CHAPTER XIII.

RICH PUDDINGS AND PIES.

_Ellen’s Pudding, or Rhubarb Tart._

One pint of stewed pie plant.

Four ounces of sugar.

One half pint of cream.

Two ounces of pounded cracker.

Three eggs.

Stew the pie plant, and rub it through a sieve. Beat the eggs well, and mix with the sugar and cream. Stir the cracker crumbs into the fruit, and add the other ingredients. Line your plate with a moderately rich paste, and bake half an hour.

_Nottingham Pudding._

One pint of sifted flour.

Three gills of milk.

One gill of rich cream.

Six apples.

Four eggs.

A salt spoonful of salt.

Pare the apples, and take out the core without cutting the apple. Mix the batter very smooth, and pour over the apples. Eat with liquid sauce. This pudding requires an hour to bake.

_Rice Plum Pudding._

Three gills of rice.

One quarter of a pound of butter.

One quarter of a pound of sugar.

One quart of milk.

A teaspoonful of salt.

Six eggs.

A pound and a half of stoned raisins or currants.

Half a tablespoonful of cinnamon.

A little rose water, and one nutmeg.

Boil the rice with lemon peel in the milk, till soft. Mix the butter, sugar, and eggs. Dredge the fruit with flour, and put in with the spice the last thing. Bake an hour and a half.

_Eve’s Pudding_ (_the best kind_).

Half a pound of beef suet, and half a teaspoonful of salt.

Half a pound of pared and chopped apples.

Half a pound of sugar.

Half a pound of flour.

Half a pound of stoned raisins, dredged with flour.

Five eggs. A grated nutmeg. A glass of brandy.

Chop and mix the suet and apples. Beat the sugar into the yolks of the eggs. Mix all, putting in the whites cut to a stiff froth just before going into the oven. Bake two hours.

_Baked English Plum Pudding._

A quarter of a pound of suet, chopped first, and half a teaspoonful of salt.

Half of a pound of bread crumbs.

Half of a pound of stoned raisins, wet and dredged with flour.

Half of a pound of currants.

Half of a pound of sugar.

Three ounces of citron.

Milk, and six eggs.

Pour enough scalded milk on to the bread crumbs to swell them; when cold, add the other ingredients. If it is too stiff, thin it with milk; if it is too thin, add more bread crumbs. Then add two grated nutmegs, a tablespoonful of mace and cinnamon, and half a gill of brandy. Bake two hours.

_A Boiled English Plum Pudding._

One pound of currants.

One pound of stoned raisins, dredged with flour.

Half a pound of beef suet, chopped fine, and a teaspoonful of salt.

One pound of bread crumbs.

One-fourth of a pound of citron.

Eight eggs.

Half a pint of milk, and one gill of wine, or brandy.

A heaping coffee cup of sugar, and mace and nutmeg to your taste.

Eaten with a sauce of butter, sugar, and wine.

It requires six or seven hours to boil, and must be turned several times.

In both these puddings, cut the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and put in the last thing.

_Almond Cheese Cake._

Beat eight eggs, and stir them into a quart of boiling milk, and boil to curds. Press the curds dry, and add two cups of cream, six heaping spoonfuls of sugar, and a teaspoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon.

Then stir in three ounces of blanched almonds, beat to a thin paste with rose water, and a few bitter almonds, or peachnuts, beat with them. Lastly, put in half a pound of stoned raisins, cut up, and dredged with flour, and bake immediately, half an hour.

Some persons make the curd with rennet, and then add the eggs and other articles.

_Cocoanut Pudding._

Three quarters of a pound of grated cocoanut.

One quarter of a pound of butter.

One pound of sugar.

One half pint of cream.

Nine eggs.

One gill of rose water.

Stir the butter and sugar as for cake, add the eggs well beaten. Grate the cocoanuts, and stir it in with the butter and eggs. Put in the other ingredients, and bake with or without a crust.

It requires three quarters of an hour for baking. Some persons grate in stale rusk, or sponge cake.

_Arrowroot Pudding._

Take four tea-cups of arrowroot, and mix it with a pint of cold milk. Boil another pint of milk, flavoring it with cinnamon, or peach leaves, or lemon peel. Stir the arrowroot into this boiling milk. When cold, add the yolks of six eggs beaten into four ounces of sugar. Last of all, add the whites cut to a stiff froth, and bake in a buttered dish an hour. Ornament the top with sweetmeats, or citron cut up.

_Ground Rice Pudding._

Make a batter of a quarter of a pound of ground rice, stirred into a pint of cold milk. Pour it into three pints of boiling milk, and let it boil three minutes. Mix three spoonfuls of butter with four ounces of sugar, and the yolks of eight eggs, and put to the rice. When cool, strain through a sieve. Flavor with nutmeg and essence of lemon, or boil lemon peel in the milk. Add the whites of the eggs last, cut to a stiff froth, and also the juice of a lemon. Ornament with jelly.

_Mrs. O.’s Pumpkin Pie._

One quart of strained pumpkin, or squash.

Two quarts of milk, and a pint of cream.

One teaspoonful of salt, and four of ginger.

Two teaspoonfuls of pounded cinnamon.

Two teaspoonfuls of nutmeg, and two of mace.

Ten well-beaten eggs, and sugar to your taste.

Bake with a bottom crust and rim, till it is solid in the centre.

_Cracker Plum Pudding_ (_excellent_).

Take eight Boston soda crackers, five pints of milk, and one dozen eggs.

Make a very sweet custard, and put into it a teaspoonful of salt.

Split the crackers, and butter them very thick.

Put a layer of raisins on the bottom of a large pudding dish, and then a layer of crackers, and pour on a little of the custard when warm, and after soaking a little put on a thick layer of raisins, pressing them into the crackers with a knife. Then put on another layer of crackers, custard, and fruit, and proceed thus till you have four layers. Then pour over the whole enough custard to rise even with the crackers. It is best made over night, so that the crackers may soak. Bake from an hour and a half to two hours. During the first half hour, pour on, at three different times, a little of the custard, thinned with milk, to prevent the top from being hard and dry. If it browns fast, cover with paper.

Bread and butter pudding is made in a similar manner, except the custard need not be cooked when poured in, and the fruit may be left out.

_Minced Pie._

Two pounds and a half of tongue, or lean beef.

A pound and a half of suet.

Eight good-sized apples.

Two pounds of raisins.

Two pounds of sugar.

Two gills of rose water.

One quart of wine.

Salt, mace, cloves, and cinnamon, to the taste.

Boil the meat, and chop very fine. Chop the suet and apples very fine. Stone the raisins, cutting each into four pieces. Dissolve the sugar in the wine and rose water, and mix all well together with the spices. Twice this quantity of apple improves the pies, making them less rich. Line your plates with a rich paste, fill, cover, and bake. Measure the spices used, to save tasting next time, and to prevent mistakes.

_Marlborough Pudding._

Six tart apples.

Six ounces of sifted sugar.

Six ounces of butter, or a pint of thick cream.

Six eggs.

The grated peel of one lemon, and half the juice.

Grate the apples after paring and coring them. Stir together the butter and sugar as for cake. Then add the other ingredients, and bake in a rich paste. Some persons grate in crackers, and add rose water and nutmeg. It is much better to grate than to stew the apples, for this and all pies.

_Orange, or Lemon Pudding._

Two large lemons, or oranges.

One pound of loaf sugar.

Four ounces of butter.

One pint of cream.

Nine eggs.

A little rose water.

Grate the yellow part of the peel of the fruit, squeeze the juice, mix the butter and sugar thoroughly together, beat the eggs well. Mix all the ingredients except the juice, which must not be added until ready to bake. Line your dishes with a rich paste, and fill and bake three quarters of an hour in a moderate oven.

_Sweet Potato Pudding._

Grate half a pound of parboiled sweet potatoes, and stir to a cream six ounces of sugar and six of butter, and then add the beaten yolks of eight eggs.

Mix the above, and add the grated peel and juice of a lemon, a glass of wine, and a grated nutmeg.

The last thing, put in the whites of the eggs beat to a stiff froth.

Common potatoes and carrots may be made as above, only they are to be boiled soft, and put through a colander, and more sugar used.

_Quince Pudding._

Peel and grate six large quinces. Add half a pint of cream, half a pound of sugar, and six well-beaten eggs. Flavor with rose water, and bake in a buttered dish three quarters of an hour.

PASTE FOR PUDDINGS AND PIES.

This is an article which, if the laws of health were obeyed, would be banished from every table, for it unites the three evils of animal fat, _cooked_ animal fat, and heavy bread. Nothing in the whole range of cooking is more indigestible than rich pie crust, especially when, as bottom crust, it is made still worse, by being soaked, or slack baked. Still, as this work does not profess to leave out unhealthy dishes, but only to set forth an abundance of healthful ones, and the reasons for preferring them, the best directions will be given for making the best kinds of paste.

_Healthful Pie Crusts._

Good crusts for plain pies are made by wetting up the crust with rich milk turned sour, and sweetened with saleratus. Still better crusts are made of sour cream sweetened with saleratus.

Mealy potatoes boiled in salted water, and mixed with the same quantity of flour, and wet with sour milk sweetened with saleratus, make a good crust.

Good light bread rolled thin, makes a good crust for pandowdy, or pan pie, and also for the upper crust of fruit pies, to be made without bottom crusts.

_Paste made with Butter._

Very plain paste is made by taking a quarter of a pound of butter for every pound of flour. Still richer allows three quarters of a pound of butter to a pound of flour. Very rich paste has a pound of butter to a pound of flour.

_Directions for making Paste._

Take a quarter of the butter to be used, rub it thoroughly into the flour, and wet it with _cold_ water to a stiff paste.

Next dredge the board thick with flour, and cut up the remainder of the butter into thin slices, and lay them upon the flour, and dredge flour over thick, and then roll out the butter into thin sheets and lay it aside.

Then roll out the paste thin, cover it with a sheet of this rolled butter, dredge on more flour, fold it up, and roll it out, and then repeat the process till all the butter is used up.

Paste should be made as quick and as cold as possible. Some use a marble table in order to keep it cold. Roll _from_ you every time.

_Puff Paste._

Dissolve a bit of sal volatile, the size of a hickory-nut, in cold water. Take three quarters of a pound of butter for every quart of flour, and rub in one quarter of the butter, and wet it up with cold water, adding the salts when cool. Roll all the rest of the butter into sheets as directed above. Roll the paste three times, each time laying over it one-third of the butter sheets, and dredging on flour, as directed above. In rolling it, always roll _from_ you, and not towards you.

SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS.

_Liquid Sauce._

Six tablespoonfuls of sugar.

Ten tablespoonfuls of water.

Four tablespoonfuls of butter.

Two tablespoonfuls of wine.

Nutmeg, or lemon, or orange peel, or rose water, to flavor.

Heat the water and sugar very hot. Stir in the butter till it is melted, but be careful not to let it boil. Add the wine and nutmeg just before it is used.

_Hard Sauce._

Two tablespoonfuls of butter.

Ten tablespoonfuls of sugar.

Work this till white, then add wine and spice to your taste.

_A Healthful Pudding Sauce._

Boil in half a pint of water, some orange or lemon peel, or peach leaves. Take them out and pour in a thin paste, made with two spoonfuls of flour, and boil five minutes. Then put in a pint of brown sugar, and let it boil. Then put in two spoonfuls of butter, and a glass of wine, and take it up before it boils.

_An excellent Sauce for Boiled Rice._

Beat the yolks of three eggs into sugar enough to make it quite sweet. Add a tea-cup of cream, and the grated peel and juice of two lemons. When lemons cannot be had, use dried lemon peel, and a little tartaric acid. This is a good sauce for other puddings, especially for the starch minute pudding.

The first receipt for whip syllabub furnishes a very delicate sauce for a delicate pudding, such as the one made of potato starch.

Sweetened cream flavored with grated lemon peel or nutmeg is a fine pudding sauce.