Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
by
Eliza Leslie

Part 5 out of 9




A few grains of saffron boiled with the jelly will improve the
colour without affecting the taste.


PRESERVED PEACHES.

Take large juicy ripe peaches; free-stones are the best, as they
have a finer flavour than the cling-stones, and are much more
manageable both to preserve, and to eat. Pare them, and cut them
in half, or in quarters, leaving out the stones, the half of which
you must save. To every pound of the peaches allow a pound of
loaf-sugar. Powder the sugar, and strew it among your peaches.
Cover them and let them stand all night. Crack half the peach-stones,
break them up, put them into a small sauce-pan and boil
them slowly in as much water as will cover them. Then when the
water is well flavoured with the peach-kernels, strain them out,
and set the water aside. Take care not to use too much of the
kernel-water; a very little will suffice. Put the peaches into a
preserving kettle, and boil them in their juice over a quick fire;
(adding the kernel-water,) and skimming them all the time. When
they are quite clear, which should be in half an hour, take them
off, and put them into a tureen. Boil the syrup five minutes
longer, and pour it hot over the peaches. When they are cool, put
them into glass jars, and tie them up with paper dipped in brandy
laid next to them.

Apricots, nectarines, and large plums maybe preserved in the same
manner.


PEACHES FOR COMMON USE.

Take ripe free-stone peaches; pare, stone, and quarter them. To
six pounds of the cut peaches allow three pounds of the best brown
sugar. Strew the sugar among the peaches, and set them away. Next
morning add a handful of peach leaves, put the whole into a
preserving kettle, and boil it slowly about an hour and three
quarters, or two hours, skimming it well. When cold, put it up in
jars and keep it for pies, or for any common purpose.


BRANDY PEACHES.

Take large white or yellow free-stone peaches, the finest you can
procure. They must not be too ripe. Rub off the down with a
flannel, score them down the seam with a large needle, and prick
every peach to the stone in several places. Scald them with
boiling water, and let them remain in the water till it becomes
cold, keeping them well covered. Repeat the scalding three times:
it is to make them white. Then wipe them, and spread them on a
soft table-cloth, covering them over with several folds. Let them
remain in the cloth to dry. Afterwards put them into a tureen, or
a large jar, and pour on as much white French brandy as will cover
them well. Carefully keep the air from them, and let them remain
in the brandy for a week. Then make a syrup in the usual manner,
allowing to each pound of peaches a pound of loaf-sugar and half a
pint of water mixed with a very little beaten white of egg; one
white to three or four pounds of sugar.

When the syrup has boiled, and been well skimmed, put in the
peaches and boil them slowly till they look clear; but do not keep
them boiling more than half an hour. Then take them out, drain
them, and put them into large glass jars. Mix the syrup, when it
is cold, with the brandy in which you had the peaches, and pour it
over them. Instead of scalding the peaches to whiten them, you may
lay them for an hour in sufficient cold weak lye to cover them
well. Turn them frequently while in the lye, and wipe them dry
afterwards.

Pears and apricots may be preserved in brandy, according to the
above receipt. The skin of the pears should he taken off, but the
stems left on.

Large egg plums may be preserved in the same manner.

Another way of preparing brandy peaches is, after rubbing off the
down and pricking them, to put them into a preserving kettle with
cold water, and simmer them slowly till they become hot all
through; but they must not be allowed to boil. Then dry them in a
cloth, and let them lie till they are cold, covering them closely
from the air. Dissolve loaf-sugar in the best white brandy, (a
pound of sugar to a quart of brandy,) and having put the peaches
into large glass jars, pour the brandy and sugar over them
(without boiling) and cover the jars well with leather.

Pears, apricots, and egg plums may also be done in this manner.


PEACH MARMALADE.

Take ripe yellow free-stone peaches; pare, stone, and quarter
them. To each pound of peaches, allow three quarters of a pound of
powdered loaf-sugar, and half an ounce of bitter almonds, or
peach-kernels blanched in scalding water, and pounded smooth in a
mortar. Scald the peaches in a very little water, mash them to a
pulp, mix them with the sugar and pounded-almonds, and put the
whole into a preserving kettle. Let it boil to a smooth thick jam,
skimming and stirring it well, and keeping the pan covered as much
as possible. Fifteen minutes will generally suffice for boiling
it. When cold, put it up in glass jars.

Plum marmalade may be made in this manner, flavouring it with
pounded plum-kernels.


PEACH JELLY.

Take fine juicy free-stone peaches and pare and quarter them.
Scald them in a very little water, drain and mash them, and
squeeze the juice through a jelly-bag. To every pint of juice
allow a pound of loaf-sugar, and a few of the peach-kernels.
Having broken up the kernels and boiled them by themselves for a
quarter of an hour in just as much water as will cover them,
strain off the kernel-water, and add it to the juice. Mix the
juice with the sugar, and when it is melted, boil them together
fifteen minutes, till it becomes a thick jelly. Skim it well when
it boils. Try the jelly by taking a little in a spoon and holding
it in the open air to see if it congeals. If you find, that after
sufficient boiling, it still continues thin, you can make it
congeal by stirring in an ounce or more of isinglass, dissolved
and strained. When the jelly is done, put it into tumblers, and
lay on the top double tissue paper cut exactly to fit the inside
of the glass; pressing it down with your fingers.

You may make plum jelly in the same manner, allowing a pound and a
half of sugar to a pint of juice.


TO PRESERVE APRICOTS.

Take ripe apricots; scald them, peel them, cut them in half, and
extract the stones. Then weigh the apricots, and to each pound
allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put them into a tureen or large pan,
in alternate layers of apricots and sugar; cover them, and let
them stand all night. Next morning put all together into a
preserving kettle, and boil them moderately a quarter of an hour.
Then take them out, spread them on dishes, and let them stand till
next day. Then boil them again in the same syrup another quarter
of an hour. Afterwards, spread them out to cool, put them into
glass jars, and pour the syrup over them. Peaches may be preserved
in the same manner. Also large plums or green gages; but to the
plums you must allow additional sugar.


TO DRY PEACHES.

The best peaches for drying are juicy free-stones. They must be
quite ripe. Cut them in half, and take out the stones. It is best
not to pare them; as dried peaches are much richer with the skin
on, and it dissolves and becomes imperceptible when they are
cooked. Spread them out in a sunny balcony or on a scaffold, and
let them dry gradually till they become somewhat like leather;
always bringing them in at sunset, and not putting them out if the
weather is damp or cloudy. They may also be dried in kilns or
large ovens.

Apples are dried in the same manner, except that they must be
pared and quartered.

Cherries also may be dried in the sun, first taking out all the
stones. None but the largest and best cherries should be used for
drying.


TO PRESERVE QUINCES.

Take large, yellow, ripe quinces, and having washed and wiped
them, pare them and extract the cores. Quarter the quinces, or cut
them into round slices an inch thick, and lay them in scalding
water (closely covered) for an hour, or till they are tender. This
will prevent them from hardening, Put the parings, cores, and
seeds into a preserving kettle, cover them with the water in which
you coddled the quinces, and boil them an hour, keeping them
closely covered all the time. To every pint of this liquor allow a
pound of loaf-sugar; and having dissolved the sugar in it, put it
over the fire in the preserving kettle. Boil it up and skim it,
and when the scum has ceased rising, put in the quinces, and boil
them till they are red, tender, and clear all through, but not
till they break. Keep the kettle closely covered while the quinces
are in it, if you wish to have them bright coloured. You may
improve the colour by boiling with them a little cochineal sifted
through a muslin rag.

When they are done, take them out, spread them on large dishes to
cool, and then put them into glasses. Give the syrup another boil
up, and it will be like a fine jelly. Pour it hot over the
quinces, and when cold, tie up the jars with brandy paper.


TO PRESERVE QUINCES WHOLE.

Take those that are large, smooth, and yellow; pare them and
extract the cores, carefully removing all the blemishes. Boil the
quinces in a close kettle with the cores and parings, in
sufficient water to cover them. In half an hour take, them out,
spread them to cool, and add to the cores and parings some small
inferior quinces cut in quarters, but not pared or cored; and pour
in some more water, just enough to boil them. Cover the pan, and
let them simmer for an hour. Then take it off, strain the liquid,
measure it, and to each quart allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the
sugar to melt in the liquid, and let it set all night. Next day
boil the quinces in it for a quarter of an hour, and then take
them out and cool them, saving the syrup. On the following day
repeat the same; and the fourth day add a quarter of a pound more
sugar to each pint of the syrup, and boil the quinces in it twelve
minutes. If by this time they are not tender, bright, and
transparent all through, repeat the boiling.

When they are quite done, put quince jelly or marmalade into the
holes from whence you took the cores; put the quinces into glass
jars and pour the syrup over them. If convenient, it is a very
nice way to put up each quince in a separate tumbler.


QUINCE JELLY.

Take fine ripe yellow quinces, wash them and remove all the
blemishes, cut them in pieces, but do not pare or core them. Put
them into a preserving-pan with clear spring water. If you, are
obliged to use river water, filter it first; allowing one pint to
twelve large quinces. Boil them gently till they are all soft and
broken. Then put them into a jelly-bag, and do not squeeze it till
after the clear liquid has ceased running. Of this you must make
the _best_ jelly, allowing to each pint a pound of loaf-sugar.
Having dissolved the sugar in the liquid, boil them
together about twenty minutes, or till you have a thick jelly.

In the meantime, squeeze out all that is left in the bag. It will
not be clear, but you can make of it a very good jelly for common
purposes.


QUINCE MARMALADE.

Take six pounds of ripe yellow quinces; and having washed them
clean, pare and core them, and cut them into small pieces. To each
pound of the cut quinces allow half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
Put the parings and cores into a kettle with water enough
to cover them, and boil them slowly till they are all to pieces,
and quite soft. Then having put the quinces with the sugar into a
porcelain preserving kettle, strain over them, through a cloth,
the liquid from the parings and cores. Add a little cochineal
powdered, and sifted through thin muslin. Boil the whole over a
quick fire till it becomes a thick smooth mass, keeping it covered
except when you are skimming it; and always after skimming, stir
it up well from the bottom.

When cold, put it up in glass jars. If you wish to use it soon,
put it warm into moulds, and when if is cold, set the moulds in
lukewarm water, and the marmalade will turn out easily.


QUINCE CHEESE.

Have fine ripe quinces, and pare and core them. Cut them into
pieces, and weigh them; and to each pound of the cut quinces,
allow half a pound of the best brown sugar. Pat the cores and
parings into a kettle, with water enough to cover them, keeping
the lid of the kettle closed. When you find that they are all
boiled to pieces and quite soft, strain off the water over the
sugar, and when it is entirely dissolved, put it over the fire and
boil it to a thick syrup, skimming it well. When no more scum
rises, put in the quinces, cover them closely, and boil them all
day over a slow fire, stirring them and mashing them down with a
spoon till they are a thick smooth paste. Then take it out, and
put it into buttered tin pans or deep dishes. Let it set to get
cold. It will then turn out so firm that you may cut it into
slices like cheese. Keep it in a dry place in broad stone pots. It
is intended for the tea-table.


PRESERVED APPLES.

Take fine ripe pippin or bell-flower apples. Pare and core them,
and either leave them whole, or cut them into quarters. Weigh
them, and to each pound of apples allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put
the apples into a stew-pan with just water enough to cover them,
and let them boil slowly for about half an hour. They must be only
parboiled. Then strain the apple water over the sugar into a
preserving kettle, and when the sugar is melted put it on the fire
with the yellow rind of some lemons pared thin, allowing four
lemons lo a dozen apples. Boil the syrup till clear and thick,
skimming; it carefully; then put in the apples, and after they
have boiled slowly a quarter of an hour, add the juice of the
lemons. Let it boil about fifteen minutes longer, or till the
apples are tender and clear, but not till they break. When they
are cold, put them into jars, and covering them closely, let them
set a week. At the end of that time give them another boil in the
same syrup; apples being more difficult to keep than any other
fruit.

You may colour them red by adding, when you boil them in the
syrup, a little cochineal.


BAKED APPLES.

Take a dozen fine large juicy apples, and pare and core them; but
do not cut them in pieces. Put them side by side into a large
baking-pan, and fill up with brown sugar the holes from whence you
have extracted the cores. Pour into each a little lemon-juice, or
a few drops of essence of lemon, and stick in every one a long
piece of lemon-peel evenly cut. Into the bottom of the pan put a
very little water, just enough to prevent the apples from burning.
Bake them about an hour, or till they are tender all through, but
not till they break. When, done, set them away to get cold.

If closely covered they will keep, two days. They may be eaten at
tea with cream. Or at dinner with a boiled custard poured over
them. Or you may cover them with, sweetened cream flavored with a
little essence of lemon, and whipped to a froth. Heap the froth
over every apple so as to conceal them entirely.


APPLE JELLY.

Take twenty large ripe juicy pippins. Pare, core, and chop them to
pieces. Put them into a jar with the yellow rind of four lemons,
pared thin and cut into little bits Cover the jar closely, and set
it into a pot of hot water Keep the water boiling hard all round
it till the apples are dissolved, Then strain them through a
jelly-bag, and mix with the liquid the juice of the lemons. To
each pint of the mixed juice allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put
them into a porcelain kettle, and when the sugar is melted, set it
on the fire, and boil and skim it for about twenty minutes, or
till it becomes a thick jelly. Put it into tumblers, and cover it
with double tissue paper nicely fitted to the inside of the top.
The red or Siberian crab apple makes a delicious jelly, prepared
in the above manner.


APPLE BUTTER.

This is a compound of apples and cider boiled together till of the
consistence of soft butter. It is a very good article on the tea-table,
or at luncheon. It can only be made of sweet new cider
fresh from the press, and not yet fermented.

Fill a very large kettle with cider, and boil it till reduced to
one half the original quantity. Then have ready some fine juicy
apples, pared, cored, and quartered; and put as many into the
kettle as can be kept moist by the cider. Stir it frequently, and
when the apples are stewed quite soft, take them out with a
skimmer that has holes in it, and put them into a tub. Then add
more apples to the cider, and stew them soft in the same manner,
stirring them nearly all the time with a stick. Have at hand some
more cider ready boiled, to thin the apple butter in case you
should find it too thick in the kettle.

If you make a large quantity, (and it is not worth while to
prepare apple butter on a small scale,) it will take a day to stew
the apples. At night leave them to cool in the tubs, (which must
be covered with cloths,) and finish next day by boiling the apple
and cider again till the consistence is that of soft marmalade,
and the colour a very dark brown.

Twenty minutes or half an hour before you finally take it from the
fire, add powdered cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to your taste. If
the spice is boiled too long, it will lose its flavour.

When it is cold, put it into stone jars, and cover it closely. If
it has been well made, and sufficiently boiled, it will keep a
year or more.

It must not he boiled in a brass or bell-metal kettle, on account
of the verdigris which the acid will collect in it, and which will
render the apple butter extremely unwholesome, not to say,
poisonous.


TO PRESERVE GREEN CRAB APPLES.

Having washed your crab apples, (which should be full grown,)
cover the bottom and sides of your preserving kettle with vine
leaves, and put them in; spreading a thick layer of vine leaves
over them. Fill up the kettle with cold, water, and hang it over a
slow fire early in the morning; simmer them slowly, but do not
allow them to boil. When they are quite yellow, take them out,
peel off the skin with a penknife, and extract the cores very
neatly.. Put them again into the kettle with fresh vine leaves and
fresh water, and hang them again over a slow fire to simmer, but
not to boil. When they have remained long enough in the second
vine leaves to become green, take them out, weigh them, and allow
a pound and a half of loaf-sugar to each pound of crab apples.
Then after the kettle has been well washed and wiped, put them
into it with a thick layer of sugar between each layer of apples,
and about half a pint of water, for each pound and a half of
sugar. You may add the juice and yellow peel of some lemons. Boil
them gently till they are quite clear and tender throughout. Skim
them well, and keep the kettle covered when you are not skimming.
When done, spread them on large dishes to cool, and then tie them
up in glass jars with brandy papers.


TO PRESERVE RED CRAB APPLES.

Take red or Siberian crab apples when they are quite ripe and the
seeds are black. Wash and wipe them, and put them into a kettle
with sufficient water to cover them. Simmer them very slowly till
you find that the skin will come off easily. Then take them out
and peel and core them; extract the cores carefully with a small
knife, so as not to break the apples. Then weigh them, and to
every pound of crab apples allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar
and a half pint of water. Put the sugar and water into a
preserving kettle, and when they are melted together, set it over
the fire and let it boil. After skimming it once, put in the crab
apples, adding a little cochineal powder rubbed with a knife into
a very small quantity of white brandy till it has dissolved. This
will greatly improve the colour of the apples. Cover them and let
them boil till clear and tender, skimming the syrup when
necessary. Then spread them out on dishes, and when they are cold,
put them into glass jars and pour the syrup over them.

The flavour will be greatly improved by boiling with them in the
syrup, a due proportion of lemon-juice and the peel of the lemons
pared thin so as to have the yellow part only. If you use lemon-juice
put a smaller quantity of water to the sugar. Allow one
large lemon or two smaller ones to each pound of crab apples.

If you find that after they have been kept awhile, the syrup
inclines to become dry or candied, give it another boil with the
crab apples in it, adding a tea-cup full of water to about three
or four pounds of the sweetmeat.


TO PRESERVE GREEN GAGES.

Take large fine green gages that are not perfectly ripe. Weigh
them, and to each pound of fruit allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar.
Put a layer of fresh vine leaves at the bottom of a
porcelain preserving kettle, place on it a layer of gages, then
cover them with a layer of vine leaves, and so on alternately,
finishing with a layer of leaves at the top. Fill up the kettle
with hard water, and set it over a slow fire. When the gages rise
to the top, take them out and peel them, putting them on a sieve
as you do so. Then replace them in the kettle with fresh vine
leaves and water; cover them very closely, so that no steam can
escape, and hang them up at some distance above the fire to green
slowly for six hours. They should be warm all the time, but must
not boil. When they are a fine green, take them carefully out,
spread them on a hair sieve to drain, and make a syrup of the
sugar, allowing a half pint of water to each pound and a half of
sugar. When it has boiled and been skimmed, put in the green gages
and boil them gently for a quarter of an hour. Then take them out
and spread them to cool. Next day boil them in the same syrup for
another quarter of an hour. When cold, put them into glass jars
with the syrup, and tie them up with brandy paper.

To preserve them whole without peeling, you must prick each at the
top and bottom, with a large needle.


TO PRESERVE PLUMS.

Take fine ripe plums; weigh them, and to each pound allow a pound
and a half of loaf-sugar. Put them into a pan, and scald them in
boiling water to make the skins come off easily. Peel them, and
throw them as you do so into a large china pitcher. Let them set
for an hour or two, and then take them out, saving all the juice
that has exuded from them while in the pitcher. Spread the plums
out on large dishes, and cover them with half the sugar you have
allotted to them, (it must be previously powdered,) and let them
lie in it all night. Next morning pour the juice out of the
pitcher into a porcelain preserving kettle, add the last half of
the sugar to it, and let it melt over the fire. When it has boiled
skim it, and then put in the plums. Boil them over a moderate
fire, for about half an hour. Then take them out one by one with a
spoon, and spread them on large dishes to cool. If the syrup is
not sufficiently thick and clear, boil and skim it a little longer
till it is. Put the plums into glass jars and pour the syrup warm
over them.

The flavour will be much improved by boiling in the syrup with the
fruit a handful or more of the kernels of plums, blanched in
scalding water and broken in half. Take the kernels out of the
syrup before you pour it into the jars.

You may preserve plums whole, without peeling, by pricking them
deeply at each end with a large needle.

Green gages and damsons maybe preserved according to this receipt.


PLUMS FOR COMMON USE.

Take fine ripe plums, and cut them in half. Extract all the
stones, and spread out the plums on large dishes. Set the dishes
on the sunny roof of a porch or shed, and let the plums have the
full benefit of the sun for three or four days, taking them in, as
soon as it is off, or if the sky becomes cloudy. This will half
dry them. Then pack them closely in stone jars with a thick layer
of the best brown sugar between every layer of plums; putting
plenty of sugar at the bottom and top of the jars. Cover them
closely, and set them away in a dry place.

If they have been properly managed, they will keep a year; and are
very good for pies and other purposes, in the winter and spring.

Peaches may be prepared for keeping in the same manner.


EGG PLUMS WHOLE.

Take large egg plums that are not quite ripe, and prick them all
over with a small silver fork. Leave on the stems. To three pounds
of plums allow three pounds and a half of loaf-sugar, broken small
or powdered. Put the plums and sugar into a preserving kettle, and
pour in one half pint of clear hard water. Hang the kettle over a
moderate fire, and boil and skim it, As soon as the skin begins to
crack or shrivel, take out the plums one at a time, (leaving the
syrup on the fire,) and spread them on large dishes to cool. Place
them in the open air, and as soon as they are cool enough to be
touched with your fingers, smooth the skin down where it is broken
or ruffled, When quite cold, return them to the syrup, (which in
the mean time must have been kept slowly simmering,) and boil the
plums again till they are quite clear, but not till they break.
Put them warm into large glass or queen's-ware jars, and pour the
syrup over them.


TO PRESERVE PEARS.

Take large fine juicy pears that are not perfectly ripe, and pare
them smoothly and thin; leaving on the stems, but cutting out the
black top at the blossom end of the fruit. As you pare them, lay
them in a pan of cold water. Make a thin syrup, allowing a quart
of water to a pound of loaf-sugar. Simmer the pears in it for
about half an hour. Then pat them into a tureen, and let them lie
in the syrup for two days, There must be syrup enough to cover
them well. After two days, drain the syrup front the pears, and
add to it more sugar, in the proportion of a pound to each pint of
the thin syrup. Stir in a very little beaten white of egg, (not
more than one white to three or four pounds of sugar,) add some
fresh lemon-peel pared thin, and set the syrup over a brisk fire.
Boil it for ten minutes and skim it well. Then add sufficient
lemon-juice to flavour it; and put in the pears. Simmer them in
the strong syrup till they are quite transparent. Then take them
out, spread them to cool, and stick a clove in the blossom end of
each. Put them into glass jars; and having kept the syrup warm
over the fire while the pears were tooling, pour it over them.

If you wish to have them red, add a little powdered cochineal to
the strong syrup when you put in your pears.


BAKED PEARS.

The best for baking are the large late ones,
commonly called pound pears. Pare them, cut them in half, and take
out the cores. Lay them in a deep white dish, with a thin slip of
fresh lemon-peel in the place from which each core was taken.
Sprinkle them with sugar, and strew some whole cloves or some
powdered cinnamon-among them. Pour into the dish some port wine.
To a dozen large pears you may allow half a pound of sugar, and a
pint of wine. Cover the dish, with a large sheet of brown paper
tied on; set it in a moderate oven, and let them bake till tender
all through which you may ascertain by sticking a broom twig
through them. They will he done in about an hour, or they may
probably require more time; but you must not let them remain long
enough in the oven, to break or fall to pieces. When cool, put
them up in a stone jar. In cold weather they will keep a week.

To bake smaller pears, pare them, but leave on the stems, and do
not core them. Put them into a deep dish with fresh lemon, or
orange-peel; throw on them some brown sugar or molasses; pour in
at the bottom a little water to keep them from burning; and bake
them till tender throughout.


TO PRESERVE GOOSEBERRIES.

The best way of preserving gooseberries is with jelly. They should
be full grown but green. Take six quarts of gooseberries, and
select three quarts of the largest and finest to preserve whole,
reserving the others for the jelly. Put the whole ones into a pan
with sufficient water to cover them, and simmer them slowly till
they begin to be tender; but do not keep them on the fire till
they are likely to burst. Take them out carefully with a
perforated skimmer to drain the warm water from them, and lay them
directly in a pan of cold water. Put those that you intend for the
jelly into a stew-pan, allowing to each quart of gooseberries half
a pint of water. Boil them fast till they go all to pieces, and
stir and mash them with a spoon. Then put them into a jelly-bag
that has been first dipped in hot water, and squeeze through it
all the juice. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound
and a half of loaf-sugar. Break up the sugar, and put it into a
preserving kettle; pour the juice over it, and let it stand to
melt, stirring it frequently. When it has all dissolved, set it
over the fire, put the gooseberries into it, and let them boil
twenty minutes, or till they are quite clear, and till the jelly
is thick and congeals in the spoon when you hold it in the air. If
the gooseberries seem likely to break, take them out carefully,
and let the jelly boil by itself till it is finished. When all is
done, put up the gooseberries and the jelly together in glass
jars.

Strawberries, raspberries, grapes, currants or any small fruit may
in a similar manner be preserved in jelly.


TO STEW GOOSEBERRIES.

Top and tail them. Pour some boiling water on the gooseberries,
cover them up, and let them set about half an hour, or till the
skin is quite tender, but not till it bursts, as that will make
the juice run out into the water. Then pour off the water, and mix
with the gooseberries an equal quantity of sugar. Put them into a
porcelain stew-pan or skillet, and set it on hot coals, or on a
charcoal furnace. In a few minutes you may begin to mash them
against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let them stew
about half an hour, stirring them frequently. They must be quite
cold before they are used for any thing.


GOOSEBERRY FOOL.

Having stewed two quarts of gooseberries in the above manner, stir
them as soon as they are cold into a quart of rich boiling milk.
Grate in a nutmeg, and covering the pan, let the gooseberries
simmer in the milk for five minutes. Then stir in the beaten yolks
of two or three eggs, and immediately remove it from the fire.
Keep on the cover a few minutes longer; then turn out the mixture
into a deep dish or a glass bowl, and set it away to get cold,
before it goes to table. Eat it with sponge-cake. It will probably
require additional sugar.

Gooseberries prepared in this manner make a very good pudding,
with the addition of a little grated bread. Use both whites and
yolks of the eggs. Stir the mixture well, and bake it in a deep
dish. Eat it cold, with sugar grated over it.


TO BOTTLE GOOSEBERRIES.

For this purpose the gooseberries must be large and full grown,
but quite green. Top and tail them, and put them into wide-mouthed
bottles as far up as the beginning of the neck. Cover the bottom
of a large boiler or kettle with saw-dust or straw. Stand the
bottles of gooseberries (slightly corked) upright in the boiler,
and pour round them cold water to each, as far up as the fruit.
Put a brisk fire under the boiler, and when the water boils up,
instantly take out the bottles and fill them up to the mouth with
boiling water, which you must have ready in a tea-kettle. Cork them
again slightly, and when quite cold put in the corks very tight
and seal them. Lay the bottles on their sides in a box of dry
sand, and turn them every day for four or five weeks. If properly
managed, the gooseberries will keep a year, and may be used at any
time, by stewing them with sugar.

You may bottle damsons in the same manner; also grapes.


PRESERVED RASPBERRIES.

Take a quantity of ripe raspberries, and set aside the half,
selecting for that purpose the largest and firmest. Then put the
remainder into your preserving pan, mash them, and set them over
the fire. As soon as they have come to a boil, take them out, let
them cool, and then squeeze them through a bag.

While they are cooling, prepare your sugar, which must be fine
loaf. Allow a pound of sugar to every quart of whole raspberries.
Having washed the kettle clean, put the sugar into it, allowing
half a pint of cold water to two pounds of sugar. When it has
melted in the water, put it on the fire, and boil it till the scum
ceases to rise, and it is a thick syrup; taking care to skim it
well. Then put in the whole raspberries, and boil them rapidly a
few minutes, but not long enough to cause them to burst. Take them
out with a skimmer full of holes, and spread them on a large dish
to cool. Then mix with the syrup the juice of those you boiled
first, and let it boil about ten or fifteen minutes. Lastly, put
in the whole fruit, and give it one more boil, seeing that it does
not break.

Put it warm into glass jars or tumblers, and when quite cold cover
it closely with paper dipped in brandy, tying another paper
tightly over it.

Strawberries may be done in the same manner; blackberries also.


RASPBERRY JAM.

Take fine raspberries that are perfectly ripe. Weigh them, and to
each pound of fruit allow three quarters of a pound of fine loaf-sugar.
Mash the raspberries, and break up the sugar. Then mix them
together, and put them into a preserving kettle over a good fire.
Stir them frequently and skim them. The jam will be done in half
an hour. Put it warm into glasses, and lay on the top a white
paper cut exactly to fit the inside, and dipped in brandy. Then
tie on another cover of very thick white paper.

Make blackberry jam in the same manner.


TO PRESERVE CRANBERRIES.

The cranberries must be large and ripe. Wash them, and to six
quarts of cranberries allow nine pounds of the best brown sugar.
Take three quarts of the cranberries, and put them into a stew-pan
with a pint and a half of water. Cover the pan, and boil or stew
them, till they are all to pieces. Then squeeze the juice through
a jelly-bag. Put the sugar into a preserving kettle, pour the
cranberry juice over it and let it stand till it is all melted,
stirring it up frequently. Then place the kettle over the fire,
and put in the remaining three quarts of whole cranberries. Let
them boil till they are tender, clear, and of a bright colour,
skimming them frequently. When done, put them, warm into jars with
the syrup, which should be like a thick jelly.


RED CURRANT JELLY.

The currants should be perfectly ripe and gathered on a dry day.
Strip them from the stalks, and put them into a stone jar. Cover
the jar, and set it up to the neck in a kettle of boiling water.
Keep the water boiling round the jar till the currants are all
broken, stirring them up occasionally. Then put them into a jelly-bag,
and squeeze out all the juice. To each pint of juice allow a
pound and a quarter of the best loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a
porcelain kettle, pour the juice over it, and stir it frequently
till it is all melted. Then set the kettle over a moderate fire,
and let it boil twenty minutes, or till you find that the jelly
congeals in the spoon when, you hold it in the air; skim it
carefully all the time. When the jelly is done, pour it warm into
tumblers, and cover each with two rounds of white tissue paper,
cut to fit exactly the inside of the glass.

Jelly of gooseberries, plums, raspberries, strawberries,
barberries, blackberries, grapes, and other small fruit may all be
made in this manner.


WHITE CURRANT JELLY.

The currants should be quite ripe, and gathered on a dry day.
Having stripped them from the stalks, put them into a close stone
jar, and set it in a kettle of boiling water. As soon as the
currants begin to break, take them out and strain them through a
linen cloth. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of
the best double refined loaf-sugar; break it small, and put it
into a porcelain preserving pan with barely sufficient water to
melt it; not quite half a pint to a pound and a quarter of sugar;
it must be either clear spring water or river water filtered. Stir
up the sugar while it is dissolving, and when all is melted, put
it over a brisk fire, and boil and skim it till clear and thick.
When the scum ceases to rise, put in the white currant juice and
boil it fast for ten minutes. Then put it warm into tumblers, and
when it is cold, cover it with double white tissue paper.

In making this jelly, use only a silver spoon, and carefully
observe all the above precautions, that it may be transparent and
delicate. If it is not quite clear and bright when done boiling,
you may run it again through a jelly-bag.

White raspberry jelly may be prepared in the same manner. A very
nice sweetmeat is made of white raspberries preserved whole, by
putting them in white currant jelly during the ten minutes that
you are boiling the juice with the syrup. You may also preserve
red raspberries whole, by boiling them in red currant jelly.


BLACK CURRANT JELLY.

Take large ripe black currants; strip them from the stalks, and
mash them with the back of a ladle. Then put them into a
preserving kettle with a tumbler of water to each quart of
currants; cover it closely, set it over a moderate fire, and when
the currants have come to a boil, take them out, and squeeze them
through a jelly-bag. To each pint of juice you may allow about a
pound of loaf-sugar, and (having washed the preserving kettle
perfectly clean) put in the sugar with the juice; stir them
together till well mixed and dissolved, and then boil it not
longer than ten minutes; as the juice of black currants being very
thick will come to a jelly very soon, and if boiled too long will
be tough and ropy.

Black currant jelly is excellent for sore throats; and if eaten
freely on the first symptoms of the disease, will frequently
check, it without any other remedy. It would be well for all
families to keep it in the house.


GRAPE JELLY.

Take ripe juicy grapes, pick them from the steins; put them into a
large earthen pan, and mash them with the back of a wooden ladle,
or with a potato beetle. Put them into a kettle, (without any
water,) cover them, closely, and let them boil for a quarter of an
hour; stirring them up occasionally from the bottom. Then squeeze
them through a jelly-bag, and to each pint of juice allow a pound
of loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the grape juice; then put it
over a quick fire in a preserving kettle, and boil and skim it
twenty minutes. When it is a clear thick jelly, take it off, put
it warm into tumblers, and cover them with double tissue paper cut
to fit the inside.

In the same manner you may make an excellent jelly for common use,
of ripe fox grapes and the best brown sugar; mixing with the sugar
before it goes on the fire, a little beaten white of egg; allowing
two whites to three pounds of sugar.


GRAPES.

Take some large close bunches of fine grapes, (they must not be
too ripe,) and allow to each bunch a quarter of a pound of bruised
sugar candy. Put the grapes and the sugar candy into large jars,
(about two-thirds full,) and fill them up with French brandy. Tie
them up closely, and keep them in a dry place. Morella cherries
may be done in the same manner.

Foreign grapes are kept in bunches, laid lightly in earthen jars
of dry saw-dust.


TO KEEP WILD GRAPES.

Gather the small black wild grapes late in the season, after they
have been ripened by a frost. Pick them from the stems, and put
them into stone jars, (two-thirds full,) with layers of brown
sugar, and fill them up with cold molasses. They will keep all
winter; and they make good common pies. If they incline to ferment
in the jars, give them a bail with additional sugar.


TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES.

Strawberries for preserving should be large and ripe. They will
keep best if gathered in dry weather, when there has been no rain
for at least two days. Having hulled, or topped and tailed them
all, select the largest and firmest, and spread them out
separately on flat dishes; having first weighed them, and allowed
to each pound of strawberries a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Sift
half the sugar over them. Then take the inferior strawberries that
were left, and those that, are over ripe; mix with them an equal
quantity of powdered sugar, and mash them. Put them into a basin
covered with a plate, and set them over the fire in a pan of
boiling water, till they become a thick juice; then strain it
through a bag and mix with it the other half of the sugar that you
have allotted to the strawberries, which are to be done whole. Put
it into a porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it till the scum
ceases to rise; then put in the whole strawberries with the sugar
in which they have been lying, and all the juice that may have
exuded from them. Set them over the fire in the syrup, just long
enough to heat them a little; and in a few minutes take them out,
one by one, with a tea-spoon, and spread them on dishes to cool;
not allowing them to touch each other. Then take off what scum may
arise from the additional sugar. Repeat this several times, taking
out the strawberries and cooling them till they become quite
clear. They must not be allowed to boil; and if they seem likely
to break, they should be instantly and finally taken from the
fire. When quite cold, put them with the syrup into tumblers, or
into white queen's-ware pots. If intended to keep a long time it
will be well to put at the top a layer of apple jelly.


TO PRESERVE CHERRIES.

Take large ripe morella cherries; weigh them, and to each pound
allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Stone the cherries, (opening them
with a sharp quill,) and save the juice that comes from them in
the process. As you stone them, throw them into a large pan or
tureen, and strew about half the sugar over them, and let them lie
in it an hour or two after they are all stoned. Then put them into
a preserving kettle with the remainder of the sugar, and boil and
skim them till the fruit is clear and the syrup thick.


CHERRIES PRESERVED WHOLE.

The large carnation cherries are the best for this purpose. They
should be quite ripe. Prick every one in several places with a
needle, and leave on the stalks cut short. To each pound of
cherries allow a pound and a quarter of the best loaf-sugar.
Spread them on large dishes, and strew over them a thick layer of
the sugar powdered fine; about a quarter of a pound of sugar to
each pound of cherries. Or you may put them into a large tureen,
and disperse the sugar among them, cover them, and let them set
all night. In the morning get some ripe red currants; pick them,
from the stalks, and squeeze them through a linen cloth till you
have just sufficient juice to moisten the remaining sugar, which
you must have ready in a preserving kettle. When the sugar has
melted in the currant juice, put it over the fire, and when it has
been well boiled and skimmed, put in the cherries and simmer them
half an hour, or till they are so clear that you can see the
stones through them. Then take them up one at a time, and spread
them out to cool. Taste one, and if the sugar does not seem, to
have sufficiently penetrated it, return them to the syrup and boil
them a little longer, but do not allow them to break. If you are
willing to take the trouble, you may put them out to cool three or
four times while simmering. This will make them more transparent,
and prevent them from bursting.


CHERRY JELLY.

Take fine juicy red cherries, and stone them. Save half the
stones, crack them, and extract the kernels. Put the cherries and
the kernels into a preserving kettle over a slow fire, and let
them boil gently in their juice for half an hour. Then transfer
them to a jelly-bag, and squeeze out the juice. Measure it, and to
each pint allow a pound of fine loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in
the juice, and then boil and skim it for twenty or thirty minutes.
Put it up in tumblers covered with tissue paper.


CHERRY JAM.

To each pound of cherries allow three quarters of a pound of the
best brown sugar. Stone them, and as you do so throw the sugar
gradually into the pan with them. Cover them and let them set all
night. Next day, boil them slowly till the cherries and sugar form
a thick smooth mass. Put it up in queen's-ware jars.


TO DRY CHERRIES.

Choose the finest and largest red cherries for this purpose. Store
them, and spread them on large dishes in the sun, till they become
quite dry, taking them in as soon as the sun is off, or if the sky
becomes cloudy. Put them up in stone jars, strewing among them
some of the best brown sugar.

The common practice of drying cherries with the stones in, (to
save trouble,) renders them so inconvenient to eat, that they are
of little use, when done in that manner.

With the stones extracted, dried cherries will be found very good
for common pies.


BARBERRY JELLY.

Take ripe barberries, and having stripped them from the stalks,
mash them, and boil them in their juice for a quarter of an hour.
Then squeeze them through a bag: allow to each pint of juice, a
pound of loaf-sugar; and having melted the sugar in the juice,
boil them together twenty or twenty-five minutes, skimming
carefully. Put it up in tumblers with tissue paper.

FROSTED FRUIT.

Take large ripe cherries, plums, apricots, or grapes, and cut off
half the stalk. Have ready in one dish some beaten white of egg,
and in another some fine loaf-sugar, powdered and sifted. Dip the
fruit first into the white of egg, and then roll it one by one in
the powdered sugar. Lay a sheet of white paper on the bottom of a
reversed sieve, set it on a stove or in some other warm place, and
spread the fruit on the paper till the icing is hardened.


PEACH LEATHER.

To six pounds of ripe peaches, (pared and quartered,) allow three
pounds of the best brown sugar. Mix them together, and put them,
into a preserving kettle, with barely water enough to keep them
from burning. Pound and mash them a while with a wooden beetle.
Then boil and skim them for three hours or more, stirring them
nearly all the time. When done, spread them thinly on large
dishes, and set them in the sun for three or four days; Finish the
drying by loosening the peach leather on the dishes, and setting
them in the oven after the bread is taken out, letting them remain
till the oven is cold. Roll up the peach leather and put it away
in a box.

Apple leather may be made in the same manner.


RHUBARB JAM.

Peel the rhubarb stalks and cut them into small square pieces.
Then weigh them, and to each pound allow three quarters of a pound
of powdered loaf-sugar. Put the sugar and the rhubarb into a
large, deep, white pan, in alternate layers, the top layer to be
of sugar--cover it, and let it stand all night. In the morning,
put it into a preserving kettle, and boil it slowly till the whole
is dissolved into a thick mass, stirring it frequently, and
skimming it before every stirring. Put it warm into glass jars,
and tie it up with brandy paper.




PASTRY, PUDDINGS, ETC


THE BEST PLAIN PASTE.

All paste should be made in a very cool place, as heat renders it
heavy. It is far more difficult to get it light in summer than in
winter. A marble slab is much better to roll it on than a paste-board.
It will be improved in lightness by washing the butter in
very cold water, and squeezing and pressing out all the salt, as
salt is injurious to paste. In New York and in the Eastern states,
it is customary, in the dairies, to put more salt in what is
called fresh butter, than in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Delaware. This butter, therefore, should always undergo the
process of washing and squeezing before it is used for pastry or
cakes. None but the very best butter should be taken for those
purposes; as any unpleasant taste is always increased by baking.
Potted butter never makes good paste. As pastry is by no means an
article of absolute necessity, it is better not to have it at all,
than to make it badly, and of inferior ingredients; few things
being more unwholesome than hard, heavy dough. The flour for paste
should always be superfine.

You may bake paste in deep dishes or in soup plates. For shells
that are to be baked empty, and afterwards filled with stewed
fruit or sweetmeats, deep plates of block tin with broad edges are
best. If you use patty-pans, the more flat they are the better.
Paste always rises higher and is more perfectly light and flaky,
when unconfined at the sides while baking. That it may be easily
taken out, the dishes or tins should be well buttered.

To make a nice plain paste,--sift three pints of superfine flour,
by rubbing it through a sieve into a deep pan. Divide a pound of
fresh butter into four quarters. Cut up one quarter into the
flour, and rub it fine with your hands. Mix in, gradually, as much
cold water as will make a tolerably stiff dough, and then knead it
slightly. Use as little water as possible or the paste will be
tough. Sprinkle a little flour on your paste-board, lay the lump
of dough upon it, and knead it a very short time. Flour it, and
roll it out into a very thin sheet, always rolling from you. Flour
your rolling-pin to prevent its sticking. Take a second quarter of
the butter, and with your thumb, spread it all over the sheet of
paste. If your hand is warm, use a knife instead of your thumb;
for if the butter oils, the paste will be heavy. When you have put
on the layer of butter, sprinkle it with a very little flour, and
with your hands roll up the paste as you would a sheet of paper.
Then flatten it with a rolling-pin, and roll it out a second time
into a thin sheet. Cover it with another layer of butter, as
before, and again roll it up into a scroll. Flatten it again, put
on the last layer of butter, flour it slightly, and again roll up
the sheet. Then cut the scroll into as many pieces as you want
sheets for your dishes or patty-pans. Roll out each piece almost
an inch thick. Flour your dishes, lay the paste lightly on them,
notch the edges, and bake it a light brown. The oven must be
moderate. If it is too hot, the paste will bake before it has
risen sufficiently. If too cold, it will scarcely rise at all, and
will be white and clammy. When you begin to make paste in this
manner, do not quit it till it is ready for the oven. It must
always be baked in a close oven where no air can reach it.

The best rolling-pins, are those that are straight, and as thick
at the ends as in the middle. They should be held by the handles,
and the longer the handles the more convenient. The common
rolling-pins that decrease in size towards the ends, are much less
effective, and more tedious, as they can roll so little at a time;
the extremities not pressing on the dough at all.

All, pastry is best when fresh. After the first day it loses much
of its lightness, and is therefore more unwholesome.


COMMON PIE CRUST.

Sift two quarts of superfine flour into a pan. Divide one pound of
fresh butter into two equal parts, and cut up one half in the
flour, rubbing it fine. Mix it with a very little cold water, and
make it into a round lump. Knead it a little. Then flour your
paste-board, and roll the dough out into a large thin sheet.
Spread it all over with the remainder of the butter. Flour it,
fold it up, and roll it out again. Then fold it again, or roll it
into a scroll. Cut it into as many pieces as you want sheets of
paste, and roll each not quite an inch thick. Butter your pie-dish.

This paste will do for family use, when covered pies are wanted.
Also for apple dumplings, pot-pies, &c.; though all boiled paste
is best when made of suet instead of butter. Short cakes may be
made of this, cut out with the edge of a tumbler. It should always
be eaten fresh.


SUET PASTE.

Having removed the skirt and stringy fibres from a pound of beef
suet, chop it as fine as possible. Sift two quarts of flour into a
deep pan, and rub into it one half of the suet. Make, it into a
round lump of dough, with cold water, and then knead it a little.
Lay the dough on your paste-board, roll it out very thin, and
cover it with the remaining half of the suet. Flour it, roll it
out thin again, and then roll it into a scroll. Cut it into as
many pieces as you want sheets of paste, and roll them out half an
inch thick.

Suet paste should always be boiled. It is good for plain puddings
that are made of apples, gooseberries, blackberries or other
fruit; and for dumplings. If you use it for pot-pie, roll it the
last time rather thicker than if wanted for any other purpose. If
properly made, it will be light and flaky, and the suet
imperceptible. If the suet is minced very fine, and thoroughly
incorporated with the flour, not the slightest lump will appear
when the paste comes to table.

The suet must not be melted before it is used; but merely minced
as fine as possible and mixed cold with the flour.

If for dumplings to eat with boiled mutton, the dough must be
rolled out thick, and cut out of the size you want them, with a
tin, or with the edge of a cup or tumbler.


DRIPPING PASTE.

To a pound of fresh beef-dripping, that has been nicely clarified,
allow two pounds and a quarter of flour. Put the flour into a
large pan, and mix the dripping with it, rubbing it into the flour
with your hands till it is thoroughly incorporated. Then make it
into a stiff dough with a little cold water, and roll it out
twice. This may be used for common meat pies.


LARD PASTE.

Lard for paste should never be used without an equal quantity of
butter. Take half a pound of nice lard, and half a pound of fresh
butter; rub them together into two pounds and a quarter of flour,
and mix it with a little cold water to a stiff dough. Roll it out
twice. Use it for common pies. Lard should always be kept in tin.


POTATO PASTE.

To two quarts of flour, allow fourteen good sized potatoes. Boil
the potatoes till they are thoroughly done throughout. Then peel,
and mash them very fine. Rub them through a cullender.

Having sifted the flour into a pan, add the potatoes gradually;
rubbing them well into the flour with your hands. Mix in
sufficient cold water to make a stiff dough. Roll it out evenly,
and you may use it for apple dumplings, boiled apple pudding,
beef-steak pudding, &c.

Potato paste must be sent to table quite hot; as soon as it cools
it becomes tough and heavy. It is unfit for baking; and even when
boiled is less light than suet paste.


FINE PUFF PASTE.

To every pound of the best fresh butter allow a pound or a quart
of superfine flour. Sift the flour into a deep pan, and then sift
on a plate some additional flour to use for sprinkling and
rolling. Wash the butter through two cold waters; squeezing out
all the salt, and whatever milk may remain in it; and then make it
up with your hands into a round lump, and put it in ice till you
are ready to use it. Then divide the butter into four equal parts.
Cut up one of the quarters into the pan of flour; and divide the
remaining three quarters into six pieces, [Footnote: Or into nine;
and roll it in that number of times.] cutting each quarter in
half. Mix with a knife the flour and butter that is in the pan,
adding by degrees a very little cold water till you have made it
into a lump of stiff dough. Then sprinkle some flour on the paste-board,
(you should have a marble slab,) take the dough from the
pan by lifting it out with the knife, lay it on the board, and
flouring your rolling-pin, roll out the paste into a large thin
sheet. Then with the knife, put all over it, at equal distances,
one of the six pieces of butter divided into small bits. Fold up
the sheet of paste, flour it, roll it out again, and add in the
same manner another of the portions of butter. Repeat this process
till the butter is all in. Then fold it once more, lay it on a
plate, and set it in a cool place till you are ready to use it.
Then divide it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste;
roll out each sheet, and put them into buttered plates or patty-pans.
In using the rolling-pin, observe always to roll from you.
Bake the paste in a moderate oven, but rather quick than slow. No
air must be admitted to it while baking.

The edges of paste should always be notched before it goes into
the oven. For this purpose, use a sharp penknife, dipping it
frequently in flour as it becomes sticky. The notches should be
even and regular. If you do them imperfectly at first, they cannot
be mended by sticking on additional bits of paste; as, when baked,
every patch will be doubly conspicuous. There are various ways of
notching; one of the neatest is to fold over one corner of each
notch; or you may arrange the notches to stand upright and lie
flat, alternately, all round the edge. They should be made small
and regular. You may form the edge into leaves with the little tin
cutters made for the purpose.

If the above directions for puff paste are carefully followed, and
if it is not spoiled in baking, it will rise to a great thickness
and appear in flakes or leaves according to the number of times
you have put in the butter.

It should be eaten the day it is baked.


SWEET PASTE.

Sift a pound and a quarter of the finest flour, and three ounces
of powdered loaf-sugar into a deep dish. Cut up in it ten ounces
of the best fresh butter and rub it fine with your hands. Make a
hole in the middle, pour in the yolks of two beaten eggs, and mix
them with the flour, &c. Then wet the whole to a stiff paste with
half a pint of rich milk. Knead it well, and roll it out.

This paste is intended for tarts of the finest sweetmeats. If used
as shells they should be baked empty, and filled when cool. If
made into covered tarts they may be iced all over, in the manner
of cakes, with beaten white of egg and powdered loaf-sugar. To
make puffs of it, roll it out and cut it into round pieces with
the edge of a large tumbler, or with a tin cutter. Lay the
sweetmeat on one half of the paste, fold the other over it in the
form of a half-moon, and unite the edges by notching them
together. Bake them in a brisk oven, and when cool, send them to
table handsomely arranged, several on a dish.

Sweet paste is rarely used except for very handsome
entertainments. You may add some rose water in mixing it.


SHELLS.

Shells of paste are made of one sheet each, rolled out in a
circular form, and spread over the bottom, sides, and edges of
buttered dishes or patty-pans, and baked empty; to be filled, when
cool, with stewed fruit, (which for this purpose should be always
cold,) or with sweetmeats. They should be made either of fine puff
paste, or of the best plain paste, or of sweet paste. They are
generally rolled out rather thick, and will require about half an
hour to bake. The oven should be rather quick, and of equal heat
throughout; if hotter in one part than in another, the paste will
draw to one side, and be warped and disfigured. The shells should
be baked of a light brown. When cool, they must be taken out of
the dishes on which they were baked, and transferred to plates and
filled with the fruit.

Shells of puff paste will rise best if baked on flat patty-pans,
or tin plates. When they are cool, pile the sweetmeats on them in
a heap.

The thicker and higher the paste rises, and the more it flakes in
layers or leaves, the finer it is considered.

Baking paste as empty shells, prevents it from being moist or
clammy at the bottom.

Tarts are small shells with fruit in them.


PIES.

Pies may be made with any sort of paste. It is a fault to roll it
out too thin; for if it has not sufficient substance, it will,
when baked, be dry and tasteless. For a pie, divide the paste into
two sheets; spread one of them over the bottom and sides of a deep
dish well buttered. Next put in the fruit or other ingredients,
(heaping it higher in the centre,) and then place the other sheet
of paste on the top as a lid or cover; pressing the edges closely
down, and afterwards crimping or notching them with a sharp small
knife.

In making pies of juicy fruit, it is well to put on the centre of
the under crust a common tea-cup, laying the fruit round it and
over it. The juice will collect under the cup, and not be liable
to run out from between the edges. There should be plenty of sugar
strewed among the fruit as you put it into the pie.

Preserves should never be put into covered pies. The proper way is
to lay them in baked shells.

All pies are best the day they are baked. If kept twenty-four
hours the paste falls and becomes comparatively hard, heavy, and
unwholesome. If the fruit is not ripe, it should be stewed with
sugar, and then allowed to get cold before it is put into the pie.
If put in warm it will make the paste heavy. With fruit pies
always have a sugar dish on the table, in case they should not be
found sweet enough.


STANDING PIES.

Cut up half a pound of butter, and put it into a sauce-pan with
three quarters of a pint of water; cover it, and set it on hot
coals. Have ready in a pan two pounds of sifted flour; make a hole
in the middle of it, pour in the melted butter as soon as it
boils, and then with a spoon gradually mix in the flour. When it
is well mixed, knead it with your hands into a stiff dough.
Sprinkle your paste-board with flour, lay the dough upon it, and
continue to knead it with your hands till it no longer sticks to
them, and is quite light. Then let it stand an hour to cool. Cut
off pieces for the bottom and top; roll them out thick, and roll
out a long piece for the sides or walls of the pie, which you must
fix on the bottom so as to stand up all round; cement them
together with white of egg, pinching and closing them firmly. Then
put in the ingredients of your pie, (which should be venison,
game, or poultry,) and lay on the lid or top crust, pinching the
edges closely together. You may ornament the sides and top with
leaves or flowers of paste, shaped with a tin cutter, and notch or
scollop the edges handsomely. Before you set it in the oven glaze
it all over with white of egg. Bake it four hours. These pies are
always eaten cold, and in winter will keep two or three weeks, if
the air is carefully excluded from them; and they may be carried
to a considerable distance.


A PYRAMID OF TARTS.

Roll out a sufficient quantity of the best puff paste, or sugar
paste; and with oval or circular cutters, cut it out into seven or
eight pieces of different sizes; stamping the middle of each with
the cutter you intend using for the next. Bake them all
separately, and when they are cool, place them on a dish in a
pyramid, (gradually diminishing in size,) the largest piece at the
bottom, and the smallest at the top. Take various preserved
fruits, and lay some of the largest on the lower piece of paste;
on the next place fruit that is rather smaller; and so on till you
finish at the top with the smallest sweetmeats you have. The upper
one may be not so large as a half-dollar, containing only a single
raspberry or strawberry.

Notch all the edges handsomely. You may ornament the top or
pinnacle of the pyramid with a sprig of orange blossom or myrtle.


APPLE AND OTHER PIES.

Take fine juicy acid apples; pare, core, and cut them into small
pieces. Have ready a deep dish that has been lined with paste.
Fill it with the apples; strewing among them layers of brown
sugar, and adding the rind of a lemon pared thin, and also the
juice squeezed in, or some essence of lemon. Put on another sheet
of paste as a lid; close the edges well, and notch them. Bake the
pie in a moderate oven, about three quarters of an hour. Eat it
with cream and sugar, or with cold boiled custard.

If the pie is made of early green apples, they should first be
stewed with a very little water and plenty of brown sugar.

What are called sweet apples are entirely unfit for cooking, as
they become tough and tasteless; and it is almost impossible to
get them sufficiently done.

When you put stewed apples into baked shells, grate nutmeg over
the top. You may cover them with cream whipped to a stiff froth,
and heaped on them.

Cranberries and gooseberries should be stewed with sugar before
they are put into paste. Peaches should be cut in half or
quartered, and the stones taken out. The stones of cherries and
plums should also be extracted.

Raspberries or strawberries, mixed with cream and white sugar, may
he put raw into baked shells.


RHUBARB TARTS.

Take the young green stalks of the rhubarb plant, or spring fruit
as it is called in England; and having peeled off the thin skin,
cut the stalks into small pieces about an inch long, and put them
into a sauce-pan with plenty of brown sugar, and its own juice.
Cover it, and let it stew slowly till it is soft enough to mash to
a marmalade. Then set it away to cool. Have ready some fresh baked
shells; fill them with the stewed rhubarb, and grate white sugar
over the top.

For covered pies, cut the rhubarb very small; mix a great deal of
sugar with it, and put it in raw. Bake the pies about three
quarters of an hour.


MINCE PIES.

These pies are always made with covers, and should be eaten warm.
If baked the day before, heat them on the stove or before the
fire.

Mince-meat made early in the winter, and packed closely in stone
jars, will keep till spring, if it has a sufficiency of spice and
liquor. Whenever you take out any for use, pour some additional
brandy into the jar before you cover it again, and add some more
sugar. No mince-meat, however, will keep well unless all the
ingredients are of the best quality. The meat should always be
boiled the day before you want to chop it.


GOOD MINCE-MEAT.

Take a bullock's heart and boil it, or two pounds of the lean of
fresh beef. When it is quite cold, chop it very fine. Chop three
pounds of beef suet (first removing the skin and strings) and six
pounds of large juicy apples that have been pared and cored. Then,
stone six pounds of the best raisins, (or take sultana raisins
that are without stones,) and chop them also. Wash and dry three
pounds of currants. Mix all together; adding to them the grated
peel and the juice of two or three large oranges, two table-spoonfuls
of powdered cinnamon, two powdered nutmegs, and three
dozen powdered cloves, a tea-spoonful of beaten mace, one pound of
fine brown sugar, one quart of Madeira wine, one pint of French
brandy, and half a pound of citron cut into large slips. Having
thoroughly mixed the whole, put it into a stone jar, and tie it up
with brandy paper.


THE BEST MINCE-MEAT,

Take a large fresh tongue, rub it with a mixture, in equal
proportions, of salt, brown sugar, and powdered cloves. Cover it,
and let it lie two days, or at least twenty-four hours. Then boil
it two hours, and when, it is cold, skin it, and mince it very
fine. Chop also three pounds of beef suet, six pounds of sultana
raisins, and six pounds of the best pippin apples that have been
previously pared and cored. Add three pounds of currants, picked,
washed and dried; two large table-spoonfuls of powdered cinnamon;
the juice and grated rinds of four large lemons; one pound of
sweet almonds, one ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and pounded
in a mortar with half a pint of rose water; also four powdered
nutmegs; two dozen beaten cloves; and a dozen blades of mace
powdered. Add a pound of powdered white sugar, and a pound of
citron cut into slips. Mix all together, and moisten it with a
quart of Madeira, and a pint of brandy. Put it up closely in a
stone jar with brandy paper; and when you take any out, add some
more sugar and brandy.

Bake this mince-meat in puff paste.

You may reserve the citron to put in when you make the pies. Do
not cut the slips too small, or the taste will be almost
imperceptible.


VERY PLAIN MINCE-MEAT.

Take a piece of fresh beef, consisting of about two pounds of
lean, and one pound of fat. Boil it, and when it is quite cold,
chop it fine. Or you may substitute cold roast beef. Pare and core
some fine juicy apples, cut them in pieces, weigh three pounds,
and chop them. Stone four pounds of raisins, and chop them also.
Add a large table-spoonful of powdered cloves, and the same
quantity of powdered cinnamon. Also a pound of brown sugar. Mix
all thoroughly, moistening it with a quart of bottled or sweet
cider. You may add the grated peel and the juice of an orange.

Bake it in good common paste.

This mince-meat will do very well for children or for family use,
but is too plain to be set before a guest. Neither will it keep so
long as that which is richer and more highly seasoned. It is best
to make no more of it at once than you have immediate occasion
for.


MINCE-MEAT FOR LENT.

Boil a dozen eggs quite hard, and chop the yolks very fine. Chop
also a dozen pippins, and two pounds of sultana raisins. Add two
pounds of currants, a pound of sugar, a table-spoonful of powdered
cinnamon, a tea-spoonful of beaten mace, three powdered nutmegs,
the juice and grated peel of three large lemons, and half a pound
of citron cut in large strips. Mix these ingredients thoroughly,
and moisten the whole with a pint of white wine, half a pint of
rose-water, and half a pint of brandy. Bake it in very nice paste.

These mince pies may be eaten by persons who refrain from meat in
Lent.


ORANGE PUDDING.

Grate the yellow part of the rind, and squeeze the juice of two
large, smooth, deep-coloured oranges. Stir together to a cream,
half a pound of butter, and half a pound of powdered white sugar,
and add a wine-glass of mixed wine and brandy. Beat very light six
eggs, and stir them gradually into the mixture. Put it into a
buttered dish with a broad edge, round which lay a border of puff-paste
neatly notched. Bake it half an hour, and when cool grate
white sugar over it.

You may add to the mixture a Naples biscuit, or two finger
biscuits, grated.


LEMON PUDDING.

May be made precisely in the same manner as the above;
substituting lemons for oranges.


QUINCE PUDDING.

Take six large ripe quinces; pare them, and cut out all the
blemishes. Then scrape them to a pulp, and mix the pulp with half
a pint of cream, and half a pound of powdered sugar, stirring them
together very hard. Beat the yolks of seven eggs, (omitting all
the whites except two,) and stir them gradually into the mixture,
adding two wine glasses of rose water. Stir the whole well
together, and bake it in a buttered dish three quarters of an hour
Grate sugar over it when cold.

If you cannot obtain cream, you may substitute a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter stirred with the sugar and quince. A baked
apple pudding may be made in the same manner.


ALMOND PUDDING.

Take half a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and three ounces of
shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels. Scald and peel them;
throwing them, as they are peeled, into cold water. Then pound
them one at a time in a marble mortar, adding to each a few drops
of rose water; otherwise they will be heavy and oily. Mix the
sweet and bitter almonds together by pounding them alternately;
and as you do them, take them out and lay them on a plate. They
must each be beaten to a fine smooth paste, free from the smallest
lumps. It is best to prepare them the day before you make the
pudding.

Stir to a cream half a pound of fresh butter and half a pound of
powdered white sugar; and by degrees pour into it a glass of mixed
wine and brandy. Beat to a stiff froth, the whites only, of twelve
eggs, (you may reserve the yolks for custards or other purposes,)
and stir alternately into the butter and sugar the pounded almonds
and the beaten white of egg. When the whole is well mixed, put it
into a buttered dish and lay puff paste round the edge. Bake it
about half an hour, and when cold grate sugar over it.


ANOTHER ALMOND PUDDING.

Blanch three quarters of a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and
three ounces of shelled bitter almonds, and beat them in a mortar
to a fine paste; mixing them well, and adding by degrees a tea-cup
full, or more, of rose water. Boil in a pint of rich milk, a few
sticks of cinnamon broken up, and a few blades of mace. When the
milk has come to a boil, take it off the fire, strain it into a
pan, and soak in it five stale rusks cut into slices. They must
soak till quite dissolved. Stir to a cream three quarters of a
pound of fresh butter, mixed with the same quantity of powdered
loaf-sugar. Beat ten eggs very light, yolks and whites together,
and then stir alternately into the butter and sugar, the rusk,
eggs, and almonds. Set it on a stove or a chafing dish, and stir
the whole together till very smooth and thick. Put it into a
buttered dish and bake it three quarters of an hour. It must be
eaten cool or cold.


COCOA-NUT PUDDING.

Having opened a cocoa-nut, pare off the brown skin from the
pieces, and wash them all in cold water. Then weigh three quarters
of a pound, and grate it into a dish. Cut up half a pound of
butter into half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar, and stir them
together to a cream; add to them a glass of wine and rose water
mixed. Beat the whites only, of twelve eggs, till they stand alone
on the rods; and then stir the grated cocoa-nut and the beaten
white of egg alternately into the butter and sugar; giving the
whole a hard stirring at the last. Put the mixture into a buttered
dish, lay puff paste round the flat edge, and bake it half an hour
in a moderate oven. When cool, grate powdered sugar over it.


ANOTHER COCOA-NUT PUDDING.

Peel and cut up the cocoa-nut, and wash, and wipe the pieces.
Weigh one pound, and grate it fine. Then, mix with it three stale
rusks or small sponge-cakes, grated also. Stir together till very
light half a pound of butter and half a pound of powdered white
sugar, and add a glass of white wine. Beat six whole eggs very
light, and stir them gradually into the butter and sugar in turn
with the grated cocoa-nut. Having stirred the whole very hard at
the last, put it into a buttered dish and bake it half an hour.


PUMPKIN PUDDING.

Take a pint of pumpkin that has been stewed soft, and pressed
through a cullender. Melt in half a pint of warm milk, a quarter
of a pound of butter, and the same quantity of sugar, stirring
them well together. If you can conveniently procure a pint of rich
cream it will be better than the milk and butter. Beat eight eggs
very light, and add them gradually to the other ingredients,
alternately with the pumpkin. Then stir in a wine glass of rose
water and two glasses of wine mixed together; a large tea-spoonful
of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed, and a grated nutmeg. Having
stirred the whole very hard, put it into a buttered dish and bake
it three quarters of an hour.


A SQUASH PUDDING.

Pare, cut in pieces, and stew in a very little water, a yellow
winter squash. When it is quite soft, drain it dry, and mash it in
a cullender. Then put it into a pan, and mix with it a quarter of
a pound of butter. Prepare two pounded crackers, or an equal
quantity of grated stale bread. Stir gradually a quarter of a
pound of powdered sugar into a quart of rich milk, and add by
degrees, the squash, and the powdered biscuit. Beat nine eggs very
light, and stir them gradually into the mixture. Add a glass of
white wine, a glass of brandy, a glass of rose water, and a table-spoonful
of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon powdered. Stir
the whole very hard, till all the ingredients are thoroughly
mixed. Bake it three quarters of an hour in a buttered dish; and
when cold, grate white sugar over it.


YAM PUDDING.

Take one pound of roasted yam, and rub it through a cullender. Mix
with it half a pound of white sugar, a pint of cream or half a
pound of butter, a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a grated
nutmeg, and a wine glass of rose water, and one of wine. Set it
away to get cold. Then beat six eggs very light. Stir them into
the mixture. Put it into a buttered dish and bake it half an hour.
Grate sugar over it when cold.


CHESTNUT PUDDING,

May be made in the above manner.


POTATO PUDDING.

Boil a pound of fine potatoes, peel them, mash them, and rub them
through a cullender. Stir together to a cream, three quarters of a
pound of sugar and the same quantity of butter. Add to them
gradually, a wine glass of rose water, a glass of wine, and a
glass of brandy; a tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon, a
grated nutmeg, and the juice and grated peel of a large lemon.
Then beat six eggs very light, and add them by degrees to the
mixture, alternately with the potato. Bake it three quarters of an
hour in a buttered dish.


SWEET POTATO PUDDING.

Take half a pound of sweet potatoes, wash them, and put them into
a pot with a very little water, barely enough to keep them from
burning. Let them simmer slowly for about half an hour; they must
be only parboiled, otherwise they will be soft, and may make the
pudding heavy. When they are half done, take them out, peel them,
and when cold, grate them. Stir together to a cream, half a pound
of butter and a quarter of a pound and two ounces of powdered
sugar, add a grated nutmeg, a large tea-spoonful of powdered
cinnamon, and half a tea-spoonful of beaten mace. Also the juice
and grated peel of a lemon, a wine glass of rose water, a glass of
wine, and a glass of brandy. Stir these ingredients well together.
Beat eight eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture in turn
with the sweet potato, a little at a time of each. Having stirred
the whole very hard at the last, put it into a buttered dish and
bake it three quarters of an hour.


CARROT PUDDING.

May be made in the above manner.


GREEN CORN PUDDING.

Take twelve ears of green corn, as it is called, (that is, Indian
corn when full grown, but before it begins to harden and turn
yellow,) and grate it. Have ready a quart of rich milk, and stir
into it by degrees a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a
quarter of a pound of sugar. Beat four eggs till quite light; and
then stir them into the milk, &c. alternately with the grated
corn, a little of each at a time. Put the mixture into a large
buttered dish, and bake it four hours. It may be eaten either warm
or cold, For sauce, beat together butter and white sugar in equal
proportions, mixed with grated nutmeg.

To make this pudding--you may, if more convenient, boil the corn
and cut it from the cob; but let it get quite cold before you stir
it into the milk. If the corn has been previously boiled, the
pudding will require but two hours to bake.


SAGO PUDDING.

Pick, wash, and dry half a pound of currants; and prepare a tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon; a half tea-spoonful of powdered
mace; and a beaten nutmeg. Have ready six table-spoonfuls of sago,
picked clean, and soaked for two hours in cold water. Boil the
sago in a quart of milk till quite soft. Then stir alternately
into the milk, a quarter of a pound of butter, and six ounces of
powdered sugar, and set it away to cool. Bent eight eggs, and when
they are quite light, stir them gradually into the milk, sago, &c.
Add the spice, and lastly the currants; having dredged them well
with flour to prevent their sinking. Stir the whole very hard, put
it into a buttered dish, and bake it three quarters of an hour.
Eat it cold.


ARROW ROOT PUDDING.

Take four tea-cups full of arrow root, and dissolve it in a pint
of cold milk. Then boil another pint of milk with some broken
cinnamon, and a few bitter almonds or peach-leaves. When done,
strain it hot over the dissolved arrow root; stir it to a thick
smooth batter, and set it away to get cold. Next, beat six eggs
very light, and stir them into the batter, alternately with a
quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. Add a grated nutmeg
and some fresh lemon-peel grated. Put the mixture into a buttered
dish, and bake it an hour. When cold, cut some slices of preserved
quince or peach, and arrange them handsomely all over the top of
the pudding; or ornament it with strawberries, or raspberries
preserved whole.


GROUND RICE PUDDING.

Mix a quarter of a pound of ground rice with a pint of cold milk,
till it is a smooth batter and free from lumps. Boil three pints
of milk; and when it has boiled, stir in gradually the rice
batter, alternately with a quarter of a pound of butter. Keep it
over the fire, stirring all the time, till the whole is well
mixed, and has boiled hard. Then take it off, add a quarter of a
pound of white sugar; stir it well, and set it away to cool. Beat
eight eggs very light and stir them into the mixture when it is
quite cold. Then strain it through a sieve, (this will make it
more light and delicate,) add a grated nutmeg, and a large tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon. Stir in the juice and the grated
peel of a lemon, or a small tea-spoonful of essence of lemon. Put
it into a deep dish or dishes, and bake it an hour. As soon as it
comes out of the oven, lay slips of citron over the top; and when
cold, strew powdered sugar on it.


A RICE PLUM PUDDING.

Take three jills of whole rice; wash it, and boil it in a pint of
milk. When it is soft, mix in a quarter of a pound of butter, and
set it aside to cool; and when it is quite cold, stir it into
another pint of milk. Prepare a pound and a half of raisins or
currants; if currants, wash and dry them; if raisins, seed them
and cut them in half. Dredge them well with flour, to prevent
their sinking; and prepare also a powdered nutmeg; a table-spoonful
of mixed mace and cinnamon powdered; a wine glass of rose
water; and a wine glass of brandy or white wine. Beat six eggs
very light, and stir them into the mixture, alternately with a
quarter of a pound of sugar. Then add by degrees the spice and the
liquor, and lastly, stir in, a few at a time, the raisins or
currants. Put the pudding into a buttered dish and bake it an hour
and a half. Send it to table cool.

You may make this pudding of ground rice, using but half a pint
instead of three jills.


A PLAIN RICE PUDDING.

Pick and wash a pint of rice, and boil it soft. Then drain off the
water, and let the rice dry and get cold. Afterwards mix with it
two ounces of butter, and four ounces of sugar, and stir it into a
quart of rich milk. Beat four or five eggs very light, and add
them gradually to the mixture. Stir in at the last a table-spoonful
of mixed nutmeg and cinnamon. Bake it an hour in a deep
dish.


A FARMER'S RICE PUDDING.

This pudding is made without eggs. Wash half a pint of rice
through two cold waters, and drain it well. Stir it raw into a
quart of rich milk, or of cream and milk mixed; adding a quarter
of a pound of brown sugar, and a table-spoonful of powdered
cinnamon. Put it into a deep pan, and bake it two hours or more.
When done, the rice will be perfectly soft, which you may
ascertain by dipping a tea-spoon into the edge of the pudding and
taking out a little to try. Eat it cold.


RICE MILK.

Pick and wash half a pint of rice, and boil it in a quart of water
till it is quite soft. Then drain it, and mix it with a quart of
rich milk. You may add half a pound of whole raisins. Set it over
hot coals, and stir it frequently till it boils. When it boils
hard, stir in alternately two beaten eggs, and four large table-spoonfuls
of brown sugar. Let it continue boiling five minutes
longer; then take it off, and send it to table hot. If you put in
raisins you must let it boil till they are quite soft.


A BOILED RICE PUDDING.

Mix a quarter of a pound of ground rice with a pint of milk, and
simmer it over hot coals; stirring it all the time to prevent its
being lumpy, or burning at the bottom. When it is thick and
smooth, take it off, and pour it into an earthen pan. Mix a
quarter of a pound of sugar, and a quarter of a pound of butter
with half a pint of cream or very rich milk, and stir it into the
rice; adding a powdered nutmeg, and the grated rind of two lemons,
or half a tea-spoonful of strong oil of lemon. Beat the yolks of
six eggs with the whites of two only. When the eggs are quite
light, mix them gradually with the other ingredients, and stir the
whole very hard. Butter a large bowl, or a pudding mould. Put in
the mixture; tying a cloth tightly over the top, (so that no water
can get in,) and boil it two hours. When done, turn it out into a
dish. Send it to table warm, and eat it with sweetened cream,
flavoured with a glass of brandy or white wine and a grated
nutmeg.


A MARLBOROUGH PUDDING.

Pare, core and quarter six large ripe pippin apples. Stew them in
half a pint of water. When they are soft but not broken, take them
out, drain them through a sieve, and mash them to a paste with the
back of a spoon. Mix with them six large table-spoonfuls of sugar
and a quarter of a pound of butter, and set them away to get cold.
Grate two milk biscuits or email sponge cakes, or an equal
quantity of stale bread, and grate also the yellow peel, and
squeeze the juice of a large lemon. Beat six eggs light, and when
the apple is cold stir them gradually into it, adding the grated
biscuit and the lemon. Stir in a wine glass of rose water and a
grated nutmeg. Put the mixture into a buttered dish or dishes; lay
round the edge a border of puff paste, and bake it three quarters
of art hour. When cold, grate white sugar over the top, and
ornament it with slips of citron handsomely arranged.


ALMOND CHEESE CAKE.

This though usually called a cheese cake, is in fact a pudding.

Cut a piece of rennet about two inches square, wash off the salt
in cold water, and wipe it dry. Put it into a tea-cup, pour on it
sufficient lukewarm water to cover it, and let it soak all night,
or at least several hours. Take a quart of milk, which must be
made warm, but not boiling. Stir the rennet-water into it. Cover
it, and set it in a warm place. When the curd has become quite
firm, and the whey looks greenish, drain off the whey, and set the
curd in a cool place. While the milk is turning, prepare the other
ingredients. Wash and dry half a pound of currants, and dredge
them well with flour. Blanch three ounces of sweet and one ounce
of bitter almonds, by scalding and peeling them. Then cool them in
cold water, wiping them dry before you put them into the mortar.
If you cannot procure bitter almonds, peach kernels may be
substituted. Beat them, one at a time, in the mortar to a smooth
paste, pouring in with every one a few drops of rose water to
prevent their being oily, dull-coloured, and heavy. If you put a
sufficiency of rose water, the pounded almond paste will be light,
creamy, and perfectly white. Mix, as you do them, the sweet and
bitter almonds together. Then beat the yolks of eight eggs, and
when light, mix them gradually with the curd. Add five table-spoonfuls
of cream, and a tea-spoonful of mixed spice. Lastly,
stir in, by degrees, the pounded almonds, and the currants
alternately. Stir the whole mixture very hard. Bake it in buttered
dishes, laying puff paste round the edges. If accurately made, it
will be found delicious. It must be put in the oven immediately.


COMMON CHEESE CAKE.

Boil a quart of rich milk. Beat eight eggs, put them to the milk,
and let the milk and eggs boil together till they become a curd.
Then drain it through a very clean sieve, till all the whey is
out. Put the curd into a deep dish, and mix with it half a pound
of butter, working them well together. When it is cold, add to it
the beaten yolks of four eggs, and four large table-spoonfuls of
powdered white sugar; also a grated nutmeg. Lastly, stir in, by
degrees, half a pound of currants that have been previously
picked, washed, dried, and dredged with flour. Lay. puff paste
round the rim of the dish, and bake the cheese cake half an hour.
Send it to table cold.


PRUNE PUDDING.

Scald a pound of prunes; cover them, and let them swell in the hot
water till they are soft. Then drain them, and extract the stones;
spread the prunes on a large dish, and dredge them with flour.
Take one jill or eight large fable-spoonfuls from a quart of rich
milk, and stir into it, gradually, eight spoonfuls of sifted
flour. Mix it to a smooth batter, pressing out all the lumps with
the back of the spoon. Beat six eggs very light, and stir them, by
degrees, into the remainder of the milk, alternately with the
batter that you have just mixed. Then add the prunes one at a
time, stirring the whole very hard. Tie the pudding in a cloth
that has been previously dipped in boiling water and then dredged
with flour. Leave room for it to swell, but secure it firmly, so
that no water can get in. Put it into a pot of boiling water, and
boil it two hours. Send it to table hot, (not taking it out of the
pot till a moment before it is wanted,) and eat it with cream
sauce; or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together, and
served up in a little tureen. A similar pudding may be made with
whole raisins.


EVE'S PUDDING.

Pare, core, and quarter six large pippins, and chop them very
fine. Grate stale bread till you have six ounces of crumbs, and
roll fine six ounces of brown sugar. Pick, wash, and dry six
ounces of currants, and sprinkle them with flour. Mix all these
ingredients together in a large pan, adding six ounces of butter
cut small, and two table-spoonfuls of flour. Beat six eggs very
light, and moisten the mixture with them. Add a grated nutmeg, and
a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Stir the whole very well
together. Have ready a pot of boiling water. Dip your pudding
cloth into it, shake it out, and dredge it with flour. Then put in
the mixture, and tie it very firmly; leaving space for the pudding
to swell, and stopping up the tying place with a paste of wetted
flour. Boil it three hours; keeping at the fire a kettle of
boiling water, to replenish the pot, that the pudding may be
always well covered. Send it to table hot, and eat it with
sweetened cream flavoured with wine and nutmeg.


CINDERELLAS OR GERMAN PUFFS.

Sift eight table-spoonfuls of the finest flour. Cut up in a quart
of rich milk, half a pound of fresh butter, and set it on the
stove, or near the fire, till it has melted. Beat eight eggs very
light, and stir them gradually into the milk and butter,
alternately with the flour. Add a powdered nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon. Mix the whole very well to a fine
smooth batter, in which there must be no lumps. Butter some large
common tea-cups, and divide the mixture among them till they are
half full or a little more. Set them immediately in a quick oven,
and bake them about a quarter of an hour. When done, turn them out
into a dish and grate white sugar over them. Serve them up hot,
with a sauce of sweetened cream flavoured with wine and nutmeg; or
you may eat them with molasses and butter; or with sugar and wine.
Send them round whole, for they will fall almost as soon as cut.


A BOILED BREAD PUDDING.

Boil a quart of rich milk. While it is boiling, take a small loaf
of baker's bread, such as is sold for five or six cents. It may be
either fresh or stale. Pare off all the crust, and cut up the
crumb into very small pieces. You should have baker's bread if you
can procure it, as home-made bread may not make the pudding light
enough. Put the bread into a pan; and when the milk boils, pour it
scalding hot over the bread. Cover the pan closely, and let it
steep in the hot steam for about three quarters of an hour. Then
remove the cover, and allow the bread and milk to cool. In the
mean time, beat four eggs till they are thick and smooth. Then
beat into them a table-spoonful and a half of fine wheat flour.
Next beat the egg and flour into the bread and milk, and continue
to beat hard till the mixture is as light as possible; for on this
the success of the pudding chiefly depends.

Have ready over the fire a pot of boiling water. Dip your pudding-cloth
into it, and shake it out. Spread out the cloth in a deep
dish or pan, and dredge it well with flour. Pour in the mixture,
and tie up the cloth, leaving room for it to swell. Tie the string
firmly and plaster up the opening (if there is any) with flour
moistened with water. If any water gets into it the pudding will
be spoiled.

See that the water boils when you put in the pudding, and keep it
boiling hard. If the pot wants replenishing, do it with boiling
water from a kettle. Should you put in cold water to supply the
place of that which has boiled away, the pudding will chill, and
become hard and heavy. Boil it an hour and a half.

Turn it out of the bag the minute before you send it to table. Eat
it with wine sauce, or with sugar and butter, or molasses.

It will be much improved by adding to the mixture half a pound of
whole raisins, well floured to prevent their sinking. Sultana
raisins are best, as they have no seeds.

If these directions are exactly followed, this will be found a
remarkably good and wholesome plain pudding.

For all boiled puddings, a square pudding-cloth which can be
opened out, is much better than a bag. It should be very thick.


A BAKED BREAD PUDDING.

Take a stale five cent loaf of bread; cut off all the crust, and
grate or rub the crumb as fine as possible. Boil a quart of rich
milk, and pour it hot over the bread; then stir in a quarter of a
pound of butter, and the same quantity of sugar, a glass of wine
and brandy mixed, or a glass of rose water. Or you may omit the
liquor and substitute the grated peel of a large lemon. Add a
table-spoonful of raised cinnamon and nutmeg powdered. Stir the
whole very well, cover it, and set it away for half an hour. Then
let it cool. Beat seven or eight eggs very light, and stir them
gradually into the mixture after it is cold. Then butter a deep
dish, and bake the pudding an hour. Send it to table cool.


A BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.

Cut some slices of bread and butter moderately thick, omitting the
crust; stale bread is best. Butter a deep dish, and cover the
bottom with slices of the buttered bread. Have ready a pound of
currants, picked, washed and dried. Spread one third of them
thickly over the bread and butter, and strew on some brown sugar.
Then put another layer of bread and butter, and cover it also with
currants and sugar. Finish with a third layer of each, and pour
over the whole four eggs, beaten very light and mixed with a pint
of milk, and a wine glass of rose water. Bake the pudding an hour,
and grate nutmeg over it when done. Eat it warm, but not hot.

You may substitute for the currants, raisins seeded, and cut in
half.

This pudding may be made also with layers of stewed gooseberries
instead of the currants, or with pippin apples pared, cored and


 


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