Part 41

Make a batter of a cupful of milk, three eggs beaten light, a saltspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of salad oil, two teaspoonfuls of sugar and a half cupful of white flour. Beat hard and set aside for an hour. Put a little butter in a frying-pan, and when very hot pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Spread with jelly; roll and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Jelly pancakes

Make a batter of five beaten eggs, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, three cupfuls of milk, and _about_ a quart of prepared flour. Mix well and fry in a large frying-pan in which a little butter has been melted. The batter should cover the entire bottom of the pan. When brown on one side, turn. When done, spread with fruit jelly, and roll up as you would a sheet of music. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and send at once to the table.

Cherry dumplings

Into a pint of prepared flour chop a heaping tablespoonful of butter, stir in a cupful of milk and work into a dough. Roll into a sheet, and cut into squares about four inches across. In the center of each square put a great spoonful of stoned and sugared cherries, pinch the four corners of the pastry together in the middle over the cherries and lay the dumplings, joined sides down, in a floured baking-pan. Bake and eat hot with a hard sauce.

Raspberry dumplings

Make a dough of a quart of flour sifted with a half teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, two tablespoonfuls of butter chopped into bits, and a pint of milk.

Roll this dough out and cut into pieces about five inches square. In the middle of each of these squares put a heaping tablespoonful of black raspberries, sprinkle liberally with sugar, and turn over upon them the four corners of the dough square, pinching them together in the middle. Put in the oven and bake for half an hour.

Apple dumplings

Sift an even quart of flour twice with one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Chop into this a tablespoonful of cottolene or other fat and one of butter. Mix into a soft dough with two cupfuls of milk; roll out into a sheet a scant half-inch thick, and cut into squares about five inches each way. Lay in the center of each a large tart apple, pared and cored. Fill the space left by coring with sugar, fold the corners together, enveloping the apple, tie up in cheese-cloth squares, dipped into hot water, and well floured on the inside. Have ready a pot of boiling water. Drop in the dumplings and cook fast one hour. Dip each for one second in cold water to loosen the cloth, turn out upon a hot dish and eat with hard sauce.

Peach dumplings

Make as you would apple dumplings, substituting for the cored apple a stoned peach, the cavity filled with sugar, then the halves neatly fitted together. They are very good.

Suet dumplings

Rub a cupful of white suet free from strings, and powder it fine. Rub and chop it into two cupfuls of fine crumbs. Sift a teaspoonful of baking-powder three times with four tablespoonfuls of flour, and work into the crumbs and suet. Add a teaspoonful of salt. Beat three eggs very light and stir into a cupful and a half of milk. With this wet crumbs and flour into a rather stiff dough. Make into dumplings with floured hands; tie up in cheese-cloth dipped in hot water and floured on the inside, leaving plenty of room to swell, and boil one hour.

Eat with liquid sauce.

Cornmeal dumplings

Scald a quart of milk, stir in three cupfuls of Indian meal, or enough to make a stiff dough; cook for five minutes, stirring often from the bottom. Take from the fire; beat in one-half cupful of powdered suet with a teaspoonful of salt, and let it get perfectly cold. Then add three eggs beaten light with two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and, lastly, a tablespoonful of flour sifted three times with half a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Make out into balls the size of an egg with floured hands, envelop in cheese-cloth squares, prepared as directed in preceding recipes. The dumplings will double their size in boiling, so make allowances in tying them up.

Boil one hour hard. Dip into cold water for a second, turn out and eat with hard sauce.

Orange dumplings

Chop a tablespoonful of butter into two cupfuls of flour which has been twice sifted with one teaspoonful of baking-powder and a quarter-teaspoonful of salt. Mix with a cupful of milk to a soft dough, and roll this into a sheet a half-inch thick; cut into squares; lay in each a peeled, sliced and seeded orange, and sprinkle thickly with sugar. Envelop in cheese-cloth squares as already directed, and proceed as with other fruit dumplings.

SOME PUDDING SAUCES

Cream sauce

Work two tablespoonfuls of butter into a half cupful of sugar, then the beaten yolks of two eggs and a cupful of rich cream, to which a pinch of soda has been added. Cook altogether, stirring constantly in a double boiler, until like thick cream and very smooth; add a generous wineglassful of sherry, and serve. This is a delicious pudding sauce.

Chocolate sauce

Boil together a half cupful of sugar and a cupful of water for five minutes; stir in four tablespoonfuls of chocolate dissolved in a gill of milk, and a tablespoonful of arrowroot dissolved in four tablespoonfuls of cold water. Boil for five minutes longer, stirring steadily, add a teaspoonful of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon, and serve.

Hard sauce

Work two tablespoonfuls of butter and a cupful of powdered sugar to a white cream, then beat in the juice of a lemon and a pinch of nutmeg. Set in a cold place until needed.

Canned fruit sauce

Heat with additional sugar, one large cupful of any kind of fruit juice or syrup left from canning. If fresh fruit juice is used, more sugar will be needed than for the syrup. About one-half cupful of sugar to each cupful of juice is an average amount. Mix one teaspoonful of cornstarch with the sugar, or wet it with the liquid if syrup is used, also one tablespoonful of butter. Boil all together for five minutes.

Meringue sauce

Rub to a light cream one-half cupful of butter with one cupful of powdered sugar. When light and almost snow white, add gradually two tablespoonfuls of fruit juice or syrup, and, just before serving, one-fourth of a cupful of boiling water, and the white of an egg beaten to a froth.

Lemon sauce

Cook for fifteen minutes one cupful of sugar with three tablespoonfuls of boiling water, a half teaspoonful of grated lemon peel, and the strained juice of a lemon.

Take from the fire, and pour gradually upon the beaten yolks of three eggs. Set in boiling water and stir until the eggs are “set,” but not until they begin to harden.

Caramel sauce

Put a cupful of sugar into a saucepan and stir over the fire, until melted and light brown. Add one cupful of boiling water and let it simmer gently for ten minutes. When cool stir in a teaspoonful of vanilla.

Jelly sauce

Put into a saucepan over the fire one cupful of boiling water, one-half cupful of jelly, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of butter. When melted stir into it a teaspoonful of cornstarch dissolved in one-half cupful of cold water, and let it come to a boil. Keep warm over hot water until ready to use.

Foamy sauce

To the beaten whites of two eggs add one cupful of sugar. Beat thoroughly and add one cupful of boiling milk. When cool add one teaspoonful of vanilla.

Maraschino sauce

Put into a saucepan three-fourths of a cupful of boiling water and one-third of a cupful of sugar. Add one-fourth of a cupful of Maraschino cherries cut in halves, one-half cupful of Maraschino syrup and one-half tablespoonful of butter. When this comes to a boil, stir in slowly two teaspoonfuls of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water. Boil for five minutes.

Vanilla sauce

Add one well-beaten egg to one-half pint of milk. Sweeten to taste. Pour the mixture into a double boiler and cook over water until it begins to thicken; take from the fire and add one teaspoonful of vanilla. Serve hot.

Apricot sauce

(Contributed)

Rub three-fourths of a cupful of apricots through a sieve. Whip three-fourths of a cupful of heavy cream, sweetened and flavored. When stiff and dry, add the apricot pulp.

Plain whipped cream

(Contributed)

Add to one cupful of “double” cream, one-half cupful of powdered sugar, and one teaspoonful of lemon or vanilla. Put in a bowl and set in a larger bowl of cracked ice. Chill the whip, for everything must be very cold; whip until stiff and dry, then add the beaten white of one egg.

Strawberry sauce

Boil together for ten minutes three-fourths of a cupful of sugar and one-half cupful of water. Run through a vegetable press one pint of strawberries, and when the syrup is cool, add the strawberry pulp and one-half teaspoonful of vanilla.

Madeira sauce

Put one tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan. Stir into it one tablespoonful of flour and cook for one minute; add one pint of boiling water, stirring all the time until it boils. Next, add one-half cupful of sugar and one tablespoonful of caramel. Let it stand over boiling water for ten minutes and just before serving add one-fourth of a cupful of Madeira wine.

Claret sauce

(Contributed)

Make a syrup by boiling one cupful of sugar and one-third of a cup of water. When cold add one-third of a cupful of claret.

Brandy sauce (liquid)

Work two tablespoonfuls of butter into two cupfuls of powdered sugar, moistening with boiling water. Beat hard for five minutes, and set within a saucepan of water at a hard boil. Stir until scalding hot, add a teaspoonful of cornstarch wet in cold water, cook one minute and pour in a glass of good brandy. Take at once from the fire.

Wine sauce (liquid)

Make as just directed, but using wine in place of brandy.

COLD PUDDINGS AND CUSTARDS

Besides the ordinary baked and boiled custards, there are many varieties which are easily prepared, and are delicious, as well as digestible. The milk of which these are made should always have added to it a bit of soda the size of a pea to prevent curdling. I shall not mention this in the following recipes, as I shall take it for granted that the precaution has been taken.

Boiled cup custards

Heat a quart of milk in a double boiler, but do not bring it quite to the boil. Beat five eggs light and stir into them half a cupful of sugar. On this mixture pour the scalding milk very gradually, beating steadily all the time. Return to the double boiler, and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the spoon. If boiled longer than this it will curdle and separate. Remove the custard from the fire, season with two teaspoonfuls of vanilla and set aside to cool. When cold, nearly fill glasses or cups with the mixture and heap with a meringue made by whipping the whites of two eggs stiff with two tablespoonfuls of sugar.

Baked custard

Proceed exactly as in the preceding recipe until you have poured the hot milk on the sugar and eggs. At this point flavor the mixture with two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, and turn it into a pudding-dish. Grate nutmeg over the top of the custard, set the pudding-dish in an outer pan of boiling water, and bake in a moderate oven. When the custard is firm it is done.

Boiled chocolate custards

(Contributed)

Scald a quart of milk in a double boiler, and stir into it a bit of soda the size of a pea. Beat five eggs light with a half cupful of powdered sugar, and whip into them five tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate. Pour the scalding milk upon this mixture, return it to the fire in a double boiler, and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens and coats the spoon. Remove from the fire and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla. When cold, pour into custard cups or glasses, and heap sweetened whipped cream upon the top of each.

Baked chocolate custard

Into a quart of scalding milk stir five tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate wet with cold milk. Cook for a minute. Have the yolks of seven eggs and the whites of five (reserving the other whites for a meringue) beaten light with a cupful of sugar. Pour the scalding milk and chocolate gradually on the eggs and sugar, and turn into a buttered pudding-dish set in a pan of boiling water. Bake until firm, then draw to the door of the oven and spread with a meringue made of the reserved whites and two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Return to the oven and bake to a delicate brown. Eat cold with cream.

French tapioca custard

Soak four tablespoonfuls of tapioca in two cupfuls of cold water and let it stand for four hours; add a quart of scalding milk, and stir for a minute. Turn all into a double boiler, and bring to the scalding point, then pour gradually upon the yolks of four eggs beaten light with a cupful of sugar. Cook again in a double boiler for ten minutes, by which time the custard should be thick. Set in the ice until very cold. Now whip the whites of the four eggs stiff, beat them into the custard, add two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, turn into a glass bowl, and serve.

Tapioca cocoanut custard

Make as directed in last recipe, but add to the beaten whites at the last a cupful of finely-grated cocoanut sweetened with powdered sugar.

Floating island

Heat a pint of milk to scalding in a double boiler. Beat the yolks of three eggs stiff—setting the whites in the ice-box until they are needed for a meringue. Into the whipped yolks stir three tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar, and pour the scalding milk gradually upon these. Return to the fire and cook, stirring all the time, until the custard is thick enough to coat the spoon. Remove from the fire, and, when the custard is cool, flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla and turn into a glass bowl. Whip the chilled whites to a stiff meringue and beat into this, a little at a time, three tablespoonfuls of red jelly—catawba grape or currant. The meringue should be pink in color, and may be heaped upon the top of the custard in the bowl.

Rice custard

Cream a tablespoonful of butter with two of powdered sugar, and gradually work in three beaten eggs. Add two cupfuls of milk, and when you have a smooth mixture, two cupfuls of cold, boiled rice. Beat until free from lumps, add a pinch of salt, and turn into a greased pudding-dish. Set in the oven in a pan of boiling water, and bake, covered, until the custard is set. Uncover and brown. Eat cold with sugar and cream.

Cocoanut custard

Wet five tablespoonfuls of cornstarch with cold milk, and stir it into a quart of scalding milk until thick and free of lumps. Whip six eggs light with a cupful of sugar, and add gradually to the thickened milk. Cook for five minutes; add, at once, a grated cocoanut, and take from the fire. Flavor with a teaspoonful of rose-water, and when it begins to cool, pour into a glass bowl. When cold, eat with sugar and cream.

Orange custard

(Contributed)

Squeeze out and strain the juice of six good oranges. Add a cupful of sugar and cook slowly for half an hour, skimming often. Take from the fire and turn into a bowl. When lukewarm, pour gradually, beating all the time, upon a warm custard made of the yolks of five eggs and two cupfuls of milk. Put in your egg-whip and beat steadily five minutes. Turn into a glass bowl, and lay upon the top a meringue made by whipping the whites of the eggs with five tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Set upon ice until very cold.

Coffee custards

Into a quart of rich custard cooked and still warm stir a pint of very strong, clear, hot, black coffee. Beat for five minutes until thick and creamy. Fill glasses or custard cups with it, and heap whipped cream on top of each. Set in cracked ice until you serve.

Cinnamon custard

(Contributed)

Bring a quart of milk to the boiling point. Add a saltspoon of salt, a piece of cinnamon stick and three ounces of sugar. Strain, and when cold mix with two or three well-beaten eggs. Pour into a pudding-dish and cover the top of the dish with slices of brown bread, buttered on both sides and cut in triangular pieces. Bake in a slow oven and serve with hot sauce.

WHIPPED CREAM DISHES

The easiest and most rapid way to whip cream is with an ordinary, old-fashioned wire egg-whip. Put the cream into a shallow dish and set in the ice-box until thoroughly chilled. Into a half-pint stir two teaspoonfuls of sugar and begin at once to beat with regular, steady strokes, not removing the froth as it forms, but whipping until the cream is a thick, stiff, smooth mass. If the cream is cold, if the utensils are chilled, and the room is not too warm, the desired effect may be produced in ten minutes. I have done it in five. When the sillibub has reached the right consistency add a teaspoonful of such flavoring as you desire. A half-pint of cream whips to a pint.

Orange cream

Soak a half-package of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for an hour, then stir it into a cupful of boiling water. Have ready the juice of two oranges and the grated rind of one, and pour over them a cupful of sugar and the hot liquid gelatine. Set at the side of the range while you beat the yolks of three eggs stiff. Strain the hot liquid and pour, a very little at a time, upon the beaten yolks, stirring constantly. Heat again in a double boiler, beating all the while, and as soon as the custard reaches the boiling point remove and set aside to cool. When cold and thick, beat into it a pint of whipped cream.

Chestnuts with whipped cream

Shell and boil Spanish chestnuts, remove the skins and rub the nuts through a colander. Sweeten to taste and beat to a soft paste with a little cream. Form the mixture into a pyramid in the center of a chilled platter, and heap sweetened, whipped cream around it.

Prune Charlotte

Stew a dozen and a half large prunes; when cold, remove the stones and chop fine. Whip a pint of cream very stiff with three tablespoonfuls of sugar, then whip the minced prunes into this. Line a glass dish with lady-fingers, or thin slices of sponge cake, and fill the center with the prune cream. Set in the ice-box until time to serve.

Fruited whipped cream

Whip a pint of cream stiff, sweeten abundantly and stir into it lightly a cup of whole strawberries, a banana peeled, and cut into dice an orange, treated in the same way, and a cup of finely-minced pineapple. Serve very cold. As the fruits are acid, the cream should be very sweet.

Peach sponge

Mash two quarts of peeled and cut-up peaches. Strew sugar over them, and let them stand for an hour to draw out the juice. Put the fruit through a vegetable press and extract all the juice. Soak a box of gelatine in cold water until dissolved, add four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and heat to scalding. Now stir in the peach juice, remove from the fire, and strain. When cool, set the bowl containing the mixture in a pan of ice, and beat into it a pint of whipped cream. When very stiff turn into a mold to form.

Peach tapioca

Soak a cup of tapioca over night. Peel and cut up ten peaches; add a cup of sugar and stew until tender. Boil the tapioca in two cups of water until clear, then stir the stewed peaches into it. Remove from the fire, add the juice of a small lemon and set away to cool. Eat with whipped cream.

Strawberry float

Mash two quarts of berries and strain off the juice. Sweeten this and add it to a pint of very rich cream. Whip the whites of four eggs stiff with six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and beat in the mashed berries. Put the pink cream in the bottom of a glass bowl and heap the strawberry meringue high upon it.

Raspberry float

May be made according to the foregoing recipe, substituting raspberries for strawberries.

Pineapple Charlotte

Grate or chop a pineapple very fine, after peeling it and removing the “eyes.” Soak a half-box of gelatine for an hour in a half cupful of cold water, then add a cupful of granulated sugar and a cupful of boiling water, and stir over the fire just long enough to dissolve the gelatine. As the mixture cools add the pineapple; set the bowl containing it in a vessel of cracked ice, and stir steadily until the mixture thickens. Now beat in a pint of sweetened, whipped cream and turn into a mold wet with cold water. When formed, eat with powdered sugar and cream.

Apple snow

Stew peeled and sliced apples until they are so soft that they can be rubbed through a colander. There should be a pint of this apple sauce. Set aside until cold. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, and into this beat the apples by the spoonful, alternately with a cupful of powdered sugar. When very stiff, add a teaspoonful of lemon juice, turn into chilled glasses, heap whipped cream upon the top, and serve.

Marrons with whipped cream

Chop half a bottle of marrons and put a teaspoonful in the bottom of each glass custard cup. Pour a little of the liquor in which they were put upon these, and fill the glasses with whipped cream. Set in cracked ice until served.

Whipped cream with macaroons

Crush stale almond macaroons fine, and beat into whipped cream just before serving. Heap in a chilled bowl, sift macaroon-crumbs thickly on top, and serve.

Orange and cocoanut delight

Use very sweet oranges for this dish, and do not try dried cocoanut. Buy the fresh fruit, and grate it.

In the bottom of a glass bowl put a layer of sliced and seeded oranges, sprinkle with granulated sugar, and then with a layer of the grated cocoanut. On this put a generous spoonful of sweetened and whipped cream. Now another layer of the sugared oranges, more cocoanut and whipped cream, and so on until the dish is full. The top layer must be of whipped cream, heaped high in the center.

Pineapple snow

Soak a half-box of gelatine in a scant cupful of cold water for an hour. Peel a small pineapple, and grate it; then cover with a cup of sugar, and let it stand for an hour before stirring the soaked gelatine into it. Turn all into a saucepan set within a pan of boiling water, and stir until the gelatine and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the fire and let it cool, but not stiffen. Whip a pint of cream very stiff. Stand the saucepan containing the gelatine and pineapple in a deep bowl of cracked ice and, as the mixture stiffens, beat into it, by the spoonful, the whipped cream. Beat steadily until all the cream is in, and the jelly is stiff and white. Turn into a glass bowl, and set in the ice for some hours. Serve with rich cream.

Raspberry cream sponge

Mash a quart of red raspberries, and stir into them a large cupful of granulated sugar. Soak a half cupful of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for an hour. Pour upon the gelatine a cupful of boiling water. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved, then add the sweetened berries. Strain all through a muslin bag, pressing hard to extract the juice. Turn into a bowl to get cool. When cool, set the bowl in an outer vessel of cracked ice, and as the jelly stiffens, beat into it, by the spoonful, a pint of whipped cream. Beat until stiff and very cold. Set in the ice to form. Serve with sweetened cream.

Banana froth

Whip a cupful of cream stiff. Rub enough bananas through a fine sieve to make a cupful of pulp, and beat this _at once_ into the whipped cream; add four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and beat to a frothy mass. Line a glass dish with almond macaroons, fill it with the banana cream, and sprinkle this generously with tiny bits of crystallized cherries, citron and blanched and minced almonds. Serve _at once_. Of course, the fruits and nuts must be minced and made ready before the preparation of the banana cream is begun.

Macaroon Charlotte Russe

Soak macaroons in custard until rather soft, but not broken, and line a dish with them. Beat a pint of cream stiff, and stir into it half a cupful of blanched and chopped almonds and the same quantity of minced citron. Heap this upon the soaked macaroons.