Chapter 17

One quart of pastry flour, one pint of butter, one table-spoonful of salt, one of sugar, one and a quarter cupfuls of ice water. Wash the hands with soap and water, and dip them first in very hot, and then in cold, water. Rinse a large bowl or pan with boiling water and then with cold. Half fill it with cold water. Wash the butter in this, working it with the hands until it is light and waxy. This frees it of the salt and butter-milk, and lightens it, so that the pastry is more delicate. Shape the butter into two thin cakes, and put in a pan of ice water, to harden. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour. With the hands, rub one-third of the butter into the flour. Add the water, stirring with a knife. Stir quickly and vigorously until the paste is a smooth ball. Sprinkle the board _lightly_ with flour. Turn the paste on this, and pound quickly and lightly with the rolling pin. Do not break the paste. Roll from you and to one side; or, if easier to roll from you all the while, turn the paste around. When it is about one-fourth of an inch thick, wipe the remaining butter, break it in bits, and spread these on the paste. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Fold the paste, one-third from each side, so that the edges meet. Now fold from the ends, but do not have these meet. Double the paste, pound lightly, and roll down to about one-third of an inch in thickness. Fold as before, and roll down again. Repeat this three times if for pies, and six times if for _vol-au-vents_, patties, tarts, etc. Place on the ice, to harden, when it has been rolled the last time. It should be in the ice chest at least an hour before being used. In hot weather if the paste sticks when being rolled down, put it on a tin sheet and place on ice. As soon as it is chilled it will roll easily. The less flour you use in rolling out the paste the tenderer it will be. No matter how carefully every part of the work may be done, the paste will not be good if much flour is used.

Chopped Paste.

One quart of pastry flour, two cupfuls of unwashed butter, one teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of sugar, and a scant cupful of ice water. Put the flour, salt, sugar and butter in the chopping- tray. Chop all together until the butter is thoroughly mixed with the flour; then add the water, and continue chopping. When well mixed, sprinkle the board with flour, turn the paste on it, and roll into a flat piece. Place in a pan on the ice. When hard, use the same as puff paste. It can be used as soon as mixed, but will not, of course, be so nice.

French Paste for Raised Pies.

One quart of pastry flour, one table-spoonful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one scant cupful of butter, one egg, one tea- cupful of water. Rub the butter, salt and sugar into the flour. Beat the egg, and add the water to it. Stir this into the flour and butter. Stir this mixture until it is a smooth paste; then put on the board and roll the same as puff paste. This paste must be rolled eight times.

To Make a Pie.

Butter the pie plate (tin is the best), and cover with paste that has been rolled very thin. Roll a strip of paste long enough to go around the plate, and cut in strips an inch wide. Wet the edge of the plate with water, and put a strip of paste on it. Fill with any kind of prepared fruit Have the paste in a roll, and cut enough from the end to cover the pie. Sprinkle the board lightly with flour, and place the paste up-on it. Flour the rolling pin with, the hand. Roll from you and to one side until the paste is the right size. It must be much larger than the plate. In the centre cut a slit about halt an inch long. Cover the pie, having the paste "_fulled_" on, as it shrinks in the baking. The oven must be hot at first, and after the first fifteen minutes the drafts must be closed. A mince pie will require one hour to bake, and an apple pie fifty minutes. Peach, and nearly all other fruit pies, require the same time.

Mince Pie Meat.

Boil a beef tongue, weighing six pounds, and six pounds of the vein of a round of beef (these should just simmer). After skinning the tongue, chop it and the beef very fine, and add five pounds of beef suet, chopped fine; five pounds of stoned raisins, three of dried currants, one and a half of citron, cut fine; nine of sugar, one and a half pints of molasses, two quarts of the liquor in which the meat was boiled, one quart of brandy, one pint of white wine, a cupful of salt, half a cupful of cinnamon, one-fourth of a cupful of cloves, one- fourth of a cupful of allspice, three nutmegs, a table-spoonful of mace. Put all in a large pan, and let stand over night. Put what you wish to bake in another pan with half as much stewed and sweetened apple as you have meat, and let it stand one hour. Put the remainder of the meat in a jar. Cover with a paper dipped in brandy, and then cover tightly, to exclude the air. Set in a cool place for future use, [Mrs. M. L. W.]

Squash pies.

Five pints of stewed and strained squash, two quarts of boiling milk, one and a half nutmegs, four teaspoonfuls of salt, five cupfuls of sugar, nine eggs, four table-spoonfuls of Sicily Madeira and two of rose-water. Gradually pour the boiling milk on the squash, and stir continually. Add the nutmeg, rose-water and sugar. When cold, add the eggs, well beaten; and just before the mixture is put in the plates, add the Madeira. Butter deep plates, and line with a plain paste. Fill with the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven for forty minutes. [Mrs. M. L. W.]

Sweet Potato Pies.

When the potatoes are dry and mealy, take a quart after they have been pared, boiled and mashed, a quart of milk, four eggs, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar to taste. Bake the same as squash pies. If the potatoes are very moist, use less milk.

Lemon Pie.

The juice and rind of one lemon, two eggs, eight heaping table- spoonfuls of sugar, one small tea-cupful of milk, one teaspoonful of corn-starch. Mix the corn-starch with a little of the milk. Put the remainder on the fire, and when boiling, stir in the corn-starch. Boil one minute. Let this cool, and add the yolks of the eggs, four heaping table-spoonfuls of the sugar, and the grated rind and juice of the lemon, all well beaten together. Have a deep pie plate lined with paste, and fill with this mixture. Bake slowly half an hour. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and gradually beat into them the remainder of the sugar. Cover the pie with this, and brown slowly.

Orange Pies.

Two cupfuls of sugar, two of flour, five eggs, one tea-spoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, the juice and rind of one orange. These are for the cake. Beat the eggs very light; then add the sugar, and beat until frothy. Now add the orange. Mix the soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through a sieve on to the beaten eggs and sugar. Stir well, and bake in deep tin plates. There will be enough for six plates. When baked, put a thin layer of the icing between the cakes, and cover the pie with icing. There should be three cakes in a pie. Icing: The whites of four eggs, one tea-cupful of powdered sugar, the juice and rind of two oranges. After beating the whites to a stiff froth, beat in the sugar and then the rind and juice of the oranges. When the pies are iced, dry them in the heater.

Chocolate Pies.

Make plain cup cake, and bake in Washington-pie plates, having the cake thick enough to split. After splitting, spread one half with a filling made as below, place the top piece on, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. The cake should always be fresh.

Filling: One square of Baker's chocolate, one cupful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs, one-third of a cupful of boiling milk. Mix scraped chocolate and sugar together; then add, very slowly, the boiling milk, and then the eggs, and simmer ten minutes, being careful that it does not burn. Flavor with vanilla. Have fully cold before using.

HOT PUDDINGS.

Custard Soufflé.

Two scant table-spoonfuls of butter, two table-spoonfuls of flour, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, one cupful of milk, four eggs. Let the milk come to a boil. Beat the flour and butter together; add to them, gradually, the boiling milk, and cook eight minutes, stirring often. Beat the sugar and the yolks of the eggs together. Add to the cooked mixture, and set away to cool. When cool, beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and add to the mixture. Bake in a buttered pudding dish for twenty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve _immediately_ with creamy sauce.

Cabinet Pudding.

One quart of milk, four eggs, four table-spoonfuls of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, one table-spoonful of butter, three pints of stale sponge cake, one cupful of raisins, chopped citron and currants. Have a little more of the currants than of the two other fruits. Beat the eggs, sugar and salt together, and add the milk. Butter a three- pint pudding mould (the melon shape is nice), sprinkle the sides and bottom with the fruit, and put in a layer of cake. Again sprinkle in fruit, and put in more cake. Continue this until all the materials are used. Gradually pour on the custard. Let the pudding stand two hours, and steam an hour and a quarter. Serve with wine or creamy sauce.

English Plum Pudding.

A pound of suet, chopped fine; a pint of sugar, one pound of grated stale bread, one pound of raisins, two of currants, a glass of brandy, two teaspoonfuls of ginger, two nutmegs, half a pint of milk, a little salt Beat well, and steam five hours. Serve with rich sauce.

Rachel Pudding.

One quart of breadcrumbs, one of apples, cut very fine; half a cupful of suet, chopped very fine; one cupful of English currants, the rind and juice of two lemons, four eggs, well beaten. Mix thoroughly. Grease a pudding mould, and put the mixture in it. Steam three hours, and serve with rich wine sauce.

Chocolate Pudding.

One quart of milk, four table-spoonfuls of corn-starch, four of sugar, four of scraped chocolate, two of boiling water, two eggs, one teaspoonful of salt. Reserve one cupful of the milk, and put the remainder on to boil. Put the sugar, chocolate and water in a sauce- pan or, better still, a small frying-pan, and stir over a _hot_ fire for about a minute, when the mixture should be smooth and glossy. Stir this into the boiling milk. Mix the corn-starch with cold milk. Beat the egg, and add to the corn-starch and milk; add, also, the salt. Stir this into the _boiling_ milk, and beat well for about three minutes. Turn the mixture into a melon mould that has been dipped in cold water. Let the pudding stand in the mould about fifteen minutes. Turn into the pudding dish, and heap whipped cream around it. Serve sugar and cream with it; or, vanilla sauce will answer.

Chocolate Roll Pudding.

This pudding consists of cake, frosting and sauce. It is very nice. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, and add the yolks. Beat into the eggs one cupful of sugar and one of flour. As soon as all are thoroughly mixed, stir in half a cupful of cold water, in which has been dissolved soda about the size of a pea. Pour thin into a buttered pan, and bake in a moderate oven from twelve to fifteen minutes. When baked, sprinkle the top with two table-spoonfuls of milk.

Frosting: Beat the whites of six eggs to a froth, and divide into two parts. Put a teaspoonful of sugar to one half, and one teaspoonful of sugar and three of grated chocolate to the other. Take the cake from the pan and put it on a flat dish or tin sheet. Spread half of each mixture over the top. Return to the oven for about five minutes, to harden the frosting. Take out and roll up. Put the remainder of the frosting on the top and sides of the roll. Put again in the oven to harden the frosting. Take out, and slide on a flat dish. Pour the sauce around, and serve. The yolks of the eggs may be used for puddings or custards.

Sauce: One egg, one tea-cupful of powdered sugar, five table-spoonfuls of boiling milk, one teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Beat the white of the egg to a stiff froth, and gradually beat in the sugar. Add the yolk of the egg, the vanilla, and lastly the boiling milk.

Ground Rice Pudding.

One quart of milk, five table-spoonfuls of ground rice, four of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, six eggs, half a cupful of butter. Put the milk in the double boiler, reserving half a cupful. Mix the rice and cold milk together, and stir into the milk in the boiler when this is hot. Stir constantly for five minutes. Add the salt, butter and sugar, and set away to cool. When cold, add the eggs, well beaten. Bake one hour in a moderate oven. Serve with creamy sauce.

Rice Pudding.

One cupful of rice, one quart of milk, one cupful of raisins, one heaping teaspoonful of salt, one cupful of water, one quart of soft custard. Wash the rice, and let it soak two hours in cold water. Turn off the water, and put the rice in the double boiler with the cupful of water. Cook half an hour; then add the salt, raisins and milk, and cook an hour longer. Butter a melon mould and pack the rice in it. Let it stand twenty minutes. Turn out on a deep dish, decorate with bits of bright jelly, pour the custard around, and serve. The custard should be _cold_ and the pudding _hot_. The raisins can be omitted if not liked.

German Puffs.

The yolks of six eggs, five table-spoonfuls of flour, one of melted butter, one pint of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat the yolks of the eggs light, add the milk to them, and pour part of this mixture on the flour. Beat light and smooth; then add the remainder of the eggs and milk, and the salt and butter. Butter muffin pans, and half fill them with the batter. The quantities given will make twelve puffs. Bake twenty minutes in a quick oven. Serve on a hot platter with the sauce poured over them.

Sauce: The whites of six eggs, one cupful of powdered sugar, the juice of two oranges or of one lemon. After beating the whites to a stiff froth, gradually beat in the sugar, and then the juice of the fruit.

Down-East Pudding.

One pint of molasses, one quart of flour, one table-spoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda, three pints of blackberries. Boil three hours, and serve with sauce made in the following manner:

One tea-cupful of powdered sugar, half a cupful of butter, one egg, two teaspoonfuls of _boiling_ water, one of brandy. Beat the butter to a cream, and add, very gradually, the sugar and brandy. Beat in the yolk of the egg, and, when perfectly creamy, add the white, which has been beaten to a froth; then add the water, and stir very carefully.

Amber Pudding.

One dozen large, tart apples, one cupful of sugar, the juice and rind of two lemons, six eggs, four table-spoonfuls of butter, enough puff or chopped paste to line a three-pint pudding dish. Pare and quarter the apples. Pare the thin rind from the lemon, being careful not to cut into the white part. Put the butter, apple, and lemon rind and juice in a stew-pan with half a cupful of water. Cover tightly, and simmer about three-quarters of an hour. Rub through a sieve, add the sugar, and set away to cool. Line the dish with _thin_ paste. Beat the yolks of the eggs, and stir into the cooled mixture. Turn this into the lined dish. Bake slowly for half an hour. Beat the whites to a stiff froth, and gradually beat into them three table- spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Cover the pudding with this. Return to the oven and cook twelve minutes with the door open. Serve either hot or cold.

Fig Pudding.

One cupful of molasses, one of chopped suet, one of milk, three and a quarter of flour, two eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, one of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of nutmeg, one pint of figs. Mix together the molasses, suet, spice, and the figs, cut fine. Dissolve the soda with a table-spoonful of hot water, and mix with the milk. Add to the other ingredients. Beat the eggs light, and stir into the mixture. Add the flour, and beat thoroughly. Butter two small or one large brown bread mould. Turn the mixture into the mould or moulds, and steam five hours. Serve with creamy or wine sauce.

Date Pudding.

Make the same as fig pudding, but use a pint of dates instead of the figs.

Apple Tapioca Pudding.

One large cupful of tapioca, three pints of water, one cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of essence of lemon, three pints of pared and quartered apples. Wash the tapioca and soak over night in three pints of cold water (three hours will do if there is no more time). Put the tapioca in the double boiler and cook until it looks clear. It will take from twenty to thirty minutes. When cooked enough, add the sugar, salt and lemon, and then the apples. Turn into a buttered dish and bake an hour and a quarter. Let it stand in a cool room half an hour before serving. Serve with sugar and cream.

Baked Apple Pudding.

Fill a three-quart earthen dish with pared and quartered apples. Sprinkle on these one cupful of sugar, a slight grating of nutmeg, one table-spoonful of butter, and half a cupful of water. Cover, and bake thirty minutes. Make half the rule for chopped paste. Roll a piece of the paste into a strip that will reach around the pudding dish. This strip should be about two inches deep. Roll the remainder of the paste to cover the dish. Take the pudding dish from the oven, slip the strip of paste between the apple and the dish, and put on the top crust. Return to the oven, and bake one hour longer. Serve with a cream sauce.

Dutch Apple Pudding.

One pint of flour, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful of salt, an egg, a generous two-thirds of a cupful of milk, two table-spoonfuls of butter, four large apples. Mix the salt, soda and cream of tartar with the flour, and rub through the sieve. Beat the egg light, and add the milk. Rub the butter into the flour. Pour the milk and egg on this, and mix quickly and thoroughly. Spread the dough about half an inch deep on a buttered baking pan. Have the apples pared, cored and cut into eighths. Stick these pieces in rows into the dough. Sprinkle with two table-spoonfuls of sugar. Bake in a quick oven for about twenty-five minutes. This pudding is to be eaten with sugar and cream or a simple sauce.

Apple Soufflé.

One pint of steamed apple, one table-spoonful of melted butter, half a cupful of sugar, the whites of six eggs and the yolks of three, a slight grating of nutmeg. Stir into the hot apple the butter, sugar and nutmeg, and the yolks of the eggs, well beaten. When this is cold, beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and stir into the mixture. Butter a three-pint dish, and turn the _soufflé_ into it. Bake thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Serve immediately with any kind of sauce.

Apple and Rice Pudding.

One cupful and a half of uncooked rice, and two dozen apples. Wash the rice well, and soak two hours in cold water. Peel and quarter the apples. Wet the pudding cloth and spread it in the colander. Cover with two-thirds of the rice. Lay in the apples, having them packed as closely as possible. Sprinkle the remainder of the rice over them. Tie as tightly as possible, and plunge into boiling water. Boil one hour. Serve with molasses sauce.

Eve's Pudding.

Six eggs, six apples, six ounces of bread, six ounces of currants, half a teaspoonful of salt, nutmeg. Boil three hours, or steam four. Serve with wine sauce.

Batter and Fruit Pudding.

One pint of milk, one pint of flour, four eggs, one table-spoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, one pint of fruit, pared and quartered, (apples or peaches are best). Beat the eggs well with a spoon, and add the milk to them. Turn part of this mixture on the flour, and beat to a light, smooth batter. Add the remainder of the milk and eggs, and the salt. Butter a pudding dish and pour in the batter. Sprinkle in the fruit. Bake half an hour. Serve with foaming sauce the moment it comes from the oven.

Amherst Pudding.

Three-fourths of a cupful of butter, three-fourths of a pint of sugar, four eggs, five table-spoonfuls of strained apple, the grated rind and the juice of a lemon, and nutmeg and rose-water, if you like. Bake half an hour, in a moderate oven, in a shallow pudding dish that has been lined with a rich pasts, rolled very thin. Let it become partially cooled before serving.

Swiss Pudding.

One tea-cupful of flour, four table-spoonfuls of butter, three of sugar, one pint of milk, five eggs, the rind of a lemon. Grate the rind of the lemon (the yellow part only, remember,) into the milk, which put in the double boiler. Rub the flour and butter together. Pour the boiling milk on this, and return to the boiler. Cook five minutes, stirring the first two. Beat the yolks of the eggs and the sugar together, and stir into the boiling mixture. Remove from the fire immediately. When cold, add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Have a three-quart mould, well buttered. Turn the mixture into this, and steam forty minutes. Turn on a hot dish, and serve without delay. Creamy sauce, or a tumbler of currant jelly, melted with the juice of two lemons, should be served with it.

Delicate Indian Pudding.

One quart of milk, two heaping table-spoonfuls of Indian meal, four of sugar, one of butter, three eggs, one teaspoonful of salt. Boil the milk in the double boiler. Sprinkle the meal into it, stirring all the while. Cook twelve minutes, stirring often. Beat together the eggs, salt, sugar and half a teaspoonful of ginger. Stir the butter into the meal and milk. Pour this gradually on the egg mixture. Bake slowly one hour.

Indian and Apple Pudding.

One cupful of Indian meal, one cupful of molasses, two quarts of milk, two teaspoonfuls of salt, three table-spoonfuls of butter, or one of finely-chopped suet; one quart of pared and quartered apples (sweet are best, but sour will do), half a teaspoonful of ginger, half a teaspoonful of grated nutmeg. Put the milk on in the double boiler. When it boils, pour it gradually on the meal. Pour into the boiler again and cook half an hour, stirring often. Add the molasses, butter, seasoning and apples. Butter a deep pudding dish, pour the mixture into it, and bake slowly three hours. Make half the rule if the family is small.

COLD PUDDINGS.

Royal Pudding.

One quart of milk, half a cupful of sago, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one tea-cupful of granulated sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, four eggs, four table-spoonfuls of raspberry jam, four table- spoonfuls of wine. Put the milk in the double boiler, and just before it comes to a boil, stir in the sago. Cook until it thickens (about half an hour), stirring frequently; then add the butter, sugar and salt. Let it cool; and when cold, add the yolks of the eggs, well beaten, and the wine. Turn into a buttered pudding dish, and bake half an hour. Set away to cool. When cold, spread the jam over it. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, and stir into them four table- spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Spread this on the pudding. Brown quickly, and serve. The pudding can be made the day before using. In this case, put the whites of the eggs in the ice chest, and make the meringue and brown just before serving.

Cold Tapioca Pudding.

Soak a cupful of tapioca over night in a quart of cold water. In the morning drain off all the water. Put the tapioca and a quart and half a pint of milk in the double boiler. After cooking forty-five minutes, add a teaspoonful of salt Stir well, and cook fifteen minutes longer. Wet a mould or bowl in cold water. Turn the pudding into this, and set away to cool. Serve with sugar and cream. This. pudding is also nice hot.

Danish Pudding.