Steep the oatmeal all night in milk. Pou_The English Housekeeper: Or, Manual of Domestic Management Containing advice on the conduct of household affairs and practical instructions concerning the store-room, the pantry, the larder, the kitchen, the cellar, the dairy; the whole being intended for the use of young ladies who undertake the superintendence of their own housekeeping

meal some cream, currants, spice, sugar, or salt, to your taste, and 3 or 4

eggs; or, if no cream, use more eggs. Stir well, and boil it in a basin an

hour. Pour melted butter, sweetened, over it.

_Batter Pudding._

Beat 4 eggs and mix them smoothly, with 4 table-spoonsful of flour, then

stir in by degrees, 1 pint of new milk, beat it well, add a tea-spoonful of

salt, and boil in a mould an hour, or bake it half an hour.--_Black Cap

Pudding_ is made in the same way, with the addition of 3 oz. currants;

these will fall to the bottom of the basin, and form a black cap when the

pudding is turned out.--_Batter Pudding with Fruit_ is made as follows:

pare, core, and divide, 8 large apples, put them in a deep pudding dish,

pour a batter over, and bake it.--Cherries, plums, damsons, and most sorts

of fruit, make nice puddings in this way.--Serve sweet sauce with batter

puddings.--_Or_: raspberry vinegar, such as is made at home, clear, and

possessing the flavour of the fruit.

_Yorkshire Pudding._

This is batter, the same as the last receipt, baked, and {254}eaten with

roast meat; but in some houses it is not baked, but cooked under the meat

thus: pour it into a shallow tin pan, put it under roasting meat, and stir

till it begins to settle. After one or two trials a cook will know when to

put the pudding under the meat, for that must depend upon the size of the

joint, as it ought to go to table as soon as it is done, or it will be

heavy. They are much lighter not turned. The fat will require to be poured

off, once or twice.

_Potato Puddings._

Boil in a quart of milk, a bit of lemon peel, and some nutmeg. Rub smooth,

in a little cold milk, 4 table-spoonsful of potato flour, and stir it, by

degrees, into the hot milk; when cool, add sugar, and 3 or 4 eggs, or more

as you like, put it into a dish, and bake an hour. Add brandy or

orange-flower water.

_Carrot Pudding._

Mix ½ lb. grated raw carrot with ½ lb. grated bread, and stir these into a

pint of thick cream and the yolks of 8 eggs well beaten, then stir in ½ lb.

fresh butter, melted, 3 spoonsful of orange-flower water, ½ a wine-glassful

of brandy, a nutmeg grated, and sugar to your taste; stir all well

together, and if too thick, add a very little new milk, pour it into a dish

lined with paste and bake it an hour.

_Hasty Pudding._

Beat the yolk of an egg into ½ pint new milk with a little salt, stir this

by degrees into 3 table-spoonsful of flour, and beat it to a smooth batter.

Set 1½ pint of milk on the fire; when scalding hot pour in the batter, keep

stirring that it may be smooth and not burn: let it thicken, but not boil.

Serve it directly.

_Buttermilk Pudding._

Use fresh buttermilk, and make the same as batter pudding, but without

eggs. This is very good, with roast meat.--_Or_: warm 3 quarts of milk with

a quart of {255}buttermilk, then pour it through a sieve; when the curd is

dry, pound it with ½ lb. sugar, the peel of a lemon boiled till tender, the

crumb of a roll, 6 bitter almonds, 4 oz. butter, the yolks of 5 and whites

of 3 eggs, a tea-cupful of good cream, a wine-glassful of sweet wine and of

brandy; mix well, and bake in small cups, well buttered. Serve quite hot,

with sweet sauce.

_Save-all Pudding._

Put scraps of bread, or dry pieces of home-made cake, into a saucepan, with

milk according to the quantity of bread; when it boils, beat the bread

smooth, add 3 eggs, sugar, nutmeg, ginger, and lemon peel; put it into a

buttered dish, and strew over the top 2 oz. shred suet, or butter. Bake or

boil it three quarters of an hour. _Currants_ or _raisins_ are an

improvement.

_Camp Puddings._

Melt ¼ lb. butter in ½ pint of water, with a little salt, sugar to your

taste, and grated lemon peel. When melted, stir in ¼ lb. flour, and when

nearly cold, add 3 eggs well beaten. Bake in cups twenty minutes, or fry

them in plenty of lard.

_Pretty Puddings._

A pint of cream, or new milk, 4 eggs (leave out 2 whites), ½ a nutmeg

grated, the pulp of 2 large apples (boiled), ¼ lb. butter melted, and a

tea-cupful of grated bread. Beat it well together, sweeten to your taste,

and bake it.

_Nursery Pudding._

Cut the crumb of a twopenny loaf in slices, pour on it a quart of boiling

milk, cover close for ten minutes; beat it and stir in ¼ lb. fresh butter,

4 eggs, a little nutmeg, and sugar. Bake in patty-pans, or in a dish, half

an hour.

_Arrow Root Pudding._

Rub 2 dessert-spoonsful of arrow root quite smooth in a little cold milk,

pour upon it by degrees, stirring all the {256}time, a pint of scalded new

milk; put it on the fire a few minutes to thicken, but not boil; stir

carefully, or it will be lumpy. When cold add sugar, and 3 yolks of eggs.

Boil, or bake it half an hour.

_Ground Rice Pudding._

Mix 2 oz. ground rice with ½ pint of cold milk; scald 1½ pint of new milk,

and pour the rice and milk into it, stirring over the fire till it

thickens: let it cool, then add 5 eggs well beaten, 6 oz. of powdered

sugar, nutmeg, and a spoonful of orange-flower water, stir all well

together, and bake in a dish, with a paste border, half an hour. Currants

may be added. It may be boiled in a mould, an hour. Indian corn flour makes

good puddings the same way; and there are preparations of Indian corn, such

as _soujie_, _semolina_, and _golden polenta_, which may be dressed in the

same way.

_Semolina Pudding._

Mix 2 oz. of semolina quite smooth, with a little cold milk, then pour over

it a pint of boiled milk, and sweeten to your taste, then put it into a

saucepan, and keep stirring till it boils, take it off the fire, and stir

till only lukewarm; add a slice of butter, the yolks of 4 eggs, the juice

of a lemon, and a wine-glassful of brandy. Bake in a dish lined with paste,

half an hour.

_Indian Corn Mush._

The same thing as oatmeal porridge, but made of Indian corn meal. Boil 2

quarts of water with a little salt, and mix it, by degrees, into 1 lb. corn

meal; boil very gently three quarters of an hour, stirring all the time,

that the meal may not adhere to the bottom of the saucepan, and burn.

_Hommony._

Boil one third of a pound of Indian meal in water to cover it, for twenty

minutes, or until nearly all the water is wasted; it must be like thick

paste. Put a piece of butter the size of a walnut into a vegetable dish,

pour in the hommony, {257}and serve it, like mashed turnips. Dip your spoon

in the middle when you help it. In some parts of America, what they call

_hommony_ is made of the _cracked_ corn: and if so, it must be something of

the same kind as our peas-pudding, but not boiled in a cloth.

_Polenta._

The best thing to prepare this in, is a three legged iron pot, hung over

the fire. Let the fire be hot, and also blazing, if possible. To a quart of

water, when it boils, put in a little salt, then add 12 oz. of meal, but be

careful to do it in the following manner: while the water is boiling stir

in half the meal first, but be sure to stir quickly all the time, or it may

be lumpy, then you may put in the remainder at once, but keep stirring

constantly. When it has been on the fire a quarter of an hour, cease to

stir, take the pot off the fire and set it on the floor for two minutes,

then put it on the fire again, and you will see the polenta first rise in a

great puff, then break and fall; as soon as you perceive this, take it off

the fire, and turn it out into a dish; it ought to come out quite clean,

not leaving a particle adhering to the pot, else there has been some fault

in the boiling. It is stirred with a long stick, thicker at one end than

the other. Of this the Italians make an endless variety of dishes, some of

which are the following: the most simple mode of dressing the polenta is

thus: pour it from the boiling into a bowl, when cold turn it out; take a

coarse thread in your two hands, put it on the side of the polenta away

from you, draw the thread towards you, and you will find that it cuts a

clean slice of polenta off, continue till you have cut it all into slices,

and then you may dress them in different ways: the commonest is to cut the

slices _thick_ and brown them on a gridiron.

_Whole Rice Pudding._

Rice should be soaked an hour in cold water. Wash well, and pick, a

tea-cupful of good rice, boil it slowly ten minutes, in a little water,

pour that off, and pour over the rice 1½ pint of new milk; let the milk

boil up, pour it into a deep dish, stir in a bit of butter, sugar to your

taste, a little pounded cinnamon, and grated lemon peel; {258}bake it, and

it will be a good plain pudding. This is made richer by adding to the rice

and milk, when poured into the dish, some sliced suet, and raisins, or

candied peel, also 3 or 4 eggs.--_Or_: apples pared, cored, and sliced,

spread at the bottom of the dish, the rice and milk poured over

them.--_Little rice puddings_ are made by boiling the rice (after it has

been parboiled in water) in a pint of cream, with a bit of butter; let it

get quite cold, then mix with it the yolks of 6 eggs, sugar, lemon peel,

and cinnamon; butter some little cups, lay slices of candied citron, or

lemon, at the bottom, fill up with rice, bake, turn them out in a dish, and

pour sweet sauce round. Ratafia is an improvement.

_Rice Pudding to Boil._

Wash and pick ¼ lb. of rice, tie it in a cloth, leaving room to swell, boil

it two hours. Turn it out in a dish, pour melted butter and sifted sugar

over.--_Or_: apples sliced may be mixed with the rice when it is put into

the pudding cloth.--_Or_: boil ½ lb. of rice in 1½ pint of milk till

tender, then mix with it ½ lb. suet, and the same of currants and raisins

chopped, 3 eggs, 1 table-spoonful of sugar, the same of brandy, a little

nutmeg and lemon peel; beat well, put 2 table-spoonsful of flour to bind

it, and boil in a mould or bason three hours.

_Snow Balls._

Boil ½ lb. whole rice tender in water, with a large piece of lemon peel;

drain off the water. Pare and core 4 large apples. Divide the rice into

equal parts, roll out each one, put an apple in, cover with the rice, and

tie each one tightly up in a cloth, and boil half an hour. Pour pudding

sauce round.

_Buxton Pudding._

Boil 1 pint new milk; rub smoothly with a little cold milk, 2

table-spoonsful of flour, and mix it by degrees to the boiled milk, and set

it over the fire, let it boil five minutes, then cool; stir in 4 oz. melted

butter, 5 eggs, 6 oz. lump sugar, and the rind of a lemon grated. Bake half

an hour.

{259}_Vermicelli Pudding._

Boil 1½ pint of new milk, put to it 4 oz. fine vermicelli, boil them

together till the latter is cooked; add ¼ lb. butter; the yolks of 4 eggs,

¼ lb. sugar, a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon peel grated. Boil in a

bason; or bake twenty minutes. Cream is an improvement.

_Sago, or Tapioca Pudding._

Wash it in several waters, then soak it an hour. Boil 5 table-spoonsful in

a quart of new milk, with sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel and nutmeg, to taste;

when cold add 4 eggs, bake it in a dish with a paste border, in a slow

oven. Some prefer the prepared sago powder.

_Pearl Barley Pudding._

Wash 3 table-spoonsful of pearl barley in cold water, then boil it two

hours or till quite soft, in a quart of milk, then beat in 2 eggs, some

sugar, and 3 drops of essence of lemon: bake it in a pie dish.

_Millet Pudding._

Wash 4 oz. of the seeds, pour on them 1½ pint of boiling milk, add 2 oz.

butter, a little sugar, ginger, and nutmeg; cover with a plate, and let it

remain till cold, then stir in 3 eggs: boil or bake it.

_Maccaroni Pudding._

Simmer 3 oz. pipe maccaroni in 1½ pint of milk, and a little salt, till

tender. (_Or_: simmer it in water, pour that off, then put the hot milk to

the maccaroni.) Let it cool, add the yolks of 4 eggs, a little nutmeg,

cinnamon, powdered sugar, and a table-spoonful of almond-flower water, and

bake it.--_Or_: to make it richer, put a layer of any preserve in the

centre of the maccaroni. Lay a paste round the edge of the dish.--_Or_:

simmer 6 oz. maccaroni till tender, pour the water off, and let the

maccaroni cool. Beat the yolks of 6 eggs, the whites of 3, and stir them

into ½ pint of good cream, with a very little salt and pepper. {260}Skin

and mince the breast of a cold fowl, with half its quantity of lean ham;

grate 1½ oz. parmesan over the mince, and mix it with all the rest; then

pour it into a shape or bason; boil or steam it.--_Excellent._ Serve a good

clear gravy with this.

_A Pudding always liked._

Put ¼ lb. ratafia drops, 2 oz. jar raisins stoned and slit in two, 1 oz.

sweet almonds slit and blanched, 1 oz. of citron and candied lemon (both

sliced), in layers in a deep dish, and pour over a wine-glassful of sherry

and the same of brandy; pour over a good, rich, unboiled custard, to fill

up the dish, then bake it.

_Cheese Pudding._

Grate ½ lb. of Cheshire cheese into a table-spoonful of finely grated

bread-crumbs, mix them up with 2 eggs, a tea-cupful of cream, and the same

of oiled butter; bake in a small dish lined with puff paste. Serve this

quite hot.

_Ratafia Pudding._

Blanch, and beat to a paste, in a mortar, ½ lb. of sweet, and ½ oz. of

bitter, almonds, with a table-spoonful of orange-flower water; add 3 oz. of

fresh butter, melted in a wine-glassful of hot cream, 4 eggs, sugar to

taste, a very little nutmeg, and a table-spoonful of brandy. Bake in a

small dish, or little cups buttered: serve white wine sauce.

_Staffordshire Pudding._

Put into a scale 3 eggs in the shells, take the same weight of butter, of

flour, and of sugar: beat the butter to a cream, then add the flour, beat

it again, then the sugar and eggs. Butter cups, fill them half full, and

bake twenty minutes in a slow oven. Serve in sweet sauce.

_Baked Almond Pudding._

Beat 6 oz. of sweet and 12 bitter almonds to a paste; mix this with the

yolks of 6 eggs, 4 oz. butter, the grated peel {261}and juice of a lemon,

1½ pint of cream, a glass of white wine, and some sugar. Put a paste border

round a dish, pour in the pudding, and bake it half an hour.

_Wafer Pudding._

Melt 1 oz. butter and mix it with a gill of cream; when this is cold, work

it into 1½ table-spoonful flour, and 4 eggs, mix well, and bake it in

saucers, half an hour. Serve with wine sauce.

_Orange Pudding._

Grate the rind of a large Seville orange into a mortar, put to it 4 oz.

fresh butter and 6 oz. finely powdered sugar; beat well, and mix in,

gradually, 8 eggs; have ready soaked in milk 3 sponge biscuits, and mix

them to the rest; beat well, pour it into a shallow dish, lined with a rich

puff paste, and bake till the paste is done.--_Or_: the yolks of 8, and

whites of 4, eggs well beaten, 4 table-spoonsful of orange marmalade, 4 oz.

pounded sugar, 4 oz. fresh butter, 2 oz. pounded Naples biscuits, 2

table-spoonsful of cream, 2 of sherry, and 1 of good brandy; mix all

together, and bake in a dish with a very thin paste.

_Lemon Pudding._

Put ½ lb. fresh butter with ½ lb. lump sugar into a saucepan, and stir it

over the fire till the sugar is melted, turn it out to cool; beat 8 eggs,

very well, add to them the juice of 2, and the grated peel of 3, lemons,

and mix these well with the butter and sugar, also a wine-glassful of

brandy; bake in a dish lined with puff paste, half an hour.--_Or_: boil in

several waters the peel of 4 large lemons, and when cold pound it in a

mortar with ½ lb. of lump sugar; add ½ lb. fresh butter beaten to a cream,

6 yolks of eggs, 3 whites, 2 table-spoonsful of brandy, and the juice of 3

lemons, mix well, and bake in a moderately quick oven; when done strew

sifted sugar over.--Some persons put 2 sponge biscuits into the mixture.

_Cabinet or Brandy Pudding._

Line a mould, first with raisins stoned, or with dried {262}cherries, then

with thin slices of French roll, then with ratafias or maccaroons, then put

in preserved, or fresh, fruit as you like, mixed with sponge, and what

other cakes you choose, until the mould be full, sprinkling in at times 2

glasses of brandy. Beat 4 eggs, yolks and whites, and put them into a pint

of scalded and sweetened new milk or cream, add grated nutmeg and lemon

peel; let the liquid sink gradually into the solid part, tie a floured

cloth tight over, and boil the pudding one hour, keeping the bottom of the

bason up.--_Another_: pour a pint of hot cream over ½ lb. of Savoy biscuit,

and cover it; when cold, beat it up, with the yolks and whites of 8 eggs,

beaten separately, sugar and grated lemon peel: butter a mould, stick some

stoned raisins round, and pour in the pudding: boil or bake it.

_Baked Apple or Gooseberry Pudding._

Having pared and cored them, stew 1 lb. of apples, or 1 quart of

gooseberries, in a small stew-pan, with a very little water, a stick of

cinnamon, 2 or 3 cloves, and grated lemon peel: when soft, pulp the apples

through a sieve, sweeten them, or, if they want sharpness, add the juice of

half, or a whole lemon, also ¼ lb. good fresh butter, and the yolks of 6

eggs well beaten; line a pudding dish, or patty-pans, with a good puff

paste; pour the pudding in, and bake half an hour, or less, as required. A

little brandy, or orange-flower water, may be used.--You may mix 2 oz. of

Naples biscuit, with the pulp of gooseberries. _Another._--Prepare the

apples as in the last receipt: butter a dish and strew a very thick coating

of crumbs of bread, put in the apples and cover with more crumbs; bake in a

moderate oven half an hour, then turn it carefully out, and strew bits of

lemon peel and finely sifted sugar over.--Rice may be used instead of

crumbs of bread, first boiled till quite tender in milk, then sweetened,

and flavoured with nutmeg and pounded cinnamon; stir a large piece of

butter into it.

_Quince Pudding._

Scald 1 lb. fruit till tender, pare them, and scrape off all the pulp.

Strew over it pounded ginger and cinnamon, {263}with sugar enough to

sweeten it. To a pint of cream, put the yolks of 3 eggs, and stir enough

pulp to make it as thick as you like. Pour it into a dish lined with puff

paste, and bake it. Any stone fruit may be coddled, then baked in the same

way.

_Swiss Apple Pudding._

Break some rusks in bits, and soak them in boiling milk. Put a layer of

sliced apples and sugar in a pudding dish, then a layer of rusks, and so

on; finish with rusks, pour thin melted butter over, and bake it.

_Peach, Apricot, and Nectarine Pudding._

Pour a pint of boiling, thin cream, over a breakfast-cupful of

bread-crumbs, and cover with a plate. When cold, beat them up with the

yolks of 5 eggs, sugar to taste, and a glass of white wine. Scald 12 large

peaches, peel them, take out the kernels, pound these with the fruit, in a

mortar, and mix with the other ingredients; put all into a dish with a

paste border, and bake it. _Another Apricot Pudding._--Coddle 6 large

apricots till quite tender, cut them in quarters, sweeten to your taste,

and when cold, add 6 yolks of eggs and 2 whites, well beaten, also a little

cream. Put this in a dish lined with puff paste, and bake it half an hour

in a slow oven: strew powdered sugar over, and send it to table.

For this and all delicate puddings requiring little baking, rather shallow

dishes are best; and if the pudding is not to be _turned out_, a pretty

paste border only is required; this formed of leaves neatly cut, and laid

round the dish, their edges just laying over each other.

_A Charlotte._

Cut slices of bread, an inch thick, butter them on both sides, and cut them

into dice or long slips, and make them fit the bottom, and round the sides

of a small buttered dish or baking tin, and fill up with apples which have

been stewed, sweetened, and seasoned to taste; have some slices {264}of

bread soaked in warm milk and butter, cover these over the top, put a plate

or dish on the top, and a weight on that, to keep it down, and bake in a

quick oven: when done, turn it out of the dish.--This is very nice, made of

layers of different sorts of marmalade or preserved fruit, and slices of

stale sponge cake between each layer. _Another of Currants._--Stew ripe

currants with sugar enough to sweeten them: have ready a basin or mould

buttered and lined with thin slices of bread and butter, pour in the stewed

fruit hot, just off the fire, cover with more slices of bread and butter,

turn a plate over, and a weight on that: let it stand till the next day,

then turn it out, and pour cream or a thin custard round it, in the dish.

_Bakewell Pudding._

Line a dish with puff paste, spread over a variety of preserves, and pour

over them the following mixture:--½ lb. clarified butter, ½ lb. lump sugar,

8 yolks, and 2 whites of eggs, and any thing you choose to flavour with;

bake it in a moderate oven. When cold you may put stripes of candied lemon

over the top, and a few blanched almonds. To be eaten cold.--This without

any preserves is called _Amber Pudding_.

_Citron Pudding._

Mix ½ pint of good cream by degrees, with 1 table-spoonful of fine flour, 2

oz. of lump sugar, a little nutmeg and the yolks of 2 eggs; pour it into a

dish or little cups, stick in 2 oz. of citron cut very fine, and bake in a

moderate oven.

_Maccaroon Pudding._

Pour a pint of boiling cream or new milk, flavoured with cinnamon and lemon

peel, over ¼ lb. maccaroon and ¼ lb. almond cakes; when cold break them

small, add the yolks of 6 and the whites of 4 eggs, 2 table-spoonsful of

orange marmalade, 2 oz. fresh butter, 2 oz. sifted sugar, a glass of

sherry, and one of brandy mixed: mix well, put it into cups, and bake

fifteen minutes.

{265}_New College Pudding._

(The Original Receipt.)

Grate a stale penny loaf, shred fine ½ lb. suet, beat 4 eggs, and mix all

well together, with 4 oz. of sifted sugar, a little nutmeg, a wine-glassful

of brandy, a little candied orange and lemon peel, and a little rose or

orange flower water. Fry these in good butter, and pour melted butter with

a glass of white wine over them in the dish. The several ingredients may be

prepared apart, but must not be mixed till you are ready to fry

them.--_Another_: to 4 oz. of grated bread add 4 oz. suet shred fine, 4 oz.

currants, 2 eggs, 3 table-spoonsful of brandy, with sugar, lemon peel, and

nutmeg to your taste; mix well together, make into 4 little puddings, and

boil them an hour.

_Paradise Pudding._

Pare and chop 6 apples very fine, mix them with 6 oz. bread-crumbs, 6 oz.

powdered sugar, 6 oz. currants, 6 eggs, 6 oz. of suet, a little salt,

nutmeg, and lemon peel, also a glass of brandy. Boil in a bason one hour

and a half.

_Yeast or Light Dumplings._

Put 1½ table-spoonful of good yeast into as much lukewarm water as will mix

a quartern of fine flour into dough; add a little salt, knead it lightly,

cover with a cloth, and let it stand in rather a warm place, not exposed to

a current of air, two hours. Make it into 12 dumplings, let them stand half

an hour, put them into a large vessel of boiling water, keep the lid on,

and they will be done in fifteen or twenty minutes. Serve melted butter.

_Hard Dumplings._

Sprinkle a little salt into the flour and mix it up rather stiff with

water, make it into dumplings, and boil them with beef or pork. They may be

made in cakes as broad as a small plate, about an inch thick; place a

skimmer in the pot, lay the cake on it, boil it half an hour; score it

deeply, and slip slices of butter in, sprinkle a little salt over, and

serve it quite hot. A very little _lard_ may be rubbed into the flour.

{266}_Pancakes._

The batter requires long beating, but the great art consists in frying

them. The lard, butter, or dripping must be fresh and hot, as for fish.

Beat 2 eggs and stir them, with a little salt, into 3 table-spoonsful of

flour, or allow an egg to each spoonful of flour, add pounded cinnamon,

and, by degrees, a pint of new milk, and beat it to a smooth batter. Make a

small round frying-pan quite hot, put a piece of butter or lard into it,

and, when melted, pour it out and wipe the pan; put a piece more in, and

when it has melted and begins to froth, pour in a ladle or tea-cupful of

the batter, toss the pan round, run a knife round the edges, and turn the

pancake when the top is of a light brown; brown the other side; roll it up,

and serve very hot. Currant jelly, or marmalade, may be spread thinly on

the pancake before it is rolled up. Cream and more eggs will make it

richer; also brandy or lemon juice.

_Whole Rice Pancakes._

Boil ½ lb. rice in water till quite tender, strain, and let it cool; then

break it very fine, and add ½ lb. clarified butter, ½ pint of scalded

cream, or new milk, a little salt, nutmeg, and 5 eggs, well beaten. Mix

well, and fry them. Garnish with slices of lemon, or Seville orange.

_Ground Rice Pancakes._

Stir, by degrees, into a quart of new milk, 4 table-spoonsful of ground

rice, and a little salt; stir it over the fire till it is as thick as pap;

stir in ½ lb. butter and grated nutmeg, and let it cool; add 4

table-spoonsful of flour, a little sugar, and 9 eggs; beat well, and fry

them.

_Fritters._

Make batter the same as pancakes, but stiffer; pour a large spoonful into

boiling lard; fry as many at a time as the pan will hold. Sift powdered

sugar over, and serve on a hot dish. Fritters are usually made with minced

apple or currants, stirred into the batter, or any sweetmeat stiff enough

to be cut into little bits, or candied lemon or orange {267}peel.--_Or_:

grate the crumb of a stale roll, beat it smooth in a pint of milk over the

fire, then let it get cold, and mix it with the yolks of 5 eggs, 3 oz.

sifted sugar, and ½ a nutmeg. Fry in boiling lard, and serve hot. Sweet

sauce in a tureen. _Curd Fritters_--Rub a quart basin full of dried curd

with the yolks of 8 and whites of 4 eggs; 3 oz. sugar, ½ a nutmeg grated,

and a dessert-spoonful of flour; beat well, and drop the batter into

boiling lard. _Apple Fritters_--Make a stiff common pancake batter. Boil ½

a stick of cinnamon in a breakfast-cupful of water, and let it cool. Peel

and core some large apples, cut them in round slices, and steep them half

an hour, or more, in the cinnamon water; then dip each piece in the batter,

and fry them in lard, or clarified dripping. Drain, dust sugar over each

one, and serve hot.--_Or_: to make a pretty dish, drop enough batter into

the pan to form a fritter the size of the slices of apple, lay a slice of

apple upon that, and drop batter on the top.--_Or_: the apples may be

pared, cored, half baked (whole), then dipped in the batter, and fried.

_A Rice White Pot._

Boil 1 lb. whole rice quite tender, in 2 quarts of new milk, strain, and

beat it in a mortar with ¼ lb. blanched almonds, and a little rose water.

Boil 2 quarts of cream with a blade or 2 of mace, let it cool, and stir

into it 5 eggs well beaten, sweeten to taste, pour it into the rice, mix

well, and bake half an hour. Lay some slices of candied orange and citron

on the top before you put it into the oven.--_Or_: to a quart of new milk

add the yolks of 4 and the whites of 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of rose

water, and 2 oz. sugar; beat well, and pour it into a pie dish, over some

thin slices of bread: bake it half an hour.

_Pain Perdu._

Boil a pint of cream, or new milk; when cold, stir in 6 eggs and put in a

French roll, cut in slices, to soak an hour. Fry the slices in butter, of a

light brown, and serve with pudding sauce poured over.

{268}CHAPTER XXI.

BREAD, CAKES, BISCUITS, ROLLS, AND MUFFINS.

ALMOST every county has its peculiar fashion of making bread: and almost

every hand differs in the practice. The receipt here given is the one

followed by most persons in Hampshire; and I select it, being the one I am

most familiar with, and not because that county is famed for excellence in

bread; for much depends upon the goodness of the flour, and some other

parts of England excel Hampshire in this respect.

Good bread is so essential, that no pains ought to be spared to procure it.

For this purpose the flour ought to be well prepared, and kept in a dry

place. Some persons like brown bread, but it is not, in general, so

wholesome as that which is all white. Six pounds of rye flour, to a peck of

wheaten flour, makes very good bread.

The advantages of making bread _at home_, in preference to buying it at the

baker's, are stated in COBBETT'S "COTTAGE ECONOMY"; and I refer my readers

to that little work, to convince them that they will benefit greatly by

following the advice there given on this subject.

Small beer yeast is the best for making bread, as ale, or strong beer

yeast, is generally too bitter.

_To take the Bitter from Yeast._--Put the yeast to the water you use to mix

the "batter," or as the country people call it, "set the sponge," and stir

into it 2 or 3 good handfuls of bran; pour it through a sieve or jelly bag

(kept for the purpose), and then mix it into the flour. The bran not only

corrects the bitterness of the yeast, but communicates a sweetness to the

bread.--_Or_: put into the yeast 2 or 3 pieces of wood coal, stir them

about, pour the water in, and then strain it.

{269}_Household Bread._

(From Cobbett's Cottage Economy.)

"Supposing the quantity to be a bushel of flour, put it into the trough,

and make a deep hole in the middle. Stir into a pint (or if very thick and

good, ½ or ¾ pint), of yeast, a pint of soft warm water, and pour it into

the hole in the flour. In very cold weather the water should be nearly hot,

in very warm weather only lukewarm. Take a spoon and work it round the

outside of this body of moisture, so as to bring into that body, by

degrees, flour enough to form a _thin batter_, which you must stir about

well for a minute or two. Then take a handful of flour and scatter it

thinly over the head of this batter, so as to _hide_ it. Cover a cloth over

the trough to keep the air from the bread, and the thickness of this

covering, as well as the situation of the trough as to distance from the

fire, must depend on the nature of the place and state of the weather, as

to heat and cold. When you perceive that the batter has risen enough to

make _cracks_ in the flour that you covered it over with, you begin to form

the whole mass into _dough_, thus: you begin round the hole containing the

batter, working the flour into the batter, and pouring in, as it is wanted,

soft water, or half milk and half water, in winter a _little_ warm, in

summer quite cold; but before you begin this, you scatter the salt over the

heap, at the rate of a lb. to a bushel of flour. When you have got the

whole _sufficiently moist_, you _knead it well_. This is a grand part of

the business; for unless the dough be _well worked_, there will be _little

round lumps of flour in the loaves_; besides which, the original batter,

which is to give fermentation to the whole, will not be duly mixed. The

dough must, therefore, be well worked. The _fists_ must go heartily into

it. It must be rolled over; pressed out; folded up, and pressed out again,

until it be completely mixed, and formed into a _stiff_ and _tough dough_."

The loaves are made up according to fancy, both as to size and shape; but

the time they require to bake will greatly depend upon the former, for the

household loaf of a Hampshire farm-house takes three hours or three hours

and a half, while that of a Norfolk farm-house does not, I should imagine,

require half the time.

{270}_French Bread or Rolls._

Warm 1½ pint of milk, add ½ pint yeast; mix them with fine flour to a thick

batter, put it near the fire to rise, keeping it covered. When it has risen

as high as it will, add ¼ pint of warm water, ½ oz. salt, 2 oz. butter; rub

the butter first with a little dry flour, mix the dough not quite so stiff

as for common bread; let it stand three quarters of an hour to rise, then

make it into rolls. Bake in a quick oven.

_Rice Bread._

To ¼ lb. wheat flour, allow 1 lb. rice; the latter first boiled in four

times its weight of water, till it becomes a perfect pulp, then mix by

degrees, the flour with the rice, and sufficient yeast for the quantity of

bread; knead and set it to rise.

It was the fashion in this country to present a variety of cakes, some hot

and some cold, on the tea-table; but now, except in some of the northern

counties, the good custom is obsolete.

In America, it is the general custom to dine early, to take tea rather

late, and no supper; and there the tea table is a matter of as much

consideration as the dinner table is in England or France. Every house in

America, especially in the country, has one, two, or more cottage ovens of

various sizes. I believe that these very useful things are known in some

parts of England, but I never saw them except in America. They are

particularly adapted to open fire-places, where wood or peat are burnt.

They are much the same as the iron pots, which stand on legs, except that

the bottom of the oven is flat, not round, and that the lid fits into the

top, leaving a space sufficient to hold a layer of hot coals: the oven

stands upon legs, at a little distance from the ground, to admit of hot

coals being placed under it. A loaf the size of our quartern loaf may be

baked in this way, as well as tarts, cakes, custards, apples, pears, &c.,

&c. By means of this little oven, much labour and fuel are saved. Another

appendage to an American kitchen, is the _girdle_ for baking many sorts of

cakes, and crumpets; and on this girdle they cook their far-famed buckwheat

cakes. It is a round iron plate with a handle over it, which is hung upon

the crane upon which {271}iron pots are hung, or it will stand upon a

trivet, and then the crumpets are cooked in the same way as pancakes; and

are much better thus, fresh made, than as they are generally eaten.

In the country, where eggs, cream, and flour (the chief ingredients), are

always to be obtained in perfection, there is no excuse for an absence of

cakes for the tea, or of rolls at the breakfast table. In most houses,

there are young ladies who might attend to this department, with very

little loss of time, and with much credit to themselves, and I should be

glad if I saw reason to hope that those who are now growing up would not

despise the practice. The more difficult and intricate articles of

ornamental confectionary, may be too troublesome for any but professors of

the art; but all _cakes_ may be made at home. Nothing worth knowing, is to

be learned without trouble; but in the art of making and baking cakes, few

failures can arise after any number of trials.

Flour for cakes should be of the best quality, well dried, and sifted. The

eggs fresh, beaten separately, and beaten well. Currants well washed,

picked, and dried in a cloth, or before the fire. The ingredients

thoroughly mixed, and the cake put into the oven _instantly_, unless there

be yeast, and then time must be given for it to rise.

Sal Volatile is used, not to make cakes rise, but to prevent their

flattening, after they have risen, but though the practice may not be

injurious, it had better be avoided. Yeast ought to be sweet, white, and

thick; and may be prepared in the manner directed for bread. Pearl-ash is

sometimes used to lighten bread and cakes.

An iceing is made as follows: to ½ lb. finely sifted sugar put the whites

of 2 eggs, beaten with a little water; beat all well with a whisk till

quite smooth, and spread it thickly over the cake, with a spoon; for small

cakes, put it on lightly, with a brush.

Ovens vary so much, that experience alone can teach what quantity of fuel,

and what portion of time may be required to heat any particular one. When

such knowledge is once obtained, it will be a matter of no great difficulty

so to manage the oven that it be always of the right temperature; which it

must be, or all labour is lost.

Cakes keep moist covered with a cloth, in a pan.

{272}_Common Currant Loaf._

Melt ¼ lb. butter in a pint of milk, and mix it with 4 oz. yeast and 2

eggs, then stir it into 2 lbs. flour, beat well with a wooden spoon, and

set it before the fire to rise; then add 1 lb. currants, and 2 oz. sifted

sugar, and bake it an hour in a moderate oven.

_A Rich Plum Cake._

To 1 lb. each, of currants and flour, rubbed together, add 12 oz. fresh

butter beaten to a cream. Beat the whites and yolks of 16 eggs, put to them

nearly 1 lb. finely powdered sugar, set this mixture over the fire, and

whisk it till the eggs are warm; then take it off, beat till cold, and stir

in, first, the butter, then the flour and currants; beat well, add ½ oz.

bitter almonds, beaten to a paste, 2 oz. sweet almonds, blanched, and cut

the long way, ½ oz. pounded cinnamon and mace, and ½ lb. candied peel,

either citron, lemon, or orange, or a portion of each; add a little brandy

or any highly flavoured liquor. Paper a hoop and pour in the cake. An hour

and a half, or two hours will bake it.--_Another_: beat 1 lb. butter to a

cream, put to it ¾ lb. sifted sugar, and a little rose or orange flower

water, beat it; then add 8 yolks of eggs, the whites of 4, ½ lb. almonds,

blanched and beaten, 1½ lb. currants, a little each, of cinnamon, mace,

cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, and 1 lb. flour. You may add 2 table-spoonsful

of brandy, 1 oz. citron, 1 oz. candied lemon peel, and the same of orange

peel. Bake two hours.

_A very good Cake._

Beat 2 lbs. fresh butter, with a little rose water, till it is like cream;

rub it into 2 lbs. well dried flour; add the peel of a lemon grated, 1 lb.

loaf sugar pounded and sifted, 15 eggs (beat the whites by themselves, the

yolks with the sugar), a ¼ pint of brandy, the same of Lisbon or Marsala,

2½ lbs. currants, ½ lb. almonds, blanched and cut in slices, beat well

together, put it into a buttered tin or dish, bake two hours. Candied lemon

or citron may be added.

{273}_Pound Cake._

To 1 lb. flour add 1 lb. butter beaten to a cream, and 8 eggs: beat well,

add sifted sugar, and grated lemon peel. You may add currants or carraways,

to your taste. Beat well, and bake in rather a quick oven, an hour.

_Common Cake._

To 2 lbs. flour, add ½ lb. butter, ½ lb. sugar, 4 eggs, 1 lb. currants, 1

oz. candied citron or lemon, 1 oz. carraway seeds, a little nutmeg, and 3

table-spoonsful yeast. Beat well, for half an hour, then put it in the oven

_directly_.

_A Cake without Butter._

Take the weight of 5 eggs (in their shells), in sifted sugar, and the

weight of 3 in flour: beat the eggs, add first, the sugar, then the flour,

the rinds of 2 large lemons grated, and a wine-glassful of sherry or

brandy. Bake in a tin mould in a quick oven.--_Another_: to a quartern of

dough add ½ lb. butter, 4 eggs, ½ lb. currants, and ½ lb. sugar, beat all

well together more than half an hour, and bake in a buttered tin.

_A Rich Seed Cake._

Mix 1 lb. sifted sugar into 1 lb. flour, and stir in, by degrees, 8 eggs,

beaten, whisk well together, and add 3 oz. sweet almonds blanched and cut,

some candied citron, lemon, and orange peel, and 12 oz. butter, beaten to a

cream; a little pounded cinnamon, mace, and carraway seeds. Pour it into a

papered hoop, and strew carraways on the top.--_Or_: put 2 lbs. flour into

a deep pan, and mix in ¼ lb. sifted white sugar. Make a hole in the centre,

pour in ½ pint of lukewarm milk and 2 table-spoonsful good yeast; stir a

little of the flour in, cover a cloth lightly over, and let it stand an

hour and a half to rise. Then work it up, with ½ lb. melted butter, a

little allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and 1 oz. carraway seeds; adding warm milk

sufficient to work it to a proper stiffness. Butter a hoop or dish, and

pour in the cake; let it stand in a warm place another half hour to rise,

then bake it. You may add 2 table-spoonsful of brandy.

{274}_A Rice Cake._

Mix 6 oz. ground rice, 4 oz. sugar, the grated peel of ½ a lemon, the yolks

of 5 and whites of 3 eggs, and 1 table-spoonful orange flower water; break

the eggs into a deep pan, and put the rice flour to them at once, mix it

with a wooden spoon, then add the sugar and the other ingredients; beat

well for twenty minutes, and it will be a fine light sponge; then

immediately half fill the moulds, put them into a moderate oven, and bake

three quarters of an hour, of a light brown colour. _Little Rice Cakes_--1

lb. ground rice, 1 lb. 2 oz. sugar, ¾ lb. butter, 8 eggs, and flour to make

it into a stiff paste.--_Or_: 1 lb. sugar, ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. ground rice,

6 oz. butter, 8 yolks and 2 whites of eggs. Both these require long

beating. Roll the paste out, cut it in shapes, and bake on buttered tins.

Some persons add a few drops of the essence of lemon, and of almond

flavour.

_Harvest Cake._

Mix into 3 lbs. flour ¼ oz. of powdered allspice; in another bowl put ¾ lb.

sugar, either moist or lump, 2 oz. butter, 2 eggs, 3 table-spoonsful of

yeast; beat well, then mix in the flour, with ¾ lb. currants, and warm milk

and water, to make up the cake; set it by the fire an hour to rise.

_Temperance Cake._

Rub ¼ lb. butter into 1 lb. flour, add ½ lb. moist sugar, ½ lb. currants,

and a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, dissolved in a ¼ pint of warm

milk; mix well, and bake it in a tin.

_Sponge Cake._

The weight of 12 eggs in sifted sugar, and the weight of 6 in fine flour;

beat the eggs separately, stir the sugar into the yolks, and beat well,

then put in the whites and beat again, add a little nutmeg and rose-water,

and just before you put the cake into the oven, stir the flour lightly into

the eggs and sugar. This cake must be beaten with a whisk. Bake, in rather

a quick oven, three quarters, or nearly an hour.--_Or_: beat, separately,

the yolks and whites of 5 eggs, {275}put them together, add grated lemon

peel, and 5 oz. fine sugar, beat again an hour and a half, then stir in as

lightly as possible 4 oz. flour, previously dried before the fire.--_Or_:

boil ¾ lb. lump sugar in ½ pint of water to a syrup; beat 7 eggs well, and

pour the syrup, boiling hot, into them, stirring all the time; then beat it

three quarters of an hour, and just before it is put in the oven, stir in

lightly 10 oz. of fine flour, pour it in a mould, and bake in a slow oven.

Lemon peel may be added. Some persons put in a dessert-spoonful of essence

of lemon.

_Marlborough Cake._

Beat 8 eggs, strain, and put to them 1 lb. finely sifted sugar, and beat

the mixture well half an hour; then put in ½ lb. well dried flour, and 2

oz. carraway seeds, beat well five minutes, pour it into shallow tin pins,

and bake in a quick oven.

_Gingerbread._

Put 1¼ lb. treacle on the fire, and as it gets hot, take off the scum; stir

in ¼ lb. of fresh butter, and let it cool; then mix it into a paste with 1½

lb. flour, 4 oz. brown sugar, a little ginger, and allspice; cut it into

shapes, and bake on tins. More butter, or a little cream may be added.

Candied orange, lemon peel, or carraway seeds, may be added.--_Another_:

mix 1 lb. flour, ½ lb. butter (rubbed in), ½ lb. brown sugar, lemon,

ginger, and ½ lb. treacle; let it stand all night, and bake it the next

day. _Soft Gingerbread_--Six tea-cupfuls of flour, 3 of treacle, 1 of

cream, and 1 of butter, 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of pearl-ash, dissolved in

cold water, a table-spoonful of ginger, 1 tea-spoonful of pounded cloves,

and a few raisins, stoned; mix well, and bake in a rather slow oven.

_Gingerbread Nuts_--They may be made the same way as the receipt before the

last, adding more spice. Cut in small cakes, or drop them from a spoon, and

bake on paper. _Parliament_--Melt ¾ lb. butter with 2 lbs. treacle, and 1

lb. sugar, add ½ oz. ginger, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, and

sufficient flour to make it into a paste: roll out thin, cut it into cakes,

and bake it.

{276}_Parkin._

Mix 4 lbs. of meal with 2 lbs. treacle, 1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. butter, and ½

oz. ginger, with a tumbler full of brandy and rum; add nutmeg and mace if

you like, and bake in large cakes.

_Volatile Cakes._

Melt ½ lb. butter, and stir in 4 eggs, 1 tea-spoonful of powdered volatile

salts, dissolved in a tea-spoonful of milk, ½ lb. flour, ¼ lb. finely

powdered loaf sugar, a few currants and carraway seeds. Mix well, and drop

the cakes on tins. They will rise very much. Bake in a quick oven.

_Ginger or Hunting Cakes._

To 2 lbs. sugar, add 1 lb. butter, 2 oz. ginger, and a nutmeg grated; rub

these into 1 lb. flour, and wet it with a pint of warm cream, or as much as

is sufficient; roll out in thin cakes, and bake in a slack oven.

_Rough Cakes._

Rub 6 oz. butter into 1 lb. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, ½ lb. currants, and

a little mace or lemon peel, break in 2 eggs, work it all into a rough

paste, and drop on tins. You may add 1 oz. almonds.

_Ginger Rock Cakes._

Pound 1 lb. of loaf sugar, leaving a part of it as large as hemp seed; beat

the whites of 2 eggs to a froth, add a dessert-spoonful of refined ginger

(sold by the druggists in bottles), mix well with a tea-spoon, drop it on

tins, and bake in a moderate oven, a quarter of an hour.

_Plain Biscuits._

To 1 lb. flour, put the yolk of 1 egg, and milk sufficient to mix it to a

stiff paste, knead it smooth, then roll out thin, cut it in round shapes,

prick with a fork, and bake them in a slow oven.--_Or_: to 1 lb. flour add

¼ lb. butter, beaten to a cream, 5 oz. loaf sugar, 5 eggs, and some

{277}carraway seeds: beat well for an hour, and pour the biscuits on tins,

each one a large spoonful. If not sufficiently thin and smooth, add another

egg, or a little milk.--_Or_: rub 4 oz. fresh butter very smooth into 8 oz.

flour, add 3 oz. sifted sugar, and a table-spoonful of carraways: then add

the yolks of 4 eggs, and a table-spoonful of cream. Bake in a quick oven.

_Indian Corn Biscuits._

To ½ lb. butter, add 6 oz. pounded sugar, and 3 eggs; when well mixed, add

¾ lb. corn flour, a little nutmeg, and carraway seeds, beat well, and bake

on little tins.--_Or_: into ¾ lb. flour, rub 4 oz. butter, add 4 oz. sifted

sugar, and nearly 1 oz. carraway seeds; make into a paste with 3 eggs, roll

out thin, and cut them in any shape you like.

_Dr. Oliver's Biscuits._

Put 2 lbs. flour into a shallow pan, mix 1 table-spoonful of yeast with a

little warm water, and pour it into a hole in the middle of the flour, work

a little of the flour into the yeast, and set the pan before the fire a

quarter of an hour. Melt ¼ lb. butter in milk to mix the flour into a stiff

paste, and bake on tins.

_Lemon Biscuits._

Beat the yolks of 12, and the whites of 6 eggs, with 1 lb. loaf sugar: when

the oven is ready, add 2 table-spoonsful rose water, 12 oz. flour, the

juice and rind of 2 lemons, grated, a few almonds if you choose. Bake in a

quick oven.--_Or_: mix 1 lb. sifted sugar with ¼ lb. butter melted, the

rind of a lemon grated, 2 eggs, and a very little flour: roll into little

flat cakes, and bake on tins.

_Rusks._

Boil a quart of milk, let it cool, then put to it ½ pint of yeast, 2 eggs,

2 oz. coriander seeds, 2 oz. carraway seeds, a little ginger, and ¼ lb.

finely pounded sugar, beat these together and add flour to make a stiff

paste: divide it into {278}long thin bricks, put these on tins and set them

before the fire a short time to rise, then bake them. When cold, cut in

slices, and dry them in a slack oven.--_Or_: melt ½ lb. butter in a quart

of milk, let it cool, add 1 egg, ½ pint yeast, and 4 oz. sifted sugar, beat

this a few minutes, then work in flour to make a light dough, and set it by

the fire to rise. Make this into little loaves, bake them on tins, in a

quick oven; when half done take them out of the oven, split, and put them

back to finish.

_Maccaroons, and Ratafia Cakes._

Blanch, and pound, with the whites of 4 eggs, 1 lb. of sweet almonds, 2

lbs. fine sugar, and beat it to a paste; add 8 more whites of eggs and beat

well again. Drop it from a knife, on buttered paper, and bake on tins.

_Ratafia Cakes._--The same as maccaroons, only use half bitter and half

sweet almonds.

_Jumbles._

Rub ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, with ¼ lb. butter, add a

table-spoonful brandy and 2 eggs; keep out part of the flour to roll them

out with; twist them up, and bake on tins. If too soft, leave out 1 white

of egg.

_Small Plum Cakes._

Mix 2 lbs. flour with 1 lb. sugar, rub in 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. currants, add

6 eggs. When well mixed, roll out the paste equally thin and flat; cut it

into small round cakes with a wine-glass, and bake them in a moderate

oven.--_Or_: do not _cut_, but _pull_ it into small cakes.

_Small Carraway Cakes._

Mix 1 lb. flour, 14 oz. butter, 5 or 6 table-spoonsful of yeast, 3 yolks of

eggs and 1 white, into a paste, with cream. Set it before the fire half an

hour, to rise; add a small tea-cupful of sugar and ½ lb. carraway seeds.

Roll out into cakes, wash them over with rose water and sugar, and prick

the top, with a knife. The oven rather quick.

{279}_Shrewsbury Cakes._

Beat ½ lb. butter to a cream, mix it with 6 oz. sifted sugar, 8 oz. flour,

pounded cinnamon, carraway seeds, 2 eggs, and a little rose water. Roll out

the paste a ¼ inch thick, cut the cakes into shapes, and bake on tins in a

slack oven.

_Shortbread._

Melt 1 lb. butter and pour it on 2 lbs. flour, ½ a tea-cupful of yeast, and

1 oz. carraway seeds; sweeten to your taste, and knead well. Roll out thin,

cut this into 4 pieces, pinch round the edges, prick well with a fork, and

bake on tins.--_Or_: rub 1½ lb. butter, melted without water, into the 4th

of a peck of flour, add 6 oz. sifted sugar, 2 oz. each of candied orange,

citron and blanched almonds, all these cut in rather large pieces; work it

together, but not too much, or the cake will not be crisp; roll the paste

out, about 1½ inch thick, divide it into cakes, pinch the edges neatly, and

mark them on the top with a fork; strew carraways, strips of citron, and

little bits of almonds on the top, and bake on buttered papers.

_Derby Short Cakes._

Rub 1 lb. butter into 2 lbs. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, 1 egg, and milk to

make it into a paste. Roll out thin, cut the cakes in slices, and bake on

tins, twenty minutes.

_Cinnamon Cakes._

Beat 6 eggs, with a coffee-cupful of rose water, add 1 lb. sifted sugar, ¼

oz. pounded cinnamon, and sufficient flour to make it into a paste. Roll

out thin, and stamp it into small cakes. Bake on paper.

_Rout Cakes._

Beat 1 lb. butter to a cream, and stir in the yolks of 12 eggs, 12 oz.

flour, some grated lemon peel, and a few pounded almonds, or some orange

flower water. Mix well, and pour it into a mould not more than an inch

high, and lined with paper; bake it, and when it has cooled, cut it into

{280}shapes, with a sharp knife; moisten the sides of these with sugar, and

crisp them before the fire.

_Queen Cakes._

1 lb. well dried flour, 1 lb. butter, worked to a cream, 1 lb. sifted

sugar, and 8 eggs. Beat the yolks and whites separately, put half the sugar

into the butter, and the other half into the eggs, beat them well, then

beat all together, except the flour, which must be lightly dredged in as

you continue beating the mixture, and shaking in ½ lb. currants.

_Buns._

Mix ½ lb. moist sugar with 2 lbs. flour, make a hole in the centre, and

stir in ½ pint of lukewarm milk and a _full_ table-spoonful of yeast. Cover

it for two hours, in a warm place. Melt to an oil, 1 lb. butter, stir it

into the mixture in the middle of the pan, and, by degrees, work it into a

soft dough, dust it over with flour, cover with a cloth, and let it stand

another hour. Make it into buns the size of a large egg, then lay them on a

floured paste-board, and put them before the fire to rise to the proper

size; bake on tins, in a hot oven; when done, brush them over with

milk.--_Cross Buns_: in the same way, adding to the plain buns, about 1 oz.

of ground allspice, mace, and cinnamon; when half baked, take them out of

the oven, and press the form of a cross on the top; brush them over with

milk when done.--_Another for Plain Buns_: melt 6 oz. butter, mix it well

with 4 eggs, ½ lb. sifted sugar, 1 lb. flour, and a tea-spoonful of

volatile salts dissolved in a tea-spoonful of warm milk; add ¼ lb.

currants, with seeds to taste, and bake ten minutes. A tea-spoonful of

essence of lemon, and one drop of essence of almond may be added.--_Seed or

Plum Buns_: mix into the same quantity of bun dough as the first receipt, 1

oz. carraway seeds, or currants, or Smyrna raisins. Butter small tart pans,

mould the dough into buns, put one into each pan, and set them to rise; ice

them, with white of egg, dust fine sugar over, and dissolve that by

sprinkling water lightly over. Bake them ten minutes, in a quick oven. Mark

the edges, and ice the top, or not, as you choose.--_Bath Buns_: rub ½ lb.

butter {281}into 1 lb. flour, wet it with 4 eggs, and a wine-glassful of

yeast, set it before the fire to rise; add 4 oz. sifted sugar, and a few

carraway seeds. Make into buns, brush them over with white of egg, and

strew sugar carraways over the top.

_Sally Lumm's Tea Cakes._

Warm a pint of new milk, or cream, with 2 oz. butter; then add ¼ lb. flour

to make it a stiff dough. Roll to the size you choose, and bake it on a

tin. When done, cut it in 3 or more slices, butter, and send it to table

directly; if it wait before the fire it will quickly be spoiled.--Some add

eggs, a little yeast, and sugar, to make it eat shorter.

_Breakfast Cakes._

Rub 3 oz. butter into 1 lb. flour, and a little salt. Mix 1 egg with a

table-spoonful of yeast, and a little warm milk, and wet the flour, using

as much milk as is required to make a light batter, as for fritters; beat

well with the hand, then cover, and let it stand three or four hours, in a

warm place, to rise. Add flour to make it into a paste to roll out. Make

the cakes the size you choose, let them stand half an hour before the fire,

prick them in the middle, with a skewer, and bake in a quick oven.--_Or_:

mix 1 pint of cream, 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of yeast, and a little salt,

into ½ lb. flour. Cover and let it rise. Bake on tins.--_Or_: melt ¼ lb.

butter in new milk enough to wet up 2 lbs. flour, add 4 eggs, 4

table-spoonsful yeast, and wet up the flour; let it stand ten minutes, make

it into 6 cakes, prick them with a fork, and let them stand covered near

the fire, half an hour; bake in a moderate oven, a quarter of an hour.

_Yorkshire Cakes._

Mix 1½ pint of warm milk, with a tea-spoonful of good yeast, into flour to

make a thick batter; let it stand, covered, in a warm place, to rise. Rub 6

oz. butter into a little flour, add 3 eggs, mix well, then mix it with the

batter, add flour enough to work it into a stiff dough, and let it stand

again a quarter of an hour; then knead again, {282}and break it into small

cakes, roll round and smooth, then put them on tins, cover lightly, and set

them by the fire fifteen minutes, to rise, before you put them into the

oven.

_Roehampton Rolls._

To 1 lb. of flour, add the whites of 3 eggs, 3 oz. butter, and 1 spoonful

of yeast, wet it with milk into a stiff dough; let this rise, before the

fire, an hour, make it into rolls, and bake ten minutes.--_Or_: to ½ pint

of yeast add 2 eggs, 2 lumps of sugar, a piece of butter the size of an

egg, and 2 quarts of milk, beat well, and strain in as much fine flour as

it will take up, mix well, and divide it into rolls; set them before the

fire, an hour, then bake half an hour.

_Muffins._

Mix a pint of scalded milk, with ¼ pint fresh yeast, and flour to make a

thick batter. Set it in a warm place to rise. Rub 2 oz. butter in a little

flour and add it to the batter, with flour to make it into dough; cover and

let it stand again; knead well, and make it into muffins: put them on tins,

let them stand a quarter of an hour, then bake them.

_Crumpets._

Mix a quart of good milk into flour to make a thick batter, add a little

salt, 1 egg, and a table-spoonful of small beer yeast; beat well, cover,

and let it stand near the fire half an hour, to rise. Hang the girdle, or

put the frying-pan over the fire, and when hot wipe it clean with a wet

cloth. Tie a piece of butter in muslin, and rub it over the girdle: then

pour on it a tea-cupful of batter, and as it begins to cook, raise the edge

all round, with a sharp knife; when one side is done, turn it and bake the

other side. When done, put it in a plate before the fire, rub the girdle

with the buttered rag, and pour in another cupful of batter, then spread

butter over the one in the plate, and so on, till they are all baked. Send

a few at a time, quite hot, to table. Crumpets made thus are lighter than

in the common way. Rye flour makes excellent cakes this way, and likewise

Indian Corn meal. N.B.--Receipts for various ways of cooking _Indian Corn_

flour or meal will be found in "COBBETT'S COTTAGE ECONOMY."

{283}_Scotch Slim Cakes._

Rub 3 oz. butter into ½ lb. flour, mix it into a light dough with 2 eggs

and warm milk. Roll lightly out, and cut them round, the size of a saucer,

bake them, as directed, for crumpets. Butter, and serve them quite hot.

CHAPTER XXII.

CONFECTIONARY.

As I should always have recourse to the confectioner for all ornamental

dishes, I shall give under this head, only such things as may be prepared

at home with comparatively little risk of failure, and consequent waste of

materials; observing, at the same time, that the plainest custard requires

as much attention as the richest cream, and that all sweet dishes require

to be flavoured with judgment. It is impossible to produce delicate creams,

jellies, &c., &c., unless the ingredients, particularly cream, milk, and

eggs, be perfectly fresh, and unless there be _enough_ of them. If served

in glasses or dishes, use only eggs; but, if the cream is to be turned out

of a shape, isinglass must be used to stiffen it. The quantity greatly

depends upon the size of the shape; 1 oz. to a pint is the general

allowance, but more is often necessary.--The sugar used in jellies ought to

be clarified, for one point of excellence is clearness.--To prevent oiling,

put a little rose water into the mortar in which you pound almonds.--Where

there is much practice in making sweet dishes, all the vessels should be

kept wholly for that purpose. Jelly bags and sieves delicately clean,

always dipped into, and wrung out of, hot water, before they are used.

_Common Custards._

To ½ pint new milk, put a little piece of lemon peel cut {284}very thin, a

little cinnamon, and 8 bitter almonds blanched and pounded. Simmer the milk

ten minutes. Then strain, and when cool, put to it a pint of cream, the

yolks of 5 eggs, 2 table-spoonsful sifted sugar, and set it in a saucepan

over the fire. Stir one way, all the time; take care that it do not burn,

and not boil. When thick enough it will be done, and a minute or two too

much will cause it to turn. When taken from the fire, add half a glass of

brandy, and stir a quarter of an hour before you pour it into cups. In case

of no cream, use 3 more eggs.--_Or:_ mix a table-spoonful of rice flour in

a little cold milk, and add the beaten yolks of 6 eggs. Have ready boiled,

a quart of new milk, with a bit of lemon peel, and cinnamon; let it cool,

then stir the eggs and some sugar into it: let it thicken over the fire,

but not boil, stirring all the time. Take it off the fire, pour it into a

jug, and stir till cool. Serve in cups, or a glass dish, and grate nutmeg

over. Some persons boil custards in a jug, set into a deep saucepan of

water, which is kept boiling.

_Rich Custards to Bake, or Boil._

Boil a quart of cream with mace and cinnamon. Take it off the fire, add

sugar to taste, and let it stand till no warmer than milk from the cow;

then add 10 eggs, well beaten. Strain it, and fill the cups very full. The

oven must be as hot as for tarts, and the cups often turned; or finish by

boiling them in a jug stood in boiling water, but keep stirring all the

while. Brandy is an improvement, in the proportion of a wine-glassful to a

quart. Some flavour with ratafia, peach water, or orange flower water. A

dessert-spoonful of isinglass will add to the firmness of custards made

entirely of milk.

_Lemon Custards._

Beat the yolks of 8 eggs till they are as white as milk, add the grated

rinds and juice of 2 lemons, sweeten to taste; pour in a pint of boiling

water and stir over the fire till it thickens, add a wine-glassful of white

wine, and the same of brandy, stir over the fire again for a few minutes,

then pour it into cups.

{285}_Orange Custards._

Beat the rind of a Seville orange (previously boiled), to a paste, and mix

it with a dessert-spoonful of brandy, the juice of a lemon, 5 oz. sugar,

and the yolks of 5 eggs; beat it well, a quarter of an hour, and pour in,

by degrees, a pint of boiling cream; keep on beating till cold, then pour

it into cups, and set them in a deep dish in boiling water, till very

thick.

_Spanish Custards._

Set 1½ pint of thin cream over the fire, leaving out a tea-cupful; put in 6

or 8 bitter almonds, and ¼ oz. isinglass dissolved in a basin with boiling

water enough to cover it; simmer for three-quarters of an hour, or till the

isinglass is dissolved; mix smoothly into the cold cream a table-spoonful

of ground rice, pour it into the hot cream, stirring all the time, and

simmer it gently till it thickens sufficiently. Flavour with 2

table-spoonsful of orange flower, or rose water, or what you like; strain

through a coarse hair sieve, and stir till nearly cold, when pour it into

cups dipped in cold water. Let these stand in a cool place; when firm, turn

them out on a dish, stick them with blanched almonds sliced, and garnish

with preserved cucumber, citron, or other preserve; when about to serve,

pour a little cold cream into the dish.--_Or_: boil a pint of cream with a

stick of cinnamon, let it cool, strain it, add 3 table-spoonsful of rice

flour, the whites of 3 eggs well beaten, sugar, and a little rose water;

set it over the fire, and simmer till as thick as hasty pudding; wet a

mould with rose water, pour the custard in; when cold, turn it out.

_Custards with Apples._

Pare, core, and either stew or bake some apples, in an earthen pan, with as

little water as possible, and sugar to sweeten. When they are fallen, put

them into a pie dish, and let them stand to get cold; pour over an unboiled

custard, and set the dish into the oven, or before the fire, until the

custard is fixed.

{286}_Custard with Rice._

Boil some rice in milk till quite tender, with cinnamon and a very few

bitter almonds; when cold, sweeten it, and form a thick high wall round a

glass dish, and pour a boiled custard in the centre. Just before it goes to

table, strew coloured comfits, in stripes, up the wall.

_A Trifle._

Whisk a quart of good cream with 6 oz. powdered sugar, a glass of white

wine, the juice and grated peel of 1 lemon, and a little cinnamon. Take off

the froth as it rises, and lay it on a sieve, reversed, over a bowl. This

should be done early in the morning, or the day before, that the froth may

be firm. Place in a deep trifle dish 3 or 4 sponge cakes, some maccaroons,

and ratafia cakes, also a few sweet almonds blanched and split, then pour

over enough white wine, with a little brandy, to moisten them; when the

wine is soaked up, spread over the cakes a layer of raspberry jam, or any

good preserve, and pour over that a _rich_ and boiled custard. Heap the

whip lightly on as high as the dish will allow. The preserve used or left

out, according to taste.

_Gooseberry or Apple Trifle._

Scald the fruit, and pulp it through a sieve, sweeten it, and put a thick

layer in a glass dish. Mix ½ pint of milk, ½ pint of cream, and the yolk of

1 egg, scald it over the fire, stirring all the time, add sugar, and let it

become cold, then lay it on the fruit, and on it a whip, as directed in the

last receipt.--_Or_: scald, pulp, and sweeten the fruit, then stir it over

the fire, into a thin custard: when cooked enough, pour it into a glass

dish, to get cold. If apple, grate nutmeg and cinnamon, or lemon peel, over

the top, add also lemon juice, and lay a whip on the top.

_A Tipsy Cake._

Put a stale sponge cake into a deep china or glass dish, pour round it some

raisin wine or Marsala, and brandy to your taste, but enough to saturate

the cake: when it is {287}soaked up, strew sifted sugar over, and pour in

the dish a rich custard. Ornament the top of the cake by sticking a light

flower in the centre, or bits of clear currant jelly; _or_, sweet almonds

blanched and split.

_Crême Patisserie._

Boil a quart of new milk with cinnamon and lemon peel. Rub a heaped

table-spoonful of flour quite smooth with a little cold milk; stir the

boiled milk, by degrees, into it; add 5 eggs, and sugar to taste. Stir it

over a slow fire till it thickens; pour it into a dish, and stir it slowly

a few minutes. Flavour with vanilla, orange-flower water, ratafia, or

brandy. This is flavoured with _tea_ or _coffee_, in the following manner:

put a heaped table-spoonful of green tea into the milk, boil it up, cover

the saucepan, simmer it a few minutes, then strain it. This will give a

strong flavour of tea. For coffee: make a breakfast-cupful of very strong

coffee, and put it into the milk just before it boils: use no other

flavouring ingredient, and sweeten the cream sufficiently.--_Or_: boil in a

pint of thin cream, the peel of a large lemon grated or pared very thin,

sugar to taste, and a very small piece of cinnamon. Work up a

table-spoonful of flour with the juice of the lemon; pour the boiling cream

to it, by degrees, and stir it over the fire till the flour is cooked; pour

it into a dish, and stir slowly till nearly cold; garnish with candied

sweetmeats.

_Chocolate Cream._

Boil a quart of cream, having first scraped into it 1 oz. scented

chocolate; add nearly ¼ lb. lump sugar, and 8 whites of eggs; whisk well,

and, as the froth rises, take it off, and put into glasses.

_A Plain Cream._

Boil together, or separately, a pint of cream and a pint of new milk, with

lemon peel, cinnamon, and sugar to taste; then add 12 sweet and 3 bitter

almonds, pounded to a paste, with a little rose water, also a

table-spoonful of rice flour rubbed smooth in cold milk; scald it, pour

into a jug to cool. Serve in glasses, or a glass dish.

{288}_Italian Cream._

Boil 1½ pint of sweet cream with ½ pint of new milk, the rind of a lemon

cut thin, and sugar to taste; then let it cool. Beat the yolks of 8 eggs,

add them to the cream, set it over the fire, stir till it thickens, and put

in about 1 oz. of melted isinglass, to stiffen it. Whisk well, and strain

it through a fine sieve into a mould, to turn out. First try a little in a

saucer to ascertain if more isinglass be wanted. It may be flavoured with

_curaçoa_ or _noyeau_.

_Ginger Cream._

The same as chocolate cream; using only cream, no milk. Flavour it by

boiling in the cream either preserved, or essence of ginger. Serve it in

cups.--_Or_: after the cream has thickened over the fire, add isinglass, as

directed for Italian cream, and strain it into a mould.

_Lemon Cream._

Beat the whites of 9 eggs with one yolk, till as thin as water, but not

frothed, add 9 table-spoonsful cold water, and the juice of 2 lemons, with

sugar to taste: strain it through a fine sieve, put in a piece of lemon

peel, and stir it over the fire, till as thick as cream. Do not let it stay

long on the fire, to get too thick.--_Or_: steep the peel of 2 lemons, cut

very thin, in a pint of water, all night, then sweeten and boil it; stir in

the whites of 6 eggs beaten to a froth, and keep stirring over the fire

till thick, then add the yolks. You may add ¼ oz. of isinglass, which makes

it more like ice.--_Or_: boil up a pint of thick cream with the beaten

yolks of 2 eggs, 4 oz. sugar, and the thin rind of a lemon; stir till

nearly cold, and pour it upon the juice of a lemon, in a bowl; stir it till

cold.--_White lemon cream_ is made by using whites of eggs only.

_Orange Cream._

Pare a large orange very thin, put the peel into a bason, and squeeze 4

oranges over it; pour in 1 pint of cream, and set it over the fire; before

it quite boils take out the peel, or the cream may be too bitter. Let the

cream become cold, {289}then stir in the yolks and whites of 4 eggs, and

sugar to taste. Set it over the fire again, and just scald it. Pour into

cups.--_Or_: squeeze and strain the juice of 11 oranges, sweeten well with

pounded loaf sugar, and stir over a slow fire till the sugar be melted,

taking off the scum as it rises; when cold mix it with the beaten yolks of

12 eggs, mixed with a pint of cream, stir it over the fire again to

thicken, and serve in a glass dish or cups.--_Or_: boil ¾ oz. of isinglass

in ½ pint of water, till half reduced, and when nearly cold stir in the

juice of 4 oranges and 1 lemon well sweetened, and a pint of cream

previously beaten to a froth, stir it over a slow fire till it begins to

thicken, and then pour it into a mould.--N.B. the juice of any fruit may he

used in the same way, always adding the juice of a lemon.

_Lemon or Orange Cream frothed._

Squeeze the juice of a large lemon, or orange, into a glass or china dish.

Sweeten a pint of cream, and let it just boil; pour it out to get cold, put

it into a tea-pot, hold it up as high as possible, and pour it upon the

juice.

_Alamode Cream._

Grate 2 lemons into a bason, squeeze in the juice, add ¼ lb. sifted sugar;

melt ½ oz. isinglass in a tea-cupful of hot water, strain it on the lemon,

stirring all the time, then pour in a pint of cold cream, but stir all the

while, or it may be lumpy. Pour it in a glass dish, and keep it in a cool

place. Garnish with almonds and apple paste.

_Velvet Cream._

Put into a deep glass or china dish, 3 table-spoonsful of lemon juice, a

little grated peel, and preserved apricot cut small, 3 table-spoonsful of

white wine or brandy, and powdered sugar. Scald a pint of cream, put in ¼

oz. of melted isinglass, stir it over the fire a few minutes, and continue

to stir till no warmer than new milk; then strain, and pour it into the

dish. Made the day before it is wanted.

_Vanilla Cream._

Boil ½ a stick of vanilla in a tea-cupful of milk till the {290}flavour is

as strong as you like, and mix it with a jelly made of calf's feet, or made

with 1 oz. of isinglass in a pint of water and a pint of cream, sweeten to

taste, stir it till nearly cold, then pour it into a mould which has stood

in cold water. The day before it is wanted.

_Burnt Cream._

Boil a stick of cinnamon with a large piece of lemon peel, in a pint of

cream; when nearly cold, stir in gently the yolks of 6 eggs; sweeten it,

take out the spice and peel, strew pounded sugar over, and brown it with a

salamander.

_Snow Cream._

Pare, core, and stew, 10 or 12 apples and pulp them; beat the pulp nearly

cold, stir in enough finely powdered sugar to sweeten, a little lemon peel,

and the whites of 12 eggs, already beaten, whisk, till it becomes stiff,

and lay it in heaps in a glass dish.

_Currant and Raspberry Cream._

Mash the fruit and strain ¼ pint of juice through a fine sieve, add rather

more than ½ pint of cream, sugar to taste, and a little brandy; whisk it

the same as a trifle.--_Or_: put a very little sifted sugar into 1½ pint of

cream, a tea-cupful of raspberry jelly, the grated rind of 1 and the juice

of ½ a lemon, whisk well, for half an hour, till it be thick and solid,

then pour it into a glass dish or cups.

_Strawberry Cream._

The same as the last.--_Or_: sweeten some cream, and make a strong whip.

Beat up what remains of the cream with yolk of egg (3 to ½ a pint), and

scald it; let it cool, mix the fruit with it, pour it into glasses or a

dish, and lay the fruit on the top. The pulp of apples, apricots, and plums

may be mixed with cream, in this way.--_Or_: it may be formed in a mould by

adding melted isinglass to the cream, just scalding, then straining it:

when nearly cold, add the fruit and put it into a shape.

{291}_Clouted Cream._

Put 2 blades of mace and a wine-glassful of rose water, into a ¼ pint of

new milk, scald and strain it; let it cool, stir in the yolks of 2 eggs,

and a quart of cream. Stir it over the fire till scalding hot, and it is

done. Excellent with fruit stewed, or with fruit pies.

Creams and jellies are _iced_, by putting the shape (the mixture being

_perfectly cold_), in a bucket of ice broken in small bits. Let it stand

till you are ready to send it to table, then take it out, wrap a towel,

dipped into hot water, round the mould, and turn it out.

_Strawberry Ice Cream._

Mash the fruit, strain off the juice, and sweeten it. Mix it, in the

proportion of 1 lb. of fruit to a pint of sweet cream, whip it, pour it

into glasses, and freeze as directed; or, add melted isinglass, and freeze

it in a shape.--_Raspberry Ice Cream_, the same.

_Pine Apple Ice Cream._

To 1½ gill of pine apple syrup, add the juice of 1½ lemon, and a pint of

cream, sweeten, then stand it in the ice, and let it freeze as thick as

butter. If you would have it the shape of a pine, take the shape and fill

it; then lay half a sheet of brown paper over the mould before you put it

into the ice, and let it remain some time; be careful that no water gets

into it.

_Coffee Ice._

A refreshing preparation, and suitable to entertainments. Make some strong

coffee, sweeten with sugar candy, add what cream you like, pour it into a

bowl, place that in an ice pail till the coffee is frozen: serve in

glasses.

_Paris Curd._

Put a pint of thin cream on the fire, with the whites of 6 eggs and the

juice of a lemon; stir till it becomes a curd; hang it all night in a

cloth, to drain; add 2 oz. sweet {292}almonds, beaten to a paste, sugar to

taste, and a little brandy. Mix well, and put it in shapes.

_Blancmange._

Blanch 1 oz. sweet and ½ an oz. of bitter almonds and pound them with a

little brandy, put them with ½ an ounce of isinglass into a bowl with ½ a

pint of milk and ½ a pint of cream, and 2 oz. of pounded sugar, and let it

stand 3 hours; then stir it over the fire till it begins to boil, when take

it off and strain it, but keep stirring it till nearly cold, and then pour

it into a mould. If you choose, have 12 bitter, no sweet almonds, a

wine-glassful of brandy and a table-spoonful ratafia.--When about to turn

it out, wrap a towel dipped in hot water round the mould, and draw a silver

knife round the edge of the blancmange.

_Rice Blancmange._

Boil 4 oz. of whole rice in water till it begins to swell, pour off the

water, and put the rice into nearly a quart of new milk, with sugar, a

little cinnamon and lemon peel. Boil slowly till the rice is mashed, and

smooth. Do not let it burn. Put it into a mould to turn out. This may be in

the centre of a dish with custard round it.

_Blancmange with Preserves._

Boil 1 pint of cream with cinnamon and lemon peel; sweeten it, add 1 oz.

isinglass dissolved in a little water, stir it over the fire till it is on

the point of boiling, then pour it into a jug, stirring it occasionally;

when milkwarm add a wine-glassful of brandy and a table-spoonful of

ratafia. Have ready in a china or glass dish, some East or West India

preserves, pour the blancmange on it, and set it by till the next day.

_Jaunemange._

Dissolve 2 oz. isinglass in nearly a pint of boiling water; put to it ¾

pint of white wine, the juice of 2 oranges, and 1 lemon, the peel of a

lemon shred fine, sugar to taste, a little cinnamon and brandy, and the

yolks of 8 eggs. Simmer gently a few minutes, then strain it into moulds.

{293}_Rice Flummery._

Boil 5 oz. sifted ground rice in a quart of new milk, with ½ oz. bitter

almonds, 2 table-spoonsful rose water, and sugar to sweeten; keep stirring

till very thick, then put it into a mould. When cold turn it out, stick

blanched almonds in, and pour round it some thick cream sweetened and

flavoured with white wine; or no cream, but preserves in lumps.

_Dutch Flummery._

Boil the rinds of 2 and juice of 3 lemons in ½ pint of white wine, ½ pint

water, ¼ lb. sugar and 1 oz. of isinglass, ten minutes, then strain and mix

it gradually with the yolks of 5 eggs, stir it over the fire five minutes,

then stir till nearly cold, and pour it into a mould.

_Rice Cups._

Sweeten a pint of new milk, with sifted sugar, and boil in it a stick of

cinnamon, when it boils stir in 2½ oz. of sifted ground rice; then take it

off the fire, and add the beaten whites of 3 eggs, stir again over the

fire, for three minutes, and pour into cups, previously dipped in cold

water. When cold, turn them out, pour a custard round, and ornament with

preserves or stewed pears.

_Syllabub._

Pour a bottle of sherry or Port into a china bowl, sweeten, and add plenty

of nutmeg and cinnamon. Milk into it nearly double the quantity, and let it

froth up high. Serve with sponge cakes. Some add a little brandy.

_Solid Syllabub._

Scald a pint of cream, and sweeten it; when cold, add ½ a pint of white

wine, the juice of a lemon, the peel grated: more sugar if required.

Dissolve 1 oz. isinglass in water, strain, and when cold, stir it into the

mixture, and put it into a mould the day before it is wanted.

{294}_Whipt Syllabub._

Rub ½ lb. sugar on lemon rind, and put into a deep narrow pan, with ½ pint

white wine, the juice of ½ a lemon, the rind of a whole one, and a pint of

thick cream; whisk well, always one way and without stopping, till it is

all in a good froth; put it in glasses. It will be more firm the next

day.--_Or_: to ½ pint of cream, add a pint of milk, ½ pint sack or white

wine, sweeten with loaf sugar, and whisk it to a froth; pour a little white

wine in the glasses, and the froth on the top.

_Calf's Feet Jelly._

The day before you want jelly, boil a cow heel and one foot in 2½ quarts of

water, till they are broken, and the water half wasted, strain and put it

by till the next day. Then remove all the fat as well as the sediment, put

the jelly into a saucepan with sugar, wine, lemon juice, and peel to your

taste. Let it simmer, and when the flavour is rich, add the whites of 5

eggs well beaten, also their shells; let it boil gently twenty minutes, but

do not stir it; then pour in a tea-cupful of warm water, let it boil gently

five minutes longer, take the saucepan off the fire, cover close, and let

it stand by the side, half an hour. It ought to be so clear as to require

only once running through the jelly bag. Some mutton shanks (10 to 2 calf's

feet), make the jelly richer. Raisin wine is generally used, but Marsala is

better: it gives a more delicate colour to the jelly.--This is made _Noyeau

Jelly_ by using noyeau in sufficient quantity to give a strong flavour.

Also _Madeira Wine Jelly_. But as the firmness of the jelly may be

diminished by the wine, add a little isinglass. Some think that jelly eats

best in the rough, not out of a mould.--_Another_: boil 4 feet in 2½ quarts

of water, boil twelve hours, or till all their goodness is extracted. The

next day remove all fat as well as sediment, put the jelly into a saucepan

with 1½ pint of sherry or Marsala, the peel and juice of 7 lemons, and

sugar to your taste. Finish in the same way as directed above, and when

strained, add a wine-glassful of Champagne brandy. You may add 1 oz.

isinglass to make the jelly very stiff, but some object to this, as it

makes it tough {295}as well as stiff. Some use a coarse brown bag, in

preference to flannel.

_Punch Jelly._

Boil 2 oz. isinglass in a pint of water, add the juice of 4 lemons, and the

grated rind of one, put to this 6 oz. loaf sugar, previously boiled in a

very little water till it is a rich clear syrup, then add 6 table-spoonsful

of rum.--_Or_: make a good bowl of punch (_which see_), stronger if you

like. To every pint of punch add 1½ oz. isinglass, dissolved in ¼ pint of

water; pour this into the punch whilst hot, then fill the moulds, taking

care that they are not disturbed until the jelly is completely set.

_Savoury Jelly._

Boil 2 lbs. knuckle of veal, 1 lb. lean beef, and 4 mutton shanks, in 2

quarts of water, with salt, pepper, mace, and 1 onion; boil till the liquor

is reduced one half, then strain it; when cold, put it into a saucepan with

the whites of 3 eggs, stir well, then set it over the fire till it boils,

and strain through a jelly bag. A table-spoonful of soy will improve the

colour.

_Orange and Lemon Jelly._

Grate the rinds of 2 Seville, 2 sweet oranges, and 2 lemons; squeeze the

juice of 2 sweet, 6 Seville oranges, and 3 lemons; mix the rinds and juice

together; boil slowly 1 lb. lump sugar in a pint of water to thick syrup,

turn it into a bowl; when _nearly_ cold, add the juice and stir well; boil

¼ lb. of isinglass in a pint of water till dissolved, let it cool, add it

to juice, stir till cold, and fill the mould.--_Another, and much better_:

rub the rinds of 8 oranges with lump sugar, and boil a quarter of an hour

in the stock of calf's feet and ½ oz. isinglass, with sugar to your taste;

have the juice of the oranges, the juice of 3 lemons, and the whites of 6

eggs in a bason, pour the stock in, stir well, and boil altogether ten

minutes; then pour in a wine-glassful of cold water, let it stand ten

minutes, then pour through a jelly bag.--_Lemon Jelly_ is made the same

way; the rind of 2 and juice of 3 large lemons, the rind and juice of 1

orange.

{296}_Colouring for Jelly._

Boil slowly in ½ pint water, for half an hour, 15 grains cochineal in fine

powder, ½ drachm of cream of tartar, and a bit of alum the size of a pea;

let it stand till the next day, then pour it off.

_Arrow-root Jelly._

Put ¼ pint of water into a saucepan, with a wine-glassful of sherry, or a

spoonful of brandy, sugar, and grated nutmeg. Boil up once, then mix it, by

degrees, with a dessert-spoonful of arrow-root, rubbed smooth, and mixed

with 2 spoonsful of cold water. Return it into the saucepan, stir, and boil

it three minutes.--_Or_: steep for three hours the rind of a lemon, and 4

bitter almonds, pounded, in 2 table-spoonsful water, strain, and mix the

water with 3 table-spoonsful arrow-root, and of lemon juice, 1 of brandy;

sweeten, stir over the fire till thick, and put it into glasses.

_Hartshorn Jelly._

To 3 quarts of water put 1 lb. hartshorn shavings, and 1 oz. isinglass,

boil gently till it becomes a jelly (about four hours); the next day melt

it, add the juice of 2 lemons, half the peel, and a pint of sherry, also

the whites of 5 eggs beaten to a froth, and sugar to taste; boil for a few

minutes, and pass it through a jelly bag till clear.

_Apple Jelly._

Pare 12 firm apples, and simmer them in a quart of water till quite cooked,

but not broken; strain the liquor, and put to it 2 oz. isinglass, the juice

of 2 lemons, the peel of one cut thin, sugar to taste, and a little

cochineal, tied in muslin; boil till the isinglass is dissolved and the

jelly of a nice colour, strain, and pour it into a mould.

_Isinglass Jelly._

Dissolve 1 oz. isinglass in ½ pint of water, and put to it ½ lb. lump

sugar, the juice of a large lemon, the peel cut thin, and a pint of sherry;

boil five minutes, then strain it into a mould.

{297}_Gâteau de Pomme._

Dissolve 1½ oz. isinglass in ½ pint water, and boil it with ½ lb. sugar,

the juice and rind of a lemon and 1 lb. of apples, pared and cored; boil it

three quarters of an hour, pour it into a mould; when quite cold, turn it

into a glass dish, and pour a good custard round.

_A Bird's Nest._

Make some clear jelly, of an amber colour, and fill a small round basin

half full. Have some bird's eggs blown, fill them with blancmange; when the

latter is quite cold, peel off the shells, and it will represent small

eggs. Put some moss round a glass dish, turn the jelly out, into the

middle, lay some lemon peel, cut in thin strips to represent straws, on the

jelly, and the eggs on the top.

_Strawberry Jelly._

Boil 2 oz. isinglass in ¼ pint of water till dissolved, skimming it all the

time; then strain and let it cool. Mash a quart of fresh fruit in an

earthen vessel, with a wooden spoon; add powdered sugar and a very little

water. Pass it through a jelly bag, stir the melted isinglass into it, and

fill your mould.--_Raspberry_ and _red currant_ jelly in the same way.

_Lemon and Orange Sponge._

Dissolve ½ oz. isinglass in a pint of water, strain it, and the next day

put to it the juice of 2 lemons, and the grated peel of 1; then rub some

raspberry jam through a hair sieve into the mixture, and whisk it well,

till it is like sponge; then put it into an earthen mould in a cool place.

Any preserve may be used, or lemon only, or orange; or it may be flavoured

with raspberry vinegar.--_Or_: dissolve ¾ oz. isinglass in a little water,

add ¾ pint of cream, the same of new milk, and ½ pint of raspberry jelly,

and the juice of a lemon: whisk well, one way, till it is thick, and looks

like sponge; then pour it into the mould.--_Or_: pour a pint of boiling

water on 2 oz. isinglass, when dissolved add the strained juice of 4

Seville and 4 sweet oranges or {298}lemons, sugar to taste; whisk well,

half an hour, then pour it into a mould.--_Or_: dissolve 2 oz. isinglass in

½ pint of water, strain and add to it, the juice of 10 sweet oranges, and

the grated rind of 2, the juice of 1 lemon, and sugar to taste; when nearly

cold whisk it till it looks like sponge, and pour it in a mould. Make it in

the evening, to turn out next day. Some use more isinglass.

_Rice Soufflè._

Boil 2 table-spoonsful ground rice very slowly, in ½ pint good milk, with a

piece of lemon peel, stirring all the time. Let it cool, then stir in the

yolks of 4 eggs, and some sugar, stir it over the fire a few minutes, and

let it cool again. Then add the whites of 6 eggs, well whipped; put it into

a deep and round dish, and bake in a rather slack oven till the _soufflè_

rises; send it to table _instantly_, or it will flatten. _Potato

Soufflè_,--Half the quantity of potato flour, as directed for rice flour,

and make it the same way.

_A Good Soufflè._

Soak 4 or 5 slices of sponge cake in sherry and brandy mixed, and

sweetened, cover with a layer of preserves, then pour over a rich boiled

custard; beat the whites of 4 eggs to a froth, and lay it over the top to

look rough; brown it in a Dutch oven, and serve _directly_, or it will be

spoiled.

_Orange Soufflè._

Mix a table-spoonful of flour with a pint of cream, put it into a saucepan,

with 2 table-spoonsful rose water, some orange and lemon peel; stir till it

boils, then strain and sweeten it: when cold add 2 table-spoonsful orange

marmalade. Beat 6 eggs, stir in a wine-glassful of brandy, mix with the

other ingredients, and put all into a buttered shape; place it in a

saucepan of boiling water, over a stove: let the water boil an hour and a

quarter without any cover to the shape.

_Lemon Soufflè._

Pour ¾ pint of boiling water over 1 oz. isinglass, the juice of 3 lemons,

and 5 oz. sifted sugar; when dissolved, {299}boil all together five

minutes, pour it into a large bason, when the steam is gone off whisk it

till it becomes spongy, then put it in a glass dish. It should be made the

day before it is wanted, and requires long whisking.

_Omelet Soufflè._

Beat the yolks of 6 eggs, and whip the whites; strain and sweeten the yolks

with powdered sugar; add a little grated lemon peel; stir in lightly the

whites, and pour the whole into a frying-pan, in which you have just melted

a large piece of fresh butter. Cook over a slow fire, but do not let it

scorch, and, when done, turn it carefully out, and set it in the oven to

rise.

_Sweet Omelets._

Mix a table-spoonful of fine flour, or potato flour, in ½ pint of new milk;

then whisk together the yolks and whites of 4 eggs, and add to the milk.

Put fresh butter enough to fry the omelet into a pan, about ¼ lb., make it

hot over a clear fire, and pour in half the mixture; when this is a little

set, put 4 table-spoonsful of red currant jelly, or any other preserve, or

apple pulp in the centre, and the remainder of the mixture on the top; as

soon as the upper portion is fixed, send the dish to table.--_Or_: the

omelet being fried, spread the preserve on it, in the pan, and roll it.

Apples boiled to a pulp and sweetened, may be used instead of preserve.

_Soufflè of Apples._

Pick, wash, and scald 4 oz. whole rice, drain off the water, and put the

rice into a quart of new milk, or thin cream, which has been boiled with a

bit of cinnamon or lemon peel. Simmer it very slowly till the rice is

swelled, (not broken), drain it, and having brushed the edge of the dish

with white of egg, place the rice in the form of a high wall round it. Mix

with some apple jam, or pulped apples, 2 oz. butter, sugar to taste, and

the yolks of 6 eggs; stir this over the fire, a few minutes, to cook the

eggs; then stir in by degrees, the whites of 8 or 9 eggs, whipped, put it

in the centre of the dish, and bake till it rises sufficiently.

{300}_Gooseberry and Apple Fool._

Pick or pare the fruit, put it in a jar, with a tea-cupful of cold water,

and a little moist sugar; set the jar in a vessel of boiling water, or on a

stove, till the fruit will pulp; press it through a cullender, and when

nearly cold, mix in it some good cream, or thin custard.

_Orange Fool._

To a pint of cream add the juice of 3 Seville oranges, 3 eggs, nutmeg,

cinnamon, and sugar to taste. Set this over a slow fire, and stir till as

thick as melted butter; it must not boil; pour it into a dish to be eaten

cold.

_Stewed Oranges._

Pare 4 sweet oranges, and be careful to remove the white part without

breaking the skin; pare 2 lemons very thin, cut the peel in narrow lengths,

and boil it in ½ pint water, with ¼ lb. lump sugar, until it becomes a

thick syrup, then add the oranges, the juice of 1 lemon, and ¼ lb. lump

sugar, and simmer it a quarter of an hour.

_Red Apples in Jelly._

Pare and core some fine pippins, and throw them into a pan of cold water,

then boil them in a very little water, with some cochineal, and when done,

put them in a dish; boil the water with sugar, lemon peel, and a little

isinglass, till it jellies; let it cool, scoop it into heaps with a

tea-spoon, and lay it amongst the apples. Garnish with rings or straws of

lemon peel, and some green sprigs.

_Pears to Stew._

After peeling them, cut the pears in halves, take out the cores, and lay

the pears, flat side upwards, in a tin saucepan, with sugar to taste, ¼

pint of port wine, water to cover them, and a few cloves; spread the peel

over the pears, and stew them gently till tender; the saucepan covered.

{301}_Apples to Bake._

Pare and core, but do not divide them, unless very large. Bake them in an

earthen dish, with sugar, a little port wine, pounded cloves, and grated

lemon peel.--_Or_: pare 16 large apples, and put them with 1 lb. sifted

sugar, juice of 1 lemon, and a tea-cupful water, in a large flat dish; cut

the rind of the lemon in strips, and put them over the apples; bake in

rather a quick oven, and baste from time to time with the syrup.

_Excellent._--_Or_: pare fine large apples, scoop out the core, without

dividing the fruit, and fill the hole with butter and sugar, bake in a deep

dish, and baste frequently. _Also very good._

_Cheesecakes._

Beat the curd of 3 pints of milk quite smooth, mix with it ½ lb. currants,

a little pounded cinnamon, and the rind of a lemon, rubbed off with lumps

of sugar (add more sugar, as you like), the yolks of 4 eggs, ½ pint scalded

cream, and a wine-glassful of brandy. Mix well, and bake in patty-pans,

lined with a light puff paste, twenty minutes, in a quick oven.--For

_Almond Cheesecakes_, mixed pounded sweet and bitter almonds, instead of

currants.

_Lemon Cheesecakes._

Boil the peel of one lemon in water, till tender, then pound it in a mortar

with ¼ lb. lump sugar, the juice of 2 lemons, and a table-spoonful of

brandy; stir in ¼ lb. fresh butter, melted, and 3 eggs; mix well and pour

into saucers or patty-pans, lined with a very light paste.--_Or_: to 1 lb.

lump sugar (in lumps), add ¼ lb. butter, the yolks of 6 eggs, the whites of

4, the juice of 3 lemons, and the rinds of 2, grated. Simmer over a slow

fire till the sugar is dissolved, begins to thicken, and looks like honey.

Stir gently one way, or it will curdle. This will keep a long while,

closely tied down in a jar, in a cool place.--_Or_: ½ lb. butter, ½ lb.

lump sugar, stir over the fire till melted, let it get cold, then add the

yolks of 8 eggs, juice of a large lemon, mix it very well, and bake in a

crust to turn out.--_Or_: beat 12 eggs, leaving out 4 whites; melt ½ lb.

butter in a tea-cupful of cream, stir in ½ lb. sifted sugar, {302}and when

cold, stir in the eggs, then the grated rind of 2 lemons, then the juice:

stir it over the fire till near boiling, then fill your patty-pans, and put

them in the oven, to brown of a light colour. You may add ½ lb. of sweet

almonds, blanched and pounded with rose water.

_Another Curd Cheesecake._

Beat the curd of 2 quarts new milk, quite smooth, with 4 oz. butter; then

mix it with ½ oz. of sweet, and 4 bitter almonds, blanched and pounded with

3 table-spoonsful rose water, add a ¼ lb. lump sugar, the peel of 3 lemons,

the yolks of 6 eggs, candied citron cut small, ¼ lb. currants, ½ pint of

cream, and a wine-glassful of brandy. Mix well, and bake in patty-pans,

lined with thin paste.

_Orange Cheesecakes._

Beat ½ lb. sweet almonds with orange flower water, add ½ lb. sugar, 1 lb.

butter, melted, and nearly cold, the beaten yolks of 10 and the whites of 4

eggs, beat 2 candied oranges, the peel of a fresh one (the bitterness

boiled out), till they are as tender as marmalade, then beat all well

together, and bake in little patty-pans, lined.

_Apple Cheesecakes._

½ lb. each, of grated apples, sugar and butter, the juice of 1 lemon, and

the rind cut thin, 4 eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately: mix well and

bake in lined patty-pans.

_Rice Cheesecakes._

Beat the yolks of 6 with the whites of 3 eggs, add 4 oz. sifted ground

rice, the same of sugar and melted butter, a wine-glassful brandy, and the

grated peel of 1 lemon; mix well and bake in patty-pans, lined with paste.

_Lent Potatoes._

Blanch, then pound with a little rose water, 3 oz. of sweet, and 4 or 5

bitter almonds; add 8 oz. butter, 4 eggs beaten and strained, 2

table-spoonsful white wine, {303}and sugar to taste; beat well, grate in 3

savoy biscuits, and make into balls with a very little flour, the size of

walnuts; boil in lard of a pale brown, drain and serve with sweet sauce.

_Stewed French Plums._

Stew 1½ pound in a pint of Rhenish wine, till tender, then set them by to

cool in a glass dish. Some use half Port and half water.

_Note._--Those who like to use _Gelatine_ will find directions with the

packets, when they buy it. It is useful as a means of taking wine and

brandy in the form of jelly, and is quickly prepared, but has little else

to recommend it.

CHAPTER XXIII.

PRESERVES.

FRUIT for every sort of preserve, ought to be the best of its kind; ripe

enough, but not over ripe; gathered _on_ a dry day, and _after_ a dry day.

The sugar of the best quality, and plenty of it, otherwise they are not

good, neither will they keep; and much is wasted by boiling up a second

time. Long boiling injures the colour of preserves, and they _must_ be

boiled too long, if there be not sugar enough. The bags and sieves should

be kept delicately clean; wring them out of hot water the moment before you

use them. Do not squeeze the bag, or press the fruit much, or the jelly

will not be clear; this is not wasteful, for the fruit which is left, and a

little fresh added to it, will make jam, or black butter; a very useful

preserve. In boiling jams, try a little in a saucer; if the juice runs off

as it cools, the jam requires longer boiling.

Some persons clarify all the sugar they use, but, for common preserves for

private families, good loaf sugar, not clarified, answers the same purpose.

After the {304}preserve is poured into the jar, let it stand uncovered two

days, then put brandy paper over, and cover with bladders, or paper, tied

down close. Keep in a dry place, or they will be musty; but very hot, they

will dry up, and be spoiled.

_To Clarify Sugar._

Break lump sugar in pieces, and to every pound you put into the

preserving-pan, add ¼ pint of water, and to every 2 lbs. sugar, the white

of 1 egg, beaten; stir over the fire, till the sugar dissolves. When it

boils it will throw up scum; take that off, with a slice, and lay it on a

sieve, reversed, over a basin, that the syrup may run off. Pour into the

pan the same quantity of cold water as you put in at first, and boil it up

gently. Take off the scum, and return into the pan all the syrup which

drains from it; keep it gently boiling until no scum rises.--_To Candy

Sugar_, boil it till the surface is covered with little clusters, in the

form of pearls.--_Moist Sugar_ is clarified in the same way, but requires

longer boiling and scumming; it answers for common jams, for immediate use,

but they will not keep so long as when made of lump sugar.

_Red Currant Jelly._

Strip the currants and put them into an earthen pan or jar, set that in a

vessel of boiling water, and keep it boiling till the fruit is all burst;

then pass through a jelly bag, but do not squeeze it. When the juice has

all run off, put it into a preserving-pan, and to each pint allow 1¼ lb. of

lump sugar; less may do, but the jelly will not be so sure to keep. Boil

the jelly, rather quickly, from fifteen to twenty minutes, scumming

carefully all the time; try a little in a saucer, to see if it be stiff

enough, then fill your pots or glasses; leave them uncovered two days;

cover brandy papers over, and tie skins over tight. _White Currant

Jelly_--The same; but rather less boiling. The sugar must be very fine, to

insure delicate clearness for the jelly. _Black Currant Jelly_--The same as

red currant jelly. When the juice is put into the preserving-pan, with the

sugar, add a very little water. Less sugar _may_ do. But boil it well.

{305}_Currant Jam._

When jelly is made, if the bag be not squeezed, the fruit in it will have

juice enough for jam; or, if not, put a fourth part of fresh fruit to it,

then boil it up, with its weight of sugar, fifteen or twenty minutes.

_Raspberry Jam._

Take 4 parts of raspberries and 1 part of red currant juice, boil it

fifteen or twenty minutes, with an equal weight of sugar. Skim off the

dross, as it rises.--_Or_: use raspberries alone, and no juice.--_Or_: some

persons recommend the _Antwerp_, they are so juicy as to require boiling by

themselves until nearly dry; then add 1 lb. fine lump sugar to 1 quart

fruit, then boil again fifteen minutes, and no more, or the colour will be

injured.

_Strawberry Jam._

Gather fine scarlet strawberries, just ripe, bruise, and put them into a

preserving-pan, with about a fifth part of red currant juice; strew over

nearly their weight of sifted lump sugar, and boil quickly fifteen minutes.

_Gooseberry Jam._

This may be made of gooseberries only, in the same manner as directed for

currant jam, or of a mixture of red or black currants and gooseberries.

_Green Gooseberry Jam._

First crack them in a mortar, put them into a preserving-pan with ¾ lb.

lump sugar, to 1 lb. fruit, and boil till it begins to look clear. A nice

preserve for tartlets.

_Damson Jam._

Boil 1 lb. sugar to 1 lb. fruit, till the juice adheres to the fruit. For

_open tarts_.

_Rhubarb Jam._

Boil an equal quantity of rhubarb, cut in pieces, and {306}gooseberries,

before they are quite ripe, with ¾ lb. loaf sugar to 1 lb. of fruit. Well

boiled, it forms a rich jam, similar to apricot. _Or_: boil 6 lbs. fruit

cut in square pieces, 6 lbs. lump sugar, and let it stand a few hours, to

draw out the juice, boil the juice three different times, and pour over the

rhubarb.

_Black Butter._

A very nice preserve to spread on bread, and is a mixture of currants,

gooseberries, cherries, raspberries, or strawberries. To every 2 lbs.

fruit, put 1 lb. sugar, and boil it till reduced one-fourth.

_Fruit for Puddings._

Pare apples, pears, plums, and any fruit you have, and put them in a stone

jar with brown sugar, to sweeten. Place the jar in a cool oven till the

fruit is cooked.

_To preserve Damsons, Bullaces, Morella Cherries, Gooseberries, and

Currants, for Winter use._

All these fruits may be put into wide-mouthed bottles, with about 6 oz.

Lisbon sugar to each; put corks lightly in, and set them in a vessel of

cold water, and then let it boil very gently till the syrup rises over the

fruit; when the fruit is cold, make the corks tight, dip them in rosin, and

tie bladders over.

_To Bottle Green Gooseberries and Currants._

The same as the last receipt, only without sugar. Let them remain in the

water till the fruit begins to shrivel; take them out, and when the fruit

is cold, cork the bottles tight, and dip them in melted rosin. The rough

sort is best.

_To Bottle Raspberries._

Mix an equal weight of crushed fruit and powdered loaf sugar, put them into

wine-bottles, cork tight, and rosin the corks.

{307}_Damsons for Tarts._

Gather damsons quite dry, put them into large stone jars, having pricked

them with a pin, tie bladders over, and put the jars into a vessel of cold

water; set that over the fire, and let it simmer (not boil) for two hours,

or till you see the damsons begin to sink (the water should reach nearly to

the top of the jars), then wipe the jars, and put them away in a dry

place.--_Or_: choose jars to hold 8 or 9 lbs., of equal size at top and

bottom; put in each jar one fourth of the fruit, then a fourth of good

moist sugar (allow 3 lbs. sugar to 9 lbs. fruit), then another layer of

fruit, and so on, till the jar is full; put it in an oven just hot enough

to bake it through. When household bread is drawn the oven is generally hot

enough for this purpose, and the jars may remain in all night. When the

fruit is cold, put a clean stick, a little forked at one end, into the

middle of the jar, leaving the forked end a little above the top; put a

piece of white paper over the fruit (which ought to reach the neck of the

jar), then run melted mutton suet over it, of an inch thick, and keep the

jar in a cool place. When you open it, lift up the covering of suet by the

stick.

_Apricots for Tarts._

Cut the apricots in two, but do not pare them, take out the stones, and to

every pound of fruit put 1 lb. lump sugar, pounded. Let them stand all

night, then stew them gently over a slow fire till tender; skim them, as

they simmer, till they are quite clear. Put them in pots, and when quite

cold, cover with silver papers dipped in brandy, and tie down close.

_Apple Marmalade._

Pare and core the apples, leave them in a cool oven all night; the next day

boil them up gently with an equal quantity of sugar, a little lemon peel

and pounded cinnamon.

_Apple Jelly._

Take the blossoms and stalks out of 6 lbs. ripe apples, but do not pare

them; put them into a stew-pan with {308}scarcely enough water to cover

them, cover close, and stew them to a pulp, pour it into a cloth, and hang

that up to drain, but do not squeeze it. To a quart of juice allow 1½ lb.

lump sugar, boil gently to the consistency of other jelly, and before it is

quite done add the juice of 2 lemons.--_Or_: pare and core your apples as

if for pies, put them in the oven till quite soft, then squeeze them

through thin muslin: to every pint add 1 lb. of lump sugar, half a

wine-glassful of white wine, and a tea-spoonful of brandy, with the rind of

a lemon; boil twenty minutes, or till it sets.

_Peach, Apricot, or Plum Marmalade._

Skin the fruit, take out the stones, and mash it in a bowl; put an equal

weight of fruit and sugar into a preserving-pan, boil it fifteen minutes,

taking off all the scum. The kernels may be bruised and added.

_Quince Marmalade._

Cut the fruit in quarters, and to 5 lbs. weight, and 3 lbs. sugar, add a

pint of water; cover a piece of white paper over to keep in the steam, and

simmer gently three hours; then beat them up to a jam, add ½ lb. more

sugar, and simmer the jam another half hour.--_Or_: take the parings and

cores of 2 lbs. quinces, cover them with water, and let it boil well; add 2

lbs. sugar, and when that is dissolved in the liquor, set it over a slow

fire, and let it boil till it becomes a thick syrup; but the scum must be

taken off as it rises. Let it get cold, then put in the quinces, with a

little cochineal, and set it over a slow fire; stir and beat with a pewter

spoon till it is done.

_Quince Jelly._

Weigh them and measure 1 pint of water to 1 lb. fruit; pare the quinces as

quickly as possible, as they are done, throw them into the water, then

simmer gently until they are a little broken, but not long enough to redden

the liquid, which should be very pale. Turn the whole into a jelly bag, and

let it drain without pressure. Weigh the juice and boil it quickly 20

minutes, take it from the fire and stir in till dissolved, ¾ lb. lump sugar

to each pound of juice, or {309}rather more, if the fruit be very acid;

then boil gently from ten to twenty minutes, or until it jellies strongly

in falling from the skimmer, but stir it all the while, and take off all

the scum as it rises. Pour it into glasses or moulds: it ought to be firm

enough to turn out of the latter, and be rich and transparent.

_Damson and Bullace Cheese._

Put the fruit into a stone jar, cover it, and set it on a hot hearth, or in

an oven, and let it coddle for about six hours, stirring it now and then.

Pulp the damsons through a sieve, add ½ lb. lump sugar to every 2 lbs. of

fruit, and some of the kernels, blanched, and beaten in a mortar. Put it

all in a stew-pan, and boil very gently for two or three hours (it can

hardly boil too long, as boiling makes it firm), skimming carefully all the

time. Some persons boil it only one hour; it is clearer, but less firm.

Some add a very few bitter almonds, blanched and cut small.

_Apricot Cheese._

Pare, then boil them with their weight of sugar, previously melted with a

very little water; as the fruit breaks, take out the stones, blanch and

pound the kernels, and put them to the fruit. Let the apricots boil, not

more than half an hour. Pour the cheese into shapes.

_Orange Cheese._

Scrape off the outward rind of Seville oranges, take out the pulp and skin,

boil the peel tender, in water, beat it in a marble mortar to a pulp, add

its weight of loaf sugar (already dissolved in the juice), and boil it

quickly an hour; when done pour it into moulds, or on plates, to cut in

shapes. Keep it in a dry place.

_Pine Apple to Preserve._

Pare off the rind, and divide the pine apple into rather thick slices; boil

the rind in ½ pint water, with 1 lb. loaf sugar in powder, and the juice of

a lemon, twenty minutes. Strain this liquor, and boil the slices in it for

half an hour; {310}next day pour off the syrup, and boil it, taking care to

scum as it rises, and pour it hot over the fruit; tie down the jar with a

bladder, brandied paper being over the preserve.

_Cucumbers to Preserve._

Choose the greenest and most free from seeds, some small, to preserve

whole, others large, to cut in long slices. Put them in strong salt and

water, cover with vine leaves, and set them in a warm place till yellow;

then wash, and set them over the fire, in fresh water, with a little salt

and fresh vine leaves; cover the pan close, but take care the fruit does

not boil. If they are not of a fine green, change the water, and that will

help to green them; cover as before, and make them hot. When of a good

colour, take them off the fire and let them get cold; then cut the large

ones into quarters, take out the seeds and soft parts, put them into cold

water, for two days, but change the water twice every day to take out the

salt. Boil 1 lb. loaf sugar, and ½ pint of water, scum well, add the rind

of a lemon, and 4 oz. scraped ginger. When the syrup is very thick, take it

off the fire, and when cold, wipe the cucumbers dry, and put them in. The

syrup should be boiled once in two or three days, for a fortnight, and you

may add more to it if necessary. When you pour the syrup upon the

cucumbers, be sure that it is cold. Cover close and keep in a dry place.

_Strawberries to Preserve whole._

Choose fine scarlets, not over ripe; have their weight in sifted sugar, and

sprinkle _half_ over the fruit, and let it stand all night. Next day simmer

it gently with the rest of the sugar, and 1 pint of currant juice, to 1 lb.

of fruit, till it jellies.

_Raspberries whole._

Gather them on a dry day, after a dry night. To 1 lb. fruit, ¾ lb. sugar;

put these in alternate layers in a preserving-pan, and keep shaking till it

boils, then boil ten minutes, taking off all the scum. When cold, cover

with brandy papers and bladders.

{311}_Strawberries in Wine._

Fill a wide mouthed bottle three parts full of strawberries gathered quite

dry, strewing amongst them 4 table-spoonsful of finely pounded sugar; fill

up with fine old sherry, and cork it close.

_Red Gooseberries whole._

They must be just ripe, but no more. Clip off the top of each berry, make a

little slit in the side, with a needle, that the sugar may penetrate, and

take an equal weight of fruit and of sugar: boil them together, very

gently, scum well, and when the skins begin to look transparent, take out

the fruit, with a skimmer, and put it into jars or glasses; boil the syrup

till it jellies, then strain, and pour it over the fruit.

_Morella Cherries._

Cut off the stalks, and prick the fruit with a needle, boil a fourth more

than its weight of sugar, about five minutes, with ¼ pint of red or white

currant jelly; then put in the cherries, and simmer gently till they look

bright. Some take out the stones.

_Cherries en Chemise._

Cut off half the stalk of large ripe cherries; roll them, one by one, in

beaten white of egg, and then lightly in sifted sugar. Spread a sheet of

thin white paper on a sieve reversed, and place that on a stove, spread the

fruit on the paper, and send them from the stove to table. Bunches of

currants, or strawberries, in the same way.

_Cherries in Syrup._

Take out the stones, put the fruit into a preserving-pan, with 2 lbs. lump

sugar to 6 lbs. fruit, let it come slowly to a boil, set it by till next

day, boil up again, repeat this the third day, when they will begin to look

bright and plump; then pot them in the syrup.

{312}_To dry Apricots._

Pare thin, then cut in half, 4 lbs. of apricots, weighed after they are

pared, and add 3 lbs. sifted sugar. When the sugar is nearly all melted,

put it into a pan, and simmer it very gently over a slow fire; as each

piece becomes tender lift it out into a china bowl, and when all are done,

let the syrup cool a little, then pour it over the fruit. In two days pour

out the syrup, leaving only a little in each half. Keep the apricots in a

sunny place, and turn them every day, till quite dry. Keep in boxes,

between layers of paper.

_Dried Cherries._

To every 6 lbs. cherries, stoned, allow 1 lb. lump sugar. Scald the fruit

in a preserving-pan, with very little water, then take it out, dry it: put

it into the pan, with the sugar powdered, and put it over the fire to get

scalding hot, then set it aside to get cold, put it on the fire again, and

repeat this a third time, then drain them from the syrup, and lay them

singly to dry on dishes, in the sun, or on a stove. Keep in boxes, between

layers of white paper.

_Orange Chips._

Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve; cut the peel off

very thin, and steep it a night in water, and the next day boil it till

tender in the same water. Then cut the peel in strips and put them with the

juice, in an earthen pan, with an equal weight of lump sugar, set it high

over a moderate fire or stove, till the chips candy, stirring frequently;

then spread them out in a cool room for a fortnight, to dry.

_Orange Marmalade._

The English Housekeeper: Or, Manual of Domestic Management Containing advice on the conduct of household affairs and practical instructions concerning the store-room, the pantry, the larder, the kitchen, the cellar, the dairy; the whole being intended for the use of young ladies who undertake the superintendence of their own housekeeping · 第 37 / 39 章

Steep the oatmeal all night in milk. Pour off the milk, and stir into the