A GOOD MUTTON PIE

A GOOD MUTTON PIE. Lay a half-paste of short or of puff crust round a buttered dish, take the whole or part of a loin of mutton, strip off the fat entirely, and raise the flesh clear from the bones without dividing it, then slice it into cutlets of equal thickness, season them well with salt and pepper, or cayenne, and strew between the layers some finely-minced herbs mixed with two or three eschalots, when the flavour of these last is liked; or omit them, and roll quite thin some good forcemeat (which can be flavoured with a little minced eschalot at pleasure), and lay it between the cutlets: two or three mutton kidneys intermingled with the meat will greatly enrich the gravy; pour in a little cold water, roll the cover half an inch thick, or more should the crust be short, as it will not rise like puff paste, close the pie very securely, trim the edges even with the dish, ornament the pie according to the taste, make a hole in the centre, and bake it from an hour and a half to a couple of hours. The proportions of paste and meat may be ascertained by consulting the last receipt. Gravy made with part of the bones, quite cleared from fat, and left to become cold, may be used to fill the pie instead of water. 356 RAISED PIES. Raised Pie. These may be made of any size, and with any kind of meat, poultry, or game, but the whole must be entirely free from bone. When the crust is not to be eaten, it is made simply with a few ounces of lard or butter dissolved in boiling water, with which the flour is to be mixed (with a spoon at first, as the heat would be too great for the hands, but afterwards with the fingers) to a smooth and firm paste. The French, who excel greatly in this form of pie,[117] use for it a good crust which they call a pâté brisée (see page 347), and this is eaten usually with the meat which it contains. In either case the paste must be sufficiently stiff to retain its form perfectly after it is raised, as it will have no support to prevent its falling. The celebrated Monsieur Ude gives the following directions for moulding it to a proper shape without difficulty; and as inexperienced cooks generally find a little at first in giving a good appearance to these pies, we copy his instructions for them: “Take a lump of paste proportionate to the size of the pie you are to make, mould it in the shape of a sugar loaf, put it upright on the table, then with the palms of your hands flatten the sides of it; when you have equalized it all round and it is quite smooth, squeeze the middle of the point down to half the height of the paste,” then hollow the inside by pressing it with the fingers, and in doing this be careful to keep it in every part of equal thickness. Fill it,[118] roll out the cover, egg the edges, press them securely together, make a hole in the centre, lay a roll of paste round it, and encircle this with a wreath of leaves, or ornament the pie in any other way, according to the taste; glaze it with beaten yolk of egg, and bake it from two to three hours in a well-heated oven if it be small, and from four to five hours if it be large; though the time must be regulated in some measure by the nature of the contents, as well as by the size of the dish. 117.  We remember having partaken of one which was brought from Bordeaux, and which contained a small boned ham of delicious flavour, surmounted by boned partridges, above which were placed fine larks likewise boned; all the interstices were filled with super-excellent forcemeat, and the whole, being a solid mass of nourishing viands, would have formed an admirable traveller’s larder in itself. 118.  For the mode of doing this, see observations, page 253, and Chapter XXXIV. A ham must be boiled or stewed tender, and freed from the skin and blackened parts before it is laid in; poultry and game boned; and all meat highly seasoned. Obs.—We know not if we have succeeded in making the reader 357comprehend that this sort of pie (with the exception of the cover, for which a portion must at first be taken off) is made from one solid lump of paste, which, after having been shaped into a cone, as Monsieur Ude directs, or into a high round, or oval form, is hollowed by pressing down the centre with the knuckles, and continuing to knead the inside equally round with the one hand, while the other is pressed close to the outside. It is desirable that the mode of doing this should be once seen by the learner, if possible, as mere verbal instructions are scarcely sufficient to enable the quite-inexperienced cook to comprehend at once the exact form and appearance which should be given to the paste, and some degree of expertness? is always necessary to mould a pie of this kind well with the fingers only. The first attempts should be made with very small pies, which are less difficult to manage. A VOL-AU-VENT. (ENTRÉE.) This dish can be successfully made only with the finest and lightest puff-paste (see feuilletage, page 345), as its height, which ought to be from four to five inches, depends entirely on its rising in the oven. Roll it to something more than an inch in thickness, and cut it to the shape and size of the inside of the dish in which it is to be served, or stamp it out with a fluted tin of proper dimensions; then mark the cover evenly about an inch from the edge all round, and ornament it and the border also, with a knife, as fancy may direct; brush yolk of egg quickly over them, and put the vol-au-vent immediately into a brisk oven, that it may rise well, and be finely coloured, but do not allow it to be scorched. In from twenty to thirty minutes, should it appear baked through, as well as sufficiently browned, draw it out, and with the point of a knife detach the cover carefully where it has been marked, and scoop out all the soft unbaked crumb from the inside of the vol-au-vent; then turn it gently on to a sheet of clean paper, to drain the butter from it. At the instant of serving, fill it with a rich fricassee of lobster, or of sweetbreads, or with turbot à la crême, or with the white part of cold roast veal cut in thin collops not larger than a shilling, and heated in good white sauce with oysters (see minced veal and oysters, page 251), or with any other of the preparations which we shall indicate in their proper places, and send it immediately to table. The vol-au-vent, as the reader will perceive, is but the case, or crust, in which various kinds of delicate ragouts are served in an elegant form. As these are most frequently composed of fish, or of 358meats which have been already dressed, it is an economical as well as an excellent mode of employing such remains. The sauces in which they are heated must be quite thick, for they would otherwise soften, or even run through the crust. This, we ought to observe, should be examined before it is filled, and should any part appear too thin, a portion of the crumb which has been taken out, should be fastened to it with some beaten egg, and the whole of the inside brushed lightly with more egg, in order to make the loose parts of the vol-au-vent stick well together. This method is recommended by an admirable and highly experienced cook, but it need only be resorted to when the crust is not solid enough to hold the contents securely. For moderate-sized vol-au-vent, flour, 1/2 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; salt, small saltspoonful; yolk, 1 egg; little water. Larger vol-au-vent, 3/4 lb. flour; other ingredients in proportion: baked 20 to 30 minutes. Obs.—When the vol-au-vent is cut out with the fluted cutter, a second, some sizes smaller, after being just dipped into hot water, should be pressed nearly half through the paste, to mark the cover. The border ought to be from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half wide. A VOL-AU-VENT OF FRUIT. (ENTREMETS.) After the crust has been made and baked as above, fill it at the moment of serving with peaches, apricots, mogul, or any other richly flavoured plums, which have been stewed tender in syrup; lift them from this, and keep them hot while it is boiled rapidly almost to jelly; then arrange the fruit in the vol-au-vent, and pour the syrup over it. For the manner of preparing it, see compotes of fruit, Chapter XXIV.; but increase the proportion of sugar nearly half, that the juice may be reduced quickly to the proper consistency for the vol-au-vent. Skin and divide the apricots, and quarter the peaches, unless they should be very small. VOL-AU-VENT À LA CRÊME. (ENTREMETS.) After having raised the cover and emptied the vol-au-vent, lay it on a sheet of paper, and let it become cold. Fill it just before it is sent to table with fruit, either boiled down to a rich marmalade, or stewed as for the preceding vol-au-vent, and heap well flavoured, but not too highly sweetened, whipped cream over it. The edge of the crust may be glazed by sifting sugar over it, when it is drawn from the oven, and holding a salamander or red hot shovel above it; or it may be left unglazed, and ornamented with bright coloured fruit jelly. 359 OYSTER PATTIES.[119] (ENTRÉE). 119.  These patties should be made small, with a thin crust, and well filled with the oysters and their sauce. The substitution of fried crumbs for the covers will vary them very agreeably. For lobster patties, prepare the fish as for a vol-au-vent but cut it smaller. Line some small pattypans with fine puff-paste, rolled thin and to preserve their form when baked, put a bit of bread into each; lay on the covers, pinch and trim the edges, and send the patties to a brisk oven. Plump and beard from two to three dozens of small oysters; mix very smoothly a teaspoonful of flour with an ounce of butter, put them into a clean saucepan, shake them round over a gentle fire, and let them simmer for two or three minutes; throw in a little salt, pounded mace, and cayenne, then add, by slow degrees, two or three spoonsful of rich cream, give these a boil, and pour in the strained liquor of the oysters; next, lay in the fish, and keep at the point of boiling for a couple of minutes. Raise the covers from the patties, take out the bread, fill them with the oysters and their sauce, and replace the covers. We have found it an improvement to stew the beards of the fish with a strip or two of lemon-peel, in a little good veal stock for a quarter of an hour, then to strain and add it to the sauce. The oysters, unless very small, should be once or twice divided. COMMON LOBSTER PATTIES. Prepare the fish for these as directed for fricasseed lobster, Chapter II., increasing a little the proportion of sauce. Fill the patty-cases with the mixture quite hot, and serve immediately. SUPERLATIVE LOBSTER-PATTIES. (Author’s Receipt.) Form into balls about half the size of a filbert either the cutlet-mixture or the pounded lobster of Chapter III., roll them in the sifted coral, warm them through very gently, have ready some hot patty-cases (see page 361), pour into each a small spoonful of rich white sauce, or Sauce à l’Aurore (see page 118), lay the balls round the edge, pile a larger one in the centre, and serve the whole very quickly. The Dresden patties of page 387 may be thus filled. GOOD CHICKEN PATTIES. (ENTRÉE.) Raise the white flesh entirely from a young undressed fowl, divide it once or twice, and lay it into a small clean saucepan, in which 360about an ounce of butter has been dissolved, and just begins to simmer; strew in a slight seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne, and stew the chicken very softly indeed for about ten minutes, taking every precaution against its browning: turn it into a dish with the butter, and its own gravy, and let it become cold. Mince it with a sharp knife; heat it, without allowing it to boil, in a little good white sauce (which may be made of some of the bones of the fowl), and fill ready-baked patty-crusts, or small vol-au-vents with it, just before they are sent to table; or stew the flesh only just sufficiently to render it firm, mix it after it is minced and seasoned with a spoonful or two of strong gravy, fill the patties, and bake them from fifteen to eighteen minutes. It is a great improvement to stew and mince a few mushrooms with the chicken. The breasts of cold turkeys, fowls, partridges, or pheasants, or the white part of cold veal, minced, heated in a béchamel sauce, will serve at once for patties: they may also be made of cold game, heated in an Espagnole, or in a good brown gravy. PATTIES À LA PONTIFE. (ENTRÉE.) (A fast day, or Maigre dish.) Mince, but not very small, the yolks of six fresh hard-boiled eggs; mince also and mix with them a couple of fine truffles,[120] a large saltspoonful of salt, half the quantity of mace and nutmeg, and a fourth as much of cayenne. Moisten these ingredients with a spoonful of thick cream, or béchamel maigre (see page 109), or with a dessertspoonful of clarified butter; line the patty-moulds, fill them with the mixture, cover, and bake them from twelve to fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. They are excellent made with the cream-crust of page 347. 120.  The bottled ones will answer well for these. Yolks hard-boiled eggs, 6; truffles, 2 large; seasoning of salt, mace, nutmeg, and cayenne; cream, or béchamel maigre, 1 tablespoonful, or clarified butter, 1 dessertspoonful: baked moderate oven, 12 to 15 minutes. Obs.—A spoonful or two of jellied stock or gravy, or of good white sauce, converts these into admirable patties: the same ingredients make also very superior rolls or cannelons. For Patties à la Cardinale, small mushroom-buttons stewed as for partridges, Chapter XIII., before they are minced, must be substituted for truffles; and the butter in which they are simmered should be added with them to the eggs. EXCELLENT MEAT ROLLS. Pound, as for potting (see page 305), and with the same proportion of butter and of seasonings, some half-roasted veal, chicken, or 361turkey. Make some forcemeat by the receipt No. 1, Chapter VI., and form it into small rolls, not larger than a finger; wrap twice or thrice as much of the pounded meat equally round each of these, first moistening it with a teaspoonful of water; fold them in good puff-paste, and bake them from fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the crust is perfectly done. A small quantity of the lean of a boiled ham may be finely minced and pounded with the veal, and very small mushrooms, prepared as for a partridge (page 329), may be substituted for the forcemeat. SMALL VOLS-AU-VENTS, OR PATTY-CASES. These are quickly and easily made with two round paste-cutters, of which one should be little more than half the size of the other: to give the pastry a better appearance, they should be fluted. Roll out some of the lightest puff-paste to a half-inch of thickness, and with the larger of the tins cut the number of patties required; then dip the edge of the small shape into hot water, and press it about half through them. Bake them in a moderately quick oven from ten to twelve minutes, and when they are done, with the point of a sharp knife, take out the small rounds of crust from the tops, and scoop all the crumb from the inside of the patties, which may then be filled with shrimps, oysters, lobster, chicken, pheasant, or any other of the ordinary varieties of patty meat, prepared with white sauce. Fried crumbs may be laid over them instead of the covers, or these last can be replaced. For sweet dishes, glaze the pastry, and fill it with rich whipped cream, preserve, or boiled custard; if with the last of these put it back into a very gentle oven until the custards are set. ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR TARTLETS. For a dozen tartlets, cut twenty-four rounds of paste of the usual size, and form twelve of them into rings by pressing the small cutter quite through them; moisten these with cold water, or white of egg, and lay them on the remainder of the rounds of paste, so as to form the rims of the tartlets. Bake them from ten to twelve minutes, fill them with preserve while they are still warm, and place over it a 362small ornament of paste cut from the remnants, and baked gently of a light colour. Serve the tartlets cold, or if wanted hot for table put them back into the oven for one minute after they are filled. A SEFTON, OR VEAL CUSTARD. Pour boiling, a pint of rich, clear, pale veal gravy on six fresh eggs, which have been well beaten and strained: sprinkle in directly the grated rind of a fine lemon, a little cayenne, some salt if needed, and a quarter-teaspoonful of mace. Put a paste border round a dish, pour in, first two ounces of clarified butter, and then the other ingredients; bake the Sefton in a very slow oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until it is quite firm in the middle, and send it to table with a little good gravy. Very highly flavoured game stock, in which a few mushrooms have been stewed, may be used for this dish with great advantage in lieu of veal gravy; and a sauce made of the smallest mushroom buttons, may be served with it in either case. The mixture can be baked in a whole paste, if preferred so, or in well buttered cups; then turned out and covered with the sauce before it is sent to table. Rich veal or game stock, 1 pint; fresh eggs, 6; rind, 1 lemon; little salt and cayenne; pounded mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; butter, 2 oz.: baked, 25 to 30 minutes, slow oven. APPLE CAKE, OR GERMAN TART. Work together with the fingers, ten ounces of butter and a pound of flour, until they resemble fine crumbs of bread; throw in a small pinch of salt, and make them into a firm smooth paste with the yolks of two eggs and a spoonful or two of water. Butter thickly, a plain tin cake, or pie mould (those which open at the sides, see plate, page 344, are best adapted for the purpose); roll out the paste thin, place the mould upon it, trim a bit to its exact size, cover the bottom of the mould with this, then cut a band the height of the sides, and press it smoothly round them, joining the edge, which must be moistened with egg or water, to the bottom crust; and fasten upon them, to prevent their separation, a narrow and thin band of paste, also moistened. Next, fill the mould nearly from the brim with the following marmalade, which must be quite cold when it is put in. Boil together, over a gentle fire at first, but more quickly afterwards, three pounds of good apples with fourteen ounces of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon, the strained juice of a large lemon, three ounces of fresh butter, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a couple of lemons: when the whole is perfectly smooth and dry, turn it into a pan to cool, and let it be quite cold before it is put into the paste. In early autumn, a larger proportion of sugar may be required, but this can be regulated by the taste. When the mould is filled, roll out the cover, lay it carefully 363over the marmalade that it may not touch it; and when the cake is securely closed, trim off the superfluous paste, add a little pounded sugar to the parings, spread them out very thin, and cut them into leaves to ornament the top of the cake, round which they may be placed as a sort of wreath.[121] Bake it for an hour in a moderately brisk oven; take it from the mould, and should the sides not be sufficiently coloured put it back for a few minutes into the oven upon a baking tin. Lay a paper over the top, when it is of a fine light brown, to prevent its being too deeply coloured. This cake should be served hot. 121.  Or, instead of these, fasten on it with a little white of egg, after it is taken from the oven, some ready-baked leaves of almond-paste (see page 355), either plain or coloured. Paste: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 10 oz.; yolks of eggs, 2; little water. Marmalade: apples, 3 lbs.; sugar, 14 oz. (more if needed); juice of lemon, 1; rinds of lemons, 2; butter, 3 oz.: baked, 1 hour. TOURTE MERINGUÉE, OR TART WITH ROYAL ICING.[122] 122.  The limits to which we are obliged to confine this volume, compel us to omit many receipts which we would gladly insert; we have, therefore, rejected those which may be found in almost every English cookery book, for such as are, we apprehend, less known to the reader: this will account for the small number of receipts for pies and fruit tarts to be found in the present chapter. Lay a band of fine paste round the rim of a tart-dish, fill it with any kind of fruit mixed with a moderate proportion of sugar, roll out the cover very evenly, moisten the edges of the paste, press them together carefully, and trim them off close to the dish; spread equally over the top, to within rather more than an inch of the edge all round, the whites of three fresh eggs beaten to a quite solid froth and mixed quickly at the moment of using them with three tablespoonsful of dry sifted sugar. Put the tart into a moderately brisk oven, and when the crust has risen well and the icing is set, either lay a sheet of writing-paper lightly over it, or draw it to a part of the oven where it will not take too much colour. This is now a fashionable mode of icing tarts, and greatly improves their appearance. Bake half an hour. A GOOD APPLE TART. A pound and a quarter of apples weighed after they are pared and cored, will be sufficient for a small tart, and four ounces more for one of moderate size. Lay a border of English puff-paste, or of cream-crust round the dish, just dip the apples into water, arrange them very compactly in it, higher in the centre than at the sides, and strew amongst them from three to four ounces of pounded sugar, or more should they be very acid: the grated rind and the strained juice of half a lemon will much improve their flavour. Lay 364on the cover rolled thin, and ice it or not at pleasure. Send the tart to a moderate oven for about half an hour. This may be converted into the old-fashioned creamed apple tart, by cutting out the cover while it is still quite hot, leaving only about an inch-wide border of paste round the edge, and pouring over the apples when they have become cold, from half to three-quarters of a pint of rich boiled custard. The cover divided into triangular sippets, was formerly stuck round the inside of the tart, but ornamental leaves of pale puff-paste have a better effect. Well-drained whipped cream may be substituted for the custard, and be piled high, and lightly over the fruit. TART OF VERY YOUNG GREEN APPLES. (GOOD.) Take very young apples from the tree before the cores are formed, clear off the buds and stalks, wash them well, and fill a tart-dish with them after having rolled them in plenty of sugar, or strew layers of sugar between them; add a very small quantity of water and bake the tart rather slowly, that the fruit may be tender quite through. It will resemble a green apricot-tart if carefully made. We give this receipt from recollection, having had the dish served often formerly, and having found it very good. BARBERRY TART. Barberries, with half their weight of fine brown sugar, when they are thoroughly ripe, and with two ounces more when they are not quite so, make an admirable tart. For one of moderate size, put into a dish bordered with paste three quarters of a pound of barberries stripped from their stalks, and six ounces of sugar in alternate layers; pour over them three tablespoonsful of water, put on the cover, and bake the tart for half an hour. Another way of making it is, to line a shallow tin pan with very thin crust, to mix the fruit and sugar well together with a spoon before they are laid in, and to put bars of paste across instead of a cover; or it may be baked without either.[123] 123.  The French make their fruit-tarts generally thus, in large shallow pans. Plums, split and stoned (or if of small kinds, left entire), cherries and currants freed from the stalks, and various other fruits, all rolled in plenty of sugar, are baked in the uncovered crust; or this is baked by itself, and then filled afterwards with fruit previously stewed tender. THE LADY’S TOURTE, AND CHRISTMAS TOURTE À LA CHÂTELAINE. Lady’s Tourte. To make this Tourte, which, when filled, is of pretty appearance, two paste-cutters are requisite, one the size, or nearly so, of the inside of the dish in which the entremets is to be served, the other not 365more than an inch in diameter, and both of them fluted, as will be seen by the engraving. To make the paste for it, throw a small half saltspoonful of salt into half a pound of the finest flour, and break lightly into it four ounces of fresh butter, which should be firm. Make these up smoothly with cold milk or water, of which nearly a quarter of a pint will be sufficient, unless the butter should be very hard, when a spoonful or two more must be added. Roll the paste out as lightly as possible twice or thrice if needful, to blend the butter thoroughly with it, and each time either fold it in three by wrapping the ends over each other, or fold it over and over like a roll pudding. An additional ounce, or even two, of butter can be used for it when very rich pastry is liked, but the tourte will not then retain its form so well. Roll it out evenly to something more than three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and press the large cutter firmly through it; draw away the superfluous paste, and lay the tourte on a lightly floured baking-tin. Roll the remainder of the paste until it is less than a quarter of an inch thick, and stamp out with the smaller cutter—of which the edge should be dipped into hot water, or slightly encrusted with flour—as many rounds as will form the border of the tourte. In placing them upon it, lay the edge of one over the other just sufficiently to give a shell-like appearance to the whole; and with the finger press lightly on the opposite part of the round to make it adhere to the under paste. Next, with a sharp-pointed knife, make an incision very evenly round the inside of the tourte nearly close to the border, but be extremely careful not to cut too deeply into the paste. Bake it in a gentle oven, from twenty to thirty minutes. When it is done, detach the crust from the centre, where it has been marked with the knife, take out part of the crumb, fill the space high with apricot-jam, or with any other choice preserve, set it again for an instant into the oven, and serve it hot or cold. Spikes of blanched almonds, filberts, or pistachio-nuts, may be strewed over the preserve, when they are considered an improvement; and the border of the pastry may be glazed or ornamented to the fancy; but if well made, it will generally please in its quite simple form. It may be converted into a delicious entrée, by filling it either with oysters, or sliced sweetbreads, stewed, and served in thick, rich, white sauce, or béchamel. Lobster also prepared and moulded as for the new lobster patties of page 359, will form a superior dish even to these. Obs.—Six ounces of flour, and three of butter, will make sufficient paste for this tourte, when it is required only of the usual moderate size. If richer paste be used for it, it must have two or 366three additional turns or rollings to prevent its losing its form in the oven. Christmas Tourte à la Châtelaine.—Make the case for this tourte as for the preceding one, and put sufficient mincemeat to fill it handsomely into a jar, cover it very securely with paste, or with two or three folds of thick paper, and bake it gently for half an hour or longer, should the currants, raisins, &c., not be fully tender. Take out the inside of the tourte, heap the hot mincemeat in it, pour a little fresh brandy over; just touch it with a strip of lighted writing-paper at the door of the dining-room, and serve it in a blaze; or if better liked so, serve it very hot without the brandy, and with Devonshire cream as an accompaniment.[124] 124.  Sufficient of cream for this purpose can easily be prepared from good milk. GENOISES À LA REINE, OR HER MAJESTY’S PASTRY. Make some nouilles (see page 5), with the yolks of four fresh eggs, and when they are all cut as directed there, drop them lightly into a pint and a half of boiling cream (new milk will answer quite as well, or a portion of each may be used), in which six ounces of fresh butter have been dissolved. When these have boiled quickly for a minute or two, during which time they must be stirred to prevent their gathering into lumps, add a small pinch of salt, and six ounces of sugar on which the rinds of two lemons have been rasped; place the saucepan over a clear and very gentle fire, and when the mixture has simmered from thirty to forty minutes take it off, stir briskly in the yolks of six eggs, and pour it out upon a delicately clean baking-tin which has been slightly rubbed in every part with butter; level the nouilles with a knife to something less than a quarter of an inch of thickness, and let them be very evenly spread; put them into a moderate oven, and bake them of a fine equal brown: should any air-bladders appear, pierce them with the point of a knife. On taking the paste from the oven, divide it into two equal parts; turn one of these, the underside uppermost, on to a clean tin or a large dish, and spread quickly over it a jar of fine apricot-jam, place the other half upon it, the brown side outwards, and leave the paste to become cold; then stamp it out with a round or diamond-shaped cutter, and arrange the genoises tastefully in a dish. This pastry will be found delicious the day it is baked, but its excellence is destroyed by keeping. Peach, green-gage, or magnum bonum jam, will serve for it quite as well as apricot. We strongly recommend to our readers this preparation, baked in pattypans, and served hot; or the whole quantity made into a pudding. From the smaller ones a little may be taken out with a teaspoon, and replaced with some preserve just before they are sent to table; or they may thus be eaten cold. 367Nouilles of 4 eggs; cream or milk, 1-1/2 pint; butter, 6 oz.; sugar 6 oz.; rasped rinds of lemons, 2; grain of salt: 30 to 40 minutes. Yolks of eggs, 6: baked from 15 to 25 minutes. ALMOND PASTE. For a single dish of pastry, blanch seven ounces of fine Jordan almonds and one of bitter;[125] throw them into cold water as they are done, and let them remain in it for an hour or two; then wipe, and pound them to the finest paste, moistening them occasionally with a few drops of cold water, to prevent their oiling; next, add to, and mix thoroughly with them, seven ounces of highly-refined, dried, and sifted sugar; put them into a small preserving-pan, or enamelled stewpan, and stir them over a clear and very gentle fire until they are so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched; turn the paste immediately into an earthen pan or jar, and when cold it will be ready for use. 125.  When these are objected to, use half a pound of the sweet almonds. Jordan almonds, 7 oz.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; cold water, 1 tablespoonful; sugar, 7 oz. Obs.—The pan in which the paste is dried, should by no means be placed upon the fire, but high above it on a bar or trevet: should it be allowed by accident to harden too much, it must be sprinkled plentifully with water, broken up quite small, and worked, as it warms, with a strong wooden spoon to a smooth paste again. We have found this method perfectly successful; but, if time will permit, it should be moistened some hours before it is again set over the fire. TARTLETS OF ALMOND PASTE. Butter slightly the smallest-sized pattypans, and line them with the almond-paste rolled as thin as possible; cut it with a sharp knife close to their edges, and bake or rather dry the tartlets slowly at the mouth of a very cool oven. If at all coloured, they should be only of the palest brown; but they will become perfectly crisp without losing their whiteness if left for some hours in a very gently-heated stove or oven. They should be taken from the pans when two-thirds done, and laid, reversed, upon a sheet of paper placed on a dish or board, before they are put back into the oven. At the instant of serving, fill them with bright-coloured whipped cream, or with peach or apricot jam; if the preserve be used, lay over it a small star or other ornament cut from the same paste, and dried with the tartlets. Sifted sugar, instead of flour, must be dredged upon the board and roller in using almond paste. Leaves and flowers formed of it, and dried gradually until perfectly crisp, will keep for a long time in a 368tin box or canister, and they form elegant decorations for pastry. When a fluted cutter the size of the pattypans is at hand, it will be an improvement to cut out the paste with it, and then to press it lightly into them, as it is rather apt to break when pared off with a knife. To colour it, prepared cochineal, or spinach-green, must be added to it in the mortar. FAIRY FANCIES. (Fantaisies de Fées.) A small, but very inexpensive set of tin cutters must be had for this pretty form of pastry, which is, however, quite worthy of so slight a cost. The short crust, of page 349, answers for it better than puff paste. Roll it thin and very even, and with the larger tin, shaped thus, cut out a dozen or more of small sheets; then, with a couple of round cutters, of which one should be about an inch in diameter, and the other only half the size, form four times the number of rings, and lay them on the sheets in the manner shown in the engraving. The easier mode of placing them regularly, is to raise each ring without removing the small cutter from it, to moisten it with a camel’s hair brush dipped in white of egg, and to lay it on the paste as it is gently loosened from the tin When all the pastry is prepared, set it into a very gentle oven, that it may become crisp and yet remain quite pale. Before it is sent to table, fill the four divisions of each fantaisie with preserve of a different colour. For example: one ring with apple or strawberry jelly, another with apricot jam, a third with peach or green-gage, and a fourth with raspberry jelly. The cases may be iced, and ornamented in various ways before they are baked. They are prettiest when formed of white almond-paste, with pink or pale green rings: they may then be filled, at the instant of serving, with well-drained whipped cream. MINCEMEAT. (Author’s Receipt.) To one pound of an unsalted ox-tongue, boiled tender and cut free from the rind, add two pounds of fine stoned raisins, two of beef kidney-suet, two pounds and a half of currants well cleaned and dried, two of good apples, two and a half of fine Lisbon sugar, from half to a whole pound of candied peel according to the taste, the 369grated rinds of two large lemons, and two more boiled quite tender, and chopped up entirely, with the exception of the pips, two small nutmegs, half an ounce of salt, a large teaspoonful of pounded mace, rather more of ginger in powder, half a pint of brandy, and as much good sherry or Madeira. Mince these ingredients separately, and mix the others all well before the brandy and the wine are added; press the whole into a jar or jars, and keep it closely covered. It should be stored for a few days before it is used, and will remain good for many weeks. Some persons like a slight flavouring of cloves in addition to the other spices; others add the juice of two or three lemons, and a larger quantity of brandy. The inside of a tender and well-roasted sirloin of beef will answer quite as well as the tongue. Of a fresh-boiled ox-tongue, or inside of roasted sirloin, 1 lb.; stoned raisins and minced apples, each 2 lbs.; currants and fine Lisbon sugar, each 2-1/2 lbs.; candied orange, lemon or citron rind, 8 to 16 oz.; boiled lemons, 2 large; rinds of two others, grated; salt, 1/2 oz.; nutmegs, 2 small; pounded mace, 1 large teaspoonful, and rather more of ginger; good sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint. Obs.—The lemons will be sufficiently boiled in from one hour to one and a quarter. SUPERLATIVE MINCEMEAT. Take four large lemons, with their weight of golden pippins pared and cored, of jar-raisins, currants, candied citron and orange-rind, and the finest suet, and a fourth part more of pounded sugar. Boil the lemons tender, chop them small, but be careful first to extract all the pips; add them to the other ingredients, after all have been prepared with great nicety, and mix the whole well with from three to four glasses of good brandy. Apportion salt and spice by the preceding receipt. We think that the weight of one lemon, in meat, improves this mixture; or, in lieu of it, a small quantity of crushed macaroons added just before it is baked. MINCE PIES. (ENTREMETS.) Butter some tin pattypans well, and line them evenly with fine puff paste rolled thin; fill them with mincemeat, moisten the edges of the covers, which should be nearly a quarter of an inch thick, close the pies carefully, trim off the superfluous paste, make a small aperture in the centre of the crust with a fork or the point of a knife, ice the pies or not, at pleasure, and bake them half an hour in a well-heated but not fierce oven: lay a paper over them when they are partially done, should they appear likely to take too much colour. 1/2 hour. 370 MINCE PIES ROYAL. (ENTREMETS.) Add to half a pound of good mincemeat an ounce and a half of pounded sugar, the grated rind and the strained juice of a large lemon, one ounce of clarified butter, and the yolks of four eggs; beat these well together, and half fill, or rather more, with the mixture, some pattypans lined with fine paste; put them into a moderate oven, and when the insides are just set, ice them thickly with the whites of the eggs beaten to snow, and mixed quickly at the moment with four heaped tablespoonsful of pounded sugar; set them immediately into the oven again, and bake them slowly of a fine light brown. Mincemeat, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 oz.; rind and juice, 1 large lemon; butter, 1 oz.; yolks, 4 eggs. Icing: whites, 4 eggs; sugar, 4 tablespoonsful. THE MONITOR’S TART, OR TOURTE À LA JUDD. Put into an enamelled stewpan, or into a delicately clean saucepan, three quarters of a pound of well-flavoured apples, weighed after they are pared and cored; add to them from three to four ounces of pounded sugar, an ounce and a half of fresh butter cut small, and half a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a small lemon. Let them stand over, or by the side of a gentle fire until they begin to soften, and toss them now and then to mingle the whole well, but do not stir them with a spoon; they should all remain unbroken and rather firm. Turn them into a dish, and let them become cold. Divide three-quarters of a pound of good light paste into two equal portions; roll out one quite thin and round, flour an oven-leaf and lay it on, as the tart cannot so well be moved after it is made; place the apples upon it in the form of a dome, but leave a clear space of an inch or more round the edge; moisten this with white of egg, and press the remaining half of the paste (which should be rolled out to the same size, and laid carefully over the apples) closely upon it: they should be well secured, that the syrup from the fruit may not burst through. Whisk the white of an egg to a froth, brush it over the tart with a paste brush or a small bunch of feathers, sift sugar thickly over, and then strew upon it some almonds blanched and roughly chopped; bake the tart in a moderate oven from thirty-five to forty-five minutes. It may be filled with peaches, or apricots, half stewed like the apples, or with cherries merely rolled in fine sugar; or with the pastry cream of page 173. Light paste, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.; apples, 12 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; glazing of egg and sugar; some almonds: 35 to 45 minutes. 371 PUDDING PIES. (ENTREMETS.) This form of pastry (or its name at least) is, we believe, peculiar to the county of Kent, where it is made in abundance, and eaten by all classes of people during Lent. Boil for fifteen minutes three ounces of ground rice[126] in a pint and a half of new milk, and when taken from the fire stir into it three ounces of butter and four of sugar; add to these six well-beaten eggs, a grain or two of salt, and a flavouring of nutmeg or lemon-rind at pleasure. When the mixture is nearly cold, line some large pattypans or some saucers with thin puff paste, fill them with it three parts full, strew the tops thickly with currants which have been cleaned and dried, and bake the pudding-pies from fifteen to twenty minutes in a gentle oven. 126.  Or rice-flour. Milk, 1-1/2 pint; ground rice, 3 oz.: 15 minutes. Butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; nutmeg or lemon-rind; eggs, 6; currants, 4 to 6 oz.: 15 to 30 minutes. PUDDING PIES. (A commoner kind.) One quart of new milk, five ounces of ground rice, butter, one ounce and a half (or more), four ounces of sugar, half a small nutmeg grated, a pinch of salt, four large eggs, and three ounces of currants. COCOA-NUT CHEESE-CAKES. (ENTREMETS.) (Jamaica Receipt.) Break carefully the shell of the nut, that the liquid it contains may not escape.[127] Take out the kernel, pare thinly off the dark skin, and grate the nut on a delicately clean grater; put it, with its weight of pounded sugar, and its own milk, or a couple of spoonsful or rather more of water, into a silver or block-tin saucepan, or a very small copper stewpan perfectly tinned, and keep it gently stirred over a quite clear fire until it is tender: it will sometimes require an hour’s stewing to make it so. When a little cooled, add to the nut, and beat well with it, some eggs properly whisked and strained, and the grated rind of half a lemon. Line some pattypans with fine paste, put in the mixture, and bake the cheese-cakes from thirteen to fifteen minutes. 127.  This, as we have elsewhere stated, is best secured by boring the shell before it is broken. The milk of the nut should never be used unless it be very fresh. Grated cocoa-nut, 6 oz.; sugar, 6 oz.; the milk of the nut, or of 372water, 2 large tablespoonsful: 1/2 to 1 hour. Eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1/2 of 1: 13 to 15 minutes. Obs.—We have found the cheese-cakes made with these proportions very excellent indeed, but should the mixture be considered too sweet, another egg or two can be added, and a little brandy also. With a spoonful or two more of liquid too, the nut would become tender in a shorter time. COMMON LEMON TARTLETS. Beat four eggs until they are exceedingly light, add to them gradually four ounces of pounded sugar, and whisk these together for five minutes; strew lightly in, if it be at hand, a dessertspoonful of potato flour, if not, of common flour well dried and sifted,[128] then throw into the mixture by slow degrees, three ounces of good butter, which should be dissolved, but only just lukewarm: beat the whole well, then stir briskly in, the strained juice and the grated rind of one lemon and a half. Line some pattypans with fine puff-paste rolled very thin, fill them two-thirds full, and bake the tartlets about twenty minutes, in a moderate oven. 128.  A few ratifias, or three or four macaroons rolled to powder, or a stale sponge or Naples biscuit or two, reduced to the finest crumbs, may be substituted for either of these: more lemon, too, can be added to the taste. Eggs, 4; sugar, 4 oz.; potato-flour, or common flour, 1 dessertspoonful; butter, 3 oz.; juice and rind of 1-1/2 full-sized lemon: baked 15 to 20 minutes. MADAME WERNER’S ROSENVIK CHEESE-CAKES. Blanch and pound to the finest possible paste, four ounces of fine fresh Jordan almonds, with a few drops of lemon-juice or water, then mix with them, very gradually indeed, six fresh, and thoroughly well-whisked eggs; throw in by degrees twelve ounces of pounded sugar, and beat the mixture without intermission all the time: add then the finely grated rinds of four small, or of three large lemons, and afterwards, by very slow degrees, the strained juice of all. When these ingredients are perfectly blended, pour to them in small portions, four ounces of just liquefied butter (six of clarified if exceedingly rich cheese-cakes are wished for), and again whisk the mixture lightly for several minutes; thicken it over the fire like boiled custard, and either put it into small pans or jars for storing,[129] or fill with it, one-third full, some pattypans lined with the finest paste; place lightly on it a layer of apricot, orange, or lemon-marmalade, and on this pour as much more of the mixture. Bake the cheese-cakes from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven. They are very good without the layer of preserve. 129.  This preparation will make excellent fanchonettes, or pastry-sandwiches. It will not curdle if gently boiled for two or three minutes (and stirred without ceasing), and it may be long kept afterwards. 373Jordan almonds, 4 oz.; eggs, 6; sugar, 12 oz.; rinds and strained juice of 4 small, or of 3 quite large lemons; butter, 4 oz. (6 for rich cheese-cakes); layers of preserve. Baked 15 to 20 minutes, moderate oven. APFEL KRAPFEN. (German Receipt.) Boil down three-quarters of a pound of good apples with four ounces of pounded sugar, and a small glass of white wine, or the strained juice of a lemon; when they are stewed quite to a pulp, keep them stirred until they are thick and dry; then mix them gradually with four ounces of almonds, beaten to a paste, or very finely chopped, two ounces of candied orange or lemon-rind shred extremely small, and six ounces of jar raisins stoned and quartered: to these the Germans add a rather high flavouring of cinnamon, which is a very favourite spice with them, but a grating of nutmeg, and some fresh lemon-peel, are, we think, preferable for this composition. Mix all the ingredients well together; roll out some butter-crust a full back-of-knife thickness, cut it into four-inch squares, brush the edges to the depth of an inch round with beaten egg, fill them with the mixture, lay another square of paste on each, press them very securely together, make, with the point of a knife, a small incision in the top of each, glaze them or not at pleasure, and bake them rather slowly, that the raisins may have time to become tender. They are very good. The proportion of sugar must be regulated by the nature of the fruit; and that of the almonds can be diminished when it is thought too much. A delicious tart of the kind is made by substituting for the raisins and candied orange-rind, two heaped tablespoonsful of very fine apricot jam. CRÊME PATISSIÈRE, OR PASTRY CREAM. To one ounce of fine flour add, very gradually, the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; stir to them briskly, and in small portions at first, three-quarters of a pint of boiling cream, or of cream and new milk mixed; then turn the whole into a clean stewpan, and stir it over a very gentle fire until it is quite thick, take it off, and stir it well up and round; replace it over the fire, and let it just simmer from six to eight minutes; pour it into a basin, and add to it immediately a couple of ounces of pounded sugar, one and a half of fresh butter, cut small, or clarified, and a spoonful of the store mixture of page 153, or a little sugar which has been rubbed on the rind of a lemon. The cream is rich enough for common use without further addition; but an ounce and a half of ratifias, crushed almost to powder with a paste-roller improves it much, and they should be mixed with it for the receipt which follows. 374Flour, 1 oz.; yolks of eggs, 3; boiling cream, or milk and cream mixed, 3/4 pint: just simmered, 6 to 8 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 2 oz.; little store-flavouring, or rasped lemon-rind; ratifias, 1-1/2 oz. Obs.—This is an excellent preparation, which may be used for tartlets, cannelons, and other forms of pastry, with extremely good effect. SMALL VOLS-AU-VENTS, À LA PARISIENNE. (ENTREMETS.) Make some small vols-au-vents by the directions of page 361, either in the usual way, or with the rings of paste placed upon the rounds. Ice the edges as soon as they are taken from the oven, by sifting fine sugar thickly on them, and then holding a salamander or heated shovel over them, until it melts and forms a sort of pale barley-sugar glaze. Have ready, and quite hot, some crême patissière, made as above; fill the vols-au-vents with it, and send them to table instantly. These will be found very good without the icing. PASTRY SANDWICHES. Divide equally in two, and roll off square and as thin as possible, some rich puff paste;[130] lay one half on a buttered tin, or copper oven-leaf, and spread it lightly with fine currant, strawberry or raspberry jelly; lay the remaining half closely over, pressing it a little with the rolling pin after the edges are well cemented together; then mark it into divisions, and bake it from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven. 130.  Almond-paste is sometimes substituted for this. LEMON SANDWICHES. Substitute for preserve, in the preceding receipt, the lemon cheesecake mixture of page 372, with or without the almonds in it. FANCHONNETTES. (ENTREMETS). Roll out very thin and square some fine puff paste, lay it on a tin or copper oven-leaf, and cover it equally to within something less than an inch of the edge with peach or apricot jam; roll a second bit of paste to the same size, and lay it carefully over the other, having first moistened the edges with beaten egg, or water; press them together securely, that the preserve may not escape; pass a paste-brush or small bunch of feathers dipped in water over the top, sift sugar thickly on it, then with the back of a knife, mark the paste into divisions of uniform size, bake it in a well-heated but not fierce oven for twenty minutes, or rather more, and cut it while it is 375still hot, where it is marked. The fanchonnettes should be about three inches in length and two in width. In order to lay the second crust over the preserve without disturbing it, wind it lightly round the paste-roller, and in untwisting it, let it fall gently over the other part. This is not the form of pastry called by the French fanchonnettes. Fine puff paste, 1 lb.; apricot or peach jam, 4 to 6 oz.: baked 20 to 25 minutes. JELLY TARTLETS, OR CUSTARDS. Put four tablespoonsful of fine fruit-jelly into a basin, and stir to it gradually twelve spoonsful of beaten egg; if the preserve be rich and sweet, no sugar will be required. Line some pans with paste rolled very thin, fill them with the custard, and bake them about ten minutes.[131] 131.  Strawberry or raspberry jelly will answer admirably for these. STRAWBERRY TARTLETS. (GOOD.) Take a full half-pint of freshly-gathered strawberries, without the stalks; first crush, and then mix them with two ounces and a half of powdered sugar; stir to them by degrees four well-whisked eggs, beat the mixture a little, and put it into pattypans lined with fine paste: they should be only three parts filled. Bake the tartlets from ten to twelve minutes. RASPBERRY PUFFS. Roll out thin some fine puff-paste, cut it in rounds or squares of equal size, lay some raspberry jam into each, moisten the edges of the paste, fold and press them together, and bake the puffs from fifteen to eighteen minutes. Strawberry, or any other jam will serve for them equally well. CREAMED TARTLETS. Line some pattypans with very fine paste, and put into each a layer of apricot jam; on this pour some thick boiled custard, or the pastry cream of page 373. Whisk the whites of a couple of eggs to a solid froth, mix a couple of tablespoonsful of sifted sugar with them, lay this icing lightly over the tartlets, and bake them in a gentle oven from twenty to thirty minutes, unless they should be very small, when less time must be allowed for them. RAMEKINS À L’UDE, OR SEFTON FANCIES. Roll out, rather thin, from six to eight ounces of fine cream-crust, or feuilletage (see page 345); take nearly or quite half its weight of 376grated Parmesan, or something less of dry white English cheese; sprinkle it equally over the paste, fold it together, roll it out very lightly twice, and continue thus until the cheese and crust are well mixed. Cut the ramekins with a small paste-cutter; wash them with yolk of egg mixed with a little milk, and bake them about fifteen minutes. Serve them very hot. Cream-crust, or feuilletage, 6 oz.; Parmesan, 3 oz.; or English cheese, 2-1/2 oz.: baked 12 to 15 minutes. Mould for large Vols-au-vents or Tourtes. Paste Pincers. 377 CHAPTER XIX. Soufflés, Omlets, &c. SOUFFLÉS. The admirable lightness[132] and delicacy of a well-made soufflé render it generally a very favourite dish, and it is now a fashionable one also. It may be greatly varied in its composition, but in all cases must be served the very instant it is taken from the oven; and even in passing to the dining-room it should, if possible, be prevented from sinking by a heated iron or salamander held above it. A common soufflé-pan may be purchased for four or five shillings, but those of silver or plated metal, which are of the form shown at the commencement of this chapter, are of course expensive; the part in which the soufflé is baked is placed within the more ornamental dish when it is drawn from the oven. A plain, round, cake-mould, with 378a strip of writing paper six inches high, placed inside the rim, will answer on an emergency to bake a soufflé in. The following receipt will serve as a guide for the proper mode of making it: the process is always the same whether the principal ingredient be whole rice boiled very tender in milk and pressed through a sieve, bread-crumbs soaked as for a pudding and worked through a sieve also, arrow-root, potato-flour, or aught else of which light puddings in general are made. 132.  This is given to every description of soufflé in the same manner as to Savoy or sponge-cakes, by mingling gently with the other ingredients the whites of eggs whisked to a solid mass or snow froth,—that is to say, that no portion of them must remain in a liquid state. For the proper mode of preparing them, see commencement of the chapter of Cakes, page 540: soufflé-puddings are rendered light in the same manner, and steamed instead of being boiled. Take from a pint and a half of new milk or of cream sufficient to mix four ounces of flour of rice to a perfectly smooth batter; put the remainder into a very clean, well-tinned saucepan or stewpan, and when it boils, stir the rice briskly to it; let it simmer, keeping it stirred all the time, for ten minutes, or more should it not be very thick; then mix well with it two ounces of fresh butter, one and a half of pounded sugar, and the grated rind of a fine lemon (or let the sugar which is used for it be well rubbed on the lemon before it is crushed to powder); in two or three minutes take it from the fire, and beat quickly and carefully to it by degrees the yolks of six eggs; whisk the whites to a very firm solid froth, and when the pan is buttered, and all else quite ready for the oven, stir them gently to the other ingredients; pour the soufflé immediately into the pan and place it in a moderate oven, of which keep the door closed for a quarter of an hour at least. When the soufflé has risen very high, is of a fine colour, and quite done in the centre, which it will be in from half to three-quarters of an hour, send it instantly to table. The exact time for baking it depends so much on the oven that it cannot be precisely specified. We have known quite a small one not too much baked in forty-five minutes in an iron oven; but generally less time will suffice for them: the heat, however, should always be moderate. New milk or cream, 1-1/2 pint; flour of rice, 4 oz.; fresh butter, 2 oz.; pounded sugar, 1-1/2 oz.; eggs, 6; grain of salt; rind, 1 lemon: 30 to 45 minutes. Obs. 1.—The soufflé may be flavoured with vanilla, orange-flowers, or aught else that is liked. Chocolate and coffee also may be used for it with soaked bread: a very strong infusion of the last, and an ounce or two of the other, melted with a little water, are to be added to the milk and bread. Obs. 2.—A soufflé is commonly served in a dinner of ceremony as a remove of the second-course roast; but a good plan for this, as for a fondu, is to have it quickly handed round, instead of being placed upon the table. LOUISE FRANKS’ CITRON SOUFFLÉ. To obtain the flavour of the citron-rind for this celebrated Swedish soufflé, take a lump of sugar which weighs two ounces and a half, and rub it on the fruit to extract the essence, or should the citron 379not be sufficiently fresh to yield it by this means, pare it off in the thinnest possible strips and infuse it by the side of the fire in the cream of which the soufflé is to be made. Should the first method be pursued, crush the sugar to powder and dry it a little before it is added to the other ingredients. Blend very smoothly two ounces of potato-flour with a quarter of a pint of milk, and pour boiling to them a pint of good cream; stir the mixture in a large basin or bowl until it thickens, then throw in a grain of salt, two ounces of fresh butter just dissolved in a small saucepan, and the sugar which has been rubbed on the citron; or should the rind have been pared, the same weight some of which is merely pounded. Add next, by degrees, the thoroughly whisked yolks of six fresh eggs, or seven should they be very small. Beat the whites lightly and quickly until they are sufficiently firm to remain standing in points when dropped from the whisk; mix them with the other ingredients at the mouth of the oven, but without beating them; fill the soufflé-pan less than half full; set it instantly into the oven, which should be gentle, but not exceedingly slow, close the door immediately, and do not open it for fifteen or twenty minutes: in from thirty to forty the soufflé will be ready for table unless the oven should be very cool: a fierce degree of heat will have a most unfavourable effect upon it. Rind of half citron (that of a Seville orange may be substituted on occasions); sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; cream, 1 pint; potato-flour, 2 oz.; milk, 1/4 pint; butter, 2 oz.; yolks and white of 6 large or of 7 small eggs: 30 to 40 minutes, or more in very slow oven. Obs.—The fresh citron would appear to be brought as yet but very sparingly into the English market, though it may sometimes be procured of first-rate fruiterers. Nothing can well be finer than its highly aromatic flavour, which is infinitely superior to that of any other fruit of its species that we have ever tasted. We have had delicious preparations made too from the young green citron when extremely small, of which we may have occasion to speak elsewhere. A FONDU, OR CHEESE SOUFFLÉ. Mix to a smooth batter, with a quarter of a pint of new milk, two ounces of potato-flour, arrow-root, or tous les mois; pour boiling to them three-quarters of a pint more of milk, or of cream in preference: stir them well together, and then throw in two ounces of butter cut small. When this is melted, and well-beaten into the mixture, add the well-whisked yolks of four large or of five small eggs, half a teaspoonful of salt, something less of cayenne, and three ounces of lightly-grated cheese, Parmesan or English, or equal parts of both. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a quite firm and solid froth; then proceed, as for a soufflé, to mix and bake the fondu. 20 minutes. 380 OBSERVATIONS ON OMLETS, FRITTERS, &C. The composition and nature of a soufflé, as we have shown, are altogether different, but there is no difficulty in making good omlets, pancakes, or fritters; and as they may be expeditiously prepared and served, they are often a very convenient resource when, on short notice, an addition is required to a dinner. The eggs for all of them should be well and lightly whisked; the lard for frying batter should be extremely pure in flavour, and quite hot when the fritters are dropped in; the batter itself should be smooth as cream, and it should be briskly beaten the instant before it is used. All fried pastes should be perfectly drained from the fat before they are served, and sent to table promptly when they are ready. Eggs may be dressed in a multiplicity of ways, but are seldom more relished in any form than in a well-made and expeditiously served omlet. This may be plain, or seasoned with minced herbs and a very little eschalot, when the last is liked, and is then called an “Omlette aux fines herbes;” or it may be mixed with minced ham, or grated cheese; in any case, it should be light, thick, full-tasted, and fried only on one side; if turned in the pan, as it frequently is in England, it will at once be flattened and rendered tough. Should the slight rawness which is sometimes found in the middle of the inside, when the omlet is made in the French way, be objected to, a heated shovel, or a salamander, may be held over it for an instant, before it is folded on the dish. The pan for frying it should be quite small; for if it be composed of four or five eggs only, and then put into a large one, it will necessarily spread over it and be thin, which would render it more like a pancake than an omlet; the only partial remedy for this, when a pan of proper size cannot be had, is to raise the handle of it high, and to keep the opposite side close down to the fire, which will confine the eggs into a smaller space. No gravy should be poured into the dish with it, and indeed, if properly made, it will require none. Lard is preferable to butter for frying batter, as it renders it lighter; but it must not be used for omlets. A COMMON OMLET. Six eggs are sufficient for an omlet of moderate size. Let them be very fresh; break them singly and carefully; clear them in the way we have already pointed out in the introduction to boiled puddings, or when they are sufficiently whisked pour them through a sieve, and resume the beating until they are very light. Add to them from half to a whole teaspoonful of salt, and a seasoning of pepper. Dissolve in a small frying-pan a couple of ounces of butter, pour in the eggs, and as soon as the omlet is well risen and firm throughout, slide it on to a hot dish, fold it together like a turnover, and serve it immediately; from five to seven minutes will fry it. 381For other varieties of the omlet, see the observations which precede this. Eggs, 5; butter, 2 oz.; seasoning of salt and pepper: 5 to 7 minutes. AN OMLETTE SOUFFLÉ. SECOND COURSE REMOVE OF ROAST.[133] 133.  Served also as an entremets. Separate, as they are broken, the whites from the yolks of six fine fresh eggs; beat these last thoroughly, first by themselves and then with four tablespoonsful of dry, white sifted sugar, and the rind of half a lemon grated on a fine grater. Whisk the whites to a solid froth, and just before the omlet is poured into the pan, mix them well, but lightly, with the yolks. Put four ounces of fresh butter into a very small delicately clean omlet or frying pan, and as soon as it is all dissolved, add the eggs and stir them round that they may absorb it entirely. When the under side is just set, turn the omlet into a well-buttered dish, and send it to a tolerably brisk oven. From five to ten minutes will bake it; and it must be served the instant it is taken out; carried, indeed, as quickly as possible to table from the oven. It will have risen to a great height, but will sink and become heavy in a very short space of time: if sugar be sifted over it, let it be done with the utmost expedition. Eggs, 6; sugar, 4 tablespoonsful; rind, 1/2 lemon; butter, 4 oz.: omlet baked, 5 to 10 minutes. Obs.—This omlette may be served on a layer of apricot-marmalade which must be spread over the dish in which it is to be baked, and sent to table before the omlette is turned into it. PLAIN COMMON FRITTERS. Mix with three well-whisked eggs a quarter of a pint of milk, and strain them through a fine sieve; add them gradually to three large tablespoonsful of flour, and thin the batter with as much more milk as will bring it to the consistence of cream; beat it up thoroughly at the moment of using it, that the fritters may be light. Drop it in small portions from a spouted jug or basin into boiling lard; when lightly coloured on one side, turn the fritters, drain them well from the lard as they are lifted out, and serve them very quickly. They are eaten generally with fine sugar, and orange or lemon juice: the first of these may be sifted quickly over them after they are dished, and the oranges or lemons halved or quartered, and sent to table with them. The lard used for frying them should be fresh and pure-flavoured: it renders them more crisp and light than butter, and is, therefore, better suited to the purpose. These fritters may be agreeably varied by mingling with the batter just before it is used two or three ounces of well cleaned and well dried currants, or three 382or four apples of a good boiling kind not very finely minced. Double the quantity of batter will be required for a large dish. Eggs, 3; flour, 3 tablespoonsful; milk, 1/4 to 1/2 pint. PANCAKES. These may be made with the same batter as fritters, if it be sufficiently thinned with an additional egg or two, or a little milk or cream, to spread quickly over the pan: to fry them well, this ought to be small. When the batter is ready, heat the pan over a clear fire and rub it with butter in every part, then pour in sufficient batter to spread over it entirely, and let the pancake be very thin: in this case it will require no turning, but otherwise it must be tossed over with a sudden jerk of the pan, in which the cook who is not somewhat expert will not always succeed; therefore the safer plan is to make them so thin that they will not require this. Keep them hot before the fire or in the stove-oven until a sufficient number are ready to send to table, then proceed with a second supply, as they should always be quickly served. Either pile them one on the other with sugar strewed between, or spread quickly over them, as they are done, some apricot or other good preserve, and roll them up: in the latter case, they may be neatly divided and dished in a circle. Clotted cream is sometimes sent to table with them. A richer kind of pancake may be made with a pint of cream, or of cream and new milk mixed, five eggs or their yolks only, a couple of ounces of flour, a little pounded cinnamon or lemon-rind rasped on sugar and scraped into them, with two ounces more of pounded sugar, and two ounces of clarified butter: a few ratifias rolled to powder may be added at pleasure, or three or four macaroons. From 4 to 5 minutes. FRITTERS OF CAKE AND PUDDING. Cut plain pound, or rice cake, or rich seed cake, into small square slices half an inch thick; trim away the crust, fry them slowly a light brown in a small quantity of fresh butter, and spread over them when done a layer of apricot-jam, or of any other preserve, and serve them immediately. These fritters are improved by being moistened with a little good cream before they are fried: they must then be slightly floured. Cold plum-pudding sliced down as thick as the cake, and divided into portions of equal size and good form, then dipped into French or English batter and gently fried, will also make an agreeable variety of fritter. Orange marmalade and Devonshire cream may be served in separate layers on the seed cake fritters. The whole of the above may be cut of uniform size and shaped with a round cake-cutter. 383 MINCEMEAT FRITTERS. With half a pound of mincemeat mix two ounces of fine bread-crumbs (or a tablespoonful of flour), two eggs well beaten, and the strained juice of half a small lemon. Mix these well, and drop the fritters with a dessertspoon into plenty of very pure lard or fresh butter; fry them from seven to eight minutes, drain them on a napkin or on white blotting paper, and send them very hot to table: they should be quite small. Mincemeat, 1/2 lb.; bread-crumbs, 2 oz. (or flour, 1 tablespoonful); eggs, 2; juice of 1/2 lemon: 7 to 8 minutes. VENETIAN FRITTERS. (Very good.) Wash and drain three ounces of whole rice, put it into a full pint of cold milk, and bring it very slowly to boil; stir it often, and let it simmer gently until it is quite thick and dry. When about three parts done, add to it two ounces of pounded sugar, and one of fresh butter, a grain of salt, and the grated rind of half a small lemon. Let it cool in the saucepan, and when only just warm, mix with it thoroughly three ounces of currants, four of apples chopped fine, a teaspoonful of flour, and three large or four small well-beaten eggs. Drop the mixture in small fritters, fry them in butter from five to seven minutes, and let them become quite firm on one side before they are turned: do this with a slice. Drain them as they are taken up, and sift white sugar over them after they are dished. Whole rice, 3 oz.; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; butter, 1 oz.; grated rind of 1/2 lemon; currants, 3 oz.; minced apples, 4 oz.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; a little salt; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small: 5 to 7 minutes. RHUBARB FRITTERS. The rhubarb for these should be of a good sort, quickly grown, and tender. Pare, cut it into equal lengths, and throw it into the French batter of page 130; with a fork lift the stalks separately, and put them into a pan of boiling lard or butter: in from five to six minutes they will be done. Drain them well and dish them on a napkin, or pile them high without one, and strew sifted sugar plentifully over them. They should be of a very light brown, and quite dry and crisp. The young stalks look well when left the length of the dish in which they are served, and only slightly encrusted with the batter, through which they should be merely drawn. 5 to 6 minutes. 384 APPLE, PEACH, APRICOT, OR ORANGE FRITTERS. Pare and core without dividing the apples, slice them in rounds the full size of the fruit, dip them into the same batter as that directed for the preceding fritters, fry them a pale brown, and let them be very dry. Serve them heaped high upon a folded napkin, and strew sifted sugar over them. After having stripped the outer rind from the oranges, remove carefully the white inner skin, and in slicing them take out the pips; then dip them into the batter and proceed as for the apple fritters. The peaches and apricots should be merely skinned, halved, and stoned before they are drawn through the batter, unless they should not be fully ripe, when they must first be stewed tender in a thin syrup. 8 to 12 minutes BRIOCHE FRITTERS. The brioche-paste,[134] when good, makes very superior cannelons and fritters: it is, we should say, better in this form than in that of the bun or cake, in which it is seen so commonly abroad. Make it, for the fritters, into very small balls; roll them quite thin, put a teaspoonful or less of rich preserve into each, moisten the edges and fold the paste together securely, or with a small tin shape cut as many rounds of the brioche as are wanted, place some preserve in the centre of one half of these, moisten the edges, lay the remainder lightly over them, press them carefully together and restore them to a good form with the tin-cutter, by trimming them with it to their original size; glide them gently into a pan of boiling lard, and fry them from four and a half to five minutes. Serve them very hot, crisp, and dry, piled on a folded napkin. The cannelons are made like those of paste, and are very good. They are sometimes filled with lemon-cheesecake mixture, or with Madame Werner’s (see Chapter XVIII.) 134.  For this see page 347. Fritters, 4-1/2 to 5 minutes; cannelons, 5 to 6 minutes. POTATO FRITTERS. (ENTREMETS.) The same mixture as for potato puddings, Chapter XXI., if dropped in small portions into boiling butter, and fried until brown on both sides, will make potato-fritters. Half the proportion of ingredients will be quite sufficient for a dish of these. LEMON FRITTERS. (ENTREMETS.) Mix with six ounces of very fine bread-crumbs four of beef suet minced as small as possible, four ounces of pounded sugar, a small tablespoonful of flour, four whole eggs well and lightly whisked, and the grated rind of one large or of two small lemons, with half or the whole of the juice, at choice; but before this last is stirred in, 385add a spoonful or two of milk or cream if needed. Fry the mixture in small fritters for five or six minutes. CANNELONS. (ENTREMETS.) Roll out very thin and evenly some fine puff-paste into a long strip of from three to four inches wide, moisten the surface with a feather dipped in white of egg, and cut it into bands of nearly two inches wide; lay some apricot or peach marmalade equally along these, and fold the paste twice over it, close the ends carefully, and when all are ready, slide them gently into a pan of boiling lard;[135] as soon as they begin to brown, raise the pan from the fire that they may not take too much colour before the paste is done quite through. Five minutes will fry them. Drain them well, and dry them on a soft cloth before the fire; dish them on a napkin, and place one layer crossing another, or merely pile them high in the centre. If well made, and served of a light brown and very dry, these cannelons are excellent: when lard is objected to butter may be used instead, but the paste will then be somewhat less light. Only lard of the purest quality will answer for the purpose. 135.  Cannelons may be either baked or fried: if sent to the oven, they may first be glazed with white of egg and sugar. 5 minutes. CANNELONS OF BRIOCHE PASTE. (ENTREMETS.) Proceed exactly as for the cannelons above, substituting the brioche for the puff-paste, and rolling it as thin as possible, as it swells very much in the pan. Fine sugar may be sifted over these after they are dried and dished. 4 or 5 minutes. CROQUETTES OF RICE. (ENTREMETS.) Croquettes. Wipe very clean, in a dry cloth, seven ounces of rice, put it into a clean stewpan, and pour on it a quart of new milk; let it swell gently by the side of the fire, and stir it often that it may not stick to the pan, nor burn; when it is about half done, stir to it five ounces of pounded sugar, and six bitter almonds beaten extremely 386fine: the thin rind of half a fresh lemon may be added in the first instance. The rice must be simmered until it is soft, and very thick and dry; it should then be spread on a dish, and left until cold, when it is to be rolled into small balls, which must be dipped into beaten egg, and then covered in every part with the finest bread-crumbs. When all are ready, fry them a light brown in fresh butter, and dry them well before the fire, upon a sieve reversed and covered with a very soft cloth, or with a sheet of white blotting paper. Pile them in a hot dish, and send them to table quickly. Rice, 7 oz.; milk, 1 quart; rind of lemon: 3/4 hour. Sugar, 5 oz. bitter almonds, 6: 40 to 60 minutes, or more. Fried, 5 to 7 minutes. FINER CROQUETTES OF RICE. (ENTREMETS.) Swell the rice in thin cream, or in new milk strongly flavoured with vanilla or cocoa-nut; add the same ingredients as in the foregoing receipt, and when the rice is cold, form it into balls, and with the thumb of the right hand hollow them sufficiently to admit in the centre a small portion of peach jam, or of apricot marmalade; close the rice well over it; egg, crumb, and fry the croquettes as usual. As, from the difference of quality, the same proportions of rice and milk will not always produce the same effect, the cook must use her discretion in adding, should it be needed, sufficient liquid to soften the rice perfectly: but she must bear in mind that if not boiled extremely thick and dry, it will be difficult to make it into croquettes.[136] 136.  We must repeat here what we have elsewhere stated as the result of many trials of it, that good rice will absorb and become tender with three times its own bulk or measure of liquid. Thus, an exact half pint (or half pound) will require a pint and a half, with an extremely gentle degree of heat, to convert it into a thoroughly soft but firm mass; which would, perhaps, be rather too dry for croquettes. A pint of milk to four ounces of rice, if well managed, would answer better. SAVOURY CROQUETTES OF RICE. (ENTRÉE.) These are made with the same preparation as the casserole of rice of Chapter XVIII., but it must be boiled very dry, and left to become quite cold before it is used. A few spoonsful of rich white sauce stirred into it when it is nearly tender, will improve it much. Form and hollow the croquettes as directed in the last receipt; fill them with a small portion of minced fowl, partridge, or pheasant in a thick sauce, or with a stewed oyster or two cut in quarters; close the rice perfectly over them; egg, and crumb the croquettes, fry and serve them garnished with crisped parsley. French cooks mix sometimes a little grated Parmesan cheese with the rice at the moment it is taken from the fire, and roll the croquettes in more after they are egged; they press this on and dip them again in egg, and then into the crumbs. Raise the pan high above the fire when the croquettes 387are lightly browned, that they may heat through; then heighten the colour, and lift them out immediately. RISSOLES. (ENTRÉE.) This is the French name for small fried pastry of various forms, filled with meat or fish previously cooked; they may be made with brioche, or with light puff-paste, either of which must be rolled extremely thin. Cut it with a small round cutter fluted or plain; put a little rich mince, or good pounded meat, in the centre, and moisten the edges, and press them securely together that they may not burst open in the frying. The rissoles may be formed like small patties, by laying a second round of paste over the meat, or like cannelons; they may, likewise, be brushed with egg, and sprinkled with vermicelli, broken small, or with fine crumbs. They are sometimes made in the form of croquettes, the paste being gathered round the meat, which must form a ball.[137] 137.  If our space will permit, more minute directions for these, and other small dishes of the kind, shall be given in the chapter of Foreign Cookery. In frying them, adopt the same plan as for the croquettes, raising the pan as soon as the paste is lightly coloured. Serve all these fried dishes well drained, and on a napkin. From 5 to 7 minutes, or less. VERY SAVOURY ENGLISH RISSOLES. (ENTRÉE.) Make the forcemeat No. 1, Chapter VIII., sufficiently firm with unbeaten yolk of egg, to roll rather thin on a well-floured board; cut it into very small rounds, put a little pounded chicken in the centre of one half, moistening the edges with water, or white of egg, lay the remaining rounds over these, close them securely, and fry them in butter a fine light brown; drain and dry them well, and heap them in the middle of a hot dish, upon a napkin folded flat: these rissoles may be egged and crumbed before they are fried. SMALL FRIED BREAD PATTIES, OR CROUSTADES OF VARIOUS KINDS. These may be either sweet or savoury, and many of them may be so promptly prepared, that they offer a ready resource when an extra dish is unexpectedly required. They should be carefully fried very crisp, and of a fine equal gold colour, either in clarified marrow, for which we give our own receipt, or in really good butter. DRESDEN PATTIES, OR CROUSTADES. (Very delicate.) Pare the crust neatly from one or two French rolls, slice off the ends, and divide the remainder into as many patties as the size of the rolls will allow; hollow them in the centre, dip them into milk or 388thin cream, and lay them on a drainer over a dish; pour a spoonful or two more of milk over them at intervals, but not sufficient to cause them to break; brush them with egg, rasp the crust of the rolls over them, fry and drain them well, fill them with a good mince, or with stewed mushrooms or oysters, and serve them very hot upon a napkin; they may be filled for the second course with warm apricot marmalade, cherry-jam, or other good preserve. This receipt came to us direct from Dresden, and on testing it we found it answer excellently, and inserted it in an earlier edition of the present work. We name this simply because it has been appropriated, with many other of our receipts, by a contemporary writer without a word of acknowledgment. TO PREPARE BEEF MARROW FOR FRYING CROUSTADES, SAVOURY TOASTS, &C. At a season when butter of pure flavour is often procured with difficulty, beef-marrow, carefully clarified, is a valuable substitute for it; and, as it is abundantly contained in the joints which are in constant request for soup-making, it is of slight comparative cost in a well managed kitchen. It is often thrown into the stock-pot by careless or indolent cooks, instead of being rendered available for the many purposes to which it is admirably adapted. Take it from the bones as fresh as possible, put it into a white jar, and melt it with a very gentle degree of heat at the mouth of the oven, or by the side of the stove, taking all precaution to prevent its being smoked or discoloured; strain it off, through a very fine sieve or muslin, into a clean pan or pans, and set it aside for use. It will be entirely flavourless if prepared with due care and attention; but, if dissolved with too great a degree of heat, it will acquire the taste almost of dripping. A small quantity of fine salt may be sprinkled into the pan with it when it is used for frying. SMALL CROUSTADES, OR BREAD PATTIES, DRESSED IN MARROW. (Author’s Receipt.) Cut very evenly, from a firm stale loaf, slices nearly an inch and a half thick, and with a plain or fluted paste-cutter of between two and three inches wide press out the number of patties required, loosening them gently from the tin, to prevent their breaking; then, with a plain cutter, scarcely more than half the size, mark out the space which is afterwards to be hollowed from it. Melt some clarified beef-marrow in a small saucepan or frying-pan, and, when it begins to boil, put in the patties, and fry them gently until they are equally coloured of a pale golden brown. In lifting them from the pan, let the marrow (or butter) drain well from them; take out the rounds which have been marked on the tops, and scoop out part of the inside crumb, but leave them thick enough to contain securely the gravy of the preparation put into them. Fill them with any good patty-meat, and serve them very hot on a napkin. 389Obs.—These croustades are equally good if dipped into clarified butter or marrow, and baked in a tolerably quick oven. It is well, in either case, to place them on a warm sheet of double white blotting-paper while they are being filled, as it will absorb the superfluous fat. A rich mince, with a thick, well-adhering sauce, either of mutton and mushrooms, or oysters, or with fine herbs and an eschalot or two; or of venison, or hare, or partridges, may be appropriately used for them. SMALL CROUSTADES À LA BONNE MAMAN. (The Grandmama’s Patties.) Prepare the croustades as above, or use for them French rolls of very even shape, cut in thick equal slices. If quite round, the crust may be left on; mark each slice with a small cutter in the centre, dip the croustades into butter or marrow, fry them lightly, or bake them without permitting them to become very hard; empty, and then fill them; dish them without a napkin, and pour some good brown gravy round, but not over them. Obs.—From being cooked without butter, these and the preceding patties are adapted to a Jewish table. CURRIED TOASTS WITH ANCHOVIES. Fry lightly, in good butter, clarified marrow, or very pure olive oil, some slices of bread, free from crust, of about half an inch thick, and two inches and a half square; lift them on to a dish, and spread a not very thick layer of Captain White’s currie-paste on the top; place them in a gentle oven for three or four minutes, then lay two or three fillets of anchovies on each, replace them in the oven for a couple of minutes, and send them immediately to table. Their pungency may be heightened by the addition of cayenne pepper, when a very hot preparation is liked. Obs.—We have spoken but slightly in our chapter of curries of Captain White’s currie-paste, though for many years we have had it used in preference to any other, and always found it excellent. Latterly, however, it has been obtained with rather less facility than when attention was first attracted to it. The last which we procured directed, on the label of the jar, that orders for it should be sent per post to 83, Copenhagen Street, Islington. It may, however, be procured without doubt from any good purveyor of sauces and other condiments. It is sold in jars of all sizes, the price of the smallest being one-and-sixpence. We certainly think it much superior to any of the others which we have tested, its flavour being peculiarly agreeable. TO FILLET ANCHOVIES. Drain them well from the pickle, take off the heads and fins, lay them separately on a plate, and scrape off the skin entirely; then 390place them on a clean dish and with a sharp-edged knife raise the flesh on either side of the back-bone, passing it from the tail to the shoulders, and keeping it nearly flat as it is worked along. Divide each side (or fillet) in two, and use them as directed for the preceding toasts or other purposes. They make excellent simple sandwiches with slices of bread and butter only; but very superior ones when they are potted or made into anchovy butter. SAVOURY TOASTS. Cut some slices of bread free from crust, about half an inch thick and two inches and a half square; butter the tops thickly, spread a little mustard on them, and then cover them with a deep layer of grated cheese and of ham seasoned rather highly with cayenne; fry them in good butter, but do not turn them in the pan; lift them out, and place them in a Dutch oven for three or [TN: missing word.] minutes to dissolve the cheese: serve them very hot. To 4 tablespoonsful of grated English cheese, an equal portion of very finely minced, or grated ham; but of Parmesan, or Gruyère, 6 tablespoonsful. Seasoning of mustard and cayenne. Obs.—These toasts, for which we give the original receipt unaltered, may be served in the cheese-course of a dinner. Such mere “relishes” as they are called, do not seem to us to demand much of our space, or many of them which are very easy of preparation might be inserted here: a good cook, however, will easily supply them at slight expense. Truffles minced, seasoned, and stewed tender in butter with an eschalot or two, may be served on fried toasts or croûtons and will generally be liked. TO CHOOSE MACCARONI AND OTHER ITALIAN PASTES. The Naples maccaroni, of which the pipes are large, and somewhat thin, should be selected for the table in preference to the Genoa, which is less in size, but more substantial, and better suited to the formation of the various fanciful timbales[138] for which it is usually chosen. We have inserted here no receipts for these, because unless very skilfully prepared they are sure to fail, and they are not in much request in this country, unless it be at the tables of the aristocracy, for which they are prepared by efficient cooks. Of the ribbon maccaroni (or lazanges) we have given particulars in the pages which follow. The macaroncini, though not much larger than a straw, requires much boiling for its size, to render it soft. The celery-maccaroni is made very large and of an ornamental form, but in short lengths. It is used by “professed” cooks as a sort of crust or case for quenelle-forcemeat, or other expensive preparations of the 391same nature. The ring or cut maccaroni is another form given to the Italian paste: it may be had at almost any good foreign warehouse. 138.  For an explanation of the term timbale, the reader is referred to the glossary at the commencement of this volume. All these pastes should be of a yellowish tint (by no means white as one sees them when they are of inferior quality); they should also be quite fresh, as they contract a most unpleasant flavour from being too long stored. The Naples vermicelli, which is much larger than any other, may be dressed like maccaroni: by many persons it is also preferred to the smaller varieties for serving in soup. TO BOIL MACCARONI. We have always found the continental mode of dressing maccaroni the best. English cooks sometimes soak it in milk and water for an hour or more, before it is boiled, that the pipes may be swollen to the utmost, but this is apt to render it pulpy, though its appearance may be improved by it. Drop it lightly, and by degrees, into a large pan of fast-boiling water, into which a little salt, and a bit of butter the size of a walnut, have previously been thrown, and of which the boiling should not be stopped by the addition of the maccaroni. In about three-quarters of an hour the Naples maccaroni will be sufficiently tender: every kind should always be perfectly cooked, for otherwise it will prove very indigestible, but the pipes of that commonly served should remain entire. Pour it into a large cullender, and drain the water well from it. It should be very softly boiled after the first minute or two. Time of boiling:—Naples maccaroni, about 3/4 hour; Genoa, nearly or quite 1 hour; macaroncini, 20 to 25 minutes; cut maccaroni, 10 minutes; Naples vermicelli (in water), about 20 minutes; longer in soup, or milk. RIBBON MACCARONI.[139] 139.  The best ribbon-maccaroni which we have ever had, was from Mr. Cobbett’s, 18, Pall Mall. It is rather higher in price than the pipe maccaroni, but swells so much in the boiling that a large quantity of it is not required for a dish. We ought to add that Mr. Cobbett’s is not a professedly cheap house, but that all he supplies is of excellent quality. This kind of maccaroni, though more delicate in flavour and much more quickly boiled than the pipe maccaroni, is far less frequently seen at English tables; yet it is extremely good in many simple forms and very wholesome, therefore well suited to invalids and children as well as to persons in health. Drop it gradually into plenty of boiling water, and turn it over occasionally that it may be equally done. Drain it thoroughly when it is perfectly tender, and serve it quickly either quite plain, to be eaten instead of vegetables or rice; or with a compote of fruit; or with sugar and cinnamon, or lemon juice; 392or prepared in any of the modes indicated for the Naples maccaroni. To be boiled 15 to 18 minutes. DRESSED MACCARONI. After careful and repeated trial of different modes of dressing various kinds of maccaroni, we find that in preparing them with Parmesan cheese, unmixed with any of a more mellow nature, there is always a chance of failure, from its tendency to gather into lumps; we would therefore recommend the inexperienced reader to substitute for it in part, at least, any finely flavoured English cheese; and the better to ensure its blending smoothly with the other ingredients (when neither white, nor any other thickened sauce is used with it), to dissolve the butter, and to stir to it a small teaspoonful of flour, before any liquid is added, then carefully to mix with it the cream or gravy, as directed for Sauce Tournée, Chapter V., and to give this a boil before the maccaroni and cheese are added: if gently tossed as these become hot, the whole will be smooth, and the cheese will adhere properly to the paste. Four ounces of pipe maccaroni is sufficient for a small dish, but from six to eight should be prepared for a family party where it is liked. The common English mode of dressing it is with grated cheese, butter, and cream, or milk. French cooks substitute generally a spoonful or two of very strong rich jellied gravy for the cream; and the Italians, amongst their many other modes of serving it, toss it in rich brown gravy, with sufficient grated cheese to flavour the whole strongly; they send it to table also simply laid into a good Espagnole or brown gravy (that drawn from the stufato,[140] for example), accompanied by a plate of grated cheese. Another, and an easy mode of dressing it is to boil and drain it well, and to put it into a deep dish, strewing grated cheese on every layer, and adding bits of fresh butter to it. The top, in this case, should be covered with a layer of fine bread-crumbs, mixed with grated cheese; these should be moistened plentifully with clarified butter, and colour given to them in the oven, or before the fire; the crumbs may be omitted, and a layer of cheese substituted for them. An excellent preparation of maccaroni may be made with any well-flavoured, dry white cheese, which can be grated easily, at much less cost than with the Parmesan, which is expensive, and in the country not always procurable: and we think that the brown gravy and a seasoning of cayenne are great improvements to it. 140.  See Chapter of Foreign Cookery. Maccaroni, 6 oz.; butter, 3 oz.; Parmesan (or other) cheese, 6 oz.; cream, 4 tablespoonsful. Obs.—Less of butter and cheese can be used by the strict economist. 393 MACCARONI À LA REINE. This is a very excellent and delicate mode of dressing maccaroni. Boil eight ounces in the usual way, and by the time it is sufficiently tender, dissolve gently ten ounces of any rich, well flavoured white cheese in full three-quarters of a pint of good cream; add a little salt, a rather full seasoning of cayenne, from half to a whole saltspoonful of pounded mace, and a couple of ounces of sweet fresh butter. The cheese should, in the first instance, be sliced very thin, and taken quite free of the hard part adjoining the rind; it should be stirred in the cream without intermission until it is entirely dissolved, and the whole is perfectly smooth: the maccaroni, previously well drained, may then be tossed gently in it, or after it is dished, the cheese may be poured equally over the maccaroni. The whole, in either case, may be thickly covered before it is sent to table, with fine crumbs of bread fried of a pale gold colour, and dried perfectly, either before the fire or in an oven, when such an addition is considered an improvement. As a matter of precaution, it is better to boil the cream before the cheese is melted in it; rich white sauce, or béchamel, made not very thick, with an additional ounce or two of butter, may be used to vary and enrich this preparation. If Parmesan cheese be used for it, it must of course be grated; but, as we have said before, it will not easily blend with the other ingredients so as to be smooth. A portion of Stilton, free from the blue mould, would have a good effect in the present receipt. Half the quantity may be served. Maccaroni, 1/2 lb.; cheese, 10 oz.; good cream, 3/4 pint (or rich white sauce); butter, 2 oz. (or more); little salt, fine cayenne, and mace. SEMOULINA AND POLENTA À L’ITALIENNE. (GOOD.) (To serve instead of Maccaroni.) Maize. Throw into a quart of milk, when it is fast boiling, half a teaspoonful of salt, and then shake lightly into it five ounces of the best semoulina; stir the milk as this is added, and continue to do so from eight to ten minutes, letting the mixture boil gently during the time. It should be very thick, and great care must be taken to prevent its sticking to the saucepan, which should be placed over a clear fire on a bar or trivet, but not upon the coals. Pour the semoulina, when it is done, into a basin, or a plain mould which it will not fill by an inch or two, and let it remain some hours in a cool place, that it may become perfectly cold; it will then turn out quite solid, and like a pudding in appearance. Cut it with a large, sharp carving-knife, or a bit of thin wire, into half-inch slices; wash the basin into which it was poured at first, and butter it well; grate from six to eight ounces of good cheese (Parmesan, or any other), and mix with it 394a half-teaspoonful of cayenne, and twice as much pounded mace; clarify from two to three ounces of fresh butter, and put a small quantity into the basin, strew in a little of the cheese, and then lay in the first slice of the semoulina, on this put a thick layer of the cheese, moisten it with some drops of butter, and place the second slice upon it; then more cheese and butter, and continue thus until all the semoulina is replaced in the basin; put plenty of cheese upon the top, add the remainder of the clarified butter, and bake the mixture for about half an hour in a gentle oven. It should be of a fine golden colour when served. Turn it carefully into a dish, and send it instantly to table. A little rich brown gravy poured round might, to some tastes, improve it, but it is excellent without, and may be substituted for maccaroni, which it much resembles in flavour. It may be enriched by adding butter to the milk, or by mixing with it a portion of cream; and it may be browned in a Dutch oven, when no other is in use. In Italy the flour of Indian corn, which is much grown there, and eaten by all ranks of people, is used for this dish; but the semoulina is perhaps rather better suited to English taste and habits of diet, from being somewhat lighter and more delicate. The maize-flour imported from Italy is sold at the foreign warehouses here under the name of polenta,[141] though that properly speaking is, we believe, a boiled or stewed preparation of it, which forms the most common food of the poorer classes of the inhabitants of many of the Italian states. It seems to us superior in quality to the Indian corn flour grown in America. 141.  This was vended at a sufficiently high price in this country before the maize meal was so largely imported here from America. New milk (or milk mixed with cream), 1 quart; salt, large 1/2 teaspoonful; semoulina, 5 oz.: 10 minutes. Grated cheese, 6 to 8 oz.; cayenne, 1/2 teaspoonful; mace, 1 small teaspoonful; butter, 2 to 3 oz.: baked 1/2 hour, gentle oven. Obs.—A plain mould can be used instead of the basin. FOR VARIOUS MODES OF DRESSING EGGS, SEE CHAPTER XXII. 395 CHAPTER XX. Boiled Puddings. GENERAL DIRECTIONS. Pudding Mould. All the ingredients for puddings should be fresh and of good quality. It is a false economy to use for them such as have been too long stored, as the slightest degree of mustiness or taint in any one of the articles of which they are composed will spoil all that are combined with it. Eggs should always be broken separately into a cup before they are thrown together in the same basin, as a single very bad one will occasion the loss of many when this precaution is neglected. They should also be cleared from the specks with scrupulous attention, either with the point of a small three-pronged fork while they are in the cup, or by straining the whole through a fine hair-sieve after they are beaten. The perfect sweetness of suet and milk should be especially attended to before they are mixed into a pudding, as nothing can be more offensive than the first when it is over-kept, nor worse in its effect than the curdling of the milk, which is the certain result of its being ever so slightly soured. 396Currants should be cleaned, and raisins stoned with exceeding care; almonds and spices very finely pounded, and the rinds of oranges or lemons rasped or grated lightly off, that the bitter part of the skin may be avoided, when they are used for this, or for any other class of dishes; if pared, they should be cut as thin as possible. Custard puddings to have a good appearance, must be simmered only but without ceasing; for if boiled in a quick and careless manner, the surface instead of being smooth and velvety, will be full of holes, or honey-combed, as it is called, and the whey will flow from it and mingle with the sauce. A thickly-buttered sheet of writing-paper should be laid between the custard mixture and the cloth before it is tied over, or the cover of the mould is closed upon it; and the mould itself or the basin in which it is boiled, and which should always be quite full, must likewise be well buttered; and after it is lifted from the water the pudding should be left in it for quite five minutes before it is dished, to prevent its breaking or spreading about. Batter is much lighter when boiled in a cloth, and allowed full room to swell, than when confined in a mould: it should be well beaten the instant before it is poured into it, and put into the water immediately after it is securely tied. The cloth should be moist and thickly floured, and the pudding should be sent to table as expeditiously as possible after it is done, as it will quickly become heavy. This applies equally to all puddings made with paste, which are rendered uneatable by any delay in serving them after they are ready: they should be opened a little at the top as soon as they are taken from the boiler or stewpan to permit the escape of the steam from within. Plum-puddings, which it is customary to boil in moulds, are both lighter and less dry, when closely tied in stout cloths well buttered and floured, especially when they are made in part with bread; but when this is done, care should be taken not to allow them to burn to the bottom of the pan in which they are cooked; and it is a good plan to lay a plate or dish under them, by way of precaution against this mischance; it will not then so much matter whether they be kept floating or not. It is thought better to mix these entirely (except the liquid portion of them) the day before they are boiled, and it is perhaps an advantage when they are of large size to do so, but it is not really necessary for small or common ones. A very little salt improves all sweet puddings, by taking off the insipidity, and bringing out the full flavour of the other ingredients, but its presence should not be in the slightest degree perceptible. When brandy, wine, or lemon-juice is added to them it should be stirred in briskly, and by degrees, quite at last, as it would be likely otherwise to curdle the milk or eggs. Many persons prefer their puddings steamed; but when this is not done, they should be dropped into plenty of boiling water, and be kept well covered with it until they are ready to serve; and the 397boiling should never be allowed to cease for an instant, for they soon become heavy if it be interrupted. Pudding and dumpling cloths should not only be laid into plenty of water as soon as they are taken off, and well washed afterwards, but it is essential to their perfect sweetness that they should be well and quickly dried (in the open air if possible), then folded and kept in a clean drawer. TO CLEAN CURRANTS FOR PUDDINGS OR CAKES. Put them into a cullender, strew a handful of flour over them, and rub them gently with the hands to separate the lumps, and to detach the stalks; work them round in the cullender, and shake it well, when the small stalks and stones will fall through it. Next pour plenty of cold water over the currants, drain and spread them on a soft cloth, press it over them to absorb the moisture, and then lay them on a clean oven-tin, or a large dish, and dry them very gradually (or they will become hard), either in a cool oven or before the fire, taking care in the latter case that they are not placed sufficiently near it for the ashes to fall amongst them. When they are perfectly dry, clear them entirely from the remaining stalks, and from every stone that may be amongst them. The best mode of detecting these is to lay the fruit at the far end of a large white dish, or sheet of paper, and to pass it lightly, and in very small portions, with the fingers, towards oneself, examining it closely as this is done. TO STEAM A PUDDING IN A COMMON STEWPAN OR SAUCEPAN. Butter and fill the mould or basin as usual; tie over it, first, a well-buttered paper, and then a thin floured cloth or muslin, which should be quite small; gather up and tie the corners, and be careful that no part of it, or of the paper, reaches to the water; pour in from two to three inches depth of this, according to the height of the mould, and when it boils put in the pudding, and press the cover of the stewpan closely on; then boil it gently without ceasing until it is done. This is the safer method of boiling all puddings made with polenta, or with the American flour of maize; as well as many others of the custard kind, which are easily spoiled by the admission of water to them. As the evaporation diminishes that in the saucepan, more, ready-boiling, must be added if necessary; and be poured carefully down the side of the pan without touching the pudding. TO MIX BATTER FOR PUDDINGS. Put the flour and salt into a bowl, and stir them together; whisk the eggs thoroughly, strain them through a fine hair-sieve, and add them very gradually to the flour; for if too much liquid be poured to it at once it will be full of lumps, and it is easy with care to keep the 398batter perfectly smooth. Beat it well and lightly with the back of a strong wooden spoon, and after the eggs are added thin it with milk to a proper consistence. The whites of the eggs beaten separately to a solid froth, and stirred gently into the mixture the instant before it is tied up for boiling, or before it is put into the oven to be baked, will render it remarkably light. When fruit is added to the batter, it must be made thicker than when it is served plain, or it will sink to the bottom of the pudding. Batter should never stick to the knife when it is sent to table: it will do this both when a sufficient number of eggs are not mixed with it, and when it is not enough cooked. About four eggs to the half pound of flour will make it firm enough to cut smoothly. SUET-CRUST, FOR MEAT OR FRUIT PUDDINGS. Clear off the skin from some fresh beef kidney-suet, hold it firmly with a fork, and with a sharp knife slice it thin, free it entirely from fibre, and mince it very fine: six ounces thus prepared will be found quite sufficient for a pound of flour. Mix them well together, add half a teaspoonful of salt for meat puddings, and a third as much for fruit ones, and sufficient cold water to make the whole into a very firm paste; work it smooth, and roll it out of equal thickness when it is used. The weight of suet should be taken after it is minced. This crust is so much lighter, and more wholesome than that which is made with butter, that we cannot refrain from recommending it in preference to our readers. Some cooks merely slice the suet in thin shavings, mix it with the flour, and beat the crust with a paste-roller, until the flour and suet are perfectly incorporated; but it is better minced. Flour, 2 lbs.; suet, 12 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; water, 1 pint. BUTTER CRUST FOR PUDDINGS. When suet is disliked for crust, butter must supply its place, but there must be no intermixture of lard in paste which is to be boiled. Eight ounces to the pound of flour will render it sufficiently rich for most eaters, and less will generally be preferred; rich crust of this kind being more indigestible by far than that which is baked. The butter may be lightly broken into the flour before the water is added, or it may be laid on, and rolled into the paste as for puff-crust. A small portion of salt must be added to it always, and for a meat pudding the same proportion as directed in the preceding receipt. For kitchen, or for quite common family puddings, butter and clarified dripping are used sometimes in equal proportions. From three to four ounces of each will be sufficient for the pound and quarter of flour. Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 8 oz.; salt, for fruit puddings, 1/2 saltspoonful; for meat puddings, 1/2 teaspoonful. 399 SAVOURY PUDDINGS. The perfect manner in which the nutriment and flavour of an infinite variety of viands may be preserved by enclosing and boiling them in paste, is a great recommendation of this purely English class of dishes, the advantages of which foreign cooks are beginning to acknowledge. If really well made, these savoury puddings are worthy of a place on any table; though the decrees of fashion—which in many instances have so much more influence with us than they deserve—have hitherto confined them almost entirely to the simple family dinners of the middle classes; but we are bound to acknowledge that even where they are most commonly served they are seldom prepared with a creditable degree of skill; and they are equally uninviting and unwholesome when heavily and coarsely concocted. From the general suggestions which we make here, and the few detailed receipts which follow, a clever cook will easily compound them to suit the taste and means of her employers; for they may be either very rich and expensive, or quite the reverse. Venison (the neck is best for the purpose), intermingled or not with truffles; sweetbreads sliced, and oysters or nicely prepared button-mushrooms in alternate layers, with good veal stock for gravy;[142] pheasants, partridges, moorfowl, woodcocks, snipes, plovers, wheatears, may all be converted into the first class of these; and veal kidneys, seasoned with fine herbs, will supply another variety of them. Many persons like eels dressed in this way, but they are unsuited to delicate eaters: and sausages are liable to the same objection; and so is a harslet pudding, which is held in much esteem in certain counties, and which is made of the heart, liver, kidneys, &c., of a pig. We can recommend as both wholesome and economical the receipts which follow, for the more simple kind of savoury puddings, and which may serve as guides for such others as the intelligence of the cook may suggest. 142.  The liquor of the oysters should be added when they are used. BEEF-STEAK, OR JOHN BULL’S PUDDING. All meat puddings are more conveniently made in deep pans, moulds, or basins having a thick rim, below which the cloths can be tied without the hazard of their slipping off; and as the puddings should by no means be turned out before they are sent to table, one to match the dinner-service, at least in colour, is desirable.[143] Roll 400out a suet crust to half an inch in thickness, line evenly with it a quart, or any other sized basin that may be preferred, and raise the crust from an inch and a half to two inches above the edge. Fill it with layers of well-kept rump-steak, neatly trimmed, and seasoned with salt and pepper, or cayenne; pour in some cold water to make the gravy; roll out the cover, moisten the edge, as well as that of the pudding; draw and press them together carefully, fold them over, shake out a cloth which has been dipped into hot water, wrung out, and well floured; tie it over the pudding, gather the corners together, tie them over the top of the pudding, put it into plenty of fast boiling water, and let it remain in from three to five hours, according to its size. The instant it is lifted out, stick a fork quite through the middle of the paste to prevent its bursting; remove the cloth quickly, and cut a small round or square in the top to allow the steam to escape, and serve the pudding immediately. Though not considered very admissible to an elegantly served table, this is a favourite dish with many persons, and is often in great esteem with sportsmen, for whom it is provided in preference to fare which requires greater exactness in the time of cooking; as an additional hour’s boiling, or even more, will have little effect on a large pudding of this kind, beyond reducing the quantity of gravy, and rendering it very thick. 143.  It is now customary in some families to have both meat and fruit puddings boiled and served in pie or tart-dishes. They are lined entirely with very thin crust, or merely edged with it, according to taste; then filled, closed, and cooked in the usual manner. The plan is a good and convenient one, where the light upper-crust is preferred to the heavy and sodden part which is under the meat. In Kent and Sussex, shallow pans, in form somewhat resembling a large deep saucer, are sold expressly for boiling meat puddings. Some cooks flour the meat slightly before it is laid into the crust, but we do not think it an improvement: where fat is liked, a portion may be added with the lean, but all skin and sinew should be carefully rejected. Beat the steak with a paste roller, or cutlet-bat, should it not appear to be perfectly tender, and divide it into portions about the width of two fingers. Two or three dozens of oysters, bearded and washed free from grit in their own liquor (which should afterwards be strained and poured into the pudding), may be intermingled with the meat. A true epicurean receipt for this dish directs the paste to be made with veal-kidney suet, and filled with alternate layers of the inside of the sirloin, sliced and seasoned, and of fine plump native oysters, intermixed with an occasional small slice of the veal fat. SMALL BEEF-STEAK PUDDING. Make into a very firm smooth paste, one pound of flour, six ounces of beef-suet finely minced, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a pint of cold water. Line with this a basin which holds a pint and a half. Season a pound of tender steak, free from bone and skin, with half an ounce of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper well mixed together; lay it in the crust, pour in a quarter of a pint of water, roll out the cover, close the pudding carefully, tie a floured cloth over, and boil it for three hours and a half. We give this receipt in addition to the preceding one, as an exact guide for the proportions of meat-puddings in general. 401Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 1/2 pint; rump-steak, 1 lb.; salt, 1/2 oz.; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 1/4 pint: 3-1/2 hours. RUTH PINCH’S BEEF-STEAK PUDDING. To make Ruth Pinch’s celebrated pudding (known also as beef-steak pudding à la Dickens), substitute six ounces of butter for the suet in this receipt, and moisten the paste with the well-beaten yolks of four eggs, or with three whole ones, mixed with a little water; butter the basin very thickly before the paste is laid in, as the pudding is to be turned out of it for table. In all else proceed exactly as above. MUTTON PUDDING. Mutton freed perfectly from fat, and mixed with two or three sliced kidneys, makes an excellent pudding. The meat may be sprinkled with fine herbs as it is laid into the crust. This will require rather less boiling than the preceding puddings, but it is made in precisely the same way. PARTRIDGE PUDDING. (Very Good.) Skin a brace of well-kept partridges and cut them down into joints; line a deep basin with suet crust, observing the directions given in the preceding receipts; lay in the birds, which should be rather highly seasoned with pepper or cayenne, and moderately with salt; pour in water for the gravy, close the pudding with care, and boil it from three hours to three and a half. The true flavour of the game is admirably preserved by this mode of cooking. When mushrooms are plentiful, put a layer of buttons, or small flaps, cleaned as for pickling, alternately with a layer of partridge, in filling the pudding, which will then be most excellent eating: the crust may be left untouched, and merely emptied of its contents, where it is objected to, or its place may be supplied with a richer one made of butter. A seasoning of pounded mace or nutmeg can be used at discretion. Puddings of veal, chickens, and young rabbits, may all be made by this receipt, or with the addition of oysters, which we have already noticed. A PEAS PUDDING. (To serve with boiled pork.) Separate carefully from a pint of good mellow split peas, all that are worm-eaten; wash the remainder well, and soak them for a night in plenty of soft water. The following day tie them up in a thick pudding cloth, giving them room to swell, cover them well with cold soft water and boil them gently from two hours to two and a half: if they are not then quite tender, they are of bad quality, and cannot 402be rendered so. Lift them into a cullender, untie the cloth, and crush them to a paste with a wooden spoon, stir in a good slice of butter, and a seasoning of pepper and salt, tie them up again very tight, and boil them for half an hour; turn the pudding gently into a dish that it may not break, and serve it as hot as possible. This is the common old-fashioned mode of preparing a peas pudding, and many persons prefer it to the more modern one which follows. Soak, and boil the peas as above, drain the water well from them before the cloth is untied, rub them through a cullender or sieve, mix the seasoning and the butter thoroughly with them, then add to them gradually three well whisked eggs, tie the mixture tightly and closely in a floured cloth, and boil it for one hour. Good split peas, 1 pint; soaked in soft water 1 night. Boiled 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Butter, 1 oz.: salt, pepper: boil again 20 to 30 minutes. Or: butter, 1-1/2 oz.; eggs, 3: boiled 1 hour. Obs.—When soft water cannot be had, half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda must be stirred into that in which the peas are boiled. They must have room to swell or they will be hard; but if too much be given them they will be watery, and it will be difficult to convert them into a pudding at all. WINE SAUCE FOR SWEET PUDDINGS. Boil gently together for ten or fifteen minutes the very thin rind of half a small lemon, about an ounce and a half of sugar, and a wineglassful of water. Take out the lemon-peel and stir into the sauce until it has boiled for one minute, an ounce of butter smoothly mixed with a large half-teaspoonful of flour; add a wineglassful and a half of sherry or Madeira, or other good white wine, and when quite hot serve the sauce without delay. Port wine sauce is made in the same way with the addition of a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, some grated nutmeg and a little more sugar. Orange-rind and juice may be used for it instead of lemon. COMMON WINE SAUCE. Sweeten a quarter-pint of good melted butter with an ounce and a half of sugar, and add to it gradually a couple of glasses of wine; stir it until it is at the point of boiling, and serve it immediately. Lemon-grate, or nutmeg, can be added at pleasure. PUNCH SAUCE FOR SWEET PUDDINGS. This may be served with custard, plain bread, and plum-puddings. With two ounces of sugar and a quarter of a pint of water, boil very gently the rind of half a small lemon, and somewhat less of orange-peel, from fifteen to twenty minutes; strain out the rinds, thicken the sauce with an ounce and a half of butter and nearly a teaspoonful of flour, add a half-glass of brandy, the same of white wine, two-thirds 403of a glass of rum, with the juice of half an orange, and rather less of lemon-juice: serve the sauce very hot, but do not allow it to boil after the spirit is stirred in. Sugar, 2 oz.; water, 1/4 pint; lemon and orange rind: 14 to 20 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; brandy and white wine, each 1/2 wineglassful; rum, two-thirds of glassful; orange and lemon juice. FOR CLEAR ARROW-ROOT SAUCE. (See the Welcome Guest’s Own Pudding.) A GERMAN CUSTARD PUDDING-SAUCE. Boil very gently together half a pint of new milk or of milk and cream mixed, a very thin strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, a bit of cinnamon, half an inch of a vanilla bean, and an ounce and a half or two ounces of sugar, until the milk is strongly flavoured; then strain, and pour it, by slow degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, smoothly mixed with a knife-end-full (about half a teaspoonful) of flour, a grain or two of salt, and a tablespoonful of cold milk; and stir these very quickly round as the milk is added. Put the sauce again into the stewpan, and whisk or stir it rapidly until it thickens, and looks creamy. It must not be placed upon the fire, but should be held over it, when this is done. The Germans mill their sauces to a froth; but they may be whisked with almost equally good effect, though a small mill for the purpose—formed like a chocolate mill—may be had at a very trifling cost. A DELICIOUS GERMAN PUDDING-SAUCE. Dissolve in half a pint of sherry or of Madeira, from three to four ounces of fine sugar, but do not allow the wine to boil; stir it hot to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh eggs, and mill the sauce over a gentle fire until it is well thickened and highly frothed; pour it over a plum, or any other kind of sweet boiled pudding, of which it much improves the appearance. Half the quantity will be sufficient for one of moderate size. We recommend the addition of a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice to the wine. For large pudding, sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint; fine sugar, 3 to 4 oz.; yolks of eggs, 6; lemon-juice (if added), 1 dessertspoonful. Obs.—As we have already said in the previous receipt, it is customary to froth sweet sauces in Germany with a small machine made like a chocolate-mill. Two silver forks fastened together at the handles may be used instead on an emergency, or the sauce may be whisked to the proper state, like the one which precedes it. Great care must be taken not to allow these sauces to curdle. The safer plan is to put any preparation of the kind into a white jar, and to place it over the fire in a pan of boiling water, and then to stir or mill it until it is sufficiently thickened: the jar should not be half 404filled, and it should be large enough to allow the sauce to be worked easily. The water should not reach to within two or three inches of the brim. We give these minute details for inexperienced cooks. RED CURRANT OR RASPBERRY SAUCE. (GOOD.) Measure half a pint of sound red currants after they have been stripped from the stalks; wash them, should they be dusty, and drain all the water from them. Have ready a syrup, made with three ounces of sugar in lumps, and the third of a pint of water, boiled gently together for five minutes; put in the currants, and stew them for ten minutes; strain off the juice, of which there will be nearly or quite half a pint, through a lawn sieve or folded muslin; heat it afresh, and pour it boiling to a small spoonful of arrow-root which has been very smoothly mixed with a tablespoonful of cold water, being careful to stir it briskly while the juice is being added; give the sauce a minute’s boil to render it transparent, and mask the pudding with it (or, in other words, pour it equally over it, so as to cover the entire surface); or serve it in a tureen. A few raspberries may be added in their season, to flavour this preparation; but if quite ripe, they must be thrown into the syrup without having been washed, two or three minutes after the currants have been put into it. A delicious sauce may be made entirely from raspberries as above, allowing a larger proportion of the fruit, as it yields less juice than the currant. The proportions directed in this receipt are quite sufficient for a pudding of moderate size, but they can easily be increased when required. COMMON RASPBERRY-SAUCE. Put three ounces of sugar broken into small lumps, and a wineglassful and a half of water into a small stewpan, and boil them for four or five minutes. Add half a pint of fresh ripe raspberries, well mashed with the back of a spoon. Mix them with the syrup, and boil them for six or seven minutes; the sauce should then be quite smooth and clear. The quantity of it with these proportions will not be large, but can be increased at pleasure. Obs.—We have generally found that the most simple, and consequently the most refreshing fruit-sauces have been much liked by the persons who have partaken of them; and they are, we think, preferable to the foreign ones—German principally—to which wine and cinnamon are commonly added, and which are often composed of dried fruit. Their number can easily be augmented by an intelligent cook; and they can be varied through all the summer and autumnal months with the fruit in season at the time. SUPERIOR FRUIT-SAUCES FOR SWEET PUDDINGS. Clear rich fruit syrups, such as the Sirop de Groseilles of Chapter XXIX. or those from which cherries, apricots, damsons, and 405other plums, are taken when they have been prepared in them for drying, make the finest possible sauces for sweet puddings. A pound of ripe Morella cherries, for example, pricked separately with a large needle, then slowly heated and simmered from seven to ten minutes with three quarters of a pound of castor-sugar, and allowed to become cold in their juice, will be excellent if laid on dishes and slowly dried; and the syrup from them will be a delicious accompaniment to a pudding (or to plain boiled rice); and it will also afford a most agreeable summer beverage mixed with water, slightly iced, or not. Other varieties of these sauces are made by stewing the fruit tender without sugar, then rubbing it through a sieve, and diluting it with wine; or simply mixing and boiling it with sufficient sugar to render it sweet and clear. PINE-APPLE PUDDING-SAUCE. Rasp down on a fine bright grater sufficient of the flesh of a ripe Jamaica or English pine-apple from which the rind has been thickly pared, to make the quantity of sauce required. Simmer it quite tender, with a very small quantity of water; then mix with it by degrees from half to three-quarters of its weight of sugar, give it five minutes more of gentle boiling, and pour it over the pudding. Rasped pine-apple, 6 oz.; water, 2 tablespoonsful: 10 to 15 minutes gentle stewing. Sugar, 4 oz: 5 minutes. A finer sauce may be made with half a pound of the pine first simmered tender in its own juice, and one tablespoonful only of water, and then mixed with seven ounces of sifted sugar, and boiled gently until it looks clear. If too sweet, the strained juice of half a large sized lemon may be stirred to it before it is served, but a certain weight of sugar is required to make it appear bright. This preparation may be kept for some time, and warmed afresh for table when needed. A VERY FINE PINE-APPLE SAUCE OR SYRUP, FOR PUDDINGS OR OTHER SWEET DISHES. After having pared away every morsel of the rind from a ripe and highly flavoured pine-apple, cut three-quarters of a pound of it into very thin slices, and then into quite small dice. Pour to it nearly half a pint of spring water; heat, and boil it very gently until it is extremely tender, then strain and press the juice closely from it through a cloth or through a muslin strainer[144] folded in four; strain 406it clear, mix it with ten ounces of the finest sugar in small lumps, and when this is dissolved, boil the syrup gently for a quarter of an hour. It will be delicious in flavour and very bright in colour if well made. If put into a jar, and stored with a paper tied over it, it will remain excellent for weeks; and it will become almost a jelly with an additional ounce of sugar and rather quicker boiling. It may be poured round moulded creams, rice, or sago; or mingled with various sweet preparations for which the juice of fruit is admissible. 144.  It is almost superfluous to say that the large squares of muslin, of which on account of their peculiar nicety we have recommended the use for straining many sweet preparations, must never have a particle of starch in them; they should be carefully kept free from dust and soil of any kind, and always well rinsed and soaked in clear water before they are dried. GERMAN CHERRY SAUCE. Beat a quart of cherries in a mortar until the stones are broken, then boil them tender with half a pint of water and wine mixed. Rub them through a sieve, and boil them again, with from four to six ounces of fine sugar, some grated lemon-peel, powdered cinnamon, and a small portion of pounded cloves. In a few minutes stir to the sauce a dessertspoonful of potato-flour, smoothly mixed with a very little cold water; continue to stir until it is again ready to boil, and serve it, either poured entirely over the pudding, or in a tureen. COMMON BATTER PUDDING. Beat four eggs thoroughly, mix with them half a pint of milk, and pass them through a sieve, add them by degrees to half a pound of flour, and when the batter is perfectly smooth, thin it with another half pint of milk. Shake out a wet pudding cloth, flour it well, pour the batter in, leave it room to swell, tie it securely, and put it immediately into plenty of fast-boiling water. An hour and ten minutes will boil it. Send it to table the instant it is dished, with wine sauce, a hot compôte of fruit, or raspberry vinegar: this last makes a delicious pudding sauce. Unless the liquid be added very gradually to the flour, and the mixture be well stirred and beaten as each portion is poured to it, the batter will not be smooth: to render it very light, a portion of the whites of the eggs, or the whole of them, should be whisked to a froth and stirred into it just before it is put into the cloth. Flour, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 4; salt, 3/4 teaspoonful; milk, 1 pint: 1 hour and 10 minutes. Obs.—Modern taste is in favour of puddings boiled in moulds, but, as we have already stated, they are seldom or ever so light as those which are tied in cloths only. ANOTHER BATTER PUDDING. Mix the yolks of three eggs smoothly with three heaped tablespoonsful of flour, thin the batter with new milk until it is of the consistence of cream, whisk the whites of eggs apart, stir them into the batter and boil the pudding in a floured cloth or in a buttered 407mould or basin for an hour. Before it is served, cut the top quickly into large dice half through the pudding, pour over it a small jarful of fine currant, raspberry, or strawberry jelly, and send it to table without the slightest delay. Flour, 3 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; milk, from 1/2 to whole pint: 1 hour. BLACK-CAP PUDDING. Make a good light thin batter, and just before it is poured into the cloth stir to it half a pound of currants, well cleaned and dried: these will sink to the lower part of the pudding and blacken the surface. Boil it the usual time, and dish it with the dark side uppermost; send very sweet sauce to table with it. Some cooks butter a mould thickly, strew in the currants, and pour the batter on them, which produces the same appearance as when the ingredients are tied in a cloth. All batter puddings should be despatched quickly to table when they are once ready to serve, as they speedily become heavy if allowed to wait. BATTER FRUIT PUDDING. Butter thickly a basin which holds a pint and a half, and fill it nearly to the brim with good boiling apples pared, cored, and quartered; pour over them a batter made with four tablespoonsful of flour, two large or three small eggs, and half a pint of milk. Tie a buttered and floured cloth over the basin, which ought to be quite full, and boil the pudding for an hour and a quarter. Turn it into a hot dish when done, and strew sugar thickly over it: this, if added to the batter at first, renders it heavy. Morella cherries make a very superior pudding of this kind; and green gooseberries, damsons, and various other fruits, answer for it extremely well: the time of boiling it must be varied according to their quality and its size. For a pint and a half mould or basin filled to the brim with apples or other fruit; flour, 4 tablespoonsful; eggs, 2 large or 3 small; milk, 1/2 pint: 1-1/4 hour. Obs.—Apples cored, halved, and mixed with a good batter, make an excellent baked pudding, as do red currants, cherries, and plums of different sorts likewise. KENTISH SUET PUDDING. To a pound and a quarter of flour add half a pound of finely minced beef-suet,[145] half a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter one of 408pepper; mix these into a smooth paste with one well-beaten egg, and a little cold milk or water; make it into the shape of a paste-roller, fold a floured cloth round it, tie the ends tightly, and boil it for two hours. In Kentish farmhouses, and at very plain family dinners, this pudding is usually sent to table with boiled beef, and is sometimes cooked with it also. It is very good sliced and broiled, or browned in a Dutch oven, after having become quite cold. 145.  A very common fault with bad and careless cooks is, that of using for paste and puddings suet coarsely chopped, which is, to many eaters, distasteful to the last degree. Flour, 1-1/2 lb.; suet, 1/2 lb.; salt 1/2 teaspoonful; half as much pepper; 1 egg; little milk or water: boiled 2 hours. ANOTHER SUET PUDDING. Make into a somewhat lithe but smooth paste, half a pound of fine stale bread-crumbs, three quarters of a pound of flour, from ten to twelve ounces of beef-suet chopped extremely small, a large half-teaspoonful of salt, and rather less of pepper, with two eggs and a little milk. Boil it for two hours and a quarter. APPLE, CURRANT, CHERRY, OR OTHER FRESH FRUIT PUDDING. Make a paste as for a beef-steak pudding, either with suet or butter; lay into a basin a well-floured cloth, which has been dipped into hot water, wrung dry, and shaken out; roll the paste thin, press it evenly into the basin upon the cloth, fill it with apples, pared, cored, and quartered, or with any other fruit; put on the cover, taking care to moisten the edges of the paste, to press them well together, and fold them over; gather up the ends of the cloth, and tie it firmly close to the pudding, which should then be dropped into plenty of fast boiling water. When it is done, lift it out by twisting a strong fork into the corner of the cloth, turn it gently into the dish in which it is to be served, and cut immediately a small round or square from the top, or the pudding will quickly become heavy; send it to table without the slightest delay, accompanied by pounded, and by good Lisbon sugar, as many persons prefer the latter, from its imparting a more mellowed flavour to the fruit. A small slice of fresh butter, and some finely grated nutmeg, are usually considered improvements to an apple pudding; the juice, and the grated rind of a lemon may be added with good effect, when the fruit is laid into the crust, especially in spring, when the apples generally will have become insipid in their flavour. For tables of any pretension, sugar must be added to them when they are made; but many varieties of apple do not so readily form a smooth light pulp when it is enclosed with them in the paste. A small jar of apricot jam is always an admirable addition to an apple tart or pudding; and a small glass of wine when the fruit is not juicy, will assist to bring it to the right consistence. When puddings are preferred boiled in moulds or basins, these must be thickly buttered 409before the paste is laid into them, and the puddings must be turned from them gently, that they may not burst. Currant, gooseberry, or cherry pudding, 1 to 1-1/4 hour. Greengage, damson, mussel, or other plum, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Apple pudding, from 1 to 2 hours, according to its size, and the time of year. Obs.—If made of codlings, an apple pudding will require only so much boiling as may be needed for the crust. These are sometimes mixed with Morella cherries rolled in plenty of sugar, and the two fruits mixed are excellent, but the Morellas by themselves are better. A COMMON APPLE PUDDING. Make a light crust with one pound of flour, and six ounces of very finely minced beef-suet; roll it thin, and fill it with one pound and a quarter of good boiling apples; add the grated rind and strained juice of a small lemon, tie it in a cloth, and boil it one hour and twenty minutes before Christmas, and from twenty to thirty minutes longer after Christmas. A small slice of fresh butter, stirred into it when it is sweetened will, to many tastes, be an acceptable addition; grated nutmeg, or a little cinnamon in fine powder, may be substituted for the lemon-rind when either is preferred. To convert this into a richer pudding use half a pound of butter for the crust, and add to the apples a spoonful or two of orange or quince marmalade. Crust: flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz. Fruit, pared and cored, 1-1/2 lb.; juice and rind of 1 small lemon (or some nutmeg or cinnamon in powder). Richer pudding: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; in addition to fruit, 1 or 2 tablespoonsful of orange or quince marmalade. HERODOTUS’ PUDDING. (A Genuine Classical Receipt.) “Prepare and mix in the usual manner one pound of fine raisins stoned, one pound of minced beef-suet, half a pound of bread-crumbs, four figs chopped small, two tablespoonsful of moist sugar (honey, in the original), two wineglassesful of sherry, and the rind of half a large lemon (grated). Boil the pudding for fourteen hours.” Obs.—This receipt is really to be found in Herodotus. The only variations made in it are the substitution of sugar for honey, and sherry for the wine of ancient Greece. We are indebted for it to an accomplished scholar, who has had it served at his own table on more than one occasion; and we have given it on his authority, without testing it: but we venture to suggest that seven hours would boil it quite sufficiently. 410 THE PUBLISHER’S PUDDING. This pudding can scarcely be made too rich. First blanch, and then beat to the smoothest possible paste, six ounces of fresh Jordan almonds, and a dozen bitter ones; pour very gradually to them, in the mortar, three quarters of a pint of boiling cream; then turn them into a cloth, and wring it from them again with strong expression. Heat a full half pint of it afresh, and pour it, as soon as it boils, upon four ounces of fine bread-crumbs, set a plate over, and leave them to become nearly cold; then mix thoroughly with them four ounces of maccaroons, crushed tolerably small; five of finely minced beef-suet, five of marrow, cleared very carefully from fibre, and from the splinters of bone which are sometimes found in it, and shred not very small, two ounces of flour, six of pounded sugar, four of dried cherries, four of the best Muscatel raisins, weighed after they are stoned, half a pound of candied citron, or of citron and orange rind mixed, a quarter saltspoonful of salt, half a nutmeg, the yolks only of seven full-sized eggs, the grated rind of a large lemon, and last of all, a glass of the best Cognac brandy, which must be stirred briskly in by slow degrees. Pour the mixture into a thickly buttered mould or basin, which contains a full quart, fill it to the brim, lay a sheet of buttered writing-paper over, then a well-floured cloth, tie them securely, and boil the pudding for four hours and a quarter; let it stand for two minutes before it is turned out; dish it carefully, and serve it with the German pudding-sauce of page 403. Jordan almonds, 6 oz.; bitter almonds, 12; cream, 3/4 pint; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; cream wrung from almonds, 1/2 pint; crushed macaroons, 4 oz.; flour 2 oz.; beef-suet, 5 oz.; marrow, 5 oz.; dried cherries, 4 oz.; stoned Muscatel raisins, 4 oz.; pounded sugar, 6 oz.; candied citron (or citron and orange-rind mixed), 1/2 lb.; pinch of salt; 1/2 nutmeg; grated rind, 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 7; best cognac, 1 wineglassful; boiled in mould or basin,: 4-1/4 hours. Obs.—This pudding, which, if well made, is very light as well as rich, will be sufficiently good for most tastes without the almonds: when they are omitted, the boiling cream must be poured at once to the bread-crumbs. HER MAJESTY’S PUDDING. Infuse in a pint of new milk half a pod of vanilla, cut into short lengths, and bruised; simmer them gently together for twenty minutes, and strain the milk through muslin to half a pint of cream; put these again on the fire in a clean saucepan, with three ounces of fine sugar, and pour them when they boil, to the beaten yolks of eight very fresh eggs. Stir the mixture often until it is nearly or quite cold, and boil it as gently as possible for an hour in a well-buttered 411mould or basin that will just hold it. Let it stand for five minutes at least before it is turned out; dish it carefully, strew, and garnish it thickly with branches of preserved barberries, or send it to table with a rich syrup of fresh fruit, or with clear fruit-jelly, melted. We have had often a compôte (see Sweet Dishes, page 153) of currants, cherries, or plums served, and greatly relished with this pudding, which we can recommend to our readers as an extremely delicate one. The flavouring may be varied with bitter almonds, lemon-rind, noyau, or aught else which may be better liked than the vanilla. New milk, 1 pint; vanilla, 1/2 pod: 20 minutes Cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; yolks of eggs, 8: 1 hour. Obs.—The cook must be reminded that unless the eggs be stirred briskly as the boiling milk is gradually poured to them, they will be likely to curdle. A buttered paper should always be put over the basin before the cloth is tied on, for all custard puddings. COMMON CUSTARD PUDDING. Whisk three eggs well, put them into a pint basin, and add to them sufficient milk to fill it: then strain, flavour, and sweeten it with fine sugar; boil the pudding very softly for an exact half hour, let it stand a few minutes, dish, and serve it with sugar sifted over, and sweet sauce in a tureen, or send stewed gooseberries, currants, or cherries to table with it. A small quantity of lemon-brandy, or of ratifia can be added, to give it flavour, when it is made, or the sugar with which it is sweetened may be rasped on a lemon or an orange, then crushed and dissolved in the milk; from an ounce and a half to two ounces will be sufficient for general taste. PRINCE ALBERT’S PUDDING. Beat to a cream half a pound of fresh butter and mix with it by degrees an equal weight of pounded loaf-sugar, dried and sifted; add to these, after they have been well beaten together, first the yolks, and then the whites of five fresh eggs, which have been thoroughly whisked apart; now strew lightly in, half a pound of the finest flour, dried and sifted, and last of all, half a pound of jar raisins, weighed after they are stoned. Put these ingredients, perfectly mixed, into a well-buttered mould, or floured cloth, and boil the pudding for three hours. Serve it with punch sauce. We recommend a little pounded mace, or the grated rind of a small lemon, to vary the flavour of this excellent pudding; and that when a mould is used, slices of candied peel should be laid rather thickly over it after it is buttered. Fresh butter, pounded sugar, flour, stoned raisins, each 1/2 lb.; eggs, 5: 3 hours. 412 GERMAN PUDDING, AND SAUCE. (VERY GOOD.) Stew, until very tender and dry, three ounces of whole rice in a pint and a quarter of milk; when a little cooled, mix with it three ounces of beef-suet finely chopped, two ounces and a half of sugar, an ounce of candied orange or lemon-rind, six ounces of sultana raisins, and three large eggs well beaten, and strained. Boil the pudding in a buttered basin, or in a well-floured cloth, for two hours and a quarter, and serve it with the following sauce:—Dissolve an ounce and a half of sugar broken small in two glasses of sherry, or of any other white wine, and stir them when quite hot, to the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; then stir the sauce in a small saucepan held high above the fire until it resembles custard, but by no means allow it to boil, or it will instantly curdle; pour it over the pudding, or, if preferred, send it to table in a tureen. We think a full teaspoonful of lemon-juice added to the wine an improvement to this sauce which is excellent; and we can recommend the pudding to our readers. Milk, 1-1/4 pint; rice, 3 oz.; 1 hour, or more. Suet, 3 oz.; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; candied peel, 1 oz.; sultana raisins, 6 oz.; eggs, 3 large: 2-1/4 hours, Sauce: sherry, 2 glasses; sugar, 1-1/2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 3; little lemon-juice. We have already, in a previous part of the volume, directed that the German sauce should be milled to a fine froth, and poured upon the pudding with which it is served: when this is not done, the quantity should be increased. THE WELCOME GUEST’S OWN PUDDING. (LIGHT AND WHOLESOME.) (Author’s Receipt.) Pour, quite boiling, on four ounces of fine bread-crumbs, an exact half-pint of new milk, or of thin cream; lay a plate over the basin and let them remain until cold; then stir to them four ounces of dry crumbs of bread, four of very finely minced beef-kidney suet, a small pinch of salt, three ounces of coarsely crushed ratifias, three ounces of candied citron and orange-rind sliced thin, and the grated rind of one large or of two small lemons. Clear, and whisk four large eggs well, throw to them by degrees four ounces of pounded sugar, and continue to whisk them until it is dissolved, and they are very light; stir them to, and beat them well up with the other ingredients; pour the mixture into a thickly buttered mould, or basin which will contain nearly a quart, and which it should fill to within half an inch of the brim; lay first a buttered paper, then a well floured pudding-cloth over the top, tie them tightly and very securely round, gather up and fasten the corners of the cloth, and boil the 413pudding for two hours at the utmost. Let it stand for a minute or two before it is dished, and serve it with simple wine sauce, or with that which follows; or with pine-apple or any other clear fruitsauce. (For these last, see page 405). Boil very gently, for about ten minutes, a full quarter of a pint of water, with the very thin rind of half a fresh lemon, and an ounce and a half of lump sugar; then take out the lemon peel, and stir in a small teaspoonful of arrow-root, smoothly mixed with the strained juice of the lemon (with or without the addition of a little orange juice); take the sauce from the fire, throw in nearly half a glass of pale French brandy,[146] or substitute for this a large wineglassful of sherry, or of any other white wine which may be preferred, but increase a little, in that case, the proportion of arrow-root. 146.  Maraschino, or any delicately flavoured liqueur, may be substituted for this with much advantage. To convert the preceding into Sir Edwin Landseer’s pudding, ornament the mould tastefully with small leaves of thin citron-rind and split muscatel raisins in a pattern, and strew the intermediate spaces with well cleaned and well dried currants mingled with plenty of candied orange or lemon-rind shred small. Pour gently in the above pudding mixture, when quite cold, after having added one egg-yolk to it, and steam or boil it the same length of time. A CABINET PUDDING. Split and stone three dozens of fine jar raisins, or take an equal number of dried cherries, and place either of them regularly in a sort of pattern, in a thickly-buttered plain quart mould or basin; next, slice and lay into it three penny sponge-cakes; add to these two ounces of ratifias, four macaroons, an ounce and a half of candied citron sliced thin, the yolks of four eggs with the whites of three only, thoroughly whisked, mixed with half a pint of new milk, then strained to half a pint of sweet cream, and sweetened with two ounces and a half of pounded sugar: these ought to fill the mould exactly. Steam the pudding, or boil it very gently for one hour; let it stand a few minutes before it is dished, that it may not break; and serve it with good wine or brandy sauce. Jar raisins, or dried cherries, 3 dozens (quart mould or basin); sponge biscuits, 3; macaroons, 4; ratifias, 2 oz.; candied citron, 1-1/2 oz.; yolks of 4 eggs, whites of 3; new milk, 1/2 pint; cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; steamed, or boiled, 1 hour. Obs.—We have given this receipt, for which we are indebted to a friend, without any variation from the original, because on testing it we have found it very exact with regard to quantity and time; but though an extremely delicate and excellent pudding, a little flavouring would, we think, improve it: a small portion of the milk may be omitted, and its place supplied by ratifia, lemon-brandy, or aught else that is preferred. 414 A VERY FINE CABINET PUDDING. Butter thickly a mould of the same size as for the preceding pudding, and ornament it tastefully with dried cherries, or with the finest muscatel raisins opened and stoned; lay lightly into it a quarter-pound of sponge biscuit cut in slices, and intermixed with an equal weight of ratifias; sweeten with three ounces of sugar in lumps, and flavour highly with vanilla, or with the thin rind of half a fine lemon, and six sound bitter almonds bruised (should these be preferred), three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of thin cream, or of cream and new milk mixed; strain and pour this hot to the well-beaten yolks of six eggs and the whites of two, and when the mixture is nearly cold, throw in gradually a wineglassful of good brandy; pour it gently, and by degrees, into the mould, and steam or boil the pudding very softly for an hour. Serve it with well made wine sauce. Never omit a buttered paper over any sort of custard-mixture; and remember that quick boiling will destroy the good appearance of this kind of pudding. The liquid should be quite cold before it is added to the cakes, or the butter on the mould would melt off, and the decorations with it; preserved ginger, and candied citron in slices, may be used to vary these, and the syrup of the former may be added to give flavour to the other ingredients. Dried cherries, 3 to 4 oz.; sponge-biscuits, 1/4 lb.; ratifias, 4 oz.; thin cream, or cream and milk, 3/4 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; vanilla, 1/2 pod (or thin rind of 1/2 lemon and 6 bitter almonds bruised); yolks of 6 eggs, whites of 2; brandy, 1 wineglassful (preserved ginger and candied citron at choice): steamed, or gently boiled, 1 hour. SNOWDON PUDDING. (Genuine Receipt.) Ornament a well buttered mould or basin with some fine raisins split open and stoned, but not divided, pressing the cut side on the butter to make them adhere; next, mix half a pound of very finely minced beef-kidney suet, with half a pound of bread-crumbs, and an ounce and a half of rice-flour, a pinch of salt, and six ounces of lemon marmalade, or of orange when the lemon cannot be procured; add six ounces of pale brown sugar, six thoroughly whisked eggs, and the grated rinds of two lemons. Beat the whole until all the ingredients are perfectly mixed, pour it gently into the mould, cover it with a buttered paper and a floured cloth, and boil it for one hour and a half. It will turn out remarkably well if carefully prepared. Half the quantity given above will fill a mould or basin which will contain rather more than a pint, and will be sufficiently boiled in ten minutes less than an hour. To many tastes a slight diminution in the proportion of suet would be an improvement to the pudding; 415and the substitution of pounded sugar for the brown, might likewise be considered so. Both the suet and eggs used for it, should be as fresh as possible. This pudding is constantly served to travellers at the hotel at the foot of the mountain from which it derives its name. It is probably well known to many of our readers in consequence. Wine sauce, arrow-root, German sauce, or any other of the sweet pudding sauces to be found in the preceding pages of this chapter, may be poured over, or sent to table with it. VERY GOOD RAISIN PUDDINGS. To three quarters of a pound of flour add four ounces of fine crumbs of bread, one pound of beef-suet, a pound and six ounces of raisins, weighed after they are stoned, a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, rather more of ginger, half a nutmeg, an ounce and a half of candied peel, and four large or five small eggs beaten, strained, and mixed with a cupful of milk, or as much more as will make the whole of the consistence of a very thick batter. Pour the mixture into a well-floured cloth of close texture, which has previously been dipped into hot water, wrung, and shaken out. Boil the pudding in plenty of water for four hours and a half. It may be served with very sweet wine, or punch sauce; but if made as we have directed, will be much lighter than if sugar be mixed with the other ingredients before it is boiled; and we have found it generally preferred to a richer plum-pudding. No. 1. Flour, 3/4 lb.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; beef-suet, 1 lb.; stoned raisins, 1 lb. 6 oz.; candied peel, 1-1/2 oz.; 1/2 nutmeg; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small; little salt and ginger: 4-1/2 hours. Superior Raisin Pudding.—No. 2. Bread-crumbs and flour each 4 oz.; suet, 12 oz.; stoned raisins, 1 lb.; salt, third of saltspoonful; 1/2 nutmeg; ginger, 1/2 teaspoonful; half as much mace; sugar, 4 oz.; candied citron or orange-rind, 2 oz.; eggs, 4; milk or brandy, 3 to 5 tablespoonsful: to be well mixed and beaten together and boiled 4 hours. Obs.—The remains of this pudding will answer well for the receipt which follows. Sultana raisins can be used for it instead of Malaga, but they are not so sweet. THE ELEGANT ECONOMIST’S PUDDING. Butter thickly a plain mould or basin, and line it entirely with slices of cold plum or raisin pudding, cut so as to join closely and neatly together; fill it quite with a good custard; lay, first a buttered paper, and then a floured cloth over it, tie them securely, and boil the pudding gently for an hour; let it stand for ten minutes after it is taken up before it is turned out of the mould. This is a more 416tasteful mode of serving the remains of a plum-pudding than the usual one of broiling them in slices, or converting them into fritters. The German sauce, well milled or frothed, is generally much relished with sweet boiled puddings, and adds greatly to their good appearance; but common wine or punch sauce, may be sent to table with the above quite as appropriately. Mould or basin holding 1-1/2 pint, lined with thin slices of plum-pudding; 3/4 pint new milk boiled gently 5 minutes with grain of salt, 5 bitter almonds, bruised; sugar in lumps, 2-1/2 oz.; thin rind of 1/2 lemon, strained and mixed directly with 4 large well-beaten eggs; poured into mould while just warm; boiled gently 1 hour. PUDDING À LA SCOONES. Take of apples finely minced, and of currants, six ounces each; of suet, chopped small, sultana raisins, picked from the stalks, and sugar, four ounces each, with three ounces of fine bread-crumbs, the grated rind, and the strained juice of a small lemon, three well-beaten eggs, and two spoonsful of brandy. Mix these ingredients perfectly, and boil the pudding for two hours in a buttered basin; sift sugar over it when it is sent to table, and serve wine or punch sauce apart. INGOLDSBY CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS. Mix very thoroughly one pound of finely-grated bread with the same quantity of flour, two pounds of raisins stoned, two of currants, two of suet minced small, one of sugar, half a pound of candied peel, one nutmeg, half an ounce of mixed spice, and the grated rinds of two lemons; mix the whole with sixteen eggs well beaten and strained, and add four glasses of brandy. These proportions will make three puddings of good size, each of which should be boiled six hours. Bread-crumbs, 1 lb.; flour, 1 lb.; suet, 2 lbs.; currants, 2 lbs.; raisins, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1 lb.; candied peel, 1/2 lb.; rinds of lemons, 2; nutmegs, 1; mixed spice, 1/2 oz.; salt, 1/4 teaspoonsful; eggs, 16; brandy, 4 glassesful: 6 hours. Obs.—A fourth part of the ingredients given above, will make a pudding of sufficient size for a small party: to render this very rich, half the flour and bread-crumbs may be omitted, and a few spoonsful of apricot marmalade well blended with the remainder of the mixture.[147] 147.  Rather less liquid will be required to moisten the pudding when this is done, and four hours and a quarter will boil it. SMALL AND VERY LIGHT PLUM PUDDING. With three ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf finely grated and soaked in a quarter of a pint of boiling milk, mix six ounces of suet 417minced very small, one ounce of dry bread-crumbs, ten ounces of stoned raisins, a little salt, the grated rind of a china-orange, and three eggs, leaving out one white. Boil the pudding for two hours and serve it with very sweet sauce; put no sugar in it. VEGETABLE PLUM PUDDING. (Cheap and good.) Mix well together one pound of smoothly-mashed potatoes, half a pound of carrots boiled quite tender, and beaten to a paste, one pound of flour, one of currants, and one of raisins (full weight after they are stoned), three quarters of a pound of sugar, eight ounces of suet, one nutmeg, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt. Put the pudding into a well-floured cloth, tie it up very closely, and boil it for four hours. The correspondent to whom we are indebted for this receipt says, that the cost of the ingredients does not exceed half a crown, and that the pudding is of sufficient size for a party of sixteen persons. We can vouch for its excellence, but as it is rather apt to break when turned out of the cloth, a couple of eggs would perhaps improve it. It is excellent cold. Sweetmeats, brandy, and spices can be added at pleasure. Mashed potatoes, 1 lb.; carrots, 8 oz.; flour, 1 lb.; suet, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; currants and raisins, 1 lb. each; nutmeg, 1; little salt. 4 hours. THE AUTHOR’S CHRISTMAS PUDDING. To three ounces of flour and the same weight of fine, lightly-grated bread-crumbs, add six of beef kidney-suet, chopped small, six of raisins weighed after they are stoned, six of well-cleaned currants, four ounces of minced apples, five of sugar, two of candied orange rind, half a teaspoonful of nutmeg mixed with pounded mace, a very little salt, a small glass of brandy, and three whole eggs. Mix and beat these ingredients well together, tie them tightly in a thickly-floured cloth, and boil them for three hours and a half. We can recommend this as a remarkably light small rich pudding: it may be served with German, wine, or punch sauce. Flour, 3 oz.; bread-crumbs, 3 oz.; suet, stoned raisins, and currants, each, 6 oz.; minced apples, 4 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; candied peel, 2 oz.; spice, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, few grains; brandy, small wineglassful; eggs, 3; 3-1/2 hours. A KENTISH WELL PUDDING. Make into a firm smooth paste, with cold water, one pound of flour, six ounces of finely-minced beef-suet, three quarters of a pound of currants, and a small pinch of salt, thoroughly mixed together. 418Form into a ball six ounces of good butter, and enclose it securely in about a third of the paste (rolled to a half inch of thickness), in the same way that an apple-dumpling is made; roll out the remainder of the paste, and place the portion containing the butter in the centre of it, with the part where the edge was drawn together turned downwards: gather the outer crust round it, and after having moistened the edge, close it with great care. Tie the pudding tightly in a well-floured cloth, and boil it for two hours and a half. It must be dished with caution that it may not break, and a small bit must be cut directly from the top, as in a meat pudding. (See page 400). This is a very favourite pudding in some parts of England; the only difficulty in making or in serving it, is to prevent the escape of the butter, which, if properly secured, will be found in a liquid state in the inside, on opening it. Some timid cooks fold it in three coverings of paste, the better to guard against its bursting through; but there is no danger of this if the edges of the crust be well closed. When suet is objected to, seven ounces of butter may be substituted for it. The currants are occasionally omitted. Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz.; currants, 3/4 lb.; salt, small pinch; ball of butter 6 oz.: 2-1/2 hours. ROLLED PUDDING. Roll out thin a bit of light puff paste, or a good suet crust, and spread equally over it to within an inch of the edge, any kind of fruit jam. Orange marmalade, and mincemeat make excellent varieties of this pudding, and a deep layer of fine brown sugar, flavoured with the grated rind and strained juice of one very large, or of two small, lemons, answers for it extremely well. Roll it up carefully, pinch the paste together at the ends, fold a cloth round, secure it well at the ends, and boil the pudding from one to two hours, according to its size and the nature of the ingredients. Half a pound of flour made into a paste with suet or butter, and covered with preserve, will be quite sufficiently boiled in an hour and a quarter. A BREAD PUDDING. Sweeten a pint of new milk with three ounces of fine sugar, throw in a few grains of salt, and pour it boiling on half a pound of fine and lightly-grated bread-crumbs; add an ounce of fresh butter, and cover them with a plate; let them remain for half an hour or more, and then stir to them four large well-whisked eggs, and a flavouring of nutmeg or of lemon-rind; pour the mixture into a thickly-buttered mould or basin, which holds a pint and a half, and which ought to be quite full; tie a paper and a cloth tightly over, and boil the pudding for exactly an hour and ten minutes. This is quite a plain receipt, but by omitting two ounces of the bread, and 419adding more butter, one egg, a small glass of brandy, the grated rind of a lemon, and as much sugar as will sweeten the whole richly, a very excellent pudding will be obtained; candied orange-peel also has a good effect when sliced thinly into it; and half a pound of currants is generally considered a further improvement. New milk, 1 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; salt, few grains; bread-crumbs, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 4 (5, if very small); nutmeg or lemon-rind at pleasure: 1 hour and 10 minutes. Or: milk, 1 pint; bread-crumbs, 6 oz.; butter, 2 to 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 5; brandy, small glassful; rind, 1 lemon. Further additions at choice: candied peel, 1-1/2 oz.; currants, 1/2 lb. A BROWN BREAD PUDDING. To half a pound of stale brown bread, finely and lightly grated, add an equal weight of suet chopped small, and of currants cleaned and dried, with half a saltspoonful of salt, three ounces of sugar, the third of a small nutmeg grated, two ounces of candied peel, five well-beaten eggs, and a glass of brandy. Mix these ingredients thoroughly, and boil the pudding in a cloth for three hours and a half. Send port wine sauce to table with it. The grated rind of a large lemon may be added to this pudding with good effect. Brown bread, suet, and currants, each 8 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; candied peel, 2 oz.; salt, 1/2 saltspoonful; 1/3 of small nutmeg; eggs, 5; brandy, 1 wineglassful: 3-1/2 hours. A GOOD BOILED RICE PUDDING. Swell gradually,[148] and boil until quite soft and thick, four ounces and a half of whole rice in a pint and a half of new milk; sweeten them with from three to four ounces of sugar, broken small, and stir to them while they are still quite hot, the grated rind of half a large lemon, four or five bitter almonds, pounded to a paste, and four large well-whisked eggs; let the mixture cool, and then pour it into a thickly-buttered basin, or mould, which should be quite full; tie a buttered paper and a floured cloth over it, and boil the pudding exactly an hour; let it stand for two or three minutes before it is turned out, and serve it with sweet sauce, fruit syrup, or a compôte of fresh fruit. An ounce and a half of candied orange-rind will improve it much, and a couple of ounces of butter may be added to enrich it, when the receipt without is considered too simple. It is excellent when made with milk highly flavoured with cocoa-nut, or with vanilla. 148.  That is to say, put the rice into the milk while cold, heat it slowly, and let it only simmer until it is done. Whole rice, 4-1/2 oz.; new milk (or cocoa-nut-flavoured milk), 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 3 to 4 oz.; salt, a few grains; bitter almonds, 4 to 6; rind of 1/2 lemon; eggs, 4: boiled 1 hour. 420 CHEAP RICE PUDDING. Wash six ounces of rice, mix it with three quarters of a pound of raisins, tie them in a well-floured cloth, giving them plenty of room to swell; boil them exactly an hour and three quarters, and serve the pudding with very sweet sauce: this is a nice dish for the nursery. A pound of apples pared, cored, and quartered, will also make a very wholesome pudding, mixed with the rice, and boiled from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half; and sultana raisins and rice will give another good variety of this simple pudding. Rice, 6 oz.; raisins, 1/2 lb.: 2 hours. Or, rice, 6 oz.; apples, 1 lb.: 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour. RICE AND GOOSEBERRY PUDDING. Spread six ounces of rice equally over a moist and well-floured pudding-cloth, and place on it a pint of green gooseberries, measured after the heads and stalks have been taken off. Gather the cloth up carefully round the fruit, give room for the rice to swell, and boil the pudding for an hour and a quarter. Very sweet sauce, or plenty of sugar, should be eaten with it. Rice, 6 oz.; green gooseberries, 1 pint: 1-1/2 hour. FASHIONABLE APPLE DUMPLINGS. These are boiled in small knitted or closely-netted cloths (the former have, we think, the prettiest effect), which give quite an ornamental appearance to an otherwise homely dish. Take out the cores without dividing the apples, which should be large, and of a good boiling kind, and fill the cavities with orange or lemon marmalade; enclose them in a good crust rolled thin, draw the cloths round them, tie them closely, and boil them for three quarters of an hour. Lemon dumplings may be boiled in the same way. 3/4 to 1 hour, if the apples be not of the best boiling kind. ORANGE SNOW-BALLS. Take out the unhusked grains, and wash well half a pound of rice; put it into plenty of water, and boil it rather quickly for ten minutes; drain and let it cool. Pare four large, or five small oranges, and clear from them entirely the thick white inner skin; spread the rice, in as many equal portions as there are oranges, upon some pudding or dumpling cloths; tie the fruit separately in these, and boil the snow-balls for an hour and a half; turn them carefully on to a dish, and strew plenty of sifted sugar over them. The oranges carefully pared may be enclosed in a thin paste and boiled for the same time. Rice, 8 oz.; China oranges, 5: 1-1/2 hour. 421 APPLE SNOW-BALLS. Pare and core some large pudding-apples, without dividing them, prepare the rice as in the foregoing receipt, enclose them in it, and boil them for one hour: ten minutes less will be sufficient should the fruit be but of moderate size. An agreeable addition to them is a slice of fresh butter, mixed with as much sugar as can be smoothly blended with it, and a flavouring of powdered cinnamon, or of nutmeg: this must be sent to table apart from them, not in the dish. LIGHT CURRANT DUMPLINGS. For each dumpling take three tablespoonsful of flour, two of finely-minced suet, and three of currants, a slight pinch of salt, and as much milk or water as will make a very thick batter of the ingredients. Tie the dumplings in well-floured cloths, and boil them for a full hour: they may be served with very sweet wine sauce. LEMON DUMPLINGS. (LIGHT AND GOOD.) Mix, with ten ounces of fine bread-crumbs, half a pound of beef suet, chopped extremely small, one large tablespoonful of flour, the grated rinds of two small lemons, or of a very large one, four ounces of pounded sugar, three large or four small eggs beaten and strained, and last of all, the juice of the lemons, or part of it, also strained. Divide these into four equal portions, tie them in well-floured cloths, and boil them an hour. The dumplings will be extremely light and delicate: if wished very sweet, more sugar must be added to them. The syrup of preserved ginger would be both a wholesome and appropriate sauce for them. SUFFOLK, OR HARD DUMPLINGS. Mix a little salt with some flour, and make it into a smooth and rather lithe paste, with cold water or skimmed milk; form it into dumplings, and throw them into boiling water: in half an hour they will be ready to serve. A better kind of dumpling is made by adding sufficient milk to the flour to form a thick batter, and then tying the dumplings in small well-floured cloths. In Suffolk farmhouses, they are served with the dripping-pan gravy of roast meat, and they are sometimes made very small indeed, and boiled with stewed shin of beef. NORFOLK DUMPLINGS. Take a pound of dough from a baking of very light white bread, and divide it into six equal parts; mould these into dumplings, drop them into a pan of fast boiling water, and boil them quickly from 422twelve to fifteen minutes. Send them to table the instant they are dished, with wine sauce or raspberry vinegar. In some counties they are eaten with melted butter, well sweetened, and mixed with a little vinegar. They must never be cut, but should be torn apart with a couple of forks. SWEET BOILED PATTIES. (GOOD.) Mix into a very smooth paste, three ounces of finely-minced suet with eight of flour, and a light pinch of salt; divide it into fourteen balls of equal size, roll them out quite thin and round, moisten the edges, put a little preserve into each, close the patties very securely to prevent its escape, throw them into a pan of boiling water, and in from ten to twelve minutes lift them out, and serve them instantly. Butter-crust may be used for them instead of suet but it will not be so light. Flour, 8 oz.; suet, 3 oz.; little salt; divided into fourteen portions: boiled 10 to 12 minutes. BOILED RICE TO BE SERVED WITH STEWED FRUITS, PRESERVES, OR RASPBERRY VINEGAR. Take out the discoloured grains from half a pound of good rice; and wash it in several waters; tie it very loosely in a pudding cloth, put it into cold water; heat it slowly, and boil it for quite an hour, it will then be quite solid and resemble a pudding in appearance. Sufficient room must be given to allow the grain to swell to its full size, or it will be hard; but too much space will render the whole watery. With a little experience, the cook will easily ascertain the exact degree to be allowed for it. Four ounces of rice will require quite three quarters of an hour’s boiling; a little more or less of time will sometimes be needed, from the difference of quality in the grain. It should be put into an abundant quantity of water, which should be cold and then very slowly heated. Carolina rice, 1/2 lb.: boiled 1 hour. 4 oz.: 3/4 hour. 423 CHAPTER XXI. Baked Puddings. Pudding garnished with Preserves. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Baked Pudding Mould. We have little to add here to the remarks which will be found at the commencement of the preceding Chapter, as they will apply equally to the preparation of these and of boiled puddings. All of the custard kind, whether made of eggs and milk only, or of sago, arrow-root, rice, ground or in grain, vermicelli, &c., require a very gentle oven, and are spoiled by fast-baking. Those made of batter on the contrary, should be put into one sufficiently brisk to raise them quickly but without scorching them. Such as contain suet and raisins must have a well-heated but not a fierce oven; for as they must remain long in it to be thoroughly done, unless carefully managed they will either be much too highly coloured or too dry. By whisking to a solid froth the whites of the eggs used for any pudding, and stirring them softly into it at the instant of placing it in the oven it will be rendered exceedingly light, and will rise very high in the dish; but as it will partake then of the nature of a 424soufflé, it must be despatched with great expedition to table from the oven, or it will become flat before it is served. When a pudding is sufficiently browned on the surface (that is to say, of a fine equal amber-colour) before it is baked through, a sheet of writing paper should be laid over it, but not before it is set: when quite firm in the centre it will be done. Potato, batter, plum, and every other kind of pudding indeed which is sufficiently solid to allow of it, should be turned on to a clean hot dish from the one in which it is baked, and strewed with sifted sugar before it is sent to table. Minute directions for the preparation and management of each particular variety of pudding will be found in the receipt for it. A BAKED PLUM PUDDING EN MOULE, OR MOULDED. Mingle thoroughly in a large pan or bowl half a pound of the nicest beef-kidney suet minced very small, half a pound of carefully stoned raisins, as many currants, four ounces of pounded sugar, half a pound of flour, two ounces of candied citron and lemon or orange rind, four large well whisked eggs, a small cup of milk, a glass of brandy, a tiny pinch of salt, and some nutmeg or powdered ginger. Beat the whole up lightly, pour it into a well-buttered mould or cake-tin and bake it in a moderate oven from an hour and a half to two hours. Turn it from the mould and send it quickly to table with Devonshire cream, or melted apricot marmalade for sauce. THE PRINTER’S PUDDING. Grate very lightly six ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf, and put it into a deep dish. Dissolve in a quart of cold new milk four ounces of good Lisbon sugar; add it to five large, well-whisked eggs, strain, and mix them with the bread-crumbs; stir in two ounces of a fresh finely-grated cocoa-nut; add a flavouring of nutmeg or of lemon-rind, and the slightest pinch of salt; let the pudding stand for a couple of hours to soak the bread; and bake it in a gentle oven for three-quarters of an hour: it will be excellent if carefully made, and not too quickly baked. When the cocoa-nut is not at hand, an ounce of butter just dissolved, should be poured over the dish before the crumbs are put into it; and the rind of an entire lemon may be used to give it flavour; but the cocoa-nut imparts a peculiar richness when it is good and fresh. Bread-crumbs, 6 oz.; new milk, 1 quart; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 5; cocoa-nut, 2 oz. (or rind, 1 large lemon, and 1 oz. butter); slightest pinch of salt: to stand 2 hours. Baked in gentle oven full 3/4 hour. Obs.—When a very sweet pudding is liked, the proportion of sugar may be increased. 425 ALMOND PUDDING. On two ounces of fine bread-crumbs pour a pint of boiling cream, and let them remain until nearly cold, then mix them very gradually with half a pound of sweet and six bitter almonds pounded to the smoothest paste, with a little orange-flower water, or with a few drops of spring water, just to prevent their oiling; stir to them by degrees the well-beaten yolks of seven and the whites of three eggs, six ounces of sifted sugar, and four of clarified butter; turn the mixture into a very clean stewpan, and stir it without ceasing over a slow fire until it becomes thick, but on no account allow it to boil. When it is tolerably cool add a glass of brandy, or half a one of noyau, pour the pudding into a dish lined with very thin puff paste, and bake it half an hour in a moderate oven. Bread-crumbs, 2 oz.; cream, 1 pint; pounded almonds, 1/2 lb.; bitter almonds, 6; yolks of 7, whites of 3 eggs; sugar, 6 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; brandy, 1 wineglassful, or 1/2 glass of noyau: 1/2 hour, moderate oven. THE YOUNG WIFE’S PUDDING. (Author’s Receipt.) Break separately into a cup four perfectly sweet eggs, and with the point of a small three-pronged fork clear them from the specks. Throw them, as they are done, into a large basin, or a bowl, and beat them up lightly for four or five minutes, then add by degrees two ounces and a half of pounded sugar, with a very small pinch of salt, and whisk the mixture well, holding the fork rather loosely between the thumb and fingers; next, grate in the rind of a quite fresh lemon, or substitute for it a tablespoonful of lemon-brandy, or of orange-flower water, which should be thrown in by degrees, and stirred briskly to the eggs. Add a pint of cold new milk, and pour the pudding into a well buttered dish. Slice some stale bread, something more than a quarter of an inch thick, and with a very small cake-cutter cut sufficient rounds from it to cover the top of the pudding; butter them thickly with good butter; lay them, with the dry side undermost, upon the pudding, sift sugar thickly on them, and set the dish gently into a Dutch or American oven, which should be placed at the distance of a foot or more from a moderate fire. An hour of very slow baking will be just sufficient to render the pudding firm throughout; but should the fire be fierce, or the oven placed too near it, the receipt will fail. Obs.—We give minute directions for this dish, because though simple, it is very delicate and good, and the same instructions will serve for all the varieties of it which follow. The cook who desires to succeed with them, must take the trouble to regulate properly the 426heat of the oven in which they are baked. When it is necessary to place them in that of the kitchen-range the door should be left open for a time to cool it down (should it be very hot), before they are placed in it; and they may be set upon a plate or dish reversed, if the iron should still remain greatly heated. THE GOOD DAUGHTER’S MINCEMEAT PUDDING. (Author’s Receipt.) Lay into a rather deep tart-dish some thin slices of French roll very slightly spread with butter and covered with a thick layer of mincemeat; place a second tier lightly on these, covered in the same way with the mincemeat; then pour gently in a custard made with three well-whisked eggs, three-quarters of a pint of new milk or thin cream, the slightest pinch of salt, and two ounces of sugar. Let the pudding stand to soak for an hour, then bake it gently until it is quite firm in the centre: this will be in from three-quarters of an hour to a full hour. MRS. HOWITT’S PUDDING. (Author’s Receipt.) Butter lightly, on both sides, some evenly cut slices of roll, or of light bread freed from crust, and spread the tops thickly but uniformly with good orange-marmalade. Prepare as much only in this way as will cover the surface of the pudding without the edges of the bread overlaying each other, as this would make it sink to the bottom of the dish. Add the same custard as for the mincemeat-pudding, but flavour it with French brandy only. Let it stand for an hour, then place it gently in a slow oven and bake it until it is quite set, but no longer. It is an excellent and delicate pudding when properly baked; but like all which are composed in part of custard, it will be spoiled by a fierce degree of heat. The bread should be of a light clear brown, and the custard, under it, smooth and firm. This may be composed, at choice, of the yolks of four and whites of two eggs, thoroughly whisked, first without and then with two tablespoonsful of fine sugar; to these the milk or cream may then be added. AN EXCELLENT LEMON PUDDING. Beat well together four ounces of fresh butter creamed, and eight of sifted sugar; to these add gradually the yolks of six and the whites of two eggs, with the grated rind and the strained juice of one large lemon:—this last must be added by slow degrees, and stirred briskly to the other ingredients. Bake the pudding in a dish lined 427with very thin puff-paste for three-quarters of an hour, in a slow oven. Butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; yolks of 6, whites of 2 eggs; large lemon, 1: 3/4 hour, slow oven. LEMON SUET PUDDING. To half a pound of finely grated bread-crumbs, add six ounces of fresh beef-kidney suet, free from skin, and minced very small, a quarter of a pound of castor sugar, six ounces of currants, the grated rind and the strained juice of a large lemon, and four full-sized or five small well-beaten eggs; pour these ingredients into a thickly-buttered pan, and bake the pudding for an hour in a brisk oven, but draw it towards the mouth when it is of a fine brown colour. Turn it from the dish before it is served, and strew sifted sugar over it or not, at pleasure: two ounces more of suet can be added when a larger proportion is liked. The pudding is very good without the currants. Bread-crumbs, 8 oz.; beef-suet, 6 oz.; pounded sugar, 3-1/2 oz.; lemon, 1 large; currants, 6 oz.; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small: 1 hour, brisk oven. BAKEWELL PUDDING. This pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several of our northern counties, where it is usually served on all holiday-occasions. Line a shallow tart-dish with quite an inch-deep layer of several kinds of good preserve mixed together, and intermingle with them from two to three ounces of candied citron or orange-rind. Beat well the yolks of ten eggs, and add to them gradually half a pound of sifted sugar; when they are well mixed, pour in by degrees half a pound of good clarified butter, and a little ratifia or any other flavour that may be preferred; fill the dish two-thirds full with this mixture, and bake the pudding for nearly an hour in a moderate oven. Half the quantity will be sufficient for a small dish. Mixed preserves, 1-1/2 to 2 lbs.; yolks of eggs, 10; sugar, 1/2 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; ratifia, lemon-brandy, or other flavouring, to the taste: baked, moderate oven, 3/4 to 1 hour. Obs.—This is a rich and expensive, but not very refined pudding. A variation of it, known in the south as an Alderman’s Pudding, is we think, superior to it. It is made without the candied peel, and with a layer of apricot-jam only, six ounces of butter, six of sugar, the yolks of six, and the whites of two eggs. RATIFIA PUDDING. Flavour a pint and a half of new milk rather highly with bitter almonds, blanched and bruised, or, should their use be objected to, 428with three or four bay leaves and a little cinnamon; add a few grains of salt, and from four to six ounces of sugar in lumps, according to the taste. When the whole has simmered gently for some minutes, strain off the milk through a fine sieve or muslin, put it into a clean saucepan, and when it again boils stir it gradually and quickly to six well-beaten eggs which have been likewise strained; let the mixture cool, and then add to it a glass of brandy. Lay a half-paste round a well-buttered dish, and sprinkle into it an ounce of ratifias finely crumbled, grate the rind of a lemon over, and place three ounces of whole ratifias upon them, pour in sufficient of the custard to soak them; an hour afterwards add the remainder, and send the pudding to a gentle oven: half an hour will bake it. New milk, 1-1/2 pint; bitter almonds, 6 or 7 (or bay leaves, 3 to 5, and bit of cinnamon); sugar, 4 to 6 oz.; eggs, 6; brandy, 1 wineglassful; ratifias, 4 oz.; rind 1/2 lemon: baked 1/2 hour. THE ELEGANT ECONOMIST’S PUDDING. We have already given a receipt for an exceedingly good boiled pudding bearing this title, but we think the baked one answers even better, and it is made with rather more facility. Butter a deep tart-dish well, cut the slices of plum-pudding to join exactly in lining it, and press them against it lightly to make them adhere, as without this precaution they are apt to float off; pour in as much custard (previously thickened and left to become cold), or any other sweet pudding mixture, as will fill the dish almost to the brim; cover the top with thin slices of the plum pudding, and bake it in a slow oven from thirty minutes to a full hour, according to the quantity and quality of the contents. One pint of new milk poured boiling on an ounce and a half of tous-les-mois, smoothly mixed with a quarter of a pint of cold milk, makes with the addition of four ounces of sugar, four small eggs, a little lemon-grate, and two or three bitter almonds, or a few drops of ratifia, an excellent pudding of this kind; it should be baked nearly three-quarters of an hour in a quite slow oven. Two ounces and a half of arrow-root may be used in lieu of the tous-les-mois. RICH BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING. Give a good flavour of lemon-rind and bitter almonds, or of cinnamon, if preferred, to a pint of new milk, and when it has simmered a sufficient time for this, strain and mix it with a quarter of a pint of rich cream; sweeten it with four ounces of sugar in lumps, and stir it while still hot to five well-beaten eggs; throw in a few grains of salt, and move the mixture briskly with a spoon as a glass of brandy is added to it. Have ready in a thickly-buttered dish three layers of thin bread and butter cut from a half-quartern loaf, with four ounces of currants, and one and a half of finely shred candied peel, strewed 429between and over them; pour the eggs and milk on them by degrees, letting the bread absorb one portion before another is added: it should soak for a couple of hours before the pudding is taken to the oven, which should be a moderate one. Half an hour will bake it. It is very good when made with new milk only; and some persons use no more than a pint of liquid in all, but part of the whites of the eggs may then be omitted. Cream may be substituted for the entire quantity of milk at pleasure. New milk, 1 pint; rind of small lemon, and 6 bitter almonds bruised (or 1/2 drachm of cinnamon): simmered 10 to 20 minutes. Cream, 1/4 pint; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 6; brandy, 1 wineglassful. Bread and butter, 3 layers; currants, 4 oz.; candied orange or lemon-rind, 1-1/2 oz.: to stand 2 hours, and to be baked 30 minutes in a moderate oven. COMMON BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING. Sweeten a pint and a half of milk with four ounces of Lisbon sugar; stir it to four large well-beaten eggs, or to five small ones, grate half a nutmeg to them, and pour the mixture into a dish which holds nearly three pints, and which is filled almost to the brim with layers of bread and butter, between which three ounces of currants have been strewed. Lemon-grate, or orange-flower water can be added to this pudding instead of nutmeg, when preferred. From three quarters of an hour to an hour will bake it. Milk, 1-1/2 pint; Lisbon sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small; 1/2 small nutmeg; currants, 3 oz.: baked 3/4 to 1 hour. A GOOD BAKED BREAD PUDDING. Pour, quite boiling, on six ounces (or three quarters of a pint) of fine bread-crumbs and one ounce of butter, a pint of new milk, cover them closely, and let them stand until the bread is well soaked; then stir to them three ounces of sugar, five eggs, leaving out two of the whites, two ounces of candied orange-rind, sliced thin, and a flavouring of nutmeg; when the mixture is nearly or quite cold pour it into a dish, and place lightly over the top the whites of three eggs beaten to a firm froth, and mixed at the instant with three large tablespoonsful of sifted sugar. Bake the pudding for half an hour in a moderate oven. The icing may be omitted, and an ounce and a half of butter, just warmed, put into the dish before the pudding, and plenty of sugar sifted over it just as it is sent to the oven, or it may be made without either. Bread, 6 oz.; butter, 1 oz.; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 5 yolks, 3 whites; candied orange-rind, 2 oz.; little nutmeg. Icing, 3 whites of eggs; sugar, 3 tablespoonsful: baked, 1/2 hour. 430 ANOTHER BAKED BREAD PUDDING. Add to a pint of new milk a quarter of a pint of good cream, and pour them boiling on eight ounces of bread-crumbs, and three of fresh butter; when these have stood half an hour covered with a plate, stir to them four ounces of sugar, six ounces of currants, one and a half of candied orange or citron, and five eggs. A GOOD SEMOULINA, OR SOUJEE PUDDING. Drop lightly into a pint and a half of boiling milk two large tablespoonsful of semoulina, and stir them together as this is done, that the mixture may not be lumpy; continue the stirring from eight to ten minutes, then throw in two ounces of good butter, and three and a half of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon; next add the grated rind of a lemon, and, while the semoulina is still warm, beat gradually and briskly to it five well-whisked eggs; pour it into a buttered dish, and bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven. Boil the soujee exactly as the semoulina. New milk, 1-1/2 pint; semoulina, 2-1/2 oz.: 7 to 8 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/2 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; rind of lemon; eggs, 5: baked in moderate oven, 1/2 hour. Or, soujee, 4 oz.; other ingredients as above. FRENCH SEMOULINA PUDDING. Or Gâteau de Semoule. Infuse by the side of the fire in a quart of new milk, the very thin rind of a fine fresh lemon, and when it has stood for half an hour bring it slowly to a boil: simmer it for four or five minutes, then take out the lemon rind, and throw lightly into the milk, stirring it all the time, five ounces of the best quality of semoulina;[149] let it boil over a gentle fire for ten minutes, then add four ounces of sugar roughly powdered, three of fresh butter, and less than a small quarter-teaspoonful of salt; boil the mixture for two or three additional minutes, keeping it stirred without ceasing; take it from the fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it briskly, and by degrees, the yolks of six eggs and the whites of four well beaten together, and strained or prepared for use as directed at page 395, four or five bitter almonds, pounded with a little sugar, will heighten the flavour pleasantly to many tastes. When the pudding is nearly cold, pour 431it gently into a stewpan or mould, prepared as for the Gâteau de Riz of page 433, and bake it in a very gentle oven from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. 149.  As we have had occasion to state in the previous pages of this volume, we have had semoulina, vermicelli, and various kinds of macaroni of first-rate quality, from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall; but they may, without doubt, be procured equally good from many other foreign warehouses. SAXE-GOTHA PUDDING, OR TOURTE. Blanch and pound to the smoothest possible paste, a couple of ounces of Jordan almonds, and four or five bitter ones; add to them, spoonful by spoonful quite at first, four eggs which have been whisked very light; throw in gradually two ounces of pounded sugar, and then four ounces of the finest bread-crumbs. Just melt, but without heating, two ounces of fresh butter, and add it in very small portions to the other ingredients, beating each well to them until it ceases to appear on the surface. Pour the paste thus prepared upon a pint of red currants, ready mixed in a tart-dish with four ounces of pounded sugar, and bake them gently for about half an hour. Raspberries and currants mixed, and Kentish or morella cherries, will make most excellent varieties of this dish: the Kentish cherries should be stoned for it, the morellas left entire. Should the paste be considered too rich, a part or the whole of the butter can be omitted; or again, it may on occasion be made without the almonds; but the reader is recommended to try the receipt in the first instance without any variation from it. The crust will be found delicious if well made. Like all mixtures of the kind it must be kept light by constant beating, as the various ingredients are added to the eggs, which should themselves be whisked to a very light froth before they are used. Jordan almonds, 2 oz.; bitter almonds, 4 or 5; eggs, 4; pounded sugar, 2 oz.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; fresh butter, 2 oz. Red currants, (or other fruit) 1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.: 1/2 hour. BADEN-BADEN PUDDINGS. Prepare the same paste as for the preceding receipt, and add to it by degrees a couple of tablespoonsfuls of fine raspberry, strawberry, or apricot jam, which has previously been worked smooth with the back of a spoon; half fill some buttered pattypans or small cups with the mixture and bake the puddings in a gentle oven from fifteen to twenty minutes, or rather longer should it be very slow. For variety, omit the preserve, and flavour the puddings with the lightly grated rind of a fresh lemon, and with an ounce or so of candied peel shred small; or with a little vanilla pounded with a lump or two of sugar, and sifted through a hair sieve; or with from three to four drachms of orange flowers pralineés reduced to powder; or serve them quite plain with a fruit sauce. 432 SUTHERLAND OR CASTLE PUDDINGS. Take an equal weight of eggs in the shell, of good butter, of fine dry flour, and of sifted sugar. First, whisk the eggs for ten minutes or until they appear extremely light, then throw in the sugar by degrees, and continue the whisking for four or five minutes; next, strew in the flour, also gradually, and when it appears smoothly blended with the other ingredients, pour the butter to them in small portions, each of which should be beaten in until there is no appearance of it left. It should previously be just liquefied with the least possible degree of heat: this may be effected by putting it into a well-warmed saucepan, and shaking it round until it is dissolved. A grain or two of salt should be thrown in with the flour; and the rind of half a fine lemon rasped on sugar or grated, or some pounded mace, or any other flavour can be added at choice. Pour the mixture directly it is ready into well-buttered cups, and bake the puddings from twenty to twenty-five minutes. When cold they resemble good pound cakes, and may be served as such. Wine sauce should be sent to table with them. Eggs, 4; their weight in flour, sugar, and butter; little salt; flavouring of pounded mace or lemon-rind. Obs.—Three eggs are sufficient for a small dish of these puddings. They may be varied with an ounce or two of candied citron; or with a spoonful of brandy, or a little orange-flower water. The mode we have given of making them will be found perfectly successful if our directions be followed with exactness. In a slow oven they will not be too much baked in half an hour. MADELEINE PUDDINGS. To be served cold. Take the same ingredients as for the Sutherland puddings, but clarify an additional ounce of butter; skim, and then fill some round tin pattypans with it almost to the brim; pour it from one to the other until all have received a sufficient coating to prevent the puddings from adhering to them, and leave half a teaspoonful in each; mix the remainder with the eggs, sugar, and flour, beat the whole up very lightly, fill the pans about two-thirds full, and put them directly into a rather brisk oven, but draw them towards the mouth of it when they are sufficiently coloured; from fifteen to eighteen minutes will bake them. Turn them out, and drain them on a sheet of paper. When they are quite cold, with the point of the knife take out a portion of the tops, hollow the puddings a little, and fill them with rich apricot-jam, well mixed with half its weight of pounded almonds, of which two in every ounce should be bitter ones. 433 A GOOD FRENCH RICE PUDDING, OR GÂTEAU DE RIZ. Swell gently in a quart of new milk, or in equal parts of milk and cream, seven ounces of the best Carolina rice, which has been cleared of the discoloured grains, and washed and drained; when it is tolerably tender, add to it three ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar roughly powdered, a few grains of salt, and the lightly grated rind of a fine lemon, and simmer the whole until the rice is swollen to the utmost; then take it from the fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it quickly, and by degrees, the well-beaten yolks of six full-sized eggs. Pour into a small copper stewpan[150] a couple of ounces of clarified butter, and incline it in such a manner that it may receive an equal coating in every part; then turn it upside down for an instant, to drain off the superfluous butter; next, throw in some exceedingly fine light crumbs of stale bread, and shake them entirely over it, turn out those which do not adhere, and with a small brush or feather sprinkle more clarified butter slightly on those which line the pan. Whisk quickly the whites of the eggs to snow, stir them gently to the rice, and pour the mixture softly into the stewpan, that the bread-crumbs may not be displaced; put it immediately into a moderate oven, and let it remain in a full hour. It will then, if properly baked, turn out from the mould or pan well browned, quite firm, and having the appearance of a cake; but a fierce heat will cause it to break, and present an altogether unsightly appearance. In a very slow oven a longer time must be allowed for it. 150.  One which holds about five pints is well adapted to the purpose. When this is not at hand, a copper cake-mould may be substituted for it. The stewpan must not be covered while the gâteau is baking. New milk, or milk and cream, 1 quart; Carolina rice, 7 oz.: 3/4 hour. Fresh butter, 3 oz.; sugar, in lumps, 5 oz.; rind, 1 large lemon: 3/4 to 1-1/4. Eggs, 6: baked in a moderate oven, 1 hour. Obs.—An excellent variety of this gâteau is made with cocoa-nut flavoured milk, or cream (see Chapter XXIII.), or with either of these poured boiling on six ounces of Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and mixed with a dozen bitter ones, then wrung from them with strong pressure; it may likewise be flavoured with vanilla, or with candied orange-blossoms, and covered at the instant it is dished, with strawberry, apple, or any other clear jelly. A COMMON RICE PUDDING. Throw six ounces of rice into plenty of cold water, and boil it gently from eight to ten minutes; drain it well in a sieve or strainer, and put it into a clean saucepan with a quart of milk; let it stew 434until tender, sweeten it with three ounces of sugar, stir to it, gradually, three large, or four small eggs, beaten and strained; add grated nutmeg, lemon rind, or cinnamon to give it flavour, and bake it one hour in a gentle oven. Rice, 6 oz.: in water, 8 to 10 minutes. Milk, 1 quart: 3/4 to 1 hour. Sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small; flavouring of nutmeg lemon-rind, or cinnamon: bake 1 hour, gentle oven. QUITE CHEAP RICE PUDDING. Boil the rice in water, as for a currie, and while it is still warm, mix with it a pint and a half of milk, and three fresh or four or five French eggs (at many seasons of the year these last, which are always cheap, are very good, and answer excellently for puddings.) Sweeten it with pale brown sugar, grate nutmeg on the top, and bake it slowly until it is firm in every part. RICHER RICE PUDDING. Wash very clean four ounces of whole rice, pour on it a pint and a half of new milk, and stew it slowly till quite tender; before it is taken from the fire, stir in two ounces of good butter, and three of sugar; and when it has cooled a little, add four well-whisked eggs, and the grated rind of half a lemon. Bake the pudding in a gentle oven from thirty to forty minutes. As rice requires long boiling to render it soft in milk, it may be partially stewed in water, the quantity of milk diminished to a pint, and a little thick sweet cream mixed with it, before the other ingredients are added. Rice, 4 oz.; new milk, 1-1/2 pint; butter, 2 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 4; rind of 1/2 lemon: 30 to 40 minutes, slow oven. RICE PUDDING MERINGUÉ. Swell gently four ounces of Carolina rice in a pint and a quarter of milk or of thin cream; let it cool a little, and stir to it an ounce and a half of butter, three of pounded sugar, a grain or two of salt, the grated rind of a small lemon, and the yolks of four large, or of five small eggs. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and lay lightly and equally over the top the whites of four eggs beaten as for sponge cakes, and mixed at the instant with from four to five heaped tablespoonsful of sifted sugar. Bake the pudding half an hour in a moderate oven, but do not allow the meringue to be too deeply coloured; it should be of a clear brown, and very crisp. Serve it directly it is taken from the oven. Rice, 4 oz.; milk, or cream, 1-1/4 pint; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; rind, 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 4 or 5; the whites beaten to snow, and mixed with as many tablespoonsful of sifted sugar: baked 1/2 hour, moderate oven. 435Obs.—A couple of ounces of Jordan almonds, with two or three bitter ones, pounded quite to a paste, will improve this dish, whether mixed with the pudding itself, or with the meringué. A GOOD GROUND RICE PUDDING. Mix very smoothly five ounces of flour of rice (or of ground rice, if preferred), with half a pint of milk, and pour it into a pint and a half more which is boiling fast; keep it stirred constantly over a gentle fire from ten to twelve minutes, and be particularly careful not to let it burn to the pan; add to it before it is taken from the fire, a quarter of a pound of good butter, from five to six ounces of sugar, roughly powdered, and a few grains of salt; turn it into a pan, and stir it for a few minutes, to prevent its hardening at the top; then mix with it, by degrees but quickly, the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of two, the grated or rasped rind of a fine lemon, and a glass of brandy. Lay a border of rich paste round a buttered dish, pour in the pudding, strain a little clarified butter over the top, moisten the paste with a brush, or small bunch of feathers dipped in cold water, and sift plenty of sugar on it, but less over the pudding itself. Send it to a very gentle oven to be baked for three-quarters of an hour. Rice-flour (or ground rice), 5 oz.; new milk, 1 quart: 10 to 12 minutes. Butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 5 to 6 oz.; salt, 1/2 saltspoonful; yolks, 8 eggs; whites, 2; rind, 1 large lemon; brandy, large wineglassful: 3/4 hour, slow oven. Obs.—These proportions are sufficient for a pudding of larger size than those served usually at elegant tables; they will make two small ones; or two-thirds of the quantity may be taken for one of moderate size. Lemon-brandy or ratifia, or a portion of each, may be used to give it flavour, with good effect; and it may be enriched, if this be desired, by adding to the other ingredients from three to four ounces of Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and by substituting cream for half of the milk. COMMON GROUND RICE PUDDING. One pint and a half of milk, three ounces and a half of rice, three of Lisbon sugar, one and a half of butter, some nutmeg, or lemon-grate, and four eggs, baked slowly for half an hour, or more, if not quite firm. GREEN GOOSEBERRY PUDDING. Boil together, from ten to twelve minutes, a pound of green gooseberries, five ounces of sugar, and rather more than a quarter of a pint of water: then beat the fruit to a mash, and stir to it an ounce and a half of fresh butter; when nearly, or quite cold, add 436two ounces and a half of very fine bread-crumbs, and four well whisked eggs. Bake the pudding gently from half to three-quarters of an hour. To make a finer one of the kind, work the fruit through a sieve, mix it with four or five crushed Naples biscuits, and use double the quantity of butter. Green gooseberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; water, full 1/4 pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Bread-crumbs, 2-1/2 oz.; eggs, 4: 1/2 to 3/4 hour. POTATO PUDDING. With a pound and a quarter of fine mealy potatoes, boiled very dry, and mashed perfectly smooth while hot, mix three ounces of butter, five or six of sugar, five eggs, a few grains of salt, and the grated rind of a small lemon. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and bake it in a moderate oven for nearly three-quarters of an hour. It should be turned out and sent to table with fine sugar sifted over it; or for variety, red currant jelly, or any other preserve, may be spread on it as soon as it is dished. Potatoes, 1-1/4 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 5 or 6 oz.; eggs, 5 or 6; lemon-rind, 1; salt, few grains: 40 to 45 minutes. Obs.—When cold, this pudding eats like cake, and may be served as such, omitting, of course, the sugar or preserve when it is dished. A RICHER POTATO PUDDING. Beat well together fourteen ounces of mashed potatoes, four ounces of butter, four of fine sugar, five eggs, the grated rind of a small lemon, and a slight pinch of salt; add half a glass of brandy, and pour the pudding into a thickly-buttered dish or mould, ornamented with slices of candied orange or; pour a little clarified butter on the top, and then sift plenty of white sugar over it. Potatoes, 14 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1; little salt; brandy, 1/2 glassful; candied peel, 1-1/2 to 2 oz.: 40 minutes. Obs.—The potatoes for these receipts should be lightly and carefully mashed, but never pounded in a mortar, as that will convert them into a heavy paste. The better plan is to prepare them by Captain Kater’s receipt (Chapter XVII.), when they will fall to powder almost of themselves; or they may be grated while hot through a wire sieve. From a quarter to a half pint of cream is, by many cooks, added always to potato puddings. A GOOD SPONGE CAKE PUDDING. Slice into a well-buttered tart-dish three penny sponge biscuits, and place on them a couple of ounces of candied orange or lemon rind cut in strips. Whisk thoroughly six eggs, and stir to them 437boiling a pint and a quarter of new milk, in which three ounces of sugar have been dissolved; grate in the rind of a small lemon, and when they are somewhat cooled, add half a wineglassful of brandy, while still just warm, pour the mixture to the cakes, and let it remain an hour; then strain an ounce and a half of clarified butter over the top, or strew pounded sugar rather thickly on it, and bake the pudding three quarters of an hour or longer in a gentle oven. Sponge cakes, 3; candied peel, 2 oz.; eggs, 6; new milk, 1-1/4 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; lemon-rind, 1; brandy, 1/2 glass; butter, 1 oz.; sifted sugar, 1-1/2 oz.: 3/4 hour. CAKE AND CUSTARD, AND VARIOUS OTHER INEXPENSIVE PUDDINGS. Even when very dry, the remains of a sponge or a Savoy cake will serve excellently for a pudding, if lightly broken up, or crumbled, and intermixed or not, with a few ratifias or macaroons, which should also be broken up. A custard composed of four eggs to the pint of milk if small, and three if very large and fresh, and not very highly sweetened, should be poured over the cake half an hour at least before it is placed in the oven (which should be slow); and any flavour given to it which may be liked. An economical and clever cook will seldom be at a loss for compounding an inexpensive and good pudding in this way. More or less of the cake can be used as may be convenient. Part of a mould of sweet rice or the remains of a dish of Arocē Docē (see Chapter XXIII.), and various other preparations may be turned to account in a similar manner; but the custard should be perfectly and equally mingled with whatever other ingredients are used. Macaroni boiled tender in milk, or in milk and water, will make an excellent pudding; and sago stewed very thick, will supply another; the custard may be mixed with this last while it is still just warm. Two ounces well washed, and slowly heated in a pint of liquid, will be tender in from fifteen to twenty minutes. All these puddings will require a gentle oven, and will be ready to serve when they are firm in the centre, and do not stick to a knife when plunged into it. BAKED APPLE PUDDING, OR CUSTARD. Weigh a pound of good boiling apples after they are pared and cored, and stew them to a perfectly smooth marmalade, with six ounces of sugar, and a spoonful or two of wine; stir them often that they may not stick to the pan. Mix with them while they are still quite hot, three ounces of butter, the grated rind and the strained juice of a lemon, and lastly, stir in by degrees the well-beaten yolks of five eggs, and a dessertspoonful of flour, or in lieu of the last, three or four Naples’ biscuits, or macaroons crushed small. Bake the pudding for a full half hour in a moderate oven, or longer 438should it be not quite firm in the middle. A little clarified butter poured on the top, with sugar sifted over, improves all baked puddings. Apples 1 lb.; sugar, 6 oz.; wine 1 glassful; butter, 3 oz.; juice and rind, 1 lemon; 5 eggs: 1/2 hour, or more. Obs.—Many cooks press the apples through a sieve after they are boiled, but this is not needful when they are of a good kind, and stewed, and beaten smooth. DUTCH CUSTARD, OR BAKED RASPBERRY PUDDING. Lay into a tart-dish a border of puff-paste, and a pint and a half of freshly-gathered raspberries, well mixed with three ounces of sugar. Whisk thoroughly six large eggs with three ounces more of sugar, and pour it over the fruit: bake the pudding from twenty-five to thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Break the eggs one at a time into a cup, and with the point of a small three-pronged fork take off the specks or germs, before they are beaten, as we have directed in page 424. Raspberries, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; eggs, 6: 25 to 30 minutes. GABRIELLE’S PUDDING, OR SWEET CASSEROLE OF RICE. Wash half a pound of the best Carolina rice, drain it on a hair-sieve, put it into a very clean stewpan or saucepan, and pour on it a quart of cold new milk. Stir them well together, and place them near the fire that the rice may swell very gradually; then let it simmer as gently as possible for about half an hour, or until it begins to be quite tender; mix with it then, two ounces of fresh butter and two and a half of pounded sugar, and let it continue to simmer softly until it is dry and sufficiently tender,[151] to be easily crushed to a smooth paste with a strong wooden spoon. Work it to this point, and then let it cool. Before it is taken from the fire, scrape into it the outside of some sugar which has been rubbed upon the rind of a fresh lemon. Have ready a tin mould of pretty form, well buttered in every part; press the rice into it while it is still warm, smooth the surface, and let it remain until cold. Should the mould be one which opens at the ends, like that shown in the plate at page 344, the pudding will come out easily; but if it should be in a plain common one, just dip it into hot water to loosen it; turn out the rice, and then again reverse it on to a tin or dish, and with the point of a knife mark round the top a rim of about an inch wide; then brush some clarified butter over the whole pudding, and set it into a brisk oven. When it is of an equal light golden brown draw it out, raise the cover carefully where it is marked, scoop out the rice from the inside, leaving 439only a crust of about an inch thick in every part, and pour into it some preserved fruit warmed in its own syrup, or fill it with a compôte of plums or peaches (see Chapter XXIII.); or with some good apples boiled with fine sugar to a smooth rich marmalade. This is a very good as well as an elegant dish: it may be enriched with more butter, and by substituting cream for the milk in part or entirely but it is excellent without either. 151.  Unless the rice be boiled slowly, and very dry, it will not answer for the casserole. Rice, 1/2 lb.; new milk, 1 quart: 1/2 hour. Fresh butter, 2 oz.; pounded sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; rasped rind, 1 lemon: 1/2 hour or more. Obs.—The precise time of baking the pudding cannot well be specified: it only requires colour. VERMICELLI PUDDING WITH APPLES OR WITHOUT, AND PUDDINGS OF SOUJEE AND SEMOLA. Drop gradually into an exact quart of boiling milk four ounces of very fresh vermicelli, crushing it slightly with one hand and letting it fall gently from the fingers, and stirring the milk with a spoon held in the other hand, to prevent the vermicelli from gathering into lumps. Boil it softly until it is quite tender and very thick, which it will be usually in about twenty minutes, during which time it must be very frequently stirred; then work in two ounces of fresh butter and four of pounded sugar; turn the mixture into a bowl or pan, and stir it occasionally until it has cooled down. Whisk five good eggs until they are very light, beat them gradually and quickly to the other ingredients, add the finely grated rind of a lemon or a little lemon-brandy or ratifia, and pour the pudding when nearly cold into a buttered dish, and just cover the surface with apples pared, cored, and quartered; press them into the pudding-mixture, to the top of which they will immediately rise again, and place the dish in a very gentle oven for three-quarters of an hour, or longer if needed to render the fruit quite tender. The apples should be of the best quality for cooking. This is an exceedingly nice pudding if well made and well baked. The butter can be omitted to simplify it. Milk, 1 quart; vermicelli, 4 oz.: boiled about 20 minutes. Butter 2 oz.; (when used) pounded sugar, 1/4 lb.; eggs, 5: baked slowly 3/4 hour or more. For a plain common vermicelli pudding omit the apples and one egg: for a very good one use six eggs, and the butter; and flavour it delicately with orange-flower water, vanilla, or aught else that may be preferred. We have often had an ounce or two of candied citron sliced very thin mingled with it. Puddings of soujee and semola are made in precisely the same manner, with four ounces to the quart of milk, and ten minutes boiling. 440 RICE À LA VATHEK, OR RICE PUDDING À LA VATHEK. (Extremely Good.) Blanch, and then pound carefully to the smoothest possible paste four ounces of fine Jordan almonds and half a dozen bitter ones, moistening them with a few drops of water to prevent their oiling. Stir to them by slow degrees a quart of boiling milk, which should be new, wring it again closely from them through a thin cloth, which will absorb it less than a tammy, and set it aside to cool. Wash thoroughly, and afterwards soak for about ten minutes seven ounces of Carolina rice, drain it well from the water, pour the almond-milk upon it, bring it very slowly to boil, and simmer it softly until it is tolerably tender, taking the precaution to stir it often at first that it may not gather into lumps nor stick to the pan. Add to it two ounces of fresh butter and four of pounded sugar, and when it is perfectly tender and dry, proceed with it exactly as for Gabrielle’s pudding, but in moulding the rice press it closely and evenly in, and hollow it in the centre, leaving the edge an inch thick in every part, that it may not break in the oven. The top must be slightly brushed with butter before it is baked, to prevent its becoming too dry, but a morsel of white blotting paper will take up any portion that may remain in it. When it is ready to serve, pour into it a large jarful of apricot jam, and send it immediately to table. If well made it will be delicious. It may be served cold (though this is less usual), and decorated with small thin leaves of citron-rind, cut with a minute paste-cutter. The same preparation may be used also for Gabrielle’s pudding, and filled with hot preserved fruit, the rice scooped from the inside being mixed with the syrup. GOOD YORKSHIRE PUDDING. To make a very good and light Yorkshire pudding, take an equal number of eggs and of heaped tablespoonsful of flour, with a teaspoonful of salt to six of these. Whisk the eggs well, strain, and mix them gradually with the flour, then pour in by degrees as much new milk as will reduce the batter to the consistence of rather thin cream. The tin which is to receive the pudding must have been placed for some time previously under a joint that has been put down to roast one of beef is usually preferred. Beat the batter briskly and lightly the instant before it is poured into the pan, watch it carefully that it may not burn, and let the edges have an equal share of the fire. When the pudding is quite firm in every part, and well-coloured on 441the surface, turn it to brown the under side. This is best accomplished by first dividing it into quarters. In Yorkshire it is made much thinner than in the south, roasted generally at an enormous fire, and not turned at all: currants there are sometimes added to it. Eggs, 6; flour, 6 heaped tablespoonsful, or from 7 to 8 oz.; milk, nearly or quite 1 pint; salt, 1 teaspoonful: 2 hours. Obs.—This pudding should be quite an inch thick when it is browned on both sides, but only half the depth when roasted in the Yorkshire mode. The cook must exercise her discretion a little in mixing the batter, as from the variation of weight in flour, and in the size of eggs, a little more or less of milk may be required: the whole should be rather more liquid than for a boiled pudding. COMMON YORKSHIRE PUDDING. Half a pound of flour, three eggs (we would recommend a fourth), rather more than a pint of milk, and a teaspoonful of salt. NORMANDY PUDDING. (GOOD.) Boil, until very soft and dry, eight ounces of rice in a pint and a half, or rather more, of water,[152] stir to it two ounces of fresh butter and three of sugar, and simmer it for a few minutes after they are added; then pour it out, and let it cool for use. Strip from the stalks as many red currants, or Kentish cherries, as will fill a tart-dish of moderate size, and for each pint of the fruit allow from three to four ounces of sugar. Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish with part of the rice; next, put in a thick layer of fruit and sugar; then one of rice and one of fruit alternately until the dish is full. Sufficient of the rice should be reserved to form a rather thick layer at the top: smooth this equally with a knife, sift sugar thickly on it, or brush it with good cream, and send the pudding to a moderate oven for half an hour, or longer, should it be large. Morella cherries, with a little additional sugar, make an excellent pudding of this kind. 152.  A quart of milk can be substituted for this; but with the fruit, water perhaps answers better. COMMON BAKED RAISIN PUDDING. Beat well together three-quarters of a pound of flour, the same quantity of raisins, six ounces of beef-suet, finely chopped, a small pinch of salt, some grated nutmeg, and three eggs which have been thoroughly whisked, and mixed with about a quarter of a pint of milk, or less than this, should the eggs be large. Pour the whole into a buttered dish, and bake it an hour and a quarter. For a large pudding, increase the quantities one half. 442Flour and stoned raisins, each 3/4 lb.; suet, 6 oz.; salt, small pinch; nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful; eggs, 3; milk, 1/4 pint: 1-1/4 hour. A RICHER BAKED RAISIN PUDDING. Mix and whisk well, and lightly together, a pound of raisins weighed after they are stoned, ten ounces of finely minced beef-suet, three-quarters of a pound of flour, a little salt, half a small nutmeg, or the grated rind of a lemon, four large eggs, and as much milk as may be needed to make the whole into a very thick batter: bake the pudding a few minutes longer than the preceding one. The addition of sugar will be found no improvement as it will render it much less light. Sultana raisins are well adapted to these puddings, as they contain no pips, and from their delicate size sooner become tender in the baking than the larger kinds. THE POOR AUTHOR’S PUDDING. Flavour a quart of new milk by boiling in it for a few minutes half a stick of well-bruised cinnamon, or the thin rind of a small lemon; add a few grains of salt, and three ounces of sugar, and turn the whole into a deep basin: when it is quite cold, stir to it three well-beaten eggs, and strain the mixture into a pie-dish. Cover the top entirely with slices of bread free from crust, and half an inch thick, cut so as to join neatly, and buttered on both sides: bake the pudding in a moderate oven for about half an hour, or in a Dutch oven before the fire. New milk, 1 quart; cinnamon, or lemon-rind; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt; eggs, 3; buttered bread: baked 1/2 hour. PUDDING À LA PAYSANNE. (Cheap and Good.) Fill a deep tart-dish with alternate layers of well-sugared fruit, and very thin slices of the crumb of a light stale loaf; let the upper layer be of fruit, and should it be of a dry kind, sprinkle over it about a dessertspoonful of water, or a little lemon-juice: raspberries, currants, and cherries, will not require this. Send the pudding to a somewhat brisk oven to be baked for about half an hour. The proportion of sugar used must be regulated, of course, by the acidity of the fruit. For a quart of ripe greengages, split and stoned, five ounces will be sufficient. THE CURATE’S PUDDING. This is but a variation of the pudding à la Paysanne which precedes it, but as it is both good and inexpensive it may be acceptable 443to some of our readers. Wash, wipe, and pare some quickly grown rhubarb-stalks, cut them into short lengths, and put a layer of them into a deep dish with a spoonful or two of Lisbon sugar; cover these evenly with part of a penny roll sliced thin; add another thick layer of fruit and sugar, then one of bread, then another of the rhubarb, cover this last with a deep layer of fine bread-crumbs well mingled with about a tablespoonful of sugar, pour a little clarified butter over them, and send the pudding to a brisk oven. From thirty to forty minutes will bake it. Good boiling apples sliced, sweetened, and flavoured with nutmeg or grated lemon-rind, and covered with well buttered slices of bread, make an excellent pudding of this kind, and so do black currants likewise, without the butter. A LIGHT BAKED BATTER PUDDING. With three heaped tablespoonsful or about six ounces of flour mix a small saltspoonful of salt, and add very gradually to it three fresh eggs which have been cleared in the usual way or strained, and whisked to a light froth. Beat up the batter well, then stir to it by degrees a pint of new milk, pour it into a buttered dish, set it immediately into a rather brisk oven, and bake it three-quarters of an hour. If properly managed, it will be extremely light and delicate, and the surface will be crisp. When good milk cannot be had for it, another egg, or the yolk of one at least, should be added. Send preserved or stewed fruit to table with it. The same mixture may be baked in buttered cups from twenty to thirty minutes, turned out, and served with sugar sifted thickly over. In some counties an ounce or two of very finely minced suet is usually mixed with baked batter puddings, which are enriched, but not improved, we think, by the addition; but that is entirely a matter of taste. 444 CHAPTER XXII. Eggs and Milk. TO PRESERVE EGGS FRESH FOR MANY WEEKS. As soon as possible after the eggs are taken from the nests, brush each one separately with a thin solution of gum Arabic, being careful to leave no portion of the shell uncovered by it. The half of each egg must first be done and left to become dry, before the remainder is touched, that the gum may not be rubbed off any part by its coming in contact, while wet, with the hand as it is held to be varnished, or with the table when it is laid down to harden. Obs.—Eggs will remain fit for use a very long time if carefully kept; but attention should always be given to the cleanliness of the shells before they are stored, as when these are soiled, and then excluded from the air, they will sometimes become very offensive. Those which are collected immediately after the harvest are the best 445both for eating and for putting up in store: they should be collected in dry weather when they are required to be kept.[153] 153.  For a sea-store, an old and experienced cook from on board a man-of-war, directs eggs to be rubbed with salt butter, and packed in layers with plenty of bran between them. He says that the salt penetrates the shell, and tends to preserve the eggs, which will require no additional salt when eaten. We give the information to the reader as we received. TO COOK EGGS IN THE SHELL WITHOUT BOILING THEM. (An admirable receipt.) This mode of dressing eggs is not new; it seems, indeed, to have been known in years long past, but not to have received the attention which its excellence deserved. We saw it mentioned with much commendation in a most useful little periodical, called the Cottage Gardener, and had it tested immediately with various modifications and with entire success. After many trials, we give the following as the best and most uniform in its results of our numerous experiments. First, put some boiling water into a large basin—a slop-basin for example—and let it remain for a few seconds, then turn it out, lay in the egg (or eggs), and roll it over, to take the chill off the shell, that it may not crack from the sudden application of heat; and pour in—and upon the egg—quite boiling water from a kettle, until it is completely immersed; put a plate over it instantly, and let it remain, upon the table, for twelve minutes, when it will be found perfectly and beautifully cooked, entirely free from all flavour and appearance of rawness, and yet so lightly and delicately dressed as to suit even persons who cannot take eggs at all when boiled in the usual way. It should be turned when something more than half done, but the plate should be replaced as quickly as possible. Two eggs will require scarcely more time than one; but some additional minutes must be allowed for any number beyond that. The process may always be quickened by changing the water when it has cooled a little, for more that is fast boiling: the eggs may, in fact, be rendered quite hard by the same means, but then no advantage is obtained over the old method of cooking them. 12 minutes. Obs.—This is one of the receipts which we have re-produced here from our cookery for invalids, on account of its adaptation to the taste generally. TO BOIL EGGS IN THE SHELL. Even this very simple process demands a certain degree of care, for if the eggs be brought from a cold larder, and suddenly plunged into boiling water they will frequently break immediately, and a large portion will often escape from the shells. In winter they should be 446held for an instant over the steam from the saucepan before they are laid in, and they should be put gently into it. Three minutes will boil them sufficiently for persons who like the whites in a partially liquid state. Five minutes, exact time, if they be fresh and fine, will harden the whites only, and leave the yolks still liquid. Few eaters require them more dressed than this; but eight or ten minutes will render them hard. Eggs should always be cooked in sufficient water to cover them completely. To boil very lightly, 3 minutes; to render the whites firm, 4-1/2 to 5 minutes; hard eggs, 8 to 10 minutes (15 minutes for salad dressing.) TO DRESS THE EGGS OF THE GUINEA FOWL AND BANTAM. The eggs of the Guinea-fowl—which are small, very prettily shaped, and of a pale or full fawn-colour (for in this they vary)—are much esteemed by epicures, being very rich and excellent eating. They are generally somewhat higher in price than the common hens’ eggs, even in Norfolk, Suffolk, and other counties where they most abound; and in London they are usually expensive. They may be cooked in the shell without boiling by the method we have already given: eight or nine minutes will cook them so. About three and a half of gentle boiling will render the whites firm, and ten will harden them quite through. They are often served instead of plovers’ eggs, and are sent to table embedded in moss in the same manner. They may also be shelled, and used whole to decorate a salad. The eggs of the bantam, which are scarcely more than half the size of these, and of which the shells are much thinner, will require less time to cook. They form an elegant decoration for a salad, if boiled hard, which they will become in five or six minutes; and for a mince of fowl, or veal and oysters, when poached. Two minutes’ poaching in an enamelled saucepan[154] will be sufficient for these delicate little eggs, without positive boiling. They should be carefully broken and put gently into water at boiling point, but which has ceased to move, and left undisturbed by the side of the fire until the yolks are just set on the surface. 154.  In any other kind, an additional half minute may be required. Guinea-fowls’ eggs, quite hard, 10 minutes. For eating (by new method, 8 to 9 minutes), 3 to 4 minutes. Bantams’, hard, 6 minutes; soft, 2-1/2 to 3 minutes. 447 TO DRESS TURKEYS’ EGGS. Turkeys’ eggs are not, we believe, brought very abundantly into the London market,[155] but their superiority to those of the common fowl is well known in the counties where the birds are principally reared. Though of large size they are delicate in flavour, and are equally valuable for the breakfast-table—cooked simply in the shell—or for compounding any of the dishes for which hens’ eggs are commonly in request. They make super-excellent sauce, omlets, custards, and puddings; and are especially to be recommended poached, or served by any other of the following receipts. Those of the smallest size and palest colour, which are the eggs of the young birds, are the best adapted for serving boiled in the shells: they are sometimes almost white. Those of the full grown turkeys are thickly speckled, of a deep tawny hue or fawn colour. 155.  Constant supplies of them are brought from France to the towns upon the coast; and from the thickness of their shells they remain eatable much longer than the common eggs; they are also reasonable in price. 6 minutes will render the whites firm; 4 minutes will poach them. FORCED TURKEYS’ EGGS (OR SWANS’). (An Excellent Entremets.) Boil gently for twenty minutes in plenty of water, that they may be entirely covered with it, five or six fresh turkeys’ eggs, and when they are done lift them into a large pan of water to cool. By changing the water once or twice they will become cold more rapidly, and they must not be used until they are perfectly so. Roll them in a cloth, pressing lightly on them to break the shells; clear them off, and halve the eggs evenly lengthwise. Take out the yolks with care, and pound them to a smooth paste in a mortar with an ounce and a half, or two ounces at the utmost, of pure-flavoured butter to the half dozen, a small half-teaspoonful of salt, a little finely grated nutmeg, and some cayenne, also in fine powder: a little mace,—one of the most delicate of all seasonings when judiciously used—may be added with good effect. Blend these ingredients thoroughly, and then add to them by degrees one raw hen’s egg slightly whisked, and the yolk of a second, or a dessertspoonful or two of sweet rich cream. One common egg is sufficient for four of the turkey egg-yolks. Beat up the mass, which will now be of the consistence of a thick batter, well and lightly, and proceed to fill the whites with it, having first cut a small slice from each half to make it stand evenly on the dish, and hollowed the inside with the point of a sharp knife, so as to render it of equal thickness throughout. Fill them full and 448high; smooth the yolks gently with the blade of a knife, arrange the eggs on a dish, and place them in a gentle oven for a quarter of an hour. Serve them directly they are taken from it. The eggs thus dressed will afford an admirable dish for the second course, either quite simply served, or with good gravy highly flavoured with fresh mushrooms, poured under them. The same ingredients may be pressed into very small buttered cups and baked for fifteen minutes, then turned on to a dish and sauced with a little Espagnole, or other rich brown gravy, or served without. Obs.—We would recommend that the whites of swans’ eggs, which as we have said are extremely beautiful, should be filled with the above preparation in preference to their own yolks: they will of course, require longer baking. TO BOIL A SWAN’S EGG HARD. Swans’ eggs are much more delicate than from their size, and from the tendency of the birds to feed on fish might be supposed; and when boiled hard and shelled, their appearance is beautiful, the white being of remarkable purity and transparency. Take as much water as will cover the egg (or eggs) well in every part, let it boil quickly, then take it from the fire, and as soon as the water ceases to move put in the egg, and leave it by the side of the fire—without allowing it to boil—for twenty minutes, and turn it gently once or twice in the time; then put on the cover of the stewpan and boil it gently for a quarter of an hour; take it quite from the fire, and in five minutes put it into a basin and throw a cloth, once or twice folded, over it, and let it cool slowly. It will retain the heat for a very long time, and as it should be quite cold before it is cut, it should be boiled early if wanted to serve the same day. Halve it evenly with a sharp knife lengthwise, take out the yolk with care, and prepare it for table, either by the receipt which follows, or by that for forced eggs, Chapter VI. SWAN’S EGG, EN SALADE. We found that the yolk of the egg, when boiled as above, could be rendered perfectly smooth and cream-like, by mashing it on a dish[156] with a broad-bladed knife, and working it well with the other ingredients: the whole was easily blended into a mass of uniform colour, in which not the smallest lump of butter or egg was perceptible. Mix it intimately with an ounce or two of firm fresh butter, a rather high seasoning of cayenne, some salt, or a teaspoonful or two of essence of anchovies, and about as much of chili vinegar or 449lemon-juice. To these minced herbs or eschalots can be added at pleasure. Fill the whites with the mixture, and serve them in a bowl two-thirds filled with salad, sauced as usual; or use them merely as a decoration for a lobster or German salad. 156.  We chanced, when we received our first present of swan’s eggs, to be in a house where there was no mortar—a common deficiency in English culinary departments. TO POACH EGGS. Take for this purpose a wide and delicately clean pan about half-filled with the clearest spring-water; throw in a small saltspoonful of salt, and place it over a fire quite free from smoke. Break some new laid eggs into separate cups, and do this with care, that the yolks may not be injured. When the water boils, draw back the pan, glide the eggs gently into it, and let them stand until the whites appear almost set, which will be in about a minute: then, without shaking them, move the pan over the fire, and just simmer them from two minutes and a half to three minutes. Lift them out separately with a slice, trim quickly off the ragged edges, and serve them upon dressed spinach, or upon minced veal, turkey, or chicken; or dish them for an invalid, upon delicately toasted bread, sliced thick, and freed from crust: it is an improvement to have the bread buttered, but it is then less wholesome. Comparative time of poaching eggs. Swans’ eggs, 5 to 6 minutes, (in basin, 10 minutes.) Turkeys’ eggs 4 minutes. Hens’ eggs, 3 to 3-1/2 minutes. Guinea-fowls’, 2 to 3 minutes. Bantams’, 2 minutes. Obs.—All eggs may be poached without boiling if kept just at simmering point, but one boil quite at last will assist to detach them from the stewpan, from which they should always be very carefully lifted on what is called a fish or egg-slice. There are pans made on purpose for poaching and frying them in good form; but they do not, we believe, answer particularly well. If broken into cups slightly rubbed with butter, and simmered in them, their roundness of shape will be best preserved. POACHED EGGS WITH GRAVY. (ENTREMETS.) Œufs Pochés au Jus. Dress the eggs as above, giving them as good an appearance as possible, lay them into a very hot dish, and sauce them with some rich, clear, boiling veal gravy, or with some Espagnole. Each egg, for variety, may be dished upon a crouton of bread cut with a fluted paste-cutter, and fried a pale brown: the sauce should then be poured round, not over them. Poaching is the best mode of dressing a swan’s egg,[157] as it renders it more than any other delicate in flavour; it is usually served on a bed of spinach. Only the eggs of quite young swans are suited to the 450table: one is sufficient for a dish. It may be laid on a large crouton of fried bread, and sauced with highly flavoured gravy, or with tomata-sauce well seasoned with eschalots. 157.  We fear that want of space must compel us to omit some other receipts for swans’ eggs, which we had prepared for this chapter. ŒUFS AU PLAT. A pewter or any other metal plate or dish which will bear the fire, must be used for these. Just melt a slice of butter in it, then put in some very fresh eggs broken as for poaching; strew a little pepper and salt on the top of each, and place them over a gentle fire until the whites are quite set, but keep them free from colour. This is a very common mode of preparing eggs on the continent; but there is generally a slight rawness of the surface of the yolks which is in a measure removed by ladling the boiling butter over them with a spoon as they are cooking, though a salamander held above them for a minute would have a better effect. Four or five minutes will dress them. Obs.—We hope for an opportunity of inserting further receipts for dishes of eggs at the end of this volume. MILK AND CREAM. Without possessing a dairy, it is quite possible for families to have always a sufficient provision of milk and cream for their consumption, provided there be a clean cool larder or pantry where it can be kept. It should be taken from persons who can be depended on for supplying it pure, and if it can be obtained from a dairy near at hand it will be an advantage, as in the summer it is less easy to preserve it sweet when it has been conveyed from a distance. It should be poured at once into well-scalded pans or basins kept exclusively for it, and placed on a very clean and airy shelf, apart from all the other contents of the larder. The fresh milk as it comes in should be set at one end of the shelf, and that for use should be taken from the other, so that none may become stale from being misplaced or overlooked. The cream should be removed with a perforated skimmer (or skimming-dish as it is called in dairy-counties) which has been dipped into cold water to prevent the cream, when thick, from adhering to it. Twelve hours in summer, and twenty-four in winter, will be sufficient time for the milk to stand for “creaming,” though it may often be kept longer with advantage. Between two and three pints of really good milk will produce about a quarter of a pint of cream. In frosty weather the pans for it should be warmed before it is poured in. If boiled when first brought in, it will remain sweet much longer than it otherwise would; but it will then be unfit to serve with tea; though it may be heated afresh and sent to table with coffee; and used also for puddings, and all other varieties of milk-diet. 451 DEVONSHIRE, OR CLOTTED CREAM. From the mode adopted in Devonshire, and in some other counties, of scalding the milk in the following manner, the cream becomes very rich and thick, and is easily converted into excellent butter. It is strained into large shallow metal pans as soon as it is brought into the dairy and left for twelve hours at least in summer, and thirty-six in cold weather. It is then gently carried to a hot plate—heated by a fire from below—and brought slowly to a quite scalding heat but without being allowed to boil or even to simmer. When it is ready to be removed, distinct rings appear on the surface, and small bubbles of air. It must then be carried carefully back to the dairy, and may be skimmed in twelve hours afterwards. The cream should be well drained from the milk—which will be very poor—as this is done. It may then be converted into excellent butter, merely by beating it with the hand in a shallow wooden tub, which is, we are informed, the usual manner of making it in small Devonshire dairies. DU LAIT A MADAME. Boil a quart of new milk, and let it cool sufficiently to allow the cream to be taken off; then rinse an earthen jar well in every part with buttermilk, and while the boiled milk is still rather warm, pour it in and add the cream gently on the top. Let it remain twenty-four hours, turn it into a deep dish, mix it with pounded sugar, and it will be ready to serve. This preparation is much eaten abroad during the summer, and is considered very wholesome. The milk, by the foregoing process, becomes a very soft curd, slightly, but not at all unpleasantly, acid in flavour. A cover, or thick folded cloth, should be placed on the jar after the milk is poured in, and it should be kept in a moderately warm place. In very sultry weather less time may be allowed for the milk to stand. Obs.—We give this and the following receipt from an unpublished work which we have in progress, being always desirous to make such information as we possess generally useful as far as we can. CURDS AND WHEY. Rennet is generally prepared for dairy-use by butchers, and kept in farmhouses hung in the chimney corners, where it will remain good a long time. It is the inner stomach of the calf, from which the curd is removed, and which is salted and stretched out to dry on splinters of wood, or strong wooden skewers. It should be preserved from dust and smoke (by a paper-bag or other means), and portions of it cut off as wanted. Soak a small bit in half a teacupful of warm water, and let it remain in it for an hour or two; then pour into 452a quart of warm new milk a dessertspoonful of the rennet-liquor, and keep it in a warm place until the whey appears separated from the curd, and looks clear. The smaller the proportion of rennet used, the more soft and delicate will be the curd. We write these directions from recollection, having often had the dish thus prepared, but having no memorandum at this moment of the precise proportions used. Less than an inch square of the rennet would be sufficient, we think, for a gallon of milk, if some hours were allowed for it to turn. When rennet-whey, which is a most valuable beverage in many cases of illness, is required for an invalid to drink, a bit of the rennet, after being quickly and slightly rinsed, may be stirred at once into the warm milk, as the curd becoming hard is then of no consequence. It must be kept warm until the whey appears and is clear. It may then be strained, and given to the patient to drink, or allowed to become cold before it is taken. In feverish complaints it has often the most benign effect. Devonshire junket is merely a dish or bowl of sweetened curds and whey, covered with the thick cream of scalded milk, for which see page 451. 453 CHAPTER XXIII. Sweet Dishes, or Entremets. Jelly of two colours, with macedoire of fruit. TO PREPARE CALF’S FEET STOCK. White and Rose-coloured Jelly. The feet are usually sent in from the butcher’s ready to be dressed, but as they are sold at a very much cheaper rate when the hair has not been cleared from them, and as they may then be depended on for supplying the utmost amount of nutriment which they contain, it is often desirable to have them altogether prepared by the cook. In former editions of this work we directed that they should be “dipped into cold 454water, and sprinkled with resin in fine powder; then covered with boiling water and left for a minute or two untouched before they were scraped;” and this method we had followed with entire success for a long time, but we afterwards discovered that the resin was not necessary, and that the feet could be quite as well prepared by mere scalding, or being laid into water at the point of boiling, and kept in it for a few minutes by the side of the fire. The hair, as we have already stated in the first pages of Chapter IX. (Veal), must be very closely scraped from them with a blunt-edged knife; and the hoofs must be removed by being struck sharply down against the edge of a strong table or sink, the leg-bone being held tightly in the hand. The feet must be afterwards washed delicately clean before they are further used. When this has been done, divide them at the joint, split the claws, and take away the fat that is between them. Should the feet be large, put a gallon of cold water to the four, but from a pint to a quart less if they be of moderate size or small. Boil them gently down until the flesh has parted entirely from the bones, and the liquor is reduced nearly or quite half; strain, and let it stand until cold; remove every particle of fat from the top before it is used, and be careful not to take the sediment. Calf’s feet (large), 4; water, 1 gallon: 6 to 7 hours. TO CLARIFY CALF’S FEET STOCK. Break up a quart of the stock, put it into a clean stewpan with the whites of five large or of six small eggs, two ounces of sugar, and the strained juice of a small lemon; place it over a gentle fire, and do not stir it after the scum begins to form; when it has boiled five or six minutes, if the liquid part be clear, turn it into a jelly-bag, and pass it through a second time should it not be perfectly transparent the first. To consumptive patients, and others requiring restoratives, but forbidden to take stimulants, the jelly thus prepared is often very acceptable, and may be taken with impunity, when it would be highly injurious made with wine. More white of egg is required to clarify it than when sugar and acid are used in larger quantities, as both of these assist the process. For blanc-mange omit the lemon-juice, and mix with the clarified stock an equal proportion of cream (for an invalid, new milk), with the usual flavouring, and weight of sugar; or pour the boiling stock very gradually to some finely pounded almonds, and express it from them as directed for Quince Blamange, allowing from six to eight ounces to the pint. Stock, 1 quart; whites of eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz.; juice, 1 small lemon: 5 to 8 minutes. TO CLARIFY ISINGLASS. The finely-cut purified isinglass, which is now in general use, requires no clarifying except for clear jellies: for all other dishes it is 455sufficient to dissolve, skim, and pass it through a muslin strainer. When two ounces are required for a dish, put two and a half into a delicately clean pan, and pour on it a pint of spring water which has been gradually mixed with a teaspoonful of beaten white of egg; stir these thoroughly together, and let them heat slowly by the side of a gentle fire, but do not allow the isinglass to stick to the pan. When the scum is well risen, which it will be after two or three minutes’ simmering, clear it off, and continue the skimming until no more appears; then, should the quantity of liquid be more than is needed, reduce it by quick boiling to the proper point, strain it through a thin muslin, and set it by for use: it will be perfectly transparent, and may be mixed lukewarm with the clear and ready sweetened juice of various fruits, or used with the necessary proportion of syrup, for jellies flavoured with choice liqueurs. As the clarifying reduces the strength of the isinglass—or rather as a portion of it is taken up by the white of egg—an additional quarter to each ounce must be allowed for this: if the scum be laid to drain on the back of a fine sieve which has been wetted with hot water, a little very strong jelly will drip from it. Isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint; beaten white of egg, 1 teaspoonful. Obs.—At many Italian warehouses a preparation is now sold under the name of isinglass, which appears to us to be highly purified gelatine of some other kind. It is converted without trouble into a very transparent jelly, is free from flavour, and is less expensive than the genuine Russian isinglass; but when taken for any length of time as a restorative, its different nature becomes perceptible. It answers well for the table occasionally; but it is not suited to invalids. SPINACH GREEN, FOR COLOURING SWEET DISHES, CONFECTIONARY, OR SOUPS. Pound quite to a pulp, in a marble or Wedgwood mortar, a handful or two of young freshly-gathered spinach, then throw it into a hair sieve, and press through all the juice which can be obtained from it; pour this into a clean white jar, and place it in a pan of water that is at the point of boiling, and which must be allowed only to just simmer afterwards; in three or four minutes the juice will be poached or set: take it then gently with a spoon, and lay it upon the back of a fine sieve to drain. If wanted for immediate use, merely mix it in the mortar with some finely-powdered sugar;[158] but if to be kept as a store, pound it with as much as will render the whole tolerably dry, boil it to candy-height over a very clear fire, pour it out in cakes, and keep them in a tin box or canister. For this last preparation consult the receipt for orange-flower candy. 158.  For soup, dilute it first with a little of the boiling stock, and stir it to the remainder. 456 PREPARED APPLE OR QUINCE JUICE. Pour into a clean earthen pan two quarts of spring water, and throw into it as quickly as they can be pared, quartered, and weighed, four pounds of nonsuches, pearmains, Ripstone pippins, or any other good boiling apples of fine flavour. When all are done, stew them gently until they are well broken, but not reduced quite to pulp; turn them into a jelly-bag, or strain the juice from them without pressure through a closely-woven cloth, which should be gathered over the fruit, and tied, and suspended above a deep pan until the juice ceases to drop from it: this, if not very clear, must be rendered so before it is used for syrup or jelly, but for all other purposes once straining it will be sufficient. Quinces are prepared in the same way, and with the same proportions of fruit and water, but they must not be too long boiled, or the juice will become red. We have found it answer well to have them simmered until they are perfectly tender, and then to leave them with their liquor in a bowl until the following day, when the juice will be rich and clear. They should be thrown into the water very quickly after they are pared and weighed, as the air will soon discolour them. The juice will form a jelly much more easily if the cores and pips be left in the fruit. Water, 2 quarts; apples or quinces, 4 lbs. COCOA-NUT FLAVOURED MILK. (For sweet dishes, &c.) Pare the dark outer rind from a very fresh nut, and grate it on a fine and exceedingly clean grater, to every three ounces pour a quart of new milk, and simmer them very softly for three quarters of an hour, or more, that a full flavour of the nut may be imparted to the milk without its being much reduced: strain it through a fine sieve, or cloth, with sufficient pressure to leave the nut almost dry: it may then be used for blanc-mange, custards, rice, and other puddings, light cakes and bread. To each quart new milk, 3 oz. grated cocoa-nut: 3/4 to 1 hour. Obs.—The milk of the nut when perfectly sweet and good, may be added to the other with advantage. To obtain it, bore one end of the shell with a gimlet, and catch the liquid in a cup; and to extricate the kernel, break the shell with a hammer; this is better than sawing it asunder. COMPÔTES OF FRUIT. (Or Fruit stewed in Syrup.) We would especially recommend these delicate and very agreeable preparations for trial to such of our readers as may be unacquainted 457with them, as well as to those who may have a distaste to the common “stewed fruit” of English cookery. If well made they are peculiarly delicious and refreshing, preserving the pure flavour of the fruit of which they are composed; while its acidity is much softened by the small quantity of water added to form the syrup in which it is boiled. They are also more economical than tarts or puddings, and infinitely more wholesome. In the second course pastry-crust can always be served with them, if desired, in the form of ready baked leaves, round cakes, or any more fanciful shapes; or a border of these may be fastened with a little white of egg and flour round the edge of the dish in which the compôte is served; but rice, or macaroni simply boiled, or a very plain pudding is a more usual accompaniment. Compôtes will remain good for two or three days in a cool store-room, or somewhat longer, if gently boiled up for an instant a second time; but they contain generally too small a proportion of sugar to preserve them from mould or fermentation for many days. The syrup should be enriched with a larger quantity when they are intended for the desserts of formal dinners, as it will increase the transparency of the fruit: the juice is always beautifully clear when the compôtes are carefully prepared. They should be served in glass dishes, or in compôtiers, which are of a form adapted to them. Compôte of spring fruit.—(Rhubarb). Take a pound of the stalks after they are pared, and cut them into short lengths; have ready a quarter of a pint of water boiled gently for ten minutes with five ounces of sugar, or with six should the fruit be very acid; put it in, and simmer it for about ten minutes. Some kinds will be tender in rather less time, some will require more. Obs.—Good sugar in lumps should be used for these dishes. Lisbon sugar will answer for them very well on ordinary occasions, but that which is refined will render them much more delicate. Compôte of green currants.—Spring water, half-pint; sugar, five ounces; boiled together ten minutes. One pint of green currants stripped from the stalks; simmered five minutes. Compôte of green gooseberries.—This is an excellent compôte if made with fine sugar, and very good with any kind. Break five ounces into small lumps and pour on them half a pint of water; boil these gently for ten minutes, and clear off all the scum; then add to them a pint of fresh gooseberries freed from the tops and stalks, washed, and well drained. Simmer them gently from eight to ten minutes, and serve them hot or cold. Increase the quantity for a large dish. Compôte of green apricots.—Wipe the down from a pound of quite young apricots, and stew them very gently for nearly twenty minutes in syrup made with eight ounces of sugar and three-quarters of a pint of water, boiled together the usual time. Compôte of red currants.—A quarter of a pint of water and five ounces of sugar: ten minutes. One pint of currants freed from the 458stalks to be just simmered in the syrup from five to seven minutes. This receipt will serve equally for raspberries, or for a compôte of the two fruits mixed together. Either of them will be found an admirable accompaniment to a pudding of batter, custard, bread, or ground rice, and also to various other kinds of puddings, as well as to whole rice plainly boiled. Compôte of Kentish or Flemish cherries.—Simmer five ounces of sugar with half a pint of water for ten minutes; throw into the syrup a pound of cherries weighed after they are stalked, and let them stew gently for twenty minutes: it is a great improvement to stone the fruit, but a larger quantity will then be required for a dish. Compôte of Morella cherries.—Boil together for fifteen minutes, six ounces of sugar with half a pint of water; add a pound and a quarter of ripe Morella cherries, and simmer them very softly from five to seven minutes: this is a delicious compôte. A larger proportion of sugar will often be required for it, as the fruit is very acid in some seasons, and when it is not fully ripe. Compôte of damsons.—Four ounces of sugar and half a pint of water to be boiled for ten minutes; one pound of damsons to be added, and simmered gently from ten to twelve minutes. Compôte of the green magnum-bonum or Mogul plum.—The green Mogul plums are often brought abundantly into the market when the fruit is thinned from the trees, and they make admirable tarts or compôtes, possessing the fine slight bitter flavour of the unripe apricot, to which they are quite equal. Measure a pint of the plums without their stalks, and wash them very clean; then throw them into a syrup made with seven ounces of sugar in lumps, and half a pint of water, boiled together for eight or ten minutes. Give the plums one quick boil, and then let them stew quite softly for about five minutes, or until they are tender, which occasionally will be in less time even. Take off the scum, and serve the compôte hot or cold. Compôte of the magnum-bonum, or other large plums.—Boil six ounces of sugar with half a pint of water the usual time; take the stalks from a pound of plums, and simmer them very softly for twenty minutes. Increase the proportion of sugar if needed, and regulate the time as may be necessary for the different varieties of fruit. Compôte of bullaces.—The large, or shepherds’ bullace, is very good stewed, but will require a considerable portion of sugar to render it palatable, unless it be quite ripe. Make a syrup with half a pound of sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of water, and boil in it gently from fifteen to twenty minutes, a pint and a half of the bullaces freed from their stalks. Compôte of Siberian crabs.—To three-quarters of a pint of water add six ounces of fine sugar, boil them for ten or twelve minutes, and skim them well. Add a pound and a half of Siberian crabs without their stalks, and keep them just at the point of boiling for twenty minutes; they will then become tender without bursting. A few 459strips of lemon-rind and a little of the juice are sometimes added to this compôte. Obs.—In a dry warm summer, when fruit ripens freely, and is rich in quality, the proportion of sugar directed for these compôtes would generally be found sufficient; but in a cold or wet season it would certainly, in many instances, require to be increased. The present slight difference in the cost of sugars, renders it a poor economy to use the raw for dishes of this class, instead of that which is well refined. To make a clear syrup it should be broken into lumps, not crushed to powder. Almost every kind of fruit may be converted into a good compôte. COMPÔTE OF PEACHES. Pare half a dozen ripe peaches, and stew them very softly from eighteen to twenty minutes, keeping them often turned in a light syrup, made with five ounces of sugar, and half a pint of water boiled together for ten minutes. Dish the fruit; reduce the syrup by quick boiling, pour it over the peaches, and serve them hot for a second-course dish, or cold for rice-crust. They should be quite ripe, and will be found delicious dressed thus. A little lemon-juice may be added to the syrup, and the blanched kernels of two or three peach or apricot stones. Sugar, 5 oz.; water, 1/2 pint: 10 minutes. Peaches, 6: 18 to 20 minutes. Obs.—Nectarines, without being pared, may be dressed in the same way, but will require to be stewed somewhat longer, unless they be quite ripe. ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR STEWED PEACHES. Should the fruit be not perfectly ripe, throw it into boiling water and keep it just simmering, until the skin can be easily stripped off. Have ready half a pound of fine sugar boiled to a light syrup with three-quarters of a pint of water; throw in the peaches, let them stew softly until quite tender, and turn them often that they may be equally done; after they are dished, add a little strained lemon-juice to the syrup, and reduce it by a few minutes’ very quick boiling. The fruit is sometimes pared, divided, and stoned, then gently stewed until it is tender. Sugar, 8 oz.; water, 3/4 pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Peaches, 6 or 7; lemon-juice, 1 large teaspoonful. COMPÔTE OF BARBERRIES FOR DESSERT. When this fruit is first ripe it requires, from its excessive acidity, nearly its weight of sugar to render it palatable; but after hanging some time upon the trees it becomes much mellowed in flavour, and 460may be sufficiently sweetened with a smaller proportion. According to the state of the fruit then, take for each pound (leaving it in bunches) from twelve to sixteen ounces of sugar, and boil it with three-quarters of a pint of water until it forms a syrup. Throw in the bunches of fruit, and simmer them for five or six minutes. If their weight of sugar be used, they will become in that time perfectly transparent. As all vessels of tin affect the colour of the barberries, they should be boiled in a copper stewpan, or in a German enamelled one, which would be far better. Barberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 12 to 16 oz.; water, 3/4 pint; fruit simmered in syrup, 5 to 6 minutes. BLACK CAPS PAR EXCELLENCE. (For the Second-course, or for Dessert.) Cut a dozen fine Norfolk biffins in two without paring them, scoop out the cores, and fill the cavities with thin strips of fresh lemon-rind and with candied orange-peel. Cover the bottom of a flat shallow tin with a thick layer of fine pale brown sugar, press the two halves of each apple together, and place them closely in the tin; pour half a bottle of raisin or of any other sweet wine over them, and be careful to moisten the tops of all; sift white sugar thickly on them, and set the tin into a very hot oven at first, that the outsides of the apples may catch or become black; then draw them to the mouth of the oven, and bake them gently until they are soft quite through. The Norfolk biffin answers for this dish far better than any other kind of apple, but the winter queening, and some few firm sorts beside, can be used for it with fair success. These for variety may be cored without being divided, and filled with orange marmalade. The black caps served hot, as a second-course dish, are excellent. Norfolk biffins, 12; rinds fresh lemons, 1 to 2; candied orange-rind, 2 to 3 oz.; pale brown sugar, 3/4 lb.; raisin or other wine, 1/2 bottle; little sifted sugar: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more. Obs.—The apples dressed as above resemble a rich confection, and will remain good for ten days or a fortnight; sometimes much longer even. The receipt is an admirable one. GATEAU DE POMMES. Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound of well-refined sugar and half a pint of water; then add a couple of pounds of nonsuches, or of any other finely-flavoured apples which can be boiled easily to a smooth pulp, and the juice of a couple of small, or of one very large lemon. Stew these gently until the mixture is perfectly free from lumps, then boil it quickly, keeping it stirred, without quitting it, until it forms a very thick and dry marmalade. A few minutes before it is done add the finely grated rinds of a couple of lemons; 461when it leaves the bottom of the preserving-pan visible and dry, press it into moulds of tasteful form; and either store it for winter use, or if wanted for table, serve it plain for rice-crust, or ornament it with spikes of blanched almonds, and pour a custard round it for a second-course dish (entremets). Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes. Nonsuches or other apples, 2 lbs.; juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons: 2 hours or more. GATEAU OF MIXED FRUITS. (GOOD.) Extract the juice from some fresh red currants by simmering them very gently for a few minutes over a slow fire: strain it through a folded muslin, and to one pound of it add a pound and a half of nonsuches or of freshly gathered codlings, pared, and rather deeply cored, that the fibrous part of the apple may be avoided. Boil these quite slowly until the mixture is perfectly smooth, then, to evaporate part of the moisture, let the boiling be quickened. In from twenty-five to thirty minutes draw the pan from the fire, and throw in gradually a pound and a quarter of sugar in fine powder: mix it well with the fruit, and when it is dissolved continue the boiling rapidly for twenty minutes longer, keeping the mixture constantly stirred; put it into a mould, and store it, when cold, for winter use, or serve it for rice-crust, or for the second course: in the latter case decorate it with spikes of blanched almonds, or pistachio-nuts, and heap solid whipped cream round it, or pour a custard into the dish. For rice-crust it may be garnished with dice of the palest apple-jelly. Juice of red currants, 1 lb.; nonsuches, or codlings (pared and cored), 1-1/2 lb.: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Obs.—A portion of raspberries, if still in season, may be mixed with the currants for this gâteau, should the flavour be liked. For other and excellent varieties of gâteaux of fruit, see Newton solid, and damson solid, Chapter XXIV. Ripe peaches and nonsuches will likewise do well for it. Codlings answer perfectly for the preceding receipt, and the preparation is of fine colour and very pleasant flavour: it ought to cut in clear firm slices. Other varieties of fruit can be mingled in the same manner. JELLIES. CALF’S FEET JELLY. (ENTREMETS.) Modern Jelly Mould. We hear inexperienced housekeepers frequently complain of the difficulty of rendering this jelly perfectly transparent; but by mixing with the other ingredients, while quite cold, the whites, and the crushed shells of a sufficient number of eggs, and allowing the head of scum which gathers on the jelly to remain undisturbed after it 462once forms, they will scarcely fail to obtain it clear. It should be strained through a thick flannel, or beaver-skin, bag of a conical form (placed before the fire, should the weather be at all cold, or the mixture will jelly before it has run through), and if not perfectly clear it must be strained, again and again, until it becomes so; though we generally find that once suffices. Mix thoroughly in a large stewpan five half-pints of strong calf’s feet stock (see page 453), a full pint of sherry, half a pound of sugar roughly powdered, the juice of two fine lemons, the rind of one and a half cut very thin, the whites and shells of four large eggs, and half an ounce of isinglass. Let these remain a few minutes off the fire, that the sugar may dissolve more easily; then let the jelly be brought to boil gradually, and do not stir it after it begins to heat. When it has boiled gently for sixteen minutes, draw it from the fire, and let it stand a short time before it is poured into a jelly-bag, under which a bowl should be placed to receive it. When clear and cool, put it into moulds which have been laid for some hours in water: these should always be of earthenware in preference to metal. If to be served in glasses, or roughed, the jelly will be sufficiently firm without the isinglass, of which, however, we recommend a small quantity to be thrown in always when the jelly begins to boil, as it facilitates the clearing. Calf’s feet stock, 2-1/2 pints; sugar, 1/2 lb.; sherry, 1 pint; juice of lemons, 2 large; rind of 1-1/2; whites and shells of eggs, 4 large, or 5 small: 16 minutes. Obs. 1.—After the jelly has dropped through the bag, an exceedingly agreeable beverage may be obtained by pouring in some boiling water; from one to three half pints, according to the quantity of jelly which has been made. The same plan should be pursued in making orange or lemon jelly for an invalid. Obs. 2.—As it is essential to the transparency of calf’s feet jelly of all kinds that the whole of the ingredients should be quite cold when they are mixed, and as the stock can only be measured in a liquid state, to which it must be reduced by heating, the better plan is, to measure it when it is first strained from the feet, and to put apart the exact quantity required for a receipt; but when this has not been done, and it is necessary to liquefy it, it must be left until quite cold again before it is used. For the manner of preparing and clarifying it, see the beginning of this chapter. ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR CALF’S FEET JELLY. To four calf’s feet well cleaned and divided, pour a gallon of water 463and let them stew until it is reduced to rather less than two quarts; or if, after the flesh has quite fallen from the bones, the liquor on being strained off should exceed that quantity, reduce it by rapid boiling in a clean uncovered pan over a very clear fire. When it is perfectly firm and cold, take it clear of fat and sediment, and add to it a bottle of sherry, which should be of good quality (for poor, thin wines are not well adapted to the purpose), three-quarters of a pound of sugar broken small, the juice of five large or of six moderate-sized lemons, and the whites, with the shells finely crushed, of seven eggs, or of more should they be very small. The rinds of three lemons, pared exceedingly thin, may be thrown into the jelly a few minutes before it is taken from the fire; or they may be put into the jelly-bag previously to its being poured through, when they will impart to it a slight and delicate flavour, without deepening its colour much. If it is to be moulded, something more than half an ounce of isinglass should be dropped lightly in where the liquid becomes visible through the head of scum, when the mixture begins to boil; for if not sufficiently firm, it will break when it is dished. It may be roughed, or served in glasses without this addition; and in a liquid state will be found an admirable ingredient for Oxford, or other punch. Calf’s feet, 4; water, 1 gallon: to be reduced more than half. Sherry, 1 bottle; sugar, 3/4 lb. (more to taste); juice of 5 large lemons, or of six moderate-sized; whites and shells of 7 eggs, or more if small; rinds of lemons, 3 (for moulding, nearly 3/4 oz. of isinglass): 15 to 20 minutes. Obs.—An excellent and wholesome jelly for young people may be made with good orange or raisin wine, instead of sherry; to either of these the juice of three or four oranges, with a small portion of the rind, may be added instead of part of the lemons. MODERN VARIETIES OF CALF’S FEET JELLY. In modern cookery a number of excellent jellies are made with the stock of calves’ feet, variously flavoured. Many of them are compounded entirely without wine, a small quantity of some fine liqueur being used as a substitute; and sometimes cinnamon, or vanilla, or Seville orange-rind with a slight portion of acid, takes place of this. For aristocratic tables, indeed, it is the present fashion to serve them very lightly and delicately flavoured. Their cost is thus materially diminished. Fresh strawberries dropped into clear calf’s feet jelly just before it sets, impart a delicious fragrance to it, when they are of a choice kind; and other fruit is mingled with it often; but none has so good an effect, though many sorts when tastefully employed give an excellent appearance to it. The Belgrave mould, of which the description will be found at page 470, is well adapted for highly ornamental jellies; and we recommend its adoption for this class of dishes. 464 APPLE CALF’S FEET JELLY. Pour a quart of prepared apple-juice (see page 456), on a pound of fresh apples pared and cored, and simmer them until they are well broken; strain the juice, and let it stand until cold; then measure, and put a pint and a half of it into a stewpan with a quart of calf’s feet stock (see page 453), nine ounces of sugar broken small, or roughly pounded, the juice of two fine lemons, and the thin rinds of one and a half, with the whites and shells of eight eggs. Let it boil gently for ten minutes, then strain it through a flannel-bag, and when cool put it into moulds. It will be very clear, and firm, and of pleasant flavour. Apples of good quality should be used for it, and the quantity of sugar must be regulated by the time of year, as the fruit will have lost much of its acidity during the latter part of the season. This receipt, which is the result of our own experiment, and which we have found very successful, was first tried just after Christmas, with pearmains and Ripstone pippins. A little syrup of preserved ginger, or a small glass of fine white brandy, would, perhaps, to some tastes, improve the jelly; but we give it simply as we have had it proved ourselves. Prepared apple juice, 1 quart; fresh apples, 1 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Strained juice, 1-1/2 pint; calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; sugar, 9 oz.; juice of lemons, 2; rind of 1-1/2; whites and shells of eggs, 8: 10 minutes. Obs.—We would recommend the substitution of quinces for apples in this receipt as likely to afford a very agreeable variety of the jelly: or equal portions of the two fruits might answer well. Unless the stock be very stiff, add isinglass to this, as to the calf’s feet jelly, when it is to be moulded. ORANGE CALF’S FEET JELLY. (Author’s Receipt.) To a pint and a half of firm calf’s feet stock, put a pint of strained China-orange juice mixed with that of one or two lemons; add to these six ounces of sugar, broken small, the very thin rinds of three oranges and one lemon, and the whites of six eggs with half the shells crushed small. Stir these gently over a clear fire until the head of scum begins to form, but not at all afterwards. Simmer the jelly for ten minutes from the first full boil; take it from the fire, let it stand a little, then pour it through a jelly-bag until perfectly clear. This is an original, and entirely new receipt, which we can recommend to the reader, the jelly being very pale, beautifully transparent, and delicate in flavour: it would, we think, be peculiarly acceptable to such invalids as are forbidden to take wine in any form. The proportions both of sugar and of lemon-juice must be somewhat varied according to the season in which the oranges are used. 465Strong calf’s feet stock, 1-1/2 pint; strained orange-juice, mixed with a small portion of lemon-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rinds of oranges, 3; of lemon, 1: 10 minutes. Obs.—A small pinch of isinglass thrown into the jelly when it begins to boil will much assist to clear it. When the flavour of Seville oranges is liked, two or three can be used with the sweet ones. ORANGE ISINGLASS JELLY. To render this perfectly transparent the juice of the fruit must be filtered, and the isinglass clarified; but it is not usual to take so much trouble for it. Strain as clear as possible, first through a sieve or muslin, then through a thick cloth or jelly bag, one quart of China orange-juice, mixed with as much lemon-juice as will give it an agreeable degree of acidity, or with a small proportion of Seville orange-juice. Dissolve two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of water, skim it well, throw in half a pound of sugar, and a few strips of the orange-rind, pour in the orange-juice, stir the whole well together, skim it clean without allowing it to boil, strain it through a cloth or through a muslin, many times folded, and when nearly cold put it into the moulds.[159] This jelly is sometimes made without any water, by dissolving the isinglass and sugar in the juice of the fruit. 159.  In France, orange-jelly is very commonly served in the halved rinds of the fruit, or in little baskets made as we shall hereafter direct, page 466. Orange-juice, 1 quart; water, 1 pint; isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb. VERY FINE ORANGE JELLY. (Sussex Place Receipt.) On two ounces and a half of the finest isinglass, pour a full but an exact pint of spring water; press down the isinglass and turn it over until the whole is well moistened; then place it over a gentle fire and let it dissolve gradually; remove the scum after it has simmered for two or three minutes, then pour it out, and set it aside to cool. In another pint of spring water boil a pound of highly refined sugar for five or six minutes; turn this syrup into a bowl, and when it is only just warm, throw into it the very thinly pared rinds of two fine lemons, of two Seville oranges, and of two China oranges, with the juice of five China, and of two Seville oranges, and of three lemons. When this mixture is cold, but not beginning to thicken, mix it well with the liquid isinglass, and strain it through a fine lawn sieve, or through a square of muslin folded in four; pour it into moulds which have been laid in cold water, and when wanted for the table, loosen it from them by wrapping about them, closely, a cloth which has been dipped into boiling water, and by passing a knife round the edges. Nothing can be more refined and delicate in flavour than the above; but the appearance of the jelly may be improved by clarifying the isinglass, and its colour by boiling the fruit-rinds in the syrup for three or four minutes, and by leaving them in it until it is 466strained. The oranges and lemons, if good, will yield from two-thirds to three-quarters of a pint of juice, and the quantity of jelly will be sufficient to fill one large high mould, or two smaller ones which contain about a pint and a quarter each. When the isinglass is clarified, allow half an ounce more of it; take about a teaspoonful of the white of a fresh egg, beat it a little, add the pint of cold water to it, whisk them together for a minute or two, and then pour them on the isinglass; stir it occasionally as it is heating, but not after the head of scum is formed: boil it gently for two or three minutes, skim, and strain it. The oranges and lemons should be dipped into fresh water and wiped dry before they are pared; and should a muslin strainer (that is to say, a large square of common clean muslin) be used for the jelly, it should be laid after being washed in the usual manner into plenty of hot water, and then into cold, and be well rinsed in, and wrung from each. ORANGES FILLED WITH JELLY. This is one of the fanciful dishes which make a pretty appearance on a supper table, and are acceptable when much variety is desired. Take some very fine China oranges, and with the point of a small knife cut out from the top of each a round about the size of a shilling; then with the small end of a tea or an egg spoon, empty them entirely, taking great care not to break the rinds. Throw these into cold water, and make jelly of the juice, which must be well pressed from the pulp, and strained as clear as possible. Colour one half a fine rose colour with prepared cochineal, and leave the other very pale; when it is nearly cold, drain and wipe the orange rinds, and fill them with alternate stripes of the two jellies; when they are perfectly cold cut them into quarters, and dispose them tastefully in a dish with a few light branches of myrtle between them. Calf’s feet or any other variety of jelly, or different blancmanges, may be used at choice to fill the rinds; the colours, however, should contrast as much as possible. TO MAKE ORANGE BASKETS FOR JELLY. The oranges for these should be large. First, mark the handle of the basket evenly across the stalk end of the fruit with the back of a small knife, or with a silver one, and let it be quite half an inch wide; then trace a line across from one end of the handle to the other exactly in the middle of the orange, and when the other side 467is marked in the same way, cut just through the rind with the point of a penknife, being careful not to pierce the fruit itself; next, with a tea or dessertspoon, take of the quartered rind on either side of the handle; pass a penknife under the handle itself; work the point of a spoon gently between the orange and the basket, until they are separated in every part; then take the fruit between the thumb and fingers, and press it carefully out through one of the spaces on either side of the handle. Baskets thus made may be filled with any of the jellies of which the receipts are given here: but they should be nearly cold before they are poured in; and they ought also to be very clear. Some of the baskets may be filled with ratifias, and dished alternately with those which contain the jelly. LEMON CALF’S FEET JELLY. Break up a quart of strong calf’s feet stock, which should have been measured while in a liquid state; let it be quite clear of fat and sediment, for which a small additional quantity should be allowed; add to it a not very full half-pint of strained lemon-juice, and ten ounces of sugar, broken small (rather more or less according to the state of the fruit), the rind of one lemon pared as thin as possible, or of from two to three when a full flavour of it is liked, and the whites with part of the shells crushed small, of five large or of six small eggs. Proceed as for the preceding jellies, and when the mixture has boiled five minutes throw in a small pinch of isinglass; continue the boiling for five or six minutes longer, draw the pan from the fire, let it stand to settle; then turn it into the jelly-bag. We have found it always perfectly clear with once passing through; but should it not be so, pour it in a second time. Strong calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; strained lemon-juice, short 1/2 pint; sugar, 10 oz. (more or less according to state of fruit); rind of from 1 to 3 large lemons; whites and part of shells of 5 large or 6 small eggs: 5 minutes. Pinch of isinglass: 5 minutes longer. Obs.—About seven large lemons will produce the half pint of juice. This quantity is for one mould only. The jelly will be found almost colourless unless much of the rinds be used, and as perfectly transparent as clear spring water: it is also very agreeable in flavour. For variety, part of the juice of the fruit might be omitted, and its place supplied by maraschino, or any other rich white liqueur of appropriate flavour; and to render it safer eating, some syrup of preserved ginger would be an excellent addition. CONSTANTIA JELLY. Infuse in a pint of water for five minutes the rind of half a Seville orange, pared extremely thin; add an ounce of isinglass; and when this is dissolved throw in four ounces of good sugar in lumps; stir 468well, and simmer the whole for a few minutes, then mix with it four large wineglassesful of Constantia, and strain the jelly through a fine cloth of close texture; let it settle and cool, then pour it gently from any sediment there may be, into a mould which has been laid for an hour or two into water. We had this jelly made in the first instance for an invalid who was forbidden to take acids, and it proved so agreeable in flavour that we can recommend it for the table. The isinglass, with an additional quarter of an ounce, might be clarified, and the sugar and orange-rind boiled with it afterwards. Water, 1 pint; rind, 1/2 Seville orange: 5 minutes. Isinglass, 1 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.: 5 to 7 minutes. Constantia, 4 large wineglassesful. RHUBARB ISINGLASS JELLY. (Author’s Original Receipt. Good.) A jelly of beautiful tint, and excellent flavour, may be made with fresh young rhubarb-stems, either of the giant or dwarf kind, if they be of a bright pink colour. Wash, and drain or wipe them; slice without paring them, taking them quite free from any coarse or discoloured parts. Put two pounds and a half, and a quart of water into an enamelled stewpan, which is more suitable to the purpose than any other; throw in two ounces of sugar in lumps, and boil the rhubarb very gently for twenty minutes, or until it is thoroughly stewed, but not sufficiently so to thicken the juice. Strain it through a muslin folded in four; measure a pint and a half of it; heat it afresh in a clean pan; add an ounce and a half of the finest isinglass, and six ounces or more of the best sugar in large lumps; stir it often until the isinglass is entirely dissolved, then let it boil quickly for a few minutes to throw up the scum; clear this off carefully, and strain the jelly twice through a muslin strainer,[160] folded as the first; let it cool, and mould it as usual. 160.  These muslin strainers should be large, as it is necessary to fold them in general to a quarter of their original size, to render them sufficiently thick for clearing juice or jelly. STRAWBERRY ISINGLASS JELLY. A great variety of equally elegant and excellent jellies for the table may be made with clarified isinglass, clear syrup, and the juice of almost any kind of fresh fruit; but as the process of making them is nearly the same for all, we shall limit our receipts to one or two, which will serve to direct the makers for the rest. Boil together quickly for fifteen minutes one pint of water and three-quarters of a pound of very good sugar; measure a quart of ripe richly-flavoured strawberries without their stalks; the scarlet answer best, from the colour which they give: on these pour the boiling syrup, and let them stand all night. The next day clarify two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of water, as directed at the beginning of this 469chapter; drain the syrup from the strawberries very closely, add to it two or three tablespoonsful of red currant juice, and the clear juice of one large or two small lemons; and when the isinglass is nearly cold mix the whole, and put it into moulds. The French, who excel in these fruit-jellies, always mix the separate ingredients when they are almost cold; and they also place them over ice for an hour or so after they are moulded, which is a great advantage, as they then require less isinglass, and are in consequence much more delicate. When the fruit abounds, instead of throwing it into the syrup, bruise lightly from three to four pints, throw two tablespoonsful of sugar over it, and let the juice flow from it for an hour or two; then pour a little water over, and use the juice without boiling, which will give a jelly of finer flavour than the other. Water, 1 pint; sugar, 3/4 lb.: 15 minutes. Strawberries, 1 quart; isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint (white of egg, 1 to 2 teaspoonsful); juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons. FANCY JELLIES. No. 1. No. 2. Description of Belgrave Mould. Figure No. 1, represents the mould in its entireness. No. 2, shows the interior of it (inverted). A is a thin metal plate which when turned downwards forms the bottom of the mould, and which is perforated in six places to permit the fluted columns B to pass through it. There is also a larger aperture in the middle to admit the centre cylinder. The plate is fixed, and the whole is held in its place by the part which folds over the larger scallop D at either end. There is also a cover which fits to the mould, and which is pressed on it before it is dipped into water, to prevent its getting into the cylinders. Transparent jelly is shown to much advantage, and is particularly brilliant in appearance, when moulded in shapes resembling that of the engraving here, which are now very commonly used for the purpose. The centre spaces can be filled, after the jelly is dished, with very light whipped cream, coloured and flavoured so as to eat agreeably with it, and to please the eye as well: this may be 470tastefully garnished with preserved, or with fresh fruit; but one of more recent invention, called the Belgrave mould (which is to be had of the originators, Messrs. Temple and Reynolds, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, and also at 80, Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square), is of superior construction for the purpose, as it contains a large central cylinder and six smaller ones, which when withdrawn, after the jelly—which should be poured round, but not into them—is set, leave vacancies which can be filled either with jelly of another colour, or with fruit of different kinds (which must be secured in its place with just liquid jelly poured carefully in after it is arranged), or with blanc-mange, or any other isinglass-cream. The space occupied by the larger cylinder may be left empty, or filled, before the jelly is served, with white or with pale-tinted whipped cream. Water, only sufficiently warm to detach the jelly from them without heating or melting it, must be poured into the cylinders to unfix them; and to loosen the whole so as to unmould it easily, a cloth wrung out of very hot water must be wound round it, or the mould must be dipped quickly into some which is nearly or quite boiling. A dish should then be laid on it, it should be carefully reversed, and the mould lifted from it gently. It will sometimes require a slight sharp blow to detach it quite. Italian jelly is made by half filling a mould of convenient form, and laying round upon it in a chain, as soon as it is set, some blanc-mange made rather firm, and cut of equal thickness and size, with a small round cutter; the mould is then filled with the remainder of the jelly, which must be nearly cold, but not beginning to set. Branched morella cherries, drained very dry, are sometimes dropped into moulds of pale jelly; and fruits, either fresh or preserved, are arranged in them with exceedingly good effect when skilfully managed; but this is best accomplished by having a mould for the purpose, with another of smaller size fixed in it by means of slight wires, which hook on to the edge of the outer one. By pouring water into this it may easily be detached from the jelly; the fruit is then to be placed in the space left by it, and the whole filled up with more jelly: to give the proper effect, it must be recollected that the dish will be reversed when sent to table. QUEEN MAB’S PUDDING. (An Elegant Summer Dish.) Throw into a pint of new milk the thin rind of a small lemon, and six or eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised; or substitute for these half a pod of vanilla cut small, heat it slowly by the side of the fire, and keep it at the point of boiling until it is strongly flavoured, then add a small pinch of salt, and three-quarters of an ounce of the 471finest isinglass, or a full ounce should the weather be extremely warm; when this is dissolved, strain the milk through a muslin, and put it into a clean saucepan, with from four to five ounces and a half of sugar in lumps, and half a pint of rich cream; give the whole one boil, and then stir it, briskly and by degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh eggs; next, thicken the mixture as a custard, over a gentle fire, but do not hazard its curdling; when it is of tolerable consistence, pour it out, and continue the stirring until it is half cold, then mix with it an ounce and a half of candied citron, cut in small spikes, and a couple of ounces of dried cherries, and pour it into a mould rubbed with a drop of oil: when turned out it will have the appearance of a pudding. From two to three ounces of preserved ginger, well drained and sliced, may be substituted for the cherries, and an ounce of pistachio-nuts, blanched and split, for the citron; these will make an elegant variety of the dish, and the syrup of the ginger, poured round as sauce, will be a further improvement. Currants steamed until tender, and candied orange or lemon-rind, are often used instead of the cherries, and the well-sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries (white or red), apricots, peaches, or syrup of pine-apple, will make an agreeable sauce; a small quantity of this last will also give a delicious flavour to the pudding itself, when mixed with the other ingredients. Cream may be substituted entirely for the milk, when its richness is considered desirable. New milk, 1 pint; rind 1 small lemon; bitter almonds, 6 to 8 (or, vanilla, 1/2 pod); salt, few grains; isinglass, 3/4 oz. (1 oz. in sultry weather); sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; cream, 1/2 pint; yolks, 6 eggs; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 1-1/2 oz.; (or, preserved ginger, 2 to 3 oz., and the syrup as sauce, and 1 oz. of blanched pistachio-nuts; or 4 oz. currants, steamed 20 minutes, and 2 oz. candied orange-rind). For sauce, sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries, or plums, or pine apple syrup. Obs.—The currants should be steamed in an earthen cullender, placed over a saucepan of boiling water, and covered with the lid. It will be a great improvement to place the pudding over ice for an hour before it is served. NESSELRÔDE CREAM. Shell and blanch (see page 342) twenty-four fine Spanish chestnuts, and put them with three-quarters of a pint of water into a small and delicately clean saucepan. When they have simmered from six to eight minutes, add to them two ounces of fine sugar, and let them stew very gently until they are perfectly tender; then drain them from the water, pound them, while still warm, to a smooth paste, and press them through the back of a fine sieve. While this is being done, dissolve half an ounce of isinglass in two or three spoonsful of water, and put to it as much cream as will, with the small quantity of water used, make half a pint, two ounces of 472sugar, about the third of a pod of vanilla, cut small, and well bruised, and a strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, pared extremely thin. Give these a minute’s boil, and then keep them quite hot by the side of the fire, until a strong flavour of the vanilla is obtained. Now, mix gradually with the chestnuts half a pint of rich, unboiled cream, strain the other half pint through a fine muslin, and work the whole well together until it becomes very thick; then stir to it a couple of ounces of dried cherries, cut into quarters, and two of candied citron, divided into very small dice. Press the mixture into a mould which has been rubbed with a particle of the purest salad-oil, and in a few hours it will be ready for table. The cream should be sufficiently stiff, when the fruit is added, to prevent its sinking to the bottom, and both kinds should be dry when they are used. Chestnuts, large, 24; water, 3/4 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; water, 3 to 4 tablespoonsful; cream, nearly 1/2 pint; vanilla, 1/3 of pod; lemon-rind, 1/4 of 1 large: infuse 20 minutes or more. Unboiled cream, 1/2 pint; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 2 oz. Obs.—When vanilla cannot easily be obtained, a little noyau may be substituted for it, but a full weight of isinglass must then be used. CRÊME À LA COMTESSE, OR THE COUNTESS’S CREAM. Prepare as above, boil and pound, eighteen fine sound chestnuts; mix with them gradually, after they have been pressed through a fine sieve, half a pint of rich sweet cream; dissolve in half a pint of new milk a half-ounce of isinglass, then add to them from six to eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised, with two-thirds of the rind of a small lemon, cut extremely thin, and two ounces and a half of sugar; let these simmer gently for five minutes, and then remain by the side of the fire for awhile. When the milk is strongly flavoured, strain it through muslin, press the whole of it through, and stir it by degrees to the chestnuts and cream; beat the mixture smooth, and when it begins to thicken, put it into a mould rubbed with oil, or into one which has been dipped in water and shaken nearly free of the moisture. If set into a cool place, it will be ready for table in six or eight hours. It has a pretty appearance when partially stuck with pistachio-nuts, blanched, dried, and cut in spikes, their bright green colour rendering them very ornamental to dishes of this kind: as they are, however, much more expensive than almonds, they can be used more sparingly, or intermingled with spikes of the firm outer rind of candied citron. Chestnuts, 18; water, full 1/2 pint; sugar, 1 oz.: 15 to 25 minutes, or more. Cream, 1/2 pint; new milk, 1/2 pint; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; bitter almonds, 6 to 8; lemon-rind, two-thirds of 1; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.[161] 161.  The proportions both of this and of the preceding cream must be increased for a large mould. 473Obs.—This is a very delicate kind of sweet dish, which we can particularly recommend to our readers; it may be rendered more recherché by a flavouring of maraschino, but must then have a little addition of isinglass. The preparation, without this last ingredient, will be found excellent iced. AN EXCELLENT TRIFLE. Take equal parts of wine and brandy, about a wineglassful of each, or two-thirds of good sherry or Madeira, and one of spirit, and soak in the mixture four sponge-biscuits, and half a pound of macaroons and ratifias; cover the bottom of the trifle-dish with part of these, and pour upon them a full pint of rich boiled custard made with three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of milk and cream taken in equal portions, and six eggs; and sweetened, flavoured and thickened by the receipt of page 481; lay the remainder of the soaked cakes upon it, and pile over the whole, to the depth of two or three inches, the whipped syllabub of page 476, previously well drained; then sweeten and flavour slightly with wine only, less than half a pint of thin cream (or of cream and milk mixed); wash and wipe the whisk, and whip it to the lightest possible froth: take it off with a skimmer and heap it gently over the trifle. Macaroons and ratifias, 1/2 lb.; wine and brandy mixed, 1/4 pint; rich boiled custard, 1 pint; whipped syllabub (see page 476); light froth to cover the whole, short 1/2 pint of cream and milk mixed; sugar, dessertspoonful; wine, 1/2 glassful. SWISS CREAM, OR TRIFLE. (Very Good.) Flavour pleasantly with and cinnamon, a pint of rich cream, after having taken from it as much as will mix smoothly to a thin batter four teaspoonsful of the finest flour; sweeten it with six ounces of well-refined sugar in lumps; place it over a clear fire in a delicately clean saucepan, and when it boils stir in the flour, and simmer it for four or five minutes, stirring it gently without ceasing; then pour it out, and when it is quite cold mix with it by degrees the strained juice of two moderate-sized and very fresh lemons. Take a quarter of a pound of macaroons, cover the bottom of a glass dish with a portion of them, pour in a part of the cream, lay the remainder of the macaroons upon it, add the rest of the cream, and ornament it with candied citron sliced thin. It should be made the day before it is wanted for table. The requisite flavour may be given to this dish by infusing in the cream the very thin rind of a lemon, and part of a stick of cinnamon slightly bruised, and then straining it before the flour is added; or, these and the sugar may be boiled together with two or three spoonsful of water, to a strongly 474flavoured syrup, which, after having been passed through a muslin strainer, may be stirred into the cream. Some cooks boil the cinnamon and the grated rind of a lemon with all the other ingredients, but the cream has then to be pressed through a sieve after it is made, a process which it is always desirable to avoid. It may be flavoured with vanilla and maraschino, or with orange-blossoms at pleasure; but is excellent made as above. Rich cream, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rind, 1 lemon; cinnamon, 1 drachm; flour, 4 teaspoonsful; juice, 2 lemons; macaroons, 4 oz.; candied citron, 1 to 2 oz. TIPSY CAKE, OR BRANDY TRIFLE. The old-fashioned mode of preparing this dish was to soak a light sponge or Savoy cake in as much good French brandy as it could absorb; then, to stick it full of blanched almonds cut into whole-length spikes, and to pour a rich cold boiled custard round it. It is more usual now to pour white wine over the cake, or a mixture of wine and brandy; with this the juice of half a lemon is sometimes mixed. Chantilly Basket. FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES. Take a mould of any sort that will serve to form the basket on, just dip the edge of some macaroons into melted barley sugar, and fasten them together with it; take it out of the mould, keep it in a dry place until wanted, then fill it high with whipped strawberry cream which has been drained on a sieve from the preceding day, and stick very fine ripe strawberries over it. It should not filled until just before it is served. 475 VERY GOOD LEMON CREAMS MADE WITHOUT CREAM. Pour over the very thin rinds of two moderate-sized but perfectly sound fresh lemons and six ounces of sugar, half a pint of spring water, and let them remain for six hours: then add the strained juice of the lemons, and five fresh eggs well beaten and also strained; take out the lemon-rind, and stir the mixture without ceasing over a gentle fire until it has boiled softly from six to eight minutes: it will not curdle as it would did milk supply the place of the water and lemon-juice. The creams are, we think, more delicate, though not quite so thick, when the yolks only of six eggs are used for them. They will keep well for nearly a week in really cold weather. Rinds of lemons, 2; sugar, 6 oz. (or 8 when a very sweet dish is preferred); cold water, 1/2 pint: 6 hours. Juice of lemons, 2; eggs, 5: to be boiled softly 6 to 8 minutes. Obs.—Lemon creams may, on occasion, be more expeditiously prepared, by rasping the rind of the fruit upon the sugar which is used for them; or, by paring it thin, and boiling it for a few minutes with the lemon-juice, sugar, and water, before they are stirred to the eggs. FRUIT CREAMS, AND ITALIAN CREAMS. These are very quickly and easily made, by mixing with good cream a sufficient proportion of the sweetened juice of fresh fruit, or of well-made fruit jelly or jam, to flavour it: a few drops of prepared cochineal may be added to deepen the colour when it is required for any particular purpose. A quarter of a pint of strawberry or of raspberry jelly will fully flavour a pint of cream: a very little lemon-juice improves almost all compositions of this kind. When jam is used it must first be gradually mixed with the cream, and then worked through a sieve, to take out the seed or skin of the fruit. All fresh juice, for this purpose, must of course, be cold; that of strawberries is best obtained by crushing the fruit and strewing sugar over it. Peaches, pine-apple, apricots, or nectarines, may be simmered for a few minutes in a little syrup, and this, drained well from them, will serve extremely well to mix with the cream when it has become thoroughly cold: the lemon-juice should be added to all of these. When the ingredients are well blended, lightly whisk or mill them to a froth; take this off with a skimmer as it rises, and lay it upon a fine sieve reversed, to drain, or if it is to be served in glasses, fill them with it at once. Italian creams are either fruit-flavoured only, or mixed with wine like syllabubs, then whisked to a stiff froth and put into a perforated mould, into which a muslin is first laid; or into a small hair-sieve (which must also first be lined with the muslin), and left to drain until the following day, when the cream must be very gently turned out, and dished, and garnished, as fancy may direct. 476 VERY SUPERIOR WHIPPED SYLLABUBS. Weigh seven ounces of fine sugar and rasp on it the rinds of two fresh sound lemons of good size, then pound or roll it to powder, and put it into a bowl with the strained juice of the lemons, two large glasses of sherry, and two of brandy; when the sugar is dissolved add a pint of very fresh cream, and whisk or mill the mixture well; take off the froth as it rises, and put it into glasses. These syllabubs will remain good for several days, and should always be made if possible, four-and-twenty hours before they are wanted for table. The full flavour of the lemon-rind is obtained with less trouble than in rasping, by paring it very thin indeed, and infusing it for some hours in the juice of the fruit. Sugar, 7 oz.; rind and juice of lemons, 2; sherry, 2 large wineglassesful; brandy, 2 wineglassesful; cream, 1 pint. Obs.—These proportions are sufficient for two dozens or more of syllabubs: they are often made with almost equal quantities of wine and cream, but are considered less wholesome without a portion of brandy. BLANC-MANGES. GOOD COMMON BLANC-MANGE, OR BLANC-MANGER. (Author’s Receipt.) Blanc-mange or Cake Mould. Infuse for an hour in a pint and a half of new milk the very thin rind of one small, or of half a large lemon and four or five bitter almonds, blanched and bruised,[162] then add two ounces of sugar, or rather more for persons who like the blanc-mange very sweet, and an ounce and a half of isinglass. Boil them gently over a clear fire, stirring them often until this last is dissolved; take off the scum, stir in half a pint, or rather more, of rich cream, and strain the blanc-mange into a bowl; it should be moved gently with a spoon until nearly cold to prevent the cream from settling on the surface. Before it is moulded, mix with it by degrees a wineglassful of brandy. 162.  These should always be very sparingly used. New milk, 1-1/2 pint; rind of lemon, 1/2 large or whole small; bitter almonds, 8: infuse 1 hour. Sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1 wineglassful. 477 RICHER BLANC-MANGE. A pint of good cream with a pint of new milk, sweetened and flavoured as above (or in any other manner which good taste may dictate), with a little additional sugar, and the same proportion of isinglass, will make very good blanc-mange. Two ounces of Jordan almonds may be pounded and mixed with it, but they are not needed with the cream. JAUMANGE, OR JAUNE MANGER, SOMETIMES CALLED DUTCH FLUMMERY. Pour on the very thin rind of a large lemon and half a pound of sugar broken small, a pint of water, and keep them stirred over a gentle fire until they have simmered for three or four minutes, then leave the saucepan by the side of the stove that the syrup may taste well of the lemon. In ten or fifteen minutes afterwards add two ounces of isinglass, and stir the mixture often until this is dissolved, then throw in the strained juice of four sound moderate-sized lemons, and a pint of sherry; mix the whole briskly with the beaten yolks of eight fresh eggs, and pass it through a delicately clean hair-sieve: next thicken it in a jar or jug placed in a pan of boiling water, turn it into a bowl, and when it has become cool and been allowed to settle for a minute or two, pour it into moulds which have been laid in water. Some persons add a small glass of brandy to it, and deduct so much from the quantity of water. Rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 8 oz.; water, 1 pint: 3 or 4 minutes. Isinglass, 2 oz.; juice, 4 lemons; yolks of eggs, 8; wine, 1 pint; brandy (at pleasure), 1 wineglassful. EXTREMELY GOOD STRAWBERRY BLANC-MANGE, OR BAVARIAN CREAM. Crush slightly with a silver or wooden spoon, a quart, measured without their stalks, of fresh and richly-flavoured strawberries; strew over them eight ounces of pounded sugar, and let them stand for three or four hours; then turn them on to a fine hair-sieve reversed, and rub them through it. Melt over a gentle fire two ounces of the best isinglass in a pint of new milk, and sweeten it with four ounces of sugar; strain it through a muslin, and mix it with a pint and a quarter of sweet thick cream; keep these stirred until they are nearly or quite cold, then pour them gradually to the strawberries, whisking them briskly together; and last of all throw in, by small portions, the strained juice of a fine sound lemon. Mould the blanc-mange, and set it in a very cool place for twelve hours or more before it is served. 478Strawberries stalked, 1 quart; sugar, 8 oz.; isinglass, 2 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.; cream, 1-1/4 pint; juice, 1 lemon. Obs.—We have retained here the old-fashioned name of blanc-mange (or blanc-manger) because it is more familiar to many English readers than any of recent introduction; but moulded strawberry-cream would be more appropriate; as nothing can properly be called blanc manger which is not white. By mingling the cream, after it has been whisked, or whipped, to the other ingredients, the preparation becomes what is called un Fromage Bavarois, or Bavarian cream, sometimes simply, une Bavaroise. QUINCE BLANC-MANGE. (Delicious.) This, if carefully made, and with ripe quinces, is one of the most richly-flavoured preparations of fruit that we have ever tasted; and the receipt, we may venture to say, will be altogether new to the reader. Dissolve in a pint of prepared juice of quinces (see page 456), an ounce of the best isinglass; next, add ten ounces of sugar, roughly pounded, and stir these together gently over a clear fire, from twenty to thirty minutes, or until the juice jellies in falling from the spoon. Remove the scum carefully, and pour the boiling jelly gradually to half a pint of thick cream, stirring them briskly together as they are mixed: they must be stirred until very nearly cold, and then poured into a mould which has been rubbed in every part with the smallest possible quantity of very pure salad oil, or if more convenient, into one that has been dipped into cold water. Obs.—This blanc-manger which we had made originally on the thought of the moment for a friend, proved so very rich in flavour, that we inserted the exact receipt for it, as we had had it made on our first trial; but it might be simplified by merely boiling the juice, sugar, and isinglass, together for a few minutes, and then mixing them with the cream. An ounce and a half of isinglass and three-quarters of a pint of cream might then be used for it. The juice of other fruit may be substituted for that of the quinces. Juice of quinces, 1 pint; isinglass, 1 oz.: 5 to 10 minutes. Sugar, 10 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint. QUINCE BLANC-MANGE, WITH ALMOND CREAM. When cream is not procurable, which will sometimes happen in the depth of winter, almonds, if plentifully used, will afford a very good substitute, though the finer blanc-mange is made from the foregoing receipt. On four ounces of almonds, blanched and beaten to the smoothest paste, and moistened in the pounding with a few drops of water, to prevent their oiling, pour a pint of boiling quince-juice; stir them together, and turn them into a strong cloth, of which let the 479ends be held and twisted different ways by two persons, to express the cream from the almonds; put the juice again on the fire, with half a pound of sugar, and when it boils, throw in nearly an ounce of fine isinglass; simmer the whole for five minutes, take off the scum, stir the blanc-mange until it is nearly cold, then mould it for table. Increase the quantity both of this and of the preceding blanc-mange, when a large dish of either is required. Quince-juice, 1 pint; Jordan almond, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb; isinglass, nearly 1 oz: 5 minutes. APRICOT BLANC-MANGE, OR CRÊME PARISIENNE. Dissolve gently an ounce of fine isinglass in a pint of new milk or of thin cream, and strain it through a folded muslin; put it into a clean saucepan, with three ounces of sugar, broken into small lumps, and when it boils, stir to it half a pint of rich cream; add it, at first by spoonsful only, to eight ounces of the finest apricot jam, mix them very smoothly, and stir the whole until it is nearly cold that the jam may not sink to the bottom of the mould: a tablespoonful of lemon-juice will improve the flavour. When cream is scarce, use milk instead, with an additional quarter of an ounce of isinglass, and enrich it by pouring it boiling on the same proportion of almonds as for the second quince blanc-mange (see page 478). Cream can in all cases be substituted entirely for the milk, when a very rich preparation is desired. Peach jam will answer admirably for this receipt; but none of any kind should be used for it which has not been passed through a sieve when made. Isinglass, 1 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; apricot jam, 1/2 lb.; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful. Or, peach jam, 1/2 lb.; cream, 1-1/2 pint. CURRANT BLANC-MANGE. In three-quarters of a pint of clear currant-juice, drawn from the fruit as for jelly, and strained, dissolve an ounce and a half of isinglass; add nine ounces of sugar broken small, give the whole a boil, strain it, and stir it by slow degrees to three-quarters of a pint of thick cold cream; when it is less than milk-warm pour it into the moulds. The proportions of juice and cream can be varied to the taste, and a portion of raspberries or strawberries added to the currants. Black currants would, we think, make an agreeable variety of this blanc-mange for persons who like their peculiar flavour, but we have not tried them. Clear juice of red currant, 3/4 pint; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 9 oz.; cream, 3/4 pint. 480 LEMON SPONGE, OR MOULDED LEMON CREAM. Infuse in half a pint of cream the very thin rind of one large lemon, or of one and a half of smaller size; or, instead of this, rasp the fruit with the sugar which is to be used for the preparation. Add three-quarters of an ounce of fine isinglass, and when this is dissolved throw in seven ounces of sugar in small lumps. Do not boil the mixture, to reduce it, but let it be kept near the point of simmering, until the sugar and isinglass are entirely dissolved, and a full flavour of the lemon-rind has been obtained; then stir in another half-pint of cream, and strain the mixture immediately into a deep bowl or pan. When it is quite cold, add to it very gradually the strained juice of one lemon and a half, whisking the preparation well all the time; and when it begins to set, which may be known by its becoming very thick, whisk it lightly to a sponge, pour it into an oiled mould, and, to prevent its breaking when it is dished, just dip the mould into hot, but not boiling water; loosen the edges carefully, and turn out the cream: to save time and trouble the whisking may be omitted, and a plain lemon-cream take place of the sponge. Cream, 1 pint; rind of lemons 2 middling-sized, or 1-1/2 large; isinglass, 3/4 oz.; sugar, 7 oz.; juice of 1-1/2 lemon. Obs.—For this, as for all other dishes of the kind, a little more or less of isinglass may be required according to the state of the weather, a larger proportion being needed in summer than in winter. AN APPLE HEDGE-HOG, OR SUÉDOISE. This dish is formed of apples, pared, cored without being divided and stewed tolerably tender in a light syrup. These are placed in a dish, after being well drained, and filled with apricot, or any other rich marmalade, and arranged in two or more layers, so as to give, when the whole is complete, the form shown in the engraving. The number required must depend on the size of the dish. From three to five pounds more must be stewed down into a smooth and dry marmalade, and with this all the spaces between them are to be filled up, and the whole are to be covered with it; an icing of two eggs, beaten to a very solid froth, and mixed with two heaped teaspoonsful of sugar, must then be spread evenly over the suédoise, fine sugar sifted on this, and spikes of blanched almonds, cut lengthwise, stuck over the entire surface: the dish is then to be placed in a moderate oven until the almonds are browned, but not too deeply, and the apples are hot through. It is 481not easy to give the required form with less than fifteen apples; eight of these may first be simmered in a syrup made with half a pint of water and six ounces of sugar, and the remainder may be thrown in after these are lifted out. Care must be taken to keep them firm. The marmalade should be sweet, and pleasantly flavoured with lemon. VERY GOOD OLD-FASHIONED BOILED CUSTARD. Throw into a pint and a half of new milk, the very thin rind of a fresh lemon, and let it infuse for half an hour, then simmer them together for a few minutes, and add four ounces and a half of white sugar. Beat thoroughly the yolks of fourteen fresh eggs, mix with them another half-pint of new milk, stir the boiling milk quickly to them, take out the lemon-peel, and turn the custard into a deep jug; set this over the fire in a pan of boiling water, and keep the custard stirred gently, but without ceasing, until it begins to thicken; then move the spoon rather more quickly, making it always touch the bottom of the jug, until the mixture is brought to the point of boiling, when it must be instantly taken from the fire, or it will curdle in a moment. Pour it into a bowl, and keep it stirred until nearly cold, then add to it by degrees a wineglassful of good brandy, and two ounces of blanched almonds, cut into spikes; or omit these, at pleasure. A few bitter ones, bruised, can be boiled in the milk in lieu of lemon-peel, when their flavour is preferred. New milk, 1 quart; rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 14; salt, less than 1/4 saltspoonful. RICH BOILED CUSTARD. Take a small cupful from a quart of fresh cream, and simmer the remainder for a few minutes with four ounces of sugar and the rind of a lemon, or give it any other flavour that may be preferred. Beat and strain the yolks of eight eggs, mix them with the cupful of cream, and stir the rest boiling to them: thicken the custard like the preceding one. Cream, 1 quart; sugar, 4 oz.; yolks of eggs, 8. THE QUEEN’S CUSTARD. On the beaten and strained yolks of twelve new-laid eggs pour a pint and a half of boiling cream which has been sweetened, with three ounces of sugar; add the smallest pinch of salt, and thicken the custard as usual. When nearly cold, flavour it with a glass and a half of noyau, maraschino, or cuirasseau, and add the sliced almonds or not, at pleasure. Yolks of eggs, 12; cream, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt; noyau, maraschino, or cuirasseau, 1-1/2 wineglassful. 482 CURRANT CUSTARD. Boil in a pint of clear currant-juice ten ounces of sugar for three minutes, take off the scum, and pour the boiling juice on eight well-beaten eggs; thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water, pour it out, stir it till nearly cold, then add to it carefully, and by degrees, half a pint of rich cream, and last of all two tablespoonsful of strained lemon-juice. When the currants are very ripe omit one ounce of the sugar. White currants and strawberries, cherries, red or white raspberries, or a mixture of any of these fruits, may be used for these custards with good effect: they are excellent. Currant-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 10 oz.: 3 minutes. Eggs, 8; cream, 1/2 pint; lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful. QUINCE OR APPLE CUSTARDS. Add to a pint of apple-juice prepared as for jelly, a tablespoonful of strained lemon-juice, and from four to six ounces of sugar according to the acidity of the fruit; stir these boiling, quickly, and in small portions, to eight well-beaten eggs, and thicken the custard in a jug placed in a pan of boiling water, in the usual manner. A larger proportion of lemon-juice and a high flavouring of a rind can be given when approved. For quince custards, which if well made are excellent, observe the same directions as for the apple, but omit the lemon-juice. As we have before observed, all custards are much finer when made with the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must be increased nearly half, when this is done. Prepared apple-juice (see page 456), 1 pint; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful; sugar, 4 to 6 oz.; eggs, 8. Quince custards, same proportions, but no lemon-juice. Obs.—In making lemon-creams the apple-juice may be substituted very advantageously for water, without varying the receipt in other respects. THE DUKE’S CUSTARD. Drain well from their juice, and then roll in dry sifted sugar, as many fine brandied Morella cherries as will cover thickly the bottom of the dish in which this is to be sent to table; arrange them in it, and pour over them from a pint to a pint and a half of rich cold boiled custard; garnish the edge with macaroons or Naples biscuits, or pile upon the custard some solid rose-coloured whipped cream, highly flavoured with brandy. Brandied Morella cherries, 1/2 to whole pint; boiled custard, from 1 to 1-1/2 pint; thick cream, 1/2 pint or more; brandy, 1 to 2 glassesful; 483sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; juice of 1/2 large lemon; prepared cochineal, or carmine, 20 to 40 drops. CHOCOLATE CUSTARDS. Dissolve gently by the side of the fire an ounce and a half of the best chocolate in rather more than a wineglassful of water, and then boil it until it is perfectly smooth; mix with it a pint of milk well flavoured with lemon peel or vanilla, add two ounces of fine sugar, and when the whole boils, stir it to five well-beaten eggs which have been strained. Put the custard into a jar or jug, set it into a pan of boiling water, and stir it without ceasing until it is thick. Do not put it into glasses or a dish until it is nearly or quite cold. These, as well as all other custards, are infinitely finer when made with the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must then be increased. Two ounces of chocolate, a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, two or three ounces of sugar, and eight yolks of eggs, will make very superior custards of this kind. Rasped chocolate, 1-1/2 oz.; water, 1 large wineglassful: 5 to 8 minutes. New milk, 1 pint; eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz. Or: chocolate, 2 oz.; water, 1/4 pint; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2-1/2 to 3 oz.; cream, 1/2 pint; yolks of eggs, 8. Obs.—Either of these may be moulded by dissolving from half to three quarters of an ounce of isinglass in the milk. The proportion of chocolate can be increased to the taste. COMMON BAKED CUSTARD. Mix a quart of new milk with eight well beaten eggs, strain the mixture through a fine sieve, and sweeten it with from five to eight ounces of sugar, according to the taste; add a small pinch of salt, and pour the custard into a deep dish with or without a lining or rim of paste, grate nutmeg or over the top, and bake it in a very slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes, or longer, should it not be firm in the centre. A custard, if well made, and properly baked, will be quite smooth when cut, without the honey-combed appearance which a hot oven gives; and there will be no whey in the dish. New milk, 1 quart; eggs, 8; sugar, 5 to 8 oz.; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful; nutmeg or lemon-grate: baked, slow oven, 30 to 40 minutes, or more. A FINER BAKED CUSTARD. Boil together gently, for five minutes, a pint and a half of new milk, a few grains of salt, the very thin rind of a lemon, and six ounces of loaf sugar; stir these boiling, but very gradually, to the well-beaten yolks of ten fresh eggs, and the whites of four; strain the 484mixture, and add to it half a pint of good cream; let it cool, and then flavour it with a few spoonsful of brandy, or a little ratifia; finish and bake it by the directions given for the common custard above; or pour it into small well-buttered cups, and bake it very slowly from ten to twelve minutes. FRENCH CUSTARDS OR CREAMS. To a quart of new milk allow the yolks of twelve fresh eggs, but to equal parts of milk and cream of ten only. From six to eight ounces of sugar will sweeten the custard sufficiently for general taste, but more can be added at will; boil this for a few minutes gently in the milk with a grain or two of salt, and stir the mixture briskly to the eggs, as soon as it is taken from the fire. Butter a round deep dish, pour in the custard, and place it in a pan of water at the point of boiling, taking care that it shall not reach to within an inch of the edge; let it just simmer, and no more, from an hour to an hour and a half: when quite firm in the middle, it will be done. A very few live embers should be kept on the lid of the stewpan to prevent the steam falling from it into the custard. When none is at hand of a form to allow of this, it is better to use a charcoal fire, and to lay an oven-leaf, or tin, over the pan, and the embers in the centre. The small French furnace, shown in Chapter XXIII., is exceedingly convenient for preparations of this kind; and there is always more or less of difficulty in keeping a coal fire entirely free from smoke for any length of time. Serve the custard cold, with chopped macaroons, or ratafias, laid thickly round the edge so as to form a border an inch deep. A few petals of fresh orange-blossoms infused in the milk will give it a most agreeable flavour, very superior to that derived from the distilled water. Half a pod of vanilla, cut in short lengths, and well bruised, may be used instead of either; but the milk should then stand some time by the fire before or after it boils, and it must be strained through a muslin before it is added to the eggs, as the small seed of the vanilla would probably pass through a sieve. The French make their custards, which they call crêmes, also in small china cups, for each of which they allow one egg-yolk, and then add sufficient milk or cream to nearly fill them; they sweeten and give them a delicate flavour; and simmer them in a pan of water until they are set. New milk, 1 quart; yolks of eggs, 12; sugar, 6 to 8 oz. Or: new milk, 1 pint; cream, 1 pint; yolks of eggs, 10; flavouring of orange-flowers or vanilla: simmered in water-bath, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. GERMAN PUFFS. Pound to a perfectly smooth paste two ounces of Jordan almonds and six bitter ones; mix with them, by slow degrees, the 485yolks of six, and the whites of three eggs. Dissolve in half a pint of rich cream, four ounces of fresh butter, and two of fine sugar; pour these hot to the eggs, stirring them briskly together, and when the mixture has become cool, flavour it with half a glass of brandy, of cuirasseau, or of orange-flower water; or, in lieu of either, with a little lemon-brandy. Butter some cups thickly, and strew into them a few slices of candied citron, or orange-rind; pour in the mixture, and bake the puffs twenty minutes, in a slow oven. Jordan almonds, 2 oz.; bitter almonds, 6; eggs, whites, 3—yolks, 6; cream, 1/2 pint; butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 2 oz.; brandy, cuirasseau, or orange-flower water, 1/2 wineglassful (or little lemon-brandy): 20 minutes, slow oven. A MERINGUE OF RHUBARB, OR GREEN GOOSEBERRIES. Weigh a pound of delicate young rhubarb-stems after they have been carefully pared and cut into short lengths; mix eight ounces of pounded sugar with them, and stew them gently until they form a smooth pulp; then quicken the boiling, and stir them often until they are reduced to a tolerably dry marmalade. When the fruit has reached this point turn it from the pan and let it stand until it is quite cold. Separate the whites of four fresh eggs carefully from the yolks, and whisk them to a froth sufficiently solid to remain standing in points when it is dropped from the whisk or fork. Common cooks sometimes fail entirely in very light preparations from not properly understanding this extremely easy process, which requires nothing beyond plenty of space in the bowl or basin used, and regular but not violent whisking until the eggs whiten, and gradually assume the appearance of snow. No drop of liquid must remain at the bottom of the basin, and the mass must be firm enough to stand up, as has been said, in points. When in this state, mingle with it four heaped tablespoonsful of dry sifted sugar, stir these gently together, and when they are quite mixed, lay them lightly over the rhubarb in a rather deep tart-dish. Place the meringue in a moderate oven and bake it for about half an hour, but ascertain, before it is served, that the centre is quite firm. The crust formed by the white of egg and sugar, which is in fact the meringue, should be of a light equal brown, and crisp quite through. If placed in an exceedingly slow oven, the underpart of it will remain half liquid, and give an uninviting appearance to the fruit when it is served. Unless the rhubarb should be very acid, six ounces of sugar will be sufficient to sweeten it for many tastes. It is a great improvement to this dish to diminish the proportion of fruit, and to pour some thick boiled custard upon it before the meringue is laid on. Obs.—When gooseberries are substituted for spring-fruit, a pint and a half will be sufficient for this preparation, or even a smaller proportion when only one of quite moderate size is required. In the 486early part of their season they will be more acid even than the rhubarb, and rather more sugar must be allowed for them. CREAMED SPRING FRUIT, OR RHUBARB TRIFLE. Boil down the rhubarb with seven ounces of sugar, after having prepared it as above, and when it is perfectly cold, but not long before it is sent to table, pour over it about half a pint of rich boiled custard also quite cold, then heap on this some well drained, but slightly-sweetened whipped cream, which should be good and very fresh when it is whisked, but not heavily thick, or it will be less easily converted into a snow-froth. The rhubarb will be very nice if served with the whipped cream only on it. MERINGUE OF PEARS, OR OTHER FRUIT. Fill a deep tart-dish nearly to the brim with stewed pears, and let them be something more than half covered with their juice. Whisk to a solid froth the whites of five eggs; stir to them five tablespoonsful of dry sifted sugar, and lay them lightly and equally over the fruit; put the meringue immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it half an hour. Cherries, bullaces, and damsons, with various other kinds of plums, first either stewed as for compôtes (see page 457), or baked with sugar, as for winter use, answer as well as pears for this dish; which may, likewise, be made of apples, peaches, apricots, or common plums boiled down quite to a marmalade, with sufficient sugar to sweeten them moderately: the skins and stones of these last should be removed, but a few of the blanched kernels may be added to the fruit. Dish filled with stewed pears or other fruit; whites of eggs, 5; pounded sugar, 5 tablespoonsful: baked, 1/2 hour. AN APPLE CHARLOTTE, OR CHARLOTTE DE POMMES. Butter a plain mould (a round or square cake-tin will answer the purpose quite well), and line it entirely with thin slices of the crumb of a stale loaf, cut so as to fit into it with great exactness, and dipped into clarified butter. When this is done, fill the mould to the brim with apple marmalade; cover the top with slices of bread dipped in butter, and on these place a dish, a large plate, or the cover of a French stewpan with a weight upon it. Send the Charlotte to a brisk oven for three quarters of an hour should it be small, and for an hour if large. Turn it out with great care, and serve it hot. If baked in a slack oven it will not take 487a proper degree of colour, and it will be liable to break in the dishing. The strips of bread must of course join very perfectly, for if any spaces were left between them the syrup of the fruit would escape and destroy the good appearance of the dish: should there not have been sufficient marmalade prepared to fill the mould entirely, a jar of quince or apricot jam, or of preserved cherries even, may be added to it with advantage. The butter should be well drained from the Charlotte before it is taken from the mould; and sugar may be sifted thickly over it before it is served, or it may be covered with any kind of clear red jelly. A more elegant, and we think an easier mode of forming the crust, is to line the mould with small rounds of bread stamped out with a plain cake or paste cutter, then dipped in butter, and placed with the edges sufficiently one over the other to hold the fruit securely: the strips of bread are sometimes arranged in the same way. 3/4 to 1 hour, quick oven. MARMALADE FOR THE CHARLOTTE. Weigh three pounds of good boiling apples, after they have been pared, cored, and quartered; put them into a stewpan with six ounces of fresh butter, three quarters of a pound of sugar beaten to powder, three quarters of a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, and the strained juice of a lemon; let these stew over a gentle fire, until they form a perfectly smooth and dry marmalade; keep them often stirred that they may not burn, and let them cool before they are put into the crust. This quantity is for a moderate-sized Charlotte. A CHARLOTTE À LA PARISIENNE. This dish is sometimes called in England a Vienna cake; and it is known here also, we believe, as a Gâteaux de Bordeaux. Cut horizontally into half-inch slices a Savoy or sponge cake, and cover each slice with a different kind of preserve; replace them in their original form, and spread equally over the cake an icing made with the whites of three eggs, and four ounces of the finest pounded sugar; sift more sugar over it in every part, and put it into a very gentle oven to dry. The eggs should be whisked to snow before they are used. One kind of preserve, instead of several, can be used for this dish; and a rice or a pound cake may supply the place of the Savoy or sponge biscuit. A GERTRUDE À LA CREME. Slice a plain pound or rice cake as for the Charlotte à la Parisienne, and take a round out of the centre of each slice with a tin-cutter before the preserve is laid on; replace the whole in its original form, ice the outside with a green or rose coloured icing at pleasure, and dry 488it in a gentle oven; or decorate it instead with leaves of almond paste, fastening them to it with white of egg. Just before it is sent to table, fill it with well-drained whipped cream, flavoured as for a trifle or in any other way to the taste. POMMES AU BEURRE. (Buttered apples. Excellent.) Pare six or eight fine apples of a firm but good boiling kind, and core without piercing them through, or dividing them; fill the cavities with fresh butter, put a quarter of a pound more, cut small, into a stewpan just large enough to contain the apples in a single layer, place them closely together on it, and stew them as softly as possible, turning them occasionally until they are almost sufficiently tender to serve; then strew upon them as much sifted sugar as will sweeten the dish highly, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon; shake these well in and upon the fruit, and stew it for a few minutes longer. Lift it out, arrange it in a hot dish, put into each apple as much warm apricot jam as it will contain, and lay a small quantity on the top; pour the syrup from the pan round, but not on the fruit, and serve it immediately. Apples, 6 to 8; fresh butter, 4 oz., just simmered till tender. Sugar, 6 to 8 oz.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful: 5 minutes. Apricot jam as needed. Obs.—Particular care must be taken to keep the apples entire: they should rather steam in a gentle heat than boil. It is impossible to specify the precise time which will render them sufficiently tender, as this must depend greatly on the time of year and the sort of fruit. If the stewpan were placed in a very slow oven, the more regular heat of it would perhaps be better in its effect than the stewing. SUÉDOISE OF PEACHES. Suédoise of Peaches. Pare and divide four fine, ripe peaches, and let them just simmer from five to eight minutes in a syrup made with the third of a pint of water and three ounces of very white sugar, boiled together for fifteen minutes; lift them out carefully into a deep dish, and pour about half the syrup over them, and into the remaining half throw a couple of pounds more of quite ripe peaches, and boil them to a perfectly smooth dry pulp or marmalade, with as much additional sugar in fine powder, as the nature of the fruit may require. Lift the other peaches from the syrup, and reduce it 489by very quick boiling, more than half. Spread a deep layer of the marmalade in a dish, arrange the peaches symmetrically round it, and fill all the spaces between them with the marmalade; place the half of a blanched peach-kernel in each, pour the reduced syrup equally over the surface, and form a border round the dish with Italian macaroons, or, in lieu of these, with candied citron, sliced very thin, and cut into leaves with a small paste-cutter. A little lemon-juice brings out the flavour of all preparations of peaches, and may be added with good effect to this. When the fruit is scarce, the marmalade (which ought to be very white) may be made in part, or entirely, with nonsuches. The better to preserve their form, the peaches are sometimes merely wiped, and then boiled tolerably tender in the syrup before they are pared or split. Half a pint of water, and from five to six ounces of sugar must then be allowed for them. If any of those used for the marmalade should not be quite ripe, it will be better to pass it through a sieve, when partially done, to prevent its being lumpy. Large ripe peaches, pared and halved, 4: simmered in syrup, 5 to 8 minutes. Marmalade: peaches (or nonsuches) 2 lbs.; sugar, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more. Strained lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful. Citron, or macaroons, as needed. Peaches, if boiled whole in syrup, 15 to 18 minutes. Obs.—The number of peaches can, at pleasure, be increased to six, and three or four of the halves can be piled above the others in the centre of the dish. AROCĒ DOCĒ (OR SWEET RICE, À LA PORTUGAISE.) Wash thoroughly, then drain, and wipe dry in a soft cloth, half a pound of the best Carolina rice. Pour to it three pints of new milk, and when it has gently stewed for half an hour, add eight ounces of sugar broken into small lumps, let it boil until it is dry and tender, and when it is nearly so, stir to it two ounces of blanched almonds, chopped[163] or pounded. Turn the rice when done into shallow dishes or soup plates, and shake it until the surface is smooth; then sift over it rather thickly through a muslin, some freshly-powdered cinnamon, which will give it the appearance of a baked pudding. Serve it cold. It will remain good for several days. This is quite the best sweet preparation of rice that we have ever eaten, and it is a very favourite dish in Portugal, whence the receipt was derived. One or two bitter almonds, pounded with the sweet ones, might a little improve its flavour, and a few spoonsful of rich cream could occasionally be substituted for a small portion of the milk, but it should not be added until the preparation is three parts done. 163.  The Portuguese use them not very finely chopped. Rice, 8 oz.; milk, 3 pints: 30 minutes. Sugar, 8 oz.: 1 hour or more. Pounded almonds, 2 oz.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful. Obs.—The rice must be frequently stirred while boiling, particularly 490after it begins to thicken; and it will be better not to add the entire quantity of milk at first, as from a quarter to half a pint less will sometimes prove sufficient. The grain should be thoroughly tender, but dry and unbroken. COCOA-NUT DOCE. This is merely fine fresh lightly grated cocoa-nut stewed until tender in syrup, made with one pound of sugar to half a pint of water (or more to the taste) and flavoured with orange-flower water. BUTTERED CHERRIES. (CERISES AU BEURRE.) Cut four ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf into dice, and fry them a light brown in an ounce and a half of fresh butter; take them up, pour the butter from the pan, and put in another ounce and a half; to this add a pound of Kentish cherries without their stalks, and when they are quite warmed through, strew in amongst them four ounces of sugar, and keep the whole well turned over a moderate fire; pour in gradually half a pint of hot water, and in fifteen minutes the cherries will be tender. Lay the fried bread into a hot dish, pour the cherries on it, and serve them directly. Bread, 4 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz. Cherries, 1 lb.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 4 oz.; water, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes. Obs.—Black-heart cherries may be used for this dish instead of Kentish ones: it is an improvement to stone the fruit. We think our readers generally would prefer to the above Morella cherries stewed from five to seven minutes, in syrup (made by boiling five ounces of sugar in half pint of water, for a quarter of an hour), and poured hot on the fried bread. Two pounds of the fruit, when it is stoned, will be required for a full-sized dish. SWEET MACARONI. Drop gently into a pint and a half of new milk, when it is boiling fast, four ounces of fine pipe macaroni, add a grain or two of salt, and some thin strips of lemon or orange rind: cinnamon can be substituted for these when preferred. Simmer the macaroni by a gentle fire until it is tolerably tender, then add from two to three ounces of sugar broken small, and boil it till the pipes are soft, and swollen to their full size; drain, and arrange it in a hot dish; stir the milk quickly to the well-beaten yolks of three large, or of four small eggs, shake them round briskly over the fire until they thicken, pour them over the macaroni and serve it immediately; or instead of the eggs, heat and sweeten some very rich cream, pour it on the drained macaroni, and dust finely-powdered cinnamon over 491through a muslin, or strew it thickly with crushed macaroons. For variety, cover it with the German sauce of page 403, milled to a light froth. New milk, 1-1/2 pint; pipe macaroni, 4 oz.; strips of lemon-rind or cinnamon; sugar, 2 to 3 oz.: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more. BERMUDA WITCHES. Slice equally some rice, pound, or Savoy cake, not more than the sixth of an inch thick; take off the brown edges, and spread one half of it with Guava jelly, or, if more convenient, with fine strawberry, raspberry, or currant jelly of the best quality (see Norman receipt, 478); on this strew thickly some fresh cocoa-nut grated small and lightly; press over it the remainder of the cake, and trim the whole into good form; divide the slices if large, pile them slopingly in the centre of a dish upon a very white napkin folded flat, and garnish or intersperse them with small sprigs of myrtle. For very young people a French roll or two, and good currant jelly, red or white, will supply a wholesome and inexpensive dish. NESSELRÔDE PUDDING. We give Monsieur Carême’s own receipt for this favourite and fashionable dish, not having ourselves had a good opportunity of proving it; but as it originated with him he is the best authority for it. It may be varied in many ways, which the taste or ingenuity of the reader will easily suggest. Boil forty fine sound Spanish chestnuts quite tender in plenty of water, take off the husks, and pound the chestnuts perfectly with a few spoonsful of syrup; rub them through a fine sieve, and mix them in a basin with a pint of syrup made with a pound of sugar clarified, and highly-flavoured with a pod of vanilla, a pint of rich cream, and the yolks of twelve eggs; thicken the mixture like a boiled custard; when it is cold put it into a freezing pot, adding a glass of maraschino, and make it set as an iced cream; then add an ounce of preserved citron cut in dice, two ounces of currants, and as many fine raisins stoned and divided (all of which should be soaked from the day before in some maraschino with a little sugar); the whole thus mingled, add a plateful of whipped cream, and the whites of three eggs prepared as for Italian meringue. When the pudding is perfectly frozen, mould it in a pewter mould of the form of a pine-apple, and place it again in the ice till wanted to serve. Preserved cherries may be substituted for the raisins and currants. Chestnuts, 40; syrup, 1 pint some spoonsful; vanilla, 1 pod; cream, 1 pint; yolk of eggs, 12; maraschino, 1 glassful; citron, 1 oz.; currants, 2 oz.; raisins, 2 oz.; whipped cream, 1 plateful; whites of eggs beaten to snow, 3. Obs.—As Monsieur Carême directs the eggs for his Italian meringues 492to be prepared as follows, he probably intends that they should be mixed with the syrup before they are added to the pudding. Boil together half a pound of the finest sugar, and half a pint of water, until they begin to be very thick; then, with a wooden spoon, work the sugar against the side of the pan till it whitens; leave it to cool a little, work it again, and then with a whisk mingle with it the eggs whipped to a very firm froth, which ought to produce a preparation very white, smooth, and brilliant. STEWED FIGS. (A VERY NICE COMPOTE.) Put into an enamelled or a copper stewpan, four ounces of refined sugar, the very thin rind of a large and fresh lemon, and a pint of cold water. When the sugar is dissolved, add a pound of fine Turkey figs, and place the stewpan on a trivet above a moderate fire, or upon a stove, where they can heat and swell slowly, and be very gently stewed. When they are quite tender, add to them two glassesful of port wine, and the strained juice of the lemon; arrange them in a glass dish, and serve them cold. From two hours to two and a half of the gentlest stewing will generally be sufficient to render the figs fit for table. Orange-juice and rind can be used for them at pleasure, instead of the lemon; two or three bitter almonds maybe boiled in the syrup to give it flavour, and any wine can be used for it which may be preferred, but port is best. This compôte may be served in the second course hot, in a rice-border; or cold for rice-crust. 493 CHAPTER XXIV. Preserves. GENERAL REMARKS ON THE USE AND VALUE OF PRESERVED FRUIT. Simple well-made preserves—especially those of our early summer fruits—are most valuable domestic stores, as they will retain through the entire year or longer,[164] their peculiarly grateful and agreeable flavour, and supply many wholesome and refreshing varieties of diet through the winter months and spring. They are, indeed, as conducive to health—when not cloyingly sweet or taken in excess—as good vegetables are; and they are inexpensive luxuries (if as luxuries they must be regarded), now sugar is so very reasonable in price. By many families they are considered too much as mere superfluities of the table, and when served only—as they so often are—combined with rich pastry-crust or cream, or converted into ices and other costly preparations, may justly be viewed solely in that light. To 494be eaten in perfection they should be sufficiently boiled down to remain free from mould or fermentation, and yet not so much reduced as to be dry or hard; they should not afterwards be subjected to the heat of the oven,[165] but served with some plain pudding, or light dish of bread, rice, ribbon-macaroni, soujee, semoulina, &c. When intended for tartlets or creams, or fruit-sauces, for which see Chapter XX., they should be somewhat less boiled, and be made with a larger proportion of sugar. 164.  We have had them excellent at the end of three or four years, but they were made from the produce of a home garden, as freshly gathered, and carefully selected as it could be. Some clear apricot-marmalade, some strawberry-jelly, and some raspberry-jelly, were amongst those which retained their full flavour and transparency to the last. They were merely covered with two layers of thin writing paper pressed closely on them, after being saturated with spirits of wine. 165.  For the manner of serving them in pastry without this, see “small vol-au-vents and tartlets,” Chap. XVIII. Fruit steamed in bottles is now vended and consumed in very large quantities in this country, but it is not wholesome, as it produces often—probably from the amount of fixed air which it contains—violent derangement of the system. When the bottles are filled with water it is less apt to disagree with the eaters, but it is never so really wholesome as preserves which are made with sugar. That which is baked keeps remarkably well, and appears to be somewhat less objectionable than that which is steamed. The rich confectionary preparations called wet preserves (fruits preserved in syrup), which are principally adapted to formal desserts, scarcely repay the cost and trouble of making them in private families, unless they be often required for table. They are in general lusciously sweet, as they will only remain good with a large proportion of sugar; and if there be no favourable place of storage for them they soon spoil. When drained and well dried, they may much more easily be kept uninjured. The general directions for them, which we append, and the receipts for dried gooseberries, cherries, and apricots which we have inserted here will be sufficient for the guidance of the reader who may wish to attempt them. Fourneau Economique, or Portable French Furnace, with Stewpan and Trivet.No. 1. Portable French Furnace.—2. Depth at which the grating is placed.—3. Stewpan.—4.Trivet. 495 Closed Furnace and Cover. Grating. Trevet. The small portable French stove, or furnace, shown in the preceding page, with the trivet and stewpan adapted to it, is exceedingly convenient for all preparations which require either more than usual attention, or a fire entirely free from smoke; as it can be placed on a table in a clear light, and the heat can be regulated at pleasure. It has been used for many of the preserves of which the receipts are given in this chapter, as well as for various dishes contained in the body of the work. There should always be a free current of air in the room in which it stands when lighted, as charcoal or braise (that is to say, the live embers of large well-burned wood, drawn from an oven and shut immediately into a closely-stopped iron or copper vessel to extinguish them) is the only fuel suited to it. To kindle either of these, two or three bits must be lighted in a common fire, and laid on the top of that in the furnace, which should be evenly placed between the grating and the brim, and then blown gently with the bellows until the whole is alight: the door of the furnace must in the mean while be open, and remain so, unless the heat should at any time be too fierce for the preserves, when it must be closed for a few minutes, to moderate it. To extinguish the fire altogether, the cover must be pressed closely on, and the door be quite shut: the embers which remain will serve to rekindle it easily, but before it is again lighted the grating must be lifted out and all the ashes cleared away. It should be set by in a place which is not damp. In a common grate a clear fire for preserving may be made with coke, which is a degree less unwholesome than charcoal. The enamelled stewpans which have now come into general use, are, from the peculiar nicety of the composition with which they are lined, better adapted than any others to pickling and preserving, as they may be used without danger for acids; and red fruits when boiled in them retain the brightness of their colour as well as if copper or bell-metal were used for them. The form of the old-fashioned preserving-pan, made usually of one or the other of these, is shown here; but it has not, we should say, even the advantage of being of convenient shape; for the handles quickly become heated, and the pan, in consequence, cannot always be 496instantaneously raised from the fire when the contents threaten to over-boil or to burn. Copper preserving-pan. It is desirable to have three or four wooden spoons or spatulas, one fine hair-sieve, at the least, one or two large squares of common muslin, and one strainer or more of closer texture, kept exclusively for preparations of fruit; for if used for other purposes, there is the hazard, without great care, of their retaining some strong or coarse flavour, which they would impart to the preserves. A sieve, for example, used habitually for soup or gravy, should never, on any account, be brought into use for any kind of confectionary, nor in making sweet dishes, nor for straining eggs or milk for puddings, cakes, or bread. Damp is the great enemy, not only of preserves and pickles, but of numberless other household stores; yet, in many situations, it is extremely difficult to exclude it. To keep them in a “dry cool place” (words which occur so frequently both in this book, and in most others on the same subject), is more easily directed than done. They remain, we find, more entirely free from any danger of moulding, when covered with a brandied paper only, and placed on the shelves of a tolerably dry store-room, or in a chiffoneer (in which we have had them keep unchanged for years). When the slightest fermentation is perceptible in syrup, it should immediately be boiled for some minutes, and well skimmed; the fruit taken from it should then be thrown in, and well scalded also, and the whole, when done, should be turned into a very clean dry jar; this kind of preserve should always be covered with one or two skins or with parchment and thick paper when it is not secured from the air with corks. A FEW GENERAL RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING. 1. Let everything used for the purpose be delicately clean and dry; bottles especially so. 2. Never place a preserving-pan flat upon the fire, as this will render the preserve liable to burn to, as it is called; that is to say, to adhere closely to the metal, and then to burn; it should rest always on a trivet (that shown with the French furnace is very convenient even for a common grate), or on the lowered bar of a kitchen range when there is no regular preserving stove in a house. 3. After the sugar is added to them, stir the preserves gently at first, and more quickly towards the end, without quitting them until they are done: this precaution will always prevent the chance of their being spoiled. 4. All preserves should be perfectly cleared from the scum as it rises. 5. Fruit which is to be preserved in syrup must first be blanched 497or boiled gently, until it is sufficiently softened to absorb the sugar; and a thin syrup must be poured on it at first, or it will shrivel instead of remaining plump, and becoming clear. Thus, if its weight of sugar is to be allowed, and boiled to a syrup with a pint of water to the pound, only half the weight must be taken at first, and this must not be boiled with the water more than fifteen or twenty minutes at the commencement of the process; a part of the remaining sugar must be added every time the syrup is reboiled, unless it should be otherwise directed in the receipt. 6. To preserve both the true flavour and the colour of fruit in jams and jellies, boil them rapidly until they are well reduced, before the sugar is added, and quickly afterwards, but do not allow them to become so much thickened that the sugar will not dissolve in them easily, and throw up its scum. In some seasons, the juice is so much richer than in others, that this effect takes place almost before one is aware of it; but the drop which adheres to the skimmer when it is held up, will show the state it has reached. 7. Never use tin, iron, or pewter spoons, or skimmers, for preserves, as they will convert the colour of red fruit into a dingy purple, and impart, besides, a very unpleasant flavour. 8. When cheap jams or jellies are required, make them at once with Lisbon sugar, but use that which is well refined always, for preserves in general; it is a false economy, as we have elsewhere observed, to purchase an inferior kind, as there is great waste from it in the quantity of scum which it throws up. The best has been used for all the receipts given here. 9. Let fruit for preserving be gathered always in perfectly dry weather, and be free both from the morning and evening dew, and as much so as possible from dust. When bottled, it must be steamed or baked during the day on which it is gathered, or there will be a great loss from the bursting of the bottles; and for jams and jellies it cannot be too soon boiled down after it is taken from the trees. TO EXTRACT THE JUICE OF PLUMS FOR JELLY. Take the stalks from the fruit, and throw aside all that is not perfectly sound: put it into very clean, large stone jars, and give part of the harder kinds, such as bullaces and damson, a gash with a knife as they are thrown in; do this especially in filling the upper part of the jars. Tie one or two folds of thick paper over them, and set them for the night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn four or five hours; or cover them with bladder, instead of paper, place them in pans, or in a copper[166] with water which will reach to quite two-thirds of their height, and boil them gently from two to three hours, or until the fruit is quite soft, and has yielded all the juice it will afford: this last is the safer and better mode for jellies of delicate colour. 166.  The fruit steams perfectly in this, if the cover be placed over. 498 TO WEIGH THE JUICE OF FRUIT. Put a basin into one scale, and its weight into the other; add to this last the weight which is required of the juice, and pour into the basin as much as will balance the scales. It is always better to weigh than to measure the juice for preserving, as it can generally be done with more exactness. RHUBARB JAM. The stalks of the rhubarb (or spring-fruit, as it is called) should be taken for this preserve, which is a very good and useful one, while they are fresh and young. Wipe them very clean, pare them quickly, weigh, and cut them into half-inch lengths; to every pound add an equal weight of good sugar in fine powder; mix them well together, let them remain for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour to draw out the juice a little, then turn them into a preserving-pan, let them heat rather slowly, but as soon as the stalks are tender boil the preserve rapidly, stirring it well for about half an hour. It will be of excellent flavour, and will serve admirably for tarts. A somewhat cheaper mode of making the jam is to stew it until tender in its own juices, and then to boil it rapidly until it is tolerably dry, to add to it only half its weight of sugar, and to give it from twenty to thirty minutes boiling. Spring fruit (rhubarb), 4 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: heated slowly, and when tender, boiled quickly, 30 minutes. GREEN GOOSEBERRY JELLY. Wash some freshly gathered gooseberries very clean; after having taken off the tops and stalks, then to each pound pour three-quarters of a pint of spring water, and simmer them until they are well broken; turn the whole into a jelly-bag or cloth, and let all the juice drain through; weigh and boil it rapidly for fifteen minutes. Draw it from the fire, and stir in it until entirely dissolved, an equal weight of good sugar reduced to powder; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes longer, or until it jellies strongly on the spoon or skimmer; clear it perfectly from scum, and pour it into small jars, moulds, or glasses. It ought to be very pale and transparent. The sugar may be added to the juice at first, and the preserve boiled from twenty-five to thirty-five minutes, but the colour will not then be so good. When the fruit abounds, the juice may be drawn from it with very little water, as directed for apples, page 523, when it will require much less boiling. Gooseberries, 6 lbs.; water, 4 pints: 20 to 30 minutes. Juice boiled quickly, 15 minutes; to each pound, 1 pound sugar: 15 to 20 minutes. 499 GREEN GOOSEBERRY JAM. (Firm and of good colour.) Cut the stalks and tops from the fruit, weigh and bruise it slightly, boil it for six or seven minutes, keeping it well turned during the time, then to every three pounds of gooseberries add two and a half of sugar beaten to powder, and boil the preserve quickly for three-quarters of an hour. It must be constantly stirred, and carefully cleared from scum. This makes a fine, firm, and refreshing preserve if the fruit be rubbed through a sieve before the sugar is added. If well reduced afterwards, it may be converted into a gâteau, or gooseberry-solid, with three pounds of sugar, or even a smaller proportion. The preceding jam will often turn in perfect form from the moulds or jars which contain it; and if freed from the seeds, would be very excellent: it is extremely good even made as above. For all preserves, the reduction, or boiling down to a certain consistence, should take place principally before the sugar is mingled with them; and this has the best effect when added to the fruit and dissolved in it by degrees. Green gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 6 to 7 minutes. Sugar, 5 lbs.; 3/4 hour. TO DRY GREEN GOOSEBERRIES. Take the finest green gooseberries, fully grown, and freshly gathered; cut off the buds, split them across the tops half way down, and with the small end of a tea or of an egg spoon, scoop out the seeds. Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound and a half of the finest sugar, and a pint of water; skim this syrup thoroughly and throw into it a pound of the seeded gooseberries; simmer them from five to seven minutes, when they ought to be clear and tender; when they are so, lift them out, and throw as many more into the syrup; drain them a little when done, spread them singly on dishes, and dry them very gradually in a quite cool stove or oven, or in a sunny window. They will keep well in the syrup, and may be potted in it, and dried when wanted for use. Green gooseberries without seeds, 2 lbs.; water, 1 pint; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: boiled, 15 minutes. Gooseberries simmered, 5 to 7 minutes. GREEN GOOSEBERRIES FOR TARTS. Fill very clean, dry, wide-necked bottles with gooseberries gathered the same day, and before they have attained their full growth. Cork them lightly, wrap a little hay round each of them, and set them up to their necks in a copper of cold water which should be brought very gradually to boil. Let the fruit be gently simmered 500until it appears shrunken and perfectly scalded; then take out the bottles, and with the contents of one or two fill up the remainder, and use great care not to break the fruit in doing this. When all are ready pour scalding water into the bottles and cover the gooseberries entirely with it, or they will become mouldy at the top. Cork the bottles well immediately, and cover the necks with melted resin; keep them in a cool place; and when the gooseberries are used pour off the greater part of the water, and add sugar as for the fresh fruit, of which they will have the flavour and appearance; and they will be found more wholesome prepared in this manner than if simply baked or steamed in the bottles. RED GOOSEBERRY JAM. The small rough red gooseberry, when fully ripe, is the best for this preserve, which may, however, be made of the larger kinds. When the tops and stalks have been taken carefully from the fruit, weigh, and boil it quickly for three-quarters of an hour, keeping it well stirred; then for six pounds of the gooseberries, add two and a half of good roughly-powdered sugar; boil these together briskly, from twenty to twenty-five minutes and stir the jam well from the bottom of the pan, as it is liable to burn if this be neglected. Small red gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 3/4 hour. Pounded sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.: 20 to 25 minutes. VERY FINE GOOSEBERRY JAM. Seed the fruit, which for this jam may be of the larger kind of rough red gooseberry: those which are smooth skinned are generally of far inferior flavour. Add the pulp which has been scooped from the prepared fruit to some whole gooseberries, and stir them over a moderate fire for some minutes to extract the juice; strain and weigh this; pour two pounds of it to four of the seeded gooseberries, boil them rather gently for twenty-five minutes, add fourteen ounces of good pounded sugar to each pound of fruit and juice, and when it is dissolved boil the preserve from twelve to fifteen minutes longer, and skim it well during the time. Seeded gooseberries, 4 lbs.; juice of gooseberries, 2 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 5-1/4 lbs. (or 14 oz. to each pound of fruit and juice): 12 to 15 minutes. JELLY OF RIPE GOOSEBERRIES. (Excellent.) Take the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of any kind of well-flavoured ripe red gooseberries, and keep them stirred gently over a 501clear fire until they have yielded all their juice, which should then be poured off without pressing the fruit, and passed first through a fine sieve, and afterwards through a double muslin-strainer, or a jelly-bag. Next weigh it, and to every three pounds add one of white currant juice, which has previously been prepared in the same way; boil these quickly for a quarter of an hour, then draw them from the fire and stir to them half their weight of good sugar; when this is dissolved, boil the jelly for six minutes longer, skim it thoroughly, and pour it into jars or moulds. If a very large quantity be made, a few minutes of additional boiling must be given to it before the sugar is added. Juice of red gooseberries, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15 minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 6 minutes. Obs.—The same proportion of red currant juice, mixed with that of the gooseberries, makes an exceedingly nice jelly. UNMIXED GOOSEBERRY JELLY. Boil rapidly for ten minutes four pounds of the juice of red gooseberries, prepared as in the preceding receipt; take it from the fire, and stir in it until dissolved three pounds of sugar beaten to powder; boil it again for five minutes, keeping it constantly stirred and thoroughly skimmed. Juice of red gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 minutes. GOOSEBERRY PASTE. Press through a sieve the gooseberries from which the juice has been taken for jelly, without having been drained very closely from them; weigh and then boil the pulp for upwards of an hour and a quarter, or until it forms a dry paste in the pan; stir to it, off the fire, six ounces of good pounded sugar for each pound of the fruit, and when this is nearly dissolved boil the preserve from twenty to twenty-five minutes, keeping it stirred without cessation, as it will be liable to burn should this be neglected. Put it into moulds, or shallow pans, and turn it out when wanted for table. Pulp of gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 to 25 minutes. TO DRY RIPE GOOSEBERRIES WITH SUGAR. Cut the tops, but not the stalks, from some ripe gooseberries of the largest size, either red or green ones, and after having taken out the seeds as directed for unripe gooseberries, boil the fruit until clear and tender, in syrup made with a pound of sugar to the pint of water, boiled until rather thick. 502Seeded gooseberries, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; water, 1 pint: boiled to syrup. Gooseberries, simmered 8 to 12 minutes, or more. Obs.—Large ripe gooseberries freed from the blossoms, and put into cold syrup in which cherries or any other fruit has been boiled for drying, then heated very gradually, and kept at the point of boiling for a few minutes before they are set by for a couple of days, answer extremely well as a dry preserve. On the third day the syrup should be drained from them, simmered, skimmed, and poured on them the instant it is taken from the fire; in forty-eight hours after, they may be drained from it and laid singly upon plates or dishes, and placed in a gentle stove. JAM OF KENTISH OR FLEMISH CHERRIES. This is a very agreeable preserve when it is made as we shall direct; but if long boiled with a large proportion of sugar, as it frequently is, both the bright colour and the pleasant flavour of the cherries will be destroyed. Stone, and then weigh the fruit; heat it rather slowly that the juice may be well drawn out before it begins to boil, and stew the cherries until they are tolerably tender, then boil them quickly, keeping them well turned and stirred from the bottom of the pan, for three-quarters of an hour or somewhat longer should there still remain a large quantity of juice. Draw the pan from the fire, and stir in gradually half a pound of sugar for each pound of cherries. An ounce or two more may occasionally be required when the fruit is more than usually acid, and also when a quite sweet preserve is liked. When the sugar is dissolved continue the boiling rapidly for about twenty minutes longer; clear off all the scum as it appears, and keep the jam stirred well and constantly, but not quickly, to prevent its adhering to the bottom of the preserving-pan. Stoned Kentish or Flemish cherries, 6 lbs.: without sugar, 1 hour or rather more. Sugar roughly powdered, 3 lbs.: (or 3-1/2 lbs.) About 20 minutes quick boiling. Obs.—Heat the fruit and boil it gently until it is quite tender, turning it often, and pressing it down into the juice; then quicken the boiling to evaporate the juice before the sugar is added. Cherries which are bruised will not make good preserve: they always remain tough. TO DRY CHERRIES WITH SUGAR. (A quick and easy method.) Stone some fine, sound, Kentish or Flemish cherries; put them into a preserving-pan, with six ounces of sugar reduced to powder, to each pound of the fruit; set them over a moderate fire, and simmer them gently for nearly or quite twenty minutes; let 503them remain in the syrup until they are a little cooled, then turn them into a sieve, and before they are cold lay them singly on dishes, and dry them very gradually, as directed for other fruits. When the cherries are quite ripe the stones may generally be drawn out with the stalks, by pressing the fruit gently at the same time; but when this method fails, they must be extracted with a new quill, cut round at the end: those of the very short-stalked, turnip-shaped cherry, which abounds, and is remarkably fine in many parts of Normandy, and which we have occasionally met with here, though it is not, we believe, very abundant in our markets, are easily removed with a large pin, on the point of which the stone may be caught at the stalk end, just opposite the seam of the fruit, and drawn out at the top, leaving the cherry apparently entire. DRIED CHERRIES. (Superior Receipt.) To each pound of cherries weighed after they are stoned, add eight ounces of good sugar, and boil them very softly for ten minutes: pour them into a large bowl or pan, and leave them for two days in the syrup; then simmer them again for ten minutes, and set them by in it for two or three days; drain them slightly, and dry them very slowly, as directed in the previous receipts. Keep them in jars or tin canisters, when done. These cherries are generally preferred to such as are dried with a larger proportion of sugar; but when the taste is in favour of the latter, from twelve to sixteen ounces can be allowed to the pound of fruit, which may then be potted in the syrup and dried at any time; though we think the flavour of the cherries is better preserved when this is done within a fortnight of their being boiled. Cherries, stoned, 8 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Left two or three days. Boiled again, 10 minutes; left two days; drained and dried. CHERRIES DRIED WITHOUT SUGAR. These are often more pleasant and refreshing to invalids and travellers than a sweetened confection of the fruit, their flavour and agreeable acidity being well preserved when they are simply spread on dishes or hamper-lids, and slowly dried.[167] Throw aside the bruised and decayed fruit, and arrange the remainder singly, and with the stalks uppermost on the dishes. The Kentish cherries are best for the purpose, but morellas also answer for it excellently. The former are sometimes stoned, and simmered until quite tender in their own juice, before they are dried; but this is scarcely an improvement on the more usual method of leaving them entire. 167.  The dishes on which they are laid should be changed daily. 504 TO DRY MORELLA CHERRIES. Take off the stalks but do not stone the fruit; weigh and add to it an equal quantity of the best sugar reduced quite to powder, strew it over the cherries and let them stand for half an hour; then turn them gently into a preserving-pan, and simmer them softly from five to seven minutes. Drain them from the syrup, and dry them like the Kentish cherries. They make a very fine confection. COMMON CHERRY CHEESE. Stone the fruit, or if this trouble be objected to, bruise and boil it without, until it is sufficiently tender to press through a sieve, which it will be in from twenty to thirty minutes. Weigh the pulp in this case, and boil it quickly to a dry paste, then stir to it six ounces of sugar for the pound of fruit, and when this is dissolved, place the pan again over, but not upon, a brisk fire, and stir the preserve without ceasing, until it is so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched; then press it immediately into small moulds or pans, and turn it from them when wanted for table. When the cherries have been stoned, a good common preserve may be made of them without passing them through a sieve, with the addition of five ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit, which must be boiled very dry both before and after it is added. Kentish or Flemish cherries without stoning: 20 to 30 minutes. Passed through a sieve. To each pound of pulp (first boiled dry), 6 oz. sugar. To each pound of cherries stoned and boiled to a dry paste, 5 oz. sugar. CHERRY PASTE. (FRENCH.) Stone the cherries; boil them gently in their own juice for thirty minutes; press the whole through a sieve; reduce it to a very dry paste; then take it from the fire, and weigh it; boil an equal proportion of sugar to the candying point; mix the fruit with it; and stir the paste, without intermission, over a moderate fire, until it is again so dry as to form a ball round the spoon, and to quit the preserving-pan entirely; press it quickly into small moulds, and when it is cold, paper, and store it like other preserves. STRAWBERRY JAM. Strip the stalks from some fine scarlet strawberries, weigh, and boil them for thirty-five minutes, keeping them very constantly stirred; throw in eight ounces of good sugar, beaten small, to the pound of fruit; mix them well off the fire, then boil the preserve again quickly for twenty-five minutes. 505Strawberries, 6 lbs.: 35 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 25 minutes. Obs.—We do not think it needful to give directions with each separate receipt for skimming the preserve with care, and keeping it constantly stirred, but neither should in any case be neglected. STRAWBERRY-JELLY. A very Superior Preserve. (New Receipt.) The original directions for this delicious jelly, published in the earlier editions of this work, were the result of perfectly successful trials made in the summer of their insertion; but, after much additional experience, we find that the receipt may be better adapted to our varying seasons, which so much affect the quality of our fruit, and rendered more certain in its results by some alterations; we therefore give it anew, recommending it strongly for trial, especially to such of our readers as can command from their own gardens ample supplies of strawberries in their best and freshest state. Like all fruit intended for preserving, they should be gathered in dry weather, after the morning dew has quite passed off them, and be used the same day. Strip away the stalks, and put the strawberries into an enamelled stewpan if at hand, and place it very high over a clear fire, that the juice may be drawn from them gently; turn them over with a silver or wooden spoon from time to time, and when the juice has flowed from them abundantly, let them simmer until they shrink, but be sure to take them from the fire before the juice becomes thick or pulpy from over-boiling. Thirty minutes, or sometimes even longer, over a very slow fire, will not be too much to extract it from them. Turn them into a new, well-scalded, but dry sieve over a clean pan, and let them remain until the juice ceases to drop from them; strain it then through a muslin strainer, weigh it in a basin, of which the weight must first be taken, and boil it quickly in a clean preserving-pan from fifteen to twenty minutes, and stir it often during the time: then take it from the fire, and throw in by degrees, for every pound of juice, fourteen ounces of the best sugar coarsely pounded, stirring each portion until it is dissolved. Place the pan again over the fire, and boil the jelly—still quickly—for about a quarter of an hour. Occasionally it may need a rather longer time than this, and sometimes less: the exact degree can only be ascertained by a little experience, in consequence of the juice of some varieties of the fruit being so much thinner than that of others. The preserve should jelly strongly on the skimmer, and fall in a mass from it before it is poured out; but if boiled beyond this point it will be spoiled. If made with richly-flavoured strawberries, and carefully managed, it will be very brilliant in colour, and in flavour really equal if not superior to guava jelly; while it will retain all the delicious odour of the fruit. 506No skimmer or other utensil of tin should be used in making it; and an enamelled preserving-pan is preferable to any other for all red fruit. It becomes very firm often after it is stored, when it appears scarcely set in the first instance; it is, however, desirable that it should jelly at once. Fruit kept hot to draw out the juice, 1/2 hour or longer. Boiled quickly without sugar, 15 to 20 minutes. To each pound 14 oz. of sugar: 12 to 15 minutes. TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES OR RASPBERRIES, FOR CREAMS OR ICES, WITHOUT BOILING. Let the fruit be gathered in the middle of a warm day, in very dry weather; strip it from the stalks directly, weigh it, bruise it slightly, turn it into a bowl or deep pan, and mix with it an equal weight of fine dry sifted sugar, and put immediately into small, wide-necked bottles; cork these firmly without delay, and tie bladder over the tops. Keep them in a cool place, or the fruit will ferment. The mixture should be stirred softly, and only just sufficiently to blend the sugar and the fruit. The bottles must be perfectly dry, and the bladders, after having been cleaned in the usual way, and allowed to become nearly so, should be moistened with a little spirit on the side which is to be next to the cork. Unless these precautions be observed, there will be some danger of the whole being spoiled. Equal weight of fruit and sugar. RASPBERRY JAM. This is a very favourite English preserve, and one of the most easily made that can be. The fruit for it should be ripe and perfectly sound; and as it soon decays or becomes mouldy after it is gathered, it should be fresh from the bushes when it is used. That which grows in the shade has less flavour than the fruit which receives the full warmth of the sun. Excellent jam for common family use may be made as follows:— Bruise gently with the back of a wooden spoon, six pounds of ripe and freshly-gathered raspberries, and boil them over a brisk fire for twenty-five minutes; stir to them half their weight of good sugar, roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved, boil the preserve quickly for ten minutes, keeping it well stirred and skimmed. Raspberries, 6 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes. VERY RICH RASPBERRY JAM OR MARMALADE. No. 1.—Weigh the finest fruit that can be procured, and bruise it with 507the back of a wooden spoon after it is put into the preserving-pan. Boil it gently, keeping it well turned, for about five minutes, then stir to it gradually nearly or quite its weight of dry pounded sugar, and continue the boiling rather rapidly for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, and be careful to remove all the scum as it rises. The preserve will be clear, smooth, and very thick when it is sufficiently boiled, and should then be taken from the pan without delay, as it will very quickly set. No. 2.—Draw gently from the smallest of the raspberries from half to a whole pound of juice, and boil down in this three pounds of the fruit, after it has been crushed with a spoon as usual. In ten minutes, if the fruit be quite ripe, the sugar may be added. Three pounds to four of the raspberries and their juice, will make a quite sweet preserve. It should be gradually stirred in until dissolved, and not be allowed to boil during the time. Ten or fifteen minutes will then suffice generally to bring it to the proper degree for jellying firmly. No. 1.—Fine raspberries: 5 minutes. Sugar, nearly or quite equal weight: 15 to 20 minutes. No. 2.—Raspberry-juice, 1 lb.; ripe raspberries, 3 lbs. (or 4): 10 minutes. To each pound of fruit and juice, sugar 3/4 lb.: 10 to 15 minutes. Obs.—All fruit jams are much improved by the addition of a certain portion of juice to the fruit which is boiled down; they then partake more of the nature of jelly. GOOD RED OR WHITE RASPBERRY JAM. Boil quickly, for twenty minutes, four pounds of either red or white sound ripe raspberries in a pound and a half of currant-juice of the same colour; take the pan from the fire, stir in three pounds of sugar, and when it is dissolved, place the pan again over the fire, and continue the boiling for ten minutes longer: keep the preserve well skimmed and stirred from the beginning. Raspberries, 4 lbs.; currant-juice, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes. RASPBERRY JELLY FOR FLAVOURING CREAMS. Take the stalks from some quite ripe and freshly-gathered raspberries, stir them over the fire until they render their juice freely, then strain and weigh it; or press it from them through a cloth, and then strain it clear; in either case boil it for five minutes after it is weighed, and for each pound stir in a pound and a quarter of good sugar reduced quite to powder, sifted, and made very hot; boil the 508preserve quickly for five minutes longer, and skim it clean. The jelly thus made will sufficiently sweeten the creams without any additional sugar. Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 5 minutes. Sugar, made hot, 5 lbs.: 5 minutes. ANOTHER RASPBERRY JELLY. (Very Good.) Bruise the fruit a little, and place it high above a clear fire, that the juice may be gently drawn from it: it may remain thus for twenty minutes or longer without boiling, and be simmered for four or five; strain and weigh it; boil it quickly for twenty minutes, draw it from the fire, add three-quarters of a pound of good sugar for each pound of juice, and when this is dissolved place the pan again on the fire, and boil the preserve fast from twelve to fifteen minutes longer; skim it thoroughly, and keep it well stirred: the preserve will then require rather less boiling. When it jellies in falling from the spoon or skimmer, it is done. Nothing of tin or iron should be used in making it, as these metals will convert its fine red colour into a dull purple. Fruit, simmered 5 to 6 minutes. Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 12 to 15 minutes. Or: juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.; juice of white currants, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 10 minutes, or less. RED CURRANT JELLY. With three parts of fine ripe red currants freshly gathered, and stripped from the stalks, mix one of white currants; put them into a clean preserving-pan, and stir them gently over a clear fire until the juice flows from them freely; then turn them into a fine hair-sieve, and let them drain well, but without pressure. Pass the juice through a folded muslin or a jelly-bag; weigh it, and then boil it fast for a quarter of an hour; add for each pound, eight ounces of sugar coarsely powdered, stir this to it off the fire until it is dissolved, give the jelly eight minutes more of quick boiling, and pour it out. It will be firm, and of excellent colour and flavour. Be sure to clear off the scum as it rises, both before and after the sugar is put in, or the preserve will not be clear. Juice of red currants, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15 minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 8 minutes. Obs.—An excellent jelly may be made with equal parts of the juice of red and of white currants, and of raspberries, with the same proportion of sugar and degree of boiling as in the foregoing receipt. 509 SUPERLATIVE RED CURRANT JELLY. (Norman Receipt.) Strip carefully from the stems some quite ripe currants of the finest quality, and mix with them an equal weight of good sugar reduced to powder; boil these together quickly for exactly eight minutes, keep them stirred all the time, and clear off the scum—which will be very abundant—as it rises; then turn the preserve into a very clean sieve, and put into small jars the jelly which runs through it, and which will be delicious in flavour, and of the brightest colour. It should be carried immediately, when this is practicable, to an extremely cool but not a damp place, and left there until perfectly cold. The currants which remain in the sieve make an excellent jam, particularly if only part of the jelly be taken from them. In Normandy where the fruit is of richer quality than in England, this preserve is boiled only two minutes, and is both firm and beautifully transparent. Currants, 3 lbs.; sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 minutes. Obs.—This receipt we are told by some of our correspondents is not generally quite successful in this country, as the jelly, though it keeps well and is of the finest possible flavour, is scarcely firm enough for table. We have ourselves found this to be the case in cold damp seasons; but the preserve even then was valuable for many purposes, and always agreeable eating. FRENCH CURRANT JELLY. Mix one-third of white currants with two of red, and stir them over a gentle fire until they render their juice freely; pour it from them, strain and weigh it; for every four pounds break three of fine sugar into large lumps, just dip them into cold water, and when they are nearly dissolved boil them to a thick syrup; stir this without ceasing until it falls in large thick white masses from the skimmer; then pour in the currant juice immediately, and when the sugar is again dissolved, boil the whole quickly for five minutes, clear off the scum perfectly, pour the jelly into jars or warm glasses, and set it in a cool place. Red currants, two-thirds; white currants, one-third; juice, 4 lbs.; sugar boiled to candy height, 3 lbs.: jelly boiled, 5 minutes. Obs.—A flavouring of raspberries is usually given to currant jelly in France, the preserve being there never served with any kind of joint, as it is with us. DELICIOUS RED CURRANT JAM. This, which is but an indifferent preserve when made in the usual way, will be found a very fine one if the following directions for it be 510observed; it will be extremely transparent and bright in colour, and will retain perfectly the flavour of the fruit. Take the currants at the height of their season, the finest that can be had, free from dust, but gathered on a dry day; strip them with great care from the stalks, weigh and put them into a preserving-pan with three pounds of the best sugar reduced to powder, to four pounds of the fruit: stir them gently over a brisk clear fire, and boil them quickly for exactly eight minutes from the first full boil. As the jam is apt to rise over the top of the pan, it is better not to fill it more than two-thirds, and if this precaution should not be sufficient to prevent it, it must be lifted from the fire and held away for an instant. To many tastes, a still finer jam than this (which we find sufficiently sweet) may be made with an equal weight of fruit and sugar boiled together for seven minutes. There should be great exactness with respect to the time, as both the flavour and the brilliant colour of the preserve will be injured by longer boiling. Red currants (without stalks), 4 lbs.; fine sugar, 3 lbs.: boiled quickly, 8 minutes. Or, equal weight fruit and sugar: 7 minutes. VERY FINE WHITE CURRANT JELLY. The fruit for this jelly should be very white, perfectly free from dust, and picked carefully from the stalks. To every pound add eighteen ounces of double refined sifted sugar, and boil them together quickly for eight minutes; pour it into a delicately clean sieve, and finish it by the directions given for the Norman red currant jelly (page 559). White currants, 6 lbs.; highly refined sugar, 6-3/4 lbs.: 6 minutes. WHITE CURRANT JAM, A BEAUTIFUL PRESERVE. Boil together quickly for seven minutes an equal weight of fine white currants, stalked with the greatest nicety, and of the best sugar pounded and passed through a sieve. Stir the preserve gently the whole time, and be careful to skim it thoroughly. White currants, 4 lbs.; best sugar, 4 lbs.: 7 minutes. CURRANT PASTE. Stalk and heat some red currants as for jelly, pour off three parts of the juice, which can be used for that preserve, and press the remainder, with the pulp of the fruit, closely through a hair sieve reversed; boil it briskly, keeping it stirred the whole time, until it forms a dry paste; then for each pound (when first weighed) add seven ounces of pounded sugar, and boil the whole from twenty-five to thirty minutes longer, taking care that it shall not burn. This paste is remarkably pleasant and refreshing in cases of fever, and acceptable often for winter-desserts. 511Red currants boiled from 5 to 7 minutes, pressed with one-fourth of their juice through a sieve, boiled from 1-1/2 to 2 hour. To each pound 7 oz. pounded sugar: 25 to 30 minutes. Obs.—Confectioners add the pulp, after it is boiled dry, to an equal weight of sugar at the candy height: by making trial of the two methods, the reader can decide on the better one. FINE BLACK CURRANT JELLY. Stir some black currants over the fire until they have yielded their juice; strain, weigh, and boil it for twenty minutes; add to it three pounds and a half of sifted sugar of good quality, made quite hot, and when it is dissolved boil the jelly for five minutes only, clearing off the scum with care. This, though an excellent preserve, is too sweet for our own taste, and we think one made with less sugar likely to be more acceptable in cases of indisposition generally. Juice of black currants, 4 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/2 lbs.: 5 minutes. COMMON BLACK CURRANT JELLY. Boil from three to six pounds of the juice rapidly for twenty minutes, stirring it well; then mix with it off the fire, half a pound of sugar for each pound of juice, and continue the boiling for ten minutes. Juice of black currants, 3 to 6 lbs.: 20 minutes. To each pound juice 1/2 lb. good sugar: 10 minutes. Obs.—This jelly may be made with Lisbon sugar, but will then require rather more boiling. BLACK CURRANT JAM AND MARMALADE. No fruit jellies so easily as black currants when they are ripe; and their juice is so rich and thick that it will bear the addition of a very small quantity of water sometimes, without causing the preserve to mould. When the currants have been very dusty, we have occasionally had them washed and drained before they were used, without any injurious effects. Jam boiled down in the usual manner with this fruit is often very dry. It may be greatly improved by taking out nearly half the currants when it is ready to be potted, pressing them well against the side of the preserving-pan to extract the juice: this leaves the remainder far more liquid and refreshing than when the skins are all retained. Another mode of making fine black currant jam—as well as that of any other fruit—is to add one pound at least of juice, extracted as for jelly, to two pounds of the berries, and to allow sugar for it in the same proportion as directed for each pound of them. For marmalade or paste, which is most useful in affections of the 512throat and chest, the currants must be stewed tender in their own juice, and then rubbed through a sieve. After ten minutes’ boiling, sugar in fine powder must be stirred gradually to the pulp, off the fire, until it is dissolved: a few minutes more of boiling will then suffice to render the preserve thick, and it will become quite firm when cold. More or less sugar can be added to the taste, but it is not generally liked very sweet. Best black currant jam.—Currants, 4 lbs.; juice of currants, 2 lbs.: 15 to 20 minutes’ gentle boiling. Sugar, 3 to 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Marmalade, or paste of black currants.—Fruit, 4 lbs.: stewed in its own juice 15 minutes, or until quite soft. Pulp boiled 10 minutes. Sugar, from 7 to 9 oz. to the lb.: 10 to 14 minutes. Obs.—The following are the receipts originally inserted in this work, and which we leave unaltered. To six pounds of the fruit, stripped carefully from the stalks, add four pounds and a half of sugar. Let them heat gently, but as soon as the sugar is dissolved boil the preserve rapidly for fifteen minutes. A more common kind of jam may be made by boiling the fruit by itself from ten to fifteen minutes, and for ten minutes after half its weight of sugar has been added to it. Black currants, 6 lbs.; sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 15 minutes. Or: fruit, 6 lbs.: 10 to 15 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes. Obs.—There are few preparations of fruit so refreshing and so useful in illness as those of black currants, and it is therefore advisable always to have a store of them, and to have them well and carefully made. NURSERY PRESERVE. Take the stones from a couple of pounds of Kentish cherries, and boil them twenty minutes; then add to them a pound and a half of raspberries, and an equal quantity of red and of white currants, all weighed after they have been cleared from their stems. Boil these together quickly for twenty minutes; mix with them three pounds and a quarter of common sugar, and give the preserve fifteen minutes more of quick boiling. A pound and a half of gooseberries may be substituted for the cherries; but they will not require any stewing before they are added to the other fruits. The jam must be well stirred from the beginning, or it will burn to the pan. Kentish cherries, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Raspberries, red currants, and white currants, of each 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/4 lbs.: 15 minutes. ANOTHER GOOD COMMON PRESERVE. Boil together, in equal or unequal portions (for this is immaterial), any kinds of early fruit, until they can be pressed through a sieve; weigh, and then boil the pulp over a brisk fire for half an hour; add 513half a pound of sugar for each pound of fruit, and again boil the preserve quickly, keeping it well stirred and skimmed, from fifteen to twenty minutes. Cherries, unless they be morellas, must first be stewed tender apart, as they will require a much longer time to make them so than any other of the first summer fruits. A GOOD MÉLANGE, OR MIXED PRESERVE. Boil for three-quarters of an hour in two pounds of clear red gooseberry juice, one pound of very ripe greengages, weighed after they have been pared and stoned; then stir to them one pound and a half of good sugar, and boil them quickly again for twenty minutes. If the quantity of preserve be much increased, the time of boiling it must be so likewise: this is always better done before the sugar is added. Juice of ripe gooseberries, 2 lbs.; greengages, pared and stoned, 1 lb.: 3/4 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. GROSEILLÉE. (Another good preserve.) Cut the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of well-flavoured ripe gooseberries, throw them into a large preserving-pan, boil them for ten minutes, and stir them often with a wooden spoon; then pass both the juice and pulp through a fine sieve, and to every three pounds’ weight of these add half a pint of raspberry-juice, and boil the whole briskly for three-quarters of an hour; draw the pan aside, stir in for the above portion of fruit, two pounds of sugar, and when it is dissolved renew the boiling for fifteen minutes longer. Ripe gooseberries, boiled 10 minutes. Pulp and juice of gooseberries, 6 lbs.; raspberry-juice, 1 pint: 3/4 hour. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 15 minutes. Obs.—When more convenient, a portion of raspberries can be boiled with the gooseberries at first. SUPERIOR PINE-APPLE MARMALADE. (A New Receipt.) The market-price of our English pines is generally too high to permit their being very commonly used for preserve; and though some of those imported from the West Indies are sufficiently well-flavoured to make excellent jam, they must be selected with judgment for the purpose, or they will possibly not answer for it. They should be fully ripe, but perfectly sound: should the stalk end appear mouldy or discoloured, the fruit should be rejected. The degree of flavour which it possesses may be ascertained with tolerable accuracy by its odour; for if of good quality, and fit for use, it will 514be very fragrant. After the rinds have been pared off, and every dark speck taken from the flesh, the pines may be rasped on a fine and delicately clean grater, or sliced thin, cut up quickly into dice, and pounded in a stone or marble mortar; or a portion may be grated, and the remainder reduced to pulp in the mortar. Weigh, and then heat and boil it gently for ten minutes; draw it from the fire, and stir to it by degrees fourteen ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit; boil it until it thickens and becomes very transparent, which it will be in about fifteen minutes, should the quantity be small: it will require a rather longer time if it be large. The sugar ought to be of the best quality and beaten quite to powder; and for this, as well as for every other kind of preserve, it should be dry. A remarkably fine marmalade may be compounded of English pines only, or even with one English pine of superior growth, and two or three of the West Indian mixed with it; but all when used should be fully ripe, without at all verging on decay; for in no other state will their delicious flavour be in its perfection. In making the jam always avoid placing the preserving-pan flat upon the fire, as this of itself will often convert what would otherwise be excellent preserve, into a strange sort of compound, for which it is difficult to find a name, and which results from the sugar being subjected—when in combination with the acid of the fruit—to a degree of heat which converts it into caramel or highly-boiled barley-sugar. When there is no regular preserving-stove, a flat trivet should be securely placed across the fire of the kitchen-range to raise the pan from immediate contact with the burning coals, or charcoal. It is better to grate down, than to pound the fruit for the present receipt should any parts of it be ever so slightly tough; and it should then be slowly stewed until quite tender before any sugar is added to it; or with only a very small quantity stirred in should it become too dry. A superior marmalade even to this, might probably be made by adding to the rasped pines a little juice drawn by a gentle heat, or expressed cold, from inferior portions of the fruit; but this is only supposition. A FINE PRESERVE OF THE GREEN ORANGE PLUM. (Sometimes called the Stonewood plum.) This fruit, which is very insipid when ripe, makes an excellent preserve if used when at its full growth, but while it is still quite hard and green. Take off the stalks, weigh the plums, then gash them well (with a silver knife, if convenient) as they are thrown into the preserving-pan, and keep them gently stirred without ceasing over a moderate fire, until they have yielded sufficient juice to prevent their burning; after this, boil them quickly until the stones are entirely detached from the flesh of the fruit. Take them out as they appear on the surface, and when the preserve looks quite smooth and 515is well reduced, stir in three-quarters of a pound of sugar beaten to a powder, for each pound of the plums, and boil the whole very quickly for half an hour or more. Put it, when done, into small moulds or pans, and it will be sufficiently firm when cold to turn out well: it will also be transparent, of a fine green colour, and very agreeable in flavour. Orange plums, when green, 6 lbs.: 40 to 60 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 30 to 50 minutes. Obs.—The blanched kernels of part of the fruit should be added to this preserve a few minutes before it is poured out: if too long boiled in it they will become tough. They should always be wiped very dry after they are blanched. GREENGAGE JAM, OR MARMALADE. When the plums are thoroughly ripe, take off the skins, stone, weigh, and boil them quickly without sugar for fifty minutes, keeping them well stirred; then to every four pounds add three of good sugar reduced quite to powder, boil the preserve from five to eight minutes longer, and clear off the scum perfectly before it is poured into the jars. When the flesh of the fruit will not separate easily from the stones, weigh and throw the plums whole into the preserving-pan, boil them to a pulp, pass them through a sieve, and deduct the weight of the stones from them when apportioning the sugar to the jam. The Orleans plum may be substituted for greengages in this receipt. Greengages, stoned and skinned, 6 lbs.: 50 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 5 to 8 minutes. PRESERVE OF THE MAGNUM BONUM, OR MOGUL PLUM. Prepare, weigh, and boil the plums for forty minutes; stir to them half their weight of good sugar beaten fine, and when it is dissolved continue the boiling for ten additional minutes, and skim the preserve carefully during the time. This is an excellent marmalade, but it may be rendered richer by increasing the proportion of sugar. The blanched kernels of a portion of the fruit stones will much improve its flavour, but they should be mixed with it only two or three minutes before it is taken from the fire. When the plums are not entirely ripe, it is difficult to free them from the stones and skins: they should then be boiled down and pressed through a sieve, as directed for greengages, in the receipt above. Mogul plums, skinned and stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 to 8 minutes. TO DRY OR PRESERVE MOGUL PLUMS IN SYRUP. Pare the plums, but do not remove the stalks or stones; take their weight of dry sifted sugar, lay them into a deep dish or bowl, and 516strew it over them; let them remain thus for a night, then pour them gently into a preserving-pan with all the sugar, heat them slowly, and let them just simmer for five minutes; in two days repeat the process, and do so again and again at an interval of two or three days, until the fruit is tender and very clear; put it then into jars, and keep it in the syrup, or drain and dry the plums very gradually, as directed for other fruit. When they are not sufficiently ripe for the skin to part from them readily, they must be covered with spring water, placed over a slow fire, and just scalded until it can be stripped from them easily. They may also be entirely prepared by the receipt for dried apricots which follows, a page or two from this. MUSSEL PLUM CHEESE AND JELLY. Fill large stone jars with the fruit, which should be ripe, dry, and sound; set them into an oven from which the bread has been drawn several hours, and let them remain all night; or, if this cannot conveniently be done, place them in pans of water, and boil them gently until the plums are tender, and have yielded their juice to the utmost. Pour this from them, strain it through a jelly bag, weigh, and then boil it rapidly for twenty-five minutes. Have ready, broken small, three pounds of sugar for four of the juice, stir them together until it is dissolved, and then continue the boiling quickly for ten minutes longer, and be careful to remove all the scum. Pour the preserve into small moulds or pans, and turn it out when it is wanted for table: it will be very fine, both in colour and in flavour. Juice of plums, 4 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes. The cheese.—Skin and stone the plums from which the juice has been poured, and after having weighed, boil them an hour and a quarter over a brisk fire, and stir them constantly; then to three pounds of fruit add one of sugar, beaten to powder; boil the preserve for another half hour, and press it into shallow pans or moulds. Plums, 3 lbs.: 1-1/4 hour. Sugar, 1 lb.: 30 minutes. APRICOT MARMALADE. This may be made either by the receipt for greengage, or Mogul plum marmalade; or the fruit may first be boiled quite tender, then rubbed through a sieve, and mixed with three-quarters of a pound of sugar to the pound of apricots: from twenty to thirty minutes will boil it in this case. A richer preserve still is produced by taking off the skins, and dividing the plums in halves or quarters, and leaving them for some hours with their weight of fine sugar strewed over them before they are placed on the fire; they are then heated slowly and gently simmered for about half an hour. 517 TO DRY APRICOTS. (A quick and easy method.) Wipe gently, split, and stone some fine apricots which are not over-ripe; weigh, and arrange them evenly in a deep dish or bowl, and strew in fourteen ounces of sugar in fine powder, to each pound of fruit; on the following day turn the whole carefully into a preserving-pan, let the apricots heat slowly, and simmer them very softly for six minutes, or for an instant longer, should they not in that time be quite tender. Let them remain in the syrup for a day or two, then drain and spread them singly on dishes to dry. To each pound of apricots, 14 oz. of sugar; to stand 1 night, to be simmered from 6 to 8 minutes, and left in syrup 2 or 3 days. DRIED APRICOTS. (French Receipt.) Take apricots which have attained their full growth and colour, but before they begin to soften; weigh, and wipe them lightly; make a small incision across the top of each plum, pass the point of a knife through the stalk end, and gently push out the stones without breaking the fruit; next, put the apricots into a preserving-pan, with sufficient cold water to float them easily; place it over a moderate fire, and when it begins to boil, should the apricots be quite tender, lift them out and throw them into more cold water, but simmer them, otherwise, until they are so. Take the same weight of sugar that there was of the fruit before it was stoned, and boil it for ten minutes with a quart of water to the four pounds; skim the syrup carefully, throw in the apricots (which should previously be well drained on a soft cloth, or on a sieve), simmer them for one minute, and set them by in it until the following day, then drain it from them, boil it for ten minutes, and pour it on them the instant it is taken from the fire; in forty-eight hours repeat the process, and when the syrup has boiled ten minutes, put in the apricots, and simmer them from two to four minutes, or until they look quite clear. They may be stored in the syrup until wanted for drying, or drained from it, laid separately on slates or dishes, and dried very gradually: the blanched kernels may be put inside the fruit, or added to the syrup. Apricots, 4 lbs., scalded until tender; sugar 4 lbs.; water, 1 quart: 10 minutes. Apricots, in syrup, 1 minute; left 24 hours. Syrup, boiled again, 10 minutes, and poured on fruit: stand 2 days. Syrup, boiled again, 10 minutes, and apricots 2 to 4 minutes, or until clear. Obs.—The syrup should be quite thick when the apricots are put in for the last time; but both fruit and sugar vary so much in quality and in the degree of boiling which they require, that no 518invariable rule can be given for the latter. The apricot syrup strained very clear, and mixed with twice its measure of pale French brandy, makes an agreeable liqueur, which is much improved by infusing in it for a few days half an ounce of the fruit-kernels, blanched and bruised, to the quart of liquor. We have found that cherries prepared by either of the receipts which we have given for preserving them with sugar, if thrown into the apricot syrup when partially dried, just scalded in it, and left for a fortnight, then drained and dried as usual, become a delicious sweetmeat. Mussel, imperatrice, or any other plums, when quite ripe, if simmered in it very gently until they are tender, and left for a few days to imbibe its flavour, then drained and finished as usual, are likewise excellent. PEACH JAM, OR MARMALADE. The fruit for this preserve, which is a very delicious one, should be finely flavoured, and quite ripe, though perfectly sound. Pare, stone, weigh, and boil it quickly for three-quarters of an hour, and do not fail to stir it often during the time; draw it from the fire, and mix with it ten ounces of well-refined sugar, rolled or beaten to powder, for each pound of the peaches; clear it carefully from scum, and boil it briskly for five minutes; throw in the strained juice of one or two good lemons; continue the boiling for three minutes only, and pour out the marmalade. Two minutes after the sugar is stirred to the fruit, add the blanched kernels of part of the peaches. Peaches, stoned and pared, 4 lbs.; 3/4 hour. Sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.: 2 minutes. Blanched peach-kernels: 3 minutes. Juice of 2 small lemons: 3 minutes. Obs.—This jam, like most others, is improved by pressing the fruit through a sieve after it has been partially boiled. Nothing can be finer than its flavour, which would be injured by adding the sugar at first; and a larger proportion renders it cloyingly sweet. Nectarines and peaches mixed, make an admirable preserve. TO PRESERVE, OR TO DRY PEACHES OR NECTARINES. (An easy and excellent Receipt.) The fruit should be fine, freshly gathered, and fully ripe, but still in its perfection. Pare, halve, and weigh it after the stones are removed; lay it into a deep dish, and strew over it an equal weight of highly refined pounded sugar; let it remain until this is nearly dissolved, then lift the fruit gently into a preserving-pan, pour the juice and sugar to it, and heat the whole over a very slow fire; let it just simmer for ten minutes, then turn it softly into a bowl, and let it remain for two days; repeat the slow heating and simmering at intervals of two or three days, until the fruit is quite clear, when it 519may be potted in the syrup, or drained from it, and dried upon large clean slates or dishes, or upon wire-sieves. The flavour will be excellent. The strained juice of a lemon may be added to the syrup, with good effect, towards the end of the process, and an additional ounce or two of sugar allowed for it. DAMSON JAM. (VERY GOOD.) The fruit for this jam should be freshly gathered and quite ripe. Split, stone, weigh, and boil it quickly for forty minutes; then stir in half its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved, give the preserve fifteen minutes additional boiling, keeping it stirred, and thoroughly skimmed. Damsons, stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 15 minutes. Obs.—A more refined preserve is made by pressing the fruit through a sieve after it is boiled tender; but the jam is excellent without. DAMSON JELLY. Bake separately in a very slow oven, or boil in a pan or copper of water as described at page 497, any number of fine ripe damsons, and one-third the quantity of bullaces, or of any other pale plums, as a portion of their juice will, to most tastes, improve, by softening the flavour of the preserve, and will render the colour brighter. Pour off the juice clear from the fruit, strain and weigh it; boil it quickly without sugar for twenty-five minutes, draw it from the fire, stir into it ten ounces of good sugar for each pound of juice, and boil it quickly from six to ten minutes longer, carefully clearing off all the scum. The jelly must be often stirred before the sugar is added, and constantly afterwards. DAMSON, OR RED PLUM SOLID. (GOOD.) Pour the juice from some damsons which have stood for a night in a very cool oven, or been stewed in a jar placed in a pan of water; weigh and put it into a preserving-pan with a pound and four ounces of pearmains (or of any other fine boiling apples), pared, cored, and quartered, to each pound of the juice; boil these together, keeping them well stirred, from twenty-five to thirty minutes, then add the sugar, and when it is nearly dissolved, continue the boiling for ten minutes. This, if done with exactness, will give a perfectly smooth and firm preserve, which may be moulded in small shapes, and turned out for table. The juice of any good red plum may be used for it instead of that of damsons. To each pound clear damson-juice, 1-1/4 lb. pearmains (or other good apples), pared and cored: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 14 oz.: 10 minutes. 520 EXCELLENT DAMSON CHEESE. When the fruit has been baked or stewed tender, as directed above, drain off the juice, skin and stone the damsons, pour back to them from a third to half of their juice, weigh and then boil them over a clear brisk fire, until they form quite a dry paste; add six ounces of pounded sugar for each pound of the plums; stir them off the fire until this is dissolved, and boil the preserve again without quitting or ceasing to stir it, until it leaves the pan quite dry, and adheres in a mass to the spoon. If it should not stick to the fingers when lightly touched, it will be sufficiently done to keep very long; press it quickly into pans or moulds; lay on it a paper dipped in spirit when it is perfectly cold; tie another fold over it, and store it in a dry place. Bullace cheese is made in the same manner, and almost any kind of plum will make an agreeable preserve of the sort. To each pound of fruit, pared, stoned, and mixed with the juice and boiled quite dry, 6 oz. of pounded sugar, boiled again to a dry paste. RED GRAPE JELLY. Strip from their stalks some fine ripe black-cluster grapes, and stir them with a wooden spoon over a gentle fire until all have burst, and the juice flows freely from them; strain it off without pressure, and pass it through a jelly-bag, or through a twice-folded muslin; weigh and then boil it rapidly for twenty minutes; draw it from the fire, stir in it until dissolved, fourteen ounces of good sugar, roughly powdered, to each pound of juice, and boil the jelly quickly for fifteen minutes longer, keeping it constantly stirred, and perfectly well skimmed. It will be very clear, and of a beautiful pale rose-colour. Juice of black-cluster grapes: 20 minutes. To each pound of juice, 14 oz. good sugar: 15 minutes. Obs.—We have proved this jelly only with the kind of grape which we have named, but there is little doubt that fine purple grapes of any sort would answer for it well. ENGLISH GUAVA. (A firm, clear, bright Jelly.) Strip the stalks from a gallon or two of the large kind of bullaces called the shepherd’s bullace; give part of them a cut, put them into stone jars, and throw into one of them a pound or two of imperatrice plums, if they can be obtained; put the jars into pans of water, and boil them as directed at page 497; then drain off the juice, pass it 521through a thick strainer or jelly-bag, and weigh it; boil it quickly from fifteen to twenty minutes; take it from the fire, and stir in it till dissolved three-quarters of a pound of sugar to the pound of juice; remove the scum with care, and boil the preserve again quickly from eight to twelve minutes, or longer should it not then jelly firmly on the skimmer. When the fruit is very acid, an equal weight of juice and sugar may be mixed together in the first instance, and boiled briskly for about twenty minutes. It is impossible to indicate the precise time which the jelly will require, so much depends on the quality of the plums, and on the degree of boiling previously given to them in the water-bath. When properly made it is remarkably transparent and very firm. It should be poured into shallow pans or small moulds, and turned from them before it is served. When the imperatrice plum cannot be procured, any other that will give a pale red colour to the juice will answer. The bullaces alone make an admirable preserve; and even the commoner kinds afford an excellent one. Juice of the shepherd’s bullace and imperatrice, or other red plum, 4 lbs.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 to 12 minutes. Or juice of bullaces and sugar, equal weight: 20 minutes. Obs.—After the juice has been poured from the plums they may be stoned, pared, weighed, and boiled to a paste; then six ounces of sugar added to the pound, and the boiling continued until the preserve is again very dry; a small portion of the juice should be left with the fruit for this. VERY FINE IMPERATRICE PLUM MARMALADE. Weigh six pounds of the fruit when it is quite ripe, but before the frost has touched it; give each plum a cut as it is thrown into the preserving-pan, and when all are done boil them from thirty-five to forty minutes, taking out the stones as they rise to the surface, when they are quite detached from the flesh of the fruit. Draw back the pan from the fire, stir in two pounds of good sugar beaten to powder, and boil the preserve quickly for fifteen minutes. The imperatrice plum is of itself so sweet that this proportion of sugar makes with it a very rich preserve. Imperatrice plums (without the stalks) 6 lbs.: boiled 35 to 40 minutes. Sugar 2 lbs. (added after the stones are out): 15 minutes. Obs.—Some slight trouble would be avoided by pressing the fruit through a sieve after the first boiling; but we do not think the marmalade would be improved by being freed from the skins of the plums. TO DRY IMPERATRICE PLUMS. (An easy method.) Put them into jars, or wide-necked bottles, with half a pound of 522good sugar, rolled or pounded, to twice the weight of fruit; set them into a very cool oven for four or five hours; or, if more convenient, place them, with a little hay between them, in a pan of cold water and boil them gently for rather more than three hours. Leave them in the syrup for a few days, and finish them as directed for the drying of other fruits. Tie a bladder over the necks of the jars or bottles before they are placed in the pan of water, and fasten two or three folds of paper over the former, or cork the bottles when the fruit is to be baked. The sugar should be put in after the fruit, without being shaken down; it will then dissolve gradually, and be absorbed by it equally. To each pound of plums, 8 ounces pounded sugar: baked in cool oven 4 or 5 hours, or steamed 3 hours. TO BOTTLE FRUIT FOR WINTER USE. Gather the fruit in the middle of the day in very dry weather; strip off the stalks, and have in readiness some perfectly clean and dry wide-necked bottles; turn each of these the instant before it is filled, with the neck downwards, and hold in it two or three lighted matches: drop in the fruit before the vapour escapes, shake it gently down, press in some new corks, dip the necks of the bottles into melted resin, set them at night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn six or seven hours at least, and let them remain until the morning: if the heat be too great the bottles will burst. Currants, cherries, damsons, greengages, and various other kinds of plums will remain good for quite twelve months when bottled thus, if stored in a dry place. To steam the fruit, put the bottles into a copper or other vessel up to their necks in cold water, with a little hay between and under them; light the fire, let the water heat slowly, and keep it at the point of gentle simmering until the fruit is sufficiently scalded. Some kinds will of course require a much longer time than others. From half to three quarters of an hour will be sufficient for gooseberries, currants, and raspberries; but the appearance of all will best denote their being done. When they have sunk almost half the depth of the bottles, and the skins are shrivelled, extinguish the fire, but leave them in the water until it is quite cold; then wipe and store the bottles in a dry place. A bit of moistened bladder tied over corks is better than the resin when the fruit is steamed. APPLE JELLY. Various kind of apples may be used successfully to make this jelly, but the nonsuch is by many persons preferred to all others for the purpose. The Ripstone pippin, however, may be used for it with very good effect, either solely, or with a mixture of pearmains. It is necessary only that the fruit should be finely flavoured, and that it 523should boil easily to a marmalade. Pare, core, quarter, and weigh it quickly that it may not lose its colour, and to each pound pour a pint of cold water and boil it until it is well broken, without being reduced to a quite thick pulp, as it would then be difficult to render the juice perfectly clear, which it ought to be. Drain this well from the apples, either through a fine sieve or a folded muslin strainer, pass it afterwards through a jelly-bag, or turn the fruit at once into the last of these, and pour the liquid through a second time if needful. When it appears quite transparent, weigh, and reduce it by quick boiling for twenty minutes; draw it from the fire, add two pounds of sugar broken very small, for three of the decoction; stir it till it is entirely dissolved, then place the preserving-pan again over a clear fire and boil the preserve quickly for ten minutes, or until it jellies firmly upon the skimmer when poured from it; throw in the strained juice of a small lemon for every two pounds of jelly, two minutes before it is taken from the fire. Apples, 7 lbs.; water, 7 pints: 1/2 to full hour. Juice, 6 lbs.: 20 minutes quick boiling. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 to 25 minutes. Juice three lemons. EXCEEDINGLY FINE APPLE JELLY. Pare quickly some highly flavoured juicy apples of any kind, or of various kinds together, for this is immaterial; slice, without dividing them; but first free them from the stalks and eyes; shake out some of the pips, and put the apples evenly into very clean large stone jars, just dipping an occasional layer into cold water as this is done, the better to preserve the colour of the whole. Set the jars into pans of water, and boil the fruit slowly until it is quite soft, then turn it into a jelly-bag or cloth and let the juice all drop from it. The quantity which it will have yielded will be small, but it will be clear and rich. Weigh, and boil it for ten minutes, then draw it from the fire, and stir into it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of good sugar to the pound and quarter (or pint) of juice. Place the preserve again over the fire and stir it without intermission, except to clear off the scum, until it has boiled from eight to ten minutes longer, for otherwise it will jelly on the surface with the scum upon it, which it will then be difficult to remove, as when touched it will break and fall into the preserve. The strained juice of one small fresh lemon to the pint of jelly should be thrown into it two or three minutes before it is poured out, and the rind of one or two cut very thin may be simmered in the juice before the sugar is added; but the pale, delicate colour of the jelly will be injured by too much of it, and many persons would altogether prefer the pure flavour of the fruit. Juice of apples, 1 quart, or 2-1/2 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 8 to 10 minutes. Juice, 2 small lemons; rind of 1 or more at pleasure. 524Obs.—The quantity of apples required for it renders this a rather expensive preserve, where they are not abundant; but it is a remarkably fine jelly, and turns out from the moulds in perfect shape and very firm.[168] It may be served in the second course, or for rice-crust. It is sometimes made without paring the apples, or dipping them into the water, and the colour is then a deep red: we have occasionally had a pint of water added to about a gallon and a half of apples, but the jelly was not then quite so fine in flavour. The best time for making it is from the end of November to Christmas. Quince jelly would, without doubt, be very fine made by this receipt; but as the juice of that fruit is richer than that of the apple, a little water might be added. Alternate layers of apples and quinces would also answer well, we think. 168.  It is, we should say, quite equal to gelée de pommes, for which Rouen is somewhat celebrated. QUINCE JELLY. Pare, quarter, core, and weigh some ripe but quite sound quinces, as quickly as possible, and throw them as they are done into part of the water in which they are to be boiled, as directed at page 456; allow one pint of this to each pound of the fruit, and simmer it gently until it is a little broken, but not so long as to redden the juice, which ought to be very pale. Turn the whole into a jelly-bag, or strain the liquid through a fine cloth, and let it drain very closely from it but without the slightest pressure. Weigh the juice, put it into a delicately clean preserving-pan, and boil it quickly for twenty minutes; take it from the fire and stir in it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of sugar for each pound of juice, or fourteen ounces if the fruit should be very acid, which it will be in the earlier part of the season; keep it constantly stirred and thoroughly cleared from scum, from ten to twenty minutes longer, or until it jellies strongly in falling from the skimmer; then pour it directly into glasses or moulds. If properly made, it will be sufficiently firm to turn out of the latter, and it will be beautifully transparent, and rich in flavour. It may be made with an equal weight of juice and sugar mixed together in the first instance, and boiled from twenty to thirty minutes. It is difficult to state the time precisely, because from different causes it will vary much. It should be reduced rapidly to the proper point, as long boiling injures the colour: this is always more perfectly preserved by boiling the juice without the sugar first. To each pound pared and cored quinces, 1 pint water: 3/4 to 1-1/2 hour. Juice, boiled 20 minutes. To each pound, 12 oz. sugar: 10 to 20 minutes. Or, juice and sugar equal weight: 20 to 30 minutes. QUINCE MARMALADE. When to economise the fruit is not an object, pare, core, and 525quarter some of the inferior quinces, and boil them in as much water as will nearly cover them, until they begin to break; strain the juice from them, and for the marmalade put half a pint of it to each pound of fresh quinces: in preparing these, be careful to cut out the hard stony parts round the cores. Simmer them gently until they are perfectly tender, then press them, with the juice, through a coarse sieve; put them into a perfectly clean pan, and boil them until they form almost a dry paste; add for each round of quinces and the half pint of juice, three-quarters of a pound of sugar in fine powder, and boil the marmalade for half an hour, stirring it gently without ceasing: it will be very firm and bright in colour. If made shortly after the fruit is gathered, a little additional sugar will be required; and when a richer and less dry marmalade is better liked, it must be boiled for a shorter time, and an equal weight of fruit and sugar may be used. Quinces, pared and cored, 4 lbs.; prepared juice, 1 quart: 2 to 3 hours. Boiled fast to dry, 20 to 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 30 minutes. Richer marmalade: quinces, 4 lbs.; juice, 1 quart; sugar, 4 lbs. QUINCE AND APPLE MARMALADE. Boil together, from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, two pounds of pearmains, or of any other well-flavoured apples, in an equal weight of prepared quince-juice (see page 456), then take them from the fire, and mix with them a pound and a half of sugar, in fine powder; when this is a little dissolved, set the pan again over a brisk fire, and boil the preserve for twenty minutes longer, keeping it stirred all the time. Prepared quince-juice, 2 lbs.; apples, 2 lbs.: 3/4 to 1 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. QUINCE PASTE. If the full flavour of the quinces be desired, stew them sufficiently tender to press through a sieve, in the prepared juice of page 456, otherwise, in just water enough to about three parts cover them; when they are soft quite through lift them out, let them cool, and then pass them through a sieve; reduce them to a dry paste over a very clear fire, and stir them constantly; then weigh the fruit, and mix it with an equal proportion of pounded sugar, or sugar boiled to candy height (we find the effect nearly the same, whichever method be pursued), and stir the paste without intermission until it is again so dry as to quit the pan and adhere to the spoon in one large ball; press it into shallow pans or dishes; cut it, as soon as cold, into small squares, and should they seem to require it, dry them with a very gentle degree of heat, and when they are again cold store them in tin cases with well-dried foolscap paper between them: the paste may be 526moulded, when more convenient, and kept until it is wanted for table, in a very dry place. In France, where the fruit is admirably confected, the pâte de coigns, or quince paste, is somewhat less boiled than we have directed, and dried afterwards in the sun, or in an extremely gentle oven, in square tin frames, about an inch and a half deep, placed upon clean slates. JELLY OF SIBERIAN CRABS. This fruit makes a jelly of beautiful colour, and of pleasant flavour also: it may be stored in small moulds of ornamental shape, and turned out for rice-crust. Take off the stalks, weigh, and wash the crabs; then, to each pound and a half, add a pint of water and boil them gently until they are broken, but do not allow them to fall to a pulp. Pour the whole into a jelly-bag, and when the juice is quite transparent, weigh it, put it into a clean preserving-pan, boil it quickly for fifteen minutes, take it from the fire, and stir in it until dissolved three-quarters of a pound of fine sugar roughly powdered to each pound of the juice; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes, skim it very clean, and pour it into the moulds. Should the quantity be large, a few additional minutes’ boiling must be given to the juice before the sugar is added. To each 1-1/2 lb. of crabs; water, 1 pint: 12 to 18 minutes. Juice to be fast boiled, 15 minutes; sugar, to each pound, 3/4 lb.; 15 to 20 minutes. TO PRESERVE BARBERRIES IN BUNCHES. Take the finest barberries without stones that can be procured, tie them together in bunches of four or five sprigs, and for each half pound of the fruit (which is extremely light), boil one pound of very good sugar in a pint of water for twenty minutes, and clear it well from scum; throw in the fruit, let it heat gently, and then boil from five to seven minutes, when it will be perfectly transparent. So long as any snapping noise is heard the fruit is not all done; it should be pressed equally down into the syrup until the whole of the berries have burst; and should then be turned into jars, which must be covered with skin or two or three folds of thick paper, as soon as the preserve is perfectly cold. The barberries thus prepared make a beautiful garnish for sweet dishes, or for puddings. Barberries, tied in bunches, 1-1/2 lb.; sugar 3 lbs.; water 1-1/2 pint: 20 minutes. Barberries boiled in syrup: 5 to 7 minutes. BARBERRY JAM. (First and best Receipt.) The barberries for this preserve should be quite ripe, though they should not be allowed to hang until they begin to decay. Strip them from the stalks, throw aside such as are spotted, and for each pound 527of the fruit allow eighteen ounces of well-refined sugar; boil this, with one pint of water to every four pounds, until it becomes white, and falls in thick masses from the spoon; then throw in the fruit, and keep it stirred over a brisk fire for six minutes only; take off the scum, and pour it into jars or glasses. Sugar, 4-1/4 lbs.; water, 1-1/4 pint: boiled to candy height. Barberries, 4 lbs.: 6 minutes. Barberry Jam. Second Receipt.—The preceding is an excellent receipt, but the preserve will be very good if eighteen ounces of pounded sugar be mixed and boiled with the fruit for ten minutes and this is done at a small expense of time and trouble. Sugar pounded, 2-1/4 lbs.; fruit, 2 lbs.: boiled 10 minutes. SUPERIOR BARBERRY JELLY, AND MARMALADE. Strip the fruit from the stems, wash it in spring-water, drain, bruise it slightly, and put it into a clean stone jar, with no more liquid than the drops which hang about it. Place the jar in a pan of water, and steam the fruit until it is quite tender: this will be in from thirty minutes to an hour. Pour off the clear juice, strain, weigh, and boil it quickly from five to seven minutes, with eighteen ounces of sugar to every pound. For the marmalade, rub the barberries through a sieve with a wooden spoon, and boil them quickly for the same time, and with the same proportion of sugar as the jelly. Barberries boiled in water-bath until tender; to each pound of juice, 1 lb. 2 oz. sugar: 5 minutes. Pulp of fruit to each pound, 18 oz. sugar: 5 minutes. Obs.—We have always had these preserves made with very ripe fruit, and have found them extremely good; but more sugar may be needed to sweeten them sufficiently when the barberries have hung less time upon the trees. ORANGE MARMALADE. (A Portuguese Receipt.) Rasp very slightly on a fine and delicately clean grater the rinds of some sound Seville oranges; cut them into quarters, and separate the flesh from the rinds; then with the small end of a tea, or egg-spoon, clear it entirely from the pips, and from the loose inner skin and film. Put the rinds into a large quantity of cold water, and change it when they have boiled about twenty minutes. As soon as they are perfectly tender lift them out, and drain them on a sieve; slice them thin, and add eight ounces of them to each pound of the pulp and juice, with a pound and a half of highly-refined sugar in fine powder; boil the marmalade quickly for half an hour, skim it well, and turn it into the jars. The preserve thus made will not have a very powerful flavour of the orange rind. When more of this is liked, either 528leave a portion of the fruit unrasped, or mix with the preserve some of the zest which has been grated off, allowing for it its weight of sugar. Or proceed thus: allow to a dozen Seville oranges two fine juicy lemons, and the weight of the whole in sifted sugar, of excellent quality. With a sharp knife cut through the rinds just deep enough to allow them to be stripped off in quarters with the end of a spoon, and throw them for a night into plenty of cold spring-water; on the following morning boil them sufficiently tender to allow the head of a pin to pierce them easily; then drain them well, let them cool, and scrape out the white part of the rind, and cut the remainder into thin chips. In the mean time have the pulp of the fruit quite cleared from the pips and film; put it with the chips into a preserving-pan, heat them slowly, boil them for ten minutes, draw the pan from the fire, and stir gradually in, and dissolve the remainder of the sugar, and boil the preserve more quickly for twenty minutes, or until it thickens and appears ready to jelly. This mode, though it gives a little additional trouble, will prevent the orange-chips from becoming hard, which they will sometimes be if much sugar be added to them at first. The sugar first broken into large lumps, is sometimes made into a very thick syrup, with so much water only as will just dissolve it; the pulp and juice are in that case boiled in it quickly for ten minutes before the chips are added; and a part of these are pounded and stirred into the preserve with the others. March is the proper month for making this preserve, the Seville oranges being then in perfection. For lemon marmalade proceed exactly in the same manner as for this. Rinds of Seville oranges, lightly rasped and boiled tender, 2 lbs.; pulp and juice, 4 lbs.; sugar, 6 lbs.: 1/2 hour. Or, weight of oranges, first taken in sugar, and added, with all the rinds, to the pulp after the whole has been properly prepared. GENUINE SCOTCH MARMALADE. “Take some bitter oranges, and double their weight of sugar; cut the rind of the fruit into quarters and peel it off, and if the marmalade be not wanted very thick, take off some of the spongy white skin inside the rind. Cut the chips as thin as possible, and about half an inch long, and divide the pulp into small bits, removing carefully the seeds, which may be steeped in part of the water that is to make the marmalade, and which must be in the proportion of a quart to a pound of fruit. Put the chips and pulp into a deep earthen dish, and pour the water boiling over them; let them remain for twelve or fourteen hours, and then turn the whole into the preserving-pan, and boil it until the chips are perfectly tender. When they are so, add by degrees the sugar (which should be previously pounded), and boil it until it jellies. The water in which the seeds have been steeped, and which must be taken from the quantity apportioned to the whole of the preserve, should be poured into a hair-sieve, and the seeds well 529worked in it with the back of a spoon; a strong clear jelly will be obtained by this means, which must be washed off them by pouring their own liquor through the sieve in small portions over them. This must be added to the fruit when it is first set on the fire.” Oranges, 3 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; sugar, 6 lbs. Obs.—This receipt, which we have not tried ourselves, is guaranteed as an excellent one by the Scottish lady from whom it was procured. CLEAR ORANGE MARMALADE. (Author’s Receipt.) This, especially for persons in delicate health, is far more wholesome than the marmalade which contains chips of the orange-rinds. The fruit must be prepared in the same manner, and the pulp very carefully cleared from the pips and skin. The rinds taken off in quarters (after having been washed and wiped quite clean from the black soil which is sometimes found on them), must be boiled extremely tender in a large quantity of water, into which they may be thrown when it boils. They should be well drained upon a large hair sieve reversed, so soon as the head of a pin will pierce them easily; and the white skin and fibres should be scraped entirely from them while they are still warm. They should then be pounded to a paste, and well blended with the pulp and juice, these being added to them by degrees, that they may not remain in lumps. A quarter of a pint of water, in which the seeds have been immersed for an hour or two, well worked up with them, and then passed through a net strainer[169] or coarse sieve, will soften the flavour of the marmalade, and assist its jellying at the same time. Boil it rather quickly without sugar for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, then finish it by the directions for “Orange Marmalade, Portuguese Receipt,” of the preceding page, but regulate the proportion of sugar and the time of boiling as follows:— 169.  Strainers of coarse bobbin-net, which is very cheap, are preferable to muslin for preparations which are jellied, as the water becomes thick when the orange-seeds are steeped in it. Pulp and juice of Seville oranges, 1-1/2 lb.; water strained from pips, 1/2 pint; pounded orange-rinds 3/4 lb.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 2-3/4 lb. (3 lb. if the fruit should be very acid), half added first, 10 to 15 minutes; with remaining half, 15 to 20 minutes, or until the marmalade becomes quite thick and clear. Obs.—We have occasionally had more water than the proportion given above used in making this preserve, which is very nice in flavour, but which may be made to suit various tastes by adding a larger or smaller quantity of the rinds; and a larger weight of sugar when it is liked very sweet. When the bitterness of the fruit is objected to, the rinds may be steeped for a night in a plentiful quantity of spring water. 530 FINE JELLY OF SEVILLE ORANGES. (Author’s Original Receipt.) Although we have appropriated this receipt to another work, we cannot refrain from inserting it here as well, so delicious to our taste is the jelly which we have had made by it. For eighteen full-sized oranges allow a pint and a half of water. Take off the rinds in quarters from ten of them, and then free them entirely from their tough white skin, and with a sharp knife cut them into rather thick slices, and put them with all the pips into the water. Halve the remainder of the fruit without paring it, and squeeze the juice and pips, but not the pulp, to the sliced oranges; and place them by the fire in an enamelled stewpan which they will not more than two-thirds fill. Heat and boil them gently between twenty and thirty minutes, then strain the juice closely from them without pressure, through a large square of muslin folded in four, or, if more convenient, pass it first through a very thin and delicately clean cloth, and afterwards through the folded muslin. Weigh and boil it quickly for five minutes; then for each pound stir gradually to it fourteen ounces of highly refined sugar, broken small or roughly powdered; and when it is quite dissolved, continue the boiling for a few minutes longer, when the preserve will jelly easily and firmly, and be pale and beautifully transparent, and most agreeable in flavour. Seville oranges, 18; of which 10 pared and sliced. Water, 1-1/2 pint, and juice of 8 oranges: gently heated and boiled 20 to 30 minutes. Juice boiled quickly 5 minutes. To each lb. 14 oz. sugar: 5 to 8 minutes. Obs.—On our second trial we had the very thin rind of three of the oranges stewed with the fruit, which we thought an improvement. The jelly in both instances was made, we believe, in April, when the fruit was fully ripe: earlier in the season it would probably require longer boiling. On one occasion it became quite firm very quickly after the sugar was added to the juice; that is to say, in three or four minutes. 531 CHAPTER XXV. Pickles. Mango. OBSERVATIONS ON PICKLES. With the exception of walnuts,[170] which, when softened by keeping, or by the mode of preparing them, are the least objectionable of any pickle, with Indian mangoes, and one or two other varieties, these are not very wholesome articles of diet,[171] consisting, as so many of them do, of crude hard vegetables, or of unripe fruit. In numerous instances, too, those which are commonly sold to the public have been found of so deadly a nature as to be eminently dangerous to persons who partake of them often and largely. It is most desirable, therefore, to have them prepared at home, and with good genuine vinegar, whether French or English. That which is home-made can at least be relied on; and it may be made of excellent quality and of sufficient strength for all ordinary purposes. The superiority of French vinegar results from its being made of wine; no substitute producing any equal to that derived from the unmixed juice of the grape. In our next page will be found the address of 532the importers, from whom, or whose agents, we have for several years been supplied with it. 170.  The bitter of the green walnut renders it a fine stomachic. In France a liqueur called “Ratifia de Brou de Noix,” is made by infusing the bruised fruit in brandy. 171.  Flavoured vinegars or mustard are more so, and are equally appetising and pungent. Pickles should always be kept quite covered with their liquor, and well secured from the air and from the influence of damp; the last of which is especially detrimental to them. We can quite recommend to the reader the rather limited number of receipts which follow, and which might easily be multiplied did the size of our volume permit. Pickling is so easy a process, however, that when in any degree properly acquired, it may be extended to almost every kind of fruit and vegetable successfully. A few of the choicer kinds will nevertheless be found generally more acceptable than a greater variety of inferior preparations. Mushrooms, gherkins, walnuts, lemons, eschalots, and peaches, for all of which we have given minute directions, will furnish as much choice as is commonly required. Very excellent Indian mangoes too may be purchased at the Italian warehouses, and to many tastes will be more acceptable than any English pickle. We have had them very good from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, whose house we have already had occasion to name more than once. TO PICKLE CHERRIES. Leave about an inch of their stalks on some fine, sound Kentish or Flemish cherries, which are not over ripe; put them into a jar, cover them with cold vinegar, and let them stand for three weeks; pour off two-thirds of the liquor and replace it with fresh vinegar; then, after having drained it from the fruit, boil the whole with an ounce of coriander seed, a small blade of mace, a few grains of cayenne, or a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and four bruised cochineals to every quart, all tied loosely in a fold of muslin. Let the pickle become quite cold before it is added to the cherries: in a month they will be fit for use. The vinegar which is poured from the fruit makes a good syrup of itself, when boiled with a pound of sugar to the pint, but it is improved by having some fresh raspberries, cherries, or currants previously infused in it for three or four days. TO PICKLE GHERKINS. Let the gherkins be gathered on a dry day, before the frost has touched them; take off the blossoms, put them into a stone jar, and pour over them sufficient boiling brine to cover them well. The following day take them out, wipe them singly, lay them into a clean stone jar, with a dozen bay leaves over them, and pour upon them the following pickle, when it is boiling fast: as much vinegar as will more than cover the gherkins by an inch or two, with an ounce and a quarter of salt, a quarter-ounce of black peppercorns, an ounce 533and a half of ginger sliced, or slightly bruised, and two small blades of mace to every quart; put a plate over the jar, and leave it for two days, then drain off the vinegar, and heat it afresh; when it boils, throw in the gherkins, and keep them just on the point of simmering for two or three minutes; pour the whole back into the jar, put the plate again upon it, and let it remain until the pickle is quite cold, when a skin, or two separate folds of thick brown paper, must be tied closely over it. The gherkins thus pickled are very crisp, and excellent in flavour, and the colour is sufficiently good to satisfy the prudent housekeeper, to whom the brilliant and poisonous green produced by boiling the vinegar in a brass skillet (a process constantly recommended in books of cookery) is anything but attractive. To satisfy ourselves of the effect produced by the action of the acid on the metal, we had a few gherkins thrown into some vinegar which was boiling in a brass pan, and nothing could be more beautiful than the colour which they almost immediately exhibited. We fear this dangerous method is too often resorted to in preparing pickles for sale. Brine to pour on gherkins:—6 oz. salt to each quart water: 24 hours. Pickle:—to each quart vinegar, salt, 1-1/4 oz.; black peppercorns, 1/4 oz.; ginger, sliced or bruised, 1-1/2 oz.; mace, 2 small blades; bay leaves; 24 to 100 gherkins, more when the flavour is liked: 2 days. Gherkins simmered in vinegar, 2 to 3 minutes. Obs.—The quantity of vinegar required to cover the gherkins will be shown by that of the brine: so much depends upon their size, that it is impossible to direct the measure exactly. A larger proportion of spice can be added at pleasure. TO PICKLE GHERKINS. (A French Receipt.) Brush or wipe the gherkins very clean, throw them into plenty of fast-boiling water, and give them a single boil, take them out quickly, and throw them immediately into a large quantity of very cold water; change it once, and when the gherkins themselves are quite cold, drain them well, spread them on sieves or dishes, and dry them in the air. When this is done, put them into stone jars, and pour on them as much boiling vinegar as will cover them well; heat it anew, and pour it on them again the following day; and on the next throw them into it for a minute so soon as it boils, with plenty of tarragon in branches, a few very small silver onions, and salt and whole pepper in the same proportions as in the receipt above. It should be observed that the French vinegar, from its superior excellence, will have a very different effect, in many preparations, to that which is made up for sale generally in England.[172] 172.  We have already spoken in Chapter VI. of the very superior Vinaigre de Bordeaux so largely imported by the Messrs. Kent and Sons, of Upton-on-Severn, and sold by their agents in almost every town in England. It may be procured in small quantities (bottled) of Mr. Metcalfe, Foreign Warehouse, Southampton Row, London, and of other agents, whose names may easily be known by applying to the Messrs. Kent themselves. 534 TO PICKLE PEACHES, AND PEACH MANGOES. Take, at their full growth, just before they begin to ripen, six large or eight moderate-sized peaches; wipe the down from them, and put them into brine that will float an egg. In three days let them be taken out, and drained on a sieve reversed for several hours. Boil in a quart of vinegar for ten minutes two ounces of whole white pepper, two of ginger slightly bruised, a teaspoonful of salt, two blades of mace, half a pound of mustard-seed, and a half-teaspoonful of cayenne tied in a bit of muslin. Lay the peaches into a jar, and pour the boiling pickle on them: in two months they will be fit for use. Peaches, 6 or 8: in brine three days. Vinegar, 1 quart; whole white pepper, 2 oz.; bruised ginger, 2 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades; mustard-seed, 1/2 lb.: 10 minutes. Obs.—The peaches may be converted into excellent mangoes by cutting out from the stalk-end of each, a round of sufficient size to allow the stone to be extracted: this should be done after they are taken from the brine. They may be filled with very fresh mustard-seed, previously washed in a little vinegar; to this a small portion of garlic, or bruised eschalots, cayenne, horseradish, chilies (the most appropriate of any), or spice of any kind may be added, to the taste. The part cut out must be replaced, and secured with a packthread crossed over the fruit. SWEET PICKLE OF MELON. (FOREIGN RECEIPT.) (To serve with Roast Meat.) Take, within three or four days of their being fully ripe, one or two well-flavoured melons; just pare off the outer rind, clear them from the seeds, and cut them into slices of about half an inch thick; lay them into good vinegar, and let them remain in it for ten days; then cover them with cold fresh vinegar, and simmer them very gently until they are tender. Lift them on to a sieve reversed, to drain, and when they are quite cold stick a couple of cloves into each slice, lay them into a jar (a glass one, if at hand) and cover them well with cold syrup, made with ten ounces of sugar to the pint of water, boiled quickly together for twenty minutes. In about a week take them from the syrup, let it drain from them a little, then put them into jars in which they are to be stored, and cover them again thoroughly with good vinegar, which has been boiled for an instant, and left to become quite cold before it is added to them. 535This pickle is intended to be served more particularly with roast mutton, hare, and venison, instead of currant jelly, but it is very good with stewed meat also. Small blades of cinnamon, and a larger proportion of cloves are sometimes stuck into the melon, but their flavour should not prevail too strongly. We have found the receipt answer extremely well as we have given it, when tried with small green melons, cut within four days of being fit for table. Melons not quite ripe, pared from hard rind and sliced, 1 or 2: in vinegar 10 days. Simmered in it until tender. In syrup 6 to 7 days. In fresh vinegar to remain. Ready to serve in a month. A Common Sweet Pickle of Melon.—Prepare the fruit as above. In a fortnight simmer it until tender; drain, and lay it into jars, and pour on it while just warm, a pickle made with a pound and two ounces of coarse brown sugar, twenty cloves, and half a drachm of cinnamon to the pint of vinegar, boiled together for ten minutes. TO PICKLE MUSHROOMS. Select for this purpose the smallest buttons of the wild meadow mushrooms, in preference to those which are artificially raised, and let them be as freshly gathered as possible. Cut the stems off quite close, and clean them with a bit of new flannel slightly moistened, and dipped into fine salt; throw them as they are done into plenty of spring-water, mixed with a large spoonful of salt, but drain them from it quickly afterwards, and lay them into a soft cloth to dry, or the moisture which hangs about them will too much weaken the pickle. For each quart of the mushrooms thus prepared, take nearly a quart of the palest white wine vinegar (this is far superior to the distilled vinegar generally used for the purpose, and the variation in the colour of the mushrooms will be very slight), and add to it a heaped teaspoonful of salt, half an ounce of whole white pepper, an ounce of ginger, sliced or slightly bruised, about the fourth of a saltspoonful of cayenne tied in a small bit of muslin, and two large blades of mace: to these may be added half a small nutmeg, sliced, but too much spice will entirely overpower the fine natural flavour of the mushrooms. When the pickle boils throw them in, and boil them in it over a clear fire moderately fast from six to nine minutes, or somewhat longer, should they not be very small. When they are much disproportioned in size, the larger ones should have two minutes boil before the others are thrown into the vinegar. As soon as they are tolerably tender, put them at once into small stone jars, or into warm wide-necked bottles, and divide the spice equally amongst them. The following day, or as soon as they are perfectly cold, secure them from the air with large corks, or tie skins and paper over them. They should be stored in a dry place, and guarded from severe frost. When the colour of the mushrooms is more considered than the excellence of the pickle, the distilled vinegar can be used for it. The reader may rely upon this receipt as a really good 536one; we have had it many times proved, and it is altogether our own. Mushroom buttons (without the stems), 2 quarts; palest white wine vinegar, short 1/2 gallon; salt, large dessertspoonful, or 1-1/2 oz.; white peppercorns, 1 oz.; whole ginger, 2 oz.; cayenne, small 1/2 saltspoonful; 1 small nutmeg. MUSHROOMS IN BRINE. For Winter Use. (Very Good.) We have had small mushroom-buttons excellently preserved through the winter prepared as follows, and we therefore give the exact proportions which we had used for them, though the same quantity of brine would possibly allow of rather more mushrooms in it. Prepare them exactly as for the preceding pickle, and measure them after the stems are taken off. For each quart, boil together for five minutes two quarts of water, with half a pound of common white salt, a small dessertspoonful of white peppercorns, a couple of blades of mace, and a race of ginger; take off the scum thoroughly, and throw in the mushrooms; boil them gently for about five minutes, then put them into well-warmed, wide-necked bottles, and let them become perfectly cold; pour a little good salad-oil on the top, cork them with new corks, and tie bladder over, or cover them with two separate bladders. When wanted for use, soak the mushrooms in warm water until the brine is sufficiently extracted. Mushrooms, 1 quart; water, 1/2 gallon; salt, 1/2 lb.; peppercorns, 1 small dessertspoonful; mace, 2 blades; ginger, 1 race: 5 minutes. Mushrooms, in brine: 5 minutes. TO PICKLE WALNUTS. The walnuts for this pickle must be gathered while a pin can pierce them easily, for when once the shell can be felt, they have ceased to be in a proper state for it. Make sufficient brine to cover them well, with six ounces of salt to the quart of water; take off the scum, which will rise to the surface as the salt dissolves, throw in the walnuts, and stir them night and morning; change the brine every three days, and if they are wanted for immediate eating, leave them in it for twelve days; otherwise, drain them from it in nine, spread them on dishes, and let them remain exposed to the air until they become black: this will be in twelve hours, or less. Make a pickle for them with something more than half a gallon of vinegar to the hundred, a teaspoonful of salt, two ounces of black pepper, three of bruised ginger, a drachm of mace, and from a quarter to half an ounce of cloves (of which some may be stuck into three or four small onions), and four ounces of mustard-seed. Boil the whole of these together for about five minutes; have the walnuts ready in a 537stone jar or jars, and pour it on them as it is taken from the fire. When the pickle is quite cold, cover the jar securely, and store it in a dry place. Keep the walnuts always well covered with vinegar, and boil that which is added to them. Walnuts, 100; in brine made with 12 oz. salt to 2 quarts water, and changed twice or more, 9 or 12 days. Vinegar, full 1/2 gallon; salt, 1 teaspoonful; whole black pepper, 2 oz.; ginger, 3 oz.; mace, 1 drachm; cloves, 1/4 to 1/2 oz.; small onions, 4 to 6; mustard-seed, 4 oz.: 5 minutes. TO PICKLE BEET-ROOT. Boil the beet-root tender by the directions of page 329, and when it is quite cold, pare and slice it; put it into a jar, and cover it with vinegar previously boiled and allowed to become again perfectly cold: it will soon be ready for use. It is excellent when merely covered with chili vinegar. A few small shalots may be boiled in the pickle for it when their flavour is liked. Carrots boiled tolerably tender in salt and water may be prepared by this receipt with or without the addition of the shalots, or with a few very small silver onions, which should be boiled for a minute or two in the pickle: this should be poured hot on the carrots. To each quart of vinegar, salt, 1 teaspoonful; cayenne tied in muslin, 1/2 saltspoonful, or white peppercorns, 1/2 to whole oz. PICKLED ESCHALOTS. (Author’s Receipt.) For a quart of ready-peeled eschalots, add to the same quantity of the best pale white wine vinegar, a dessertspoonful of salt, and an ounce of whole white pepper; bring these quickly to a boil, take off the scum, throw in the eschalots, simmer them for two minutes only, turn them into a clean stone jar, and when they are quite cold, tie a skin, or two folds of thick paper over it. Eschalots, 1 quart; vinegar, 1 quart; salt, 1 dessertspoonful; whole white pepper, 1 oz. Obs.—The sooner the eschalots are pickled after they are ripe and dry, the better they will be. PICKLED ONIONS. Take the smallest onions that can be procured,[173] just after they are harvested, for they are never in so good a state for the purpose as then; proceed, after having peeled them, exactly as for the eschalots, and when they begin to look clear, which will be in three or four minutes, put them into jars, and pour the pickle on them. The 538vinegar should be very pale, and their colour will then be exceedingly well preserved. Any favourite spices can be added to it. 173.  The Reading onion is the proper kind for pickling. TO PICKLE LEMONS, AND LIMES. (Excellent.) Wipe eight fine sound lemons very clean, and make, at equal distances, four deep incisions in each, from the stalk to the blossom end, but without dividing the fruit; stuff them with as much salt as they will contain, lay them into a deep dish, and place them in a sunny window, or in some warm place for a week or ten days, keeping them often turned and basted with their own liquor; then rub them with some good pale turmeric, and put them with their juice, into a stone jar with a small head of garlic, divided into cloves and peeled, and a dozen small onions stuck with twice as many cloves. Boil in two quarts of white wine vinegar, half a pound of ginger slightly bruised, two ounces of whole black pepper, and half a pound of mustard-seed; take them from the fire and pour them directly on the lemons; cover the jar with a plate, and let them remain until the following day, then add to the pickle half a dozen capsicums (or a few chilies, if more convenient), and tie a skin and a fold of thick paper over the jar. Large lemons stuffed with salt, 8: 8 to 10 days. Turmeric, 1 to 2 oz.; ginger, 1/2 lb.; mustard-seed, 1/2 lb.; capsicums, 6 oz. Obs.—The turmeric and garlic may, we think, be omitted from this pickle with advantage. It will remain good for seven years if the lemons be kept well covered with vinegar: that which is added to them should be boiled and then left till cold before it is poured into the jar. They will not be fit for table in less than twelve months; but if wanted for more immediate use, set them for one night into a very cool oven: they may then be eaten almost directly. Limes must have but slight incisions made in the rinds; and they will be sufficiently softened in four or five days. Two ounces of salt only will be required for half a dozen; and all which remains unmelted must, with their juice, be put into the jar with them before the vinegar is poured on: this should be mixed with spice and mustard-seed, and be boiling when it is added to the limes. LEMON MANGOES. (Author’s Original Receipt.) All pickles of vegetables or fruit which have been emptied and filled with various ingredients, are called in England mangoes, having probably first been prepared in imitation of that fruit, but none that we have ever tasted, bearing the slightest resemblance to it. Young melons, large cucumbers, vegetable-marrow, and peaches are all 539thus designated when prepared as we have described. Lemons may be converted into an excellent pickle of the same description in the following manner. After having removed from the blossom end of each a circular bit of the rind about the size of a shilling, proceed to scoop out all the pulp and skin with the handle of a teaspoon; rinse the insides of the rinds until the water from them is clear; throw them into plenty of brine made with half a pound of salt to two quarts of water, and stir them down in it often during the time. In three days change the brine, and leave them for three days longer; then drain them from it on a sieve, fill them with bruised or whole mustard-seed, very small chilies, young scraped horseradish, very small eschalots, a little ginger sliced thin, or aught else that may be liked. Sew in the parts that have been cut out, lay the lemons into a stone jar, and pour boiling on them a pickle made of their own juice, which when they are first emptied should be squeezed from the pulp through a cloth, and boiled with sufficient vinegar to keep it,—a large saltspoonful of salt, half an ounce each of ginger and of white peppercorns, and a blade or two of mace to every quart; or prepare them like the whole lemons, omitting the turmeric; and soften them if wanted for immediate eating as directed for them. They may be filled simply with mustard-seed, horseradish, and spice, if preferred so. This receipt has been in print before, but without the author’s name. TO PICKLE NASTURTIUMS. These should be gathered quite young, and a portion of the buds, when very small, should be mixed with them. Prepare a pickle by dissolving an ounce and a half of salt in a quart of pale vinegar, and throw in the berries as they become fit, from day to day. They are used instead of capers for sauce, and by some persons are preferred to them. When purchased for pickling, put them at once into a jar, and cover them well with the vinegar. TO PICKLE RED CABBAGE. Strip off the outer leaves, wipe, and slice a fine sound cabbage or two extremely thin, sprinkle plenty of salt over them, and let them drain in a sieve, or on a strainer for twelve hours or more; shake or press the moisture from them; put them into clean stone jars, and cover them well with cold vinegar, in which an ounce of black pepper to the quart has been boiled. Some persons merely cover the vegetable with strong, unboiled vinegar, but this is not so well. 540 CHAPTER XXVI. Cakes. Modern Cake Mould. GENERAL REMARKS ON CAKES. Mould for Buns. We have inserted here but a comparatively limited number of receipts for these “sweet poisons,” as they have been emphatically called, and we would willingly have diminished still further even the space which has been allotted to them, that we might have had room in their stead for others of a more really useful character; but we have felt reluctant to withdraw such a portion of any of the chapters as might materially alter the original character of the work, or cause dissatisfaction to any of our kind readers; we will therefore content ourselves with remarking, that more illness is caused by habitual indulgence in the richer and heavier kinds of cakes than would easily be credited by persons who have given no attention to the subject. 541Amongst those which have the worst effects are almond, and plum pound cakes, as they are called; all varieties of the brioche; and such others as contain a large quantity of butter and eggs. The least objectionable are simple buns, biscuits, yeast and sponge cakes, and meringues; these last being extremely light and delicate, and made of white of egg and sugar only, are really not unwholesome. The ingredients for cakes, as well as for puddings, should all be fresh and good, as well as free from damp; the lightness of many kinds depends entirely on that given to the eggs by whisking, and by the manner in which the whole is mixed. A small portion of carbonate of soda, which will not be in the slightest degree perceptible to the taste after the cake is baked, if thrown in just before the mixture is put into the oven, will ensure its rising well. To guard against the bitterness so often imparted by yeast when it is used for cakes or biscuits, it should be sparingly added, and the sponge should be left twice the usual time to rise. This method will be found to answer equally with bread. For example: should a couple of spoonsful of yeast be ordered in a receipt, when it is bitter, use but one, and let it stand two hours instead of half the time: the fermentation, though slow, will be quite as perfect as if it were more quickly effected, and the cake or loaf thus made will not become dry by any means as soon as if a larger portion of yeast were mixed with it. The German yeast when fresh is preferable to any other for all light cakes, being made without hops and therefore never bitter. All light cakes require a rather brisk oven to raise and set them; very large rich ones a well-sustained degree of heat sufficient to bake them through; and small sugar-cakes a slow oven, to prevent their taking a deep colour before they are half done: gingerbread, too, should be gently baked, unless it be of the light thick kind. Meringues, macaroons, and ratafias, will bear a slight degree more of heat than these. For sponge and savoy cakes the moulds should be thickly and evenly buttered, and fine sugar shaken in them until they are equally covered with it: the loose sugar must be turned out before they are used. To ascertain whether a cake be done, thrust a larding needle or bright skewer into the centre, and should this come out clean, draw it from the oven directly; but should the paste adhere to it, continue the baking. Several sheets of paper are placed usually under large plum-cakes. Cakes are rendered heavy by moving or shaking them after they have risen in the oven, and before they have become firm. They should be gently loosened and turned from the moulds when sufficiently baked and set for a short time just at the mouth of the oven to dry the surface, then laid upon their sides on a sieve until cold. 542 TO BLANCH AND TO POUND ALMONDS. Put them into a saucepan with plenty of cold water, and heat it slowly; when it is just scalding turn the almonds into a basin, peel, and throw them into cold water as they are done: dry them well in a soft cloth before they are used. If the water be too hot it will turn them yellow. Almonds are more easily pounded, and less liable to become oily, if dried a little in a very gentle degree of heat after they are blanched; left, for example, in a warm room for two or three days, lightly spread on a large dish or tin. They should be sprinkled during the beating with a few drops of cold water, or white of egg, or lemon-juice, and pounded to a smooth paste: this is more easily done, we believe, when they are first roughly chopped, but we prefer to have them thrown at once into the mortar. TO REDUCE ALMONDS TO A PASTE. (The quickest and easiest way.) Chop them a little on a large and very clean trencher, then with a paste roller (rolling-pin), which ought to be thicker in the middle than at the ends, roll them well until no small bits are perceptible amongst them. We have found this method answer admirably; but as some of the oil is expressed from the almonds by it, and absorbed by the board, we would recommend a marble slab for them in preference, when it is at hand; and should they be intended for a sweet dish, that some pounded sugar should be strewed under them. When a board or strong trencher is used, it should be rather higher in the middle than at the sides. TO COLOUR ALMONDS OR SUGAR-GRAINS, OR SUGAR-CANDY, FOR CAKES, OR PASTRY. Blanch, dry, and chop them rather coarsely; pour a little prepared cochineal into the hands, and roll the almonds between them until they are equally coloured; then spread them on a sheet of paper, and place them in a very gentle degree of heat to dry. Use spinach-juice (see page 455), to colour them green, and a strong infusion of saffron to give them a yellow tint. They have a pretty effect when strewed over the icing of tarts or cakes, especially the rose-coloured ones, which should be rather pale. The sugar is prepared in the same way, after being first broken into lumps, and then, with the end of a paste-roller, into grains about the size of a pea; but unless it be dry and hard, and carefully done, it will absorb too much of the cochineal: when but slightly coloured it is very ornamental dropped 543on the borders of creamed tourtes, or on other varieties of fine pastry. White sugar-candy broken into large grains or crystals and coloured in the same manner has a yet better effect. TO PREPARE BUTTER FOR RICH CAKES. For all large and very rich cakes the usual directions are, to beat the butter to a cream; but we find that they are quite as light when it is cut small and gently melted with just so much heat as will dissolve it, and no more. If it be shaken round in a saucepan previously warmed, and held near the fire for a short time, it will soon be liquefied, which is all that is required: it must on no account be hot when it is added to the other ingredients, to which it must be poured in small portions after they are all mixed, in the way which we have minutely described in the receipt for a Madeira cake, and that of the Sutherland puddings (Chapter XXI.) To cream it, drain the water well from it after it is cut, soften it a little before the fire should it be very hard, and then with the back of a large strong wooden spoon beat it until it resembles thick cream. When prepared thus, the sugar is added to it first, and then the other ingredients in succession. For plum-cakes it is better creamed than liquefied, as the fruit requires a paste of some consistence to prevent its sinking to the bottom of the mould in which it is baked. For plain seed-cakes the more simple plan answers perfectly. TO WHISK EGGS FOR LIGHT RICH CAKES. Break them one by one, and separate the yolks from the whites: this is done easily by pouring the yolk from one half of the shell to the other, and letting the white drop from it into a basin beneath. With a small three-pronged fork take out the specks from each egg as it is broken, that none may accidentally escape notice. Whisk the yolks until they appear light, and the whites until they are a quite solid froth; while any liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl they are not sufficiently beaten: when a portion of them, taken up with the whisk, and dropped from it, remains standing in points, they are in the proper state for use, and should be mixed with the cake directly. SUGAR GLAZINGS AND ICINGS. (For Fine Pastry and Cakes.) The clear glaze which resembles barley sugar, and which requires to be as carefully guarded from damp, is given by just dipping the surface of the pastry into liquid caramel (see Chapter XXVII.); or by sifting sugar thickly over it directly it is drawn from the oven, and melting it down with a salamander, or red-hot shovel held closely 544over it; or by setting it again into an oven sufficiently heated to dissolve the sugar: though this latter method is not so well, as there is danger from it of the paste being scorched. To make a fine white or coloured icing, whisk, as directed above, the whites of four fresh eggs to a perfectly solid froth, then, with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix gradually with them one pound of the best sugar, which has been dried, and sifted through a fine sieve: work them together for a minute or two, and add less than a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice; spread it even over the cake or pastry, and dry it very gently indeed, either in a quite cool oven, or in a meat screen placed before the fire. From the difference in the size of eggs, a little more or less of sugar may be required for this icing. It may be coloured with a very few drops of prepared cochineal to give it a rose tint. Whites of eggs beaten to snow, 4; sugar, 1 lb.; lemon-juice, small dessertspoonful. ORANGE-FLOWER MACAROONS. (DELICIOUS.) Have ready two pounds of very dry white sifted sugar. Weigh two ounces of the petals of freshly gathered orange-blossoms after they have been picked from the stems; and cut them very small with a pair of scissors into the sugar, as they will become discoloured if not mixed with it quickly after they are cut. When all are done, add the whites of seven eggs, and whisk the whole well together until it looks like snow; then drop the mixture on paper without delay, and send the cakes to a very cool oven. Pounded sugar, 2 lbs.; orange-blossoms, 2 oz.; whites of eggs, 7:20 minutes or more. Obs.—It is almost impossible to state with accuracy the precise time required for these cakes, so much depends on the oven: they should be very delicately coloured, and yet dried through. ALMOND MACAROONS. Blanch a pound of fresh Jordan almonds, wipe them dry, and set them into a very cool oven to render them perfectly so; pound them to an exceedingly smooth paste, with a little white of egg, then whisk to a firm solid froth the white of seven eggs, or of eight, should they be small; mix with them a pound and a half of the finest sugar; add these by degrees to the almonds, whisk the whole up well together, and drop the mixture upon wafer-paper, which may be procured at the confectioner’s: bake the cakes in a moderate oven a very pale brown. It is an improvement to their flavour to substitute an ounce of bitter almonds for one of the sweet. They are sometimes made with an equal weight of each; and another variety of them is obtained by gently browning the almonds in a slow oven before they are pounded. 545Jordan almonds blanched, 1 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; whites of 7 or 8 eggs: 15 to 20 minutes. VERY FINE COCOA-NUT MACAROONS. Rasp a fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish or tin, and let it dry gradually for a couple of days, if it can be done conveniently; add to it double its weight of fine sifted sugar, and the whites of eight eggs beaten to a solid froth (see page 543), to the pound. Roll the mixture into small balls, place them on a buttered tin, and bake them in a very gentle oven about twenty minutes. Move them from the tin while they are warm, and store them in a very dry canister as soon as they are cold. Cocoa-nut, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; whites of eggs, 8: very gentle oven, 20 minutes. IMPERIALS. (NOT VERY RICH.) Work into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and mix well with them half a pound of sifted sugar, six ounces of currants, two ounces of candied orange-peel, the grated rind of a lemon, and four well-beaten eggs. Flour a tin lightly, and with a couple of forks place the paste upon it in small rough heaps quite two inches apart. Bake them in a very gentle oven, from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes, or until they are equally coloured to a pale brown. Flour 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 8 oz.; currants, 6 oz.; candied peel, 2 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; eggs, 4: 15 to 20 minutes. FINE ALMOND CAKE. Blanch, dry, and pound to the finest possible paste, eight ounces of fresh Jordan almonds, and one ounce of bitter; moisten them with a few drops of cold water or white of egg, to prevent their oiling; then mix with them very gradually twelve fresh eggs which have been whisked until they are exceedingly light; throw in by degrees one pound of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and keep the mixture light by constant beating, with a large wooden spoon, as the separate ingredients are added. Mix in by degrees three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted flour of the best quality; then pour gently from the sediment a pound of butter which has been just melted, but not allowed to become hot, and beat it very gradually, but very thoroughly, into the cake, letting one portion entirely disappear before another is thrown in; add the rasped or finely-grated rinds of two sound fresh lemons, fill a thickly-buttered mould rather more than half full with the mixture, and bake the cake from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated oven. Lay paper over the top when it is sufficiently coloured, and guard carefully against its being burned. 546Jordan almonds, 1/2 lb.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; eggs, 12; sugar, 1 lb.; flour, 3/4 lb.; butter, 1 lb.; rinds lemons, 2: 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Obs.—Three-quarters of a pound of almonds may be mixed with this cake when so large a portion of them is liked, but an additional ounce or two of sugar, and one egg or more, will then be required. PLAIN POUND OR CURRANT CAKE. (Or rich Brawn Brack, or Borrow Brack.) Mix, as directed in the foregoing receipt, ten eggs (some cooks take a pound in weight of these), one pound of sugar, one of flour, and as much of butter. For a plum-cake, let the butter be worked to a cream; add the sugar to it first, then the yolks of the eggs, next stir lightly in the whites, after which, add one pound of currants and the candied peel, and, last of all, the flour by degrees, and a glass of brandy when it is liked. Nearly or quite two hours’ baking will be required for this, and one hour for half the quantity. To convert the above into the popular Irish “speckled bread,” or Brawn Brack of the richer kind, add to it three ounces of carraway-seeds: these are sometimes used in combination with the currants, but more commonly without. To ice a cake see the receipt for Sugar Glazings at the commencement of this Chapter, page 543. A rose-tint may be given to the icing with a little prepared cochineal, as we have said there. RICE CAKE. Take six eggs, with their weight in fine sugar, and in butter also, and half their weight of flour of rice, and half of wheaten flour; make the cake as directed for the Madeira or almond cake, but throw in the rice after the flour; then add the butter in the usual way, and bake the cake about an hour and ten minutes. Give any flavour that is liked. The butter may be altogether omitted. This is a moderate-sized cake. Eggs, in the shell, 6; their weight in butter and in sugar; half as much flour of rice, and the same of wheaten flour: 1 hour, 10 minutes. WHITE CAKE. Beat half a pound of fresh butter to a cream, add to it an equal weight of dried and sifted sugar, the yolks and whites of eight eggs, separately whisked, two ounces of candied orange-peel, half a teaspoonful of mace, a glass of brandy, one pound of flour strewed in by degrees, and last of all a pound and a quarter of currants. Directly it is mixed send the cake to a well-heated oven, and bake it for two hours. Four ounces of pounded almonds are sometimes added to it. 547Butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 8; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; brandy, 1 wineglassful; flour, 1 lb.; candied-peel, 2 oz.; currants, 1-1/2 lb.: 2 hours. A GOOD SPONGE CAKE. Rasp on some lumps of well-refined sugar the rind of a fine sound lemon, and scrape off the part which has imbibed the essence, or crush the lumps to powder, and add them to as much more as will make up the weight of eight or ten fresh eggs in the shell; break these one by one, and separate the whites from the yolks; beat the latter in a large bowl for ten minutes, then strew in the sugar gradually, and beat them well together. In the mean time let the whites be whisked to a quite solid froth, add them to the yolks, and when they are well blended sift and stir the flour gently to them, but do not beat it into the mixture; pour the cake into a well-buttered mould, and bake it an hour and a quarter in a moderate oven. Rasped rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 8 or 10; their weight of dry, sifted sugar; and half their weight of flour: baked, 1-1/4 hour, moderate oven. A SMALLER SPONGE CAKE. (Very good.) Five full-sized eggs, the weight of four in sugar, and of nearly three in flour, will make an exceedingly good cake: it may be flavoured, like the preceding one, with lemon-rind, or with bitter almonds, vanilla, or confected orange-blossoms reduced to powder. An hour will bake it thoroughly. All the ingredients for sponge cakes should be of good quality, and the sugar and flour should be dry; they should also be passed through a fine sieve kept expressly for such purposes. The excellence of the whole depends much on the manner in which the eggs are whisked: this should be done as lightly as possible, but it is a mistake to suppose that they cannot be too long beaten, as after they are brought to a state of perfect firmness they are injured by a continuation of the whisking, and will at times curdle, and render a cake heavy from this cause. FINE VENETIAN CAKE OR CAKES. Take of sound Jordan almonds, blanched and well dried at the mouth of a cool oven or in a sunny window, seven ounces, full weight, and one of bitter almonds with them; pound the whole to a perfect paste with a few drops of white of egg or orange-flower water; then mix them thoroughly with one pound of flour and eight ounces of butter (which should be cool and firm, or it will render the paste too soft), and break this down quite small; then 548add eight ounces of pounded sugar, on part of which the rind of a fine lemon has been rasped previously to its being crushed to powder. Make these into a paste with the yolks of four eggs, or with rather less should they be large, for if too moist, it will adhere to the board and roller. To make a Venetian cake of moderate size, roll the paste less than a quarter of an inch thick, and cut with the larger fluted cutter, shown at page 376, six or seven portions of equal size; lay them on lightly floured or buttered tins, and bake them in a slow oven until they are firm and crisp, and equally coloured of a pale brown. Should they seem to require it, lay them one on the other, while they are still warm, and place a baking-tin, with a slight weight upon them to render them quite level. When they are cold, spread upon each a different kind of choice preserve, and pile the whole evenly into the form of an entire cake. The top may be iced, and decorated with pistachio-nuts, or grains of coloured sugar, or with a wreath of almond-paste leaves. There are many varieties of this dish, which is known by different names in different countries. It is sometimes called a Neapolitan Cake, sometimes a Thousand Leaf Cake à la Française. It is occasionally made entirely of almond-paste, and highly decorated; it may be formed also of many layers of puff or fine short crust cut of uniform size, or gradually less, so as to leave round each a clear border of an inch wide, which may be covered with coloured icing, or ornamented with preserved fruit, tinted almonds, grains of white or pink sugar candy, or aught else that the fancy may direct. To make the small Venetian cakes, roll the paste directed for the large one at the commencement of this receipt, into balls, flatten them with the hand to about the third of an inch thick, brush them with beaten egg, and cover them plentifully with white sugar-candy crushed about half the size of a pea: bake them in a slow oven. Almonds, 8 oz.; flour, 1 lb.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; rind of 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 3 to 4; preserve as needed. A GOOD MADEIRA CAKE. Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then, continuing still to whisk them, throw in by slow degrees the following ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry, pounded, and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded, beat well in the third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake it an hour in a moderate oven. In this, as in all compositions of the same nature, observe particularly that each portion of butter must be beaten into the mixture until no appearance of it remains before the next is added; and if this be done, and the preparation be kept light by constant and light whisking, the cake will be as good, if not better, than 549if the butter were creamed. Candied citron can be added to the paste, but it is not needed. Eggs, 4; sugar, 6 oz.; flour, 6 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; carbonate of soda, 1/3 of teaspoonful: 1 hour, moderate oven. A SOLIMEMNE. A rich French breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn. From three-quarters of a pound of flour take three ounces for the leaven, and make it into a lithe paste with half an ounce of solid, well-washed yeast (see Chapter XXXI.), mixed with two or three tablespoonsful of just warm cream, or new milk; throw a cloth over and leave it near the fire to rise for about half an hour, or until it is twice its original size. In the interim make a hollow in the centre of the remainder of the flour, and put into it a quarter of an ounce of fine salt, one ounce of pounded sugar, the yolks of four fresh eggs, four ounces of lukewarm butter, and a couple of tablespoonsful of cream, also warm. Mix the whole gently and carefully into a perfectly smooth paste, flatten it with the hand upon the dresser, spread the leaven over it, and blend them thoroughly with light kneading, as directed for brioche paste, page 349. The whole should be of the same colour throughout. Next, put it into a small, well-buttered copper stewpan, or plain cake-mould, and let it remain in a moderately warm place until it has risen, like the leaven, to double its original size; then with a paste-brush or feather wash the top with beaten egg, and without disturbing it, set it into a tolerably quick oven, and bake it nearly or quite an hour; but do not allow it to be too deeply coloured. Turn it from the mould, cut it once or twice asunder, and pour over the slices plenty of good butter, just dissolved in a small saucepan; put the cake together again, and serve it immediately. It may be converted into an excellent entremets by spreading currant, or other fine jelly, or preserve, quickly upon it when it is cut, and sifting sugar thickly on the top after it is restored to its proper form: it is then called a Dresden cake. We think that when left until cold and toasted, the solimemne is even better than when served hot. It will be many hours rising; sometimes as many as six or eight. If wanted for breakfast it should be made over night. Flour 3/4 lb.; yeast, 1/2 oz.; little cream; salt, 1/4 oz.; sugar, 1 oz.; yolks of eggs, 4; butter, 4 oz.: to rise from 6 to 8 hours. Baked 1 hour. BANBURY CAKES. First, mix well together a pound of currants, cleaned with great nicety and dried, a quarter-pound of beef suet, finely minced, three ounces each of candied orange and lemon-rind, shred small, a few grains of salt, a full quarter-ounce of pounded cinnamon and nutmeg 550mixed, and four ounces of macaroons or ratafias rolled to powder. Next, make a light paste with fourteen ounces of butter to the pound of flour; give it an extra turn or two to prevent its rising too much in the oven; roll out one half in a very thin square, and spread the mixed fruit and spice equally upon it; moisten the edges, lay on the remaining half of the paste, rolled equally thin, press the edges securely together, mark the whole with the back of a knife in regular divisions of two inches wide and three in length, bake the pastry in a well-heated oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, and divide it into cakes while it is still warm. They may be served as a second course dish either hot or cold, and may be glazed at pleasure. Currants, 1 lb.; beef-suet, 4 oz.; candied orange and lemon-rind each, 3 oz.; salt, small pinch; mixed spices, 1/4 oz.; macaroons or ratafias, 4 oz.: baked 25 to 30 minutes. MERINGUES. Whisk, to the firmest possible froth, the whites of six very fresh eggs, taking every precaution against a particle of the yolk falling in amongst them. Lay some squares or long strips of writing-paper closely upon a board or upon very clean trenchers, which ought to be nearly or quite an inch thick, to prevent the meringues from receiving any colour from the bottom of the oven. When all is ready, mix with the eggs three-quarters of a pound of the finest sugar, well dried, and sifted; stir them together for half a minute, then with a table or dessertspoon lay the mixture quickly on the papers in the form of a half-egg, sift sugar over them without delay, blow off with the bellows all that does not adhere, and set the meringues into a gentle oven. The process must be expeditious, or the sugar melting will cause the cakes to spread, instead of retaining the shape of the spoon, as they ought. The whole art of making them, indeed, appears to us to consist in preserving their proper form, and the larger the proportion of sugar worked into the eggs, the more easily this will be done. When they are coloured to a light brown, and are firm to the touch, draw them out, turn the papers gently over, separating the meringues from them, and with a teaspoon scoop out sufficient of the insides to form a space for some whipped cream or preserve, and put them again into the oven upon clean sheets of paper, with the moist sides uppermost, to dry: when they are crisp through they are done. Let them become cold; fill, and then join them together with a little white of egg so as to give them the appearance 551shown in the plate. Spikes of pistachio nuts, or almonds, can be stuck over them, as represented there, at pleasure. They afford always, if well made, a second course dish of elegant appearance, and they are equally ornamental to breakfasts or suppers of ceremony. They are made in perfection by the pastry-cooks in France, being equally light, delicate, and delicious. Much of their excellence, it must be observed, depends at all times on the attention they receive in the baking, as well as in the previous preparation. They must, of course, be quite cold before the preserve or cream is laid into them. From four to six ounces of almonds, finely powdered, may be smoothly mixed with the other ingredients for them; and they may be flavoured with citron, lemon, or orange-rind by rasping the skins of the fruit with part of the sugar with which they are to be made; then drying, and reducing it to powder. Whites of very fresh eggs, 6; sugar, 3/4 lb.: gentle oven, 20 to 30 minutes. ITALIAN MERINGUES. Take for these the proportion of whites of eggs and sugar already indicated in the receipt for Nesselrôde pudding, page 491, that is to say, six to the pound, or half that quantity for a small number of meringues. Boil the sugar with a pint of water until it whitens, and begins to fall in flakes from the skimmer; have the eggs whisked to a perfectly solid froth quite ready at the proper moment, and when the sugar has stood for two or three minutes, and been worked well from the sides of the pan, mingle them gradually, but very quickly, with it, that the mass may be quite smooth; continue to stir them until they become firm enough to retain their shape perfectly when moulded with a teaspoon; lay out the cakes on paper, and place them in an oven so slow as to harden without giving them colour. As they are not to be filled, but merely fastened together, they may be baked on tins. Part of them may be varied by the addition of three or four ounces of pounded almonds mixed thoroughly with the remainder of the eggs and sugar, when a portion of the meringues have been moulded: these, however, will require to be much longer baked than the others; but they will be excellent. They should be lightly browned, and crisp quite through. Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1 pint; whites of eggs, 6: very slow oven, 20 to 30 minutes, or longer. THICK, LIGHT GINGERBREAD. Crumble down very small, eight ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, then add to, and mix thoroughly with them, half a pound of good brown sugar, two ounces of powdered ginger, and half an ounce of ground carraway-seeds; beat gradually to these, first two pounds of treacle, next three well-whisked eggs, and last 552of all half an ounce of carbonate of soda,[174] dissolved in a very small cupful of warm water; stir the whole briskly together, pour the mixture into very shallow tins, put it immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it for an hour and a half. The gingerbread made thus will be remarkably light and good. For children part of the spice and butter may be omitted. 174.  This should always be of the very best quality when used for cakes. Carbonate of ammonia is recommended in preference to it by some writers. Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; powdered ginger, 2 oz.; eggs, 3; carbonate of soda, 1/2 oz.; water, very small cupful: baked 1-1/2 hour. Obs.—We think that something less than the half ounce of soda would be sufficient for this gingerbread, for with the whole quantity it rises in the oven to three times its height, and is apt to run over the tops of the tins, even when they are but half filled with it at first; or if it were well beaten into the mass without any water, after being carefully freed from lumps and mixed with a little sugar, the cake would still be quite light. ACTON GINGERBREAD. Whisk four strained or well-cleared eggs to the lightest possible froth (French eggs, if really sweet, will answer for the purpose), and pour to them, by degrees, a pound and a quarter of treacle, still beating them lightly. Add, in the same manner, six ounces of pale brown sugar free from lumps, one pound of sifted flour, and six ounces of good butter, just sufficiently warmed to be liquid, and no more, for if hot, it would render the cake heavy; it should be poured in small portions to the mixture, which should be well beaten up with the back of a wooden spoon as each portion is thrown in: the success of the cake depends almost entirely on this part of the process. When properly mingled with the mass, the butter will not be perceptible on the surface; and if the cake be kept light by constant whisking, large bubbles will appear in it to the last. When it is so far ready, add to it one ounce of Jamaica ginger and a large teaspoonful of cloves in fine powder, with the lightly grated rinds of two fresh full-sized lemons. Butter thickly, in every part, a shallow square tin pan, and bake the gingerbread slowly for nearly or quite an hour in a gentle oven. Let it cool a little before it is turned out, and set it on its edge until cold, supporting it, if needful, against a large jar or bowl. We have usually had it baked in an American oven, in a tin less than two inches deep; and it has been excellent. We retain the name given to it originally in our own circle. CHEAP AND VERY GOOD GINGER OVEN-CAKE OR CAKES. Four French eggs (which must be perfectly sweet, or small 553English ones), six ounces of brown sugar of good quality rolled smooth and fine, six ounces of flour, three of butter, a grain or two of salt, some grated lemon-rind or candied peel sliced very thin, and half an ounce or more of ginger in fine powder. Prepare and mix these ingredients in the order in which they are written, by the directions for “Acton Gingerbread.” Bake the cake nearly the same time. An American oven will answer for it perfectly, and it will resemble a really rich cake, though so cheap. A small quantity of carbonate of soda may be added quite at last by inexpert cake-makers, to insure its being light. The same mixture may be baked in small cups or tins in an iron oven. For a cake of tolerable size half as much again of the ingredients must be taken, and the whole poured into a round or square cake-mould. GOOD COMMON GINGERBREAD. Work very smoothly six ounces of fresh butter (or some that has been well washed from the salt, and wrung dry in a cloth) into one pound of flour, and mix with them thoroughly an ounce of ginger in fine powder, four ounces of brown sugar, and half a teaspoonful of beaten cloves and mace. Wet these with three-quarters of a pound of cold treacle, or rather more, if needful; roll out the paste, cut the cakes with a round tin cutter, lay them on a floured or buttered baking tin, and put them into a very slow oven. Lemon-grate or candied peel can be added, when it is liked. Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; ginger, 1 oz.; cloves and mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; treacle, 3/4 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour. RICHER GINGERBREAD. Melt together three-quarters of a pound of treacle and half a pound of fresh butter, and pour them hot on a pound of flour mixed with half a pound of sugar and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger. When the paste is quite cold, roll it out with as much more flour as will prevent its adhering to the board: bake the cakes in a very gentle oven. COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD. (Original Receipts.) Mix well together ten ounces of fine wheaten flour, and six of flour of rice (or rice ground to powder), the grated rind of a lemon, and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger: pour nearly boiling upon these a pound of treacle, five ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar, melted together in a saucepan; beat the mixture, which will be almost a batter, with a wooden spoon, and when quite smooth leave it until it is perfectly cold, then add to it five ounces of grated cocoa-nut, 554and when it is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients, lay the paste in small heaps upon a buttered tin, and bake them in very slow oven from half to three-quarters of an hour. Flour, 10 oz.; ground rice, 6 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; ginger, 3/4 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; butter, 5 oz.; cocoa-nut, 5 oz.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Or: Flour, 1/2 lb.; ground rice, 1/2 lb.; ginger, 3/4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; butter, 5 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; cocoa-nut, 6-1/2 oz. Obs.—The cakes made by them are excellent. A DELICIOUS CREAM-CAKE AND SWEET RUSKS. When in very sultry weather cream becomes acid from being sent to a distance, or from other causes, it may still be made available for delicate pastry-crust, and superlative cakes, biscuits, and bread; but if ever so slightly putrid it will be fit only to be thrown away. The following receipt is given exactly as it was used with perfect success on the thought of the moment, when we first had it tried. Crumble down five ounces of good butter into a pound of fine flour, then mix thoroughly with them half a pound of sifted sugar, a few grains of salt, and two ounces of candied citron or orange-rind sliced thin; add something more than half a pint of thick and rather sour cream mixed with two well whisked eggs, and just before the paste is put into the moulds, which should be buttered in every part and only two-thirds filled, beat thoroughly into it half a teaspoonful of the very best carbonate of soda, which has been perfectly blended with twice the quantity of sugar and of flour, and rubbed through a fine sieve, or worked to the smoothest powder in a mortar, or in any other way. For the convenience of having it baked in a small iron oven, this quantity was divided into two cakes, one of which was gently pulled apart with a couple of forks while still hot, and then set again into the oven and crisped with a gentle heat quite through: it was thus converted into the very nicest sweet rusks. Sufficient cream should be used for the cakes to convert the ingredients into a very lithe paste or thick batter, which can be properly worked or mixed with a wooden spoon, with the back of which it should be very lightly beaten up before it is moulded. About three-quarters of an hour will bake it in a moderate oven. It should be firm on the surface—as all light cakes should be—that it may not sink and become heavy after it is drawn out. Turn it from the mould, and lay it on its side upon a sieve reversed, to cool. A GOOD LIGHT LUNCHEON-CAKE AND BROWN BRACK. Break down four ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, and work it quite into crumbs, but handle it very lightly; mix in a 555pinch of salt and four ounces of pounded sugar; hollow the centre, and stir into it a large tablespoonful of solid well-washed yeast (or an ounce of German yeast which will ferment more quickly), diluted with three-quarters of a pint of warm new milk; when sufficient of the surrounding flour is mixed with it to form a thick batter strew more flour on the top, lay a cloth once or twice folded together over the pan, and let it remain until the leaven has become very light: this it will generally be in an hour and a quarter, or, at the utmost, in an hour and a half. The fermentation may be quickened by increasing the proportion of yeast, but this is better avoided, as it may chance to render the cake bitter; additional time, however, must always be allowed for it to rise when but a small quantity is used. When the leaven is at the proper height, add to a couple of well whisked eggs, sufficient nearly-boiling milk to warm them, and mix them with the other ingredients; then beat well into the cake by degrees, eight ounces more of pounded sugar, and half a grated nutmeg; cut from two to three ounces of candied citron thin, and strew over it; leave it again to rise, as before, for about three-quarters of an hour; mix the citron equally with it, put it into a thickly buttered tin or earthen pan, and bake it in a quick oven for an hour and ten minutes at the least, and after it is placed in it let it not be moved until it is quite set, or it will possibly be heavy at the top. The grated rinds of a couple of lemons will improve its flavour. Fine Lisbon sugar can be used to sweeten it instead of pounded, but the difference of expense would be very slight, and the cake would not be so good; the quantity can, of course, be diminished when it is considered too much. Three-quarters of a pound of currants can, at choice, be substituted for the citron. Three ounces of carraway seeds will convert it into common brown brack, or Irish seed-cake. For the manner of purifying yeast, see Chapter XXXI. A VERY CHEAP LUNCHEON BISCUIT, OR NURSERY CAKE. Two or three pounds of white bread dough taken when ready for the oven, will make a good light biscuit if well managed, with the addition of from half to three-quarters of a pound of sugar, a very small quantity of butter, and a few currants, or carraway-seeds, or a teaspoonful of mixed spices. The dough should be rather firm; the butter should first be well kneaded into it in small portions, then the sugar added in the same way, and next the currants or spice. The whole should be perfectly and equally mingled, flour being slightly dredged upon it as it is worked, if needful. It must then be allowed to rise until it is very light, when it should again be kneaded down, but not heavily; and when it has once more risen, it should be sent without delay to the oven. An ounce of butter to the pound of dough will be sufficient for it. Much richer cakes can be made thus, and they will be extremely good if care be taken to let them rise 556sufficiently before they are baked. We regret that we cannot multiply our receipts for them. Sultana raisins are an excellent substitute for currants in these and other common cakes. ISLE OF WIGHT DOUGH-NUTS. Work smoothly together with the fingers four ounces of good lard, and four pounds of flour; add half a pound of fine brown sugar, two tablespoonsful of allspice, one drachm of pounded cinnamon, half as much of cloves, two large blades of mace, beaten to powder, two tablespoonsful of fresh yeast which has been watered for one night, and which should be solid, and as much new milk as will make the whole into a rather firm dough; let this stand from an hour to an hour and a half near the fire, then knead it well, and make it into balls about the size of a small apple; hollow them with the thumb, and enclose a few currants in the middle; gather the paste well over them, and throw the dough-nuts into a saucepan half filled with boiling lard; when they are equally coloured to a fine brown, lift them out and dry them before the fire on the back of a sieve. When they are made in large quantities, as they are at certain seasons in the island, they are drained upon very clean straw. The lard should boil only just before they are dropped into it, or the outsides will be scorched before the insides are sufficiently done. Flour, 4 lbs.; lard, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; allspice, 2 tablespoonsful; pounded cinnamon, 1 drachm; cloves and mace, each 1/2 drachm; yeast (solid), two large tablespoonsful: to rise, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Currants, at choice: dough-nuts boiled in lard, 5 to 7 minutes. QUEEN CAKES. To make these, proceed exactly as for the pound currant-cake of page 546, but bake the mixture in small well-buttered tin pans (heart-shaped ones are usual), in a somewhat brisk oven, for about twenty minutes. JUMBLES. Rasp on some good sugar the rinds of two lemons; dry, reduce it to powder, and sift it with as much more as will make up a pound in weight; mix with it one pound of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and six ounces of warm butter: drop the mixture on buttered tins, and bake the jumbles in a very slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes. They should be pale, but perfectly crisp. A GOOD SODA CAKE. Break down half a pound[175] of fresh butter into a pound of fine 557dry flour, and work it into very small crumbs; mix well with these half a pound of sifted sugar, and pour to them first, a quarter of a pint of boiling milk, and next, three well-whisked eggs; add some grated nutmeg, or fresh lemon-rind, and eight ounces of currants, cleaned and dried; beat the whole well and lightly together, then strew in a very small teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda in the finest powder, which has been rubbed through a sieve and well mixed with a little sugar, and again beat the cake well and lightly for three or four minutes; put it into a buttered mould, and bake it from an hour to an hour and a quarter; or divide it in two, when three-quarters of an hour will be sufficient for each part. 175.  Six ounces would to many tastes be quite sufficient, and the less butter the cake contains the better. Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; boiling milk, full 1/4 pint; eggs, 3; currants, 1/2 lb.; good carbonate of soda, 1 very small teaspoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Or: divided in two, 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Obs.—This, if carefully made, resembles a pound cake, but is much less expensive, and far more wholesome, while it has the advantage of being very expeditiously prepared. Great care, however, must be taken to avoid mixing with it too large a proportion, or a coarse quality of soda; as either will impart to it a far from agreeable flavour. GOOD SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD. With one pound of flour mix well two ounces of sifted sugar, and one of candied orange-rind or citron, sliced small; make these into a paste with from eight to nine ounces of good butter, made sufficiently warm to be liquid; press the paste together with the hands, and mould it upon tins into large cakes nearly an inch thick, pinch the edges, and bake the shortbread in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, or longer, should it not be quite crisp, but do not allow it to become deeply coloured. Flour, 1 lb.; sugar, 2 oz.; candied orange or citron, 1 oz.; butter, 8 to 9 oz.: 20 minutes or more. Obs.—This, to many persons, is a very indigestible compound, though agreeable to the taste. A GALETTE. The galette is a favourite cake in France, and may be made rich and comparatively delicate, or quite common, by using more or less butter for it, and by augmenting or diminishing the size. Work lightly three-quarters of a pound of good butter into a pound of flour, add a large saltspoonful of salt, and make these into a paste with the yolks of a couple of eggs mixed with a small cupful of good cream, or simply with water; roll this into a complete round, three-quarters of an inch thick; score it in small diamonds, brush yolk of egg over the top, and bake the galette for about half an hour in a 558tolerably quick oven: it is usually eaten hot, but is served cold also. An ounce of sifted sugar is sometimes added to it. A good galette: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 3/4 lb.; salt, 1 saltspoonful; yolks of eggs, 2; cream, small cupful: baked 1/2 hour. Common galette: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3/4 to 1 lb.; no eggs. SMALL SUGAR CAKES OF VARIOUS KINDS. To make very sweet rich sugar cakes mingle, first working it very small with the fingers, half a pound of butter with each pound of flour: if more than this proportion be used the paste will be too soft to permit the addition of the proper number of eggs. Next, blend thoroughly with these three-quarters of a pound of dry sifted sugar, and the grated rinds of two small fresh lemons (for lemon-cakes the strained juice of one is generally added), or a dessertspoonful of cinnamon freshly pounded; or from one ounce to two ounces of carraway-seeds; or a similar proportion of the finest powdered ginger; or three-quarters of a pound of very dry well cleaned currants. A slight pinch of salt should be thrown in with the sugar. If to be made into flat cakes proceed to moisten these ingredients gradually with from two eggs to four slightly whisked, and when they form a firm paste, proceed quickly to roll and to stamp them out with a cake tin; for as the sugar dissolves with the moisture of the eggs, the paste will otherwise become so lithe as to adhere to the board and roller. When it is to be merely dropped on the baking-sheets, it will require an additional egg or more. The cakes should then be placed quite two inches apart, as they will spread in the baking. Five ounces of butter with six of sugar to the pound of flour, two large eggs, and a small quantity of milk, will be sufficient for quite cheap sugar cakes: any flavour can be given to them as to those which precede, and they can be rendered more or less sweet to the taste by altering the proportion of sugar: this should always be sifted, or at least reduced quite to powder, before it is used for them. One ounce more of butter will render them very good. They should be rolled a quarter of an inch thick. Rich: to each lb. of flour, butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; eggs, 2 to 4. (Lemon-rinds, cinnamon, carraway-seeds, or ginger, or currants at choice), small pinch of salt. Slow oven about 20 minutes. Obs.—The cakes should be but lightly coloured, and yet baked quite through. FLEED OR FLEAD CAKES. These are very much served as a tea-cake at the tables of the superior order of Kentish farmers. For the mode of making them, proceed as for flead-crust (see Chapter XVI.); cut the cakes small with a round cutter, and leave them more than half an inch thick: if 559well made they will rise much in the oven. Bake them rather quickly, but keep them pale. Flour, 2 lbs.; flead, 1-1/4 lb.; butter, 6 oz.: baked 10 to 15 minutes. LIGHT BUNS OF DIFFERENT KINDS. Quite plain buns without butter.—Very good light buns may be made entirely without butter, but they must be tolerably fresh when served. To make them, dilute very smoothly an ounce of sweet German yeast or a large tablespoonful of quite solid and well washed English yeast with a pint of warm new milk; mix this immediately with as much flour as it will convert into a rather thick batter, throw a double cloth over the pan, and place it where the warmth of the fire will search, without heating it. When it is well risen and bubbles appear on the top, add a little salt, some pounded sugar, and as much flour as will form it into a light dough. Leave it to rise again, when it will probably be too little firm for moulding with the fingers, and must be beaten up with a strong wooden spoon and put into cups or tin pans slightly buttered, to be baked. The buns should be sent to a quick oven, and baked until the entire surface is well browned. These directions may appear to the reader somewhat vague; but we must frankly state that we have no precise memorandum by us of this receipt, though we have had buns made by it very successfully in former years: we cannot, however, exactly recall the proportion of flour which was used for them, but believe it was about two pounds. For this quantity half a pound of sugar would be sufficient. The batter will be a long time rising to the proper height; an hour and a half or two hours. Currants, carraways, nutmeg, or mixed spices, can always be added at discretion. It is usual to strew a few currants on the tops of the buns before they are baked. To render them richer and firmer, it is merely necessary to diminish the proportion of milk, and to crumble up very small two or more ounces of butter in the flour which is added to the batter after it has risen. When again quite light, the dough may then be rolled into balls, and placed on flat tins some inches apart until they have spread to the proper shape. Confectioners generally wash the tops with milk, and sift a little sugar over them. Exeter Buns.—These are somewhat celebrated in the city whose name they bear, especially those of one maker whose secret for them we have recently obtained. Instead of being made into a dough with milk, Devonshire cream is used for them, either entirely or in part. If very thick, a portion of water should be added to it, or the yeast would not ferment freely. The better plan is to dilute it with a quarter of a pint or rather more of warm water, and when it is sufficiently risen to make up the buns lightly, like bread, with the cream, 560which must also be warm; then to proceed by the receipt given above. PLAIN DESSERT OR WINE BISCUITS, AND GINGER BISCUITS. Rub very small indeed, two ounces of fresh butter into a pound of flour, and make it into a stiff paste with new milk. Roll it out half an inch thick, and cut the biscuits with a round cutter the size of half-a-crown. Pile them one on the other until all are done; then roll them out very thin, prick them, and lay them on lightly-floured tins, the pricked side downwards: a few minutes will bake them, in a moderate oven. They should be very crisp, and but slightly browned. For the Ginger Biscuits.—Three ounces of good butter, with two pounds of flour, then add three ounces of pounded sugar and two of ginger in fine powder, and knead them into a stiff paste, with new milk. Roll it thin, stamp out the biscuits with a cutter, and bake them in a slow oven until they are crisp quite through, but keep them of a pale colour. A couple of eggs are sometimes mixed with the milk for them, but are no material improvement: an additional ounce of sugar may be used when a sweeter biscuit is liked. Plain biscuits: flour 1 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; new milk about 1/2 pint. Ginger biscuits: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; ginger, 2 oz. THREADNEEDLE STREET BISCUITS. Mix with two pounds of sifted flour of the very best quality three ounces of good butter, and work it into the smallest possible crumbs; add four ounces of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and make them into a firm paste with new milk; beat this forcibly for some time with a rolling-pin, and when it is extremely smooth roll it the third of an inch thick, cut it with a small square cutter, and bake the biscuits in a very slow oven until they are crisp to the centre: no part of them should remain soft. Half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda is said to improve them, but we have not put it to the test. Carraway-seeds can be added when they are liked. Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; new milk, 1 pint or more: biscuits slowly baked until crisp. GOOD CAPTAIN’S BISCUITS. Make some fine white flour into a very smooth paste with new milk; divide it into small balls; roll them out, and afterwards pull them with the fingers as thin as possible; prick them all over, and bake them in a somewhat brisk oven from ten to twelve minutes. These are excellent and very wholesome biscuits. 561 THE COLONEL’S BISCUITS. Mix a slight pinch of salt with some fine sifted flour; make it into a smooth paste with thin cream, and bake the biscuits gently, after having prepared them for the oven like those which precede. Store them as soon as they are cold in a dry canister, to preserve them crisp: they are excellent. AUNT CHARLOTTE’S BISCUITS. These biscuits, which are very simple and very good, may be made with the same dough as fine white bread, with the addition of from half to a whole ounce of butter to the pound kneaded into it after it has risen. Break the butter small, spread out the dough a little, knead it in well and equally, and leave it for about half an hour to rise; then roll it a quarter of an inch thick, prick it well all over, cut out the biscuits, and bake them in a moderate oven from ten to fifteen minutes: they should be crisp quite through, but not deeply coloured. White-bread dough, 2 lbs.; butter, 1 to 2 oz.: to rise 1/2 hour. Baked in moderate oven 10 to 15 minutes. Obs.—To make the biscuits by themselves, proceed as for Bordyke bread; but use new milk for them, and work three ounces of butter into two pounds of flour before the yeast is added. EXCELLENT SODA BUNS. Work into half a pound of flour three ounces of butter, until it is quite in crumbs; mix thoroughly with them four ounces of sugar, the slightest pinch of salt, an ounce, or rather more, of candied orange or, shred extremely small, and a little grated nutmeg; to these pour boiling a small teacupful of cream, or of milk when this cannot be had; mix them a little, and add immediately two eggs, leaving out the white of one, and when the whole is well mingled, dust over, and beat well into it, less than half a teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda, perfectly free from lumps; rub an oven-tin with butter, drop the buns upon it with a spoon, and send them to a moderate oven. When they are firm to the touch in every part, and well coloured underneath, they are done. They resemble good cakes, if properly made, although in reality they are not rich: to render them so the proportion of sugar and of butter can be increased, and currants added also. It is immaterial, we find, whether they be put into the oven as soon as they are mixed, or an hour afterwards. They are equally light. These proportions make just a dozen of small buns. Flour, 1/2 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; candied orange-rind, 1 oz. or more; grated nutmeg; cream (or milk) 1 small teacupful; egg-yolks 2, white 1; good carbonate of soda about the third of a teaspoonful: 15 to 25 minutes, moderate oven. For Geneva Buns See Chapter 30. 562 CHAPTER XXVII. Confectionary. Citron. TO CLARIFY SUGAR. It is an economy to use at once the very best sugar for confectionary in general, for when highly refined it needs little or no clarifying, even for the most delicate purposes; and the coarser kinds lose considerable weight in the process. Break it into large lumps, and put it into a very clean preserving-pan; measure for each pound a pint of spring water if it be intended for syrup, but less than half that quantity for candying or making barley-sugar. Beat first apart (but not to a strong froth), and afterwards with the water, about half the white of an egg for six pounds of sugar, unless it should be very common, when twice as much may be used. When they are well mixed pour them over the sugar, and let it stand until it is nearly dissolved; then stir the whole thoroughly, and place it over a gentle fire, but do not disturb it after the scum begins to gather on the top; let it boil for five minutes, then take the pan from the fire, and when it has stood a couple of minutes clear off the scum entirely, with a skimmer; set the pan again over the fire, and when the sugar begins to boil 563throw in a little cold water, which has been reserved for the purpose from the quantity first measured, and repeat the skimming until the syrup is very clear; it may then be strained through a muslin, or a thin cloth, and put into a clean pan for further boiling. For syrup: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; 1/2 white of 1 egg. For candying, &c.: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 2-1/2 pints: 5 to 10 minutes. TO BOIL SUGAR FROM SYRUP TO CANDY, OR TO CARAMEL. The technicalities by which confectioners distinguish the different degrees of sugar-boiling, seem to us calculated rather to puzzle than to assist the reader; and we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to such plain English terms as may suffice, we hope, to explain them. After having boiled a certain time, the length of which will in a measure depend upon the quality of the sugar as well as on the quantity of water added, it becomes a thin syrup, and will scarcely form a short thread if a drop be pressed between the thumb and finger and they are then drawn apart; from five to ten minutes more of rapid boiling will bring it to a thick syrup, and when this degree is reached the thread may be drawn from one hand to the other at some length without breaking; but its appearance in dropping from the skimmer will perhaps best denote its being at this point, as it hangs in a sort of string as it falls. After this the sugar will soon begin to whiten, and to form large bubbles in the pan, when, if it be intended for barley-sugar, or caramel, some lemon-juice or other acid must be added to it, to prevent its graining or becoming sugar again; but if wanted to candy, it must be stirred without ceasing until it rises almost to the top of the pan, in one large white mass, when it must be used immediately or laded out into paper cases or on to dishes, with the utmost expedition, as it passes in an instant almost, from this state to one in which it forms a sort of powder, which will render it necessary to add water, to stir it until dissolved, and to reboil it to the proper point. For barley-sugar likewise it must be constantly stirred, and carefully watched after the lemon-juice is added. A small quantity should be dropped from time to time into a large basin of cold water by those who are inexperienced in the process; when in falling into this it makes a bubbling noise, and if taken out immediately after, it snaps clean between the teeth without sticking to them, it must be poured out instantly: if wanted for sugar-spinning, the pan must be plunged as quickly as possible into a vessel of cold water. CARAMEL. (The quickest way.) Put into a brass skillet, or preserving-pan, some sifted sugar of the finest quality, and stir it softly with a wooden spoon or spatula, over 564a very gentle fire until it has become liquid; a pale or a deep tint may then be given to it, according to the purpose for which it is required: so soon as it is entirely melted, and looks clear, it is ready for use. Pastry-cooks glaze small pastry by just dipping the surface into it; and they use it also for nougat, and other confectionary, though it is not in general quite so brilliant as that which is made by the preceding receipt. When the sugar first begins to melt, it should be stirred only just in that part, or it will not be equally coloured. BARLEY-SUGAR. Add to three pounds of highly-refined sugar one pint and a quarter of spring water, with sufficient white of egg to clarify it in the manner directed in the last page but one; pour to it, when it begins to whiten, and to be very thick, a dessertspoonful of the strained juice of a fresh lemon; and boil it quickly until it is at the point which we have indicated above. A few drops of essence of lemon may be added to it, just as it is taken from the fire. Pour it on to a marble slab, or on to a shallow dish which has been slightly oiled, or rubbed with a particle of fresh butter; and when it begins to harden at the edges form it into sticks, lozenges, balls, or any other shapes at pleasure. While it is still liquid it may be used for various purposes, such as Chantilly baskets, palace bonbons, croquantes,[176] cerises au caramel, &c.: for these the vessel containing it must be set into a pan of water, and it must again be liquefied with a very gentle degree of heat should it cool too quickly. As it soon dissolves if exposed to damp, it should be put into very dry canisters as soon as it is cold, and these should be kept in a dry place. 176.  These are formed of small cakes, roasted chestnuts, and various other things, just dipped singly into the barley-sugar, and then arranged in good form and joined in a mould, from which they are turned out for table. Best sugar, 3 lbs.; water, 1-1/4 pint; white of egg, 1/4 of 1; lemon-juice, 1 dessertspoonful. NOUGAT. This is a preparation of barley-sugar, and almonds, filberts, or pistachio-nuts, of which good confectioners, both foreign and English, make a great variety of highly ornamental dishes. We must, however, confine our directions to the most common and simple mode of serving it. Blanch twelve ounces of fine Jordan almonds in the usual way, wipe them very dry, split them in halves, and spread them upon tins or dishes; dry them in a very gentle oven, without allowing them to brown; or if the flavour be liked better so, let them be equally coloured to a pale gold tint: they should then be often turned while in the oven. Boil to barley sugar in a small preserving-pan six ounces of highly-refined sugar, throw in the almonds, mix them with it well without breaking them, turn the 565nougat on to a dish slightly rubbed with oil, spread it out quickly, mark it into squares, and cut it before it is cold; or pour it into a mould, and with an oiled lemon spread it quickly, and very thin over it, and turn it out when cool. It must at all times be carefully preserved from damp; and should be put into a dry tin box as soon as it is cold. Sugar, 6 oz.; almonds, 12 oz. Another and more expeditious way of making it, is to boil the sugar to caramel without any water, as directed at page 563: the proportion of almonds can be diminished at pleasure, but the nougat should always be well filled with them. GINGER CANDY. Break a pound of highly-refined sugar into lumps, put it into a preserving-pan, and pour over it about the third of a pint of spring water; let it stand until the sugar is nearly dissolved, then set it over a perfectly clear fire, and boil it until it becomes a thin syrup. Have ready in a large cup a teaspoonful of the very best ginger in powder; mix it smoothly and gradually with two or three spoonsful of the syrup, and then stir it well into the whole. Watch the mixture carefully, keep it stirred, and drop it often from a spoon to ascertain the exact point of boiling it has reached. When it begins to fall in flakes, throw in the freshly-grated rind of a very large lemon, or of two small ones, and work the sugar round quickly as it is added. The candy must now be stirred constantly until it is done: this will be when it falls in a mass from the spoon, and does not sink when placed in a small heap on a dish. It must be poured, or laded out, as expeditiously as possible when ready, or it will fall quite into powder. If this should happen, a little water must be added to it, and it must be reboiled to the proper point. The candy, if dropped in cakes upon sheets of very dry foolscap or other thick writing-paper laid upon cold dishes, may be moved off without difficulty while it is still just warm, but it must not be touched while quite hot, or it will break. Sugar, highly refined, 1 lb.; water, 1/3 of a pint; ginger, 1 teaspoonful; rind of 1 large lemon. ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY. Beat in three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of water, about the fourth part of the white of an egg, and pour it on two pounds of the best sugar broken into lumps. When it has stood a little time, place it over a very clear fire, and let it boil for a few minutes, then set it on one side, until the scum has subsided; clear it off, and boil the sugar until it is very thick, then strew in by degrees three ounces of the petals of the orange-blossom, weighed after they are picked from their stems. Continue to stir the candy until it rises in one 566white mass in the pan, then lay it, as quickly as it can be done, in cakes with a large spoon, upon thick and very dry sheets of writing paper placed quite flat upon the backs of dishes, or upon trays.[177] Take it off before it is entirely cold, and lay the candy reversed upon dishes, or place the cakes on their edges round the rim of one until they are perfectly cold; then secure them from the air without delay in close shutting tin boxes or canisters. They will remain excellent for more than a year. The orange-flowers will turn brown if thrown too soon into the syrup: it should be more than three parts boiled when they are added. They must be gathered on the day they are wanted for use, as they will soon become discoloured from keeping. 177.  As the heat of the boiling sugar would injure these, no good ones should be used for the purpose. Sugar, 2 lbs.; water, 3/4 pint; 1/4 white of egg; orange-blossoms, 3 oz. Obs.—When sugar of the finest quality is used for this confection, as it ought to be, it will not require the white of egg to clarify it. ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY. (Another Receipt.) The French, who are very fond of the delicious flavour of the orange-blossom, leave the petals in the candy; but a more delicate confection, to English taste, is made as follows:—Throw the orange-flowers into the syrup when it has boiled about ten minutes, and after they have simmered in it for five more, pour the whole out, and leave them to infuse until the following day, or even longer, if more convenient; then bring the syrup to the point of boiling, strain it from the blossoms through a muslin, and finish it by the foregoing receipt. COCOA-NUT CANDY. Rasp very fine a sound fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish, and let it dry naturally for two or three days, as it will not bear the heat of an oven, and is too oily for use when freshly broken. Four ounces of it will be sufficient for a pound of sugar for most tastes, but more can be used at pleasure. Boil the sugar as for the orange-flower candy, and when it begins to be very thick and white, strew in the nut, stir and mix it well, and do not quit it for an instant until it is finished. The pan should not be placed upon the fire but over it, as the nut is liable to burn with too fierce a heat. For almond-candy proceed in exactly the same way, but let the almonds, either whole or split, be perfectly well dried in a gentle oven, and do not throw them into the sugar until it approaches the candying point. 567 PALACE-BONBONS. Take some fine fresh candied orange-rind, or citron, clear off the sugar which adheres to it, cut it into inch-squares, stick these singly on the prong of a silver fork or on osier-twigs, dip them into liquid barley-sugar, and place them on a dish rubbed with the smallest possible quantity of very pure salad oil. When cold, put them into tin boxes or canisters well dried, with paper, which should also be very dry, between each layer. EVERTON TOFFIE. No. 1.—Put into a brass skillet or small preserving-pan three ounces of very fresh butter, and as soon as it is just melted add a pound of brown sugar of moderate quality; keep these stirred gently over a very clear fire for about fifteen minutes, or until a little of the mixture, dropped into a basin of cold water, breaks clean between the teeth without sticking to them: when it is boiled to this point, it must be poured out immediately, or it will burn. The grated rind of a lemon, added when the toffie is half done, improves it much; or a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger moistened with a little of the other ingredients as soon as the sugar is dissolved and then stirred to the whole, will vary it pleasantly to many tastes. The real Everton toffie is made with a much larger proportion of butter, but it is the less wholesome on that very account. If dropped upon dishes first rubbed with a buttered paper, the toffie when cold can be raised from them easily. Butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 1 lb.: 15 to 18 minutes. Or, sugar, 1 lb.; butter, 5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes. No. 2.—Boil together a pound of sugar and five ounces of butter for twenty minutes; then stir in two ounces of almonds blanched, divided, and thoroughly dried in a slow oven, or before the fire. Let the toffie boil after they are added, till it crackles when dropped into cold water, and snaps between the teeth without sticking. Sugar, 1 lb.; butter, 5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes. CHOCOLATE DROPS. Throw into a well heated metal mortar from two to four ounces of the best quality of cake-chocolate broken small, and pound it with a warm pestle until it resembles a smooth paste or very thick batter; then add an equal weight of sugar in the finest powder, and beat them until they are thoroughly blended. Roll the mixture into small balls, lay them upon sheets of writing paper or upon clean dishes, and take them off when they are nearly cold. The tops may be covered with white nonpareil comfits, or the drops may be shaken in a paper containing some of these, and entirely encrusted with 568them; but it must be recollected that they will not adhere to them after they become hard. More or less sugar can be worked into the chocolate according to the taste; and a Wedgwood mortar may be used for it when no other is at hand, but one of bell-metal will answer the purpose better. CHOCOLATE ALMONDS. When the chocolate has been softened, and mixed with an equal proportion of sugar, as directed in the foregoing receipt, enclose singly in small portions of it some almonds previously well dried, or even slightly coloured in the oven, after having been blanched. Roll them very smooth in the hand, and cover them with the comfits, or form them like the almond shamrocks of page 574. Filberts and pistachio-nuts may be substituted for the almonds with good effect; but they also must be perfectly dry. SEVILLE ORANGE PASTE. Wipe, and pare in the thinnest possible strips, some Seville orange-rinds, and throw them into plenty of boiling water. When they are extremely tender, lift them on to a large sieve reversed to drain; press the water from them a little, and before they are quite cold, pound them to the smoothest paste, and blend thoroughly with them as much fine sifted sugar as can possibly be mixed with them. Roll the mass out extremely thin, and with a very small tin-cutter form it into cakes or leaves, or any other shapes, and then dry it in a VERY gentle oven. Store it in close-shutting boxes as soon as it is cold. A little choice prepared ginger may be added to it in the pounding when it is liked. Paste of lemon or citron-rind may be made in the same way. 569 CHAPTER XXVIII. Dessert Dishes. DESSERT DISHES. A well-selected and well-arranged rice-crust, however simple in its character, may always be rendered agreeable to the eye and to the taste: but in no department of the table can so much that is attractive to both be more readily combined; and at the present day an unusual degree of luxury is often displayed in it, the details of which, however, would be out of place here. Forced strawberries of magnificent size, and of the best varieties, brought by culture and management all to perfection on the same day, and served on their plants, in the pots in which they are grown, concealed in others of porcelain or of chased silver, are amongst the expensive novelties now commonly introduced at costly dinners of display, and may serve as an illustration of it.[178] 178.  To these may be added miniature fruit trees in full bearing placed down the centre of the table, and intermingled with the choicest exotics. 570For common occasions, a few dishes of really fresh fruit tastefully disposed and embedded in large green leaves, will be all that is required for a plain summer or autumn rice-crust; and at other parts of the year such as are appropriate to the season; but from the immense variety of cakes, biscuits, confections, ices, bonbons, and other sucreries (some of them extremely brilliant in appearance), and of fruit native and foreign, fresh, dried, and preserved in every possible manner which are adapted to them, desserts may be served in any kind of style. PEARLED FRUIT, OR FRUIT EN CHEMISE. Select for this dish very fine bunches of red and white currants, large ripe cherries, and gooseberries of different colours, and strawberries or raspberries very freshly gathered. Beat up the white of an egg with about half as much cold water, dip the fruit into this mixture, drain it on a sieve for an instant, and then roll it in fine sifted sugar until it is covered in every part; give it a gentle shake, and lay it on sheets of white paper to dry. In England, thin gum-water is sometimes used, we believe, for this dish, instead of the white of egg; we give, however, the French method of preparing it. It will dry gradually in a warm room, or a sunny window, in the course of three or four hours. Obs.—This is an inexpensive dish, which if well prepared has the appearance of fine confectionary. The incrustation of sugar much increases too the apparent size of the fruit. That which is used for it should be of the best quality, and fine and dry. When it becomes moist from the fruit being rolled in it, it will no longer adhere to it as it ought. SALAD OF MIXED SUMMER FRUITS. Heap a rice-crust-dish quite high with alternate layers of fine fresh strawberries stripped from the stalks, white and red currants, and white or red raspberries; strew each layer plentifully with sifted sugar, and just before the dish is sent to table, pour equally over the top two wineglassesful of sherry, Madeira, or any other good white wine. Very thick Devonshire cream may be laid entirely over the fruit, instead of the wine being mingled with it. Currants by themselves are excellent prepared in this way, and strawberries also. The fruit should be gently stirred with a spoon when it is served. Each variety must be picked with great nicety from the stalks. PEACH SALAD. Pare and slice half a dozen fine ripe peaches, arrange them in a dish, strew them with pounded sugar, and pour over them two or three glasses of champagne: other wine may be used, but this is best. Persons who prefer brandy can substitute it for wine. The quantity of sugar must be proportioned to the sweetness of the fruit. 571 ORANGE SALAD. Take off the outer rinds, and then strip away entirely the white inside skin from some fine China oranges; slice them thin, and remove the seeds, and thick skin of the cores, as this is done; strew over them plenty of white sifted sugar, and pour on them a glass or more of brandy: when the sugar is dissolved serve the oranges. In France ripe pears of superior quality are sometimes sliced up with the oranges. Powdered sugar-candy used instead of sugar, is an improvement to this salad; and the substitution of port, sherry, or Madeira, for the brandy is often considered so. The fruit may be used without being pared, and a little curaçao or any other liqueur may be added to the brandy; or this last, when unmixed, may be burned after it is poured on the oranges. TANGERINE ORANGES. These beautiful little oranges, of which the rinds have a most peculiar, and to many tastes not a very agreeable flavour, are remarkably sweet and delicate when in their perfection; but they come later into the market than the more common varieties of the orange, and disappear from them sooner. They make a very refined salad, and also an ornamental rice-crust dish: their cost is somewhat higher than that of the Malta and St. Michael oranges. There is another species of this fruit known commonly as the blood-orange which has many admirers, but it is not we should say greatly superior to the more abundant kinds usually served at our tables. PEACHES IN BRANDY. (Rotterdam Receipt.) Prepare and stew some fine full-flavoured peaches by the receipt of page 459, but with two ounces more of sugar to the half pint of water; when they are tender put them, with their syrup, into glass or new stone jars, which they should only half fill; and when they are quite cold pour in white, or very pale, French brandy to within an inch and a half of the brims: a few peach or apricot kernels can be added to them. The jars must be corked down. BRANDIED MORELLA CHERRIES. Let the cherries be ripe, freshly gathered, and the finest that can be had; cut off half the length of the stalks, and drop them gently into clean dry quart bottles with wide necks; leave in each sufficient space for four ounces of pounded white sugar-candy (or of brown, if better liked); fill them up entirely with the best French brandy, 572and cork them closely: the fruit will not shrivel if thus prepared. A few cherry, or apricot kernels, or a small portion of cinnamon, can be added when they are considered an improvement. BAKED COMPÔTE OF APPLES. (Our little lady’s receipt.) Put into a wide Nottingham jar, with a cover, two quarts of golden pippins, or of the small apple which resembles them in appearance, called the orange pippin (this is very plentiful in the county of Kent), pared and cored, but without being divided; strew amongst them some small strips of very thin fresh lemon-rind, throw on them, nearly at the top, half a pound of good Lisbon sugar, and set the jar, with the cover tied on, for some hours, or for a night, into a very slow oven. The apples will be extremely good, if not too quickly baked: they should remain entire, but be perfectly tender, and clear in appearance. Add a little lemon-juice when the season is far advanced. Apples, 2 quarts; rind, quite small lemon; sugar, 1/2 lb.: 1 night in slow oven; or some hours baking in a very gentle one. Obs.—These apples may be served hot as a second course dish; or cold, with a boiled custard poured round or over them. They will likewise answer admirably to fill Gabrielle’s pudding, or a vol-au-vent à la crême. DRIED NORFOLK BIFFINS. The Norfolk biffin is a hard and very red apple, the flesh of the true kind being partially red as well as the skin. It is most excellent when carefully dried; and much finer we should say when left more juicy and but partly flattened, than it is when prepared for sale. Wipe the apples, arrange them an inch or two apart, and place them in a very gentle oven until they become so much softened as to yield easily to sufficient pressure to give them the form of small cakes of less than an inch thick. They must be set several times into the oven to produce this effect, as they must be gradually flattened, and must not be allowed to burst: a cool brick oven is best suited to them. NORMANDY PIPPINS. To one pound of the apples, put one quart of water and six ounces of sugar; let them simmer gently for three hours, or more should they not be perfectly tender. A few strips of fresh lemon-peel and a very few cloves are by some persons considered agreeable additions to the syrup. Dried Normandy pippins, 1 lb.; water, 1 quart; sugar, 6 oz.; 3 to 4 hours. 573Obs.—These pippins, if stewed with care, will be converted into a rich confection: but they will be very good and more refreshing with less sugar. They are now exceedingly cheap, and may be converted into excellent second course dishes at small expense. Half a pound, as they are light and swell much in the stewing, will be sufficient to serve at once. Rinse them quickly with cold water, and then soak them for an hour in the pan in which they are to be stewed, in a quart of fresh water; place them by the side of the stove to heat gradually, and when they begin to soften add as much sugar as will sweeten them to the taste: they require but a small portion. Lemon-rind can be added to them at pleasure. We have many receipts for other ways of preparing them, to which we cannot now give place here. It answers well to bake them slowly in a covered jar. They may be served hot in a border of rice. STEWED PRUNEAUX DE TOURS, OR TOURS DRIED PLUMS. These plums, which resemble in form small dried Norfolk biffins, make a delicious compôte: they are also excellent served dry. In France they are stewed until tender in equal parts of water, and of the light red wine of the country, with about four ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit: when port wine is used for them a smaller proportion of it will suffice. The sugar should not be added in stewing any dried fruits until they are at least half-done, as they will not soften by any means so easily in syrup as in unsweetened liquid. Dried plums, 1 lb.; water, 1/2 pint, and light claret, 1/2 pint, or water, 1/4 pint, and port wine, 1/4 pint: 1-1/2 hour. Sugar, 4 oz.: 2 hours, or more. Obs.—Common French plums are stewed in the same way with or without wine. A little experience will teach the cook the exact quantity of liquid and of sugar which they require. TO BAKE PEARS. Wipe some large sound iron pears, arrange them on a dish with the stalk end upwards, put them into the oven after the bread is withdrawn, and let them remain all night. If well baked, they will be excellent, very sweet, and juicy, and much finer in flavour than those which are stewed or baked with sugar: the bon chrétien pear also is delicious baked thus. STEWED PEARS. Pare, cut in halves, and core a dozen fine pears, put them into a close shutting stewpan with some thin strips of lemon-rind, half a pound of sugar in lumps, as much water as will nearly cover them, and should a very bright colour be desired, a dozen grains of cochineal, bruised, and tied in a muslin; stew the fruit as gently as possible, 574four or five hours, or longer should it not be perfectly tender. Wine is sometimes added both to stewed pears and to baked ones. If put into a covered jar, well tied down and baked for some hours, with a proper quantity of liquid and sugar, they will be very good. BOILED CHESTNUTS. Make a slight incision in the outer skin only, of each chestnut, to prevent its bursting, and when all are done, throw them into plenty of boiling water, with about a dessertspoonful of salt to the half gallon. Some chestnuts will require to be boiled nearly or quite an hour, others little more than half the time: the cook should try them occasionally, and as soon as they are soft through, drain them, wipe them in a coarse cloth, and send them to table quickly in a hot napkin. Obs.—The best chestnuts are those which have no internal divisions: the finest kinds are quite entire when shelled. ROASTED CHESTNUTS. The best mode of preparing these is to roast them, as in Spain, in a coffee-roaster, after having first boiled them from seven to ten minutes, and wiped them dry. They should not be allowed to cool, and will require but from ten to fifteen minutes’ roasting. They may, when more convenient, be finished over the fire as usual, or in a Dutch or common oven, but in all cases the previous boiling will be found an improvement. Never omit to cut the rind of each nut slightly before it is cooked. Serve the chestnuts very hot in a napkin, and send salt to table with them. ALMOND SHAMROCKS. (Very good, and very pretty.) Whisk the white of a very fresh egg to a froth sufficiently solid to remain standing in high points when dropped from the whisk; work into it from half to three-quarters of a pound of very fine dry sifted sugar, or more should it be needed, to bring the mixture to a consistency in which it can be worked with the fingers. Have ready some fine Jordan almonds which have been blanched, and thoroughly dried at the mouth of the oven; roll each of these in a small portion of the icing until it is equally covered, and of good form; then lay them on sheets of thick writing paper, placing three together in the form of the shamrock, or trefoil, with a small bit of sugar twisted from the centre almond to form the stalk. When all are ready, set them into a very slow oven for twenty minutes or longer: they should become quite firm without taking any colour. They make an excellent and very ornamental dish. To give them flavour and variety, use for them sugar which has been rasped on the rinds of some 575sound lemons, or Seville oranges, or upon citron, and dried before it is reduced to powder; or add to the mixture a drop of essence of roses, and a slight colouring of prepared cochineal. A little spinach-juice will give a beautiful green tint, but its flavour is not very agreeable. Filbert or pistachio nuts will answer as well as almonds, iced in this way. SMALL SUGAR SOUFFLÉS. These are made with the same preparation of egg and sugar as the almond-shamrocks, and may be flavoured and coloured in the same way. The icing must be sufficiently firm to roll into balls scarcely larger than a nut: a little sifted sugar should be dusted on the fingers in making them, but it must not remain on the surface of the soufflés. They are baked usually in very small round paper cases, plaited with the edge of a knife, and to give them brilliancy, the tops are slightly moistened before they are set into the oven, by passing the finger, or a paste-brush, just dipped in cold water, lightly over them. Look at them in about a quarter of an hour, and should they be quite firm to the touch in every part, draw them out; but if not let them remain longer. They may be baked on sheets of paper, but will not preserve their form so well. For 1 white of egg, whisked to a very firm froth, 8 to 10 oz. of sifted sugar, or more: soufflés, baked in extremely gentle oven, 16 to 30 minutes, or longer if needful. Obs.—We have confined our receipts here to the most simple preparations suited to desserts. All the confectionary of the preceding chapter being appropriate to them (with the exception of the toffie), as well as various compôtes, clear jellies, and gateaux of fruit turned from the moulds; and we have already enumerated the many other dishes of which they may be composed. ICES. Ice Pail and Freezer. There is no real difficulty in making ices for the table; but for want of the proper means of freezing them, and of preventing their being acted on by a too warm atmosphere afterwards, in many houses it cannot very easily be accomplished unless the weather be extremely cold. A vessel called a freezing-pot, an ice-pail, a strong wooden mallet, and a copper spatula, or an ice-spoon, are all that is positively required for this branch of confectionary. Suitable moulds for iced puddings, and imitations of fruit, must be had in addition when needed. 576When the composition which is to be frozen is ready, the rough ice must be beaten quite small with the mallet, and either mingled quickly with two or three handsful of powdered saltpetre, or used with a much larger quantity of salt. The freezing-pot must then be firmly placed in the centre of the ice, which must be pressed closely into the vacant space around it until it reaches the top. The cover of the ice-pot, or freezer, may then be removed, and the preparation to be iced poured into it. It should then be turned by means of the handle at the top, quickly backwards and forwards for eight or ten minutes; then the portion which will have frozen to the inside must be scraped well from it with the ice-spoon and mingled with the remainder: without this the mass would be full of lumps instead of being perfectly smooth as it ought to be. The same process must be continued until the whole of its contents are uniformly frozen. The water-ices which are made in such perfection on the continent, are incomparably superior to the ice-creams, and other sweet compositions which are usually served in preference to them here. One or two receipts which we append will serve as guides for many others, which may easily be compounded with any variety of fresh summer fruit.[179] 179.  The ices for desserts should be moulded in the form of fruit or other shapes adapted to the purpose; the natural flavour and colouring are then given to the former, but it is only experienced cooks or confectioners generally who understand this branch of ice-making, and it is better left to them. All the necessary moulds may be procured at any good ironmongers, where the manner of using them would be explained: we can give no more space to the subject. Red Currant Ice.—Strip from the stalks and take two pounds weight of fine ripe currants and half a pound of raspberries; rub them through a fine sieve, and mingle thoroughly with them sufficient cold syrup to render the mixture agreeably sweet, and,—unless the pure flavour of the fruit be altogether preferred,—add the strained juice of one large or of two small lemons, and proceed at once to freeze the mixture as above. Currants, 2 lbs.; raspberries, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 to 1 lb.; boiled for 6 or 8 minutes in 1/2 pint of water and left till quite cold. (Juice of lemon or lemons at pleasure.) Strawberry and raspberry water-ices are made in precisely the same manner. To convert any of these into English ice-creams, merely mingle the juice and pulp of the fruit with sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten them, or with the syrup as above, and then blend with them gradually from a pint and a half to a quart of fresh sweet cream, and the lemon-juice or not at choice. The Queen’s Custard, the Currant, and the Quince or Apple Custard of pages 481 and 482 may all be converted into good ices with a little addition of cream and sugar; and so likewise may the Countess Cream of page 472, and the Bavarian Cream of page 477, by omitting the isinglass from either of them. 577 CHAPTER XXIX. Syrups, Liqueurs, &c. Antique Wine Vase. STRAWBERRY VINEGAR, OF DELICIOUS FLAVOUR. Take the stalks from the fruit which should be of a highly flavoured sort, quite ripe, fresh from the beds, and gathered in dry weather; weigh and put it into large glass jars, or wide-necked bottles, and to each pound pour about a pint and a half of fine pale white wine vinegar, which will answer the purpose better than the entirely colourless kind sold under the name of distilled vinegar, but which is often, we believe, merely pyroligneous acid greatly diluted.[180] Tie a thick paper over them, and let the strawberries remain from three to four days; then pour off the vinegar and empty them into a jelly-bag, or suspend them in a cloth, that all the liquid may drop from them without pressure; replace them with an equal weight of fresh fruit, pour the vinegar upon it, and three days afterwards repeat the same process, diminishing a little the proportion of strawberries, of which the flavour ought ultimately to overpower that of the vinegar. 578In from two to four days drain off the liquid very closely, and after having strained it through a linen or a flannel bag, weigh it, and mix with it an equal quantity of highly-refined sugar roughly powdered; when this is nearly dissolved, stir the syrup over a very clear fire until it has boiled for five minutes, and skim it thoroughly; pour it into a delicately clean stone pitcher, or into large china jugs, throw a thick folded cloth over and let it remain until the morrow. Put it into pint or half-pint bottles, and cork them lightly with new velvet corks; for if these be pressed in tightly at first, the bottles will sometimes burst:[181] in four or five days they may be closely corked, and stored in a dry and cool place. Damp destroys the colour and injures the flavour of these fine fruit-vinegars, of which a spoonful or two in a glass of water affords so agreeable a summer beverage, and one which, in many cases of illness, is so acceptable to invalids. They make also most admirable sauces for her Majesty’s pudding, common custard, batter, and various other simple and sweet light puddings. 180.  For these fine acidulated fruit-syrups vinegar of the purest quality, but only of medium strength, is required. 181.  We have known this to occur, but it has been when bought fruit has been used for the preparation. Strawberries (stalked), 4 lbs.; vinegar, 3 quarts: 3 to 4 days. Vinegar drained and poured on fresh strawberries, 4 lbs.: 3 days. Drained again on to fresh fruit, 3 to 4 lbs.: 2 to 4 days. To each pound of the vinegar, 1 lb. of highly-refined sugar: boiled 5 minutes. Lightly corked, 4 to 5 days. Obs.—Where there is a garden the fruit may be thrown into the vinegar as it ripens, within an interval of forty-eight hours, instead of being all put to infuse at once, and it must then remain in it a proportionate time: one or two days in addition to that specified will make no difference to the preparation. The enamelled stewpans are the best possible vessels to boil it in: but it may be simmered in a stone jar set into a pan of boiling water, when there is nothing more appropriate at hand; though the syrup does not usually keep so well when this last method is adopted. Raspberries and strawberries mixed will make a vinegar of very pleasant flavour; black currants also will afford an exceedingly useful syrup of the same kind. VERY FINE RASPBERRY VINEGAR. Fill glass jars or large wide-necked bottles, with very ripe but perfectly sound freshly gathered raspberries, freed from their stalks, and cover them with pale white wine vinegar: they may be left to infuse from a week to ten days without injury, or the vinegar may be poured from them in four or five, when more convenient. After it is drained off, turn the fruit into a sieve placed over a deep dish or bowl, as the juice will flow slowly from it for many hours; put fresh raspberries into the bottles, and pour the vinegar back upon them; two or three days later change the fruit again, and when it has stood the same 579space of time, drain the whole of the vinegar closely from it, pass it through a jelly-bag or thick linen cloth, and boil it gently for four or five minutes with its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, or a pound and a quarter to the exact pint, and be very careful to remove the scum entirely as it rises. On the following day bottle the syrup, observing the directions which we have given for the strawberry vinegar. When the fruit is scarce it may be changed twice only, and left a few days longer in the vinegar. Raspberries, 6 lbs.; vinegar, 9 pints: 7 to 10 days. Vinegar drained on to fresh raspberries (6 lbs. of): 3 to 5 days. Poured again on fresh raspberries, 6 lbs.: 3 to 5 days. Boiled 5 minutes with its weight of sugar. Obs.—When the process of sugar-boiling is well understood, it will be found an improvement to boil that which is used for raspberry or strawberry vinegar to candy height before the liquid is mixed with it; all the scum may then be removed with a couple of minutes’ simmering, and the flavour of the fruit will be more perfectly preserved. For more particular directions as to the mode of proceeding, the chapter of confectionary may be consulted. FINE CURRANT SYRUP, OR SIROP DE GROSEILLES. Express the juice from some fine ripe red currants, which have been gathered in dry weather, and stripped from the stalks; strain, and put it into a new, or a perfectly clean and dry earthen pitcher, and let it stand in a cellar or in some cool place for twenty-four hours, or longer, should it not then appear perfectly curdled. Pour it gently into a fine hair-sieve, and let the clear juice drain through without pressure; pass it through a jelly-bag, or a closely-woven cloth, weigh it, and add as much good sugar broken small as there is of the juice, and when this is dissolved turn the syrup into a preserving-pan or stewpan, and boil it gently for four or five minutes being careful to clear off all the scum. In twelve hours afterwards the syrup may be put into small dry bottles, and corked and stored in a cool, but dry place. It is a most agreeable preparation, retaining perfectly the flavour of the fresh fruit; and mixed with water, it affords, like strawberry or raspberry vinegar, a delicious summer beverage, and one which is peculiarly adapted to invalids. It makes also a fine isinglass jelly, and an incomparable sweet-pudding sauce. A portion of raspberry or cherry-juice may be mixed with that of the currants at pleasure. CHERRY-BRANDY. (Tappington Everard Receipt.) Fill to about two-thirds of their depth, some wide-necked bottles with the small cherries called in the markets brandy-blacks; pour in 580sufficient sifted sugar to fill up more than half of the remaining space, and then as much good French brandy as will cover the fruit, and reach to the necks of the bottles. Cork them securely, and let them stand for two months before they are opened: the liqueur poured from the cherries will be excellent, and the fruit itself very good. The morella cherry-brandy of the preceding chapter would often be preferred to this. OXFORD PUNCH. Extract the essence from the rinds of three lemons by rubbing them with sugar in lumps; put these into a large jug with the peel of two Seville oranges, of two lemons cut extremely thin, the juice of four Seville oranges and of ten lemons, and six glasses of calf’s feet jelly in a liquid state. Stir these well together, pour to them two quarts of boiling water, cover the jug closely, and set it near the fire for a quarter of an hour, then strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, add half a pint of white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle of orange shrub; stir the punch as the spirit is poured in. If not sufficiently sweet, add sugar in small quantities, or a spoonful or two of capillaire. Rinds of lemons rubbed with sugar, 3; thin peel of lemons, 2; of Seville oranges, 2; juice of 4 Seville oranges, and 10 lemons; calf’s feet jelly, 6 glasses; water, 2 quarts: 1/4 hour. Capillaire, 1 bottle; white wine, 1/2 pint; French brandy and Jamaica rum, each 1 pint; orange shrub, 1 bottle. OXFORD RECEIPT FOR BISHOP. “Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these, and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted), pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to the taste, and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.” 581Obs.—Bishop is frequently made with a Seville orange stuck with cloves and slowly roasted, and its flavour to many tastes is infinitely finer than that of the lemon. CAMBRIDGE MILK PUNCH. Throw into two quarts of new milk the very thinly-pared rind of a fine lemon, and half a pound of good sugar in lumps; bring it slowly to boil, take out the lemon-rind, draw it from the fire, and stir quickly in a couple of well-whisked eggs which have been mixed with less than half a pint of cold milk, and strained though a sieve; the milk must not of course be allowed to boil after these are mixed with it. Add gradually a pint of rum, and half a pint of brandy; mill the punch to a froth, and serve it immediately with quite warm glasses. At the University the lemon-rind is usually omitted, but it is a great improvement to the flavour of the beverage. The sugar and spirit can be otherwise apportioned to the taste; and we would recommend the yolks of three eggs, or of four, in preference to the two whole ones. New milk, 2 quarts; rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 2; cold milk, 1/2 pint; rum, 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint. TO MULL WINE. (An excellent French Receipt.) Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water, a quarter of an ounce of spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on any account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it gently until it is on the point of boiling only: it should then be served immediately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind cut extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France light claret takes the place of port wine in making it, and the better kinds of vin ordinaire are very palatable thus prepared. Water, 1-1/2 wineglassful; spice, 1/4 oz., of which fine cloves, 24, and of remainder, rather more ginger than cinnamon; sugar 3 oz.: 15 to 20 minutes. Port wine or claret, 1 pint; orange-rind, if used, to be boiled with the spice. Obs.—Sherry, or very fine raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above, and stirred hot to the yolks of four fresh eggs, will make good egg-wine. A BIRTHDAY SYLLABUB. Put into a large bowl half a pound of sugar broken small, and pour on it the strained juice of a couple of fresh lemons; stir these well together, and add to them a pint of port wine, a pint of sherry, 582and half a pint of brandy; grate in a fine nutmeg, place the bowl under the cow, and milk it full. In serving it put a portion of the curd into each glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top. The rind of a lemon may be rasped on part of the sugar when the flavour is liked, but it is not usually added. Juice of lemons, 2; sugar, 1/2 lb. or more; port wine, 1 pint; sherry 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint; nutmeg, 1; milk from the cow, 2 quarts. Obs.—We can testify to the excellence of this receipt. AN ADMIRABLE COOL CUP. Weigh six ounces of sugar in lumps, and extract the essence from the rind of a large fresh lemon by rubbing them upon it; then put them into a deep jug, and add the strained juice of one lemon and a half. When the sugar is dissolved, pour in a bottle of good cider, and three large wineglassesful of sherry; add nearly half a small nutmeg lightly grated, and serve the cup with or without some sprigs of fresh balm or borage in it. Brandy is sometimes added to it, but is, we think, no improvement. If closely covered down, and placed on ice for a short time, it will be more agreeable as a summer beverage. THE REGENT’S, OR GEORGE THE FOURTH’S, PUNCH. Pare as thin as possible the rinds of two China oranges, of two lemons, and of one Seville orange, and infuse them for an hour in half a pint of thin cold syrup; then add to them the juice of the fruit. Make a pint of strong green tea, sweeten it well with fine sugar, and when it is quite cold, add it to the fruit and syrup, with a glass of the best old Jamaica rum, a glass of brandy, one of arrack, one of pine-apple syrup, and two bottles of champagne; pass the whole through a fine lawn sieve until it is perfectly clear, then bottle, and put it into ice until dinner is served. We are indebted for this receipt to a person who made the punch daily for the prince’s table, at Carlton palace, for six months; it has been in our possession some years, and may be relied on. Rinds and juice of 2 China oranges, 2 lemons, and of 1 Seville orange; syrup, 1/2 pint; strong green tea, sweetened, 1 pint; best old Jamaica rum, arrack, French brandy (vieux cognac), and pine-apple syrup, each 1 glassful; champagne, 2 bottles. In ice for a couple of hours. MINT JULEP, AN AMERICAN RECEIPT. “Strip the tender leaves of mint into a tumbler, and add to them as much wine, brandy, or any other spirit, as you wish to take. Put some pounded ice into a second tumbler; pour this on the mint and brandy, and continue to pour the mixture from one tumbler to the 583other until the whole is sufficiently impregnated with the flavour of the mint, which is extracted by the particles of the ice coming into brisk contact when changed from one vessel to the other. Now place the glass in a larger one, containing pounded ice: on taking it out of which it will be covered with frost-work.” Obs.—We apprehend that this preparation is, like most other iced American beverages, to be imbibed through a reed: the receipt, which was contributed by an American gentleman, is somewhat vague. DELICIOUS MILK LEMONADE. Dissolve six ounces of loaf sugar in a pint of boiling water, and mix with them a quarter of a pint of lemon-juice, and the same quantity of sherry; then add three-quarters of a pint of cold milk, stir the whole well together, and pass it through a jelly-bag till clear. EXCELLENT PORTABLE LEMONADE. Rasp, with a quarter-pound of sugar, the rind of a very fine juicy lemon, reduce it to powder, and pour on it the strained juice of the fruit. Press the mixture into a jar, and when wanted for use dissolve a tablespoonful of it in a glass of water. It will keep a considerable time. If too sweet for the taste of the drinker, a very small portion of citric acid may be added when it is taken. EXCELLENT BARLEY WATER. (Poor Xury’s receipt.) Wipe very clean, by rolling it in a soft cloth, two tablespoonsful of pearl barley; put it into a quart jug, with a lump or two of sugar, a grain or two of salt, and a strip of lemon-peel, cut thin; fill up the jug with boiling water and keep the mixture gently stirred for some minutes; then cover it down, and let it stand until perfectly cold. In twelve hours, or less, it will be fit for use; but it is better when made over night. If these directions be followed, the barley-water will be comparatively clear, and very soft and pleasant to drink. A glass of calf’s feet jelly added to the barley is an infinite improvement; but as lemon-rind is often extremely unpalatable to invalids, their taste should be consulted before that ingredient is added, as it should be also for the degree of sweetness that is desired. After the barley-water has been poured off once, the jug may be filled with boiling water a second time, and even a third time with advantage. RAISIN WINE, WHICH, IF LONG KEPT, REALLY RESEMBLES FOREIGN. First boil the water which is to be used for the wine, and let it 584again become perfectly cold; then put into a sound sweet cask eight pounds of fine Malaga raisins for each gallon that is to be used, taking out only the quite large stalks; the fruit and water may be put in alternately until the cask is full, the raisins being well pressed down in it; lay the bung lightly over, stir the wine every day or two, and keep it full by the addition of water that has, like the first, been boiled, but which must always be quite cold when it is used. So soon as the fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be in from six to seven weeks, press in the bung, and leave the wine untouched for twelve months; draw it off then into a clean cask, and fine it, if necessary, with isinglass, tied in a muslin and suspended in it. We have not ourselves had this receipt tried; but we have tasted wine made by it which had been five years kept, and which so much resembled a rich foreign wine that we could with difficulty believe it was English-made. To each gallon of water (boiled and left till cold) 8 lbs. of fine Malaga raisins; to stand 12 months; then to be drawn off and fined. Obs.—The refuse raisins make admirable vinegar if fresh water be poured to them, and the cask placed in the sun. March is the best time for making the wine. VERY GOOD ELDERBERRY WINE. Strip the berries, which should be ripe and fresh, and gathered on a dry day, clean from the stalks, and measure them into a tub or large earthen pan. Pour boiling water on them, in the proportion of two gallons to three of berries, press them down into the liquor, cover them closely, and let them remain until the following day; then strain the juice from the fruit through a sieve or cloth, and, when this is done, squeeze from the berries the greater part of the remaining juice; mix it with that which was first poured off, measure the whole, add to it three pounds of sugar, three-quarters of an ounce of cloves, and one ounce of ginger, for every gallon, and boil it twenty minutes, keeping it thoroughly skimmed. Put it, when something more than milk-warm, into a perfectly dry and sweet cask (or if but a very small quantity of wine be made, into large stone bottles, which answer for the purpose quite well), fill this entirely, and pour very gently into the bung hole a large spoonful of new yeast mixed with a very small quantity of the wine. VERY GOOD GINGER WINE. Boil together, for half an hour, fourteen quarts of water, twelve pounds of sugar, a quarter of a pound of the best ginger bruised, and the thin rinds of six large lemons. Put the whole, when milk-warm, into a clean dry cask, with the juice of the lemons, and half a pound 585of sun raisins; add one large spoonful of thick yeast, and stir the wine every day for ten days. When it has ceased to ferment, add an ounce of isinglass, and a pint of brandy; bung the wine close, and in two months it will be fit to bottle, but must remain longer in the cask should it be too sweet. When it can be obtained, substitute for the water in this receipt cider fresh from the press, which will give a very superior wine. Water, 14 quarts; sugar, 12 pounds; lemon-rinds, 6: ginger, 1/4 lb.: 1/2 hour. Juice of lemons, 6; raisins, 1/2 lb.; yeast, 1 spoonful; isinglass, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint. EXCELLENT ORANGE WINE. Take half a chest of Seville oranges, pare off the rinds as thin as possible, put two-thirds of them into six gallons of water, and let them remain for twenty-four hours. Squeeze the oranges (which ought to yield seven or eight quarts of juice) through a sieve into a pan, and as they are done throw them into six gallons more of water; let them be washed well in it with the hands, and then put into another six gallons of water and left until the following day. For each gallon of wine, put into the cask three pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, and the liquor strained clear from the rinds and pulp. Wash these again and again, should more liquor be required to fill the cask; but do not at any time add raw water. Stir the wine daily until the sugar is perfectly dissolved, and let it ferment from four to five weeks; add to it two bottles of brandy, stop it down, and in twelve months it will be fit to bottle. Obs.—The excellence of all wine depends so much upon the fermentation being properly conducted, that unless the mode of regulating this be understood by the maker, there will always be great danger of failure in the operation. There is, we believe, an excellent work upon the subject by Mr. McCulloch, which the reader who needs information upon it will do well to consult: our own experience is too slight to enable us to multiply our receipts. THE COUNSELLOR’S CUP. Rub a quarter of a pound of sugar upon the rinds of two fine China oranges, put it into an enamelled stewpan, and pour on it a pint of water; let these boil gently for two or three minutes, then pour in half a pint of China orange-juice mixed with that of one lemon, and previously strained through muslin; the moment this begins to boil, pour it into a hot jug, and stir to it half a pint of the best Cognac brandy. Serve it immediately. When preferred cold, prepare the syrup with the juice of the fruit, cover it down in the jug, set it into ice, or into a very cool place, and add the spirit only just before the cup is wanted for table. Should the fruit be very acid, increase the proportion of sugar. A few slight strips of the 586rind of a Seville orange cut very thin, would to many tastes be an agreeable addition to the beverage; which should be made always with fresh sound fruit. Sugar, 4 oz. (6 if needed); rasped rinds of China oranges, 2; water, 1 pint: 3 minutes. Strained juice of China oranges mixed with that of 1 large lemon, 1/2 pint; best Cognac brandy, 1/2 pint. Obs.—For a large cup these proportions must be doubled. Sherry or Madeira substituted for the brandy, will make a pleasant cool cup of this kind; and equal parts of well made lemonade, and of any good light white wine, thoroughly cooled down, will give another agreeable beverage for warm weather; but a much smaller proportion of wine would better adapt it to many tastes. 587 CHAPTER XXX. Coffee, Chocolate, &c. COFFEE. There is no beverage which is held in more universal esteem than good coffee, and none in this country at least, which is obtained with greater difficulty (unless indeed it be pure wine). We hear constant and well-founded complaints both from foreigners and English people, of the wretched compounds so commonly served up here under its name, especially in many lodging houses, hotels, and railway refreshment rooms;[182] yet nothing can well be easier than to prepare it properly. Some elaborate and various fanciful modes of 588making it have been suggested at different times by writers fond of novelty, but they have in general nothing to recommend them beyond the more simple processes which follow, and of which we believe the result will seldom prove unsatisfactory to our readers, unless it be to such of them as may have been accustomed to the spiced or other peculiar Oriental preparations of the fragrant berry, or simply to the exquisite quality of it, which would appear to be obtainable only in the East; or which, at all events, is beyond the reach of the mass of English consumers, and of their near Continental neighbours. 182.  At some of the principal stations on lines connected with the coast, by which an immense number of strangers pass and repass, the coffee is so bad, that great as the refreshment of it would be to them, particularly in night travelling, in very cold weather, they reject it as too nauseous to be swallowed. A little national pride ought surely to prevent this, if no higher principle interfered to do so; for to exact the full price of a good commodity, and habitually to supply only trash for it, is a commercial disgrace. TO ROAST COFFEE. Persons who drink coffee habitually, and who are very particular about its flavour and quality, should purchase the best kind in a raw state, keep it for two or three years if they are not certain that it has been so long harvested—as when new it is greatly inferior to that which has been kept—and have it roasted at home. This can be cheaply done in small quantities by means of the inexpensive apparatus shown above; the cost of it not exceeding seven or eight shillings, and the supply of charcoal needed for it being very trifling indeed; or, with that inserted below, which is larger and about double the price. The cylinder which contains the coffee should be only half filled, and it should be turned rather slowly over the fire, which should never be fierce, until a strong aromatic smell is emitted; the movement should then be quickened, as the grain is in that case quite heated, and it will become too highly coloured before it is roasted through, if slowly finished. When it is of a fine, light, equal brown, which must be ascertained, until some little experience has been acquired, by sliding back the 589door of the cylinder, and looking at it occasionally towards the end of the process, spread it quickly upon a large dish, and throw a thickly folded cloth over it. Let it remain thus until it is quite cold; then put it immediately into canisters or bottles, and exclude the air carefully from it. Patent Percolator, with Spirit Lamp. A FEW GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING COFFEE. When good coffee is desired, let it be procured if possible of a first-rate London house[183] which can be depended on; and we would recommend that it should be of the finest quality that can be obtained; for there is no real economy in using that which is nominally cheaper, as a larger quantity will be required to give the same amount of strength, and the flavour will be very inferior. It should always be freshly roasted; but when a constant and large demand for it exists, 590it will be easy to have it so. When it has been stored for any length of time it will be much freshened and improved by being gently heated through, either in the oven or in a stewpan held high above the fire. It should be often turned while it is warming, and ground as soon as it is cold again. Never purchase it ready ground unless compelled to do so. When no proper mill for it is fitted up in the house, a small portable one, which may be had at a trifling expense, will answer tolerably well for grinding it, though it cannot be used with quite the same facility as those which are fastened firmly to a wall; but whatever form of mill may be used it should be arranged so as to reduce the berries to a moderately fine powder; for if it be too coarse the essence will be only partially extracted from it by filtering; and if it be extremely fine the water will not percolate through it, and it will not be clear. 183.  We could indicate several houses where unadulterated coffee may be procured, but it is not always to be had from them so choice in quality as it might be; and it is in general too highly roasted. By far the finest we have ever tasted we had on two occasions, some years since, from Mr. Cobbett, of Pall Mall. The fragrance of it was too remarkable to be easily forgotten, and the flavour was exquisite; but it was apparently an accidental sample which he had met with in the market, for though very good, that with which we were supplied afterwards never equalled it. Messrs. Staniforth and Co., 138, Oxford-street, are deservedly noted for the excellence of their coffee. It is always ground at the instant of serving it to a customer; and they have the complaisance of roasting even so small a quantity as two pounds, to suit the taste of the purchaser: it may therefore be procured of them as pale-dried as it can be wished. The house of Messrs. Decastro and Peach, next door to Hatchett’s Hotel, Piccadilly, may likewise, we think, be quite depended on for supplying genuine coffee to the public; and they have an immense demand for it. We say nothing about mingling chicory with it. Our directions are for making pure coffee; which, when not taken in excess, is, we believe, a wholesome as well as a most agreeable beverage. The effect of chicory is, we believe, to impart a slight bitter flavour to the infusion, and to deepen its colour so much as to make it appear much stronger than it really is. True connoisseurs, however, do not attach any importance to the dark hue of coffee, the very choicest that can be tasted being sometimes of quite a pale tint. Always serve hot milk or cream, or hot milk and cold cream, if preferred, with breakfast coffee. In the evening, when milk is served at all with it, it should likewise be boiling. Do not, in any way, make use of the residue of one day’s coffee in preparing that of the next; you would but injure the purity of its flavour by doing so, and effect next to nothing in the matter of economy.[184] 184.  When the coffee has been filtered in a proper manner, water poured afterwards on the “grounds” as they are termed, will have scarcely any taste or colour; this is not the case when it has been boiled. EXCELLENT BREAKFAST COFFEE. A simple, well-made English filter, or percolator, as it is called, will answer perfectly for making coffee; but from amongst the many of more recent invention which are on sale, the reader who prefers one of ornamental appearance, and of novel construction, will easily be suited. The size of the filter must be adapted to the number of persons for whom the coffee is to be prepared; for if a large quantity of the powder be heaped into an insufficient space for it, there will not be room for it to swell, and the water will not pass through. Put three ounces of coffee into one which will contain in the lower compartment two pints and a half; shake the powder quite level and press it closely down; remove the presser, put on the top strainer, and pour round and round, so as to wet the coffee 591equally, about the third part of a measured pint of fast boiling water. Let this drain quite through before more is added; then pour in—still quite boiling—in the same manner as much more water, and when it has passed through, add the remainder; let it drain entirely through, then remove the top of the filter, put the cover on the part which contains the coffee, and serve it immediately. It will be very strong, and perfectly clear. Fill the breakfast cups two parts full of new boiling milk, and add as much of the infusion as will give it the degree of strength which is agreeable to those for whom it is prepared. When it is liked extremely strong, the proportion of milk must be diminished, or less water be poured to the coffee. If nearly an additional half pint of water be added before the top of the percolator is taken off, it will still be very good, provided that the coffee used be really of first-rate quality. To make cheaper breakfast coffee to be served in the usual English mode, the same process should be followed, but the proportion of water must be considerably increased: it should always, however, be added by slow degrees. Good breakfast coffee (for three persons). Best Mocha, in moderately fine powder, ground at the instant of using it, 3 oz.; boiling water added by degrees, 1 pint; (more at pleasure). Boiling milk served with it, 1-1/2 pint to 1 quart. Common English coffee: coffee-powder, 3 oz.; water, 1 quart, to be slowly filtered; hot milk, half to whole pint. Cream in addition to either of the above, at choice. TO BOIL COFFEE. To boil coffee and refine it, put the necessary quantity of water into a pot which it will not fill by some inches; when it boils stir in the coffee; for unless this be at once moistened, it will remain on the top and be liable to fly over. Give it one or two strong boils, then raise it from the fire, and simmer it for ten minutes only; pour out a large cupful twice, hold it high over the coffee pot and pour it in again, then set it on the stove where it will keep hot without simmering or moving in the least, for ten minutes longer. It will be perfectly clear, unless mismanaged, without any other fining. Should more, however, be deemed necessary, a very small pinch of isinglass, or a clean egg-shell, with a little of the white adhering to it, is the best that can be used. Never use mustard to fine coffee with. It is a barbarous custom of which we have heard foreigners who have been in England vehemently complain. Coffee, 2 oz.; water, 1 pint to 1 quart, according to the strength required. Boiled 10 minutes; left to clear 10 minutes. Remark.—Filtering is, we should say, a far more economical, and in every way a superior mode of making coffee to boiling it; but as some persons still prefer the old method, we insert the receipt for it. 592 CAFÉ NOIR. This is the very essence of coffee, and is served in nearly all French families, as well in those of many other countries, immediately after the rice-crust. About two-thirds of a small cupful—not more—sweetened almost to syrup with highly refined sugar in lumps, is usually taken by each person; in families of moderate rank, generally before they leave the table; in more refined life, it is served in the drawing-room the instant dinner is ended; commonly with liqueurs after it, but not invariably. To make it, proceed exactly as for the breakfast-coffee, but add only so much water as is required to make the strongest possible infusion. White sugar-candy in powder may be served with it in addition to the sugar in lumps. BURNT COFFEE, OR COFFEE À LA MILITAIRE. (In France vulgarly called Gloria.) Make some coffee as strong and as clear as possible, sweeten it in the cup with white sugar almost to syrup, then pour the brandy on the top gently over a spoon, set fire to it with a lighted paper, and when the spirit is in part consumed, blow out the flame, and drink the gloria quite hot. TO MAKE CHOCOLATE. An ounce of chocolate, if good, will be sufficient for one person. Rasp, and then boil it from five to ten minutes with about four tablespoonsful of water; when it is extremely smooth add nearly a pint of new milk, give it another boil, stir it well, or mill it, and serve it directly. For water-chocolate use three-quarters of a pint of water instead of the milk, and send rich hot cream to table with it. The taste must decide whether it shall be made thicker or thinner. Chocolate, 2 oz.; water, quarter-pint, or rather more; milk, 1-3/4: 1/2 minute. Obs.—The general reader will understand the use of the chocolate-mill shown in the engraving with the pot; but to the uninitiated it may be as well to observe, that it is worked quickly round between both hands to give a fine froth to the chocolate. It also serves in lieu of a whisk for working creams, or jellies, to a froth or whip. A SPANISH RECIPE FOR MAKING AND SERVING CHOCOLATE. Take of the best chocolate an ounce for each person, and half a pint 593of cold water; rasp or break it small in a mortar, set it over a slow fire, and stir or mill it gently until it has become quite smooth like custard; pour it immediately into deep cups, and serve it with a glass of sugar and water, or with iced water only[185] to each cup; and with plates of very delicate dried toast cut in narrow strips, or with the cakes called “ladies’ fingers.” Should the chocolate appear too thick, a little water must be added. Milk is sometimes substituted for it altogether. 185.  Sometimes with a water ice, which should be of an appropriate character. TO MAKE COCOA. Directions for making it are usually sold with the prepared, or best quality of cocoa, which is merely mixed with boiling water in the proportions indicated on the packets. That which is prepared from the nibs requires several hours’ boiling, and should be left until it is quite cold, that the oil which will be found on the surface may be cleared from it before it is again heated for table: this is particularly needful when it is to be served to persons in delicate health. 594 CHAPTER XXXI. Bread. REMARKS ON HOME-MADE BREAD. It is surely a singular fact that the one article of our daily food on which health depends more than on any other, is precisely that which is obtained in England with the greatest difficulty—good, light, and pure bread—yet nothing can be more simple and easy than the process of making it, either in large quantities or in small. From constant failure, it is nevertheless considered so difficult in many families, that recourse is had to the nearest baker, both in town and country, as a means of escape from the heavy, or bitter, or ill-baked masses of dough which appear at table under the name of household or home-made bread; and which are well calculated to create the distaste which they often excite for everything which bears its name. Without wishing in the slightest degree to disparage the skill and labour of bread-makers by trade, truth compels us to assert our conviction of the superior wholesomeness of bread made in our own homes. When a miller can be depended on to supply flour of good quality, and the other ingredients used in preparing it are also fresh and good, and mingled with it in due proportions, and the kneading, fermentation, and baking, are conducted with care and 595intelligence, the result will uniformly be excellent bread. Every cook, therefore,—and we might almost say every female servant—ought to be perfectly acquainted with the proper mode of making it; and skill in preparing a variety of dishes, is poor compensation for ignorance on this one essential point.[186] Moreover, it presents no more real difficulty than boiling a dish of potatoes, or making a rice pudding; and the neglect with which it is treated is therefore the less to be comprehended or excused. 186.  Only those persons who live habitually on good home-made bread, can form an idea of the extent to which health is affected by their being deprived of it. We have been appealed to on several occasions for household loaves—which we have sent to a considerable distance—by friends who complained of being rendered really ill by the bread which they were compelled to eat in the sea-side towns and in other places of fashionable resort; and in London we have heard incessant complaints both from foreigners and habitual residents, of the impossibility of obtaining really wholesome bread. TO PURIFY YEAST FOR BREAD OR CAKES. The yeast procured from a public brewery is often so extremely bitter that it can only be rendered fit for use by frequent washings, and after these even it should be cautiously employed. Mix it, when first brought in, with a large quantity of cold water, and set it by until the following morning in a cool place; then drain off the water, and stir the yeast up well with as much more of fresh: it must again stand several hours before the water can be poured clear from it. By changing this daily in winter, and both night and morning in very hot weather, the yeast may be preserved fit for use much longer than it would otherwise be; and should it ferment rather less freely after a time, a small portion of brown sugar and a little warm milk or other liquid, stirred to it a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes before it is required for bread-making, will restore its strength. The German yeast, of which we have spoken in detail in another part of this chapter, makes exceedingly light bread and buns, and is never bitter; it is therefore a valuable substitute for our own beer-yeast, but cannot be procured in all parts of the country, for the reasons which we have stated. THE OVEN. A brick oven, heated with wood, is far superior to any other for baking bread, as well as for most other purposes. The iron ovens, now commonly attached to kitchen-ranges—the construction of which has within these few years been wonderfully improved—though exceedingly convenient, from the facility which they afford for baking at all hours of the day, do not in general answer well for bread, unless it be made into very small loaves or rolls, as the surface becomes hardened and browned long before the heat has sufficiently penetrated 596to the centre of the dough. The same objection often exists to iron-ovens of larger size, which require care and management, to ensure the successful use of them. A brick oven should be well heated with faggot wood, or with a faggot, and two or three solid logs; and after it is cleared, the door should be closely shut for quite half an hour before the baking commences: the heat will then be well sustained for a succession of bread, pies, cakes, and small pastry. The servant who habitually attends at an oven will soon become acquainted with the precise quantity of fuel which it requires, and all other peculiarities which may be connected with it. A FEW RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING BREAD. Never use too large a proportion of yeast, as the bread will not only become dry very speedily when this is done, but it will be far less sweet and pleasant in flavour than that which is more slowly fermented, and the colour will not be so good: there will also be a great chance of its being bitter when brewer’s yeast is used for it. Remember that milk or water of scalding heat poured to any kind of yeast will render the bread heavy. One pint of either added quite boiling to a pint and a half of cold, will bring it to about the degree of warmth required. In frosty weather the proportion of the heated liquid may be increased a little. When only porter-yeast—which is dark-coloured and bitter—can be procured, use a much smaller proportion than usual, and allow much longer time for it to rise. Never let it be sent to the oven until it is evidently light. Bitter bread is unpalatable, but not really unwholesome; but heavy bread is particularly so. Let the leaven be kneaded up quickly with the remainder of the flour when once it is well risen, as it should on no account be allowed to sink again before this is done, when it has reached the proper point; and in making the dough, be particularly careful not to render it too lithe by adding more liquid than is requisite. It should be quite firm, and entirely free from lumps and crumbs throughout the mass, and on the surface also, which ought to be perfectly smooth. In winter, place the bread while it is rising sufficiently close to the fire to prevent its becoming cold, but never so near as to render it hot. A warm thick cloth should be thrown over the pan in which it is made immediately after the leaven is mixed, and kept on it until the bread is ready for the oven. HOUSEHOLD BREAD. Put half a bushel (more or less, according to the consumption of the family) of flour into the kneading tub or trough, and hollow it well in the middle; dilute a pint of yeast as it is brought from the brewery 597or half the quantity if it has been washed and rendered solid, with four quarts or more of lukewarm milk or water, or a mixture of the two; stir into it, from the surrounding part, with a wooden spoon, as much flour as will make a thick batter; throw a handful or two over it, and leave this, which is called the leaven, to rise before proceeding further. In about an hour it will have swollen considerably, and have burst through the coating of flour on the top; then pour in as much more warm liquid as will convert the whole, with good kneading, and this should not be spared, into a firm dough, of which the surface should be entirely free from lumps or crumbs. Throw a cloth over, and let it remain until it has risen very much a second time, which will be in an hour, or something more, if the batch be large. Then work it lightly up, and mould it into loaves of from two to three pounds weight; send them directly to a well heated oven, and bake them from an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters. Flour, 1/2 bushel; salt (when it is liked), 4 to 6 oz.; yeast, 1 pint unwashed, or 1/2 pint if purified; milk, or water, 2 quarts: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Additional liquid as needed. Obs.—Brown bread can be made exactly as above, either with half meal and half flour mixed, or with meal only. This will absorb more moisture than fine flour, and will retain it rather longer. Brown bread should always be thoroughly baked. Remark.—We have seen it very erroneously asserted in one or two works, that bread made with milk speedily becomes sour. This is never the case when it is properly baked and kept, and when the milk used for it is perfectly sweet. The experience of many years, enables us to speak positively on this point. BORDYKE BREAD. (Author’s Receipt.) Mix with a gallon of flour a large teaspoonful of fine salt, make a hollow in the centre, and pour in two tablespoonsful of solid, well purified yeast, gradually diluted with about two pints and a half of milk, and work it into a thick batter with the surrounding flour, strew a thick layer over and leave it to rise from an hour to an hour and a half; then knead it up with as much more warm skimmed milk, or half new milk and half water, as will render it quite firm and smooth without being very stiff; let it rise another hour, and divide it into three loaves; put them into square tins slightly buttered, or into round baking pans, and bake them about an hour and a quarter in a well-heated oven. The dough can be formed into household loaves if preferred, and sent to the oven in the usual way. When a finer and more spongy kind of bread is required for immediate eating, substitute new milk for skimmed, dissolve in it about an ounce of butter, 598leave it more liquid when the sponge is set, and let the whole be lightly kneaded into a lithe dough: the bread thus made will be excellent when new, and for a day or so after it is baked, but it will become dry sooner than the other. Flour, 1 gallon; salt, 1 teaspoonful; skimmed milk, 2-1/2 pints, to rise from 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Additional milk, 1 to 2 pints: to rise 1 hour. 3 loaves, baked 1-1/4 hour. Obs. 1.—A few spoonsful of cream will wonderfully improve either of the above receipts, and sweet buttermilk, substituted for the other, will give to the bread the shortness of a cake: we would particularly recommend it for trial when it can be procured. Obs. 2.—Shallow round earthen pans answer much better, we think, than tins for baking bread; they should be slightly rubbed with butter before the dough is put into them. GERMAN YEAST. (And Bread made with German Yeast.) This has very generally superseded the use of English beer-yeast in London, and other places conveniently situated for receiving quickly and regularly the supplies of it which are imported from abroad; but as it speedily becomes putrid in sultry weather, and does not in any season remain good long after its arrival here, it is unsuited for transmission to remote parts of the country. Bread made with it while it is perfectly sweet, is extremely light and good, and it answers remarkably well for light cakes and biscuits. An ounce is the proportion which we have always had used for a quartern (half a gallon or three pounds and a half) of flour, and this, with the addition of some salt and nearly a quart of milk, or milk and water, has produced excellent bread when it has been made with care. The yeast should be very gradually and perfectly moistened and blended with the warm liquid; for unless this be done, and the whole rendered smooth as cream, the dough will not be of the uniform texture which it ought, but will be full of large hollow spaces, which are never seen in well-made bread. The mass should be mixed up firmly and well kneaded at once, then left to rise for about an hour; again kneaded thoroughly, and again left to rise from three-quarters of an hour to an hour; then divided, and lightly worked up into loaves, put into round slightly buttered earthen pans, and sent immediately to the oven.[187] 187.  We give the proportions used and the exact manner of making this bread, which we have had followed for more than twelve months, with entire success. A leaven may be first laid with the yeast, and part of the liquid when it is preferred, as directed for bread made with beer-yeast, but the result will be equally good if the whole be kneaded up at once, if it be made quite firm. 599 PROFESSOR LIEBIG’S BAVARIAN BROWN BREAD. (Very nutritious and wholesome.) Baron Liebig pronounces this bread to be very superior to that which is made with fine flour solely, both in consequence of the greater amount of nutriment which it contains, and from its slight medicinal effect, which renders it valuable to many persons accustomed to have frequent recourse to drugs, of which it supersedes the necessity. It is made with the wheat exactly as it is ground, no part being subtracted, nor any additional flour mingled with it. He directs that the wheat should not be damped before it is prepared: but few millers can be found who will depart from their ordinary practice to oblige private customers; and this determined adherence to established usage intervenes constantly between us, and all improvement in our modes of preparing food. The bread is made in the usual way, with water only, or with a portion of milk added to the yeast, as taste or convenience may dictate. The loaves should be well baked at all times; and the dough should of course be perfectly light when it is placed in the oven. Salt should be mixed with the meal before the yeast is added. ENGLISH BROWN BREAD. This is often made with a portion only of the unbolted meal recommended in the preceding receipt, mixed with more or less of fine flour, according to the quality of bread required; and in many families the coarse bran is always sifted from the meal, as an impression exists that it is irritating to the stomach. If one gallon of meal as it comes from the mill, be well mixed with an equal measure of flour, and made into a dough in the manner directed for white household bread, the loaves will still be sufficiently brown for the general taste in this country, and they will be good and wholesome, though not, perhaps, so entirely easy of digestion as Baron Liebig’s Bavarian bread. UNFERMENTED BREAD. This bread, in which carbonate of soda and muriatic acid are substituted for yeast or other leaven, has within these few years been highly recommended, and much eaten. It may possibly suit many persons better than that which is fermented in the usual way, but it is not in general by any means so pleasant in flavour; and there is much more chance of failure in preparing it in private families, as it requires some skill to mix the ingredients with exactness and despatch; and it is absolutely necessary that the dough should be set into the oven the instant it is ready. In some hydropathic and other large 600establishments, where it is always supplied to the table in lieu of the more common kinds, it is, we have been informed by patients who had partaken of it there for many months together, exceedingly and uniformly good. More detailed information with regard to it, will be found in our “Cookery for Invalids,” a work for which our want of space in the present volume compels us to reserve it. “For each pound of flour (or meal) take forty grains of sesquicarbonate of soda, mix it intimately with the sugar and flour, then add fifty drops of muriatic acid of the shops, diluted with half a pint of water, or with as much as may be requisite to form the dough, stirring it constantly into a smooth mass. Divide it into a couple of loaves, and put them immediately into a quick oven.” Bake them thoroughly. Author’s note.—Dr. Pereira, from whose book on diet the substance of the above receipt is taken, says that delicious bread was made by it in his presence by the cook of Mr. John Savory, of Bond Street, equal to any bread fermented by the usual process. We would suggest that the soda, mixed with the sugar, and a small portion of the flour, should be rubbed through a hair sieve with a wooden spoon into the remainder of the flour, and stirred up with it until the whole is perfectly mingled, before the liquid is added. Should lighter bread be desired, the soda may be increased to fifty or even sixty grains, if the quantity of acid be proportionately augmented. As common salt is formed by the combination of these two agents, none beside is needed in the bread. Flour, 1 lb.; sesquicarbonate of soda, 40 grains; sugar, 1 teaspoonful; muriatic acid of the shops, 50 drops; water, 1/2 pint (or as needed). POTATO BREAD. One pound of good mealy potatoes, steamed or boiled very dry, in the ordinary way, or prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt (see Chapter XVII.), and rubbed quite hot, through a coarse sieve, into a couple of pounds of flour, with which they should be well mixed, will produce excellent bread, which will remain moist much longer than wheaten bread made as usual. The yeast should be added immediately after the potatoes. An ounce or two of butter, an egg and some new milk, will convert this bread into superior rolls. DINNER OR BREAKFAST ROLLS. Crumble down very small indeed, an ounce of butter into a couple of pounds of the best flour, and mix with them a large saltspoonful of salt. Put into a basin a dessertspoonful of solid, well-purified yeast, and half a teaspoonful of pounded sugar; mix these with half a pint of warm new milk; hollow the centre of the flour, pour in the yeast gradually, stirring to it sufficient of the surrounding flour to make a thick batter; strew more flour on the top, cover a thick 601double cloth over the pan, and let it stand in a warm kitchen to rise. In winter it must be placed within a few feet of the fire. In about an hour, should the leaven have broken through the flour on the top, and have risen considerably in height, mix one lightly-whisked egg, or the yolks of two, with nearly half a pint more of quite warm new milk, and wet up the mass into a very smooth dough. Cover it as before, and in from half to three-quarters of an hour turn it on to a paste-board, and divide it into twenty-four portions of equal size. Knead these up as lightly as possible into small round, or olive-shaped rolls; make a slight incision round them, and cut them once or twice across the top, placing them as they are done on slightly floured baking sheets an inch or two apart. Let them remain for fifteen or twenty minutes to prove; then wash the tops with yolk of egg, mixed with a little milk, and bake them in a rather brisk oven from ten to fifteen minutes. Turn them upside down upon a dish to cool after they are taken from the tins. An additional ounce of butter and another egg can be used for these rolls when richer bread is liked; but it is so much less wholesome than a more simple kind, that it is not to be recommended. A cup of good cream would be an admirable substitute for butter altogether, rendering the rolls exceedingly delicate both in appearance and in flavour. The yeast used for them should be stirred up with plenty of cold water the day before it is wanted; and it will be found very thick indeed when it is poured off, which should be gently done. Rather less than an ounce of good fresh German yeast may be used for them instead of brewer’s yeast, with advantage. GENEVA ROLLS, OR BUNS. Break down into very small crumbs three ounces of butter with two pounds of flour; add a little salt, and set the sponge with a large tablespoonful of solid yeast, mixed with a pint of new milk, and a tablespoonful or more of strong saffron water; let it rise for a full hour, then stir to a couple of well-beaten eggs as much hot milk as will render them lukewarm, and wet the rolls with them to a light, lithe dough; leave it from half to three-quarters of an hour longer, mould it into small rolls, brush them with beaten yolk of egg, and bake them from twenty minutes to half an hour. The addition of six ounces of good sugar, three of butter, half a pound or more of currants, the grated rind of a large lemon, and a couple of ounces of candied orange-rind, will convert these into excellent buns. When the flavour of the saffron is not liked, omit it altogether. Only so much should be used at any time as will give a rich colour to the bread. Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; solid yeast, 1 large tablespoonful (saffron, 1 teaspoonful; water, less than a quarter pint); new milk, 1 pint: 1 hour, or more. 2 eggs, more milk: 3/4 hour: baked 20 to 30 minutes. 602 RUSKS. Work quite into crumbs six ounces of butter with a couple of pounds of fine dry flour, and mix them into a lithe paste, with two tablespoonsful of mild beer yeast, three well-beaten eggs, and nearly half a pint of warm new milk. When it has risen to its full height knead it smooth, and make it into very small loaves or thick cakes cut with a round cake-cutter; place them on a floured tin, and let them stand in a warm place to prove from ten to twenty minutes before they are set into the oven. Bake them about a quarter of an hour; divide them while they are still warm, and put them into a very slow oven to dry. When they are crisp quite through they are done. Four teaspoonsful of sifted sugar must be added when sweet-rusks are preferred. Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 6 oz.; yeast, 2 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; new milk nearly half a pint: baked 1/4 hour. For either of the preceding receipts substitute rather more than an ounce of German yeast, when it can be procured quite fresh; or should an ounce of it only be used (which we should consider an ample proportion), let the dough—especially that of the rusks—become extremely light before it is kneaded down, and also previously to its being sent to the oven. A somewhat smaller quantity of yeast is required in warm weather than in cold. [Remark.—The remainder of this chapter is extracted from a little treatise on domestic bread-making, which we hope shortly to lay before the public, as it appears to us to be greatly needed; but, as we have already more than once repeated, we are unwilling to withhold from the present volume any information which may be generally useful.] EXCELLENT DAIRY-BREAD MADE WITHOUT YEAST. (Author’s Receipt.) When we first heard unfermented bread vaguely spoken of, we had it tried very successfully in the following manner; and we have since been told that an almost similar method of preparing it is common in many remote parts both of England and Ireland, where it is almost impossible to procure a constant supply of yeast. Blend well together a teaspoonful of pounded sugar and fifty grains of the purest carbonate of soda; mix a saltspoonful of salt with a pound of flour, and rub the soda and sugar through a hair-sieve into it. Stir and mingle them well, and make them quickly into a firm but not hard dough with sour buttermilk. Bake the loaf well in a thoroughly heated, but not fierce oven. In a brick, or good iron oven a few minutes less than an hour would be sufficient to bake a loaf of similar weight. The buttermilk should be kept until it is quite acid, 603but it must never be in the slightest degree rancid, or otherwise bad. All unfermented bread should be placed in the oven directly it is made, or it will be heavy. For a larger baking allow rather less than an ounce of soda to the gallon (seven pounds) of flour. Obs.—There are cases in which a knowledge of this, or of any other equally easy mode of bread-making would be invaluable. For example:—We learn from the wife of an officer who has for a long time been stationed off the Isle of Skye, in which his family have their abode, that the inhabitants depend entirely for bread on supplies brought to them from Glasgow; and that they are often entirely without, when the steamer which ought to arrive at intervals of eight days, is delayed by stress of weather. The residents are then compelled to have recourse to scones—as a mixture of flour and water and a little soda (cooked on a flat iron plate), are called—or to ship’s biscuit; and these are often found unsuitable for young children and invalids. There are no ovens in the houses, though there are grates for coal fires, in front of which small loaves of unfermented bread could be baked extremely well in good American ovens. Buttermilk can always be procured; and if not, a provision of carbonate of soda and muriatic acid might be kept at hand to ensure the means of making wholesome bread. In many other localities the same plan might prove of equal benefit. TO KEEP BREAD. Bread requires almost as much care as milk to preserve it wholesome and fresh. It should be laid, as soon as it is perfectly cold, into a large earthen pan with a cover, which should be kept free from crumbs, and be frequently scalded, and then wiped very dry for use. Loaves which have been cut should have a smaller pan appropriated to them, and this also should have the loose crumbs wiped from it daily. It is a good plan to raise the bread-pans from the floor of the larder, when there is no proper stand or frame for the purpose, by means of two flat wedges of wood, so as to allow a current of air to pass under them. TO FRESHEN STALE BREAD (AND PASTRY, ETC.), AND PRESERVE IT FROM MOULD. If entire loaves be placed in a gentle oven and heated quite through, without being previously dipped into cold water, according to the old-fashioned plan, they will eat almost like bread newly baked: they should not remain in it long enough to become hard and dry, but they should be made hot throughout. In very damp localities, when large household bakings take place but once in eight or ten days, it is sometimes necessary to use precautions against the attack of mould, though the bread may have been exceedingly well made; and the method recommended above will be the best for 604warding it off, and for preserving the bread eatable for several days longer than it would otherwise be. If large loaves be just dipped into cold water and then placed in a quick oven until they are again thoroughly dried, they will resemble new bread altogether. Pastry, cakes, and biscuits, may all be greatly improved when stale, by heating them in a gentle oven. TO KNOW WHEN BREAD IS SUFFICIENTLY BAKED. When the surface is uniformly browned, and it is everywhere firm to the touch, and the bottom crust of a loaf is hard, it is generally certain that it is thoroughly baked. To test bread that has been cut (or yeast-cakes), press down the crumb lightly in the centre with the thumb; when it is elastic and rises again to its place, it is proof that it is perfectly done; but if the indentation remains, the heat has not sufficiently penetrated the dough to convert it into wholesome eating. ON THE PROPER FERMENTATION OF DOUGH. As we have previously said, too large a proportion of yeast, which is very commonly used by persons not well skilled in bread-making, although it produces quickly a light spongy dough, has a very bad effect on bread, which it renders much less easy of digestion than that which is more slowly fermented, and far less sweet and pleasant in flavour: it also prevents its remaining eatable the same length of time, as it speedily becomes dry. It is likewise very disadvantageous to make the dough so lithe that it spreads about in the oven; and if it be excessively stiff, and its management not thoroughly understood, it will sometimes be heavy,. To prevent this, it should be kept quite warm (never heated), and left a much longer time to rise. It will frequently then prove excellent. It will ferment rather more quickly if, when it gives symptoms of becoming light it is made up into loaves with the least possible kneading, and a slight incision is made round them and across the tops, and they are then placed in a warm air, and kept secure from cold currents passing over them. 605 CHAPTER XXXII. FOREIGN AND JEWISH COOKERY. We had hoped to have been able without exceeding the prescribed limits of the present volume to have added here a somewhat extensive chapter on the cookery of other countries, and to have comprised in it a section adapted to the service of the Jewish table; but we have so much enlarged in the pages on the more important subject of “Bread,” and on other matters which relate to simple English domestic 606economy, that we find it necessary to depart from our original intention, and to confine our receipts here to a comparatively small number. This, however, is of the less consequence as so many good and well tested foreign receipts, of which, from our own experience, we can guarantee the success, are to be found in the body of the work. REMARKS ON JEWISH COOKERY. From being forbidden by their usages to mingle butter, or other preparation of milk or cream with meat at any meal, the Jews have oil much used in their cookery of fish, meat, and vegetables. Pounded almonds and rich syrups of sugar and water agreeably flavoured, assist in compounding their sweet dishes, many of which are excellent, and preserve much of their oriental character; but we are credibly informed that the restrictions of which we have spoken are not at the present day very rigidly observed by the main body of Jews in this country, though they are so by those who are denominated strict. JEWISH SMOKED BEEF.[188] 188.  We were made acquainted with it first through the courtesy of a Jewish lady, who afterwards supplied us with the address of the butcher from whom it was procured: Mr. Pass, 34, Duke Street, Aldgate, from whom the chorissa also may be purchased, and probably many other varieties of smoked meat which are used in Jewish cookery. For such of our readers as may not be acquainted with the fact, it may be well to state here that all meat supplied by Jew butchers is sure to be of first-rate quality, as they are forbidden by the Mosaic Law to convert into food any animal which is not perfectly free from all “spot or blemish.” This is excellent, possessing the fine flavour of a really well cured ham, and retaining it unimpaired for a very long time after it is cut or cooked, if kept in a cool larder; it is therefore a valuable and inexpensive store for imparting savour to soups, gravies, and other preparations; and it affords also a dish of high relish for the table. An inch or two of the lean part, quite cleared from the smoked edges and divided into dice, will flavour well a tureen of gravy, or a pint of soup: even that which has been boiled will greatly improve the flavour of Liebig’s extract of beef, and of any simple broth or consommé. From the depth of fat upon it, which appears particularly rich and mellow, we think it is the thick flank of the beef of which we have made trial in various ways, and which is now in much request in several families of our acquaintance, who find it greatly superior to the common hung or Dutch beef, to which they were previously accustomed. It must be cooked in the same manner as other smoked meats, more time being allowed for it than for fresh. Drop it into boiling water, and when it has boiled quickly for ten minutes, take off the scum should any appear, add cold water sufficient to reduce it to 607mere scalding heat, bring it again gently to a boil, and simmer it until the lean appears quite tender when probed with a sharp skewer; then lift it on to a drainer and serve it hot or cold, and garnished in either case with vegetables or otherwise at pleasure. Beef, 6 lbs.: 3 hours or more. CHORISSA (OR JEWISH SAUSAGE) WITH RICE. The chorissa is a peculiar kind of smoked sausage much served at Jewish tables[189] as an accompaniment to boiled poultry, &c. It seems to be in great part composed of delicate pounded meat, intermingled with suet and with a small portion of some highly-cured preparation, and with herbs or spices which impart to it an agreeable aromatic flavour. 189.  It may be had at the same shops as the smoked beef, and is the same price—a shilling the pound. Drop the chorissa into warm water, heat it gently, boil it for about twenty minutes, and serve it surrounded with rice prepared as for currie. It will be found very good broiled in slices after the previous boiling: it should be cold before it is again laid to the fire. In all cases it will, we think, be found both more easy of digestion and more agreeable if half-boiled at least before it is broiled, toasted, or warmed in the oven for table. It is a good addition to forcemeat, and pounded savoury preparations, if used in moderation. TO FRY SALMON AND OTHER FISH IN OIL. (To Serve Cold.) Turn into a small deep frying-pan, which should be kept for the purpose, a flask of fresh olive oil, place it over a clear fire, and as soon as it ceases to bubble lay in a pound and a half of delicate salmon properly cleansed and well dried in a cloth, and fry it gently until it is cooked quite through. The surface should be only lightly browned, and when the proper colour is attained the pan must be lifted so high from the fire as to prevent it being deepened, as we have directed in Chapter IX. in the general instructions for frying. Drain the fish well when it is done, and when it is perfectly cold, dish, and garnish it with light foliage. The Jews have cold fried fish much served at their repasts. Fillets of soles, plaice, brill, small turbots, or other flat fish, may be fried as above, and arranged in a symmetrical form round a portion of a larger fish, or by themselves. We would recommend as an accompaniment one of the Mauritian chutnies which are to be found in this chapter. Olive oil, 1 small flask; salmon, about 1-1/2 lb.: 1/2 hour or rather more. Fillets of fish 5 to 10 minutes. Obs.—The oil should be strained through a sieve, and set aside as the fish is done; it will serve many times for frying if this be observed. 608 JEWISH ALMOND PUDDING. We have not thought it necessary to test this receipt ourselves, as we have tasted the puddings made by it more than once, and have received the exact directions for them from the Jewish lady at whose house they were made. They are extremely delicate and excellent. The almonds for them were procured ready ground from a Jew confectioner, but when they cannot be thus obtained they must be pounded in the usual manner. With half a pound of sweet, mingle six or seven bitter almonds, half a pound of sifted sugar, a little fine orange-flower water, with the yolks of ten and the whites of seven well whisked eggs, and when the whole of the ingredients are intimately blended, bake the pudding in a rather quick oven for half an hour, or longer should it not be then sufficiently firm to turn out of the dish. Sift sugar thickly over, or pour round it a rich syrup flavoured with orange-flower water, noyau or maraschino. Obs.—We think a fruit syrup—pine-apple or other—or a compôte of fruit would be an excellent accompaniment to this pudding, which may be served hot or cold. We conclude that the dish in which it is baked, if not well buttered, must be rubbed with oil. The above proportions will make two puddings of sufficient size for a small party. THE LADY’S OR INVALID’S NEW BAKED APPLE PUDDING. (Author’s Original Receipt. Appropriate to the Jewish table.) This pudding, which contains no butter, is most excellent when made with exactness by the directions which follow, but any variation from them will probably be attended with entire failure, especially in the crust, which if properly made will be solid, but very light and crisp; whereas, if the proportion of sugar for it be diminished, the bread will not form a compact mass, but will fall into crumbs when it is served. First weigh six ounces of the crumb of a light stale loaf, and grate it down small; then add to, and mix thoroughly with it three ounces and a half of pounded sugar, and a slight pinch of salt. Next, take from a pound to a pound and a quarter of russets, or of any other good baking apples; pare, and then take them off the cores in quarters without cutting the fruit asunder, as they will then, from the form given to them, lie more compactly in the dish. Arrange them in close layers in a deep tart-dish which holds about a pint and a half, and strew amongst them four ounces of sugar and the grated rind of a fine fresh lemon; add the strained juice of the lemon, and pour the bread-crumbs softly in a heap upon the apples in the centre of the dish, and with the back of a spoon level them gently into a very smooth layer of equal thickness, pressing them lightly down upon the fruit, which must all be perfectly covered with them. Sift powdered sugar over, wipe the edge of the 609dish, and bake the pudding in a somewhat quick oven for rather more than three-quarters of an hour. We have had it several times baked quite successfully in a baker’s oven, of which the heat is in general too great for puddings of a delicate kind. Very pale brown sugar will answer for it almost as well as pounded. For the nursery, some crumbs of bread may be strewed between the layers of fruit, and nutmeg or cinnamon may be used instead of lemon. Obs.—We insert this receipt here because the pudding has been so much liked, and found so wholesome by many persons who have partaken of it at different times, that we think it will be acceptable to some of our readers, but it belongs properly to another work which we have in progress, and from which we extract it now for the present volume. An ounce or more of ratifias crushed to powder, may be added to the crust, or strewed over the pudding before it is served, when they are considered an improvement. A FEW GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE JEWISH TABLE. As a substitute for milk, in the composition of soufflés, puddings, and sweet dishes, almond-cream as it is called, will be found to answer excellently. To prepare it, blanch and pound the almonds by the directions of page 542, and then pour very gradually to them boiling water in the proportion directed below; turn them into a strong cloth or tammy, and wring it from them with powerful pressure, to extract as much as possible of it from them again. The fruit custards of page 482, and the méringues of fruit of page 485, are perfectly suited to the tables of Jewish families; and sweet or savoury croustades or fried patties may be supplied to them from the receipts in the present work, by substituting clarified marrow (see page 388) for the butter used for them in general cookery. The reader will easily discover in addition, numerous dishes distributed through this volume which may be served to them without departing from their peculiar usages. Almond-cream: (for puddings, &c.) almonds, 4 oz.; water, 1 pint. For blancmanges, and rich soufflés, creams and custards: almonds, 1/2 to whole pound; water, 1 to 1-1/2 pints. Obs.—As every cook may not be quite aware of the articles of food strictly prohibited by the Mosaic law, it may be well to specify them here. Pork in every form; all varieties of shell-fish, without exception; hares, rabbits, and swans. TOMATA AND OTHER CHUTNIES. (Mauritian Receipts.) The composition of these favourite oriental sauces varies but little except in the ingredient which forms the basis of each. The 610same piquant or stimulating auxiliaries are intermingled with all of them in greater or less proportion. These are, young onions, chilies (sometimes green ginger), oil, vinegar, and salt; and occasionally a little garlic or full grown onion, which in England might be superseded by a small portion of minced eschalot. Green peaches, mangoes, and other unripe fruits, crushed to pulp on the stone roller, shown at the head of this chapter; ripe bananas, tomatas roasted or raw, and also reduced to a smooth pulp; potatoes cooked and mashed; the fruit of the egg-plant boiled and reduced to a paste; fish, fresh, salted, or smoked, and boiled or grilled, taken in small fragments from the bones and skin, and torn into minute shreds, or pounded, are all in their turn used in their preparation.[190] Mingle with any one of these as much of the green onions and chilies chopped up small, as will give it a strong flavour; add salt if needed, and as much olive oil, of pure quality, with a third as much of vinegar, as will bring it to the consistence of a thick sauce. Serve it with currie, cutlets, steaks, pork, cold meat, or fish, or aught else to which it would be an acceptable accompaniment. 190.  We are indebted for these receipts to a highly intelligent medical man who has been for twenty years a resident in the Mauritius. INDIAN LOBSTER-CUTLETS. A really excellent and elegant receipt for lobster-cutlets has already been given in previous editions of the present work, and is now to be found at page 91 of Chapter III.; but the subjoined is one which may be more readily and expeditiously prepared, and may consequently, be preferred by some of our readers for that reason: it has also the recommendation of being new. In India, these cutlets are made from the flesh of prawns, which are there of enormous size, but lobsters, unless quite overgrown, answer for them as well, or better. Select fish of good size and take out the tails entire; slice them about the third of an inch thick, dip them into beaten egg, and then into very fine crumbs of bread seasoned rather highly with cayenne, and moderately with salt, grated nutmeg, and pounded mace. Egg and crumb them twice, press the bread upon them with the blade of a knife, and when all are ready, fry them quickly in good butter to a light brown. Serve them as dry as possible, arranged in a chain round a hot dish, and pour into the centre, or send to table with them in a tureen, some sauce made with the flesh of the claws heated in some rich melted butter, flavoured with a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies, one of strong chili vinegar, a little salt and mace, and coloured with the coral of the fish, should they contain any. A few shrimps may be added with good effect; or the sauce may be made of these entirely, either whole or pounded, when they are preferred. In either case, they should only be heated 611in it, and not allowed to boil. East or West Indian mangoes, or other hot pickle, should accompany the dish. The cutlets may likewise be dipped into light French batter, and fried; but the egg and bread-crumbs are somewhat preferable. It is an advantage to have lobsters little more than parboiled for them. Herbs can be added to the crumbs at pleasure; the writer does not, however, recommend them. AN INDIAN BURDWAN. (Entrée.) This is an Oriental dish of high savour, which may be made either with a young fowl or chicken parboiled for the purpose, or with the remains of such as have already been sent to table. First, put into a stewpan about a tablespoonful of very mild onion finely minced, or a larger proportion with a mixture of eschalots, for persons whose taste is in favour of so strong a flavour; add rather more than a quarter of a pint of cold water, about an ounce of butter smoothly blended with a very small teaspoonful of flour, a moderate seasoning of cayenne, and a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies. Shake or stir this sauce over a clear fire until it boils, then let it stand aside and merely simmer for ten or fifteen minutes, or until the onion is quite tender, then pour to it a couple of wineglassesful of Madeira (Sherry or Tenerifte will do), and a tablespoonful of chili-vinegar. Lay in the fowl after having carved it neatly, divided all the joints, and stripped off the skin; and let it remain close to the fire, but without boiling, until it is perfectly heated through; bring it to the point of boiling and send it immediately to table. A dish of rice, boiled as for currie, is often, but not invariably, served with it. Should the fowl have been parboiled only—that is to say, boiled for a quarter of an hour—it must be gently stewed in the sauce for fifteen or twenty minutes; longer, even, should it not then be quite tender. Cold lamb, or veal, or calf’s-head, or a delicate young rabbit, may be very advantageously served as a rechauffé, in a sauce compounded as above. The various condiments contained in this can be differently apportioned at pleasure; and pickled capsicum, or chilies minced, can be added to it at choice either in lieu of, or in addition to the chili-vinegar. The juice of a fresh lime should, if possible, be thrown into it before it is served. Except for a quite plain family dinner, only the superior joints of poultry should be used for this dish. Care should be taken not to allow the essence of anchovies to predominate too powerfully in it. THE KING OF OUDE’S OMLET. Whisk up very lightly, after having cleared them in the usual way, five fine fresh eggs; add to them two dessertspoonsful of milk or cream, a small teaspoonful of salt, one—or half that quantity for 612English eaters—of cayenne pepper, three of minced mint, and two dessertspoonsful of young leeks, or of mild onions chopped small. Dissolve an ounce and a half of good butter in a frying-pan about the size of a plate, or should a larger one of necessity be used, raise the handle so as to throw the omlet entirely to the opposite side; pour in the eggs, and when the omlet, which should be kept as thick as possible, is well risen and quite firm, and of a fine light brown underneath, slide it on to a very hot dish, and fold it together “like a turnover,” the brown side uppermost: six or seven minutes will fry it. This receipt is given to the reader in a very modified form, the fiery original which we transcribe being likely to find but few admirers here we apprehend: the proportion of leeks or onions might still be much diminished with advantage:—“Five eggs, two tolahs of milk, one masha of salt, two mashas of cayenne pepper, three of mint, and two tolahs of leeks.” KEDGEREE OR KIDGEREE, AN INDIAN BREAKFAST DISH. Boil four ounces of rice tender and dry as for currie, and when it is cooled down put it into a saucepan with nearly an equal quantity of cold fish taken clear of skin and bone, and divided into very small flakes or scallops. Cut up an ounce or two of fresh butter and add it, with a full seasoning of cayenne, and as much salt as may be required. Stir the kedgeree constantly over a clear fire until it is very hot; then mingle quickly with it two slightly beaten eggs. Do not let it boil after these are stirred in; but serve the dish when they are just set. A Mauritian chatney may be sent to table with it. The butter may be omitted, and its place supplied by an additional egg or more. Cold turbot, brill, salmon, soles, John Dory, and shrimps, may all be served in this form. A SIMPLE SYRIAN PILAW. Drop gradually into three pints of boiling water one pint of rice which has been shaken in a cullender to free it from the dust and then well wiped in a soft clean cloth. The boiling should not be checked by the addition of the rice, which if well managed will require no stirring, and which will entirely absorb the water. It should be placed above the fire where the heat will reach it equally from below; and it should boil gently that the grain may become quite tender and dry. When it is so, and the surface is full of holes, pour in two or three ounces of clarified butter, or merely add some, cut up small; throw in a seasoning of salt and white pepper, or cayenne; stir the whole up well, and serve it immediately. An onion, when the flavour is liked, may be boiled in the water, which should afterwards be strained, before the rice is added; there should be three pints of it when the grain is dropped in. 613Small fried sausages or sausage-cakes may be served with it at pleasure for English eaters. The rice may be well washed and thoroughly dried in a cloth when time will permit. SIMPLE TURKISH OR ARABIAN PILAW. (From Mr. Lane, the Oriental Traveller.) “Piláw or piláu is made by boiling rice in plenty of water for about twenty minutes, so that the water drains off easily, leaving the grains whole, and with some degree of hardness; then stirring it up with a little butter, just enough to make the grains separate easily, and seasoning it with salt and pepper. Often a fowl, boiled almost to rags, is laid upon the top. Sometimes small morsels of fried or roasted mutton or lamb are mixed up with it; and there are many other additions; but generally the Turks and Arabs add nothing to the rice but the butter, and salt, and pepper.” Obs.—We are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Lane for this receipt, which was procured from him for us by one of his friends. A REAL INDIAN PILAW. Boil three pounds of bacon in the usual manner; take it out and drop into the same pan a pair of fowls compactly trussed as for boiling. In three quarters of an hour, unless very large, they will be sufficiently cooked; but they should be thoroughly boiled. When they are so, lift them out, and place a hot cover and thick cloth over them. Take three pints and a half of the liquor in which they were boiled, and add to it when it again boils, nearly two pounds of well washed Patna rice, three onions, a quarter of an ounce each of cloves and peppercorns, with half as much of allspice, tied loosely in a bit of muslin. Stew these together very gently for three quarters of an hour. Do not stir them as it breaks the rice. Take out the spice and onions; lay in the fowls if necessary, to heat them quite through, and dish them neatly with the rice heaped smoothly over them. Garnish the pilaw with hot hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters, or with fried forcemeat-balls, or with half rings of onion fried extremely dry. The bacon, heated apart, should be served in a separate dish. Obs.—This is a highly approved receipt supplied to us by a friend who had long experience of it in India; but we would suggest that to be really cooked so as to render it wholesome in this country, a larger quantity of liquid should be added to it, as one pint (or pound) will absorb three pints of water or broth: and the time allowed for stewing it appears to us insufficient for it to become really tender. A Persian Pilaw is made much in the same manner, sometimes with morsels of fried kid mixed with the rice. 614Bacon, 3 lbs., 1-1/2 to 2 hours; fowls, 2.; Rice, nearly 2 lbs. Broth from bacon and fowls, 3-1/2 pints; onions, 3; cloves and peppercorns, 1/4 oz. each; allspice, 1 drachm: 3/4 hour. INDIAN RECEIPT FOR CURRIED FISH. Take the fish from the bones, and cut it into inch and half squares; lay it into a stewpan with sufficient hot water to barely cover it; sprinkle some salt over, and boil it gently until it is about half cooked. Lift it out with a fish-slice, pour the liquor into a basin, and clear off any scum which may be on it. Should there be three or four pounds of the fish, dissolve a quarter of a pound of butter in a stewpan, and when it has become a little brown, add two cloves of garlic and a large onion finely minced or sliced very thin; fry them until they are well coloured, then add the fish; strew equally over it, and stir it well up with from two to three tablespoonsful of Bengal currie powder; cover the pan, and shake it often until the fish is nicely browned; next add by degrees the liquor in which it was stewed, and simmer it until it is perfectly done, but not so as to fall into fragments. Add a moderate quantity of lemon-juice or chili vinegar, and serve it very hot. BENGAL CURRIE POWDER. No. 1. Mix thoroughly the following ingredients after they have been separately reduced to the finest powder and passed through a fine hair or lawn sieve:— 6 oz. coriander seed. 3 oz. black pepper. 1 oz. cummin-seed. 1-1/2 oz. fenugreek-seed. 3/4 oz. cayenne pepper. 3 oz. best pale turmeric. Set the powder before the fire to dry, and turn it often; then withdraw it, let it become cold, and bottle it immediately. Keep it closely corked. Obs.—We cannot think a large proportion of black pepper a desirable addition to currie powder, as it gives a strong coarse flavour: but as it may be liked by persons who are accustomed to it, we give the preceding and the following receipt without varying either: the second appears to us the best. Coriander-seed 8 oz. Chinese turmeric 4 oz. Black pepper 2 oz. Cassia 1/2 oz. White ginger 1 oz. Cayenne pepper 1/2 oz. 615 RISOTTO À LA MILANAISE. Slice a large onion very thin, and divide it into shreds; then fry it slowly until it is equally but not too deeply browned; take it out and strain the butter, and fry in it about three ounces of rice for every person who is to partake of it. As the grain easily burns, it should be put into the butter when it begins to simmer, and be very gently coloured to a bright yellow tint over a slow fire. Add it to some good boiling broth lightly tinged with saffron, and stew it softly in a copper pan for fifteen or twenty minutes. Stir to it two or three ounces of butter mixed with a small portion of flour, a moderate seasoning of pepper or cayenne, and as much grated Parmesan cheese as will flavour it thoroughly. Boil the whole gently for ten minutes, and serve it very hot, at the commencement of dinner as a potage. Obs.—The reader should bear in mind what we have so often repeated in this volume, that rice should always be perfectly cooked, and that it will not become tender with less than three times its bulk of liquid. STUFATO. (A Neapolitan Receipt.) “Take about six pounds of the silver side of the round, and make several deep incisions in the inside, nearly through to the skin; stuff these with all kinds of savoury herbs, a good slice of lean ham, and half a small clove of garlic, all finely minced, and well mingled together; then bind and tie the meat closely round, so that the stuffing may not escape. Put four pounds of butter into a stewpan sufficiently large to contain something more than that quantity, and the beef in addition; so soon as it boils lay in the meat, let it just simmer for five or six hours, and turn it every half hour at least, that it may be equally done. Boil for twenty-five minutes three pounds of pipe maccaroni, drain it perfectly dry, and mix it with the gravy of the beef, without the butter, half a pint of very pure salad oil, and a pot of paste tomatas; mix these to amalgamation, without breaking the maccaroni; before serving up, sprinkle Parmesan cheese thickly on the maccaroni.” We insert this receipt exactly as it was given to us by a friend, at whose table the dish was served with great success to some Italian diplomatists. From our own slight experience of it, we should suppose that the excellence of the beef is quite a secondary consideration, as all its juices are drawn out by the mode of cooking, and appropriated to the maccaroni, of which we must observe that three pounds would make too gigantic a dish to enter well, on ordinary occasions, into an English service. 616We have somewhere seen directions for making the stufato with the upper part of the sirloin, thickly larded with large, well-seasoned lardoons of bacon, and then stewed in equal parts of rich gravy, and of red or of white wine. BROILED EELS WITH SAGE. (ENTRÉE.) (German Receipt.) Good. Skin, open, and cleanse one fine eel (or more), cut it into finger-lengths, rub it with a mixed seasoning of salt and white pepper, and leave it for half an hour. Wipe it dry, wrap each length in sage leaves, fasten them round it with coarse thread, roll the eel in good salad oil or clarified butter, lay it on the gridiron, squeeze lemon-juice over, and broil it gently until it is browned in every part. Send it to table with a sauce made of two or three ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of chili, tarragon, or common vinegar, and one of water, with a little salt; to keep this smooth, proceed as for the Norfolk sauce of Chapter V. Broiled fish is frequently served without any sauce. A quite simple one may supply the place of that which we have indicated above: eels being of so rich a nature, require no other. A SWISS MAYONNAISE. Beat half a pound of butter to a cream, and then add it very gradually to the hard-boiled yolks of six fresh eggs which have been cut into quarters, separated carefully from the whites, and pounded to a perfect paste; when these are blended into a smooth sauce add, a few drops at a time, some of the finest salad oil that can be procured, and work the mixture in the same manner as the mayonnaise of Chapter VI. until no particle of it remains visible: a small quantity of salt also must be thrown in, and sufficient good vinegar in very small portions, to give an agreeable acidity to the preparation. (Fresh lemon-juice might be substituted in part for this, and a little fine cayenne used with it; but though we suggest this, we adhere to our original Swiss receipt for this excellent dish, even when we think it might be slightly improved in flavour.) Carve very neatly two delicate boiled fowls, and trim the joints into handsome form. Lay the inferior parts upon a large plate, and spread a portion of the sauce, which should be very thick, upon them; arrange them in a flat layer in the dish in which they are to be served; then sauce in the same way more of the joints, and arrange them symmetrically over the others. Proceed thus to build a sort of pyramid with the whole; and decorate it with the whites of the eggs, and the hearts of small lettuces cut in halves. Place these last round the base alternately with whole bantams’ or plovers’ eggs, boiled hard, a small slice must be cut from the large end of each of 617these to admit of their being placed upright. A slight branch of parsley, or other foliage, may be stuck in the tops. Roast chickens divested entirely of the skin, can always be substituted for boiled ones in a mayonnaise: they should all be separated into single joints with the exception of the wings. The quite inferior parts need not be used at all. The same sauce rather highly flavoured with cayenne, and other condiments, and more or less, to the taste, with essence of anchovies or anchovy butter, and coloured with lobster-coral, will make an excellent fish-salad, with alternate slices of lobster,—cut obliquely to increase their size,—and of cold turbot or large soles. These can be raised into a high border or chain round a dish when more convenient, and the centre filled with young fresh salad, sauced at the instant it is sent to table. A French mayonnaise does not vary much from the preceding, except in the composition of the sauce, for which see Chapter VI. It should always be kept very thick. A little rich cold white sauce is sometimes mixed with it. TENDRONS DE VEAU. The tendrons (or gristles) which lie under the flesh of the brisket of a breast of veal are much used in foreign countries, and frequently now in this, to supply a variety of the dishes called entrées. When long stewed they become perfectly tender, and yield a large amount of gelatine; but they are quite devoid of flavour, and require therefore to be cooked and served with such additions as shall render them palatable. With a very sharp knife detach the flesh from them without separating it from the joint, and turn it back, so as to allow the gristles to be divided easily from the long bones. Cut away the chine-bone from their outer edge, and then proceed first to soak them, that they may be very white, and to boil them gently for several hours,[191] either quite simply, in good broth, or with additions of bacon, spice, and vegetables. Foreign cooks braise them somewhat expensively, and then serve them in many different forms; but as they make, after all, but a rather unpretending entrée, some economy in their preparation would generally be desirable. They may be divided at the joints, and cut obliquely into thin slices before they are stewed, when they will require but four hours simmering; or they may be left entire and braised, when they will require, while still warm, to be pressed between two dishes with a heavy weight on the top, to bring them into good shape before they are divided for 618table. They are then sometimes dipped into egg and bread-crumbs, and fried in thin slices of uniform size; or stewed tender, then well drained, and glazed, dished in a circle, and served with peas à la Française in the centre, or with a thick purée of tomatas, or of other vegetables. They are also often used to fill vol-au-vents, for which purpose they must be kept very white, and mixed with a good béchamel-sauce. We recommend their being highly curried, either in conjunction with plenty of vegetables, or with a portion of other meat, after they have been baked or stewed as tender as possible. 191.  We think that in the pasted jar which we have described in Chapter IX., in the section of Baking, they might be well and easily cooked, but we have not tried it. POITRINE DE VEAU GLACÉE. (Breast of Veal Stewed and Glazed.) When the gristles have been removed from a breast of veal, the joint will still make an excellent roast, or serve to stew or braise. Take out the long-bones,[192] beat the veal with the flat side of a cleaver, or with a cutlet-bat, and when it is quite even, cut it square, and sprinkle over it a moderate seasoning of fine salt, cayenne, and mace. Make some forcemeat by either of the receipts Nos. 1, 2, 3, or 7, of Chapter VIII., but increase the ingredients to three or four times the quantity, according to the size of the joint. Lay over the veal, or not, as is most convenient, thin slices of half-boiled bacon, or of ham; press the forcemeat into the form of a short compact rouleau and lay it in the centre of one side of the breast; then roll it up and skewer the ends closely with small skewers, and bind the joint firmly into good form with tape or twine. When thus prepared, it may be slowly stewed in very good veal stock until it is tender quite through, and which should be hot when it is laid in; or embedded in the usual ingredients for braising (see Chapter IX., page 180), and sent to table glazed, sauced with an Espagnole, or other rich gravy, and garnished with carrots à la Windsor (see page 335), or with sweetbread cutlets, also glazed. 192.  This is very easily done by cutting through the skin down the centre of each. BREAST OF VEAL. SIMPLY STEWED.[193] 193.  We give here the English receipt of an excellent practical cook for “Stewed Breast of veal,” as it may be acceptable to some of our readers, After it has been boned, flattened, and trimmed, season it well, and let it lie for an hour or two (this, we do not consider essential); then prepare some good veal forcemeat, to which let a little minced shalot be added, and spread it over the veal If you have any cold tongue or lean of ham, cut it in square strips, and lay them the short way of the meat that they may be shewn when it is carved. Roll it up very tight, and keep it in good shape; enclose it in a cloth as you would a jam-pudding, and lace it up well, then lay it into a braising-pan with three onions, as many large carrots thickly sliced, some spice, sweet herbs, and sufficient fresh second-stock or strong veal broth to more than half cover it, and stew it very gently over a slow fire for three hours: turn it occasionally without disturbing the braise which surrounds it. Glaze it before it is sent to table, and serve it with Spanish sauce, or with rich English brown gravy, flavoured with a glass of sherry; and garnish it with stewed mushrooms in small heaps, and fried forcemeat balls. Omit the forcemeat from the preceding receipt, and stew the joint tender in good veal broth, or shin of beef stock. Drain, and dish it. Pour a little rich gravy round it, and garnish it with nicely fried balls of the forcemeat No. 1, Chapter VIII., or with mushroom-forcemeat 619(No. 7). Mushroom-sauce is always an excellent accompaniment to a joint of veal. The liquor in which the breast is stewed or braised is too fat to serve as sauce until it has been cooled and cleared. The veal can be cooked without boning, but will have but an indifferent appearance. It should in that case be slowly brought to boil, and very gently simmered: about two hours and a half will stew it tender. The sweetbread, after being scalded, may be stewed with it for half the time, and served upon it. Obs.—The breast without the gristles, boned and filled with forcemeat, makes a superior roast. It may also be boiled on occasion, and served with balls of oyster-forcemeat in the dish; or with white mushroom-sauce instead. COMPOTE DE PIGEONS (STEWED PIGEONS.) The French in much of their cookery use more bacon than would generally be suited to a very delicate taste, we think. This bacon, from being cured without saltpetre, and from not being smoked, rather resembles salt pork in flavour: we explain this that the reader may, when so disposed, adapt the receipts we give here to an English table by omitting it. Cut into dice from half to three quarters of a pound of streaked bacon, and fry it gently in a large stewpan with a morsel of butter until it is very lightly browned; lift it out, and put in three or four young pigeons trussed as for boiling. When they have become firm, and lightly coloured, lift them out, and stir a large tablespoonful of flour to the fat. When this thickening (roux) is also slightly browned, add gradually to it a pint, or something more, of boiling veal-stock or strong broth; put back the birds and the bacon, with a few small button-onions when their flavour is liked, and stew the whole very gently for three quarters of an hour. Dish the pigeons neatly with the bacon and onions laid between them; skim all the fat from the sauce, reduce it quickly, and strain it over them. The birds should be laid into the stewpan with the breasts downwards. The third, or half of a pottle of small mushrooms is sometimes added to this dish. It may be converted into a compote aux petits pois 620by adding to the pigeons when the broth, in which they are laid, first begins to boil, a pint and a half of young peas. For these, a pint and a quarter, at the least, of liquid will be required, and a full hour’s stewing. The economist can substitute water for the broth. When the birds can be had at little cost, one, two, or more, according to circumstances, should be stewed down to make broth or sauce for the others. Obs.—Pigeons are excellent filled with the mushrooms au beurre, of page 329, and either roasted or stewed. To broil them proceed as directed for a partridge (French receipt), page 290. MAI TRANK (MAY-DRINK). (German.) Put into a large deep jug one pint of light white wine to two of red, and dissolve in it sufficient sugar to sweeten it agreeably. Wipe a sound China orange, cut it in rather thick slices, without paring it, and add it to the wine; then throw in some small bunches or faggots of the fragrant little plant called woodruff; cover the jug closely to exclude the air and leave it until the following day. Serve it to all May-day visitors. One orange will be sufficient for three pints of wine. The woodruff should be washed and well drained before it is thrown into the jug; and the quantity of it used should not be very large, or the flavour of the beverage will be rather injured than improved by it. We have tried this receipt on a small scale with lemon-rind instead of oranges, and the mixture was very agreeable. Rhenish wine should properly be used for it; but this is expensive in England. The woodruff is more odorous when dried gradually in the shade than when it is fresh gathered, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to linen, as lavender does. It grows wild in Kent, Surrey, and other parts of England, and flourishes in many suburban gardens in the neighbourhood of London. A VIENNESE SOUFFLÉ-PUDDING, CALLED SALZBURGER NOCKERL. At the moment of going to press, we have received direct from Vienna the following receipt, which we cannot resist offering to the reader for trial, as we are assured that the dish is one of the most delicate and delicious soufflé-puddings that can be made. 621(A) Take butter, four ounces; sugar in powder, three ounces; fine flour, one ounce and a half or two ounces; and the yellow of eight eggs; beat these together in a convenient sized basin till the mixture gets frothy. (The butter should probably first be beaten to cream.) (B) Beat to snow the whites of the eight eggs. (C) Take three pounds (or pints) of new milk, put it in an open stewpan over a gentle fire, and let it boil. (D) Next, prepare a china casserole (enamelled stewpan—a copper one will do) by greasing its internal surface. As soon as the milk boils, mix gently A and B together, and with a small spoon take portions of this shape and size and lay them over the surface of the boiling milk till it is entirely covered with them. Let them boil for four or five minutes to cook them; then put them in convenient order on the ground of the greased casserole (stewpan). Go on putting in the same manner small portions of the mixture on the surface of the boiling milk, and when cooked, place a new layer of them in the stewpan over the first; and continue the same operation until the mixture is all consumed. Take now the remainder of the milk, and add it to the beaten yellow (yolks) of two eggs, some sugar, and some powdered vanilla. Pour this over the cooked pastry in the stewpan, and set it into a gently heated oven. Leave it there until it gets brown; then powder it with vanilla-sugar, and send it to the table. Author’s Note.—The preceding directions were written by a physician of Vienna, at whose table the dish was served. It was turned out of the casserole, and served with the greatest expedition; but we think it would perhaps answer more generally here, to bake it in a soufflé dish, and to leave it undisturbed. We would also suggest, that the yolk of a third egg might sometimes be needed to bind the mixture well together. A good and experienced cook would easily ascertain the best mode of ensuring the success of the preparation. We must observe, that the form of the enamelled stewpans made commonly in this country prevents their being well adapted for use in the present receipt: those of copper are better suited to it. Half the proportion of the ingredients might, by way of experiment, be prepared and baked in a tart-dish, as our puddings frequently are; or in a small round cake mould, with a band of writing paper fastened round the top. The vanilla sugar is prepared by cutting the bean up small, and pounding it with some sugar in a mortar, and then passing it through a very fine sieve. 622The “cooked portions” of which the soufflé is principally composed are the shape, and about half the size of the inside of an egg-spoon. If somewhat larger, they would possibly answer as well. 623 INDEX. Acton gingerbread, 552 Albert’s, Prince, pudding, 411 Almond, cake, 545 candy, 566 cream, for blamange, 478 macaroons, 544 paste, 367 paste, fairy fancies of, 368 paste, tartlets of, 367 pudding, 425 pudding, Jewish, 608 shamrocks (very good and very pretty), 574 Almonds to blanch, 542 chocolate, 568 to colour for cakes or pastry, 542 in cheese-cakes, 361 to pound, 542 in soups, 21 to reduce to paste, the quickest and easiest way, 542 Alose, or Shad, to cook, 79 American oven, 178 Anchovies, to fillet, 389 fried in batter, 84 potted, 306 curried toasts with, 389 Anchovy, butter, 138 sauce, 115 Appel krapfen (German receipt), 373 Apple cake, 362 calf’s-feet jelly, 464 Charlotte, or Charlotte de Pommes, 486 marmalade for Charlotte de Pommes, 487 custards, 482 dumplings, fashionable, 420 fritters, 384 hedgehog, or Suédoise, 480 jelly, 522 jelly, exceedingly fine, 523 juice, prepared, 456 pudding, 408 pudding, common, 409 sauce, 124 sauce, baked, 124 sauce, brown, 125 soup, 21 snow-balls, 421 tart, 363 young green, tart, 364 creamed tart, 364 Apples, baked compote of (our little lady’s receipt), 572 buttered, or Pommes au beurre, 488 624Apricots, compote of green, 457 Apricots dried, French receipt for, 517 to dry, a quick and easy method, 517 Apricot blamange, 479 fritters, 384 marmalade, 516 Arabian, or Turkish Piláw, Mr. Lane’s receipt for, 614 Artichokes, Jerusalem, à la Reine, 338 to boil, 326 en salade, 326 to remove the chokes from, 326 Jerusalem, to boil, 337 Jerusalem, to fry, 338 Jerusalem, mashed, 338 soup of, 19 Asparagus, to boil, 319 to serve cold (observation), 319 points, dressed like peas (entremets), 319 Aspic, or clear savoury jelly, 104 Arocē Docēe, or sweet rice à la Portugaise, 489 Arrow-root, to thicken sauces with, 106 to thicken soup with, 2, 4 Potato, 154 sauce (clear), 403 Bacon, to boil, 259 broiled or fried, 259 Cobbett’s receipt for, 252 dressed rashers of, 259 French, for larding, 254 lardoons of, 181 to pickle cheeks of, 254 genuine Yorkshire receipt for curing, 253 super-excellent, 256 Bain-marie, use of, 105 Baked apple-pudding, or custard, 437 apple-pudding, the lady’s or invalid’s, new, 608 apple-pudding, a common, 409 compote of apples, 572 minced beef, 207 round of spiced beef, 199 beet-root, 339 bread-puddings, 429, 430 calf’s feet and head, 178 custard, 483 haddocks, 73 ham, 258 joints, with potatoes, 179 mackerel, 70 marrow bones, 208 625mullet, 76 ox-cheek, 208 pike, 81 potatoes, 312 raisin puddings, 441, 442 salmon, 60, 179 smelts, 78 soles (or soles au plat), 66 soup, 178 sucking-pig, 250 whitings, à la Française, 68 Baking, directions for, or oven cookery, 178 Banbury cakes, 549 Bantam’s eggs, to boil or poach, 446, 449 Barberries, to pickle, in bunches, to preserve, 526 stewed, for rice-crust, 459 Barberry jam, a good receipt for, 526 jam, another receipt for, 527 superior jelly and marmalade, 527 and rice pudding, tart, 364 Barley-sugar, 564 Barley-water, excellent (poor Xury’s receipt), 583 Basket, wire, for frying, 177 Batter, French, for frying meat and vegetables, &c., 130 cod’s sounds fried in, 63 salsify, fried in, 341 spring fruit, fried in, 383 to mix for puddings, 397 Béchamel, 108 Beans, French, to boil, 321 à la Française, 321 another excellent receipt for, 322 Windsor, to boil, 322 Beef, à la mode, 192 breslaw of, 206 cake (very good), 190 to choose, 184 minced collops of, au naturel, 201 savoury minced collops of, 201 Scotch minced collops of, 202 richer minced collops of, 202 divisions of, 184 Dutch or hung, 197 extract of, Baron Liebig’s, 6 fillet of, braised, 180 fillet of, roast, 187 hashed, French receipt for, 206 cold, common hash of, 205 cold, excellent hash of, 205 collared, 198 collared, another receipt for, 198 gravy, Baron Liebig’s, 96 Norman hash of, 206 heart, to roast, 204 Jewish (smoked), 606 kidney, to dress, 204 kidney (a plainer way), 205 marrow, clarified for keeping, 208 marrow, to prepare for frying croustades, &c., 388 marrow-bones, to boil, 207 marrow-bones, baked, 208 minced, baked, 207 626palates (Entrée), 194 palates (Neapolitan mode), 195 Hamburg pickle for, 197 another pickle for, 197 ribs of, to roast, 185 roll, or canellon de bœuf, 201 miniature round of, 200 round of, to salt and boil, 196 round of, spiced, 199 round of, roast, 186 rump of, to roast, 186 rump of, to stew, 194 to salt and pickle, various ways, 196 common receipt for salting, 198 saunders of, 207 shin of, to stew, 192 shin of, for stock, 97 sirloin of, to roast, 185 sirloin of, stewed, 193 spiced (good and wholesome), 199 smoked, 606 steak, roast, 187 steak, stewed, 189 steak, stewed in its own gravy, 189 steaks, best and most tender, 185 steaks, broiled, 187 steaks, broiled, sauces appropriate to, 188 steaks, fried, 189 steaks, à la Française, 188 steaks, à la Française, another receipt for, 189 steak pie, 354 steak puddings, 399, 401 good English stew of, 191 German stew, 190 Stufato, 615 Welsh stew of, 191 tongue (Bordyke’s receipt for stewing), 203 tongue potted, 305 tongues (various modes of curing), 202 tongues, to dress, 203 tongues, Suffolk receipt for, 203 Beet-root, to bake, 339 to boil, 339 to stew, 340 Belgrave mould, 469 Bengal currie powders, 615 Bermuda witches, 491 Birthday syllabub, 581 Biscuits, Aunt Charlotte’s, 561 Captain’s, good, 560 Colonel’s, 561 cheap ginger, 560 Threadneedle-street, 560 wine, 560 Bishop, Oxford receipt for, 580 Black-cap pudding, 407 Black-caps par excellence, 460 Black cock, and gray hen, to roast, 291 Blamange, or blanc manger, apricot, 479 good common (author’s receipt), 476 calf’s feet, to make, 454 currant, 479 quince (delicious), 478 quince, with almond cream, 478 627rich, 477 strawberry (extremely good), 477 strengthening, 476 Blanc, a, 169 Blanch, to, meat, vegetables, &c., 182 Blanquette, of sucking pig, 250 of veal or lamb with mushrooms, 229 Boil, to, meat, 167 a round of beef, 196 Boiled, calf’s head, 210 chestnuts, 274 custards, 481 eels (German receipt), 83 fowls, 273 leeks, 318 rice, to serve with stewed fruit, &c., 422 rice-pudding, 419, 420 turnip radishes, 318 breast of veal, 218 fillet of veal, 217 knuckle of veal, 221 loin of veal, 218 Boiling, general directions for, 167 scientific, Baron Liebig’s directions for, 168 Bonbons, palace, 567 Bone, to, calf’s head for brawn, 24, 215 calf’s head, the cook’s receipt, 211 calf’s head for mock turtle soup, 24 a fowl or turkey without opening it, 265 a fowl or turkey, another mode, 265 fowls, for fricassees, curries, and pies, 266 a hare, 285 a leg of mutton, 236 a loin of mutton for pies, 355 a breast of veal, 618 a shoulder of veal or mutton, 219 neck of venison for pies, 352 Boning, general directions for, 182 Bottle Jack, 170 Bottled fruits, for winter use, gooseberries, tomatas, or tomata-catsup, 151 Boudin, à la Richelieu, 288 Boudinettes of lobsters, &c., 92 Boulettes, potato, 314 Bouilli, French receipt for hashed, 206 Bouillon, observations on, 9 Brain cakes, 162 another receipt for, 162 Braise, to burn, 180 Braised fillet of beef, 180 leg of mutton, 236 Braising, directions for, 180 Brandy, cherry (Tappington Everard receipt), 579 lemon, for flavouring sweet dishes, 153 peaches preserved in, 571 trifle, or tipsy cake, 274 Brandied morella cherries, 571 Brawn Brack, cake (Irish), 546 good, light, 554 Brawn, calf’s head (author’s receipt), 215 Tenbridge, 260 628Bread, Bordyke receipt for, 597 to know when baked, 604 Bavarian brown, Liebig’s, 599 brown, English, 599 crumbs, fried, 131 crumbs, to prepare for frying fish, 131 dairy, without yeast, 602 to freshen stale, 603 to fry for garnishing, 131 to fry for soups, 5 with German yeast, 598 home-made, remarks on, 594 household, 596 to keep, 603 partridges served with, 279 patties, 387 potato, 600 puddings, 418, 430 and butter puddings, 428, 429 rules to be observed in making, 596 sauce, 112 sauce with onion, 113 unfermented, 599 to purify yeast for, 595 Bream, sea, to dress, 75 Brioche paste, 349 Brill, to boil, 58 Broccoli, 326 Broiled beef steak, 187 bacon, 259 cutlets, mutton, 241 cutlets, pork, 251 eels with sage (German), 617 fowl, 274 mackerel, 71 red mullet, 76 partridge, 290 partridge (French receipt), 290 Broiling, general directions for, 175 Broil, the Cavalier’s, 240 Broth, or bouillon, 6 veal, or mutton, 44 Browned flour for thickening soups and sauces, 131 Browning, with salamander, 183 Brown, rich, English gravy, 99 apple sauce, 125 caper sauce, 121 chestnut sauce, 129 mushroom sauce, 123 onion sauce, 125 rabbit soup, 31 Brown to, with salamander, 183 Brussels sprouts, 340 Buns, light, of different kinds, 559 Exeter, 559 excellent soda, 561 Geneva, 601 Burdwan, an Indian, 612 Burlington Whimsey, 212 Burnt coffee, or gloria, 592 Buttered apples, 488 cherries, 490 Butter, anchovy, 138 burnt, or browned, 109 clarified, for storing and for immediate use, 110 629to cool for crust, 345 creamed, and otherwise prepared for cakes, 543 lobster, 138 melted, good common, 108 melted, French, 109 melted, rich, 108 melted, rich, without flour, 109 melted, white, 109 loin of lamb stewed in, 246 truffled, 139 Buttermilk, for bread, 602 Cabbage, to boil, 332 stewed, 333 red, to stew (Flemish receipt), 340 red, to pickle, 539 Café noir, 592 Cake, fine almond, 545 apple, 362 beef or mutton, 190 breakfast, French, 549 a cheap common, 555 cream cake, 554 thick, light gingerbread, 551 a good light luncheon cake, 554 cheap nursery, 555 a good Madeira, 548 pound, 546 rice, 546 sausage-meat, or pain de porc frais, 261 a good soda, 556 a good sponge, 547 a smaller sponge, 547 tipsy, 474 veal, 222 veal, good (Bordyke receipt for), 222 Venetian or Neapolitan (super-excellent), 547 white, 546 Cakes, Banbury, 549 to colour sugar candy for, 542 flead, or fleed, 558 cocoa-nut gingerbread, 552 common gingerbread, 553 richer gingerbread, 553 queen, 556 general remarks on, 540 very good small rich, 558 to prepare butter for rich, 543 to whisk eggs for light rich, 543 small, sugar, various, 558 small Venetian, 548 Calf’s head, à la Maître d’Hôtel, 214 boiled, 210 brawn (author’s receipt), 215 to clear the hair from, 210 cutlets of, 213 hashed, 213 a cheap hash of, 213 prepared, the cook’s receipt, 211 soup, 27 The Warder’s way, 211 Calf’s feet jelly (entremets), 461 another receipt for, 462 jelly, apple, 464 jelly, orange, 464 630modern varieties of, 463 to prepare for stock, 453 stewed, 228 stock, 453 stock, to clarify, 454 Calf’s liver, stoved or stewed, 228 roast, 229 sweetbreads, 227 Cambridge milk punch, 581 Candy, cocoa-nut, 566 ginger, 565 orange-flower, 565 orange-flower (another receipt for), 566 Canellon de bœuf, 201 Canellons, filled with apricot or peach marmalade, 385 of brioche paste, 385 Caper sauce, 121 sauce for fish, 121 Capillaire in punch, 580 Caramel, to boil sugar to, 563 the quickest way, 563 Carp, to stew, 82 Carrots, au beurre, 336 to boil, 335 in their own juice 337 mashed, or buttered (Dutch), 336 in plum pudding, 417 sweet, for second course, 336 the Windsor receipt (Entrée), 335 Carrot, soup, common, 20 soup, a finer, 20 Casserole of rice, savoury, 351 of rice, sweet, 438 Catsup, the cook’s, or compound, 149 lemon, 150 mushroom, 146,148 mushroom, double, 148 pontac, for fish, 150 tomato, 151 walnut, 149, 150 Cauliflowers, to boil, 325 French receipt for, 325 à la Française, 326 with Parmesan cheese, 325 Cavalier’s, the, broil, 240 Cayenne, vinegar, 153 Celery, boiled, 341 salad, to serve with pheasants, 341 sauce, 128 stewed, 341 Chantilly baskets, 474 Charlotte de pommes, or apple Charlotte, 486 à la Parisienne, 487 Chatnies (Mauritian), 144, 610 Cheese, damson, 520 in fondu, 379 Italian pork, 260 with maccaroni, 392 with maccaroni, à la Reine, 393 in ramakins, 375 to serve with white and maccaroni soup, 13 cheese-cakes, cocoa-nut (Jamaica receipt), 371 Madame Werner’s Rosenvik, 372 Cherries, brandied, morella, 571 631Cherries, compote of Kentish, 458 compote of morella, 458 morella, to dry, 504 dried with sugar, 502 dried without, 503 dried, superior receipt, 503 to pickle, 532 brandy, 579 cherry, cheese, 504 cherry, paste, 504 Chestnuts, boiled, 574 roasted, 574 stewed, 342 Chestnut forcemeat, No. 15, 162 sauce, brown, 129 sauce, white, 129 soups, 19 Chetney, various ways of making, 144 Chicken, broiled, 274 cutlets, 275, 276 fried, à la Malabar, 276 patties (good), 359 potato pasty, 350 Chicken pie (common), 353 modern pie, 353 Chickens, boiled, 273 fricasseed, 275 in soup, 29 China chilo of mutton, 241 Chocolate, almonds, 568 drops, 567 to make, 592 Spanish receipt for making, 592 Chops, lamb or mutton, broiled, 241 mutton, stewed in their own gravy (good), 240 pork, 251 Chorissa, or Jewish sausage, with rice, 607 Christopher North’s own sauce for many meats, 119 Cocoa, to make, 593 Cocoa-nut candy, 566 cheese-cakes, 371 in curries, 296 Doce, 490 gingerbread, 553 macaroons, 545 puddings, 424 soup, 19 Cod fish, to boil, 61 slices of, fried, 61 stewed, 62 stewed in brown sauce, 62 Cod’s sounds, to boil, 63 to fry in batter, 63 Coffee, to boil, 591 breakfast, French, 590 burnt, or coffee à la Militaire, vulgarly called Glosia, 592 to filter, 590 directions for making, 589 strong, clear, to serve after dinner, called café noir, 592 remarks on, 587 to roast, 588 roaster, 588 Cold, calf’s head, to re-dress, 214 632Cold, fowls, ditto, 276, 277 leg of mutton, ditto, 207 Maître d’Hôtel, sauce, 133 meat, excellent sauces to serve with, 133, 134, 136 salmon, to dress, 59 turbot, ditto, 59 Collops minced, au naturel, 201 savoury minced, 201 sauté-pan for frying, 176 Scotch, 226 Scotch minced, 202 Compote of apples, baked (our little Lady’s receipt), 572 of green apricots, 457 of bullaces, 458 of cherries, 458 of Kentish cherries, 458 of Morella cherries, 458 of green currants, 457 of red currants, 457 of damsons, 458 of figs, 492 of green gooseberries, 457 of magnum bonum, or other large plums, 458 of peaches, 459 of peaches, another receipt, 459 Compote de pigeons, 619 Compote de pigeons aux petits pois, 619 of Siberian crabs, 458 of spring fruit (rhubarb), 457 Confectionary, 562 Conjurer, a, its uses, 175 Consommé, 10 Constantia jelly, 467 Cookery (English), common causes of its failure, 167 Cool cup, a, 582 Corn, Indian green, to boil, 329 Counsellor’s cup, 585 Crab, cold, dressed, 88 hot, 89 Creamed tartlets, 375 spring fruit, or rhubarb trifle, 486 Cream, Chantilly basket filled with, 474 Cream cake, delicious, 554 crust, 347 Devonshire, or clotted, 451 jelly, filled with, 469 lemon, made without cream, 475 Nesselróde, 471 remarks on, 450 Swiss, 473 in soups, 19, 22, 29, 30 Creams, lemon (very good), 475 fruit, 475 Italian, 475 Crême à la Comtesse, or the Countess’s cream, 272 Crême, Parisienne, 479 patissiere, 373 Crisped potatoes, or potato-ribbons, to serve with cheese, 313 Croquettes of rice (entremets), 385 of rice, filled with preserve, of rice, savoury, 386 633Croustades, or Dresden patties, 387 of various kinds, 387 small, dressed in marrow, 388 small, à la bonne maman, 389 to prepare marrow for frying, 388 Croûte aux-champignons, or mushroom-toast, 330 Crust butter, for puddings, 398 cream, 347 flead, 347 French, for hot or cold meat pies, 347 excellent short, 349 rich short, for tarts, 349 Crust, common suet for pies, 348 very superior suet, for pies, 348 suet, for puddings, 398 Crusts, to serve with cheese, 398 Cucumber (author’s receipt), to dress, 323 soup, 38 vinegar, 152 Cucumbers à la Crème, 324 à la Poulette, 324 dressed, 323 fried, 324 stewed, 323 Curds and whey, 451 Currants, to clean for puddings and cakes, 397 green, stewed, 457 red, stewed, 457 Currant, blamange, 479 custard, 482 dumplings, 421 jam, red (delicious), 509 jam, white, 510 jelly, fine black, 511 jelly, French, 509 jelly, superlative red, 509 jelly, white, very fine, 510 jelly, tartlets, 375 paste, 510 pudding, 408 syrup, or sirop de groseilles, 579 Curried eggs 301 gravy, 302 maccaroni, 300 oysters, 302 toasts, with anchovies, 389 sweetbreads, 301 Currie, Mr. Arnott’s, 297 a Bengal, 298 a dry, 298 common Indian, 299 Currie powder, Mr. Arnott’s, 297 Curries, remarks on, 296 Selim’s (Capt. White’s), 300 Custard, baked, common, 483 a finer 483 currant, 482 the Duke’s, 482 the Queen’s, 481 veal, or a Sefton, 362 Custards, boiled, good, old-fashioned, 481 boiled, rich, 481 chocolate, 483 French, 484 quince, or apple, 482 Cutlets of calf’s head, 213 634Chicken, English, 275 of fowls, partridges, or pigeons (Entrée), 276 lamb, in their own gravy, stewed, 246 lamb, or mutton, with Soubise sauce, 246 mutton, broiled, 241 of cold mutton, 243 mutton, in their own gravy, stewed, 240 pork, 251 veal à la Française, 226 veal à l’Indienne, or Indian fashion, 225 veal à la mode de Londres, or London fashion, 226 veal, plain, 225 of sweetbreads, 227 Damson, cheese, 520 jam, 519 jelly, 519 solid, 519 pudding, 408 Des Cerneaux, or walnut salad, 141 Devonshire junket, 452 Dough nuts, Isle of Wight, receipt for, 556 Dresden patties, or croustades, 387 Dried apples, to stew, 572 apricots, French receipt, 517 cherries, with sugar, 502, 503 cherries, without sugar, 503 gooseberries, with and without sugar, 501 mushrooms, 153 plums (Pruneaux de Tours), to stew, 573 Dry, to apricots, a quick and easy method, 517 Imperatrice plums, 521 Mogul plums, 515 peaches or nectarines, 518 Duck, stewed, 279 Ducks, to roast, 279 stuffing for, No. 9, 160 wild, to roast, 294 Dumplings, apple (fashionable) 420 currant, light, 421 lemon, 421 Norfolk, 421 Suffolk, or hard, 421 Dutch, or hung beef, 197 custard, 438 flummery, 477 Eels, boiled, German receipt, 83 Cornish receipt, 84 to fry, 83 Egg balls, 162 sauce, for calf’s head, 111 sauce, common, 110 sauce, good, 110 a swan’s, to boil hard, 448 swan’s, en salade, 448 Eggs, to boil in the shell, 445 to cook in the shell, without boiling, 445 continental mode of dressing, or œufs au plat, 450 635Eggs, to dress Guinea fowls or Bantams, 416 to dress turkeys, 417 curried, 301 forced turkey’s or swan’s, 447 forced, for salad, 137 to preserve for many weeks, 444 poached, with gravy, 449 to poach, 449 to whisk, for cakes, 543 Elderberry wine, 584 Elegant, the Economist’s, pudding, 415, 428 lobster salad, 142 English, brioche, 349 brown gravy, 99 game pie, 352 puff paste, 346 stew, 191 Entrées, beef cake, 190 beef collops, 201 beef palates, 194, 195 beef roll, or canellon de bœuf, 201 beef steaks à la Française, 188, 189 beef tongues, 202 Bengal currie, 298 blanquette of sucking pig, 250 blanquette of veal or lamb, with mushrooms, 229 broiled mutton cutlets, 241 broiled ox-tail, 195 boudinettes of lobsters, shrimps, &c., 92 calf’s head à la Maître d’Hôtel, 214 calf’s head, the Warder’s way, 211 calf’s liver, stewed, 228 casserole of rice, 351 chicken cutlets, 275 chicken patties, 359 compote de pigeons, 299 curries, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 615 croquettes of savoury, of rice, 386 croustades filled with mince, 387 cutlets of calf’s head, 213 cutlets of fowls, partridges, or pigeons, 275 Dresden patties, 387 fillets of mackerel, 71 fillets of mackerel in wine, 72 fillets of soles, 65 fillets of whitings, 68[194] fowls, à la Carlsfors, 273 fricandeau of veal, 223 fricasseed fowls or chickens, 274 fried chicken à la Malabar, 275 hashed fowl, 276 lamb cutlets in their own gravy, 246 lamb or mutton cutlets, with soubise sauce, 246 lobster cutlets, 91 lobsters fricasseed, 89 636loin of lamb stewed in butter, 216 minced fowl, 276 minced veal with oysters, 231 mutton cutlets in their own gravy, 210 mutton kidneys à la Française, 213 Oxford receipt for mutton kidneys, 214 oyster patties, 359 oyster sausages, 87 patties à la pontife and à la cardinale, 360 pork cutlets, 251 rissoles, 387 salmis of game, 292, 294 savoury croquettes of rice, 386 savoury rissoles, 387 sausages and chestnuts, 262 scallops of fowl au béchamel, 277 Sefton, a, or veal custard, 362 small pain de veau, or veal cake, 222 spring stew of veal, 224 stewed beef-steak, 189 stewed calf’s feet, 228 stewed duck, 278 stewed leg of lamb, with white sauce, 245 stewed ox-tails, 195 stewed tongue, 203 sweetbread cutlets, 227 sweetbreads, stewed, fricasseed, or roasted, 227 truffled sausages, or saucisses aux truffles, 263 veal cutlets, 225 veal cutlets or collops, à la Française, 226 veal cutlets à l’Indienne, or Indian fashion, 225 veal cutlets à la mode de Londres, or London fashion, 226 veal fricasseed, 231 minced, 230 vol-au-vent, 357 small vols-au-vents, 374 Entremets, apfel krapfen (German receipt), 373 apple cake, or German tart, 362 apple calf’s feet jelly, 464 Charlotte, 486 apple custards, 482 apple, peach, or orange fritters, 384 apple hedgehog, or Suédoise, 480 apple tarts, 363 apricot blamange, 479 arocē docē, or sweet rice à la Portugaise, 489 asparagus points, dressed like peas, 319 barberry tart, 364 Bermuda witches, 491 blamanges (various), 476-479 637Entremets, Black caps, par excellence, 460 boiled custards, 481 brioche fritters, 384 buttered cherries, or cerises au beurre, 490 calf’s feet jelly, 461, 463 canellons, 385 canellons of brioche paste, 385 cauliflowers à la Française, 326 cauliflowers with Parmesan cheese, 325 Chantilly basket, 474 Charlotte à la Parisienne, 487 chocolate custard, 483 cocoa-nut cheese cakes, 371 compote of peaches, 459 compotes (various) of fruit, 457, 458 constantia jelly, 467 creamed tartlets, 375 crême à la Comtesse, or the Countess’s cream, 472 croquettes of rice, 385 croquettes of rice, finer, 386 croustades, or sweet patties à la minute, 387 cucumbers à la crême, 324 cucumbers, à la poulette, 324 currant jelly tartlets or custards, 375 custards (baked), 483 custards (various), 481, 484 dressed maccaroni, 392 fairy fancies, 368 fanchonettes, 374 forced eggs, or eggs en surprise, 447 French beans à la Française, 321 gâteau of mixed fruits, 461 gâteau de pommes, 460 gâteau de riz, 433 gâteau de semoule, 430 genoises à la Reine, 366 German puffs, 484 Gertrude à la crême, 487 green peas à la Française, 320 green peas with cream, 321 imperial gooseberry fool, 480 Italian creams, 475 jaumange, or jaune manger, 477 Jerusalem artichokes à la Reine, 338 lemon calf’s feet jelly, 467 lemon creams, 475 lemon fritters, 384 lemon sandwiches, 374 lemon sponge, 480 lemon tartlets, 372 lobster au béchamel, 89 lobster salad, 142 Louise Franks’ citron soufflé, 378 Madame Werner’s Rosenvik cheese cakes, 372 Madeleine puddings, 432 Meringue of pears, 486 Meringues, 550, 551 mincemeat fritters, 383 mince pies, 369 638mince pies royal, 370 monitor’s tart, 370 moulded rice, or sago, and apple-juice, 422 mushroom-toast, 330 mushrooms au beurre, 329 Nesselróde pudding, 491 omlette aux fines herbes, 380 omlette soufflée, 381 orange calf’s feet jelly, 434 orange fritters, 384 orange isinglass jelly, 465 oranges filled with jelly, 466 pancakes, 382 pastry sandwiches, 374 plain common fritters, 381 pommes au beurre, or buttered apples, 488 potatoes à la Maître d’Hôtel, 315 potato boulettes, 314 potato fritters, 384 potato-ribbons, 313 potted meats, 303 prawns, 93 pudding-pies, 371 Queen Mab’s summer pudding,[195] 470 quince blamange, 478 ramakins à l’Ude, 375 raspberry puffs, 375 rice à la Vathek, 440 salad of lobster, 142 sea-kale, 316 sea-kale stewed in gravy, 316 scooped potatoes, 312 spinach à l’Anglaise, 317 spinach (French receipt), 316 stewed celery, 341 strawberry blamange, 477 strawberry isinglass jelly, 468 strawberry tartlets, 375 suédoise of peaches, 488 sweet carrots, 336 sweet casserole of rice, 438 sweet maccaroni, 490 Swiss cream, or trifle, 473 tartlets of almond paste, 367 tipsy cake, or brandy trifle, 474 tourte meringuée, 363 trifle (excellent), 473 truffles à l’Italienne, 331 truffles à la serviette, 331 turnips in white sauce, 334 Venetian fritters, 383 Vol-au-vent à la crême, 358 Vol-au-vent of fruit, 358 Vols-au-vent, small, à la Parisienne, 374 Epicurean sauce, 151 Eschalots, to pickle, 537 to serve with venison, 284 Eschalot sauce, mild, 127 vinegar, 152 wine, 153 Espagnole, or Spanish sauce, 100 with wine, 100 639Fairy Fancies (fantaisies de fées), 368 Fanchonnettes (entremets), 374 Fancy jellies, 469 Fermentation of bread, 604 Feuilletage, or fine puff paste, 345 Figs, stewed, 492 Fillets of mackerel boiled, 71 of mackerel, fried or broiled, 71 of mackerel stewed in wine, 72 of soles, 65 of whitings, 68 Fillet of mutton, 238 of veal au béchamel, with oysters, 215 of veal, boiled, 217 of veal, roast, 216 Finnan haddocks (to dress), 74 Fish, to bake, 55 boiled, to render firm, 54 brine, for boiling, 54 best mode of boiling, 53 to choose, 48 to clean, 50 cooking, mode of, best adapted to different kinds of, 51 fat for frying, 55 to keep, 51 to keep hot for table, 56 to know when cooked, 55 to sweeten when tainted, 51 salt, to boil, 62 salt, à la Maître d’Hôtel, 63 salt, in potato-pasty, 350 shell, dishes of, 85 Flead, or fleed crust, 347 Flavouring, for sweet dishes, 456 Flounders, to boil, and fry, 75 Flour, browned, for thickening soups, &c., 131 Flour of potatoes (fecule de pommes de terre), 154 of rice, 154 Fondu, a, 379 Forced turkeys’ or swans’ eggs, 447 turkey, 268 Forcemeats, general remarks on, 156 Forcemeat balls for mock turtle, No. 11, 161 chestnut, No. 15, 162 Mr. Cooke’s for geese or ducks, No. 10, 161 good common, for veal, turkeys, &c., No. 1, 157 another good common, No. 2, 157 French, an excellent, No. 16, 163 French, called quenelles, No. 17, 163 for hare, No. 8, 160 mushroom, No. 7, 159 oyster, No. 5, 159 oyster, finer, No. 6, 159 for raised, and other cold pies, No. 18, 164 common suet, No. 4, 158 superior suet, No. 3, 158 Fourneau économique, or portable French furnace, 494, 495 Fowl, a, to bone, without opening it, 265 to bone, another way, 265 640Fowl, to bone, for fricassees, &c., 266 to broil, 274 à la Carlsfors, 273 fried, à la Malabar (entrée), 276 hashed, 276 minced (French and other receipts), 277 minced, French receipt (entrée), 276 roast (French receipt), 273 to roast a, 272 scollops of, au béchamel, 278 Fowl-Guinea, to roast a, 273 Fowl, wild, 294 salmi of, 294 Fowls à la mayonnaise, 278 to bone, for fricassees, curries, and pies, 266 boiled, 274 cutlets of, English (entrée), 275 fricasseed, 275 cold, fritot of, 277 cold, grillade of, 278 French batter, for frying fruit, vegetables, &c., 130 melted butter, 109 breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn, 549 crust, for hot or cold pies, 347 receipt for boiling a ham, 258 Maître d’Hôtel sauce, 116, 117 rice pudding, 433 partridges, 290 semoulina pudding, 430 salad, 140 salad dressing, 140 salmi, or hash of game, 292 thickening, or roux, 106 beans, à la Française, 321 beans, an excellent receipt for, 322 beans, to boil, 321 Fresh herrings (Farleigh receipt for), 74 Fricandeau of veal, 223 Fried anchovies in batter, 84 bread-crumbs, 131 bread for garnishing, 131 canellons, 385 cod-fish, slices of, 61 Jerusalem artichokes, 338 mackerel, 70 parsnips, 337 potatoes, 313 salsify, 341 soles, 64 Fritters, apple, apricot, orange, or peach, 384 brioche, 384 cake, 382 lemon, 384 mincemeat (very good), 383 orange, 384 plain, common, 381 of plum pudding, 382 potato, 384 of spring fruit (rhubarb), 383 Venetian, 383 Fruit, to bottle for winter use, 522 creams, 475 en chemise, 570 isinglass jellies, 464-469 641to weigh the juice of, 498 directions for preserving, 496 remarks on preserved, 493 stewed, 456-459 tart, with royal icing, 363 Frying, general directions for, 176 Galantine of chicken, 266 Galette, 557 Game, to choose, 281 directions for keeping, 281 gravy of, 289 hashes of, 292, 294 Gar-fish, to broil or bake, 77 Garlic, mild ragout of, 126 vinegar, 152 Gâteau of mixed fruits, 461 de pommes, 460 de semoule, or French semoulina pudding, 430 de riz, or French rice pudding, 433 Geneva buns, or rolls, 601 Genevese sauce, 117 Genoises à la Reine, or her Majesty’s pastry, 366 German puffs, 484 pudding, 412 pudding sauce (delicious), 413 yeast, observations on, 598 Gertrude à la Crême, 487 Gherkins, to pickle, 532 to pickle, French receipt, 533 Ginger biscuits, cheap, 560 bread, 553 bread, Acton, 552 bread, cocoa-nut, 553 bread, thick, light, 551 candy, 565 oven cakes, 552 wine (excellent), 584 Glaze, to make, 104 Glaze, to, pastry, 345 Glazing, directions for, 182 for fine pastry and cakes, 345 Goose, to deprive of its strong odour, Obs: 271 to roast, 271 to roast a green, 271 Gooseberries, to bottle for tarts, 499 dried, with sugar, 499 dried, without sugar, 501 Gooseberry jam, red, 500 jam, very fine, 500 jelly, 500, 501 paste, 501 pudding, 435, 408, 420 sauce for mackerel, 120 Grape jelly, 520 Gravies, to heighten the colour and flavour of, 96 introductory remarks on, 84 shin of beef stock for, 97 Gravy, good beef or veal (English receipt), 99 Baron Liebig’s beef (most excellent), 96 rich brown, 99 642Gravy cheap, for a fowl, 101 another cheap, 102 curried, 302 Espagnole, highly-flavoured, 100 Espagnole with wine, 100 for a goose, 102 in haste, 101 jus des rognons, or kidney gravy, 101 orange, for wild fowl, 102 veal, rich, deep-coloured, 98 veal, rich, pale, or consommé, 97 for venison, plain, 99 for haunch of venison, 283 rich, for venison, 100 sweet sauce, or gravy, for venison, 100 soup, or stock, clear, pale, 10 soup, cheap, clear, 11 soup, another receipt for, 10 Gray hen, to roast, 291 Green goose, to roast, 271 mint sauce, 132 mint vinegar, 152 orange plum, preserve of, 514 peas, à la Française, 320 peas, with cream, 321 pea-soup, cheap, 40 peas-soup, excellent, 39 peas-soup, without meat, 39 Greengage jam, or marmalade, 515 Groseillée, 513 Ground rice puddings, 435 in pudding-pies, 371 Grouse, to roast, 292 salmi of, 292 Guava, English, 520 strawberry jelly, which resembles, 505 Guinea-fowl, to roast, 273 Gurnards, to dress in various ways, 74 Haddocks, baked, 73 to boil, 73 Finnan, to dress, 74 to fry, 73 Ham, to bake a, 258 to boil a, 256 to boil a (French receipt), 253 potted, excellent, 304 Hams, Bordyke receipt for, 256 to garnish and ornament in various ways, 257 to pickle, 254 superior to Westphalia (Monsieur Ude’s receipt), 255 genuine Yorkshire receipt for, 253 Hamburgh pickle, for hams, beef, and tongues, 197 another pickle, for hams, beef, and tongues, 197 Hare, to choose, 282 forcemeat for, No. 8, 160 sweet gravy for, 284 in pie, 352 potted, 307 to roast, 284 to roast, superior receipt, 285 soup, superlative, 32 soup, a less expensive, 32 643stewed, 286 Haricots blancs, 338 Harrico, Norman 224 Hashed bouilli, 206 calf’s head, 213 fowl, 276 venison, 284 Hash, a, of cold beef or mutton (excellent), 205 common, of cold beef or mutton, 205 cheap, of calf’s head, 213 Norman, 206 Haunch of mutton, to roast, 234 of venison, to roast, 282 Herrings, fresh (Farleigh receipt), 74 red, à la Dauphin, 84 red, common English mode, 84 Iced pudding, Nesselrôde, 491 Ice, advantage of, for jellies, fine paste, &c., 575 Ices, observations on, 575 currant, 576 raspberry, 576 strawberry, 576 Icing, for tarts, &c., 345 white or coloured, for fine pastry, or cakes, 543 Imperatrice plums, to dry, 521 very fine marmalade of, 521 Imperial gooseberry fool, 480 Imperials, 545 Indian Burdwan, 612 common currie, 299 curried fish, 615 lobster cutlets, 611 pilaw, 614 corn, to boil, 329 Ingoldsby Christmas pudding, 416 Ingredients, which may all be used in making soups, 1 Invalid’s, the, new baked apple pudding, 608 Irish stew, 242 Isinglass to clarify, 454 jelly, Constantia, 467 jelly, orange, 465 jelly, strawberry, and other fruit, 505-508 Italian creams, 475 jelly, 470 meringues, 551 modes of dressing maccaroni, 391-393 pork cheese, 260 Jack-bottle, 170 spring, 170 Jam, apricot, or marmalade, 516 barberry, 526 cherry, 502 currant, best black, 512 currant, black, 511 currant, red, superlative, 509 currant, white, a beautiful preserve, 510 damson, 519 gooseberry, red, 500 644gooseberry, very fine, 500 green gooseberry, 499 greengage, 515 of mixed fruits, 483 of Mogul plums, 515 peach (or nectarine), 518 raspberry, 506 raspberry, very good, red or white, 507 raspberry, very rich, 506 rhubarb, 498 strawberry, 504 Jaumange, or jaune manger, called also Dutch flummery, 477 Jellies, calf’s feet stock for, 453 to clarify calf’s feet stock for, 454 to clarify isinglass for, 454 fancy, 469 meat, for pies and sauces, 103 cheaper meat, 103 Jelly apple, 522 apple, exceedingly fine, 523 apple, calf’s feet, 464 barberry, 527 calf’s feet, 461, 462 calf’s feet, modern varieties of, 463 calf’s feet, strawberry, 468 lemon, calf’s feet, 467 orange, calf’s feet, 464 orange isinglass, 465 orange, very fine, 465 orange, Seville, very fine, 530 Constantia, 467 black currant, common, 511 black currant, fine, 511 currant, red, 508 currant, red, French, 509 red currant, superlative (Norman receipt), 509 currant, white, very fine, 510 damson, 519 green gooseberry, 498 ripe gooseberry, 500, 501 red grape, 520 guava, English, 520 to extract the juice of plums for, 497 mussel plum, 516 quince, 525 raspberry, 507, 508 rhubarb isinglass, 468 Siberian crab, 526 tartlets, or custards, 375 strawberry, very fine, 505 John Dories, small, baked (author’s receipt), 58 John Dory, to boil a, 58 Jewish almond pudding, 608 table, general directions for the, 609 cookery, remarks on, 606 sausage, or Chorissa, 607 smoked beef, 606 Julep, mint (American), 582 Jumbles, 556 Kale, sea, to boil, 316 stewed in gravy (entremets), 316 Kater’s, Captain, receipt for boiling potatoes, 312 645Kedgerse (an Indian breakfast dish), 612 Kentish, receipt for cutting up and curing a pig, 254 suet pudding, 407 Kidneys, mutton, à la Française, 243 mutton, to broil, 244 mutton, Oxford receipt for, 244 Kidney, beef, to dress, 204, 205 Kohl-cannon, or Kale-cannon (Irish receipt), 315 Lait, du, à Madame, 451 Lady’s, the, sauce for fish, 117 Lamb, cutlets, in their own gravy, 246 cutlets, with Soubise sauce, 216 cutlets of cold, 246 leg of, with white sauce, 245 roast loin of, 245 loin of, stewed in butter, 246 to roast a quarter of, 244 roast saddle of, 245 sauce for, 132 Landrail, to roast, 291 Lard, to melt, 248 to preserve unmelted, for many months, 248 to, a pheasant, 287 Larding, general directions for, 181 Larding-needles, 181 Lardoons, 181 Leeks, to boil, 318 Lemonade, delicious, milk, 583 excellent, portable, 583 Lemon, calf’s feet jelly, 467 creams, 475 dumplings, 421 fritters, 384 jelly, calf’s feet, 467 pickle, or catsup, 150 pudding, an excellent, 426 sandwiches, 374 sponge, or moulded cream, 480 suet pudding, 427 tartlets, 372 Lemons in mincemeat, 368, 369 to pickle, 534, 538 Lettuces, in mayonnaise of fowls, 278 stewed, 319 in salads, 140, 141 Liebig’s, Baron, directions for boiling, 53 for roasting, 171 beef gravy, 96 extract of beef, 6 Limes, to pickle, 538 Liver, calf’s, to roast, 229 stoved, or stewed, 228 Lobsters, to boil, 88 boudinettes of (author’s receipt), 92 Lobster, or crab, buttered, 89 butter, 138 cutlets (a superior entrée), 91 cutlets, Indian, 611 cold dressed, 88 fricasseed, or au béchamel, 89 hot, 89 patties, common, 359 patties, superlative, 359 646potted, 90 salad, 142 sausages, 91 Luncheon cake, 555 Macaroons, almond, 544 cocoa-nut (very fine), 545 orange-flower, 544 Macaroncini, to boil and to choose, 390 Maccaroni, Genoa, to boil, 391 Neapolitan, to boil, 391 ribbon (or lazanges), to boil, 391 to choose, and other Italian pastes, 390 to dress à la Reine, 393 to dress in various ways, 392 with gravy, 392 ribbon, 391 soup, 13 sweet, 490 Mackerel, to bake, 69 baked (Cinderella’s receipt, good), 70 to boil, 69 broiled whole, 71 fillets of, boiled, 71 fillets of, broiled or fried, 71 fillets of, stewed in wine (excellent), 72 fried (French receipt), 70 stewed with wine, 72 Madeira cake, 548 Madeleine puddings, to serve cold, 432 Magnum bonum plums, to dry or preserve, 515 Mai-Trank (German), 620 Maître d’Hôtel sauce, cold, 133 sauce, French, 116 sauce, maigre, 117 sauce, sharp (English receipt for), 116 Majesty’s, her, pastry, 366 pudding, 410 Mandrang, or mandram, West Indian receipt, 323 another receipt for, 323 Mangoes, lemon, 538 peach, 534 Marmalade, apple, for Charlotte, 487 apricot, 516 barberry, 527 Imperatrice plum, 521 orange (Portuguese receipt), 527 clear (author’s receipt), 529 orange, genuine Scotch receipt for, 528 peach, 518 pine-apple, superior (a new receipt), 513 quince, 524 quince and apple, 525 Marrow bones, baked, 208 to boil, 207 Marrow, clarified, to keep, 208 vegetable, to dress in various ways, 327 Mashed, artichokes, Jerusalem, 338 carrots, 336 parsnips (see turnips), 333 potatoes, 313 potatoes, crust of, for pasty, 350 turnips (an excellent receipt for), 333 647Mayonnaise, a delicious sauce to serve with cold meat, &c., 135, 136 French, 617 Swiss, 617 Mayor’s, the Lord, soup, 17 soup (author’s receipt for), 18 Meat, jellies for, pies, 104 pies, crust for, 347, 348 puddings, 399-401 rolls, excellent, 360 Mélange of fruit for rice-crust, 570 or mixed preserve, 513 Melon, to serve with meat, 325 sweet pickle of, to serve with roast meat (good), 534 Melted butter, 108, 109 Meringue of pears, or other fruit, 486 of rhubarb, or gooseberries, 485 Meringues, 550 Italian, 551 Milk, cocoa-nut flavoured, for sweet dishes, 456 lemonade, delicious, 583 remarks on, 450 Mild eschalot sauce, 127 mustard, 130 ragout of garlic, or l’ail à la Bordelaise, 126 Minced collops, 201 fowl, 276 veal, 230 veal, with oysters, 231 Mincemeat (author’s receipt), 368 superlative, 369 fritters, 383 Mince pies (entremets), 369 royal, 370 Miniature round of beef, 199 Mint julep, 582 sauce, 132 Mock, brawn, 260 turtle soup, 23 turtle soup, good old-fashioned, 26 Modern blanc-mange-mould, 476 cake-mould, 540 chicken pie, 353 jelly-mould, 470 potato pasty, 350 varieties of calf’s feet jelly, 463 Monitor’s tart, or tourte à la Judd, 370 Moor game, to roast and hash, 291, 292 Mould for French pies, or casseroles of rice, 344 Mull, to, wine, an excellent receipt (French), 581 Mullagatawny soup, 35 vegetable, 37 Mullet, grey, to boil, 76 red, to bake, broil, or roast, 76 Mushroom catsup, 146 catsup, another receipt for, 148 catsup, double, 148 forcemeat, 159 powder, 154 sauce, brown, 123 sauce, another, 123 sauce, white, 122 648Mushrooms, au beurre, 329 dried, 153 partridges with, 289 in pigeon pie, 354 pickled, in brine for winter use, 536 to pickle, 535 potted (delicious), 330 toast, or croûte aux champignons, 330 Mussel-plums, preserves of, 516 Mustard, to make, 130 mild, 130 Tartar, 155 another Tartar, 155 horseradish vinegar for ditto, 153 Mutton, broth, 44 to choose, 233 cutlets broiled, and Soubise sauce, 243 cutlets, to broil, 241 cutlets of, cold, 243 cutlets, stewed in their own gravy, 240 fillet of, roast or stewed, 238 haunch of, to roast, 234 kidneys à la Française (entrée), 243 kidneys, broiled, 244 kidneys, Oxford receipt for, 244 leg of, to boil (an excellent receipt), 237 leg of, boned and forced, 236 leg of, braised, 236 leg of, roast, 235 loin of, roast, 238 loin of, stewed like venison, 239 neck of, roast, 239 pie, common, 355 pie, good, 355 pudding, 401 saddle of, to roast, 235 shoulder of, broiled, 240 shoulder of, to roast, 239 shoulder of, forced, 240 a good family stew of, 242 stock for soup, 16 Nasturtiums, to pickle, 539 Nesselrôde cream, 471 pudding, 491 Norfolk biffins, dried, 572 sauce, 99 Norman harricot, 224 Normandy pippins, 572 Nougat, 564 Nouilles, to make, 5 Œufs au plat, 450 pochés au jus, 449 Old-fashioned boiled custard, 481 Oil, to fry salmon and other fish in (Jewish), 607 Olive sauce, 128 Omlette aux fines herbes, 380 soufflée, 381 Omlets, observations on, 380 Omlet, common, 380 King of Oude’s, 612 Onion sauce, brown, 125 sauce, brown, another receipt for, 125 sauce, white, 125 649Onion and sage stuffing for ducks and geese, No. 9, 160 rich white sauce of, or Soubise, 126 Onions, to pickle, 537 stewed, 342 Orange, baskets for jelly, 466 calf’s feet jelly, 464 conserve for cheese-cakes, or pudding, 501 fritters, 384 gravy, 102 isinglass jelly, 465 marmalade, 527, 529 plums, preserve of, 514 salad, 571 snow-balls, 420 wine, 585 Orange-flower, candy, 565, 566 Seville, paste, 568 filled with jelly in stripes, 466 Tangerine, 571 Oven, American, 178 management of, 595 objection to iron ones, 595 Oxford receipt for Bishop, 580 for mutton kidneys, 244 punch, 580 Ox-cheek, stuffed and baked, 208 Ox-tail, broiled (entrée), 195 stewed, 195 soup, 42 Ox tongue, to pickle, 202 potted, 305 Oyster forcemeat, No. 5, 159; No. 6, 159 patties, 359 sauce, common, 114 sauce, good, 114 sausages, 87 soup, white, or à la Reine, 30 Oysters, curried, 302 to feed, 85 to fry, 80 scalloped, à la Reine, 86 to scallop, 86 to stew, 86 to stew, another receipt, 87 Pain de pore frais, or sausage-meat cake, 261 Pain de veau, or veal cake, 222 Pain de veau (Bordyke receipt), 222 Palace-bonbons, 567 Palates, beef, to dress, 194, 195 Panada, 165 Pancakes, 382 to crisp, 130 fried, 130 Parsley green for colouring sauces, 129 Parsneps, to boil, 337 fried, 337 Partridge, broiled (breakfast dish), 290 broiled (French receipt), 290 French, or red-legged, to dress, 290 potted, 305 pudding, 401 soup, 35 Partridges, boiled, 289 with mushrooms, 289 to roast, 288 650salmi, or rich hash of, 292 salmi of (French), 292 Paste, almond, 367 brioche, 349 cherry (French), 504 currant, 510 gooseberry, 501 very good light, 346 English puff, 316 fine puff, or feuilletage, 345 quince, 525 Pastry, to colour almonds or sugar-grains for, 542 to glaize or ice, 345 icing for, 345 sugar-icing for, 543 her Majesty’s, 366 general remarks on, 344 sandwiches, 374 Pasty, potato, 350 varieties of, 351 mould for, 351 Pâte Brisée, or French crust for hot or cold pies, 347 Patties à la Pontife (entrées), 360 good chicken, 359 common lobster, 559 superlative lobster, author’s receipt, 359 oyster (entrée), 359 sweet boiled, 422 tartlets, or small vols-au-vents, to make, 361 Peach, fritters, 384 jam, or marmalade, 518 mangoes, 534 Peaches, compote of, 459 to dry, an easy and excellent receipt, 518 to pickle, 534 preserved in brandy (Rotterdam receipt), 571 stewed, 459 Suédoise of, 488 vol-au-vent of, 358 Pears, baked, 573 stewed, 573 meringue of, 486 Pearled fruit, 570 Peas, green, to boil, 320 green, with cream, 321 green, soup of, 39, 40 green, stewed, à la Française, 320 pudding, 401 soup, common, 41 soup without meat, 42 soup, rich, 41 Perch, to boil, 82 to fry, 83 Pheasant, boudin of, 288 cutlets, 275 to roast, 287 salmi of, 292 soup, 33, 34 Pickle, for beef, tongue, and hams, 197 Hamburgh, for pork, &c., 197 to, beet-root, 537 cherries, 532 eschalots, 532 651gherkins, 537 gherkins (French receipt), 533 limes, 538 lemons, 538 lemon mangoes, 538 melon, sweet (foreign receipt), 534 mushrooms in brine, 536 mushrooms (an excellent receipt), 535 nasturtiums, 539 onions, 537 peaches, and peach mangoes, 534 red cabbage, 539 walnuts, 536 Pickles, where to be procured good, 532 general remarks on, 531 Pie, beef-steak, 354 a common chicken, 353 a modern chicken, 353 a good common English game, 352 mutton, common, 355 a good mutton, 355 pigeon, 354 Pies, excellent, cream crust for, 347 French crust for, 347 suet-crust for, 348 meat jelly for, 92 mince, 369 mince royal, 370 pudding (entremets), 371 raised, 356 Pigeons, to boil, 280 to roast, 280 served with cresses, for second course, 280 Pig, divisions of, 247 Kentish mode of cutting up and curing, 254 to bake a sucking, 250 sucking, en blanquette (entrée), 250 to roast a sucking, 249 à la Tartare (entrée), 250 Pig’s cheeks, to pickle, 254 feet and ears, in brawn, 260 Pike to bake, 81 to bake (superior receipt), 81 to boil, 80 Pilaw, a simple Syrian, 613 Pine-apple marmalade, superior, 513 pudding-sauce, 405 pudding-sauce, very fine, 405 Pintail, or Sea Pheasant, to roast, 294 Pippins, Normandy, to stew, 572 Piquante sauce, 118 Plaice, to boil, 75 to fry, 75 Plate, hot, for cooking, 174 Plum-puddings, 416, 417, 441, &c. Plums, compote of, 458 Imperatrice, to dry, 521 Imperatrice, marmalade of, 521 Poêlée, 169 Poet’s, the, receipt for salad, 135 Polenta à l’Italienne, 393 Pontac catsup, 150 Poor author’s pudding, 442 Pork, to choose, 247 cutlets of, to boil or fry, 251 652Italian cheese of, 260 different joints of, 247 observations on, 247 to pickle, 254 to roast, 251 to roast a saddle of, 251 sausages of, 261, 263 Portable lemonade, 583 Potage à la Reine, 29 Pot-au-Feu, or stock pot, 8 fowls, &c., boiled in, 9 Potato-balls (English), or croquettes, 314 boulettes (good), 314 bread, 600 fritters, 384 flour, or fecule de pommes de terre, 154 pasty (modern), 350 puddings, 436 ribbons, to serve with cheese, 313 rissoles, French, 315 soup, 21 Potatoes, à la crême, 315 à la Maître d’Hôtel, 315 to boil, as in Ireland, 310 to boil (Lancashire receipt), 311 boulettes (entremets), 314 to boil (Captain Kater’s receipt), 312 crisped, or potato-ribbons (entremets), 313 fried (entremets), 313 mashed and moulded in various ways 313 new, in butter, 312 new, to boil, 311 remarks on their properties and importance, 309 to roast or bake, 312 scooped (entremets), 312 Potted anchovies, 306 chicken, partridge, or pheasant, 305 ham, 304 hare, 307 meats (various), 303 meat for the second course, moulded, 306 mushrooms, 330 ox-tongue, 305 shrimps, or prawns, 306 Poultry, to bone, 265 to bone, another mode, 265 to bone, for fricassees, &c., 266 to choose, 264 to lard, 181 Powder, mushroom, 154 of savoury herbs, 155 Prawns, to boil, 93 to dish cold, 93 to pot (see shrimps:306) to shell easily, 93 Prepared apple or quince juice, 456 calf’s head (the cook’s receipt), 211 Preserved fruit, general remarks on the use and value of, 493 Preserve, a fine, of red currants, 509 delicious, of white currants, 510 good common, 512 an excellent, of the green orange, or Stonewood plum, 514 653groseillée, a mixed, 513 another good mélange, or mixed, 513 nursery, 512 Preserve, to, the colour and flavour of fruit-jams and jellies, 497 Preserving-pan, 495 Preserves, French furnace and stewpan convenient for making, 494, 495 general rules and directions for, 496 Pruneaux de Tours, or compote of dried plums, 573 Prince Albert’s pudding, 411 Pudding (baked), à la Paysanne (cheap and good), 442 almond, 425 almond, Jewish, 608 apple or custard, 437 apple (the lady’s or invalid’s new), 608 Bakewell, 427 barberry and rice, 406 light batter, 443 good bread, 429, 430 common bread and butter, 429 rich bread and butter, 428 cake and custard, and various inexpensive, 437 curate’s, 442 the good daughter’s mincemeat, 426 Dutch custard, or raspberry, 438 the elegant economist’s, 428 Gabrielle’s, or sweet casserole of rice, 438 green gooseberry, 435 good ground rice, 437 a common ground rice, 435 Mrs. Howitt’s (author’s receipt), 426 an excellent lemon, 426 lemon-suet, 427 Normandy, 441 plum, en moule, or moulded, 424 poor author’s, 442 (baked) potato, 436 a richer potato, 436 the printers’, 424 the publishers’, 410 Queen Mab’s, 470 a common raisin, 441 a richer raisin, 442 raspberry, or Dutch custard, 438 ratafia, 427 cheap rice, 434 a common rice, 433 a French rice, or Gâteaux de riz, 433 rice, meringué, 434 richer rice, 434 rice, à la Vathek, 440 Saxe-Gotha, or tourte, 431 a good semoulina, or soujee, 430 a French semoulina (or Gâteau de semoule), 430 soujee and semola, 439 sponge cake, 436 vermicelli, 439 welcome guest’s own, 412 common Yorkshire, 440 good Yorkshire, 440 young wife’s (author’s receipt), 425 Pudding (boiled) à la Scoones, 416 654apple, cherry, currant, or any other fresh fruit, 408 a common apple, 409 the author’s Christmas, 417 common batter, 406 another batter, 406 batter and fruit, 407 beef-steak, or John Bull’s, 399 beef-steak, epicurean receipt for, 400 small beef-steak, 400 a black-cap, 407 Ruth Pinch’s, or beef-steak à la Dickens, 401 bread, 418 brown bread, 419 cabinet, 413 a very fine cabinet, 414 common custard, 411 the elegant economist’s, 415 German pudding and sauce, 412 Herodotus’ (a genuine classical receipt), 409 Ingoldsby Christmas, 416 Her Majesty’s, 410 mutton, 401 partridge, 401 peas, 401 small light plum, 416 Prince Albert’s, 411 the publishers’, 410 vegetable plum, 417 a very good raisin, 415 a superior raisin 415 a cheap rice, 420 a good rice, 419 rice and gooseberry, 420 rolled, 418 savoury, 399 Snowdon, 414 Kentish suet, 407 another suet, 408 the welcome guest’s own (author’s receipt), 412 a Kentish well, 417 Baden-Baden, 431 Puddings, general directions for baked, 423 to mix batter for, 397 general directions for boiled, 395 butter crust for, 398 cloths for, to wash, 366 suet-crust for, 398 to clean currants for, 397 Madeleine, to serve cold, 432 sauces for sweet, 402, 406 to steam in common stewpan, 397 Sutherland, or castle, 432 Pudding-pies, 371 a common receipt for, 371 Pudding sauces, sweet, 402-406 Puff-paste, canellons of, 417 English, 346 finest, or feuilletage, 345 very good light, 346 Puffs, German, 484 raspberry, or other fruit, 375 Punch, Cambridge milk, 581 Oxford, 580 655Punch, Regent’s, or George IV.’s (a genuine receipt), 582 sauce for sweet puddings, 402 Purée, fine, of onions, or Soubise sauce, 126 of tomatas, 328 of turnips, 127 of vegetable marrow, 127 Quenelles, or French forcemeat, 163 Queen cakes, 556 Queen’s custard, 481 Queen Mab’s pudding, 470 Quince blamange, 478 blamange, with almond cream, 478 custards, 482 jelly, 524 juice, prepared, 456 marmalade, 524 and apple marmalade, 525 paste, 525 Rabbits, to boil, 286 Rabbit, to fry, 287 to roast, 286 soup, à la Reine, 31 soup, brown, 31 Radishes, turnip, to boil, 318 Ragout, mild, of garlic, 126 Raisin puddings, 441, 442 wine, which resembles foreign, 583 Ramakins à l’Ude, 375 Raspberries, to preserve for creams or ices, without boiling, 506 Raspberry jam, 506 jam, red or white, 506 jelly, for flavouring creams, 507 jelly, another good, 508 vinegar, very fine, 578 Red cabbage, to stew, 340 Regent’s, or George IV.’s punch (genuine), 582 Remoulade, 137 Rhubarb, or spring fruit, compote of, 457 Rice, to boil for curries, or mullagatawny soup, 36 boiled, to serve with stewed fruit, &c., 422 cake, 546 casserole of, savoury, 351 casserole of, sweet, 438 croquettes of, 385, 386 savoury croquettes of, 386 puddings, 419, 420, 433-435 soup, 14 soup, white, 15 sweet, à la Portugaise, or arocē docē, 489 Rice flour, to make, 154 soup, 15 to thicken soups with, 4 Risotto à la Milanaise, 615 Rissoles, 387 very savoury, English (entrée), 387 Roasting, general directions for, 169 slow method of, 171 Roast beef (see Chapter X.) chestnuts, 574 656game (see Chapter XV.) lamb (see Chapter XII.) mutton (see Chapter XII.) potatoes, 312 pork (see Chapter XIII.) poultry (see Chapter XIV.) veal (see Chapter XI.) Rolled shoulder of mutton, 240 ribs of beef, 198 sirloin of beef, 198 Roll, beef, or canellon de bœuf, 201 Rolls, breakfast or dinner, 600 Geneva, 601 excellent meat, 360 Roux, or French thickening brown (for sauces), 106 white, 106 Rusks, sweet, 554 Rusks, 602 Sago soup, 14 Salad, to dress (English), 140 forced eggs for garnishing, 137 French, 140 of mixed summer fruits, 570 excellent herring (Swedish receipt), 143 lobster, 142 very elegant lobster, 584 orange, 571 peach, 570 the Poet’s receipt for, 135 Suffolk, 141 walnut, or des cerneaux, 141 Yorkshire ploughman’s, 141 dressings and sauces, 140 sorrel, 142 of young vegetables, 141 Salamander to brown with, 183 Salmi of moor fowl, pheasants or partridges, 292 French, or hash of game, 292 of wild fowl, 294 Salmon à la Genevese, 59 à la St. Marcel, 60 baked over mashed potatoes, 60 to boil, 59 crimped, 60 to fry in oil, 607 pudding (Scotch receipt), 60 Salsify, to boil, 341 to fry in batter, 341 Salt fish, to boil, 62 à la Maître d’Hôtel, 63 Salt, to, beef, in various ways, 196 Sandwiches, lemon, 374 pastry, 374 Sand-launce, or Sand-eel, mode of dressing, 77 Salzburger Nockerl, 620 Sauce (American), cold, for salads, salt fish, &c., 133 anchovy, 115 baked apple, 124 boiled apple, 124 brown apple, 125 arrow-root, clear, 403 657asparagus, for lamb cutlets, 120 béchamel, 107 béchamel maigre, 108 another common béchamel, 108 bread, 112 bread, with onion, 113 caper, 121 brown caper, 121 caper for fish, 121 celery, 128 brown chestnut, 129 white chestnut, 129 Chatney, capsicum, 144 Chatney, sausage, 609 Chatney, shrimp (Mauritian receipt), 144 Chatney, tomato, 609 Chatney (Bengal receipt), 146 Christopher North’s own (for many meats), 119 crab, 114 cream, for fish, 115 common cucumber, 121 another common cucumber, 122 white cucumber, 122 currants, 404 Dutch, 111 cold, Dutch, 133 common egg, 110 egg, for calf’s head, 111 very good egg, 110 English, for salad, cold meat, &c., 134 epicurean, 151 mild eschalot, 127 Espagnole, 100 Espagnole, with wine, 100 fricassee, 112 fruit, superior, 404 mild garlic, 126 Genevese, or sauce Genevoise, 117 German, for fricassees, 107 German cherry, 406 German custard pudding, 403 gooseberry, for mackerel, 120 horseradish, excellent, to serve hot or cold, with roast beef, 118-133 hot horseradish, 119 the lady’s, for fish, 117 common lobster, 113 Maître d’Hôtel, or steward’s sauce, 116 cold Maître d’Hôtel, 133 Maître d’Hôtel sauce maigre, 117 sharp Maître d’Hôtel, 116 Imperial mayonnaise, 136 mayonnaise, red or green, 136 mayonnaise (very fine), to serve with cold meat, fish, or vegetables, 135 mint, common, 132 mint (superior), for roast lamb, 133 strained, 132 brown mushroom, 123 another mushroom, 123 white mushroom, 122 Norfolk, 109 olive, 128 brown onion, 125 another brown onion, 125 658white onion, 125 Oxford brawn, 137 common oyster, 114 good oyster, 114 piquante, 118 common pudding, 402 delicious German pudding, 403 pine-apple pudding, 405 pine-apple syrup, 405 punch, for sweet puddings, 402 sweet pudding, 404 raspberry, 404 remoulade, 137 Robert, 118 shrimp, 115 common sorrel, 120 Soubise, 126 Soubise (French receipt), 126 Spanish, 100 sweet, for venison, 100 Tartar, 143 common tomata, 123 a finer tomata, 124 tournée, or thickened pale gravy, 105 excellent turnip, 127 very common white, 111 English white, 111 wine sauces, 402 French white, or béchamel, 107 vegetable marrow, fine, 127 velouté (obs.), 107 Sauces, to thicken, 105 green, for colouring, 129 Saucisses aux truffes, or truffled sausages 263 Saunders, 270 Sausage-meat, cake of, 261 in chicken-pie, 353 Kentish, 261 to make, 261, 262 pounded, very good, 262 boned turkey, filled with, 268 Sausages, boiled, 262 and chestnuts (an excellent dish), 262 common, 261 excellent, 262 truffled, 263 Sauté pan, for frying, 176 Savoury toasts, 390 Scientific roasting, 171 Scotch marmalade, 528 Scottish shortbread, excellent, 557 Sea-kale to boil, 316 stewed in gravy (entremets), 316 Sea-pheasant, or pintail, to roast, 294 Sefton, a, or veal custard, 362 Shad, Touraine fashion, 79 Shrimp sauce, 115 Shrimps, to boil, 93 boudinettes of, 92 potted, 306 to shell quickly and easily, 93 Sippets à la Reine, 5 fried, 4 Sirloin of beef, to roast, 184 Smelts to bake, 78 to fry, 77 659Snipes to roast, 293 Snow-balls, orange, 420 apple, 421 Soles, baked, or au plat, 66 baked, a simple receipt, 66 to boil, 64 to choose, 48 fillets of, 65 to fry, 64 stewed in cream, 67 Solimemne, a, or rich French breakfast cake, 549 Soufflé, Louise Franks’ citron, 378 cheese, 379 Soufflé-pan, 377 Soufflés, remarks on, 377 Sounds, cods’, to boil, 63 to fry in batter, 63 Soup, apple, 21 artichoke, or Palestine, 19 good calf’s head, not expensive, 27 Buchanan carrot, 46 common carrot, 20 a finer carrot, 20 carrot, maigre, 45 chestnut, 19 cocoa-nut, 19 cucumber, 38 fish, cheap, 46 des Galles, 28 clear pale gravy, or consommé, 10 another gravy, 10 cheap clear gravy, 11 superlative hare, 32 a less expensive hare, 32 in haste, 43 à la Julienne, 38 Mademoiselle Jenny Lind’s (authentic receipt), 16 the Lord Mayor’s, 17 the Lord Mayor’s (author’s receipt for), 18 maccaroni, 13 milk, with vermicelli, 44 mock turtle, 25 old-fashioned mock turtle, 26 mullagatawny, 35 vegetable mullagatawny, 37 mutton stock for soups, 16 ox-tail, 42 white oyster, or oyster-soup à la Reine, 30 parsnep, 22 another parsnep, 22 partridge, 35 common peas, 41 peas, without meat, 42 rich peas, 41 cheap green peas, 40 an excellent green peas, 39 green peas, without meat, 39 pheasant, 33 another pheasant, 34 potage aux nouilles, or taillerine soup, 14 potage à la Reine, 29 potato, 21 660rabbit, à la Reine, 31 brown rabbit, 31 rice, 14 cheap rice, 44 rice flour, 15 white rice, 15 sago, 14 sausage (Swedish receipt), 577 semola and soujee, 13 semoulina, 12 semoulina (or soup à la Semoule), 12 a cheap and good stew, 43 spring, 38 taillerine, 14 tapioca, 14 economical turkey, 33 common turnip, 21 a quickly made turnip, 21 turtle, mock, 23 mock turtle, old-fashioned, 26 vermicelli (or potage au vermicelle), 12 stock for white, 15 Westerfield white, 22 a richer white, 23 Soups, directions to the cook for, 2 to fry bread to serve with, 5 ingredients used for making, 1 nouilles to serve in, 5 mutton stock for, 16 to thicken, 4 time required for boiling down, 4 vegetable vermicelli for, 5 Spanish sauce, or Espagnole, 100 sauce, with wine, 100 Spiced beef, 199 Spinach, à l’Anglaise, or English fashion, 317 common English modes of dressing, 317 French receipt for, 316 green, for colouring sweet dishes, &c., 455 dandelions dressed like, 318 Sprouts, &c., to boil, 332 Steaming, general directions for, 172 Stewed beef-steak, 189 beef-steak, in its own gravy, 189 beet-root, 340 cabbage, 333 calf’s feet, 228 calf’s liver, 228 carp, 82 celery, 341 cod-fish, 62 cucumber, 323 eels, 84 figs, 492 fillet of mutton, 238 fruits (various), 456-459 hare, 286 lamb cutlets, 246 leg of lamb with white sauce, 243 loin of lamb in butter, 246 lettuces, 319 mackerel, in wine, 72 fillets of mackerel in wine (excellent), 72 mutton cutlets in their own gravy, 240 onions, 342 661ox-tails, 195 ox, or beef tongue (Bordyke receipt), 203 oysters, 86 sea-kale in gravy, 316 soles in cream, 67 tomatas, 327 trout, 80 turnips in butter, 334 turnips in gravy, 335 knuckle of veal, with rice or green peas, 221 shoulder of veal, 219 shoulder of venison, 283 Stew, a good English, 191 a good family, 242 a German, 190 an Irish, 242 baked Irish, 243 Spring stew of veal, 224 a Welsh, 191 Stew, to, shin of beef, 192 a rump of beef, 194 Stewing, general directions for, 173 Stewpan, copper, 181 Stock, clear pale, 11 for white soup, 13 mutton, for soups, 14 shin of beef for gravies, 97 pot, 169 Store sauces, 145-155 Strawberries, to preserve, for flavouring creams, &c., 506 Strawberry vinegar, 577 jam, 504 jelly, 505 isinglass jelly, 468 tartlets, 375 vinegar, of delicious flavour, 577 Stufato (a Neapolitan receipt), 615 Stuffing for geese and ducks, No. 9, 160 Cook’s stuffing for geese and ducks, 161 Suédoise, or apple hedgehog, 480 Suédoise of peaches, 488 Suet crust, for pies, superior, 348 common, 348 Sugar glazings, and icings, for fine pastry and cakes, 543 barley, 564 grains, to colour, for cakes, &c., 542 to boil, from candy to caramel, 563 to clarify, 562 Swan’s egg, to boil, 448 forced, 447 en salade, 448 Sweetbreads, to dress, 227 à la Maître d’Hôtel, 227 cutlets, 227 small entrées of, 232 roasted, 215 Sweet, patties à la minute, 387 Syllabub, a birthday, 581 Syllabubs, superior whipped, 476 Syrup, fine currant, or sirop de groseilles, 579 662Tamarinds, acid, in curries, 296 Tapioca soup, 14 Tarragon vinegar, 151 Tart, a good apple, 363 young green apple, 364 barberry, 364 German, 362 the monitor’s, 370 Tartlets, of almond paste, 367 creamed, 375 jelly, or custards, 375 to make, 361 lemon, 372 strawberry, 375 Tarts, to ice, 345 Tench, to fry, 83 Thickening for sauces, French, 106 Tipsy cake, 474 Toasting, directions for, 183 Toffee, Everton, 567 another way, 567 Tomata catsup, 151 sauces, 123, 124 Tomatas, forced, 327 forced (French receipt), 328 purée of, 328 roast, 327 en salade, 327 stewed, 327 Tongue, to boil, 203 to stew, 203 Tongues, to pickle, 197 Tourte, à la châtelaine, 364 the lady’s, 364 meringuée, or with royal icing, 363 Trifle, brandy, or tipsy cake, 474 an excellent, 473 Swiss, very good, 473 Trout, to stew (a good common receipt), 80 in wine, 80 Truffled butter, 139 sausages, 263 Truffles and their uses, 331 à l’Italienne, 332 à la serviette, 232 to prepare for use, 332 Turbot, to boil, 56 au béchamel, 57 cold, with shrimp chatney, 144 à la crême, 57 Turkey, to boil, 267 boned and forced, 268 to bone, 265 à la Flamande, 270 to roast, 267 poult, to roast, 270 Turkeys’ eggs, to dress, 447 forced (excellent entremets) 447 poached, 449 sauce of, 110 Turnip-radishes, to boil, 318 soup, economical, 33 Turnips, to boil, 333 to mash, 333 stewed in butter, 334 in gravy, 335 in white sauce 334 663Vanilla in cream, pudding, &c., 410 Veal, blanquette of, with mushrooms, 229 boiled breast of, 218 roast breast of, 219 breast of, simply stewed, 618 (see note) breast of, stewed and glazed, 618 cake, Bordyke, 222 cake, small pain de veau, or veal, 222 to choose, 209 Scotch collops of, 226 custard, or Sefton, 362 cutlets, 225 cutlets, or collops, à la Française, 226 cutlets, à l’Indienne, or Indian fashion, 225 cutlets, à la mode de Londres, or London fashion, 226 divisions of, 209 boiled fillet of, 217 roast fillet of, 216 fillet of, au bechamel, with oysters, 216 fricandeau of, 223 fricasseed, 231 goose (City of London receipt), 220 Norman harrico of, 224 boiled knuckle of, 221 knuckle of, en ragout, 221 knuckle of, with rice or green peas, 221 boiled loin of, 218 roast loin of, 217 stewed loin of, 218 minced, 230 minced, with oysters (or mushrooms), 231 neck of, à la crême, 220 neck of, roast, 220 to bone a shoulder of, 219 stewed shoulder of, 219 spring stew of, 224 Sydney, 231 Vegetable marrow, to boil, fry, mash, 327 vermicelli, 6 Vegetables, to boil green, 309 to clear insects from, 309 remarks on, 308 Venetian cake (super excellent), 547 fritters (very good), 383 Venison, to choose, 281 collops and cutlets, 284 to hash, 284 to roast a haunch of, 282 in pie, 352 664sauces for, 295 to stew a loin of mutton like, 239 to stew a shoulder of, 283 Vermicelli pudding, 439 soup, 12 Viennese pudding, or Salzburger Nockerl, 620 Vinegar, cayenne, 153 celery, 152 cucumber, 152 eschalot, or garlic, 152 horseradish, 153 green mint, 152 raspberry (very fine), 578 strawberry (delicious), 577 tarragon, 151 Vol-au-vent, a, 357 à la crème, 358 of fruit, 358 Vols-au-vents, à la Parisienne, 374 small, to make, 361 Walnut catsup, 149-150 Walnuts, to pickle, 536 salad of, 141 Water Souchy (Greenwich receipt), 78 White bait (Greenwich receipt), 78 Whitings baked, À la Française, 68 baked (Cinderella’s receipt), 70 to boil, 68 to fry, 67 fillets of, 68 Wild ducks, to roast, and their season, 294 salmi, or hash of, 294 Wild fowl, its season, 294 Wine, elderberry (good), 584 eschalot, 153 ginger, 584 to mull (an excellent French receipt), 581 orange, 585 raisin, which resembles foreign, 583 Wine-vase, antique, 577 Wire lining for frying-pan, 177 Woodcocks, or snipes, to roast, 293 Woodruff, in Mai Trank, 620 Yorkshire ploughman’s salad, 315 pudding, common, 441 pudding, good, 440 Regent potatoes, their excellence, 311 [TN: Footnote text is not allowed within the range of the Index. Footnote 194 is referenced from the entry for “fillets of whitings”. Footnote 195 is referenced from the entry for “Queen Mab’s summer pudding”. Clicking on the footnote numbers below will take you to the index entries that reference these footnotes.] 194.  Though not included in this list, all sweet puddings are served as entremets, except they replace the roasts of the second course. 195.  Fish is not usually served as an entrée in a common English dinner; it is, however, very admissible, either in fillets, or scallops, in a currie, or in a vol-au-vent. Various circumstances must determine much of the general arrangement of a dinner, the same dishes answering at times for different parts of the service. For example, a fowl may be served as the roast for a small company, and for a large one as an entrée. For a plain family dinner, too, many dishes may be served in a different order to that which is set down. 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