a pint of sour cream; dissolve 1 teaspoonful soda carbonate in 1
teaspoon boiling water, add it to the sour cream, and stir until it
froths well. If the cream is very sour, it may require a little more
soda. Be careful that it is frothy, or else the paste will not be
light. Stir the frothing cream into the flour, enough to make a soft
paste; line a greased plate with a thin layer of paste; have ready
some stewed apples, sweetened and perfectly cold, grated lemon peel
mixed in just before they are put into the cake, and as little juice
from the apples as possible, or the crust will be soddened. Spread
the stewed apple over the paste, leaving a narrow margin for the top
crust to adhere to the bottom; roll out the top crust 1 in. thick;
pinch the edges well together to make it a little ornamented round
the edge, and bake it in a quick oven. This quantity of paste should
make two good-sized cakes, the size of a dinner plate; a tin plate
is best to bake them on; they are equally good cold or hot, and are
eaten with sugar and cream.
_Apple Custard._--Apple chips or rings are as nice as ordinary
fruit, and in winter much cheaper. They can be got at an ordinary
grocers, and must be soaked 12 hours before using. Take ½ lb. of
the fruit when soaked, and stir gently with sugar, lemon peel and
cloves to taste, till tender. When cool, pour into a glass dish,
and cover with the following custard: ½ pint milk, 1 egg, ½ small
teaspoonful cornflour, 2 lumps of sugar. Mix the cornflour carefully
with the milk, then whisk the egg and add it with the sugar (which is
best sifted); put the whole into a jug and stand in boiling water,
stirring well till it thickens, then pour it over the apples, and
grate nutmeg on the top. (Bessie Tremaine.)
_Apple Devil._--The following is a delicious way of dressing apples,
and is not very well known: Peel and core about 30 good baking
apples, and slice them into a little cold water; add equal weight
of lump sugar, the juice and peel of 2 lemons cut very thin, 2 oz.
very finely grated ginger, and 1 teaspoonful cayenne pepper. Boil all
together till the apples look quite clear. The quantity of cayenne
can be diminished to suit the taste. This will keep good for 2-3
years, and is to be eaten as a preserve. If required for a dish for
dinner, beat up the whites of 4 eggs till very stiff; sprinkle with a
little crushed sugar whilst beating. When very firm pile it on some
of the preserve previously placed in a dish, and put in the oven till
nicely browned. It may be served either hot or cold.
_Apple Dumplings._--Take some finely sifted flour, say ½ lb., and ¼
lb. suet very finely shred, and well freed from skin. Mix the suet
and flour, add a pinch of salt and ½ teaspoonful baking powder, with
sufficient cold water or milk to make it of the right consistency.
Knead it well, and roll it out to the thickness required. Divide this
paste into as many pieces as are required for the dumplings. Take
some large-sized apples, peel, core, sprinkle them with moist sugar,
then insert into the cavity of each some butter, sugar, and a clove.
Cover them with the paste, and join the edges carefully. Tie each
dumpling up in a floured cloth, and boil about 1 hour. Untie them
carefully, and turn them out without breaking them; serve with cream
and sugar. A little currant jelly may be substituted for the butter,
sugar, and clove.
_Apple Fool._--(_a_) In the country where milk and apples are
plentiful, this is a cheap treat for children, and very nice. In
towns, it may be necessary to soak a little light bread in the milk
and beat it up with the apples to make them go further. Bake good
sharp apples slowly, then they will not burst; when done, take out
the pulp, rub it smooth, sweeten, add a little lemon flavouring, and
a tablespoonful of new, or a teaspoonful of condensed, milk, and
serve in a bowl. (Mary Hooper.)
(_b_) The proportion of milk or cream would be 1 pint new milk to
2 lb. apples. It is impossible to give the exact quantity of sugar
also, as it must entirely depend on the kind of apple used, some
apples requiring so much more sweetening than others; it must be a
matter of taste. It is better not to put too much in at first, but a
certain amount must be put in with the first boiling of the apples,
and more added afterwards if not sweet enough. The apples must be
peeled, the cores removed, and then put into a pudding basin with a
little water, just enough to start the juice, loaf sugar, and a few
cloves. Cover the basin with a plate, and put it into a moderately
hot oven to cook the apples gradually until quite soft, when they
must be beaten until smooth with a wooden spoon. The milk must have
been previously boiled, sweetened, and allowed to get cold. Add
this by degrees to the beaten apple; mix thoroughly, and, when well
amalgamated, serve it cold in a glass dish. Unless the milk be new,
cream should be used with it in equal quantities. A bay leaf boiled
with the milk is a great improvement.
_Apple Ginger._--(_a_) 7 lb. apples, pared and cored, 7 lb. pounded
loaf sugar, 2 oz. ground ginger, the juice of 3 lemons, 1 pint water.
Boil slowly rather more than ½ hour. Put in moulds and cover with
paper.
(_b_) Peel, core, and quarter 2-3 lb. small russet apples. Any apples
will do that do not break in the boiling, but small ones look better.
Put them in a jar with layers of whole ginger, about 2 oz. Make a
syrup with ¾ pint water, 1 oz. ginger, and 1½ lb. lump sugar, and
pour it boiling over the apples. Let it stand till the next day, then
simmer the whole very slowly until the apples are tender and look
transparent; take the apples out and drain them, and boil the syrup
fast until it is thick. Pour it again over the apples, and when cold
bottle.
(_c_) 4 lb. apples, 1 qt. water, 4 lb. sugar, 2 oz. best essence of
ginger. Pare the apples, and cut them in slices as for a pie. As you
pare and core them, throw them into a basin of cold water. Boil the
sugar and water nearly 15 minutes until it forms a nice syrup; then
put in the apples. Do not stir them much. Add the ginger; boil 1 hour
till it becomes yellow and clear. Be sure not to let it boil fast.
_Apple Pudding._--(_a_) Make a paste with equal quantities sifted
flour and finely chopped suet, a pinch of salt, and a little water.
Roll it out thin into a large piece, place this over a well-buttered
basin, and push it in so as to line the basin with it, cut it off all
round so as to leave enough to fold up; roll out the trimmings to
such a size as to cover the top of the basin. Pare, core, and slice
a quantity of good sound apples. Put them in the basin with brown
sugar to taste, and either some chopped lemon peel, 2 or 3 cloves,
or a little grated nutmeg; add a small piece of fresh butter, pack
the apples tight in, put on the cover of paste, turn up the edges and
press them down, tie a floured pudding cloth over, and put the basin
into a saucepanful of boiling water, which should come well over the
pudding. Boil 2-3 hours according to size.
(_b_) Stew 2 lb. apples to a pulp; sweeten to taste while stewing,
and when taken off the fire stir in 2 oz. good fresh butter; when
cold, add 2 eggs beaten up; butter well the bottom and sides of a
pudding dish; strew crumbs of bread 2 in. thick, over the bottom
and sides, put in the apples well mixed with the 2 eggs, strew
breadcrumbs over the top, and a few tiny bits of butter and white
sugar. Bake in a moderate oven, and serve the pudding with cream or
custard.
_Apple Rings._--(_a_) Soak apple rings for 12 hours in cold water,
when they will be fit for every use in casking apples, and found
superior to our English apples, for sauce, puddings, &c., in
particular. (J. B. F.)
(_b_) These cook much nicer and softer if they are soaked overnight
in sufficient cold water to cover them, using the same water to
stew them with. If this is not convenient, put them in an enamelled
saucepan--an iron one turns them black--and nearly cover them with
cold water. Put in a small piece of stick cinnamon, and a few cloves:
this flavouring seems to suit them better than lemon peel; add
sufficient sugar when they begin to simmer, and stew until soft,
which should be in ½ hour. When apple rings are stewed, they can be
spread on a suet paste and be used for roly-poly puddings, or be
eaten with blancmange or boiled rice, or be made into puffs, open
tarts, or an apple pasty. For example, line a Yorkshire pudding tin,
greased, with short paste, put in a deep layer of stewed apples and
cover it with a lid of paste, pinching the edges well between finger
and thumb in a crinkled fashion; brush over the top with water,
sprinkle castor sugar thickly over, and bake for ½ hour in a moderate
oven; turn it carefully out of the tin by placing a flat board on the
top of the pasty, and turn the tin bottom upwards, when the pasty
will come out of the tin; now place your dish on the bottom of the
pasty and turn it over again, which will bring the pasty right side
uppermost, and if done carefully it will not break. If any of the
sugar falls off, grate some sugar on the bare places. To be eaten
either hot or cold. Covered tarts can be made with apple rings in
this way: line a shallow tin, or a dinner plate, with a thin paste,
spread a layer of stewed apple and cover with a lid of paste--either
short or puff--and bake it for 20 minutes; cover with thin icing,
made by beating the white of an egg with 1 tablespoonful castor sugar
and 1 teaspoonful lemon juice together for 5 minutes with a whisk;
spread this icing over the tart with a knife and set it in a cool
oven for ¼ hour to harden. These covered tarts can be made to look
pretty by spreading the white icing evenly over the crust, letting
it harden 5 minutes in the oven; colour a small portion of the icing
with cochineal, and put it round the edge in little pink buttons,
setting the tart back in the oven for the rest of the time to harden.
Apple rings can be cooked nicely in deep tarts; but, unless there is
a good bottom heat to the oven, they do not cook sufficiently soft in
the same time it takes to bake the crust properly, and it is best to
have them stewed first.
_Apple Roly-Poly._--Make a suet crust, roll it out thinly, put slices
of apple all over it, sift over the apple sugar and the grated peel
of a lemon or powdered cinnamon; roll it up, pinch the ends very
securely; boil it in a cloth 1½ hour, and, if large, 2 hours.
_Apple Snow._--(_a_) Pare and core 6 good-sized apples, steam them in
2 tablespoonfuls water, with a little lemon peel, till quite soft.
Add ¼ lb. finely sifted white sugar, and the white of 1 quite fresh
egg. Beat it well for ¾ hour without stopping, and serve as you
please. It looks best in custard glasses heaped up.
(_b_) Take ¼ lb. of the pulp of roasted apples, ¼ lb. powdered loaf
sugar, the juice of half a lemon, some of the rind rubbed into 2
lumps of sugar and then pounded, and the whites of 3 or 4 eggs. Whip
all together for an hour, till it is like whipped cream, and drop it
lightly into a glass dish.
(_c_) Stew some apples till tender, sweeten to taste, mash them up,
and place them in the centre of a dish; round and over them place a
layer of boiled rice (dry); whisk the whites of 3 or 4 eggs until
quite light and frothy; cover the whole with this froth, sprinkle
over it powdered sugar, colouring a little of it with cochineal.
_Apples, Stewed._--(_a_) Peel and core 6 apples, put the cores and
parings into 1 qt. water, and simmer gently. Strain off, and pour the
liquor over the apples, adding the juice of half a lemon, and 3 oz.
white sugar. Boil gently till the apples are quite tender, then turn
out into a basin, and beat up with a fork, gradually adding about 1
teacupful cream. When the whole is about the consistency of cream,
pile up in a glass dish, and put away in a cool place. Whipped cream
or the whites of eggs, well whisked, may be put over the top before
serving.
(_b_) For a small dish, 5 large apples will be enough. Peel them,
take out the cores, put them into a pie-dish with their weight of
loaf sugar, 1 pint water, half the rind of a lemon, and a few drops
of cochineal. Put them in the oven until done through. Remove the
apples on to a dish without breaking, put the liquor into a stewpan,
and set it on the fire to reduce to a syrup; pour it over the apples,
first taking out the lemon peel. They may be done in the same way
without colouring; the lemon peel should then be taken out at the
same time as the apples. Cut the peel up into very fine strips, and
when the syrup is made, throw in the strips of peel, to be served up
in it round the apples. The syrup should be perfectly clear. Just
before sending to table, put 1 teaspoonful red currant jelly in the
hole at the top of each apple, or a dried cherry on the top of each
makes a pretty garnish.
_Apple Tart._--Lay a disc of puff paste on a round tin, spread a
layer (about ⅜ in. thick) of apple marmalade over it, leaving a rim
1 in. wide clear all round; roll out, and cut some of the paste in
strips the size of a straw; form a trellis-work with them over the
marmalade, then put a border of paste all round over the rim. Glaze
the top of the border and trellis with beaten-up egg, and bake in
quick oven.
_Apricot Cake._--Make a cake with 3 eggs, their weight in butter,
flour, and sugar; beat up the eggs till very light, mix with them
their weight in castor sugar; now add the flour, into which you
have mixed ½ teaspoonful baking powder; and lastly the butter, just
dissolved by putting into a hot stewpan and shaking round. It should
be dissolved, but not hot. Beat the cake a few minutes; put into a
small cake tin, and bake ½ hour in a rather quick oven; when done,
take from the oven, and let stay in the tin while you prepare the
apricots, cut them in halves, take out the stones. Make a syrup with
¼ lb. sugar to ½ pint water; boil up, and put in the apricots, and
stew gently till they are done, they should not be broken; lift them
out, and reduce the syrup by quick boiling; let it cool, turn the
cake very gently out of the tin; cut the cake round about ½ in. from
the edge, take off the same, scoop out the centre, fill it with the
apricots and put a whip of cream on the top, and the remainder of the
apricots can be arranged round the base, the insides turned upwards,
the stones cracked, and the kernels blanched, and one put in the
centre of each half apricot.
_Apricot Chartreuse._--Take a tin of preserved apricots, turn out
the contents into a saucepan, add 6 oz. sugar, ½ pint water, and a
glass of wine; let them boil up; strain off the syrup, take out the
kernels, remove the outer skin carefully from the apricots, and leave
them to get cold. Add to 1 pint of the syrup 16 sheets best French
gelatine steeped in a little water, boil up the whole, and clarify
with 3 whites of eggs; have 2 plain moulds, one about 1¼ in. more
in diameter than the other, pour a very little jelly at the bottom
of the larger mould, and place in it a layer of slices of apricots
prepared as above, and a few split kernels; cover this with more
jelly, but only put enough to get a smooth surface; lay this on ice
to set. When it is quite firm, put the small mould inside the large
one, taking care to place it exactly in the middle, so that the
vacant space between the two moulds be of the same width all round.
In this vacant space dispose slices of apricots and the rest of the
kernels, filling up the interstices with the jelly until all the
space is filled up. Place the mould upon ice: whip a pint of cream
with ½ oz. dissolved isinglass and some of the apricot syrup, which
must be added to it a very little at a time, or the cream will not
rise to a froth. When the cream is ready and the jelly set, remove
the inner mould by pouring warm water into it, and fill up the inner
space of the chartreuse with the cream: set it on ice for an hour,
turn out and serve.
_Apricot Cream._--Take a tin of preserved apricots, turn out the
contents into a saucepan, add 2 oz. sugar, let them boil for ¼ hour,
and pass them through a tammy. Dissolve 1 oz. or 7 sheets best French
gelatine in a little milk, whip to a froth a pint of cream. Mix the
gelatine with the apricot pulp, then quickly work into it the cream,
pour the mixture into a mould, and put it on ice to set. When wanted,
dip the mould in hot water and turn out the cream.
_Apricot Omelet._--Beat up the whites of 4 and the yolks of 6 eggs
with a very small pinch of salt. Put a piece of fresh butter in the
omelet pan, and directly it is melted pour in the eggs. As soon
as they are set, fold up the omelet, inserting within the fold as
much apricot jam as will lie in it. Turn out the omelet neatly on
its dish, cover it with powdered sugar, and glaze it with a red-hot
salamander.
_Apricot Toast._--Take some ripe but not over-ripe apricots, halve
and stone them. Make some syrup with plenty of white sugar and some
water: when boiled for 2 hours strain; lay the pieces of apricot in
the syrup, and add a glass of white wine; simmer for a few minutes.
Cut out of the crumb of a milk loaf some rounds a little larger than
the apricots. Fry them a pale yellow in fresh butter, drain and
arrange them in a circle on a dish with a piece of apricot on each
round, concave side uppermost: put a kernel in the centre of each,
pour the syrup well over, and serve with some whipped cream in the
centre of the dish.
_Arrowroot Blancmange._--(_a_) Take 1 qt. milk and mix 3 oz. best
arrowroot with a cupful of it cold. Then boil the rest of it with 6
laurel leaves or a chip of vanilla as preferred, pour it boiling
on the arrowroot, stir quite smooth, sweeten, boil the whole for 10
minutes, taking care it does not burn, and put into a mould. The
cause of its cracking is either bad arrowroot or under-boiling.
(_b_) Dissolve a little isinglass or gelatine in the milk with
which the arrowroot is made; it will stand, but it is the nature of
arrowroot to become liquid after a short time. Sago and tapioca both
make very nice blancmange, and are firmer than arrowroot. They may be
either flavoured with lemon or vanilla, or served plain with jam and
cream round them.
_Arrowroot Pudding._--Mix 1 teacupful arrowroot with ½ pint cold
milk; put 1 qt. milk into a saucepan, with cinnamon, lemon or orange
peel, and boil it, sweetening it with 2 oz. sugar. Pound 12 bitter
almonds, and mix them with the arrowroot and cold milk; strain it
through a hair sieve, and add it to the boiling milk, stirring it
well. When it begins to thicken, add 1 teaspoonful fresh butter, and,
when thoroughly done, pour it into a mould. Do not turn out until
quite cold.
_Arrowroot Shape._--Mix 2 oz. arrowroot in ½ pint cold water, let
it settle; pour off the water, and flavour the arrowroot with a
little orange-flower water. Boil 1 qt. milk with some sugar and a
little cinnamon, strain through a tammy on to the arrowroot, stirring
all the time; simmer a short time, still stirring; put it into a
well-oiled mould, turn it out the following day, and serve it with a
custard made with 1 pint milk, 4 yolks of eggs, and flavoured with
orange-flower water.
_Aunt Eleanor’s Tartlets._--Prepare ½ lb. apples, as for a tart, and
put them in a stewpan with a wineglass of water, 4 oz. preserving
sugar, a small piece of cinnamon, 4 cloves, and 2 small strips of
lemon peel; stew until the apples are quite tender, when pass them
through a sieve, and set them aside to cool. Should the apples not be
rather sharp, a squeeze of lemon juice may be added. Now break 2 eggs
into a basin, and whisk them until well mixed, stir to them gradually
half a stale penny sponge cake, and 1 oz. loaf sugar reduced to a
fine powder, and, last of all, 2 oz. liquefied butter; mix well. Line
some pattypans with good puff crust, and put in them first a little
of your apple pulp, and cover this with a layer of the egg mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven until of a fine golden brown, and serve
either hot or cold, as preferred.
_Baba._--Have ready 1 lb. fine flour passed through a sieve, 4 oz.
raisins (stoned), 4 oz. currants, 8 eggs, 4 oz. pounded sugar, 4 oz.
fresh butter, 1 glass brandy, 1 oz. German yeast. Dissolve the yeast
in ½ pint tepid milk, strain it, and mix in it a good handful of the
flour; work it lightly with the hand into a light soft dough, which
is called “the sponge,” put it into a deep stewpan or basin, leave it
in a warm place to rise, put the remainder of the flour on a slab or
pastry board in a heap, make a hollow space in the centre, break the
eggs into it, add a good pinch of salt, and pour the butter just warm
on to the eggs; work all lightly together, using the fingers of both
hands, raising the hands up and down, so as to beat the air into the
paste, when whisking the white of an egg; this should be done just
before the sponge is ready, then mix in the sponge in the same light
way, and lastly, add the rest of the ingredients; lift the whole into
a large well-buttered mould, and put it in a warm place free from
draught until it is nicely risen: bake 1½-2 hours in a moderate oven;
serve hot, with either red currant jelly or apple jelly, melted with
a little brandy, in a sauceboat.
_Baden-Baden Pudding._--Boil ¼ lb. rice in milk to a smooth mash, and
with it 1 in. vanilla to flavour. Soak ½ oz. gelatine in cold water a
few minutes, then add it to the rice to boil. Whip a pint of cream,
with a ¼ lb. sifted sugar, to a froth. When the rice is cooled to
lukewarm, stir it briskly into the cream. Wet a mould, fill it with
the mass, and set it in a cold place, or in ice. Turn it out when
firm.
_Bakewell Pudding._-½ lb. butter, the yolks of 8 eggs, the whites
of 2, ½ lb. powdered white sugar; cover a pie-dish with puff paste,
put a layer of any kind of preserves about 1 in. thick; gently melt
the butter, add that to the eggs. When nearly cold, beat all well
together and flavour with almond essence; pour the mixture into the
dish about 1 in. thick; bake it about 1 hour in a moderate oven.
_Batter Pudding._--(_a_) Take 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 1 of
butter, and 1 breakfastcupful milk. Beat the butter to a cream, beat
the eggs, add a little white sugar, and for a change the grated rind
of a lemon; put in the flour and milk, and beat all together. Pour
the mixture into a buttered shallow dish, and bake 20 minutes in a
sharp oven. It may also be baked in common saucers instead of a dish,
when the puddings should be doubled up when turned out, so as to form
semicircles on the dish, and sifted sugar strewn over them.
(_b_) Make a batter of 2 eggs, 1 pint milk, 6 tablespoonfuls flour,
and a pinch of salt; line a pie-dish with marmalade or preserve,
and bake 40 minutes in a quick oven; apples sliced into the batter
instead of the jam are very good.
(_c_) Mix ½ lb. flour in a basin with ½ teaspoonful salt; break
in 2 eggs, mix well, and gradually add 1 pint milk, mixing it all
the time. Should there be any lumps, they should disappear in the
moistening. Let it stand a short time to rise, butter a pie-dish,
pour the batter in, and bake in a quick oven; it ought not to take
more than ½ hour to bake; it should have risen very high, and must
be served at once, before it has time to fall. For boiling, butter a
pudding basin, pour the same batter into it, tie down tightly with
a cloth, and put it into a saucepan of boiling water. It should be
moved about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to
prevent the flour from settling in any part. It will take rather more
than 1 hour to boil; turn it out, and serve at once, with either wine
sauce or sweet sauce round it in the dish.
_Biscuit Charlotte._--Line a basin closely with some thin finger
biscuits, so as to form a complete case. Peel, slice, and core 12
apples, and stew with them a few cherries in butter. Fill the case
with the fruit, but leaving a hole in the centre, in which place a
small glass, which may contain any jam or preserved fruits; boil 1
hour and turn out. Pour over or serve with clotted cream or custard.
_Bishop Pudding._--Butter some thin slices of bread, without crust,
and over the butter spread a good layer of jam. Cut the slices into
convenient pieces. Line and border a deep pie-dish with puff paste,
arrange the slices of bread and butter in the dish until half full.
Make an ordinary, rather milky ground rice pudding, flavour the milk
with which it is made with the rind of a lemon. Sweeten to taste,
and add to it 2 or 3 beaten-up eggs, according to the size of the
pudding. Pour this mixture into the pie-dish, and bake in a brisk
oven.
_Blackberry Mould._--Put 1 lb. ripe blackberries into a pudding
basin, place this in a larger one of hot water, put a plate on the
top, and let it remain in the oven until the fruit is soft. Press
out all the juice and mix it with rather more than 1 lb. apples,
previously pared, cored, and cut into quarters; put both together
into a preserving pan; let them boil for ½ hour, and then add ¾ lb.
powdered loaf sugar; let it boil for 10 minutes more, stirring with
a silver spoon, when it will be ready to put into the mould, which
should be of earthenware. A little grated lemon peel should be added.
_Blackberry Puddings and Tarts._--Both are better for having a small
quantity of any good cooking apple mixed with the berries; the apples
should be sliced as thinly as possible, and should be at once stirred
in with the other fruit and with sugar.