quantities of wine and cream, but are certainly neither so good nor so whole­some without a portion of brandy.

BLAMANGES.

GOOD COMMON BLAMANGE; OR, BLANC MANGER.
(Author’s Receipt.)

Infuse for an hour in a pint and three quarters of new milk, the very thin rind of one small, or of half a large lemon and eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised; then add two ounces of sugar, or rather more for persons who like the blamange very sweet, and an ounce and a half of isinglass. 533 Boil them gently over a clear fire, stirring them often until this last is dissolved; take off the scum, stir in half a pint of rich cream, and strain the blamange into a bowl: it should be moved gently with a spoon till nearly cold to prevent the cream settling on the surface. Before it is moulded, mix with it by degrees a wineglassful of brandy.

New milk, 1¾ pint; rind of lemon, ½ large or whole small 1; bitter almonds, 8: infuse 1 hour. Sugar, 2 to 3 ozs.; isinglass, 1½ oz.: 10 minutes. Cream, ½ pint; brandy, 1 wineglassful.

RICHER BLAMANGE.

A pint of good cream with a pint of new milk, sweetened and flavoured as above, or with a little addi­tional sugar, and the rind of one very fresh lemon with the same proportion of isinglass will make very good blamange. An ounce of Jordan almonds may be pounded and mixed with it, but they are not needed with the cream.

JAUMANGE OR JAUNE MANGER, SOMETIMES CALLED DUTCH FLUMMERY.

Pour on the very thin rind of a large lemon, and half a pound of sugar broken small, a pint of water, and keep them stirred over a gentle fire until they have simmered for three or four minutes, then leave the saucepan by the side of the stove that the syrup may taste well of the lemon. In ten or fifteen minutes add two ounces of isinglass, and stir the mixture often until this is dissolved, then throw in the strained juice of four sound, moderate-sized lemons, and a pint of sherry; mix the whole briskly with the beaten yolks of eight fresh eggs, and then pass it through a delicately clean hair-sieve; next thicken it in a jar or jug placed in a pan of boiling water, turn it into a bowl, and when it has become cool, and been allowed to settle for a minute or two, pour it into moulds that have been laid in water. 534 Some persons add a small glass of brandy to it, and deduct so much from the quantity of water.

Rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 8 ozs.; water, 1 pint: 3 or 4 minutes. Isinglass, 2 ozs.; juice, 4 lemons; yolks of 8 eggs; wine, 1 pint; brandy (at pleasure), 1 wineglassful.

EXTREMELY GOOD STRAWBERRY BLAMANGE.

Crush slightly, with a silver or wooden spoon, a quart, measured without their stalks, of fresh and richly-flavoured straw­berries; strew over them eight ounces of pounded sugar, and let them stand three or four hours; then turn them on to a fine hair-sieve reversed, and press them through it. Melt over a gentle fire two ounces of the best isinglass in a pint of new milk, and sweeten it with four ounces of sugar; strain it through a muslin, and mix it with a pint and a quarter of sweet thick cream; keep these stirred until they are nearly or quite cold, then pour them gradually to the straw­berries, whisking them briskly together; and last of all throw in, by small portions, the strained juice of a fine sound lemon. Mould the blamange, and set it in a very cool place for twelve hours or more, before it is served.

Strawberries stalked, 1 quart; sugar, 8 ozs.; isinglass, 2 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 4 ozs.; cream, 1¼ pint; juice, 1 lemon.

QUINCE BLAMANGE.
(Delicious.)

This, if carefully made, and with ripe quinces, is one of the most richly flavoured prepara­tions of fruit that we have ever tasted; and the receipt, we may venture to say, will be altogether new to the reader. Dissolve in a pint of prepared juice of quinces, (see page 507), an ounce of the best isinglass; next, add ten ounces of sugar, roughly pounded, and stir these together gently over a clear fire, from twenty to thirty minutes, or until the juice jellies in falling from the 535 spoon. Remove the scum carefully, and pour the boiling jelly gradually to half a pint of thick cream, stirring them briskly together as they are mixed; they must be stirred until very nearly cold, and then poured into a mould which has been rubbed in every part with the smallest possible quantity of very pure salad-oil; or, if more conve­nient, into one that has been dipped into cold water.

Juice of quinces, 1 pint; isinglass, 1 oz.: 5 to 10 minutes. Sugar, 10 ozs.: 20 to 30 minutes. Cream, ½ pint.

QUINCE BLAMANGE, WITH ALMOND CREAM.

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 blamange 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 five minutes, take off the scum, stir the blamange until it is nearly cold, then mould it for table. Increase the quantity both of this and of the preceding blamange when a large dish of either is required.

Quince juice, 1 pint; Jordan almonds, 4 ozs.; sugar, ½ lb.; isinglass, nearly 1 oz.: 5 minutes.

APRICOT BLAMANGE; OR, CREME PARISIENNE.

Dissolve gently an ounce of fine isinglass in a pint of new milk or of thin cream, and strain it through a folded muslin; put it into a clean saucepan, with three ounces of sugar, broken into small lumps, and when it boils, stir to it half a pint of rich cream; add it, at first, 536 by spoonsful only, to eight ounces of the finest apricot jam, mix them very smoothly, and stir the whole until it is nearly cold that the jam may not sink to the bottom of the mould: a table­spoonful of lemon juice will improve the flavour.

When cream is scarce, use milk instead, with an addi­tional quarter-ounce of isinglass, and enrich it by pouring it boiling on the same proportion of almonds as for the second quince blamange (see page 535). Cream can in all cases, be substi­tuted entirely for the milk, when a very rich preparation is desired. Peach-jam will answer admirably for this receipt; but none of any kind should be used for it which has not been passed through a sieve when made.

Isinglass, 1 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; cream, ½ pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; apricot-jam, ½ lb.; lemon-juice, 1 table­spoonful. Or: peach-jam, ½ lb.; cream, 1½ pint.

BLAMANGE RUBANÉ; OR, STRIPED BLAMANGE.

Make, in the ordinary way, but a little firmer, one quart or two of blamange, according to the number of moulds that are to be filled; divide it into three or four equal portions; add to one, suffi­cient prepared spinage juice (see page 508), to colour it a full or a pale green; to another, some liquid cochineal or carmine;* to a third, should further variety be desired, a few drops of a strong infusion of saffron, or if its peculiar flavour be objected to, stir quickly some of the blamange quite boiling, to the well beaten yolks of three or four fresh eggs, and thicken it a little over a gentle fire with an addi­tional spoonful or two of milk, for unless the whole be nearly of the same consistency, it will be liable to separate in the unmoulding. Chocolate, first boiled very smooth in a small quantity of water, will give an addi­tional colour; and some firm, clear isinglass, or calf’s-foot-jelly, may be used for an occasional stripe, where great variety is desired. The different kinds of 537 blamange should be poured into the mould in half-inch depths, when so cool as to be only just liquid, and one colour must be perfectly cold before another is added, or they will run together, and spoil the appearance of the dish. When ice is not procurable, the moulds in warm weather may be set into water, mixed with plenty of salt and saltpetre: the insides should be rubbed with a drop of very pure salad oil, instead of being laid into fresh water, as usual.

* This may be purchased at the chemists, when the trouble of preparing it is objected to.

AN APPLE HEDGE-HOG, OR SUÉDOISE.

This dish is formed of apples, pared, cored without being divided, and stewed tolerably tender in a light syrup. These are placed in a dish, after being well drained, and filled with apricot, or any other rich marmalade, and arranged in two or more layers, so as to give, when the whole is complete, the form shown in the engraving. The number required must depend on the size of the dish. From three to five pounds more must be stewed down into a smooth and dry marmalade, and with this, all the spaces between them are to be filled up, and the whole are to be covered with it; an icing of two eggs, beaten to a very solid froth, and mixed with two heaped table­spoonsful of sugar must then be spread evenly over the suedoise, fine sugar sifted on this, and spikes of blanched almonds, cut lengthwise, stuck over the entire surface; the dish is then to be placed in a moderate oven till the almonds are browned, but not too deeply, and the apples are hot through. It is not easy to give the required form with less than fifteen apples; eight of these may first be simmered in a syrup made with half a pint of water and six ounces of sugar, and the remainder may be thrown in after 538 these are lifted out. Care must be taken to keep them firm. The marmalade should be sweet, and pleasantly flavoured with lemon.

IMPERIAL GOOSEBERRY-FOOL.

Simmer a pound of green gooseberries from which have been freed the buds and stalks, in three-quarters of a pint of water, until they are well broken, then strain them, and to half a pound of the juice add half a pound of sugar, broken small: boil these together for fifteen minutes. Dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in a quarter-pint of rich cream, pour them into a basin and stir them till only lukewarm, then mix them by degrees with the sugar and goose­berry-juice, which should also have been allowed to cool; add the strained juice of half a small lemon, and mould the mixture, which should stand at least twelve hours in a cool place before it is turned out.

These proportions are sufficient for a small mould only, and must be doubled for a large one. The dish is too sweet for our own taste, but as it has been highly approved by several persons who have tasted it, we give the receipt exactly as we had it tried in the first instance: it will be found easy to vary it.

VERY GOOD OLD-FASHIONED BOILED CUSTARD.

Throw into a pint and a half of new milk, the very thin rind of a fresh lemon, and let it infuse for half an hour, then simmer them together for a few minutes, and add four ounces and a half of white sugar. Beat thoroughly the yolks of fourteen fresh eggs, mix with them another half pint of new milk, stir the boiling milk quickly to them, take out the lemon-peel, and turn the custard into a deep jug; set this over the fire in a pan of boiling water, and keep the custard stirred gently, but without ceasing, until it begins to thicken; then move the spoon rather more quickly, making it always touch the bottom of the jug, until the mixture is brought to the point of boiling, when it must be instantly taken from the fire, or it will curdle in a 539 moment. Pour it into a bowl, and keep it stirred until nearly cold, then add to it by degrees a wineglassful of good brandy, and two ounces of blanched almonds cut lengthwise into strips. A few bitter ones bruised, can be boiled in the milk in lieu of lemon-peel, when their flavour is preferred.

New milk, 1 quart; rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 4½ ozs.; yolks of eggs, 14; salt, ¼ saltspoonful.

RICH BOILED CUSTARD.

Take a small cupful from a quart of fresh cream, and simmer the remainder for a few minutes with four ounces of sugar and the rind of a lemon, or give it any other flavour that may be preferred. Beat and strain the yolks of eight eggs, mix them with the cupful of cream, and stir the rest boiling to them: thicken the custard like the preceding one.

Cream, 1 quart; sugar, 4 ozs.; yolks of eggs, 8.

THE QUEEN’S CUSTARD.

On the beaten and strained yolks of twelve new laid eggs pour a pint and a half of boiling cream which has been sweetened, with three ounces of sugar; add the smallest pinch of salt, and thicken the custard as usual. When nearly cold, flavour it with a glass and a half of noyau, maraschino, or cuirasseau; add the sliced almonds or not, at pleasure.

Yolks of eggs, 12; cream, 1½ pint; sugar, 3 ozs.; little salt; noyau, maraschino, or cuirasseau, 1½ wineglassful.

CURRANT CUSTARD.

Boil in a pint of clear currant juice ten ounces of sugar for three minutes, take off the scum, and pour the boiling juice on eight well beaten eggs; thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water, pour it out, stir it till nearly cold, then add to it carefully, and by degrees, half a pint of rich cream, and last of all, two 540 table­spoonsful of strained lemon-juice. When the currants are very ripe omit one ounce of the sugar.

White currants and strawberries, cherries, red or white raspberries, or a mixture of any of these fruits, may be used for these custards with good effect: they are excellent.

Currant-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 10 ozs.: 3 minutes. Eggs, 8; cream, ½ pint; lemon-juice, 2 table­spoonsful.

QUINCE OR APPLE CUSTARDS.

Add to a pint of apple-juice prepared as for jelly, a table­spoonful of strained lemon juice, and from four to six ounces of sugar according to the acidity of the fruit; stir these boiling, quickly, and in small portions, to eight well beaten eggs, and thicken the custard in a jug placed in a pan of boiling water, in the usual manner. A larger proportion of lemon-juice and a high flavouring of the rind can be given when approved. For quince custards, which if well made are excellent, observe the same direc­tions as for the apple, but omit the lemon-juice. As we have before observed, all custards are much finer when made with the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must be increased nearly half, when this is done.

Prepared apple-juice (see page 509), 1 pint; lemon-juice, 1 table­spoonful; sugar, 4 to 6 ozs.; eggs, 8. Quince custards, same proportions but no lemon-juice.

Obs.—In making lemon-creams the apple-juice may be substi­tuted very advan­tageously for water, without varying the receipts in other respects.

THE DUKE’S CUSTARD.

Drain well from their juice, and then roll in dry sifted sugar, as many fine brandied Morella cherries as will cover thickly the bottom of the dish in which this is to be sent to table; arrange them in it, and pour over them from a pint to a pint and a half of rich cold boiled custard; garnish the edge with macaroons or Naples biscuits, or pile upon the custard some solid 541 rose-coloured whipped cream, highly flavoured with brandy.

Brandied Morella cherries, ½ to whole pint; boiled custard, from 1 to 1½ pint; thick cream, ½ pint or more; brandy, 1 to 2 glassesful; sugar, 2 to 3 ozs.; juice of ½ large lemon; prepared cochineal, or carmine, 20 to 40 drops.

CHOCOLATE CUSTARDS.

Dissolve gently by the side of the fire an ounce and a half of the best chocolate in rather more than a wineglassful of water, and then boil it until it is perfectly smooth; mix with it a pint of milk well flavoured with lemon-peel or vanilla, add two ounces of fine sugar, and when the whole boils, stir it to five well-beaten eggs that have been strained. Put the custard into a jar or jug, set it into a pan of boiling water, and stir it without ceasing until it is thick. Do not put it into glasses or a dish till nearly or quite cold. These, as well as all other custards, are infinitely finer when made with the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must then be increased. Two ounces of chocolate, a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, two ounces and a half or three ounces of sugar, and eight yolks of eggs, will make very superior custards of this kind.

Rasped chocolate, 1½ oz.; water, 1 large wineglassful: 5 to 8 minutes. New milk, 1 pint; eggs, 5; sugar, 2 ozs. Or, chocolate, 2 ozs.; water, ¼ pint; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2½ to 3 ozs.; cream, ½ pint; yolks of eggs, 8.

Obs.—Either of these may be moulded by dissolving from half to three quarters of an ounce of isinglass in the milk. The proportion of chocolate can be increased to the taste.

COMMON BAKED CUSTARD.

Mix a quart of new milk with eight well beaten eggs, strain the mixture through a fine sieve, and sweeten it with from five to eight ounces of sugar, according to the taste; add a small pinch of salt, and pour the custard 542 into a deep dish with or without a lining or rim of paste, grate nutmeg or lemon rind over the top, and bake it in a very slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes, or longer, should it not be firm in the centre. A custard, if well made, and properly baked, will be quite smooth when cut, without the honey-combed appearance which a hot oven gives; and there will be no whey in the dish.

New milk, 1 quart; eggs, 8; sugar, 5 to 8 ozs.; salt, ¼ saltspoonful; nutmeg or lemon-grate: baked, slow oven, 20 to 30 minutes, or more.

A FINER BAKED CUSTARD.

Boil together gently, for five minutes, a pint and a half of new milk, a few grains of salt, the very thin rind of a lemon, and six ounces of loaf sugar; stir these boiling, but very gradually to the well beaten yolks of ten fresh eggs, and the whites of four; strain the mixture, and add to it half a pint of good cream; let it cool, and then flavour it with a few spoonsful of brandy, or a little ratifia; finish and bake it by the direc­tions given for the common custard above; or pour it into small well buttered cups, and bake it very slowly from ten to twelve minutes.

FRENCH CUSTARDS.

To a quart of new milk allow the yolks of twelve fresh eggs, but to equal parts of milk and cream of ten only. From six to eight ounces of sugar will sweeten the custard suffi­ciently for general taste, but more can be added at will; boil this for a few minutes gently in the milk with a grain or two of salt, and stir the mixture briskly to the eggs, as soon as it is taken from the fire. Butter a round deep dish, pour in the custard, and place it in a pan of water at the point of boiling, taking care that it shall not reach to within an inch of the edge; let it just simmer, and no more, from an hour to an hour and a half: when quite firm in the middle, it will be done. A very few live embers should be kept on the 543 lid of the stewpan to prevent the steam falling from it into the custard. When none is at hand of a form to allow of this, it is better to use a charcoal fire, and to lay an oven-leaf, or tin, over the pan, and the embers in the centre. The small French furnace, shewn in Chapter XXI., is exceedingly conve­nient for prepara­tions of this kind; and there is always more or less of difficulty in keeping a coal fire entirely free from smoke for any length of time. Serve the custard cold, with chopped macaroons, or ratifias, laid thickly round the edge so as to form a border an inch deep. A few petals of fresh orange-blossom infused in the milk, will give it a most agreeable flavour, very superior to that derived from the distilled water. Half a pod of vanilla, cut in short lengths, and well bruised, may be used instead of either; but the milk should then stand some time by the fire before or after it boils, and it must be strained through a muslin before it is added to the eggs, as the small seed of the vanilla would probably pass through a sieve.

New milk, 1 quart; yolks of eggs, 12; sugar, 6 to 8 ozs. Or: new milk, 1 pint; cream, 1 pint; yolks of eggs, 10; flavouring of orange-flowers or vanilla: simmered in water-bath, 1 hour to 1½.

GERMAN PUFFS.

Pound to a perfectly smooth paste two ounces of Jordan almonds and six bitter ones; mix with them, by slow degrees, the yolks of six, and the whites of three eggs. Dissolve in half a pint of rich cream, four ounces of fresh butter, and two of fine sugar; pour these hot to the eggs, stirring them briskly together, and when the mixture has become cool, flavour it with half a glass of brandy, of cuirasseau, or of orange-flower water; or, in lieu of either, with a little lemon-brandy. Butter some cups thickly, and strew into them a few slices of candied citron, or orange rind; pour in the mixture, and bake the puffs twenty minutes, in a slow oven.

Jordan almonds, 2 ozs.; bitter almonds, 6; eggs, 544 whites, 3,—yolks, 6; cream, ½ pint; butter, 4 ozs.; sugar, 2 ozs.; brandy, cuirasseau, or orange-flower water, ½ wineglassful (or little lemon-brandy). 20 minutes, slow oven.

MERINGUE OF PEARS, OR OTHER FRUIT.

Fill a deep tart dish nearly to the brim with stewed pears, and let them be something more than half covered with their juice. Whisk to a solid froth the whites of five eggs, stir to them five table­spoonsful of dry sifted sugar, and lay them lightly and equally over the fruit; put the meringue imme­diately into a moderate oven, and bake it half an hour. Cherries, bullaces, and damsons, with various other kinds of plums, first either stewed as for compotes (see page 510), or baked with sugar, as for winter use, answer as well as pears for this dish; which may, likewise, be made of apples, peaches, apricots, or common plums boiled down quite to a marmalade, with suffi­cient sugar to sweeten them moderately: the skins and stones of these last should be removed, but a few of the blanched kernels may be added to the fruit.

Dish filled with stewed pears or other fruit; whites of eggs, 5; pounded sugar, 5 table­spoonsful: baked ½ hour.

AN APPLE CHARLOTTE; OR CHARLOTTE DE POMMES.

Butter a plain mould, (a round or square cake-tin will answer the purpose quite well,) and line it entirely with thin slices of the crumb of a stale loaf, cut so as to fit into it with great exactness, and dipped into clarified butter. When this is done, fill the mould to the brim with apple-marmalade; cover the top with slices of bread dipped in butter, and on these place a dish, a large plate, or the cover of a French stewpan with a weight upon it. 545 Send the charlotte to a brisk oven for three-quarters of an hour should it be small, and for an hour if large. Turn it out with great care, and serve it hot. If baked in a slack oven it will not take a proper degree of colour, and it will be liable to break in the dishing. The strips of bread must of course join very perfectly, for if any spaces were left between them the syrup of the fruit would escape, and destroy the good appearance of the dish. Should there not have been suffi­cient marmalade prepared to fill the mould entirely, a jar of quince, or apricot-jam, or of preserved cherries even, may be added to it with advan­tage. The butter should be well drained from the charlotte before it is taken from the mould; and sugar may be sifted thickly over it before it is served, or it may be covered with any kind of clear red jelly.

A more elegant, and we think an easier mode of forming the crust, is to line the mould with small rounds of bread stamped out with a plain cake, or paste-cutter, then dipped in butter, and placed with the edges suffi­ciently one over the other to hold the fruit securely.

¾ hour to 1 hour, quick oven.

MARMALADE FOR THE CHARLOTTE.

Weigh three pounds of good boiling apples, after they have been pared, cored, and quartered; put them into a stewpan with six ounces of fresh butter, three-quarters of a pound of sugar beaten to powder, three-quarters of a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, and the strained juice of a lemon; let these stew over a gentle fire, until they form a perfectly smooth and dry marmalade; keep them often stirred that they may not burn, and let them cool before they are put into the crust. This quantity is for a moderate-sized charlotte.

A CHARLOTTE A LA PARISIENNE.

This dish is sometimes called in England a Vienna cake; and it is known here also, we believe, as a Gateaux 546 de Bordeaux. Cut horizontally into half-inch slices a Savoy or sponge cake, and cover each slice with a different kind of preserve; replace them in their original form, and spread equally over the cake an icing made with the whites of three eggs, and four ounces of the finest pounded sugar; sift more sugar over it in every part, and put it into a very slack oven to dry. The eggs should be whisked to snow before they are used. One kind of preserve instead of several can be used for this dish; and a rice or a pound-cake on an emergency may supply the place of the savoy, or sponge biscuit.

POMMES AU BEURRE.
(Buttered apples. Excellent.)

Pare six or eight fine apples of a firm kind, but of a good cooking sort, and core without piercing them through, or dividing them; fill the cavities with fresh butter, put a quarter-pound more cut small into a stewpan just large enough to contain the apples in a single layer, place them closely together on it, and stew them as softly as possible, turning them occasionally until they are almost suffi­ciently tender to serve; then strew upon them as much sifted sugar as will sweeten the dish highly, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon; shake these well in and upon the fruit, and stew it for a few minutes longer. Lift it out, arrange it in a hot dish, put into each apple as much warm apricot-jam as it will contain, and lay a small quantity on the top; pour the syrup from the pan round but not on the fruit, and serve it imme­diately.

Apples, 6 or 8; fresh butter, 4 ozs., just simmered till tender. Sugar, 6 to 8 ozs.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful: 5 minutes. Apricot-jam as needed.

Obs.—Particular care must be taken to keep the apples entire; they should rather steam in a gentle heat than boil. It is impossible to specify the precise time which will render them suffi­ciently tender, as this 547 must depend greatly on the time of year and the sort of fruit. If the stewpan were placed in a very slow oven, the more regular heat of it would perhaps be better in its effect than the stewing.

SUÉDOISE OF PEACHES.

Pare and divide four fine, ripe peaches, and let them just simmer from five to eight minutes in a syrup made with the third of a pint of water and three ounces of very white sugar, boiled together for fifteen minutes; lift them out carefully into a deep dish, and pour about half the syrup over them, and into the remaining half throw a couple of pounds more of quite ripe peaches, and boil them to a perfectly smooth, dry pulp, or marmalade, with as much addi­tional sugar, in fine powder, as the nature of the fruit may require. Lift the other peaches from the syrup, and reduce it by very quick boiling, more than half. Spread a deep layer of the marmalade in a dish, arrange the peaches symmetrically round it, and fill all the spaces between them with the marmalade; place the half of a blanched peach-kernel in each, pour the reduced syrup equally over the surface, and border the dish with Italian macaroons, or, in lieu of these, with candied citron, sliced very thin, and cut into leaves with a small paste-cutter. A little lemon-juice brings out the flavour of all prepara­tions of peaches, and may be added with good effect to this. When the fruit is scarce, the marmalade (which ought to be very white), may be made in part, or entirely with nonsuches. The better to preserve their form, the peaches are sometimes merely wiped, and then boiled tolerably tender in the syrup before they are pared or split. Half a pint of water, and from four to six ounces of sugar must then be allowed for them. If 548 any of those used for the marmalade should not be quite ripe, it will be better to pass it through a sieve, when partially done, to prevent its being lumpy.

Large ripe peaches, pared and halved, 4: simmered in syrup, 5 to 8 minutes. Marmalade: peaches (or nonsuches), 2 lbs.; sugar, ½ to ¾ lb.: ¾ to 1 hour, and more; strained lemon-juice, 1 table­spoonful. Citron, or macaroons, as needed.

Peaches, if boiled whole in syrup, 15 to 18 minutes.

Obs.—The number of peaches can, at pleasure, be increased to six, and three or four of the halves can be piled above the others in the centre of the dish.

AROCĒ DOCĒ (OR SWEET RICE. A LA PORTUGAISE).

Wipe thoroughly, in a dry soft cloth, half a pound of the best Carolina rice, after it has been carefully picked; put to it three pints of new milk, and when it has stewed gently for half an hour, add eight ounces of sugar, broken into small lumps; let it boil till it is dry and tender, and when it is nearly so, stir to it two ounces of blanched and pounded almonds. Turn the rice, when done, into shallow dishes, or soup-plates, and shake it until the surface is smooth; then sift over it, rather thickly, through a muslin, some freshly powdered cinnamon, which will give it the appearance of a baked pudding. Serve it cold. It will remain good for several days. This is quite the best sweet preparation of rice that we have ever eaten, and it is a very favourite dish in Portugal, whence the receipt was derived. One or two bitter almonds, pounded with the sweet ones, might a little improve its flavour, and a few spoonsful of rich cream could occasionally be substi­tuted for a small portion of the milk, but it should not be added until the preparation is three parts done.

Rice, 8 ozs.; milk, 3 pints: 30 minutes. Sugar, 8 ozs.: 1 hour, or more. Pounded almonds, 2 ozs.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful.

Obs.—The rice must be frequently stirred while boiling, parti­cularly after it begins to thicken; and it 549 will be better not to add the entire quantity of milk at first, as from a quarter to half a pint less will sometimes prove suffi­cient. The grain should be thoroughly tender, but dry and unbroken.

BUTTERED CHERRIES. (CERISES AU BEURRE.)

Cut four ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf into dice, and fry them a light brown in an ounce and a half of fresh butter; take them up, pour the butter from the pan, and put in another ounce and a half; to this add a pound of Kentish cherries without their stalks, and when they are quite warmed through, strew in amongst them four ounces of sugar, and keep the whole well turned over a moderate fire; pour in gradually half a pint of hot water, and in fifteen minutes the cherries will be tender. Lay the fried bread into a hot dish, pour the cherries on it, and serve them directly.

Bread, 4 ozs.; butter, 1½ oz. Cherries, 1 lb.; butter, 1½ oz.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 4 ozs.; water, ½ pint: 15 minutes.

Obs.—Black-heart cherries may be used for this dish instead of Kentish ones: it is an improve­ment to stone the fruit. We think our readers generally, would prefer to the above Morella cherries stewed from five to seven minutes, in syrup (made by boiling five ounces of sugar, in half a pint of water for a quarter of an hour), and poured hot on the fried bread. Two pounds of the fruit, when it is stoned, will be required for a full-sized dish.

SWEET MACCARONI.

Drop gently into a pint and a half of new milk, when it is boiling fast, four ounces of fine pipe maccaroni, add a grain or two of salt, and some thin strips of lemon or orange-rind: cinnamon can be substi­tuted for these when preferred. Simmer the maccaroni by a gentle fire until it is tolerably tender, then add from two to three ounces of sugar broken small, and boil it till the pipes are soft, and swollen to their full size; drain, 550 and arrange it in a hot dish; stir the milk quickly to the well-beaten yolks of three large, or of four small eggs, shake them round briskly over the fire till they thicken, pour them over the maccaroni and serve it imme­diately; or instead of the eggs, heat and sweeten some very rich cream, pour it on the drained maccaroni, and dust finely powdered cinnamon over through a muslin, or strew it thickly with crushed macaroons. For variety, cover it with the German sauce, of page 151, milled to a light froth.

New milk, 1½ pint; pipe maccaroni, 4 ozs.; strips of lemon-rind or cinnamon; sugar, 2 to 3 ozs.: ¾ to 1 hour or more.

BERMUDA WITCHES.

Slice equally some rice, pound, or Savoy cake, not more than the sixth of an inch thick; take off the brown edges, and spread one half of it with Guava jelly, or, if more conve­nient, with fine straw­berry, raspberry, or currant jelly of the best quality (see Norman receipt); on this strew thickly some fresh cocoa-nut grated small, and lightly; press over it the remainder of the cake and trim the whole into good form; divide the slices if large, pile them slopingly in the centre of a dish upon a very white napkin folded flat, and garnish or intersperse them with small sprigs of myrtle. For very young people a French roll or two, and good currant jelly, red or white, will supply a whole­some and inexpensive dish.

NESSELRODE PUDDING.

We give Monsieur Carème’s own receipt for this favourite and fashionable dish, not having ourselves good opportunity of proving it; but as it originated with him he is the best authority for it. It may be varied in many ways, which the taste or ingenuity of the reader will easily suggest. Boil forty fine sound Spanish chestnuts quite tender in plenty of water, take off the husks, and pound the chestnuts perfectly with a few 551 spoonsful of syrup; rub them through a fine sieve, and mix them in a basin with a pint of syrup (made with a pound of sugar clarified and highly-flavoured with a pod of vanilla), a pint of rich cream, and the yolks of twelve eggs; thicken the mixture like a boiled custard; when it is cold put it into a freezing pot, adding a glass of maraschino, and make it set as an iced cream; then add an ounce of preserved citron cut in dice, two ounces of currants, and as many fine raisins stoned and divided (all of which should be soaked from the day before in some maraschino with a little sugar); the whole thus mingled, add a plateful of whipped cream, and the whites of three eggs prepared as for Italian meringue. When the pudding is perfectly frozen, mould it in a pewter mould of the form of a pine-apple, and place it again in the ice till wanted to serve. Preserved cherries may be substi­tuted for the raisins and currants.

Chestnuts, 40; syrup, 1 pint some spoonsful; vanilla, 1 pod; cream 1 pint; yolks of eggs, 12; maraschino, 1 glass; citron, 1 oz.; currants, 2 ozs.; raisins, 2 ozs.; whipped cream, 1 plateful; whites of eggs beaten to snow, 3.

Obs.—As Monsieur Carème directs the eggs for his Italian meringues to be prepared as follows, he probably intends that they should be mixed with the syrup before they are added to the pudding. Boil together half a pound of the finest sugar, and half a pint of water, until they begin to be very thick, then with a wooden spoon, work the sugar against the side of the pan till it whitens; leave it to cool a little, work it again, and then with a whisk mingle with it the eggs whipped to very firm froth, which ought to produce a preparation very white, smooth, and brilliant.

STRENGTHENING BLAMANGE.

Dissolve in a pint of new milk, half an ounce of isinglass, strain it through muslin, or a fine silk sieve, put it again on the fire with the rind of half a small lemon pared very thin, and two ounces of sugar broken 552 small; let it simmer gently till well flavoured, then take out the lemon-peel, and stir the milk to the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; pour the mixture back into the saucepan, and hold it high over the fire, keeping it stirred until it begins to thicken; put it into a deep basin, and keep it moved with a whisk or spoon, until it is nearly cold; pour it into moulds which have been laid in water, and set it in a cool place till firm.

New milk, 1 pint; isinglass, ½ oz.; lemon-rind, ½ of 1: 10 to 15 minutes. Sugar, 2 ozs.; yolks of eggs, 3.

CHAPTER XXI.
PRESERVES.

Portable French Furnace, with Stewpan and Trevet.
No. 1. Portable French Furnace. 2. Depth at which the grating is placed. 3. Stewpan. 4. Trevet.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Fruit for preserving should always be gathered in perfectly dry weather; it should also be free both from the morning and evening dew, and as much so as possible 553 from dust. When bottled, it must be steamed or baked during the day on which it is gathered, or there will be great loss from the bursting of the bottles; and for jams and jellies it cannot be too soon boiled down after it is taken from the trees.

The small portable French stove, or furnace,* shown above, with the trevet and stewpan adapted to it, is exceedingly conve­nient for all prepara­tions which require either more than usual attention, or a fire entirely free from smoke; as it can be placed on a table in a clear light, and the heat can be regulated at pleasure. It has been used for all the preserves, of which the receipts are given in this Chapter, as well as for various dishes contained in the body of the work. There should always be a free current of air in the room in which it stands when lighted, as charcoal or braise (that is to say, the live embers of large well burned wood, drawn from an oven, and shut imme­diately into a closely-stopped iron or copper vessel to extinguish them) is the only fuel suited to it. To kindle either of these, two or three bits must be lighted in a common fire, and laid on 554 the top of that in the furnace, which should be evenly placed between the grating and the brim, and then blown gently with the bellows until the whole is alight: the door of the furnace must in the meanwhile be open, and remain so, unless the heat should at any time be too fierce for the preserves, when it must be closed for a few minutes, to moderate it. To extinguish the fire altogether, the cover must be pressed closely on, and the door be quite shut: the embers which remain will serve to rekindle it easily, but before it is again lighted the grating must be lifted out and all the ashes cleared away. It should be set by in a place which is not damp.

* Called in France, Un Fourneau Economique. To be had of Mr. Livermore, 30, Oxford Street, at a very trifling expense, not more than seven shillings, the stewpan, of course, not included. A baking-tin should be placed on the table for the furnace to stand upon, to guard against danger from the ashes or embers falling.

The German enamelled stewpans, now coming into general use, are, from the peculiar nicety of the composition with which they are lined, better adapted than any others to pickling and preserving, as they may be used without danger for acids; and red fruits, when boiled in them, retain the brightness of their colour as well as if copper or bell-metal were used for them. The form of the old-fashioned preserving pan, made usually of one or the other of these, is shown above; but it has not, we should say, even the advan­tage of being of conve­nient shape; for the handles quickly become heated, and the pan, in conse­quence, cannot always be instantaneously raised from the fire when the contents threaten to over-boil, or to burn.

It is desirable to have three or four wooden spoons or spatulas, one fine hair-sieve, at the least, one or two large squares of common muslin, and a strainer, or more, of closer texture, kept exclusively for prepara­tions of fruit, for if used for other purposes, there is the hazard, without great care, of their retaining some strong or coarse flavour, which they would impart to the preserves. A sieve, for example, through which 555 any preparation of onions has been poured, should never, on any account, be brought into use for any kind of confectionary, nor in making sweet dishes, nor for straining eggs or milk for puddings, cakes, or bread.

Damp is the great enemy, not only of preserves and pickles, but of numberless other house­hold stores; yet, in many situations, it is extremely difficult to exclude it. To keep them in a “dry cool place” (words which occur so frequently both in this book, and in most others on the same subject), is more easily directed than done. They remain, we find, more entirely free from any danger of moulding, when covered with a brandied paper only, and placed on the shelves of a tolerably dry store-room; but they are rather liable to candy when thus kept, and we fancy that the flavour of the fruit is somewhat less perfectly preserved than when they are quite secured from the air by skins stretched over the jars. If left uncovered, the inroads of mice upon them must be guarded against, as they will commit great havoc in a single night on these sweet stores. When the slightest fermentation is perceptible in syrup, it should imme­diately be boiled for some minutes, and well skimmed; the fruit taken from it should then be thrown in, and well scalded also, and the whole, when done, should be turned into a very clean dry jar: this kind of preserve should always be covered with one or two skins, or with parchment and thick paper.

A FEW GENERAL RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING.

1. Let everything used for the purpose be delicately clean, and dry; bottles especially so.

2. Never place a preserving pan flat upon the fire, as this will render the preserve liable to burn to, as it is called; that is to say, to adhere closely to the metal, and then to burn; it should rest always on a trevet (that shown with the French furnace is very conve­nient, even for a common grate), or on the lowered bar of the kitchen range.

556

3. After the sugar is added to them, stir the preserves gently at first, and more quickly towards the end, without quitting them until they are done; this precaution will always prevent the chance of their being spoiled.

4. All preserves should be perfectly cleared from the scum as it rises.

5. Fruit which is to be preserved in syrup must first be blanched or boiled gently, till it is suffi­ciently softened to absorb the sugar; and a thin syrup must be poured on it at first, or it will shrivel instead of remaining plump, and becoming clear. Thus, if its weight of sugar is to be allowed, and boiled to a syrup with a pint of water to the pound, only half the weight must be taken at first, and this must not be boiled with the water more than fifteen or twenty minutes at the commencement of the process; a part of the remaining sugar must be added every time the syrup is reboiled, unless it should be otherwise directed in the receipt.

6. To preserve both the true flavour and the colour of fruit in jams and jellies, boil them rapidly until well reduced, before the sugar is added, and quickly afterwards, but do not allow them to become so much thickened that the sugar will not dissolve in them easily, and throw up its scum. In some seasons, the juice is so much richer than in others, that this effect takes place almost before one is aware of it; but the drop which adheres to the skimmer, when it is held up, will show the state it has reached.

7. Never use tin, iron, or pewter spoons, or skimmers for preserves, as they will convert the colour of red fruit into a dingy purple, and impart, besides, a very unpleasant flavour.

8. When cheap jams or jellies are required, make them at once with Lisbon sugar, but use that which is well refined always, for preserves in general; it is a false economy, as we have elsewhere observed, to purchase an inferior kind, as there is great waste from 557 it in the quantity of scum which it throws up. The best has been used for all the receipts given here.

TO EXTRACT THE JUICE OF PLUMS FOR JELLY.

Take the stalks from the fruit, and throw aside all that is not perfectly sound, put it into very clean, large stone jars, and give part of the harder kinds, such as bullaces and damsons, a gash with a knife as they are thrown in; do this especially in filling the upper part of the jars. Tie one or two folds of thick paper over them, and set them for the night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn four or five hours; or cover them with bladder, instead of paper, place them in deep pans of water, and boil them gently from two to three hours, or until the fruit is quite soft, and has yielded all the juice it will afford: this last is the safer and better mode for jellies of delicate colour.

TO WEIGH THE JUICE OF FRUIT.

Put a basin into one scale, and its weight into the other; add to this last the weight which is required of the juice, and pour into the basin as much as will balance the scales. It is always better to weigh than to measure the juice for preserving, as it can generally be done with more exactness.

GREEN GOOSEBERRY JELLY.

Wash some freshly gathered gooseberries very clean, after having taken off the tops and stalks, then to each pound, pour three quarters of a pint of spring water and simmer them until they are well broken; turn the whole into a jelly-bag or cloth, and let all the juice drain through; weigh, and boil it rapidly for fifteen minutes. Draw it from the fire, and stir into it until entirely dissolved an equal weight of good sugar reduced to powder; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes longer, or until it jellies strongly on the spoon or skimmer; clear it perfectly from scum, and pour it into small jars, moulds, or glasses. It ought to be very 558 pale and transparent. Preserved fruits just dipped into hot water to take off the syrup, then well drained and dried, may be arranged with good effect in the centre of the goose­berry jelly if the glasses be rather less than half filled before they are laid in, and the jelly just set: the remainder must be kept liquid to fill them up. The sugar may be added to the juice at first, and the preserve boiled from twenty-five to thirty-five minutes, but the colour will not then be so good. When the fruit abounds the juice may be drawn from it with very little water, as directed for apples, page 586, when it will require much less boiling.

Gooseberries, 6 lbs.; water, 4 pints: 20 to 30 minutes. Juice boiled quickly, 15 minutes; to each pound, 1 lb. sugar: 15 to 20 minutes.

GREEN GOOSEBERRY JAM.
(Firm and of good colour.)

Cut the stalks and tops from the fruit, weigh and bruise it slightly, boil it for six or seven minutes, keeping it well turned during the time; then to every three pounds of goose­berries add two and a half of sugar beaten to powder, and boil the preserve quickly for three-quarters of an hour. It must be constantly stirred, and carefully cleared from scum.

Green gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 6 to 7 minutes. Sugar, 5 lbs.: ¾ hour.

TO DRY GREEN GOOSEBERRIES.

Take the finest green gooseberries, fully grown, and freshly gathered; cut off the buds, split them across the tops half way down, and with the small end of a tea or of an egg spoon, scoop out seeds. Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound and a half of the finest sugar, and a pint of water; skim this syrup thoroughly and throw into it a pound of the seeded goose­berries; simmer them from five to seven minutes, when they ought to be clear and tender; when they are so, lift them out, and throw as many more into the syrup; 559 drain them a little when done, spread them singly on dishes, and dry them very gradually in a quite cool stove or oven, or in a sunny window. They will keep well in the syrup, and may be potted in it, and dried when wanted for use.

Green gooseberries without the seeds, 2 lbs.; water, 1 pint; sugar, 1½ lb.: boiled 15 minutes. Gooseberries simmered, 5 to 7 minutes.

GREEN GOOSEBERRIES FOR TARTS.

Fill very clean, dry, wide-necked bottles with goose­berries gathered the same day, and before they have attained their full growth. Cork them lightly, wrap a little hay round each of them, and set them up to their necks in a copper of cold water which should be brought very gradually to boil. Let the fruit be gently simmered until it appears shrunken and perfectly scalded; then take out the bottles, and with the contents of one or two fill the remainder, and use great care not to break the fruit in doing this. When all are ready pour scalding water into the bottles and cover the goose­berries entirely with it, or they will become mouldy at the top. Cork the bottles well imme­diately, and cover the necks with melted rosin; keep them in a cool place; and when they are used pour off the greater part of the water, and add sugar as for the fresh fruit, of which they will have quite the flavour and appearance; and they will be found much more whole­some prepared in this manner than if simply baked or steamed in the bottles.

GREEN GOOSEBERRY SOLID.

Bruise well, and boil six pounds of fresh green goose­berries for an hour and a quarter without sugar, and for half an hour after having stirred to them a couple of pounds of good quality, reduced quite to powder. Press the preserve into shallow pans or small shapes, and unmould it for table.

Green gooseberries, 6 lbs.; 1¼ hour. Sugar, 2 lbs.: ½ hour.

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RED GOOSEBERRY JAM.

The small rough red gooseberry, when fully ripe, is the best for this preserve, which may, however, be made of the larger kinds. When the buds and stalks have been taken carefully from the fruit, weigh, and boil it quickly for three quarters of an hour, keeping it well stirred; then for six pounds of the goose­berries add two and a half of good roughly-powdered sugar (or three of fine Lisbon, if only a common preserve be wanted); boil these together briskly, from twenty to twenty-five minutes, and stir the jam well from the bottom of the pan, as it is liable to burn if this be neglected.

Small red gooseberries, 6 lbs.: ¾ hour. Pounded sugar, 2½ lbs (for common jam Lisbon sugar 3 lbs.): 20 to 25 minutes.

VERY FINE GOOSEBERRY JAM.

Seed the fruit, which for this jam may be of the larger kind of rough red goose­berry: those which are smooth-skinned are generally of far inferior flavour. Add the pulp which has been scooped from the prepared fruit to some whole goose­berries, and stir them over a moderate fire for some minutes to extract the juice; strain and weigh this; pour two pounds of it to four of the seeded goose­berries, boil them rather gently for twenty-five minutes, add fourteen ounces of good pounded sugar to each pound of fruit and juice, and when it is dissolved boil the preserve from twelve to fifteen minutes longer, and skim it well during the time.

Seeded gooseberries, 4 lbs.; juice of goose­berries, 2 pounds: 25 minutes. Sugar, 5¼ lbs. (or 14 ozs. to each pound fruit and juice): 12 to 15 minutes.

JELLY OF RIPE GOOSEBERRIES.
(Excellent.)

Take the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of any kind of well-flavoured ripe red goose­berries, and 561 keep them stirred gently over a clear fire until they have yielded all their juice, which should then be poured off without pressing the fruit and passed through a fine sieve, and afterwards through a double muslin-strainer, or a jelly bag. Next weigh it, and to every three pounds add one of white currant juice, which has previously been prepared in the same way; boil these quickly for a quarter of an hour, then draw them from the fire and stir to them half their weight of good sugar; when this is dissolved boil the jelly for six minutes longer, skim it thoroughly, and pour it into jars or moulds. If a very large quantity be made, a few minutes of addi­tional boiling must be given to it before the sugar is added.

Juice of red gooseberries, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15 minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 6 minutes.

Obs.—The same proportion of red-currant juice, mixed with that of the goose­berries makes an exceedingly nice jelly.

UNMIXED GOOSEBERRY JELLY.

Boil rapidly for ten minutes four pounds of the juice of red goose­berries, prepared as in the preceding receipt; take it from the fire, and stir in it till dissolved three pounds of sugar beaten to powder; boil it again for five minutes, keeping it constantly stirred and thoroughly skimmed.

Juice of red gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 minutes.

GOOSEBERRY PASTE.

Press through a sieve the gooseberries from which the juice has been taken for jelly, without having been drained very closely from them; weigh and then boil the pulp for upwards of an hour and a quarter, or until it forms a dry paste in the pan; stir to it, off the fire, six ounces of good pounded sugar for each pound of the fruit; and when this is nearly dissolved boil the preserve from twenty to twenty-five minutes, keeping it 562 stirred without cessation, as it will be liable to burn should this be neglected. Put it into moulds, or shallow pans, and turn it out when wanted for table.

Pulp of gooseberries, 4 lbs.; 1¼ to 1¾ hour. Sugar, 1½ lb.: 20 to 25 minutes.

TO DRY RIPE GOOSEBERRIES WITH SUGAR.

Cut the tops but not the stalks from some ripe goose­berries of the largest size, either red or green ones, and after having taken out the seeds, as directed for unripe goose­berries, boil the fruit till clear and tender in syrup made with a pound of sugar to the pint of water boiled till rather thick.

Seeded gooseberries, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1½ lb.; water, 1 pint: boiled to syrup. Gooseberries simmered: 8 to 12 minutes or more.

Obs.—Large ripe gooseberries stripped of their buds, and put into cold syrup in which cherries or any other fruit has been boiled for drying, then heated very gradually, and kept at the point of boiling for a few minutes before they are set by for a couple of days, answer extremely well as a dry preserve. On the third day the syrup should be drained from them, simmered, skimmed, and poured on them the instant it is taken from the fire; in forty-eight hours after, they may be drained from it and laid singly upon plates or dishes, and placed in a gentle stove or oven.

GOOSEBERRIES DRIED WITHOUT SUGAR.

Choose them fine and ripe, spread them separately on large dishes, and dry them very gradually by the heat of a gentle oven, or in the sun where they will be well-protected from dust. If flattened with the finger when partially done, they will preserve a better form, and be more quickly dried.

CHERRY JAM.

First stone and then weigh some freshly gathered Kentish or Flemish cherries; boil them over a brisk fire 563 for an hour, keeping them almost constantly stirred from the bottom of the pan, to which they will otherwise be liable to stick and burn. Add half a pound of good sugar roughly powdered for each pound of the fruit, and boil the preserve quickly for twenty minutes, taking off the scum as it rises. The blanched kernels of part of the cherries may be added to the jam five minutes before it is taken from the fire. We can recom­mend this receipt as producing a firm preserve of fine colour and flavour, and very far superior to any that can be made by the more common method of boiling the fruit and sugar together from the beginning.

Stoned cherries, 6 lbs.: 1 hour. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 20 minutes.

Obs.—Increase the proportion of sugar, when it is liked, to twelve or sixteen ounces, and diminish the boiling a quarter-hour before it is added, and ten minutes after. We have found almost invariably, that preserves made by the receipts we have given have been preferred to richer ones.

TO DRY CHERRIES WITH SUGAR.
(A quick and easy method.)

Stone some fine, sound, Kentish or Flemish cherries, weigh and put them into a preserving pan, with six ounces of sugar reduced to powder to each pound of the fruit; set them over a moderate fire, and simmer them gently for nearly or quite twenty minutes, let them remain in the syrup till they are a little cooled, then turn them into a sieve, and before they are cold lay them singly on dishes, and dry them very gradually, as directed for other fruits. When the cherries are quite ripe the stones may generally be drawn out with the stalks, by pressing the fruit gently at the same time; but when this method fails, they must be extracted with a new quill, cut round at the end; those of the very short-stalked, turnip-shaped cherry, which abounds, and is remarkably fine in many parts of Normandy, and 564 which we have occasionally met with here, though it is not, we believe, very abundant in our markets, are easily removed with a large pin, on the point of which the stone may be caught at the stalk end, just opposite the seam of the fruit, and drawn out at the top, leaving the cherry apparently entire.

DRIED CHERRIES.
(Superior Receipt.)

To each pound of cherries, weighed after they are stoned, add eight ounces of good sugar, and boil them very softly for ten minutes; pour them into a large bowl, or pan, and leave them two days in the syrup; then simmer them again for ten minutes, and set them by for two or three days; drain them slightly, and dry them very slowly, as directed in the previous receipts. Keep them in tin cases, or canisters, when done. These cherries are generally preferred to such as are dried with a larger proportion of sugar; but when the taste is in favour of the latter, three-quarters, or a full pound can be allowed to the pound of fruit, which may then be potted in the syrup and dried at any time, though we think the flavour of the cherries is better preserved when this is done within a fortnight of their being boiled.

Cherries, stoned, 8 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Left 2 or 3 days. Boiled again, 10 minutes; left 2 days; drained and dried.

CHERRIES DRIED WITHOUT SUGAR.

These are often more pleasant and refreshing to invalids and travellers than a sweetened confection of the fruit, their flavour and agreeable acidity being well preserved when they are simply spread on dishes or hamper-lids, and slowly dried.* Throw aside the bruised and decayed fruit, and arrange the remainder singly, and with the stalks uppermost on the dishes. The Kentish cherries are best for the purpose, but Morellas also answer for it excellently. The former are sometimes 565 stoned, and simmered till quite tender in their own juice, before they are dried; but this is scarcely an improve­ment on the more usual method of leaving them entire.

* The dishes on which they are laid should be changed daily.

MORELLA CHERRIES.

Take off the stalks but do not stone the fruit; weigh and add to it an equal quantity of the best sugar reduced quite to powder, strew it over the cherries and let them stand for half an hour, then turn them gently into a preserving-pan, and simmer them softly from five to seven minutes.

COMMON CHERRY CHEESE.

Stone the fruit, or if this trouble be objected to bruise and boil it without, until it is suffi­ciently tender to press through a sieve, which will be in from twenty to thirty minutes. Weigh the pulp in this case, and boil it quickly to a dry paste, then stir to it six ounces of sugar for the pound of fruit, and when this is dissolved, place the pan again over, but not upon, a brisk fire, and stir the preserve without ceasing, until it is so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched; then press it imme­diately into small moulds or pans, and turn it from them when wanted for table. When the cherries have been stoned, a good common preserve may be made of them without passing them through a sieve, with the addition of five ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit, which must be boiled very dry both before and after it is added.

Kentish or Flemish cherries without stoning, 20 to 30 minutes. Passed through a sieve. To each pound of pulp (first boiled dry), 6 ozs. sugar. To each pound of cherries stoned and boiled to dry paste, 5 ozs. sugar.

CHERRY PASTE. (FRENCH.)

Stone the cherries, boil them gently in their own juice for thirty minutes; press the whole through a sieve; reduce it to a very dry paste; then take it from the fire, and weigh it; boil an equal quantity of sugar 566 to the candying point, mix the fruit with it, and stir the paste, without intermission, over a moderate fire, until it is again so dry as to form a ball round the spoon, and to quit the preserving-pan entirely; press it quickly into small moulds, and when it is cold, paper, and store it like other preserves.

STRAWBERRY JAM.

Strip the stalks from some fine scarlet straw­berries, weigh, and boil them for thirty-five minutes, keeping them very constantly stirred; throw in eight ounces of good sugar, beaten small, to the pound of fruit, mix them well off the fire, then boil the preserve again quickly for twenty-five minutes. One pound of white currant juice added in the first instance to four of the straw­berries, will greatly improve this preserve, which will be quite firm, and suffi­ciently, but not over sweet.

Strawberries, 6 lbs.: 35 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 25 minutes. Or: straw­berries, 4 lbs.; currant-juice, 1 lb.: 30 to 35 minutes. Sugar, 2½ lbs.: 25 minutes.

Obs.—We do not think it needful to give direc­tions with each separate receipt for skimming the preserve with care, and keeping it constantly stirred, but neither should in any case be neglected.

STRAWBERRY JELLY.

This, when made with fine, full-flavoured scarlet straw­berries, is a very delicious preserve, and is by many persons preferred to guava jelly, which it greatly resembles. Stalk the fruit, bruise it very slightly, and stir it for a few minutes over a gentle fire; strain it without pressure, weigh, and boil it quickly for twenty minutes in a German enamelled stewpan, or preserving-pan, if possible, that the colour may not be injured; take it from the fire, and stir into it twelve ounces of sugar to the pound of juice; when this is dissolved, boil it again quickly for twenty minutes, clear it perfectly from scum, and pour it into jars or glasses. The 567 preserve will be firmer, and require less boiling, if one-fourth of red or white currant juice be mixed with that of the straw­berries, but the flavour will not then be quite so perfect. A superior jelly to this is made by taking an equal weight of juice and sugar, and by boiling the latter to candy-height, before the juice (which should previously be boiled five minutes) is added to it; and when they have been stirred together off the fire until this is entirely dissolved, boiling the whole quickly from ten to twenty minutes; the time required varying very much from the difference which is found in the quality of the fruit.

Fruit simmered, 4 to 5 minutes. Juice of straw­berries, 4 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 20 minutes. Or: juice of straw­berries, 4 lbs.: 5 minutes. Sugar, boiled to candy-height, 4 lbs.: 10 to 20 minutes.

ANOTHER VERY FINE STRAWBERRY JELLY.

Express the juice from the fruit through a cloth, strain it clear, weigh, and stir to it an equal proportion of the finest sugar, dried and reduced to powder; when this is dissolved, place the preserving-pan over a very clear fire, and stir the jelly often until it boils; clear it carefully from scum, and boil it quickly from fifteen to twenty-five minutes.

Equal weight of strawberry-juice and sugar: 15 to 25 minutes.

Obs.—This receipt is for a moderate quantity of the preserve: a very small portion will require much less time.

TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES OR RASPBERRIES, FOR CREAMS OR ICES, WITHOUT BOILING.

Let the fruit be gathered in the middle of a warm day, in very dry weather; strip it from the stalks directly, weigh it, turn it into a bowl or deep pan, and bruise it gently; mix with it an equal weight of fine dry sifted sugar, and put it imme­diately into small, wide-necked 568 bottles, cork these firmly without delay, and tie bladder over the tops. Keep them in a cool place, or the fruit will ferment. The mixture should be stirred softly, and only just suffi­ciently to blend the sugar and the fruit. The bottles must be perfectly dry, and the bladders, after being cleaned in the usual way, and allowed to become nearly so, should be moistened with a little spirit on the side that is to be next to the cork. Unless these precautions be observed, there will be some danger of the whole being spoiled.

Equal weight of fruit and sugar.

RASPBERRY JAM.

Bruise gently, with the back of a wooden spoon, six pounds of ripe and freshly-gathered raspberries, and boil them over a brisk fire for twenty-five minutes; stir to them half their weight of good sugar, roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved boil the preserve quickly for ten minutes, keeping it well-stirred and skimmed. When a richer jam is wished for, add to the fruit at first its full weight of sugar, and boil them together twenty minutes.

Raspberries, 6 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.

GOOD RED OR WHITE RASPBERRY JAM.

Boil quickly, for twenty minutes, four pounds of either red or white sound ripe raspberries in a pound and a half of currant juice of the same colour; take the pan from the fire, stir in three pounds of sugar, and when it is dissolved, place the pan again over the fire, and continue the boiling for ten minutes longer: keep the preserve well-skimmed and stirred from the beginning.

Raspberries, 4 lbs.; currant juice, 1½ lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.

RASPBERRY JELLY FOR FLAVOURING CREAMS.

Take the stalks from some quite ripe, and freshly-gathered 569 raspberries, stir them over the fire until they render their juice freely, then strain and weigh it; or press it from them through a cloth, and then strain it clear; in either case boil it for five minutes after it is weighed, and for each pound stir in a pound and a quarter of good sugar, reduced quite to powder, sifted, and made very hot; boil the preserve quickly for five minutes longer, and skim it clean. The jelly thus made will suffi­ciently sweeten the creams without any addi­tional sugar.

Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 5 minutes. Sugar, made hot, 5 lbs.: 5 minutes.

ANOTHER RASPBERRY JELLY.
(Very good.)

Bruise the fruit a little, and draw the juice from it by four or five minutes’ gentle simmering, strain and weigh it, boil it quickly for twenty minutes, draw it from the fire, add three-quarters of a pound of good sugar for each pound of juice, and when this is dissolved place the pan again on the fire, and boil the preserve fast from twelve to fifteen minutes longer; skim it thoroughly, and keep it well stirred. This jelly is infinitely improved* by mixing with the raspberry-juice one-fourth, or even as much as a third of the juice of ripe white currants: the preserve will then require rather less boiling. When it jellies in falling from the spoon or skimmer, it is done. Nothing of tin or iron should be used in making it, as these metals will convert its fine red colour into a dingy purple.

Fruit, simmered 5 to 6 minutes. Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 12 to 15 minutes. Or: juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.; juice of white currants, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 4½ lbs.: 10 minutes, or less.

* In colour and firmness, not in flavour.

GREEN CURRANT JAM.

For each pound of currants take fourteen ounces of 570 good sugar, in fine powder; bruise part of the fruit with a small portion of the sugar, and put it first into the preserving pan, that the juice may flow from it suffi­ciently to prevent the remainder from being burned; it should be placed over a very gentle fire and stirred constantly until it has yielded moisture enough for this. All the fruit and sugar may then be added, and the whole (well mixed and stirred) boiled from ten to fifteen minutes, or until it jellies strongly in falling from the skimmer. Some fruit will require less time, and some rather more.

To each pound of currants, stripped from stalks, 14 ozs. of sugar: 10 to 15 minutes.

RED CURRANT JELLY.

With three parts of fine ripe red currants freshly gathered, and stripped from the stalks, mix one of white currants; put them into a clean preserving pan, and stir them gently over a clear fire until the juice flows from them freely; then turn them into a fine hair-sieve, and let them drain well, but without pressure. Pass the juice through a folded muslin, or a jelly-bag; weigh it, and then boil it fast for a quarter of an hour; add for each pound eight ounces of sugar coarsely powdered, stir this to it off the fire until it is dissolved, give the jelly eight minutes more of quick boiling, and pour it out. It will be firm, and of excellent colour and flavour. Be sure to clear off the scum as it rises both before and after the sugar is put in, or the preserve will not be clear.

Juice of red currants, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15 minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 8 minutes.

Obs.—An excellent jelly may be made with equal parts of the juice of red and of white currants, and of raspberries, with the same proportion of sugar and degree of boiling as in the foregoing receipt.

SUPERLATIVE RED CURRANT JELLY.
(Norman Receipt.)

Strip carefully from the stems some quite-ripe currants 571 of the finest quality, and mix with them an equal weight of good sugar reduced to powder; boil these together quickly for exactly eight minutes, keep them stirred all the time, and clear off the scum as it rises; then turn the preserve into a very clean sieve, and put into small jars the jelly which runs through it, and which will be delicious in flavour, and of the brightest colour. It should be carried imme­diately, when this is practicable, to an extremely cool but not a damp place, and left there till perfectly cold. The currants which remain in the sieve make an excellent jam, parti­cularly if only part of the jelly be taken from them. In Normandy, where the fruit is of richer quality than in England, this preserve is boiled only one minute, and is both firm and beautifully transparent.

Currants, 3 lbs.; sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 minutes.

FRENCH CURRANT JELLY.

Mix one-third of white currants with two of red, and stir them over a gentle fire till they render their juice freely, pour it from them, strain and weigh it; for every four pounds break three of fine sugar into large lumps, just dip them into cold water, and when they are nearly dissolved boil them to a thick syrup; stir this without ceasing till it falls in large thick white masses from the skimmer; then pour in the currant juice imme­diately, and when the sugar is again dissolved, boil the whole quickly for five minutes, clear off the scum perfectly, pour the jelly into jars or warm glasses, and set it in a cool place.

Red currants, two thirds; white currants, one-third; juice, 4 lbs.; sugar boiled to candy height, 3 lbs.; jelly boiled: 5 minutes.

Obs.—A flavouring of raspberries is usually given to currant jelly in France, the preserve being there never served with any kind of joint, as it is with us.

DELICIOUS RED CURRANT JAM.

This, which is but an indifferent preserve when made 572 in the usual way, will be found a very fine one if the following direc­tions for it be observed; it will be extremely transparent and bright in colour, and will retain perfectly the flavour of the fruit. Take the currants at the height of their season, the finest that can be had, free from dust, but gathered on a dry day; strip them with great care from the stalks, weigh and put them into a preserving pan with three pounds of the best sugar reduced to powder to four pounds of the fruit; stir them gently over a brisk clear fire, and boil them quickly for exactly eight minutes from the first full boil. As the jam is apt to rise over the top of the pan, it is better not to fill it more than two-thirds, and if this precaution should not be suffi­cient to prevent it, it must be lifted from the fire and held away for an instant. To many tastes, a still finer jam than this (which we find suffi­ciently sweet) may be made with an equal weight of fruit and sugar boiled together for seven minutes. There should be great exactness with respect to the time, as both the flavour and the brilliant colour of the preserve will be injured by longer boiling.

Red currants (without stalks), 4 lbs.; fine sugar, 3 lbs.: boiled fast, 8 minutes. Or, fruit and sugar equal weight: 7 minutes.

VERY FINE WHITE CURRANT JELLY.

The fruit for this jelly should be very white, perfectly free from dust, and picked carefully from the stalks. To every pound add eighteen ounces of double-refined sifted sugar, and boil them together quickly for six minutes; throw in the strained juice of a sound fresh lemon, or of two, should the quantity of preserve be large; boil it two minutes longer; pour it into a delicately clean sieve, and finish it by the direc­tions given for the Norman red currant jelly.

White currants, 6 lbs.; highly-refined sugar, 6¾ lbs.: 6 minutes. Juice of 2 moderate-sized lemons: 2 minutes.

573

WHITE CURRANT JAM, A BEAUTIFUL PRESERVE.

Boil together quickly for seven minutes equal quantities of fine white currants, picked with the greatest nicety, and of the best sugar pounded and passed through a sieve. Stir the preserve gently the whole time, and be careful to skim it thoroughly. Just before it is taken from the fire throw in the strained juice of one good lemon to four pounds of the fruit.

White currants, 4 lbs.; best sugar, 4 lbs.: 7 minutes. Juice, 1 lemon.

CURRANT PASTE.

Stalk and heat some red currants as for jelly, pour off three parts of the juice, which can be used for that preserve, and press the remainder, with the pulp of the fruit, closely through a hair-sieve reversed; boil it briskly, keeping it stirred the whole time, until it forms a dry paste; then for each pound (when first weighed) add seven ounces of pounded sugar, and boil the whole from twenty-five to thirty minutes longer, taking care that it shall not burn. This paste is remarkably pleasant and refreshing in cases of fever, and acceptable usually for winter-desserts.

Red currants boiled from 5 to 7 minutes, pressed with one-fourth of their juice through a sieve, boiled from 1½ to 2 hours. To each pound add 7 ozs. pounded sugar: 25 to 30 minutes.

Obs.—Confectioners add the pulp, after it is boiled dry, to an equal weight of sugar at the candy height: by making trial of the two methods the reader can decide on the better one.

NURSERY PRESERVE.

Take the stones from a couple of pounds of Kentish cherries, and boil them twenty minutes; then add to them a pound and a half of raspberries, and an equal quantity of red and of white currants, all weighed after they have been cleared from their stems. Boil these 574 together briskly for twenty minutes; mix with them three pounds and a quarter of common sugar, and give the preserve fifteen minutes more of quick boiling. A pound and a half of goose­berries may be substi­tuted for the cherries; but they will not require any stewing before they are added to the other fruits. The jam must be well stirred from the beginning, or it will burn to the pan.

Kentish cherries, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Raspberries, red currants, and white currants, of each 1½ lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3¼ lbs.: 15 minutes.

ANOTHER GOOD COMMON PRESERVE.

Boil together, in equal or in unequal portions (for this is immaterial), any kinds of early fruit, till they can be pressed through a sieve; weigh, and then boil the pulp over a brisk fire for half an hour; add half a pound of sugar for each pound of fruit, and again boil the preserve quickly, keeping it well stirred and skimmed, from fifteen to twenty minutes. Cherries, unless they be morellas, must be first stewed tender apart, as they will require much longer time to make them so, than any other of the first summer fruits.

A GOOD MÉLANGE, OR MIXED PRESERVE.

Boil for three quarters of an hour in two pounds of clear red goose­berry juice, one pound of very ripe green gages, weighed after they have been pared and stoned; then stir to them one pound and a half of good sugar, and boil them quickly again for twenty minutes. If the quantity of preserve be much increased, the time of boiling it must be so likewise: this is always better done before the sugar is added.

Juice of ripe gooseberries, 2 lbs.; green gages, pared and stoned, 1 lb.: ¾ hour. Sugar, 1½ lb.; 20 minutes.

GROSEILLÉE.
(Another good preserve.)

Cut the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of well-flavoured 575 ripe goose­berries, throw them into a large preserving-pan, boil them for ten minutes, and stir them often with a wooden spoon; then pass both the juice and pulp through a fine sieve, and to every three pounds’ weight of these add half a pint of raspberry-juice, and boil the whole briskly for three quarters of an hour; draw the pan aside, stir in for the above proportion of fruit, two pounds of sugar, and when it is dissolved renew the boiling for fifteen minutes longer.

Ripe gooseberries, boiled 10 minutes. Pulp and juice of goose­berries, 6 lbs.; raspberry-juice, 1 pint: ¾ hour. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 15 minutes.

Obs.—When more convenient, a portion of raspberries can be boiled with the goose­berries at first.

A FINE PRESERVE OF THE GREEN ORANGE PLUM.
(Sometimes called the Stonewood plum.)

This fruit, which is very insipid when ripe, makes an excellent preserve if used when at its full growth, but while it is still quite hard and green. Take off the stalks, weigh the plums, then gash them well (with a silver knife, if conve­nient) as they are thrown into the preserving pan, and keep them stirred without ceasing, over a moderate fire, until they have yielded suffi­cient juice to prevent their burning; after this, boil them quickly till the stones are entirely detached from the flesh of the fruit. Take them out as they appear on the surface, and when the preserve looks quite smooth and is well reduced, stir in three quarters of a pound of sugar beaten to powder, for each pound of the plums, and boil the whole very quickly for half an hour, or more. Put it, when done, into small moulds or pans, and it will be suffi­ciently firm when cold to turn out well: it will be also of a fine transparent green colour, and very agreeable to the taste.

Orange plums, when green, 6 lbs.; 40 to 60 minutes: sugar, 4½ lbs.: 30 to 50 minutes.

Obs.—The blanched kernels of part of the fruit should be added to this preserve a few minutes before it is 576 poured out: if too long boiled in it they will become tough. They should always be wiped very dry after they are blanched.

GREEN-GAGE JAM, OR MARMALADE.

When the plums are thoroughly ripe, take off the skins, stone, weigh, and boil them quickly without sugar for fifty minutes, keeping them well stirred; then to every four pounds add three of good sugar reduced quite to powder, boil the preserve from five to eight minutes longer, and clear off the scum perfectly before it is poured into the jars. When the flesh of the fruit will not separate easily from the stones, weigh and throw the plums whole into the preserving pan, boil them to a pulp, pass them through a sieve, and deduct the weight of the stones from them when apportioning the sugar to the jam. The Orleans plum may be substi­tuted for green-gages, in this receipt.

Green-gages, stoned and skinned, 6 lbs.: 50 minutes. Sugar, 4½ lbs.; 5 to 8 minutes.

PRESERVE OF THE MAGNUM BONUM, OR MOGUL PLUM.

Prepare, weigh, and boil the plums for forty minutes; stir to them half their weight of good sugar beaten fine, and when it is dissolved continue the boiling for ten addi­tional minutes, and skim the preserve carefully during the time. This is an excellent marmalade, but it may be rendered richer by increasing the proportion of sugar. The blanched kernels of a portion of the fruit-stones will much improve its flavour, but they should be mixed with it only two or three minutes before it is taken from the fire. When these plums are not entirely ripe, it is difficult to free them from the stones and skins: they should then be boiled down and pressed through a sieve, as directed for green-gages, in the receipt above.

Mogul plums, skinned and stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 to 8 minutes.

577

TO DRY OR PRESERVE MOGUL PLUMS IN SYRUP.

Pare the plums, but do not remove the stalks nor stones; take their weight of dry sifted sugar, lay them into a deep dish or bowl, and strew it over them; let them remain thus for a night, then pour them gently into a preserving pan, with all the sugar, heat them slowly, and let them just simmer for five minutes; in a couple of days repeat the process, and do so again and again at an interval of two or three days, until the fruit is tender and very clear; put it then into jars, and keep it in the syrup, or drain and dry the plums very gradually, as directed for other fruit. When they are not suffi­ciently ripe for the skin to part from them easily, they must be covered with spring water, placed over a slow fire, and just scalded until it can be stripped off easily.

MUSSEL PLUM CHEESE AND JELLY.

Fill large stone jars with the fruit, which should be ripe, dry, and sound, set them into an oven from which the bread has been drawn several hours, and let them remain all night; or, if this cannot conve­niently be done, place them in pans of water, and boil them gently until the plums are tender, and have yielded their juice to the utmost. Pour this from them, strain it through a jelly bag, weigh, and then boil it quickly for twenty-five minutes. Have ready, broken small, three pounds of sugar for four of the juice, stir them together until it is dissolved, and then continue the boiling quickly for ten minutes longer, and be careful to remove all the scum. Pour the preserve into small moulds or pans, and turn it out when it is wanted for table: it will be very fine, both in colour and in flavour.

Juice of plums, 4 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.

The cheese.—Skin and stone the plums from which the juice has been poured, and after having weighed, boil them an hour and a quarter over a brisk fire, and stir them constantly; then, to three pounds of fruit 578 add one of sugar, beaten to powder; boil the preserve for another half hour, and press it into shallow pans or moulds.

Plums, 3 lbs.: 1¼ hour. Sugar, 1 lb.: 30 minutes.

TO DRY APRICOTS.
(A quick and easy method.)

Wipe gently, split, and stone some fine apricots, which are not over-ripe; weigh, and arrange them evenly in a deep dish or bowl, and strew in fourteen ounces of sugar, in fine powder, to each pound of fruit; on the following day turn the whole carefully into a preserving-pan, let the apricots heat slowly, and simmer them very softly for six minutes, or for an instant longer, should they not in that time be quite tender. Let them lay in the syrup for a day or two, then drain and spread them singly on dishes to dry.

To each lb. apricots, 14 ozs. of sugar: to stand one night, to be simmered from 6 to 8 minutes, and left in syrup 2 or 3 days.

DRIED APRICOTS.
(French Receipt.)

Take apricots which have attained their full growth and colour, but before they begin to soften; weigh, and wipe them lightly; make a small incision across the top of each plum, pass the point of a knife through the stalk-end, and gently push out the stones without breaking the fruit; next, put the apricots into a preserving-pan, with plenty of cold water, place it over a moderate fire, and when it begins to boil, should the apricots be quite tender, lift them out, and throw them into more cold water, but simmer them, otherwise, until they are so. Take the same weight of sugar that there was of the fruit before it was stoned, and boil it for ten minutes with a quart of water to the four pounds; skim the syrup carefully, throw in the apricots (which should previously be well drained on a soft cloth, or on a sieve), simmer them for one minute, and set them by in it until the following day, then drain it from them, boil it for ten minutes, and pour it on them the instant it is taken from the fire; in forty-eight hours repeat the process, 579 and when the syrup has boiled ten minutes, put in the apricots, and simmer them from two to four minutes, or until they look quite clear. They may be stored in the syrup until wanted for drying, or drained from it, laid separately on slates or dishes, and dried very gradually: the blanched kernels may be put inside the fruit, or added to the syrup.

Apricots, 4 lbs., scalded till tender; sugar, 4 lbs.; water, 1 quart: 10 minutes. Apricots, in syrup, 1 minute: left 24 hours. Syrup, boiled again, 10 minutes, and poured on fruit: stand 2 days. Syrup, boiled again, 10 minutes, and apricots, 2 to 4 minutes, or until clear.

Obs.—The syrup should be quite thick when the apricots are put in for the last time; but both fruit and sugar vary so much in quality, and in the degree of boiling which they require, that no invariable rule can be given for the latter. The apricot syrup strained very clear, and mixed with twice the quantity of pale French brandy, makes an agreeable liqueur, which is much improved by infusing in it for a few days half an ounce of the fruit-kernels, blanched and bruised, to the quart of liquor.

We have found that cherries prepared by either of the receipts which we have given for preserving them with sugar, if thrown into the apricot syrup when partially dried, just scalded in it, and left for a fortnight, then drained and dried as usual, become a delicious sweetmeat. Mussel, imperatrice, or any other plums, when quite ripe, if simmered in it very gently until they are tender, and left for a few days to imbibe its flavour, then drained and finished as usual, are likewise excellent.

PEACH-JAM, OR MARMALADE.

The fruit for this preserve, which is a very delicious one, should be finely-flavoured, and quite ripe, though perfectly sound. Pare, stone, weigh, and boil it quickly for three-quarters of an hour, and do not fail to stir it 580 often during the time; draw it from the fire, and mix with it ten ounces of well-refined sugar, rolled or beaten to powder, for each pound of the peaches; clear it carefully from scum, and boil it briskly for five minutes; throw in the strained juice of one or two good lemons; continue the boiling for three minutes only, and pour out the marmalade. Two minutes after the sugar is stirred to the fruit, add the blanched kernels of part of the peaches.

Peaches, stoned and pared, 4 lbs.: ¾ hour. Sugar, 2½ lbs.: 2 minutes. Blanched peach-kernels: 3 minutes. Juice, 2 small lemons: 3 minutes.

Obs.—This jam, like most others, is improved by pressing the fruit through a sieve after it has been partially boiled. Nothing can be finer than its flavour, which would be injured by adding the sugar at first; and a larger proportion renders it cloyingly sweet. Nectarines and peaches mixed, make an admirable preserve.

TO PRESERVE, OR TO DRY PEACHES OR NECTARINES.
(An easy and excellent Receipt.)

The fruit should be fine, freshly gathered, and fully ripe, but still in its perfection. Pare, halve, and weigh it after the stones are removed; lay it into a deep dish, and strew over it an equal weight of highly refined pounded sugar; let it remain until this is nearly dissolved, then lift the fruit gently into a preserving pan, pour the juice and sugar to it, and heat the whole over a very slow fire; let it just simmer for ten minutes, then turn it softly into a bowl, and let it remain a couple of days; repeat the slow-heating and simmering at intervals of two or three days, until the fruit is quite clear, when it may be potted in the syrup, or drained from it, and dried upon large clean slates or dishes, or upon wire-sieves. The flavour will be excellent. The strained juice of a lemon may be added to the syrup, with good effect, towards the end of the process, and an addi­tional ounce or two of sugar allowed for it.

581

DAMSON JAM. (VERY GOOD.)

The fruit for this jam should be freshly gathered and quite ripe. Split, stone, weigh, and boil it quickly for forty minutes; then stir in half its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved, give the preserve fifteen minutes addi­tional boiling, keeping it stirred, and thoroughly skimmed.

Damsons stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 15 minutes.

Obs.—A more refined preserve is made by pressing the fruit through a sieve after it is boiled tender; but the jam is excellent without.

DAMSON JELLY.

Bake separately in a very slow oven, or boil in a water-bath (see page 557), any number of fine ripe damsons, and one third the quantity of bullaces, or of any other pale plums, as a portion of their juice will, to most tastes, improve, by softening the flavour of the preserve, and will render the colour brighter. Pour off the juice clear from the fruit, strain and weigh it; boil it quickly without sugar for twenty-five minutes, draw it from the fire, stir into it ten ounces of good sugar for each pound of juice, and boil it fast from six to ten minutes longer, carefully clearing off all the scum. The jelly must be often stirred before the sugar is added, and constantly afterwards.

DAMSON SOLID. (GOOD.)

Pour the juice from some damsons which have stood for a night in a very cool oven, or been stewed in a jar placed in a pan of water; weigh and put it into a preserving pan with a pound and four ounces of pearmains (or of any other fine boiling apples), pared, cored, and quartered, to each pound of the juice; boil these together, keeping them well stirred, from twenty-five to thirty minutes, then mix in the sugar, and when it is nearly dissolved, continue the boiling for ten minutes. This, 582 if done with exactness, will give a perfectly smooth and firm preserve, which may be moulded in small shapes, and turned out for table.

To each pound clear damson-juice, 1¼ lb. pearmains (or other good apples), pared and cored: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 14 ozs.: 10 minutes.

EXCELLENT DAMSON CHEESE.

When the fruit has been baked or stewed tender, as directed above, drain off the juice, skin and stone the damsons, pour back to them from a third to half of their juice, weigh and then boil them over a clear brisk fire until they form a quite dry paste; add six ounces of pounded sugar for each pound of the plums; stir them off the fire till this is dissolved, then boil the preserve again without quitting or ceasing to stir it, until it leaves the pan quite dry, and adheres in a mass to the spoon. If it should not stick to the fingers when lightly touched, it will be suffi­ciently done to keep very long; press it quickly into pans or moulds; lay on it a paper dipped in spirit when it is perfectly cold, tie another fold over it, and store it in a dry place.

Bullace cheese is made in the same manner, and almost any kind of plum will make an agreeable preserve of the sort.

To each pound of fruit, pared, stoned, and mixed with the juice, and boiled quite dry, 6 ozs. of pounded sugar: boiled again to a dry paste.

GRAPE JELLY.

Strip from their stalks some fine ripe black-cluster grapes, and stir them with a wooden spoon over a gentle fire until all have burst, and the juice flows freely from them; strain it off without pressure, and pass it through a jelly-bag, or through a twice-doubled muslin; weigh and then boil it rapidly for twenty minutes; draw it from the fire, stir in it till dissolved, fourteen ounces of good sugar roughly powdered, to each pound of juice, and boil the jelly quickly for fifteen minutes longer, keeping 583 it constantly stirred, and perfectly well skimmed. It will be very clear and of a beautiful pale rose-colour.

Juice of black-cluster grapes: 20 minutes. To each lb. of juice, 14 ozs. good sugar: 15 minutes.

Obs.—We have proved this jelly only with the kind of grape which we have named, but there is little doubt that fine purple grapes of any sort would answer for it well.

ENGLISH GUAVA.

Strip the stalks from a gallon or two of the large kind of bullaces called the shepherd’s bullace; give part of them a cut, put them into stone jars, and throw into one of them a pound or two of imperatrice plums, if they can be obtained; put the jars into pans of water, and boil them as directed at page 557; then drain off the juice, pass it through a thick strainer or jelly-bag, and weigh it; boil it quickly from fifteen to twenty minutes; take it from the fire, and stir in it till dissolved three-quarters of a pound of sugar to the pound of juice; remove the scum with care, and boil the preserve again quickly from eight to twelve minutes, or longer should it not then jelly firmly on the skimmer. When the fruit is very acid, an equal weight of juice and sugar may be mixed together in the first instance, and boiled briskly for about twenty minutes. It is impossible to indicate the precise time which the jelly will require, so much depends on the quality of the plums, and on the degree of boiling previously given to them in the water-bath. When properly made it is remarkably transparent and very firm. It should be poured into shallow pans or small moulds, and taken from them before it is served. When the imperatrice plum cannot be procured, any other that will give a pale red colour to the juice will answer. The bullaces alone make an admirable preserve; and even the commoner kind afford an excellent one.

Juice of the shepherd’s bullace and imperatrice, or other red plum, 4 lbs.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 584 3 lbs.: 8 to 12 minutes. Or juice of bullaces and sugar, equal weight: 20 minutes.

Obs.—After the juice has been poured from the plums they may be stoned, pared, weighed, and boiled to a paste; then six ounces of sugar added to the pound, and the boiling continued until the preserve is again very dry: a small portion of the juice should be left with the fruit for this.

VERY FINE IMPERATRICE-PLUM MARMALADE.

Weigh six pounds of the fruit when it is quite ripe, but before the frost has touched it; give each plum a cut as it is thrown into the preserving pan, and when all are done boil them from thirty-five to forty minutes, taking out the stones as they rise to the surface, when they are quite detached from the flesh of the fruit. Draw back the pan from the fire, stir in two pounds of good sugar beaten to powder, and boil the preserve quickly for fifteen minutes. The imperatrice plum is of itself so sweet that this proportion of sugar makes with it a very rich preserve.

Imperatrice plums (without the stalks) 6 lbs.; boiled 35 to 40 minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs. (added after the stones are out), 15 minutes.

Obs.—Some slight trouble would be avoided by pressing the fruit through a sieve after the first boiling; but we do not think the marmalade would be improved by being freed from the skins of the plums.

TO DRY IMPERATRICE PLUMS.
(An easy method.)

Put them into jars, or wide-necked bottles, with half a pound of good sugar, rolled or pounded, to twice the weight of fruit; set them into a very cool oven for four or five hours; or if more conve­nient place them, with a little hay between them, in a pan of cold water, and boil them gently for rather more than three hours. Leave them in the syrup for a few days, and finish them as directed for the drying of other fruits. 585 Tie a bladder over the necks of the jars or bottles before they are placed in the pan of water, and fasten two or three folds of paper over the former, or cork the bottles when the fruit is to be baked. The sugar should be put in after the fruit, without being shaken down; it will then dissolve gradually, and be absorbed by it equally.

To each lb. of plums 8 ounces pounded sugar: baked in cool oven 4 or 5 hours, or steamed 3 hours.

TO BOTTLE FRUIT FOR WINTER USE.

Gather the fruit in the middle of the day in very dry weather; strip off the stalks, and have in readiness some perfectly clean and dry wide-necked bottles; turn each of these the instant before it is filled, with the neck downwards, and hold in it two or three lighted matches; drop in the fruit before the vapour escapes, shake it gently down, press in some new corks, dip the necks of the bottles into melted rosin, set them at night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn six or seven hours at least, and let them remain until the morning: if the heat be too great the bottles will burst. Currants, cherries, damsons, green gages, and various other kinds of plums will remain good for quite twelve months when bottled thus if stored in a dry place.

To steam the fruit, put the bottles into a copper or other vessel up to their necks in cold water, with a little hay between and under them; light the fire, let the water heat slowly, and keep it at the point of gentle simmering until the fruit is suffi­ciently scalded. Some kinds will of course require a much longer time than others. From half to three-quarters of an hour will be suffi­cient for goose­berries, currants, and raspberries; but the appearance of all will best denote their being done. When they have sunk almost half the depth of the bottles, and the skins are shrivelled, extinguish the fire but leave them in the water until it is quite cold; then wipe and store the bottles in a dry 586 place. A bit of moistened bladder tied over the corks is better than the rosin when the fruit is steamed.

APPLE JELLY.

Various kinds of apples may be used successfully to make this jelly, but the nonsuch is by many persons preferred to all others for the purpose. The Ripstone pippin, however, may be used for it with very good effect, either solely, or with a mixture of pearmains. It is necessary only that the fruit should be finely flavoured, and that it should boil easily to a marmalade. Pare, core, quarter, and weigh it quickly that it may not lose its colour, and to each pound pour a pint of cold water, and boil it until it is well broken, without being reduced to a quite thick pulp, as it would then be difficult to render the juice perfectly clear, which it ought to be. Drain this well from the apples, either through a fine sieve or a folded muslin strainer, and pass it afterwards through a jelly-bag, or turn the fruit at once into the last of these, and pour the liquid through a second time if needful. When it appears quite transparent, weigh, and reduce it by quick boiling for twenty minutes; draw it from the fire, add two pounds of sugar, broken very small, for three of the decoction, stir it till it is entirely dissolved, then place the preserving-pan again over a clear fire and boil the preserve quickly for ten minutes, or until it jellies firmly upon the skimmer when poured from it; throw in the strained juice of a small lemon for every two pounds of jelly, a couple of minutes before it is taken from the fire.

Apples, 7 lbs.; water, 7 pints: ½ to full hour. Juice, 6 lbs.: 20 minutes quick boiling. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 to 15 minutes. Juice, 3 lemons.

EXCEEDINGLY FINE APPLE JELLY.

Pare quickly some highly flavoured juicy apples of any kind, or of various kinds together, for this is immaterial; slice, without dividing them, but first free them from the stalks and eyes, shake out some of the 587 pips, and put the apples evenly into very clean large stone jars, just dipping an occasional layer into cold water as this is done, the better to preserve the colour of the whole. Set the jars into pans of water, and boil the fruit slowly until it is quite soft, then turn it into a jelly-bag or cloth and let the juice all drop from it. The quantity which it will have yielded will be small but it will be clear and rich. Weigh and boil it for ten minutes, then draw it from the fire, and stir into it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of good sugar to the pound and quarter (or pint) of juice. Place the preserve again over the fire and stir it without intermission, except to clear off the scum, until it has boiled from eight to ten minutes longer, for otherwise it will jelly on the surface with the scum upon it, which it will then be difficult to remove, as when touched it will break and fall into the preserve. The strained juice of one small fresh lemon to the pint of jelly should be thrown into it two or three minutes before it is poured out, and the rind of one or two cut very thin may be simmered in the juice before the sugar is added; but the pale, delicate colour of the jelly will be injured by too much of it, and many persons would altogether prefer the pure flavour of the fruit.

Juice of apples, 1 quart, or 2½ lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 1½ lb.: 8 to 10 minutes. Juice 2 small lemons; rind of 1 or more at pleasure.

Obs. 1.—The quantity of apples required for it renders this a rather expensive preserve where they are not abundant, but it is a remarkably fine jelly, and turns out from the moulds in perfect shape and very firm. It may be served in the second course, or for dessert. It is sometimes made without paring the apples, or dipping them into the water, and the colour is then a deep red: we have occasionally had a pint of water added to about a gallon and a half of apples, but the jelly was not then quite so fine in flavour.

Obs. 2.—The best time for making this apple-jelly is from the end of November to Christmas.

588

Obs. 3.—Quince-jelly, would, without doubt, be very fine made by this receipt; but as the juice of that fruit is richer than that of the apple, a little water might be added. Alternate layers of apples and quinces would also answer well, we think.

QUINCE-JELLY.

Pare, quarter, core, and weigh some ripe but quite sound quinces, as quickly as possible, and throw them as they are done into part of the water in which they are to be boiled, as directed at page 509; allow one pint of this to each pound of the fruit, and simmer it gently until it is a little broken, but not so long as to redden the juice, which ought to be very pale. Turn the whole into a jelly-bag, or strain the liquid through a fine cloth, and let it drain very closely from it, but without the slightest pressure. Weigh the juice, put it into a delicately clean preserving-pan, and boil it quickly for twenty minutes; take it from the fire and stir into it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of sugar for each pound of juice, or fourteen ounces if the fruit should be very acid, which it will be in the earlier part of the season; keep it constantly stirred and thoroughly cleared from scum, from ten to twenty minutes longer, or until it jellies strongly in falling from the skimmer; then pour it directly into glasses or moulds. If properly made it will be suffi­ciently firm to turn out of the latter, and it will be beautifully transparent, and rich in flavour. It may be made with an equal weight of juice and sugar mixed together in the first instance, and boiled from twenty or thirty minutes. It is difficult to state the time precisely, because, from different causes, it will vary very much. It should be reduced rapidly to the proper point, as long boiling injures the colour: this is always more perfectly preserved by boiling the juice without the sugar first.

To each lb. pared and cored quinces, 1 pint water: ¾ to 1½ hour. Juice boiled 20 minutes. To each lb., 589 12 ozs. sugar: 10 to 20 minutes. Or, juice and sugar equal weight: 20 to 30 minutes.

QUINCE MARMALADE.

When to economize the fruit is not an object, pare, core, and quarter some of the inferior quinces, and boil them in as much water as will nearly cover them, till they begin to break; strain the juice from them, and for the marmalade put half a pint of it to each pound of fresh quinces: in preparing these be careful to cut out the hard stony parts round the cores. Simmer them gently until they are perfectly tender, then press them, with the juice, through a coarse sieve; put them into a perfectly clean pan and boil them till they form almost a dry paste; add for each pound of quinces and the half pint of juice, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, in fine powder, and boil the marmalade for half an hour, stirring it gently without intermission: it will be very firm and bright in colour. If made shortly after the fruit is gathered, a little addi­tional sugar will be required; and when a richer and less dry marmalade is better liked, it must be boiled a shorter time, and an equal weight of fruit and sugar must be used.

Quinces, pared and cored, 4 lbs.; prepared juice, 1 quart: 2 to 3 hours. Boiled fast to dry, 20 to 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 30 minutes.

Richer marmalade: quinces, 4 lbs.; juice, 1 quart; sugar, 4 lbs.

QUINCE AND APPLE MARMALADE.

Boil together, from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, two pounds of pearmains, or of any other well-flavoured apples, in an equal quantity of prepared quince-juice (see page 509), then take them from the fire, and mix with them a pound and a half of sugar, in fine powder; when this is a little dissolved, set the pan again over a brisk fire, and boil the preserve for twenty minutes longer, keeping it stirred all the time.

590

Prepared quince-juice, 2 lbs.; apples, 2 lbs.: ¾ to 1 hour. Sugar, 1½ lb.: 20 minutes.

QUINCE-PASTE.

If the full flavour of the quinces be desired, stew them suffi­ciently tender to press through a sieve in the prepared juice of page 509; otherwise, in just water enough to about three parts cover them; when they are soft quite through, lift them out, let them cool, and then pass them through a sieve; reduce them to a dry paste, over a very clear fire, and stir them constantly; then weigh the fruit, and mix it with an equal proportion of pounded sugar, or with sugar boiled to candy height (we find the effect nearly the same, whichever method be pursued), and stir the paste without intermission until it is again so dry as to quit the pan and adhere to the spoon in one large ball; press it into shallow pans or dishes; cut it, as soon as cold, into small squares, and, should they seem to require it, dry them with a very gentle degree of heat, and when they are again cold store them in tin cases with well-dried foolscap paper between them; the paste may be moulded, when more conve­nient, and kept until it is wanted for table in a very dry place. In France, where the fruit is admirably confected, the pâte des coigns, or quince-paste, is somewhat less boiled than we have directed, and dried afterwards in the sun, or in an extremely gentle oven, in square rims of tin, about an inch and a half deep, placed upon clean plates.

JELLY OF SIBERIAN CRABS.

This fruit makes a jelly of beautiful colour, and of pleasant flavour also; it may be stored in small moulds of ornamental shape, and turned out for a dessert dish. Take off the stalks, weigh and wash the crabs, then to each pound and a half, add a pint of water, and boil them gently until they are broken, but do not allow them to fall to a pulp. Pour the whole into a jelly-bag, and when the juice is quite transparent, weigh it, 591 put it into a clean preserving-pan, boil it quickly for ten minutes, take it from the fire, and stir in it, till dissolved, ten ounces of fine sugar, roughly powdered, for each pound of the juice; boil the jelly from twelve to fifteen minutes, skim it very clean, and pour it into the mould. Should the quantity be large, a few addi­tional minutes’ boiling must be given to the juice before the sugar is added.

To each 1½ lb. of crabs, water, 1 pint: 12 to 18 minutes. Juice to be boiled fast, 10 minutes; sugar, to each pound, 10 ozs.: 12 to 15 minutes.

TO PRESERVE BARBERRIES IN BUNCHES.

Take the finest barberries, without stones, that can be procured, tie them together in bunches of four or five sprigs, and for each half pound of the fruit (which is extremely light), boil one pound of very good sugar in a pint of water for twenty minutes, and clear it well from scum; throw in the fruit, let it heat gently, and then boil from five to seven minutes, when it will be perfectly transparent. So long as any snapping noise is heard, the fruit is not all done; it should be pressed equally down into the syrup till the whole of the berries have burst; it should then be turned into jars, which must be covered with skin, or with two or three folds of thick paper, as soon as the preserve is perfectly cold. The barberries thus prepared make a beautiful garnish for sweet dishes, or for custard puddings.

Barberries, tied in bunches, 1½ lb. Sugar, 3 lbs.; water, 1½ pint: 20 minutes. Barberries boiled in syrup, 5 to 7 minutes.

BARBERRY JELLY.

To each pound of barberries, stripped from the stalks, put a pint and a half of cold water, and boil them for fifteen minutes; bruise them with the back of a wooden spoon, pour them into hair-sieve or muslin strainer, and pass the juice afterwards through a jelly-bag. When it appears perfectly clear, weigh and then boil it fast for 592 ten minutes; take it from the fire, and stir into it as many pounds of sugar in fine powder as there were pounds of juice; when this is dissolved boil the jelly again for ten minutes, skim it carefully, and pour it into jars or glasses: if into the latter warm them previously, or the boiling jelly may cause them to break.

Barberries 3 lbs.; water 4½ pints: 15 minutes. Juice alone: 10 minutes. To each pound of juice 1 of sugar; 10 minutes.

BARBERRY JAM.
(A good Receipt.)

The barberries for this preserve should be quite ripe, though they should not be allowed to hang until they begin to decay. Pick them from the stalks, throw aside such as are spotted, and for each pound of the fruit allow eighteen ounces of well-refined sugar; boil this, with one pint of water to every four pounds, until it becomes white, and falls in thick masses from the spoon; then throw in the fruit, and keep it stirred over a brisk fire for six minutes only; take off the scum, and pour it into jars or glasses.

Sugar, 4½ lbs.; water, 1¼ pint, boiled to candy height. Barberries, 4 lbs.: 6 minutes.

BARBERRY JAM.
(Second Receipt.)

The preceding is an excellent receipt, but the preserve will be very good if eighteen ounces of pounded sugar be mixed and boiled with the fruit for ten minutes; and this is done at a small expense of time and trouble.

Sugar pounded, 2¼ lbs.; fruit, 2 lbs.: boiled 10 minutes.

VERY COMMON BARBERRY JAM.

Weigh the fruit after it has been stripped from the stalks, and boil it for ten minutes over a moderate fire, keeping it stirred all the time; then add to it an equal 593 weight of good Lisbon sugar, and boil the preserve for five minutes.

Barberries, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes. Lisbon sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 minutes.

Obs.—The small barberry, without stones, must be used for the foregoing receipts, but for those which follow either sort will answer.

SUPERIOR BARBERRY-JELLY, AND MARMALADE.

Strip the fruit from the stems, wash it in spring-water, drain, bruise it slightly, and put it into a clean stone jar, with no more liquid than the drops which hang about it. Place the jar in a pan of water, and steam the fruit until it is quite tender: this will be in from thirty minutes to an hour. Pour off the clear juice, strain, weigh, and boil it fast from five to seven minutes, with eighteen ounces of sugar to every pound. For the marmalade, press the barberries through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and boil them quickly for the same time, and with the same proportion of sugar as the jelly.

Barberries boiled in water-bath till tender; to each pound of juice, 1 lb. 2 ozs. sugar: 5 minutes. Pulp of fruit, to each pound, 18 ozs. sugar: 5 minutes.

Obs.—We have always had these preserves made with very ripe fruit, and have found them extremely good; but more sugar may be needed to sweeten them suffi­ciently when the barberries have hung less time upon the trees.

ORANGE MARMALADE.

Rasp very slightly on a fine and delicately clean grater the rinds of some sound Seville oranges; cut them in quarters, and separate the flesh from the rinds; then with the small end of a tea or egg spoon, clear it entirely from the pips, and from the loose inner skin and film. Put the rinds into a large quantity of cold water, and change it when they have boiled about twenty minutes. As soon as they are perfectly tender lift them out, and drain them on a sieve; slice them thin, and add eight ounces of them to each pound of 594 the pulp and juice, with a pound and a half of highly-refined sugar in fine powder; boil the marmalade quickly for half an hour, skim it well, and turn it into the jars. This marmalade has not a very powerful flavour of the orange-rind. When more of this is liked, either leave a portion of the fruit unrasped, or mix with the preserve some of the zest which has been grated off, allowing for it its weight of sugar. Or proceed thus: allow to a dozen Seville oranges two fine juicy lemons, and take the weight of the whole in sifted sugar, of excellent quality. With a sharp knife cut through the rinds just deep enough to allow them to be stripped off in quarters with the end of a spoon, and throw them for a night into plenty of cold spring-water; on the following morning boil them suffi­ciently tender to allow the head of a pin to pierce them easily; then drain them well, let them cool, and scrape out the white part of the rind, and cut the remainder into thin chips. In the mean time have the pulp of the fruit quite cleared from the pips and film: put it with the sugar and chips into a preserving pan, heat it slowly, then boil it from twenty to thirty minutes: it will be very rich, good marmalade. The sugar, first broken into large lumps, is sometimes made into a very thick syrup, with so much water only as will just dissolve it; the pulp and juice are in that case boiled in it quickly for ten minutes before the chips are added; and a part of these are pounded and stirred into the preserve with the others. March is the proper month for making this preserve, the Seville orange being then in perfection. For lemon marmalade proceed exactly in the same manner as for this. The whole of the rinds of either fruit are pounded to a paste, and then boiled with the pulp, to make what is called transparent marmalade.

Rinds of Seville oranges, lightly rasped and boiled tender, 2 lbs.; pulp and juice, 4 lbs.; sugar, 6 lbs: ½ hour. Or, weight of oranges, first taken in sugar, and added, with all the rinds, to the pulp after the whole has been properly prepared.

595

GENUINE SCOTCH MARMALADE.

“Take some bitter oranges, and double their weight of sugar; cut the rind of the fruit into quarters and peel it off, and if the marmalade be not wanted very thick, take off some of the spongy white skin inside the rind. Cut the chips as thin as possible, and about half an inch long, and divide the pulp into small bits, removing carefully the seeds, which may be steeped in part of the water that is to make the marmalade, and which must be in the proportion of a quart to a pound of fruit. Put the chips and pulp into a deep earthen dish, and pour the water boiling over them; let them remain for twelve or fourteen hours, and then turn the whole into the preserving pan, and boil it until the chips are perfectly tender. When they are so, add by degrees the sugar (which should be previously pounded), and boil the marmalade until it jellies. The water in which the seeds have been steeped, and which must be taken from the quantity apportioned to the whole of the preserve, should be poured into a hair-sieve, and the seeds well worked in it with the back of a spoon; a strong clear jelly will be obtained by this means, which must be washed off them by pouring their own liquor through the sieve in small portions over them. This must be added to the fruit when it is first set on the fire.”

Oranges, 3 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; sugar, 6 lbs.

Obs.—This receipt, which we have not tried ourselves, is guaranteed as an excellent one by the Scottish lady from whom it was procured.

ORANGE CONSERVE FOR PUDDINGS.

Wash and then soak in plenty of spring-water for three days, changing it night and morning, half a dozen Seville oranges; then boil them till they are suffi­ciently tender for the head of a pin to pierce them easily; drain and weigh them, and for each pound take and reduce to fine powder two pounds of good sugar. Cut the oranges asunder, and remove the pips and the coarse loose skin 596 of the cores; then heat them, with the sugar, in a large mortar, and pick out as this is done any bits of fibre or coarse inner skin which cannot be reduced to a paste. When the whole forms a smooth conserve, put it into small jars for use, as it requires no boiling after the fruit and sugar are mixed: if stored in a dry place it will remain good for two years. Each orange should be tied in a thin small cloth or a bit of muslin when it is boiled, and the water should be changed once (or even twice when the fine aromatic bitter of the rind is altogether objected to), or the fruit may be lifted from the water and thrown imme­diately into another pan containing more which is ready boiling. Two table­spoonsful of this conserve, with the yolks of five or six eggs, a couple of ounces of sugar, and as much clarified butter smoothly mixed and well beaten together will make good cheesecakes, or an excellent but not large pudding: the same proportion will be found an agreeable addition to a plum pudding also.

Seville oranges, boiled tender, 2 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: beaten together, not boiled.

CHAPTER XXII.
PICKLES.

OBSERVATIONS ON PICKLES.

The first requisite in making pickles is to have unadulterated vinegar, for all the expense and trouble bestowed upon them is often entirely lost in conse­quence of ingredients being mixed with this, which soften and sometimes even partially decompose the substances immersed in it. That which is home-made is generally found for all purposes to answer best, and it may be prepared of almost any degree of strength by increasing the ordinary proportion of fruit and sugar, or whatever else may be used for it. The refuse of raisin-wine, and green goose­berries, may both be converted into excellent vinegar: 597 but unless the pickles be quite covered with their liquor, and well protected from the air and from the influence of damp, which is more than anything destructive of them, the purity of the vinegar will not preserve them eatable. We can confidently recom­mend to the reader the rather limited number of receipts which follow, and which might easily be multiplied did the size of our volume permit. Pickling is so easy a process, however, that when in any degree properly acquired, it may be extended to almost every kind of fruit and vegetable successfully. A few of the choicer kinds will nevertheless be found generally more acceptable than a greater variety of inferior prepara­tions. Mushrooms, gherkins, walnuts, lemons, eschalots, and peaches, for all of which we have given minute direc­tions, will furnish as much choice as is commonly required. Very excellent Indian mangoes too may be purchased at the Italian ware­houses, and to many tastes will be more acceptable than any English pickle. We have had them very good from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, whose house we have already had occasion to name.

TO PICKLE CHERRIES.

Leave about an inch of their stalks on some fine, sound, Kentish or Flemish cherries, that are not over-ripe; put them into a jar, cover them with cold vinegar, and let them stand three weeks; pour off two-thirds of the liquor and replace it with fresh vinegar; then, after having drained it from the fruit, boil the whole with an ounce of coriander seed, a small blade of mace, a few grains of cayenne, or a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and four bruised cochineals to every quart, all tied loosely in a fold of muslin. Let the pickle become quite cold before it is added to the cherries: in a month they will be fit for use. The vinegar that is poured from the fruit makes a good syrup of itself when boiled with a pound of sugar to the pint, but it is improved by having some fresh raspberries, cherries, or currants, infused in it previously for three or four days.

598

TO PICKLE GHERKINS.

Let the gherkins be gathered on a dry day, before the frost has touched them; take off the blossoms, put them into a stone jar, and pour over them suffi­cient boiling brine to cover them well. The following day take them out, wipe them singly, lay them into a clean stone jar, with a dozen bay-leaves over them, and pour upon them the following pickle, when it is boiling fast: as much vinegar as will more than cover the gherkins by an inch or two, with an ounce and a quarter of salt, a quarter-ounce of black peppercorns, an ounce and a half of ginger sliced, or slightly bruised, and two small blades of mace to every quart; put a plate over the jar, and leave it for two days, then drain off the vinegar, and heat it afresh; when it boils throw in the gherkins, and keep them just on the point of simmering for two or three minutes; pour the whole back into the jar, put the plate again upon it, and let it remain until the pickle is quite cold, when a skin, or two separate folds of thick brown paper, must be tied closely over it. The gherkins thus pickled are very crisp, and excellent in flavour, and the colour is suffi­ciently good to satisfy the prudent housekeeper, to whom the brilliant and poisonous green produced by boiling the vinegar in a brass skillet (a process constantly recom­mended in books of cookery) is anything but attrac­tive. To satisfy ourselves of the effect produced by the action of the acid on the metal, we had a few gherkins thrown into some vinegar which was boiling in a brass pan, and nothing could be more beautiful than the colour which they almost imme­diately exhibited. We fear this dangerous method is too often resorted to in preparing pickles for sale.

Brine to pour on gherkins:—6 ozs. salt to each quart water: 24 hours. Pickle:—to each quart vinegar, salt, 1¼ oz.; black peppercorns, ¼ oz.; ginger, sliced or bruised, 1½ oz.; mace, 2 small blades; bay-leaves; 24 to 100 gherkins, more when the flavour is liked: 2 days. Gherkins simmered in vinegar, 2 to 3 minutes.

599

Obs.—The quantity of vinegar required to cover the gherkins will be shown by that of the brine: so much depends upon their size, that it is impossible to direct the measure exactly. A larger proportion of spice can be added at pleasure.

TO PICKLE NASTURTIUMS.

These should be gathered quite young, and a portion of the buds, when very small, should be mixed with them. Prepare a pickle by dissolving an ounce and a half of salt in a quart of pale vinegar, and throw in the berries as they become fit, from day to day. They are used instead of capers for sauce, and by some persons are preferred to them. When purchased for pickling, put them at once into a jar, and cover them well with the vinegar.

TO PICKLE GHERKINS.
(A French Receipt.)

Brush or wipe the gherkins very clean, throw them into plenty of fast-boiling water, and give them a single boil, take them out quickly, and throw them imme­diately into a large quantity of very cold water; change it once, and when the gherkins themselves are quite cold, drain them well, spread them on sieves or dishes, and dry them in the air. When this is done, put them into stone jars, and pour on them as much boiling vinegar as will cover them well; heat it anew, and pour it on them again the following day; and on the next throw them into it for a minute so soon as it boils, with plenty of tarragon in branches, a few very small silver onions, and salt and whole pepper in the same proportions as in the receipt above. It should be observed that the French vinegar, from its superior excellence, will have a very different effect, in many prepara­tions, to that which is made up for sale generally in England; but unless it be at Mr. Beaufoy’s, Lambeth, we know not where it can be procured genuine in this country.

600

TO PICKLE PEACHES.

Take, at their full growth, just before they begin to ripen, six large or eight moderate sized peaches; wipe the down from them, and put them into brine that will float an egg. In three days let them be taken out, and drained on a sieve reversed for several hours. Boil in a quart of vinegar for ten minutes two ounces of whole white pepper, two of ginger slightly bruised, a teaspoonful of salt, two blades of mace, half a pound of mustard-seed, and a half-teaspoonful of cayenne tied in a bit of muslin. Lay the peaches into a jar, and pour the boiling pickle on them: in two months they will be fit for use.

Peaches, 6 or 8: in brine 3 days. Vinegar, 1 quart; whole white pepper, 2 ozs.; bruised ginger, 2 ozs.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades; mustard-seed, ½ lb.: 10 minutes.

Obs.—The peaches may be converted into excellent mangoes by cutting out from the stalk-end of each a round of suffi­cient size to allow the stone to be extracted: this should be done after they are taken from the brine. They may be filled with very fresh mustard-seed, previously washed in a little vinegar; to this a small portion of garlic, or bruised eschalots, cayenne, horse-radish, chilies (the most appropriate of any), or spice of any kind may be added, to the taste. The part cut out must then be replaced, and secured with a packthread crossed over the fruit.

TO PICKLE MUSHROOMS.

Select for this purpose, if they can be procured, the smallest buttons of the wild or meadow mushrooms, in preference to those which are artificially raised, and let them be as freshly gathered as possible. Cut the stems off quite close, and clean them with a bit of new flannel slightly moistened, and dipped in fine salt; throw them as they are done into plenty of spring-water, mixed 601 with a large spoonful of salt, but drain them from it quickly afterwards, and lay them into a soft cloth to dry, or the moisture which hangs about them will too much weaken the pickle. For each quart of the mushrooms thus prepared, take nearly a quart of the palest white wine vinegar; (this is far superior to the distilled vinegar generally used for the purpose, and the variation in the colour of the mushrooms will be very slight,) and add to it a heaped teaspoonful of salt, half an ounce of whole white pepper, an ounce of ginger, sliced or lightly bruised, about the fourth of a saltspoonful of cayenne, tied in a small bit of muslin, and two large blades of mace; to these may be added half a small nutmeg, sliced; but too much spice will entirely overpower the fine natural flavour of the mushrooms. When the pickle boils, throw them in, and boil them in it over a clear fire moderately fast from six to nine minutes, or somewhat longer, should they not be very small. When they are much disproportioned in size, the larger ones should have two minutes’ boil before the others are thrown into the vinegar. As soon as they are tolerably tender, put them at once into small stone jars, or into warm wide-necked bottles, and divide the spice equally amongst them. The following day, or as soon as they are perfectly cold, secure them from the air with large corks, or tie skins and paper over them. They should be stored in a dry place, and guarded from severe frost. When the colour of the mushrooms is more consi­dered than the excellence of the pickle, the distilled vinegar can be used for it. The reader may rely upon this receipt as a really good one; we have had it many times proved, and it is altogether our own.

Mushroom-buttons (without the stems), 2 quarts; palest white wine vinegar, short ½ gallon; salt, large dessert­spoonful, or 1½ oz.; white peppercorns, 1 oz.; whole ginger, 2 ozs.; cayenne, small ½ saltspoonful; 1 small nutmeg.

602

MUSHROOMS IN BRINE.
For Winter use. (Very good.)

We have had small mushroom-buttons excellently preserved through the winter prepared as follows, and we therefore give the exact proportions which we had used for them, though the same quantity of brine would possibly allow of rather more mushrooms in it. Prepare them exactly as for the preceding pickle, and measure them after the stems are taken off. For each quart, boil together for five minutes two quarts of water, with half a pound of common white salt, a small dessert­spoonful of white peppercorns, a couple of blades of mace, and a race of ginger; take off the scum thoroughly, and throw in the mushrooms; boil them gently for about five minutes, then put them into well warmed, wide-necked bottles, and let them become perfectly cold, pour a little good salad-oil on the top, cork them with new corks, and tie bladder over, or cover them with two separate bladders. When wanted for use, soak the mushrooms in warm water till the brine is suffi­ciently extracted.

Mushrooms, 1 quart; water, ½ gallon; salt, ½ lb.; peppercorns, 1 small dessert­spoonful; mace 2 blades; ginger, 1 race: 5 minutes. Mushrooms, in brine, 5 minutes.

PICKLED ESCHALOTS.

For a quart of ready-peeled eschalots, add to the same quantity of the best pale white wine vinegar, a dessert­spoonful of salt, and an ounce of whole white pepper; bring these quickly to a boil, take off the scum, throw in the eschalots, simmer them for two minutes only; turn them into a clean stone jar, and when they are quite cold, tie a skin, or two folds of thick paper over it.

Eschalots, 1 quart; vinegar, 1 quart; salt, 1 dessert­spoonful; whole white pepper, 1 oz.

Obs.—The sooner the eschalots are pickled after they are ripe and dry, the better they will be.

603

PICKLED ONIONS.

Take the smallest onions that can be procured, just after they are harvested, for they are never in so good a state for the purpose as then; proceed, after having peeled them, exactly as for the eschalots, and when they begin to look clear, which will be in three or four minutes, put them into jars, and pour the pickle on them. The vinegar should be very pale, and their colour will then be exceedingly well preserved. Any favourite spices can be added to it.

TO PICKLE LEMONS, AND LIMES.

Wipe eight fine sound lemons very clean, and make at equal distances, four deep incisions in each, from the stalk to the blossom end, but without dividing the fruit; stuff them with as much salt as they will contain, lay them into a deep dish, and place them in a sunny window, or in some warm place, for a week or ten days, keeping them often turned and basted with their own liquor; then rub them with some good pale turmeric, and put them with their juice, into a stone jar with a small head of garlic, divided into cloves and peeled, and a dozen small onions stuck with twice as many cloves. Boil in two quarts of white wine vinegar, half a pound of ginger lightly bruised, two ounces of whole black pepper, and half a pound of mustard seed; take them from the fire and pour them directly on the lemons; cover the jar with a plate, and let them remain till the following day, then add to the pickle half a dozen capsicums (or a few chilies if more conve­nient), and tie a skin and a fold of thick paper over the jar.

Large lemons stuffed with salt, 8: 8 to 10 days; turmeric, 1 to 2 ozs.; ginger, ½ lb.; mustard seed, ½ lb.; capsicums, 6 ozs.

This pickle will remain good for seven years if the lemons be kept well covered with vinegar; that which is added to them should be boiled and then left till cold before it is poured into the jar. The lemons will not 604 be fit for table in less than twelve months; but if wanted for more imme­diate use, set them for one night into a cool oven after the bread is drawn; they may then be eaten almost directly.*

* The turmeric and the garlic may be omitted from this pickle with advan­tage, we think. Limes must have but slight incisions made in the rinds; and they will be suffi­ciently softened in four or five days. Two ounces of salt only will be required for half a dozen; and all which remains unmelted must, with their juice, be put into the jar with them before the vinegar is poured on: this should be mixed with spice and mustard-seed, and be boiling when it is added to the limes.

TO PICKLE BARBERRIES AND SIBERIAN CRABS.

When wanted for garnishing only, take the fruit before it is very ripe, cut half the length of their stalks from the crabs, and free the barberries from the leaves, and from any discoloured berries that may be amongst them. Put them into stone jars, and cover them well with brine, which has been boiled and left to become perfectly cold. Look at them occa­sionally during the winter, and should any scum or mould have gathered on the surface, clear it well off, drain the brine closely from the fruit, and fill the jars with some that is freshly made. Six ounces of salt, and a morsel of alum half the size of a bean to the quart of water should be boiled together for ten minutes and well skimmed, both for the first brine, and for any that may be required afterwards.

To pickle these fruits in vinegar, add the alum to a suffi­cient quantity to cover them, and boil it with a few white pepper-corns, which must be strained out before it is poured into the jars: it must be quite cold when added to the barberries or crabs; these last should not be ripe when they are used, or they will burst in the pickle; they should have attained their growth and full colour, but be still hard.

605

CHAPTER XXIII.
CAKES.

Modern cake mould.

GENERAL REMARKS ON CAKES.

The ingredients for cakes, as well as for puddings, should all be fresh and good, as well as free from damp; the lightness of many kinds depends entirely on that given to the eggs by whisking, and by the manner in which the whole is mixed. A small portion of carbonate of soda, which will not be in the slightest degree perceptible to the taste after the cake is baked, if thrown in just before the mixture is put into the oven, will ensure its rising well.

To guard against the bitterness so often imparted by yeast when it is used for cakes or biscuits, it should be sparingly added, and the sponge should be left twice the usual time to rise. This method will be found to 606 answer equally with bread. For example: should a couple of spoonsful of yeast be ordered in a receipt, when it is bitter, use but one, and let it stand two hours instead of half the time: the fermentation, though slow, will be quite as perfect as if it were more quickly effected, and the cake or loaf thus made will not become dry by any means so soon as if a larger portion of yeast were mixed with it.

All light cakes require a rather brisk oven to raise and set them; very large rich ones a well-sustained degree of heat suffi­cient to bake them through; and small sugar-cakes a very slow oven, to prevent their taking a deep colour before they are half done: gingerbread too should be gently baked, unless it be of the light thick kind. Meringues, macaroons, and ratafias, will bear a slight degree more of heat than these.

For sponge and savoy cakes the French butter their moulds thickly, and shake fine sugar in them until they are equally covered with it: the loose sugar must be turned out before they are used.

To ascertain whether a cake be done, thrust a knife into the centre, and should this come out clean draw it from the oven directly; but should the paste adhere to it continue the baking. Several sheets of paper are placed usually under large plum-cakes.

TO BLANCH ALMONDS.

Put them into a saucepan with plenty of cold water, and heat it slowly; when it is just scalding turn the almonds into a basin, peel, and throw them into cold water as they are done: dry them well in a soft cloth before they are used. If the water be too hot it will turn them yellow.

TO POUND ALMONDS.

Almonds are more easily pounded, and less liable to become oily, if dried a little in a very gentle degree of heat after they are blanched; left for example, in a warm room for two or three days, lightly spread on a 607 large dish or tin. They should be sprinkled during the beating with a few drops of cold water, or white of egg, or lemon-juice, and pounded to a smooth paste: this is more easily done, we believe, when they are first roughly chopped, but we prefer to have them thrown at once into the mortar.

TO REDUCE ALMONDS TO A PASTE.
(The quickest and easiest way.)

Chop them a little on a large and very clean trencher, then with a paste-roller (rolling-pin), which ought to be thicker in the middle than at the ends, roll them well until no small bits are perceptible amongst them. We have found this method answer admirably; but as some of the oil is expressed from the almonds by it, and absorbed by the board, we would recom­mend a marble slab for them in preference, when it is at hand; and should they be intended for a sweet dish, that some pounded sugar should be strewed under them. When a board or strong trencher is used, it should be rather higher in the middle than at the sides.

TO PREPARE BUTTER FOR RICH CAKES.

For all large and very rich cakes the usual direc­tions are, to beat the butter to a cream; but we find that they are quite as light, if not more so, when it is cut small and gently melted with just so much heat as will dissolve it, and no more. If it be shaken round in a saucepan previously warmed, and held near the fire for a short time, it will soon be liquified, which is all that is required: it must on no account be hot when it is added to the other ingredients, to which it must be poured in small portions after they are all mixed, in the way which we have minutely described in the receipt for a Madeira cake, and that of the Sutherland puddings. (Chapter XVIII.) To cream it, drain the water well from it, after it is cut, soften it a little before the fire should it be very hard, and then with the back of a large strong wooden spoon beat it until it resembles 608 thick cream. When prepared thus, the sugar is added to it first, and then the other ingredients in succession.

TO WHISK EGGS FOR LIGHT RICH CAKES.

Break them one by one, and separate the yolks from the whites: this is done easily by pouring the yolk from one half of the shell to the other, and letting the white drop from it into a basin beneath. With a small three-pronged fork take out the specks from each egg as it is broken, that none may accidentally escape notice. Whisk the yolks until they appear light, and the whites until they are a quite solid froth; while any liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl they are not suffi­ciently beaten; when a portion of them, taken up with the whisk, and dropped from it, remains standing in points, they are in the proper state for use, and should be mixed into the cake directly.

ORANGE-FLOWER MACAROONS. (DELICIOUS.)

Have ready two pounds of very dry white sifted sugar. Weigh two ounces of the petals of freshly-gathered orange-blossoms after they have been picked from the stems; and cut them very small with a pair of scissors into the sugar, as they will become discoloured if not mixed with it quickly after they are cut. When all are done, add the whites of seven eggs, and beat the whole well together till it looks like snow; then drop the mixture upon paper without delay, and send the cakes to a very cool oven.

Pounded sugar, 2 lbs.; orange-blossoms, 2 ozs.; whites of eggs, 7: 20 minutes, or more.

Obs.—It is almost impossible to state with accuracy the precise time required for these cakes, so much depends on the oven: they should be very delicately coloured, and yet dried through.

ALMOND MACAROONS.

Blanch a pound of fresh Jordan almonds, wipe them dry, and set them into a very cool oven to render them 609 perfectly so; pound them to an exceedingly smooth paste, with a little white of egg; then whisk to a firm solid froth the whites of seven eggs, or of eight, should they be small; mix with them a pound and a half of the finest sugar; add these by degrees to the almonds, whisk the whole up well together, and drop the mixture upon wafer-paper, which may be procured at the confectioner’s: bake them in a moderate oven a very pale brown. It is an improve­ment to the flavour of these cakes to substi­tute an ounce of bitter almonds for one of the sweet: they are sometimes made with an equal weight of each; and another variety of them is obtained by gently browning the almonds in a slow oven before they are pounded.

Jordan almonds blanched, 1 lb.; sugar, 1½ lb.; whites of 7 or 8 eggs: 15 to 20 minutes.

IMPERIALS. (NOT VERY RICH.)

Work into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and mix well with them half a pound of sifted sugar, six ounces of currants, two ounces of candied orange-peel, the grated rind of a lemon, and four well-beaten eggs. Flour a tin lightly, and with a couple of forks place the paste upon it in small rough heaps quite two inches apart. Bake them in a very gentle oven, from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes, or until they are equally coloured to a pale brown.

Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 ozs.; sugar, 8 ozs.; currants, 6 ozs.; candied peel, 2 ozs.; rind of 1 lemon; eggs, 4: 15 to 20 minutes.

VERY GOOD SMALL RICH CAKES.

Beat and mix well together four eggs properly whisked, and half a pound of fine sifted sugar; pour to them by degrees a quarter-pound of clarified butter, as little warmed as possible; stir lightly in with these four ounces of dry sifted flour, beat the mixture for about ten minutes, put it into small buttered pattypans, and bake the cakes a quarter 610 of an hour in a moderate oven. They should be flavoured with the rasped or grated rind of a small lemon, or with pounded mace or cinnamon.

Eggs, 4; sugar, ½ lb.; butter, 4 ozs.; flour, 4 ozs.; lemon-rind, mace, or cinnamon: baked 15 minutes.

ALMOND ROCHER.

Chop very fine together eight ounces of almonds, blanched and dried, six of candied orange-rind, or of orange and lemon rind mixed, and one ounce of citron; then add to them two ounces of flour, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, a small teaspoonful of mace and cinnamon mixed, and the whites of three large eggs; roll the mixture into balls about the size of a large marble, and bake them on wafer-paper twenty minutes in a moderate oven: they should be quite crisp, but not deeply coloured.

Almonds, 8 ozs.; candied orange-rind, 6 ozs.; citron, 1 oz.; flour, 2 ozs.; sugar, ¾ lb.; mace and cinnamon mixed, 1 teaspoonful; whites of eggs, 3 large: baked, moderate oven, 20 minutes.

Obs.—When the flavour is not disliked, it will be found an improve­ment to substi­tute an ounce of bitter almonds for one of the sweet; and we prefer the whole of the almonds and candied peel also cut into spikes instead of being chopped: the ingredients must then be made into a lither paste, and placed in small heaps on the paper.

FINE ALMOND CAKE.

Blanch, dry, and pound to the finest possible paste eight ounces of fresh Jordan almonds, and one ounce of bitter; moisten them with a few drops of cold water or white of egg, to prevent their oiling; then mix with them very gradually twelve fresh eggs which have been whisked until they are exceedingly light; throw in by degrees one pound of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and keep the mixture light by constant beating, with a large wooden spoon, as the separate ingredients are added. Mix in 611 by degrees three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted flour of the best quality; then pour gently from the sediment a pound of butter which has been just melted, but not allowed to become hot, and beat it very gradually but very thoroughly into the cake, letting one portion entirely disappear before another is thrown in; add the rasped or finely-grated rinds of two sound fresh lemons, fill a thickly buttered mould rather more than half full with the mixture, and bake the cake from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated oven. Lay paper over the top when it is suffi­ciently coloured, and guard carefully against its being burned.

Jordan almonds, ½ lb.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; eggs, 12; sugar, 1 lb.; flour, ¾ lb.; butter, 1 lb.; rinds, lemons, 2: 1½ to 2 hours.

Obs.—Three-quarters of a pound of almonds may be mixed with this cake when so large a portion of them is liked, but an addi­tional ounce or two of sugar, and one egg or more, will then be required.

POUND CAKE.

Mix, as directed in the foregoing receipt, ten eggs (some cooks take a pound in weight of these), one pound of sugar, one of flour, and the same of butter. A glass of brandy and a pound of currants may be added very gradually just before the cake is put into the oven, with any spice that is liked, and two or three ounces of candied orange or lemon rind, sliced thin, or an ounce of carraway seeds may supply the place of all. A cake made with half the quantity of the ingredients must be baked one hour.

RICE CAKE.

Take six eggs, with their weight in fine sugar and in butter also, and half their weight of flour of rice, and half of wheaten flour; make the cake as directed for the Madeira or almond cake, but throw in the rice after the flour; then add the butter in the usual way, and bake the cake about an hour and ten minutes. Give any 612 flavour that is liked. The butter may be altogether omitted. This is a moderate-sized cake.

Eggs, in the shell, 6; their weight in butter and in sugar; half as much flour of rice, and the same of wheaten flour: 1 hour, 10 minutes.

WHITE CAKE.

Beat half a pound of fresh butter to a cream, add to it an equal quantity of dried and sifted sugar, the yolks and whites of eight eggs, separately whisked, two ounces of candied orange-peel, half a teaspoonful of mace, a glass of brandy, one pound of flour strewed in by degrees, and last of all, a pound and a quarter of currants. Directly it is mixed send the cake to a well-heated oven, and bake it a couple of hours. Four ounces of beaten almonds are sometimes added to it.

Butter, ½ lb.; sugar, ½ lb.; eggs, 8; mace, ½ teaspoonful; brandy, 1 wineglassful; flour, 1 lb.; candied-peel, 2 ozs.; currants, 1¼ lb.: 2 hours.

A GOOD SPONGE CAKE.

Rasp on some lumps of well-refined sugar the rind of a fine sound lemon, and scrape off the part that has imbibed the essence, or crush the lumps to powder, and add them to as much more as will make up the weight of eight or ten fresh eggs in the shell; break these one by one, and separate the whites from the yolks; beat the latter in a large bowl for ten minutes, then strew in the sugar gradually, and beat them well together. In the mean time let the whites be whisked to quite a solid froth, add them to the yolks, and when they are well blended sift and stir the flour gently to them, but do not beat it into the mixture; pour the cake into a well-buttered mould, and bake it an hour and a quarter in a moderate oven.

Rasped rind 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 8 or 10; their weight of dry, sifted sugar; and half their weight of flour: baked, 1¼ hour, moderate oven.

613

A SMALLER SPONGE CAKE.
(Very good.)

Five full-sized eggs, the weight of four in sugar, and of nearly three in flour, will make an exceedingly good cake: it may be flavoured like the preceding one, with lemon-rind, or with bitter almonds, vanilla, or confected orange-blossoms reduced to powder. An hour will bake it thoroughly. All the ingredients for sponge cakes should be of good quality, and the sugar and flour should be dry; they should also be passed through a fine sieve kept expressly for such purposes. The excellence of the whole depends much on the manner in which the eggs are whisked; this should be done as lightly as possible; but it is a mistake to suppose that they cannot be too long beaten, as after they are brought to a state of perfect firmness they are injured by a continuation of the whisking, and will at times curdle, or render a cake heavy from this cause.

A SPONGE CAKE.
(Good and quickly made.)

Beat together for between twenty and thirty minutes, the yolks of nine and the whites of five fresh eggs; then by degrees add three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and six and a half of flour. Flavour it or not, at choice, with the grated rind of a lemon, and bake it an hour, or rather more, in a brisk oven.

A GOOD MADEIRA CAKE.

Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then, continuing still to whisk them, throw in by slow degrees, the following ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry, pounded, and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded, beat well in a third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake it in an hour in a moderate 614 oven. In this, as in all compositions of the same nature, observe parti­cularly that each portion of butter must be beaten into the mixture until no appearance of it remains before the next is added; and if this be done, and the preparation be kept light by constant and light whisking, the cake will be as good, if not better, than if the butter were creamed. Candied citron can be added to the paste, but it is not needed.

Eggs, 4; sugar, 6 ozs.; flour, 6 ozs.; butter, 4 ozs.; rind of 1 lemon; carbonate of soda, third of teaspoonful: 1 hour, moderate oven.

BANBURY CAKES.

First, mix well together a pound of currants, cleaned with great nicety and dried, a quarter-pound of beef-suet, finely minced, three ounces each of candied orange and lemon rind, shred small, a few grains of salt, a full quarter-ounce of pounded cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, and four ounces of macaroons or ratifias rolled to powder. Next, make a light paste with fourteen ounces of butter to the pound of flour; give it an extra turn or two to prevent its rising too much in the oven; roll out one-half in a very thin square, and spread the mixed fruit and spice equally upon it; moisten the edges, lay on the remaining half of the paste, rolled equally thin, press the edges securely together, mark the whole with the back of a knife in regular divisions of two inches wide and three in length; bake the pastry in a well-heated oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, and divide it into cakes while it is still warm. They may be served as a second course dish either hot or cold, and may be glazed at pleasure.

Currants, 1 lb.; beef-suet, 4 ozs.; candied orange and lemon rind each, 3 ozs.; salt, small pinch; mixed spices, ¼ oz.; macaroons or ratifias, 4 ozs.: baked 25 to 30 minutes.

MERINGUES.

Beat to a very solid froth the whites of six fresh 615 eggs, and have ready to mix with them half a pound of the best sugar, well dried and sifted. Lay some squares or long strips of writing-paper closely upon a board, which ought to be an inch thick to prevent the meringues from receiving any colour from the bottom of the oven. When all is ready for them, stir the sugar to the beaten eggs, and with a table or dessert spoon lay the mixture on the paper in the form of a half egg; sift sugar quickly over, blow off all that does not adhere, and set the meringues imme­diately into a moderate oven: the process must be expeditious, or the sugar melting will cause the meringues to spread instead of retaining their shape. When they are coloured a light brown and are firm to the touch, draw them out, raise them from the paper, and press back the insides with a tea-spoon, or scoop them out so as to leave space enough to admit some whipped cream or preserve, with which they are to be filled, when cold, before they are served. Put them again into the oven to dry gently, and when they are ready for table fasten them together in the shape of a whole egg, and pile them lightly on a napkin for the second course.

Whites of fresh eggs, 6; sifted sugar, ½ lb.

Obs.—Four ounces of pounded almonds may be mixed with the eggs and sugar for these cakes, and any flavour added to them at pleasure. If well made they are remarkably good, and elegant in appearance. They must be fastened together with a little white of egg.

THICK, LIGHT GINGERBREAD.

Crumble down very small eight ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, then add to, and mix thoroughly with them, half a pound of good brown sugar, two ounces of powdered ginger, and half an ounce of ground carraway-seeds; beat gradually to these, first two pounds of treacle, next three well whisked eggs, and last of all half an ounce of carbonate of soda, dissolved in a very small cupful of warm water; stir the whole briskly together, pour the mixture 616 into very shallow tins, put it imme­diately into a moderate oven, and bake it for an hour and a half. The gingerbread made thus will be remarkably light and good. For children part of the spice and butter may be omitted.

Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 8 ozs.; sugar, ½ lb.; powdered ginger, 2 ozs.; ground carraway-seeds, ½ oz.; treacle, 2 lbs.; eggs, 3; carbonate of soda, ½ oz.; water, very small cupful: baked 1½ hour.

Obs.—We think that something less than the half ounce of soda would be suffi­cient for this gingerbread, for with the whole quantity it rises in the oven to three times its height and is apt to run over the tops of the tins even when they are but half-filled with it at first.

GOOD COMMON GINGERBREAD.

Work very smoothly six ounces of fresh butter (or some that has been well washed from the salt, and wrung dry in a cloth,) into one pound of flour, and mix with them thoroughly an ounce of ginger in fine powder, four ounces of brown sugar, and half a teaspoonful of beaten cloves and mace. Wet these with three-quarters of a pound, or rather more, if needful, of cold treacle; roll out the paste, cut the cakes with a round tin cutter, lay them on a floured or buttered baking tin, and put them into a very slow oven. Lemon-grate or candied peel can be added, when it is liked.

Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 ozs.; sugar, ¼ lb.; ginger, 1 oz.; cloves and mace, ½ teaspoonful; treacle, ¾ lb.: ½ to ¾ hour.

RICHER GINGERBREAD.

Melt together three-quarters of a pound of treacle and half a pound of fresh butter, pour these hot on a pound of flour mixed with half a pound of sugar and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger. When the paste is quite cold, roll it out with as much flour as will prevent its adhering to the board: bake the cakes in a very gentle oven.

617

COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD.

Mix well together ten ounces of fine wheaten flour, and six of flour of rice (or rice ground to powder), the grated rind of a lemon, and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger; pour nearly boiling upon these a pound of treacle, five ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar, melted together in a saucepan; beat the mixture, which will be almost a batter, with a wooden spoon, and when quite smooth leave it till it is perfectly cold, then add to it five ounces of grated cocoa-nut, and when it is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients, lay the paste in small heaps upon a buttered tin, and bake them in a very slack oven from half to three-quarters of an hour.

Flour, 10 ozs.; ground rice, 6 ozs.; rind of 1 lemon; ginger, ¾ oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 ozs.; butter, 5 ozs.; cocoa-nut, 5 ozs.: ½ to ¾ hour.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD.

This receipt varies from the preceding one only in its proportions. On eight ounces of flour, well mixed with an equal weight of ground rice,* three-quarters of an ounce of ginger, and the rind of a lemon, pour hot the same quantities of treacle, butter, and sugar, as directed above. When the paste is cold, strew over, and beat well into it, six ounces and a half of grated cocoa-nut. A couple of ounces of candied peel, cut small, can be added, at pleasure.

Flour, 1 lb.; ground rice, ½ lb.; ginger, ¾ oz.; rind of 1 lemon; butter, 5 ozs.; sugar, 5 ozs.; treacle, 1 lb.; cocoa-nut, 6½ ozs.

Obs.—We can particularly recom­mend these receipts to the reader: the cakes made by them are excellent.

* Properly, rice-flour.

CHEAP GINGER BISCUITS.

Work into quite small crumbs three ounces of good butter, with two pounds of flour, then add three ounces of pounded sugar and two of ginger, in fine 618 powder, and knead them into a stiff paste, with new milk. Roll it thin, cut out the biscuits with a cutter, and bake them in a slow oven until they are crisp quite through, but keep them of a pale colour. A couple of eggs are sometimes mixed with the milk for them, but are no material improve­ment; an addi­tional ounce of sugar may be used when a sweeter biscuit is liked. To make good ginger cakes, increase the butter to six ounces, and the sugar to eight, for each pound of flour, and wet the ingredients into a paste with eggs: a little lemon-grate will give it an agreeable flavour.

Biscuits: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 ozs.; pounded sugar, 3 ozs.; ginger, 2 ozs.

Cakes: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 ozs.; sugar, 8 ozs.; ginger, 1 oz.; 3 to 4 eggs; rind of lemon.

ISLE OF WIGHT DOUGH-NUTS.

Work smoothly together with the fingers four ounces of good lard, and four pounds of flour, add half a pound of fine brown sugar, two table­spoonsful of allspice, one drachm of pounded cinnamon, half as much of cloves, two large blades of mace, beaten to powder, two table­spoonsful of fresh yeast which has been watered for one night, and which should be solid, and as much new milk as will make the whole into a rather firm dough; let this stand from an hour to an hour and a half near the fire, then knead it well, and make it into balls about the size of a small apple, hollow them with the thumb, and enclose a few currants in the middle, gather the paste well over them, and throw the dough-nuts into a saucepan half filled with boiling lard; when they are equally coloured to a fine brown, lift them out and dry them before the fire on the back of a sieve. When made in large quantities, as they are at certain seasons in the island, they are drained upon very clean straw. The lard should boil only just before they are dropped into it, or the outsides will be scorched before the insides are suffi­ciently done.

Flour, 4 lbs.; lard, 4 ozs.; sugar, ½ lb.; allspice, 2 619 table­spoonsful; pounded cinnamon, 1 drachm; cloves and mace, each ½ drachm; yeast (solid), two large table­spoonsful: to rise 1 to 1½ hour. Currants, at choice: dough-nuts boiled in lard, 5 to 7 minutes.

CINNAMON, OR LEMON CAKES.

Rub six ounces of good butter into a pound of fine dry flour, and work it lightly into crumbs, then add three-quarters of a pound of sifted sugar, a dessert­spoonful of pounded cinnamon (or half as much when only a slight flavour is liked), and make these ingredients into a firm paste with three eggs, or four, if needed. Roll it, not very thin, and cut out the cakes with a tin shape. Bake them in a very gentle oven from fifteen to twenty minutes, or longer, should they not be done quite through. As soon as they are cold, put them into a clean and dry tin-canister, a precaution which should be observed with all small sugar cakes, which ought also to be loosened from the oven tins while they are still warm.

Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 ozs.; sugar, ¾ lb.; cinnamon, 1 dessert­spoonful (more or less, to the taste); eggs, 3 to 4.

Obs.—Lemon cakes can be made by this receipt by substi­tuting for the cinnamon the rasped or grated rinds of two lemons, and the strained juice of one, when its acidity is not objected to. More butter, and more or less of sugar can be used at will, both for these and for the cinnamon cakes.

QUEEN CAKES.

To make these, proceed exactly as for Sutherland puddings (see page 472), but allow ten eggs for the pound of sugar, butter, and flour, and when these are all well mixed, throw in half a teaspoonful of mace, and a pound of clean dry currants. Bake the cakes in small, well-buttered tin-pans (heart-shaped ones are usual), in a somewhat brisk oven, for about twenty minutes.

620

A GOOD LIGHT BUN.

Break quite small three ounces of good butter into a pound and a quarter of flour, stir into the middle of these a spoonful and a quarter of solid, well-purified yeast, mixed with something more than a quarter-pint of warm milk, and leave it to rise before, but not close to the fire, for an hour, or longer, should it not then appear extremely light. Add to three eggs, properly whisked, a few spoonsful of warm milk, strain and beat them to the bun; next, mix with it six ounces of pale brown sugar, six of well cleaned currants, and the grated rind of a small lemon, or some nutmeg, if preferred; or, in lieu of either, slice into it an ounce and a half of candied orange-rind. Let it again rise for an hour, then beat it up lightly with a wooden spoon, put it into a buttered pan, and bake in a brisk oven for nearly or quite an hour. An addi­tional ounce of butter will improve it.

Flour, 1¼ lb.; yeast, 1¼ tablespoonful: 1 hour, or more. Eggs, 3; milk, in all not ½ pint; sugar, 6 ozs.; currants, 6 ozs.; lemon-grate, nutmeg, or candied orange-rind, at pleasure: 1 hour. Baked nearly or quite an hour, brisk oven.

COCOA-NUT BISCUIT.
(Excellent.)

With a pound of flour mix three ounces of a sound fresh cocoa-nut, rasped on a fine grater; make a leaven as for the bun in the foregoing receipt, with a large table­spoonful of good yeast, and about the third of a pint of warm new milk; let it stand for an hour, then strew over and mix well up with it four ounces of pounded sugar; next, dissolve two ounces of butter in a very little milk, cool it down with a few spoonsful of cold milk if needful, and pour it to a couple of well whisked eggs; with these wet the other ingredients into a very light dough, let it stand from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, and bake it about the same time in a 621 rather quick oven. Two ounces more of sugar, one of butter, and two of candied orange-rind, sliced thin, will convert this into a good cake, the cocoa-nut imparting great richness as well as flavour to the mixture: the proportion of this can also be regulated by the taste, after the first trial.

Flour, 1 lb.; grated cocoa-nut, 3 ozs.; yeast, 1 large table­spoonful; milk, ⅓ of pint: 1 hour. Pounded sugar, 4 ozs.; butter, 2 ozs.; eggs, 2; little milk: ¾ to 1 hour. Or: sugar, 6 ozs.; butter, 3 ozs.; candied orange-rind, 2 ozs.: baked nearly or quite an hour.

THREADNEEDLE STREET BISCUITS.

Mix with a couple of pounds of sifted flour of the very best quality, three ounces of good butter, and work it into the smallest possible crumbs; add four ounces of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and make them into a firm paste with new milk; beat this forcibly for some minutes with the rolling-pin, and when it is extremely smooth roll it the third of an inch thick, cut it with a small square cutter, and bake the biscuits in a very slow oven until they are crisp to the centre: no part of them should remain soft. Half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda is said to improve them, but we have not put it to the test. Carraway-seeds can be added when liked.

Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 ozs.; sugar, 4 ozs.; new milk, 1 pint or more: biscuits slowly baked till crisp.

A GALETTE.

The galette is a favourite cake in France, and may be made rich, and comparatively delicate, or quite common, by using more or less butter for it, and by augmenting or diminishing the size. Work lightly three-quarters of a pound of good butter into a pound of flour, add a large saltspoonful of salt, and make these into a paste with the yolks of a couple of eggs mixed with a small cup of good cream, should it be at hand; if not, with water; roll this into a complete round, three-quarters of an inch thick; score it in small diamonds, brush yolk 622 of egg over the top, and bake the galette for about half an hour in a tolerably brisk oven; it is usually eaten hot, but is served cold also. An ounce of sifted sugar is sometimes added to it.

A good galette: flour, 1 lb.; salt, 1 saltspoonful; yolks of eggs, 2; cream, small cupful: baked ½ hour. Common galette: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, ¾ to 1 lb.; no eggs.

CORNISH HEAVY CAKE.

Mix with a pound and a half of flour, ten ounces of well-cleaned currants, and a small teaspoonful of salt; make these into a smooth paste with clotted cream (any which is very thick will do), roll the cake till it is an inch and a quarter in depth, and bake it thoroughly in a quick oven, after having scored the top.

Flour, 1½ lb.; currants, 10 ozs.; salt, small teaspoonful; clotted, or very thick cream, ¾ to full pint: 35 to 45 minutes, brisk oven.

FLEED OR FLEAD CAKES.

These are very much served as a tea-cake at the tables of the superior order of Kentish farmers. For the mode of making them, proceed as for flead-crust (see Chapter XVI.); cut the cakes small with a round cutter, and leave them more than half an inch thick; if well-made they will rise much in the oven. Bake them quickly.

Flour, 2 lbs.; flead, 1¼ lb.; butter, 6 ozs.: baked 10 to 15 minutes.

CHAPTER XXIV.
CONFECTIONARY.

TO CLARIFY SUGAR.

It is an economy to use at once the very best sugar for confectionary in general, for when highly refined it needs 623 little or no clarifying, even for the most delicate purposes; and the coarser kinds lose considerable weight in the process. Break it into large lumps, and put it into a very clean preserving pan; measure for each pound a pint of spring water if it be intended for syrup, but less than half that quantity for candying or making barley-sugar. Beat first apart (but not to a strong froth), and afterwards with the water, about half the white of an egg for six pounds of sugar, unless it should be very common, when twice as much may be used. When they are well mixed pour them over the sugar, and let it stand until it is nearly dissolved; then stir the whole thoroughly, and place it over a gentle fire, but do not disturb it after the scum begins to gather on the top; let it boil for five minutes, then take the pan from the fire, and when it has stood a couple of minutes clear off the scum entirely, with a skimmer; set the pan again over the fire, and when the sugar begins to boil throw in a little cold water, which has been reserved for the purpose from the quantity first measured, and repeat the skimming until the syrup is very clear; it may then be strained through a muslin, or a thin cloth, and put into a clean pan for further boiling.

For syrup: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; ½ white of 1 egg. For candying, &c.: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 2½ pints: 5 to 10 minutes.

TO BOIL SUGAR FROM SYRUP TO CANDY, OR TO CARAMEL.

The technicalities by which confectioners distinguish the different degrees of sugar-boiling, seem to us calculated rather to puzzle than to assist the reader; and we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to such plain English terms as may suffice, we hope, to explain them. After having boiled a certain time, the length of which will in a measure depend upon the quality of the sugar as well as the quantity of water added, it becomes a thin syrup, and it will scarcely form a short thread if a drop be pressed between the thumb and finger and they are then drawn apart; from five to 624 ten minutes more of rapid boiling will bring it to a thick syrup, and when this degree is reached the thread may be drawn from one hand to the other at some length without breaking; but its appearance in dropping from the skimmer will perhaps best denote its being at this point, as it hangs in a sort of string as it falls. After this the sugar will soon begin to whiten, and to form large bubbles in the pan, when, if it be intended for barley-sugar, or caramel, some lemon-juice or other acid must be added to it, to prevent its graining or becoming sugar again; but if wanted to candy, it must be stirred without ceasing until it rises almost to the top of the pan, in one large white mass, when it must be used imme­diately or ladled out into paper cases or on to dishes, with the utmost expedition, as it passes in an instant almost from this state to one in which it forms a sort of powder, which will render it necessary to add water, to stir it until dissolved, and to re-boil it to the proper point. For barley-sugar likewise it must be constantly stirred, and carefully watched after the lemon-juice is added. A small quantity should be dropped from time to time into a large basin of cold water by those who are inexperienced in the process; when in falling into this it makes a bubbling noise, and if taken out imme­diately after snaps clean between the teeth without sticking to them it must be poured out instantly: if wanted for sugar-spinning, the pan must be plunged as quickly as possible into a vessel of cold water.

BARLEY SUGAR.

Add to three pounds of highly-refined sugar one pint and a quarter of spring water, with suffi­cient white of egg to clarify it in the manner directed in the last receipt but one; pour to it, when it begins to whiten and to be very thick, a dessert­spoonful of the strained juice of a fresh lemon; and boil it quickly till it is at the point which we have indicated above. A few drops of essence of lemon may be added to it, 625 just as it is taken from the fire. Pour it on to a marble slab, or on to a shallow dish which has been slightly oiled, or rubbed with a morsel of fresh butter; and when it begins to harden at the edges form it into sticks, lozenges, balls, or any other shapes at pleasure. While it is still liquid it may be used for various purposes, such as Chantilly baskets, palace bonbons, des croques-en-bouches,* cerises au cáramel, &c.: for these the vessel containing it must be set into a pan of water, and it must again be liquified with a very gentle degree of heat should it cool too quickly. As it soon dissolves if exposed to damp, it should be put into very dry canisters as soon as it is cold, and these should be kept in a dry place.

Best sugar, 3 lbs.; water, 1¼ pint; white of egg, 4th of 1; lemon-juice, 1 dessert­spoonful.

* These are formed of small cakes, roast chestnuts, and various other things, just dipped singly into the barley-sugar, and then arranged in good form and joined in a mould, from which they are turned out for table.

GINGER CANDY.

Break a pound of highly-refined sugar into lumps, put it into a preserving pan, and pour over it about the third of a pint of spring water; let it stand until the sugar is nearly dissolved, then set it over a perfectly clear fire, and boil it until it becomes a thin syrup. Have ready in a large cup a teaspoonful of the very best ginger in powder, mix it smoothly and gradually with two or three spoonsful of the syrup, and then stir it well into the whole. Watch the mixture carefully, keep it stirred, and drop it often from a spoon to ascertain the exact point of boiling it has reached. When it begins to fall in flakes throw in the freshly-grated rind of a very large lemon, or of two small ones, and work the sugar round quickly as it is added. The candy must now be stirred constantly until it is done: this will be, when it falls in a mass from the spoon, and does not sink when placed in a small heap on a 626 dish. It must be poured, or laded out, as expeditiously as possible when ready, or it will fall quite into powder. If this should happen, a little water must be added to it, and it must be re-boiled to the proper point. The candy, if dropped in cakes upon cold dishes, may be moved off without difficulty before it is thoroughly cold, but must not be touched while quite hot or it will break.

Sugar, highly-refined, 1 lb.; water, one-third of a pint; ginger, 1 teaspoonful; rind of 1 large lemon.

ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY.

Beat in three-quarters of a pint or rather more, of water, about the fourth part of the white of an egg; and pour it on two pounds of the best sugar broken into lumps. When it has stood a little time, place it over a very clear fire, and let it boil for a few minutes, then set it on one side, until the scum has subsided; clear it off, and boil the sugar till it is very thick, then strew in by degrees three ounces of the petals of the orange-blossom, weighed after they are picked from their stems. Continue to stir the candy until it rises in one white mass in the pan, then pour it into small paper cases, or on to dishes, and follow for it precisely the same direc­tions as are given for the ginger-candy in the preceding receipt. The orange-flowers will turn brown if thrown too soon into the syrup: it should be more than three-parts boiled when they are added. They must be gathered on the day they are wanted for use, as they become soon discoloured from keeping.

Sugar, 2 lbs.; water, ¾ pint; ¼ white of egg; orange-blossoms, 3 ozs.

ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY.
(Another Receipt.)

The French, who are very fond of the delicious flavour of the orange-blossom, leave the petals in the candy; but a more delicate confection, to English taste, is made as follows:—Throw the orange-flowers into the syrup when it has boiled about ten minutes, and after they have simmered 627 in it for five more, pour the whole out, and leave them to infuse until the following day, or even longer, if more conve­nient; then bring the syrup to the point of boiling, strain it from the blossoms through a muslin, and finish it by the foregoing receipt.

PALACE-BONBONS.

Take some fine fresh candied orange or lemon peel, take off the sugar that adheres to it, cut it into inch-squares, stick these singly on the prong of a silver fork, or on osier-twigs, dip them into liquid barley sugar, and place them on a dish rubbed with the smallest possible quantity of very pure salad oil. When cold, put them into tin boxes or canisters well dried, with paper between each layer.

EVERTON TOFFIE.

Put into a brass skillet, if at hand, three ounces of very fresh butter, and as soon as it is just melted, add a pound of brown sugar of moderate quality; keep these stirred gently over a very clear fire for about fifteen minutes, or until a little of the mixture dropped into a basin of cold water, breaks clean between the teeth without sticking to them: when it is boiled to this point, it must be poured out imme­diately, or it will burn. The grated rind of a lemon, added when the toffie is half done, improves it much; or a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger, moistened with a little of the other ingredients, as soon as the sugar is dissolved, and then stirred to the whole, will vary it pleasantly to many tastes. The real Everton toffie is made, we apprehend, with a much larger proportion of butter, but it is the less whole­some on that very account. If dropped upon dishes first rubbed with a buttered paper, the toffie when cold can be raised from them easily.

Butter, 3 ozs.; sugar, 1 lb.: 15 to 18 minutes.

TOFFIE. (ANOTHER WAY.)

Boil together a pound of sugar and five ounces of butter for twenty minutes; then stir in two ounces of 628 almonds blanched, divided, and thoroughly dried in a slow oven, or before the fire. Let the toffie boil after they are added, till it crackles when dropped into cold water, and snaps between the teeth without sticking.

Sugar, 1 lb.; butter, 5 ozs.; almonds, 2 ozs.: 20 to 30 minutes.

CHAPTER XXV.
DESSERT-DISHES.

MÉLANGE OF FRUIT.

Heap a dessert-dish quite high with alternate layers of fine fresh straw­berries stripped from the stalks, white and red currants, and white or red raspberries; strew each layer plentifully with sifted sugar, and just before the dish is sent to table, pour equally over the top a glass and a half of brandy, or, if preferred, the same quantity or rather more of white wine, mixed with the strained juice of one small, or of half a large lemon. Currants by themselves are excellent prepared in this way, and straw­berries also. The fruit should be gently stirred with a spoon when it is served. Each variety must be picked with great nicety from the stalks. The brandy would, we think, be less to the general taste in this country than the wine.

FRUIT EN CHEMISE, OR PERLÉ.

Select for this dish very fine bunches of red and white currants, large ripe cherries, and goose­berries of different colours, and straw­berries or raspberries very freshly gathered. Beat up the white of an egg with about half as much cold water, dip the fruit into this mixture, drain it on a sieve for an instant, and then roll it in fine sifted sugar till it is covered in every part; 629 give it a gentle shake, and lay it on sheets of white paper to dry. In England, thin gum-water is sometimes used, we believe, for this dish, instead of the white of egg; we give, however, the French method of preparing it. It will dry gradually in a warm room, or a sunny window, in the course of three or four hours.

PEACH SALAD.

Pare and slice half a dozen fine ripe peaches, arrange them in a dish, strew them with pounded sugar, and pour over them two or three glasses of champagne: other wine may be used, but this is best. Persons who prefer brandy can substi­tute it for wine. The quantity of sugar must be proportioned to the sweetness of the fruit.

ORANGE SALAD.

Take off the outer rinds, and then strip away entirely the white inside skin from some fine China oranges; slice them thin, and remove the pips as this is done; strew over them plenty of white sifted sugar, and pour on them a glass or more of brandy: when the sugar is dissolved serve the oranges. In France ripe pears of superior quality are sometimes sliced in with the oranges. Powdered sugar-candy used instead of sugar, is an improve­ment in this salad; and the substi­tution of port, sherry, or Madeira for the brandy is often consi­dered so. The fruit may be used without being pared, and a little cuirasseau or any other liqueur may be added to the brandy; or this last, when unmixed, may be burned after it is poured on the oranges.

COMPOTE OF ORANGES.
(A Hebrew dish.)

After having pared and stripped the white inner rind from some fine oranges, pull them into quarters, arrange them neatly in a dish, and just before they are sent to table pour over them some rich syrup, and garnish the whole tastefully with preserved citron cut in thin slices. 630 Half a pint of syrup will be suffi­cient for a large number of oranges; it would be improved, we think, if the rind of one pared very thin were infused in it for an hour before it is used. This is one of the receipts which we have not consi­dered it needful to prove.

ORANGES WARMED.

Place them in a Dutch oven at a considerable distance from the fire, and keep them constantly turned: they should only be just warmed through. Fold them in a napkin when done, and send them imme­diately to table. This mode of treating them is said to improve greatly the flavour of the oranges.

BLACK CAPS PAR EXCELLENCE.

Cut a dozen fine Norfolk biffins in two without paring them, scoop out the cores, and fill the cavities with thin strips of fresh lemon-rind and with candied orange-peel. Cover the bottom of a flat shallow tin with a thick layer of fine pale brown sugar, press the two halves of each apple together, and place them closely in the tin; pour half a bottle of raisin or of any other sweet wine over them, and be careful to moisten the tops of all; sift white sugar thickly on them, and set the tin into a very hot oven at first, that the outsides of the apples may catch or become black; then draw them to the mouth of the oven, and bake them gently till they are soft quite through: they will resemble a rich sweet­meat when done, and will remain good for many days. The Norfolk biffin answers for this dish far better than any other kind of apple, but the winter queening, and some few firm sorts beside, can be used for it with fair success. These for variety may be cored without being divided, and filled with orange marmalade. The black caps served hot, as a second course dish, are excellent.

Norfolk biffins, 12; rinds fresh lemons, 1 to 2; candied orange-rind, 2 to 3 ozs.; pale brown sugar, ¾ 631 lb.; raisin or other wine, ½ bottle; little sifted sugar: ¾ to 1 hour or more.

NORMANDY PIPPINS.

To one pound of the apples, put one quart of water and six ounces of sugar; let them simmer gently for three hours, or more should they not be perfectly tender. A few strips of fresh lemon-peel and a very few cloves are by some persons consi­dered agreeable additions to the syrup.

Dried Normandy pippins, 1 lb.; water, 1 quart; sugar, 6 ozs.: 3 to 4 hours.

Obs.—These pippins, if stewed with care, will be converted into a rich confection: they may be served hot in a border of rice, as a second course dish.

STEWED PRUNEAUX DE TOURS, OR TOURS DRIED PLUMS.

These plums, which resemble in form small dried Norfolk biffins, make a delicious compote: they are also excellent served dry. In France they are stewed till tender in equal parts of water, and of the light red wine of the country, with about four ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit: when port wine is used for them a smaller proportion of it will suffice. The sugar should not be added in stewing any dried fruits until they are at least half-done, as they will not soften by any means so easily in syrup as in unsweetened liquid.

Dried plums, 1 lb.; water, ½ pint, and light claret, ½ pint, or water, ¾ pint, and port wine, ¼ pint: 1½ hour. Sugar, 4 ozs.: 1 hour or more.

Obs.—Common French plums are stewed in the same way with or without wine. A little experience will teach the cook the exact quantity of liquid and of sugar which they require.

BAKED COMPOTE OF APPLES.
(Our little lady’s receipt.)

Put into a wide Nottingham jar, with a cover, two quarts of golden pippins, or of the small apple which 632 resembles them in appearance, called the orange pippin (this is very plentiful in the county of Kent), pared and cored, but without being divided; strew amongst them some small strips of very thin fresh lemon-rind, and throw on them, nearly at the top, half a pound of very good Lisbon sugar, and set the jar, with the cover tied on, for some hours, or for a night, into a very slow oven. The apples will be extremely good, if not too quickly baked: they should remain entire, but be perfectly tender, and clear in appearance. Add a little lemon-juice when the season is far advanced.

Apples, 2 quarts; rind, quite small lemon; sugar ½ lb.: 1 night in slow oven; or some hours baking in a very gentle one.

Obs.—These apples may be served hot or cold for a second course dish; or they will answer admirably to fill Gabrielle’s pudding.

TO BAKE PEARS.

Wipe some large sound iron pears, arrange them on a dish with the stalk end upwards, put them into the oven after the bread is drawn, and let them remain all night. If well baked, they will be excellent, very sweet, and juicy, and much finer in flavour than those which are stewed or baked with sugar: the bon chrétien pear also is delicious baked thus.

STEWED PEARS.

Pare, cut in halves, and core a dozen fine iron pears, put them into a close shutting stewpan with some thin strips of lemon-rind, half a pound of sugar, in lumps, as much water as will nearly cover them, and should a very bright colour be desired, a dozen grains of cochineal, bruised, and tied in a muslin; stew the fruit as gently as possible, from four to six hours, or longer, should it not be very tender. The Chau­montel pear, which sometimes falls in large quantities before it is ripe, is excellent, if first baked until tolerably tender, and then stewed in a thin syrup.

633

BOILED CHESTNUTS.

Make a slight incision in the outer skin only of each chestnut, to prevent its bursting, and when all are done, throw them into plenty of boiling water, with about a dessert­spoonful of salt to the half gallon. Some chestnuts will require to be boiled nearly or quite an hour, others little more than half the time; the cook should try them occasionally, and as soon as they are soft through, drain then, wipe them in a coarse cloth, and send them to table quickly in a hot napkin.

ROAST CHESTNUTS.

The best mode of preparing these is to roast them, as in Spain, in a coffee-roaster, after having first boiled them from five to seven minutes, and wiped them dry. They should not be allowed to cool, and will require but from ten to fifteen minutes’ roasting. They may, when more conve­nient, be finished over the fire as usual, or in a Dutch, or common oven, but in all cases the previous boiling will be found an improve­ment. Never omit to cut the rind of each nut slightly before it is cooked. Serve the chestnuts very hot in a napkin, and send salt to table with them.

CHAPTER XXVI.
SYRUPS, LIQUEURS, &c.

STRAWBERRY VINEGAR, OF DELICIOUS FLAVOUR.

Take the stalks from the fruit, which should be of a highly flavoured sort, quite ripe, fresh from the beds, and gathered in dry weather; weigh and put it into large glass jars, or wide-necked bottles, and to each pound pour about a pint and a half of fine pale white 634 wine vinegar, which will answer the purpose better than the entirely colourless kind sold under the name of distilled vinegar, but which is, we believe, the pyrolig­neous acid greatly diluted. Tie a thick paper over them, and let the straw­berries remain from three to four days; then pour off the vinegar and empty them into a jelly-bag, or suspend them in a cloth that all the liquid may drop from them without pressure; replace them with an equal weight of fresh fruit, pour the vinegar upon it, and three days afterwards repeat the same process, diminishing a little the proportion of straw­berries, of which the flavour ought ultimately to overpower that of the vinegar. In from two to four days drain off the liquid very closely, and after having strained it through a linen or a flannel bag, weigh it, and mix with it an equal quantity of highly-refined sugar roughly powdered; when this is nearly dissolved, stir the syrup over a very clear fire until it has boiled five minutes, and skim it thoroughly; pour it into a delicately clean stone pitcher, or into large china jugs, throw a folded cloth over and let it remain until the morrow; put it into pint or half-pint bottles, and cork them lightly with new velvet corks; for if these be pressed in tightly at first, the bottles would be liable to burst: in four or five days they may be closely corked, and stored in a dry and cool place. Damp destroys the colour and injures the flavour of these fine fruit-vinegars; of which a spoonful or two in a glass of water affords so agreeable a summer beverage, and one which, in many cases of illness, is so acceptable to invalids. They make also most admirable sauces for Her Majesty’s pudding, common custard, batter, and various other simple and sweet light puddings.

Strawberries (stalked), 4 lbs.; vinegar, 3 quarts: 3 to 4 days. Vinegar drained and poured on fresh straw­berries, 4 lbs.: 3 days. Drained again on to fresh fruit, 3 to 4 lbs.: 2 to 4 days. To each pound of the vinegar, 1 lb. of highly refined sugar: boiled 5 minutes. Lightly corked, 4 or 5 days.

635

Obs.—Where there is a garden the fruit may be thrown into the vinegar as it ripens, within an interval of forty-eight hours, instead of being all put to infuse at once, and it must then remain in it a proportionate time: one or two days in addition to that specified, will make no difference to the preparation. The enamelled German stewpans are the best possible vessels to boil it in; but it may be simmered in a stone jar set into a pan of boiling water when there is nothing more appropriate at hand; though the syrup does not usually keep so well when this last method is adopted.

Raspberries and strawberries mixed will make a vinegar of very pleasant flavour; black currants also will afford an exceedingly useful syrup of the same kind.

STRAWBERRY ACID ROYAL.

Dissolve in a quart of spring water two ounces of citric acid, and pour it on as many quite ripe and richly-flavoured straw­berries, stripped from their stalks, as it will just cover; in twenty-four hours drain the liquid closely from the fruit, and pour on it as much more; keep it in a cool place, and the next day drain it again entirely from the fruit, and boil it gently for three or four minutes, with its weight of very fine sugar, which should be dissolved in it before it is placed over the fire. It should be boiled, if possible, in an enamelled stewpan. When perfectly cold put it into small dry bottles for use, and store it in a cool but not damp place. It is one of the most delicate and deliciously flavoured prepara­tions possible, and of beautiful colour. If allowed to remain longer than the eight and forty hours before it is boiled, a brisk fermentation will commence. It must be well secured from the air when stored.

Water, 1 quart; citric acid, 2 ozs.; straw­berries, 2 to 3 lbs.: 24 hours. Same quantity of fruit: 24 636 hours. Equal weight of sugar and this liquid: 3 to 4 minutes at the utmost.

VERY FINE RASPBERRY VINEGAR.

Fill glass jars, or large wide-necked bottles, with very ripe but perfectly sound, freshly-gathered raspberries, freed from their stalks, and cover them with pale white wine vinegar: they may be left to infuse from a week to ten days without injury, or the vinegar may be poured from them in four or five, when more conve­nient. After it is drained off, turn the fruit into a sieve placed over a deep dish or bowl, as the juice will flow slowly from it for many hours; put fresh raspberries into the bottles, and pour the vinegar back upon them; two or three days later change the fruit again, and when it has stood the same space of time, drain the whole of the vinegar from it, pass it through a jelly-bag, or thick linen cloth, and boil it gently for four or five minutes with its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, or a pound and a quarter to the exact pint, and be very careful to remove the scum entirely, as it rises. On the following day bottle the syrup, observing the direc­tions which we have given for the straw­berry vinegar. When the fruit is scarce it may be changed twice only, and left a few days longer in the vinegar.

Raspberries, 6 lbs.; vinegar, 9 pints: 7 to 10 days. Vinegar drained on to fresh raspberries (6 lbs. of): 3 to 5 days. Poured again on fresh raspberries, 6 lbs.: 3 to 5 days. Boiled 5 minutes with its weight of sugar.

Obs.—When the process of sugar-boiling is well understood, it will be found an improve­ment to boil that which is used for raspberry or straw­berry vinegar to candy-height before the liquid is mixed with it; all the scum may then be removed with a couple of minutes’ simmering, and the flavour of the fruit will be more perfectly preserved. For more parti­cular direc­tions as to the mode of proceeding, the chapter of confectionary may be consulted.

637

ORANGE-FLOWER RATIFIA.
A Delicious Liqueur.

Boil to a thick syrup a pound and a quarter of highly refined sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of water; throw into it three ounces of the petals only, plucked one by one from the stem, of some freshly gathered orange-blossoms, give them two minutes’ boil, take them from the fire, and when the whole is half cold stir in two bottles of white French brandy; turn the mixture into a new and well-scalded stone pitcher, or jar, make it air-tight as soon as the liqueur is quite cold, and in from three to four weeks it will be ready to bottle after the flowers have been strained from it: they give it a delicious flavour.

Water, ¾ pint; sugar, 1¼ lb.: 15 to 20 minutes or more. Petals of the orange-blossom, 3 ozs.; 2 minutes. White French brandy, 2 quarts: infuse 3 to 4 weeks.

OXFORD PUNCH.

Extract the essence from the rinds of three lemons by rubbing them with sugar in lumps; put these into a large jug with the peel of two Seville oranges and of two lemons cut extremely thin, the juice of four Seville oranges and of ten lemons, and six glasses of calf’s foot jelly in a liquid state. Stir these well together, pour to them two quarts of boiling water, cover the jug closely, and set it near the fire for a quarter of an hour, then strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, add half a pint of white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle of orange shrub; stir the punch as the spirits are poured in. If not suffi­ciently sweet, add sugar in small quantities, or a spoonful or two of capillaire.

Rinds of lemons rubbed with sugar, 3; thin peel of lemons, 2; of Seville oranges, 2; juice of 4 Seville oranges, and 10 lemons; calf’s foot jelly, 6 glasses; water, 2 quarts: ¼ hour. Capillaire, 1 bottle; white 638 wine, ½ pint; orange shrub, 1 bottle.

OXFORD RECEIPT FOR BISHOP.

“Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon,* stick cloves in these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water; let it boil till it is reduced one half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan. Put the roasted lemons and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted), pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to your taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.”

* A Seville orange stuck with cloves, to many tastes imparts a finer flavour than the lemon.

TO MULL WINE.
(An Excellent French Receipt.)

Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water a quarter of an ounce of spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces of fine sugar, till they form a thick syrup, which must not on any account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it gently till it is on the point of boiling only: it should then be served imme­diately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind cut extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France light claret takes the place of port-wine in making it, and the better kinds of Vins du Pays are very palatable thus prepared.

Water, 1½ wineglassful; spice, ¼ oz., of which fine cloves, 24, and of remainder, rather more ginger than cinnamon; sugar, 3 ozs.: 15 to 20 minutes. Port wine or claret, 1 pint; orange-rind, if used, to be boiled with the spice.

639

Obs.—Sherry, or very fine raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above, and stirred hot to the yolks of four fresh eggs, will be found excellent.

A BIRTHDAY SYLLABUB.

Put into a large bowl half a pound of sugar broken small, and pour on it the strained juice of a couple of fresh lemons, stir these well together, and add to them a pint of port wine, a pint of sherry, and half a pint of brandy; grate in a fine nutmeg, place the bowl under the cow, and milk it full. In serving it put a portion of the curd into each glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top. The rind of a lemon may be rasped with part of the sugar when the flavour is approved, but it is not usually added.

Juice of lemons, 2; sugar, ½ lb. or more; port-wine, 1 pint; sherry, 1 pint; brandy ½ pint; nutmeg, 1; milk from the cow, 2 quarts.

Obs.—We can testify to the excellence of this receipt.

CUIRASSEAU, OR CURAÇOA.
(An excellent and wholesome Liqueur.)

Stick into the rind of a very fine China orange of rich flavour from three to four cloves; put it into a glass jar, and shower over it half a pound of good West Indian sugar, not very brown; pour in a quart of French brandy; tie a couple of bladders over the jar, or stop it with a cork fitted to its size, and place it in a sunny window, or any other warm place, for a month; shake it gently round every day to dissolve the sugar, or stir it, if needful; then strain it off, and bottle it. It is sometimes filtered; but the long exposure to the air which this occasions is better avoided. It is an admirable house­hold stomachic liqueur, of which we obtained the receipt abroad, from a friend who had it made yearly in considerable quantity.

1 very fine richly flavoured China orange, left whole (or two small ones), stuck with 3 or 4 cloves; 640 good pale brown sugar ½ lb.; French brandy, 1 quart: infuse 1 month.

THE REGENT’S, OR GEORGE THE FOURTH’S, PUNCH.

Pare as thin as possible the rinds of two China oranges, of two lemons, and of one Seville orange, and infuse them for an hour in half a pint of thin cold syrup; then add to them the juice of the fruit. Make a pint of strong green tea, sweeten it well with fine sugar, and, when it is quite cold, add it to the fruit and syrup, with a glass of the best old Jamaica rum, a glass of brandy, one of arrack, one of pine apple syrup, and two bottles of champagne; pass the whole through a fine lawn sieve until it is perfectly clear, then bottle, and put it into ice until dinner is served. We are indebted for this receipt to a person who made the punch daily for the prince’s table, at Carlton palace, for six months; it has been in our possession some years, and may be relied on.

Rinds and juice of 2 China oranges, 2 lemons, and of 1 Seville orange; syrup ½ pint; strong green tea, sweetened, 1 pint; best old Jamaica rum, arrack, French brandy (vieux cognac), and pine apple syrup, each 1 glassful; champagne 2 bottles. In ice for a couple of hours.

THE OLD BACHELOR’S PUNCH.

Put into one half pint tumbler the very thin rind of a fresh lemon, and fill it with boiling water; squeeze the juice into a second glass of the same size, and fill it nearly to the brim with sugar in lumps; then pour in as much boiling water as it will contain, and when the sugar is dissolved, turn the contents of both glasses into a hot jug; add a table­spoonful of fine currant (or of guava) jelly, should it be at hand; stir the whole well, keep it very hot, and add to it as much spirit as will make it pleasant, but in the proportion of two glasses of brandy to one of rum.

641

MINT JULEP.
(An American Receipt.)

“Strip the tender leaves of mint into a tumbler, and add to them as much wine, brandy, or any other spirit, as you wish to take. Put some pounded ice into a second tumbler; pour this on the mint and brandy, and continue to pour the mixture from one tumbler to the other until the whole is suffi­ciently impregnated with the flavour of the mint, which is extracted by the particles of ice coming into brisk contact when changed from one vessel to the other. Now place the glass in a larger one, containing pounded ice: on taking it out of which it will be covered with frost-work.”

DELICIOUS MILK LEMONADE.

Dissolve six ounces of loaf sugar in a pint of boiling water, and mix with them a quarter-pint of lemon-juice, and the same quantity of sherry; then add three quarters of a pint of cold milk, stir the whole well together, and pass it through a jelly-bag till clear.

EXCELLENT PORTABLE LEMONADE.

Rasp, with a quarter-pound of sugar, the rind of a very fine juicy lemon, reduce it to powder, and pour on it the strained juice of the fruit. Press the mixture into a jar, and when wanted for use dissolve a table­spoonful of it in a glass of water. It will keep a considerable time. If too sweet for the taste of the drinker, a very small portion of citric acid may be added when it is taken.

EXCELLENT BARLEY WATER.
(Poor Xury’s Receipt.)

Wipe very clean, by rolling it in a soft cloth, two table­spoonsful of pearl-barley; put it into a quart jug, with a lump or two of sugar, a grain or two of salt, and a strip of lemon peel, cut thin; fill up the jug with boiling water and keep the mixture gently stirred for some minutes; 642 then cover it down, and let it stand till perfectly cold. In twelve hours, or less, it will be fit for use; but it is better when made over-night. If these direc­tions be followed, the barley-water will be comparatively clear, and very soft and pleasant to drink. A glass of calf’s feet jelly added to the barley is an infinite improve­ment; but as lemon rind is often extremely unpalatable to invalids, their taste should be consulted before that ingredient is added, as it should be also for the degree of sweetness that is desired. After the barley-water has been poured off once, the jug may be filled a second time with boiling water, and even a third time with advan­tage.

RAISIN WINE.
(Which, if long kept, really resembles foreign.)

First boil the water which is to be used for the wine, and let it again become perfectly cold; then put into a sound sweet cask eight pounds of fine Malaga raisins for each gallon that is to be used, taking out only the quite large stalks; the fruit and water may be put in alternately until the cask is full, the raisins being well pressed down in it; lay the bung lightly over, stir the wine every day or two, and keep it full by the addition of water that has, like the first, been boiled, but which must always be quite cold when it is used. So soon as the fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be in from six to seven weeks, press in the bung, and leave the wine untouched for twelve months; draw it off then into a clean cask, and fine it, if necessary, with isinglass, tied in a muslin and suspended in it. We have not ourselves had this receipt tried; but we have tasted wine made by it which had been five years kept, and which so much resembled a rich foreign wine that we could with difficulty believe it was English made.

To each gallon of water (boiled and left till cold) 8 lbs. of fine Malaga raisins; to stand 12 months; then to be drawn off and fined.

Obs.—The refuse raisins make admirable vinegar if 643 fresh water be poured to them, and the cask placed in the sun. March is the best time for making this wine.

EXCELLENT ELDERBERRY WINE.

Strip the berries, which should be fresh, and gathered on a dry day, clean from the stalks, and measure them into a tub or large earthen pan. Pour boiling water on them, in the proportion of two gallons to three of berries, press them down into the liquor, cover them closely, and let them remain until the following day; then strain the juice from the fruit through a sieve or cloth, and, when this is done, squeeze from the berries the greater part of the remaining juice, mix it with that which was first poured off, measure the whole, add to it three pounds of sugar, three quarters of an ounce of cloves, and one ounce of ginger, for every gallon, and boil it twenty minutes, keeping it thoroughly skimmed. Put it, when something more than milk-warm, into a perfectly dry and sweet cask (or if but a very small quantity of wine be made, into large stone bottles, which answer the purpose quite well), fill this entirely, and set the wine directly, with a large spoonful of new yeast dropped into the bung-hole, and just stirred round in the liquor, or with a small toasted crust thickly spread with yeast.*

* In from fourteen to twenty days this wine will have fermented suffi­ciently: in three months it will be ready to drink.

VERY GOOD GINGER WINE.

Boil together, for half an hour, fourteen quarts of water, twelve pounds of sugar, a quarter of a pound of the best ginger bruised, and the thin rinds of six large lemons. Put the whole, when milk-warm, into a clean dry cask, with the juice of the lemons, and half a pound of sun raisins; add one large spoonful of thick yeast, and stir the wine every day for ten days. When it has ceased to ferment, add an ounce of isinglass, and a pint of brandy; bung the wine close, and in two 644 months it will be fit to bottle, but must remain longer in the cask should it be too sweet. When it can be obtained, substi­tute for the water in this receipt cider fresh from the press, which will give a very superior wine.

Water, 14 quarts; sugar, 12 pounds; lemon-rinds, 6; ginger, ¼ lb.; ½ hour: juice of lemons, 6; raisins, ½ lb.; yeast, 1 spoonful; isinglass, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint.

EXCELLENT ORANGE WINE.

Take half a chest of Seville oranges, pare off the rinds as thin as possible, put two thirds of them into six gallons of water, and let them remain for twenty-four hours. Squeeze the oranges (which ought to yield seven or eight quarts of juice), through a sieve, into a pan, and as they are done throw them into six gallons more of water; let them be washed well in it with the hands, and then put into another six gallons of water and left till the following day. For each gallon of wine, put into the cask three pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, and the liquor strained clear from the rinds and pulp. Wash these again and again, should more liquor be required to fill the cask; but do not at any time add raw water. Stir the wine daily until the sugar is perfectly dissolved, and let it ferment from four to five weeks; add to it two bottles of brandy, stop it down, and in twelve months it will be fit to bottle.

Obs.—The excellence of all wine depends so much upon the fermentation being properly conducted, that unless the mode of regulating this be understood by the maker, there will always be great danger of failure in the operation. There is, we believe, an excellent work upon the subject by Dr. McCulloch, which the reader who needs information upon it will do well to consult: our own experience is too slight to enable us to multiply our receipts.

645

CHAPTER XXVII.
COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, &c.

TO ROAST COFFEE.

Persons who drink coffee habitually, and who are parti­cular about its flavour and quality, should purchase the best kind in a raw state, and have it roasted at home. This can be done in very small quantities by means of the inexpensive apparatus shown above; the cost of this not exceeding seven or eight shillings,* and the supply of charcoal needed for it being very trifling indeed. The cylinder which contains the coffee should only be half filled, and it should be turned rather slowly over the fire, which should never be fierce, until a strong aromatic smell is 646 emitted; the movement should then be quickened, as the grain is in that case quite heated, and it will become too highly coloured before it is roasted through, if slowly finished. When it is of a fine, light, equal brown, which must be ascertained, till some little experience has been acquired, by sliding back the door of the cylinder, and looking at it occasionally towards the end of the process, spread it quickly upon a large dish, and throw a folded cloth over it. Let it remain thus until it is quite cold; then put it into canisters or bottles, and exclude the air carefully from it. Mr. Webster, in his admirable Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy,† says, “Mr. Donovan recom­mends, that, instead of roasting the coffee in an atmosphere of its own steam, it should first be dried in an iron pan, over a very gentle fire, being constantly stirred until the colour becomes yellow; it is then to be pounded into coarse fragments, by no means too fine, each grain being divided into four or five parts only: it is then to be transferred to the roaster, and scorched to the proper degree.” This plan we have not tried, because we have found the other to answer quite well; though Mr. Donovan’s might nevertheless prove a very superior one. A roaster of the form shown here may be purchased for about fourteen shillings.

647

TO MAKE COFFEE.

It is more usual at the present day to filter than to boil coffee; but many persons still prefer the latter mode. The degree of strength which is to be given must of course depend on the taste of those for whom it is prepared; but it should always be good when served to strangers, as a preference for weak coffee is very rare, and in a vast many instances it would be peculiarly disagreeable to the drinkers, more especially so to those who have resided much abroad, where this beverage is in general much better prepared than it is in England.

An ounce of the berries, if recently roasted, and ground at the instant of using them, will make, with the addition of a pint of water, two breakfast cupsful of suffi­ciently good coffee for common family-use. It will be stronger if slowly filtered in what is called a percolator, or coffee-biggin, than if it be boiled. Press the powder closely down, measure the proper quantity of water into a common coffee-pot, or small kettle, pour in suffi­cient to just wet the coffee in the first instance, and then add the remainder slowly, keeping the water boiling all the time. Let it run quite through before the top of the percolater is lifted off, and serve it very hot with boiling milk or cream, or with both, or with boiling milk and cold cream. The proportion of coffee, after the first trial, can easily be increased or 648 diminished at will. To make French breakfast-coffee, pour only a third as much of water on the powder, fill the cups two thirds with good new boiling milk, then add the coffee, which should be very strong. For the café noir served after dinner in all French families put less water still (this is the very essence of coffee, of which, however, not more than a small cup about two-thirds filled, and highly sweetened with sugar in lumps, is generally taken by each person), and serve it without cream or milk, or any accom­paniment, except white sugar-candy in powder, or highly refined sugar in lumps. This is drank imme­diately after the dinner, in families of moderate rank, generally before they leave the table; in more refined life, it is served in the drawing-room the instant dinner is ended; sometimes with liqueurs after it, but not invariably.

To boil coffee and refine it: put the necessary quantity of water into a pot which it will not fill by some inches; when it boils stir in the coffee; for unless this is at once moistened, it remains on the top and is liable to fly over. Give it one or two strong boils, then raise it from the fire, and simmer it for ten minutes only; pour out a large cupful twice, hold it high over the coffee pot and pour it in again, then set it on the hob for ten minutes longer. It will be perfectly clear, unless mismanaged, without any other fining. Should more, however, be deemed necessary, a very small pinch of isinglass, or a clean egg-shell, with a little of the white adhering to it, is the best that can be used. (We cannot recom­mend the skin of any fish.) If tried, with the same proportions by both the methods we have given, the reader will easily ascertain that which answers best. Never use mustard to fine coffee with. It is a barbarous custom of which we have heard foreigners who have been in England vehemently complain!

Coffee, 2 ozs.; water, 1 quart. Filtered; or boiled 10 minutes; left to clear 10 minutes.

649

BURNT COFFEE.
(In France vulgarly called Gloria.)

Make some coffee as strong and clear as possible, sweeten it in the cup with white sugar almost to syrup, then pour brandy on the top gently over a spoon, set fire to it with a lighted paper, and when the spirit is in part consumed, blow out the flame and drink the gloria quite hot.

TO MAKE CHOCOLATE.
(French Receipt.)

An ounce of chocolate, if good, will be suffi­cient for one person. Rasp, and then boil it from five to ten minutes with about four table­spoonsful of water; when it is extremely smooth add nearly a pint of new milk, give it another boil, stir it well, or mill it, and serve it directly. For water-chocolate use three quarters of a pint of water instead of the milk, and send rich hot cream to table with it. The taste must decide whether it shall be made thicker or thinner.

Chocolate, 2 ozs.; water, quarter-pint or rather more: 5 to 10 minutes. Milk, 1¾ pint: ½ minute.

Obs.—The general reader will understand the use of the chocolate-mill shown in the engraving with the pot; but to the uninitiated it may be as well to observe, that it is worked quickly round between both hands to give a fine froth to the chocolate. It also serves in lieu of a whisk for working creams, or jellies, to a froth or whip.

650

CHAPTER XXVIII.
BREAD.

TO PURIFY YEAST FOR BREAD OR CAKES.

The yeast procured from a public brewery is often so extremely bitter that it can only be rendered fit for use by frequent washings, and after these even it should be cautiously employed. Mix it, when first brought in, with a large quantity of cold water, and set it by till the following morning in a cool place; then drain off the water, and stir the yeast up well with as much more of fresh; it must again stand several hours before the water can be poured clear from it. By changing this daily in winter, and both night and morning in very hot weather, the yeast may be preserved fit for use much longer than it would otherwise be; and should it ferment rather less freely after a time, a small portion of brown sugar stirred to it before the bread is made will quite restore its strength.

German yeast, imported in a solid state, is now much sold in London, and answers, we are told, remarkably well; but we have not ourselves had an opportunity of proving it.

THE OVEN.

A brick oven, heated with wood is far superior to any 651 other for baking bread, as well as for most other purposes; the heat of an iron one being much less easy to regulate; but those attached to the kitchen ranges are conve­nient, for the facility they afford at all times of baking in a small way. They are, however, we should say, far from economical as regards the proportion of fuel required to heat them; and the same objection may be made to the American oven also; the strong smell, too, emitted from the iron ones, and diffused often entirely through a house, is peculiarly unpleasant. A brick oven should be well heated with faggot wood, or with a faggot, and two or three solid logs; and after it is cleared, the door should be closely shut for quite half an hour before the baking commences; the heat will then be well sustained for a succession of bread, pies, cakes, and small pastry. The servant who habitually attends at an oven will soon become acquainted with the precise quantity of fuel which it requires, and all other peculiarities which may be connected with it. In general more time must be allowed to bake any thing in an iron than in a brick oven.

TO MAKE BREAD.

Every cook, and we might almost say, every female servant, ought to be perfectly acquainted with the mode of making good house­hold bread; and skill in preparing other articles of food is poor compensation for ignorance upon this one essential point. A very slight degree of atten­tion, moreover, will enable any person to succeed in it, and there is, conse­quently, small excuse for those who neglect to render themselves properly acquainted with the process.

The best flour will generally be found the cheapest in the end; it should be purchased if possible from a miller who can be depended on for supplying it good and unadulterated. Let it be stored always in a dry place, as damp is very injurious to it; if kept habitually in a chest, this should be entirely emptied at intervals, cleaned with great nicety, and not filled again until it is 652 perfectly dry. The kneading trough, tub, or pan, with every thing else indeed used for the bread, or for the oven, should at all times be kept scrupulously clean.

The yeast of mild home-brewed beer is the best that can be procured, and requires no purifying; but it should be strained through a hair-sieve after it is mixed with a portion of warm milk, or water, before it is added to the flour.

Very rapid fermentation, which is produced by using more than the necessary quantity of yeast, is by no means advan­tageous to the bread, which not only becomes dry and stale from it, but is of less sweet and pleasant flavour than that which is more slowly fermented. In winter it should always be placed near the fire, but never suffi­ciently so to become hot; nor should it ever be allowed to become perfectly cold. Put half a bushel (more or less, according to the consumption of the family) of flour into the kneading-tub or trough, and hollow it well in the middle; dilute a pint of yeast as it is brought from the brewery, or half the quantity if it has been washed and rendered solid, with four quarts or more of lukewarm milk or water, or a mixture of the two; stir into it, from the surrounding part, with a wooden spoon, as much flour as will make a thick batter; throw a little over it, and leave this, which is called the leaven, to rise before proceeding further. In about an hour it will have swollen considerably, and have burst through the coating of flour on the top; then pour in as much more warm liquid as will convert the whole, with good kneading, and this should not be spared, into a firm dough, of which the surface should be entirely free from lumps or crumbs. Throw a cloth over, and let it remain until it has risen very much a second time, which will be in an hour, or something more, if the batch be large. Then work it lightly up, and mould it into loaves of from two to three pounds weight; send them directly to a well-heated oven, and bake them from an hour and a half to an hour and three quarters.

653

Flour, ½ bushel; salt (when it is liked), 4 to 6 ozs.; yeast, 1 pint unwashed, or ½ pint if purified; milk, or water, 2 quarts: 1 to 1½ hour. Additional liquid as needed.

BORDYKE BREAD.
(Author’s Receipt.)

Mix with a gallon of flour a large teaspoonful of fine salt, make a hollow in the centre, and pour in two table­spoonsful of solid, well-purified yeast, gradually diluted with about two pints and a half of milk, and work it into a thick batter with the surrounding flour; dust a little on the top, and leave it to rise from an hour to an hour and a half; then knead it up with as much more warm skimmed milk as will render it quite firm and smooth without being very stiff; let it rise another hour, and divide it into three loaves; put them into square tins slightly buttered, or into round baking pans, and bake them about an hour and a quarter in a well-heated oven. The dough can be formed into house­hold loaves if preferred, and sent to the oven in the usual way. When a finer and more spongy kind of bread is required for imme­diate eating, substi­tute new milk for skimmed, dissolve in it about an ounce of butter, leave it more liquid when the sponge is set, and let the whole be lightly kneaded into a lithe dough; the bread thus made will be excellent when new, and for a day or so after it is baked, but it will become dry sooner than the other.

Flour, 1 gallon; salt, 1 teaspoonful; skimmed milk, 2½ pints: to rise from 1 to 1½ hour. Additional milk, 1 to 2 pints: to rise 1 hour. 3 loaves, baked 1 hour and ¼.

Obs. 1.—A few spoonsful of cream will wonderfully improve either of the above receipts, and sweet buttermilk substi­tuted for the other will give to the bread the shortness of a cake: we would parti­cularly recom­mend it for trial when it can be procured.

654

Obs. 2.—For an invalid, especially when the digestion is impaired, butter should be altogether omitted from the bread; and eggs, which are often added to the finer sorts of rolls, are better avoided also.

Obs. 3.—We must repeat our caution against milk or water of a scalding heat being mixed ever with the yeast; it should be warm, rather more so than when taken from the cow, but not much.

BROWN BREAD.

Make this by either of the foregoing receipts, with meal as it is called (that is to say, the wheat just as it is ground, either separated from the coarse bran or not, according to the quality of the bread required) instead of flour. It ferments easily, and does not therefore require a very full proportion of yeast; and it absorbs more moisture than the flour: it also retains it longer, if properly baked. The loaves should be well soaked in the oven, but not over dried.

Obs.—The best bread we ever tasted was made in great part with rye-flour: this was in a provincial town of France.

POTATO BREAD.

One pound of good mealy potatoes, steamed or boiled very dry, in the ordinary way, or prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt (see Chapter XV.), and rubbed quite hot, through a coarse sieve, into a couple of pounds of flour, with which they should be well mixed, will produce excellent bread, which will remain moist much longer than wheaten bread made as usual. The yeast should be added imme­diately after the potatoes. An ounce or two of butter, an egg, and some new milk, will convert this bread into very superior rolls.

GENEVA ROLLS.

Break down very small three ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour; add a little salt, and set the 655 sponge with a large table­spoonful of solid yeast, mixed with a pint of new milk, and a table­spoonful or more of strong saffron water; let it rise for a full hour, then stir to a couple of well-beaten eggs as much hot milk as will render them lukewarm, and wet the rolls with them to a light, lithe dough; leave it from half to three quarters of an hour longer, mould it into small rolls, brush them with beaten yolk of egg, and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. The addition of six ounces of good sugar, three of butter, half a pound or more of currants, the grated rind of a large lemon, and a couple of ounces of candied orange-rind, will convert these into excellent buns. When the flavour of the saffron is not liked, omit it altogether. Only so much should be used at any time as will give a rich colour to the bread.

Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 ozs.; solid yeast, 1 large table­spoonful (saffron, 1 teaspoonful; water, less than a quarter pint); new milk, 1 pint; 1 hour or more. 2 eggs, more milk: ¾ hour: baked 20 to 30 minutes.

RUSKS.

Break very small six ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of fine dry flour, and mix them into a lithe paste, with two table­spoonsful of mild beer-yeast, three well-beaten eggs, and nearly half a pint of warm new milk. When it has risen to its full height knead it smooth, and make it into very small loaves or thick cakes, cut with a round cake-cutter; place them on a floured tin, and let them stand in a warm place, to prove, from ten to twenty minutes before they are set into the oven. Bake them about a quarter of an hour; divide them while they are still warm, and put them into a very slow oven to dry. When they are crisp quite through they are done. Four teaspoonsful of sifted sugar must be added when sweetened rusks are preferred.

Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 6 ozs.; yeast, 2 table­spoonsful; eggs, 3; new milk, nearly ½ pint: baked ¼ hour.

656

CRUSTS TO SERVE WITH CHEESE.

Take a half-baked loaf from the oven, and tear it into small rough bits with a couple of forks; lay these on a tin, and put them back into the oven for ten minutes. If a light loaf be made for the purpose, with a couple of ounces of butter and new milk, they will quite resemble rusks.

COCOA-NUT BREAD.

Either mix with the flour the same proportion of the nut, finely grated, as for the biscuit receipt, and then proceed as for other bread, or merely use very strongly flavoured cocoa-nut milk to make the dough: the bread will be excellent.

GOOD CAPTAINS’ BISCUITS.

Make some fine white flour into a smooth paste with new milk; divide it into small balls; roll, and afterwards pull them with the fingers as thin as possible; prick them all over, and bake them in a somewhat brisk oven from eight to twelve minutes. Thin cream may be used for them on occasion, instead of milk, or a morsel of butter may be worked into the flour; but they are very good without this last.

657

APPENDIX.

BRANDIED CHERRIES.
(Tappington Everard Receipt.)

Fill to about two-thirds of their depth, some wide-necked bottles with the small cherries called in the markets brandy-blacks; pour in suffi­cient sifted sugar to fill up more than half of the remaining space, and then as much good French brandy as will cover the fruit, and reach to the necks of the bottles. Cork them securely, and let them stand for two months before they are opened: the cherries wall be excellent.

BRANDIED MORELLA CHERRIES.

Let the fruit be ripe, freshly-gathered, and the finest that can be had; cut off half the length of the stalks, and drop the cherries gently into clean dry quart bottles with wide necks; leave in each suffi­cient space for four ounces of white pounded sugar candy (or of brown, if better liked); fill them up entirely with the best French brandy, and cork them closely: they will not shrivel if thus prepared. A few cherry or apricot kernels, or a small portion of cinnamon, can be added when they are consi­dered an improve­ment.

PEACHES IN BRANDY.
(Rotterdam Receipt.)

Prepare and stew some fine full-flavoured peaches by the receipt of page 512, but with two ounces more of sugar to the half pint of water; when they are tender put them with their syrup into glass or new stone jars, which they should only half fill; and when they are quite cold pour in white or very pale French brandy to within an inch and a half of the brims: a few peach or apricot kernels can be added to them. The jars must be corked down.

658

A GERTRUDE A LA CRÊME.

Slice a plain pound or rice cake as for the Charlotte à la Parisienne of page 545, and take a round out of the centre of each slice with a tin cutter before the preserve is laid on; replace the whole in its original form, ice the outside with a green or rose coloured icing at pleasure, and dry it in a gentle oven; or decorate it instead with leaves of almond paste, fastening them to it with white of egg. Just before it is sent to table fill it with well-drained whipped cream, flavoured as for a trifle, or in any other way to the taste.

TO MAKE ORANGE BASKETS FOR JELLY.

The oranges for these should be large. First, mark the handle of the basket evenly across the stalk-end of the fruit with the back of a small knife, or with a silver one, and let it be quite half an inch wide; then trace a line across from one end of the handle to the other, exactly in the middle of the orange, and when the other side is marked in the same way, cut just through the rind with the point of a penknife, being careful not to pierce the fruit itself; next, with a tea or dessert spoon, take off the quartered rind on either side of the handle; pass a penknife under the handle itself; work the point of a spoon gently between the orange and the basket, until they are separated in every part; then take the fruit between the thumb and fingers, and press it carefully out through one of the spaces on either side of the handle.

CHANTILLY BASKETS.

The form of these is shown by the plate at page 529, but they can be varied to the taste, and made with cakes of different sizes. It is essential to keep them very dry after they are fastened together, and, as we have before observed, they should be filled only the instant before they are sent to table. They may first be 659 lined with wafer-paper: a pint and a half of cream, when flavoured and whisked, will fill a large basket of this kind.

AN EXCELLENT TRIFLE.

Take equal parts of wine and brandy, about a wineglassful of each, or two-thirds of good sherry or Madeira, and one of spirit, and soak in the mixture three sponge biscuits, and half a pound of macaroons and ratifias; cover the bottom of the trifle-dish with part of these, and pour upon them a pint of rich boiled custard made with six eggs, and about three-quarters of a pint of milk and cream;* lay the remainder of the soaked cakes upon it, and pile over the whole, to the depth of two or three inches, the whipped syllabub of page 532, previously well drained; then sweeten and flavour slightly with wine only, less than half a pint of thin cream (or of cream and milk mixed); wash and wipe the whisk, and whip it to the lightest possible froth: take it off with a skimmer and heap it gently over the trifle.

Macaroons and ratifias, ½ lb.; wine and brandy mixed, ¼ pint; rich boiled custard, 1 pint; whipped syllabub, (see page 532); light froth to cover the whole, short ½ pint of cream and milk mixed; sugar, dessert­spoonful; wine, ½ glassful.

* An equal portion of each may be taken. Sweeten, flavour, and thicken the custard by the receipts of page 533 and 534.

CROUSTADES, OR SWEET PATTIES.
(A la Minute.)

Slice some firm stale bread, about half an inch thick, and with a small round or fluted paste-cutter take from it as many croustades as will be required for a dish; mark the centres with a smaller cutter, leaving a rim of equal width all round; scoop out the insides, and fry them in good butter a pale brown; drain and dry them well, and fill them with hot apple-marmalade, or with any warm preserve. The croustades may likewise be filled with good mince mutton, hare, or any brown meat, and served in the first course.

660

APRICOT MARMALADE.

This preserve, of which the receipt has been inadvertently omitted in its proper place at Chapter XXI., may be made successfully by the direc­tions at page 576. It will require rather less boiling, and from ten to twelve ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit will suffice for it.

TO CLEAN BOTTLES IN LARGE NUMBERS.

To do this in the best and quickest manner, rinse such amongst them as may parti­cularly require it; put a little hay or a coarse cloth into a copper, and arrange them in it as compactly as possible; cover them with cold water, light the fire, and boil them gently for half an hour; take them out, let them cool, rinse them well, and when dry they will be ready for use. One or two may be broken in the process, but it is consi­dered the most advan­tageous method of proceeding where they are very extensively used.

A LIE FOR WASHING PUDDING-CLOTHS.

To a pint of wood-ashes pour three quarts of boiling water, and either wash the cloths in the mixture without straining it; or give them two or three minutes’ boil in it first, then let the whole cool together; wash the cloths perfectly clean, and rinse them in abundance of water, changing it several times: this both takes the grease off, and renders them very sweet. Two ounces of soda dissolved in a gallon of water will answer almost as well; provided the rinsing afterwards be carefully attended to.