Part 2

A quarter of a pound of boiled sweet potato. Three eggs. A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. A quarter of a pound of fresh butter. A glass of mixed wine and brandy. A half-glass of rose-water. A tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.

Pound the spice, allowing a smaller proportion of mace than of nutmeg and cinnamon.

Boil and peal some sweet potatoes, and when they are cold, weigh a quarter of a pound. Mash the sweet potato very smooth, and rub it through a sieve. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream.

Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately with the sweet potato. Add by degrees the liquor, rose-water and spice. Stir all very hard together.

Spread puff-paste on a soup-plate. Put in the mixture, and bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven.

Grate sugar over it.

PUMPKIN PUDDING.

Half a pound of stewed pumpkin. Three eggs. A quarter of a pound of fresh butter, or a pint of cream. A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. Half a glass of wine and brandy mixed. Half a glass of rose-water. A tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.

Stew some pumpkin with as little water as possible. Drain it in a colander, and press it till dry. When cold, weigh half a pound, and pass it through a sieve. Prepare the spice. Stir together the sugar, and butter, to cream, till they are perfectly light. Add to them, gradually, the spice and liquor.

Beat three eggs very light, and stir them into the butter and sugar alternately with the pumpkin.

Cover a soup-plate with puff-paste, and put in the mixture. Bake it in a moderate oven about half an hour.

Grate sugar over it when cool.

Instead of the butter, you may boil a pint of milk or cream, and when cold, stir into it in turn the sugar, eggs, and pumpkin.

GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.

A pint of stewed gooseberries, with all their juice. A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar. Two ounces of fresh butter. Two ounces of grated bread. Three eggs.

Stew the gooseberries till quite soft. When they are cold, mash them fine with the back of a spoon, and stir into them two ounces of sugar. Take two ounces more of sugar, and stir it to a cream with two ounces of butter.

Grate very fine as much stale bread as will weigh two ounces.

Beat three eggs, and stir them into the butter and sugar, in turn with the gooseberries and bread.

Lay puff-paste in a soup plate. Put in the mixture, and bake it half an hour.

Do not grate sugar over it.

BAKED APPLE PUDDING.

A pint of stewed apples. Half a pint of cream, or two ounces of butter. A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar. A nutmeg grated. A table-spoonful of rose-water. A tea-spoonful of grated lemon-peel.

Stew your apple in as little water as possible, and not long enough for the pieces to break and lose their shape. Put them in a colander to drain, and mash them with the back of a spoon. If stewed too long, and in too much water, they will lose their flavour. When cold, mix with them the nutmeg, rose-water, and lemon-peel, and two ounces of sugar. Stir the other two ounces of sugar, with the butter or cream, and then mix it gradually with the apple.

Bake, it in puff-paste, in a soup-dish, about half an hour in a moderate oven.

Do not sugar the top.

FRUIT PIES.

Fruit pies for family use, are generally made with common paste, allowing three quarters of a pound of butter to a pound and a half of flour.

Peaches and plums for pies, should be cut in half, and the stones taken out. Cherries also should be stoned, and red cherries only should be used for pies.

Apples should be cut into very thin slices, and are much improved by a little lemon peel. Sweet apples are not good for pies, as they are very insipid when baked, and seldom get thoroughly done. If green apples are used, they should first be stewed in as little water as possible; and made very sweet.

Apples, stewed previous to baking, should not be done till they break, but only till they are tender. They should then be drained in a colander, and chopped fine with a knife or the edge of a spoon.

In making pies of juicy fruit, it is a good way to set a small tea-cup on the bottom crust, and lay the fruit all round it. The juice will collect under the cup, and not run out at the edges or top of the pie. The fruit should be mixed with a sufficient quantity of sugar, and piled up in the middle, so as to make the pie highest in the centre. The upper crust should be pricked with a fork, or have a slit cut in the middle. The edges should be nicely crimped with a knife.

Dried peaches, dried apples, and cranberries should be stewed with a very little water, and allowed to get quite cold before they are put into the pie. If stewed fruit is put in warm, it will make the paste heavy.

If your pies are made in the form of shells, or without lids, the fruit should always be stewed first, or it will not be sufficiently done, as the shells (which should be of puff paste) must not bake so long as covered pies.

Shells intended for sweetmeats, must be baked empty, and the fruit put into them before they go to table.

Fruit pies with lids, should have loaf-sugar grated over them. If they have been baked the day before, they should be warmed in the stove, or near the fire, before they are sent to table, to soften the crust, and make them taste fresh.

Raspberry and apple-pies are much improved by taking off the lid, and pouring in a little cream just before they go to table. Replace the lid very carefully.

OYSTER PIE.

A hundred large fresh oysters, or more if small. The yolks of six eggs boiled hard. A large slice of stale-bread, grated. A tea-spoonful of salt. A table-spoonful of pepper. A table-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.

Take a large round dish, butter it and spread a rich paste over the sides, and round the edge, but not at the bottom.

Salt oysters will not do for pies. They should be fresh, and as large and fine as possible.

Drain off part of the liquor from the oysters. Put them into a pan, and season them with pepper, salt and spice. Stir them well with the seasoning. Have ready the yolks of eggs, chopped fine, and the grated bread. Pour the oysters (with as much of their liquor as you please) into the dish that has the paste in it. Strew over them the chopped egg and grated bread.

Roll out the lid of the pie, and put it on, crimping the edges handsomely.

Take a small sheet of paste, cut it into a square and roll it up. Cut it with a sharp knife into the form of a double tulip.

Make a slit in the centre of the upper crust, and stick the tulip in it.

Cut out eight large leaves of paste, and lay them on the lid.

Bake the pie in a quick oven.

If you think the oysters will be too much done by baking them in the crust, you can substitute for them pieces of bread, to keep up the lid of the pie.

Put the oysters with their liquor and the seasoning, chopped egg, grated bread, &c. into a pan. Cover them closely, and let them just come to a boil, taking them off the fire, and stirring them frequently.

When the crust is baked, take the lid neatly off (loosening it round the edge with a knife) take out the pieces of bread, and put in the oysters. Lay the lid on again very carefully.

For oyster patties, the oysters are prepared in the same manner.

They may be chopped if you choose. They must be put in small shells of puff-paste.

BEEF-STEAK PIE.

Butter a deep dish, and spread a sheet of paste all over the bottom, sides, and edge.

Cut away from your beef-steak all the bone, fat, gristle, and skin. Cut the lean in small thin pieces, about as large, generally, as the palm of your hand. Beat the meat well with the rolling-pin, to make it juicy and tender. If you put in the fat, it will make the gravy too greasy and strong, as it cannot be skimmed.

Put a layer of meat over the bottom-crust of your dish, and season it to your taste, with pepper, salt, and, if you choose, a little nutmeg. A small quantity of mushroom ketchup is an improvement; so, also, is a little minced onion.

Have ready some cold boiled potatoes sliced thin. Spread over the meat, a layer of potatoes, and a small piece of butter; then another layer of meat, seasoned, and then a layer of potatoes, and so on till the dish is full and heaped up in the middle, having a layer of meat on the top. Pour in a little water.

Cover the pie with a sheet of paste, and trim the edges. Notch it handsomely with a knife; and, if you choose, make a tulip of paste, and stick it in the middle of the lid, and lay leaves of paste round it.

Fresh oysters will greatly improve a beef-steak pie. So also will mushrooms.

Any meat pie may be made in a similar manner.

INDIAN PUDDING.

A pound of beef-suet, chopped very fine. A pint of molasses. A pint of rich milk. Four eggs. A large tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and cinnamon. A little grated or chipped lemon-peel. Indian meal sufficient to make a thick batter.

Warm the milk and molasses, and stir them together. Beat the eggs, and stir them gradually into the milk and molasses, in turn with the suet and indian meal. Add the spice and lemon-peel and stir all very hard together. Take care not to put too much indian meal, or the pudding will be heavy and solid.

Dip the cloth in boiling water. Shake it out, and flour it slightly. Pour the mixture into it, and tie it up, leaving room for the pudding to swell.

Boil it three hours. Serve it up hot, and eat it with sauce made of drawn butter, wine and nutmeg.

When cold, it is good cut in slices and fried.

BATTER PUDDING.

Six eggs. Eight table-spoonfuls of sifted flour. One quart of milk. A salt-spoonful of salt.

Stir the flour, gradually, into the milk, carefully dissolving all the lumps. Beat the eggs very light, and add them by degrees to the milk and flour. Put in the salt, and stir the whole well together.

Take a very thick pudding-cloth. Dip it in boiling water, and flour it. Pour into it the mixture and tie it up, leaving room for it to swell. Boil it hard, one hour, and keep it in the pot, till it is time to send it to table. Serve it up with wine-sauce.

A square cloth, which when tied up will make the pudding of a round form, is better than a bag.

Apple Batter Pudding is made by pouring the batter over a dish of pippins, pared, cored, and sweetened, either whole or cut in pieces. Bake it, and eat it with butter and sugar.

BREAD PUDDING.

A quarter of a pound of grated stale bread. A quart of milk, boiled with two or three sticks of cinnamon, slightly broken. Eight eggs. A quarter of a pound of sugar. A little grated lemon-peel.

Boil the milk with the cinnamon, strain it, and set it away till quite cold.

Grate as much crumb of stale bread as will weigh a quarter of a pound. Beat the eggs, and when the milk is cold, stir them into it in turn with the bread and sugar. Add the lemon-peel, and if you choose, a table spoonful of rosewater.

Bake it in a buttered dish, and grate nutmeg over it when done. Do not send it to table hot. Baked puddings should never be eaten till they have become cold, or at least cool.

RICE PUDDING.

A quarter of a pound of rice. A quarter of a pound of butter. A quarter of a pound of sugar. A pint and a half of milk, or cream and milk. Six eggs. A tea-spoonful of mixed spice, mace, nutmeg and cinnamon. A half wine-glass of rose-water.

Wash the rice. Boil it till very soft. Drain it and set it away to get cold. Put the butter and sugar together in a pan, and stir them till very light. Add to them the spice and rose-water. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them, gradually, into the milk. Then stir the eggs and the milk into the butter and sugar, alternately with the rice.

Bake it and grate nutmeg over the top.

Currants or raisins, floured, and stirred in at the last, will greatly improve it.

It should be eaten cold, or quite cool.

BOSTON PUDDING.

Make a good common paste with a pound and a half of flour, and three quarters of a pound of butter. [Footnote: Or three quarters of a pound of beef suet, chopped very fine. Mix the suet at once with the flour, knead it with cold water into a stiff dough, and then roll it out into a large thin sheet. Fold it up and roll it again.] When you roll it out the last time, cut off the edges, till you get the sheet of paste of an even square shape.

Have ready some fruit sweetened to your taste. If cranberries, gooseberries, dried peaches, or damsons, they should be stewed, and made very sweet. If apples, they should be stewed in a very little water, drained, and seasoned with nutmeg, rosewater and lemon. If currants, raspberries, or blackberries, they should be mashed with sugar, and put into the pudding raw.

Spread the fruit very thick, all over the sheet of paste, (which must not be rolled out too thin.) When it is covered all over with the fruit, roll it up, and close the dough at both ends, and down the last side. Tie the pudding in a cloth and boil it.

Eat it with sugar. It must not be taken out of the pot till just before it is brought to table.

FRITTERS.

Seven eggs. Half a pint of milk. A salt-spoonful of salt. Sufficient flour to make a thick batter.

Beat the eggs well and stir them gradually into the milk. Add the salt, and stir in flour enough to make a thick batter.

Fry them in lard, and serve them up hot.

Eat them with wine and sugar.

They are improved by stirring in a table-spoonful of yeast.

These are excellent with the addition of cold stewed apple, stirred into the mixtures in which case use less flour.

FINE CUSTARDS.

A quart of milk or cream. The yoke only, of sixteen eggs. Six ounces of powdered white sugar. A large handful of peach-leaves or half an ounce of peach kernels or bitter almonds, broken in pieces. A table-spoonful of rose-water. A nutmeg.

Boil in the milk the cinnamon, and the peach-leaves, or peach-kernels. When it has boiled, set it away to get cold. As soon as it is cold, strain it through a sieve, to clear it from the cinnamon, peach-leaves, &c. and stir into it gradually, the sugar, spice, and rose-water.

Beat the yolks of sixteen eggs very light, and stir them by degrees into the milk, which must be quite cold or the eggs will make it curdle. Put the custards into cups, and set them in a baking pan, half filled with water. When baked, grate some nutmeg over each and ice them. Make the icing of the whites of eight eggs, a large tea-spoonful of powdered loaf sugar, and six drops of essence of lemon, beaten all together till it stands alone. Pile up some of the icing on the top of each custard, heaping it high. Put a spot of red nonpareils on the middle of the pile of icing.

If the weather be damp, or the eggs not new-laid, more than eight whites will be required for the icing.

PLAIN CUSTARDS.

A quart of rich milk. Eight eggs. A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar. A handful of peach-leaves, or half an ounce of peach-kernels, broken in pieces. A nutmeg.

Boil the peach-leaves or kernels in the milk, and set it away to cool. When cold, strain out the leaves or kernels, and stir in the sugar. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk when it is quite cold. Bake it in cups, or in a large white dish.

When cool, grate nutmeg over the top.

RICE CUSTARDS.

Half a pound of rice. Half a pound of raisins or currants. Eight yolks of eggs or six whole eggs. Six ounces of powdered sugar. A quart of rich milk. A handful of peach-leaves, or half an ounce of peach-kernels, broken in pieces. Half an ounce of cinnamon, broken in pieces.

Boil the rice with the raisins or currants, which must first be floured. Butter some cups or a mould, and when the rice is quite soft, drain it, and put it into them. Set it away to get cold.

Beat the eggs well. Boil the milk with the cinnamon and peach-leaves, or kernels. As soon as it has come to a boil, take it off and strain it through a sieve. Then set it again on the fire, stir into it alternately, the egg and sugar, taking it off frequently and stirring it hard, lest it become a curd. Take care not to boil it too long, or it will be lumpy and lose its flavour. When done, set it away to cool. Turn out the rice from the cups or mould, into a deep dish. Pour some of the boiled custard over it, and send up the remainder of the custard in a sauce-boat.

You may, if you choose, ornament the lumps of rice, (after the custard is poured round them) by making a stiff froth of white of egg (beaten till it stands alone) and a few drops of essence of lemon, with a very little powdered loaf-sugar. Heap the froth on the top of each lump of rice.

COLD CUSTARDS.

A quart of new milk, and a half a pint of cream, mixed. A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. A large glass of white wine, in which an inch of washed rennet has been soaked. A nutmeg.

Mix together the milk, cream, and sugar. Stir the wine into it, and pour the mixture into your custard-cups. Set them in a warm place near the fire, till they become a firm curd. Then set them on ice, or in a very cold place. Grate nutmeg over them.

CURDS AND WHEY.

Take a small piece of rennet about two inches square. Wash it very clean in cold water, to get all the salt off, and wipe it dry. Put it in a tea-cup, and pour on it just enough of lukewarm water to cover it. Let it set all night, or, for several hours. Then take out the rennet, and stir the water in which it was soaked, into a quart of milk, which should be in a broad dish.

Set the milk in a warm place, till it becomes a firm curd. As soon as the curd is completely made, set it in a cool place, or on ice (if in summer) for two or three hours before you want to use it.

Eat it with wine, sugar, and nutmeg.

The whey, drained from the curd, is an excellent drink for invalids.

A TRIFLE.

A quart of cream. A quarter of a pound of loaf sugar, powdered. Half a pint of white wine and Half a gill of brandy mixed. Eight maccaroons, or more if you choose. Four small sponge-cakes or Naples biscuit. Two ounces of blanched sweet almonds, pounded in a mortar. One ounce of blanched bitter almonds or peach-kernels. The juice and grated peel of two lemons. A nutmeg, grated. A glass of noyau. A pint of rich baked custard, made of the yolks of eggs.

Pound the sweet and bitter almonds to a smooth paste, adding a little rose-water as you pound them.

Grate the yellow peels of the lemons, and squeeze the juice into a saucer.

Break the sponge cake and maccaroons into small pieces, mix them with the almonds, and lay them in the bottom of a large glass bowl. Grate a nutmeg over them, and the juice and peel of the lemons. Add the wine and brandy, and let the mixture remain untouched, till the cakes are dissolved in the liquor. Then stir it a little.

Mix the cream and sugar with a glass of noyau, and beat it with a whisk or rods, till it stands alone.

As the froth rises, take it off with a spoon, and lay it on a sieve (with a large dish under it) to drain. The cream, that drains into the dish, must be poured back into the pan with the rest, and beaten over again. When the cream is finished, set it in a cool place.

When the custard is cold, poor it into the glass bowl upon the dissolved cakes, &c. and when the cream is ready, fill up the bowl with it, heaping it high in the middle. You may ornament it with nonpareils.

If you choose, you can put in, between the custard and the frothed cream, a layer of fruit jelly, or small fruit preserved.

WHIPT CREAM.

A quart of cream. The whites of four eggs. Half a pint of white wine. A quarter of a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Tea drops of strong essence of lemon, or two lemons cut in thin slices, or the juice of a large lemon.

Mix together, in a broad pan, all the ingredients, unless you use slices of lemon, and then they must be laid at intervals among the froth, as you heap it in the bowl.

With a whisk or rods, beat the cream to a strong froth. Have beside your pan a sieve (bottom upwards) with a large dish under it. As the froth rises, take it lightly off with a spoon, and lay it on the sieve to drain. When the top of the sieve is full, transfer the froth to a large glass or china bowl. Continue to do this till the bowl is full.

The cream which has dropped through the sieve into the dish, must be poured into the pan, and beaten over again. When all the cream is converted into froth, pile it up in the bowl, making it highest in the middle.

If you choose, you may ornament it with red and green nonpareils.

If you put it in glasses, lay a little jelly in the bottom of each glass, and pile the cream on it.

Keep it in a cool place till you want to use it.

FLOATING ISLAND.

Six whites of eggs. Six large table-spoonfuls of jelly. A pint of cream.

Put the jelly and white of egg into a pan, and beat it together with a whisk, till it becomes a stiff froth and stands alone.

Have ready the cream, in a broad shallow dish. Just before you send it to table, pile up the froth in the centre of the cream.

ICE CREAM.

A quart of rich cream. Half a pound of powdered loaf sugar. The juice of two large lemons, or a pint of strawberries or raspberries.

Put the cream into a broad pan. Then stir in the sugar by degrees, and when all is well mixed, strain it through a sieve.

Put it into a tin that has a close cover, and set it in a tub. Fill the tub with ice broken into very small pieces, and strew among the ice a large quantity of salt, taking care that none of the salt gets into the cream. Scrape the cream down with a spoon as it freezes round the edges of the tin. While the cream is freezing, stir in gradually the lemon-juice, or the juice of a pint of mashed strawberries or raspberries. When it is all frozen, dip the tin in lukewarm water; take out the cream, and fill your glasses; but not till a few minutes before you want to use it, as it will very soon melt.

You may heighten the colour of the red fruit, by a little cochineal.

If you wish to have it in moulds, put the cream into them as soon as it has frozen in the tin. Set the moulds in a tub of ice and salt. Just before you want to use the cream, take the moulds out of the tub, wipe or wash the salt carefully from the outside, dip the moulds in lukewarm water, and turn out the cream.

You may flavour a quart of ice-cream with two ounces of sweet almonds and one ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and beaten in a mortar with a little rose-water to a smooth paste. Stir in the almonds gradually while the cream is freezing.

ANOTHER KIND OF ICE-CREAM.

A pint and a half of rich cream. A quart and a half-pint of morning's milk. One pound of loaf sugar. Two eggs. One table-spoonful of flour. Two lemons. Or half a Vanilla bean, split into small pieces. Or two ounces of sweet almonds and once ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and split into pieces.

Take half of the milk and put in the ingredient that is to flavour it, either the vanilla, the almonds, or the grated rind of the lemons. Boil it, stirring in gradually the sugar.

Having beaten the eggs well, add to them two table-spoonfuls of cold milk, and pour them into the boiling milk. Let them simmer two or three minutes, stirring them all the time. Then take the mixture off the fire and strain it through book-muslin into a pan. Add the cream and the remainder of the milk, and put the whole into the tin freezer, which must be set in a tub filled with ice, among which must be scattered a great deal of salt.

Squeeze the juice from the two lemons and stir it into the cream, by degrees, while it is freezing.

When it is all frozen, turn it out, first dipping the tin for a moment in warm water.

If you wish to flavour it with strawberry or raspberry juice, that, like the lemon-juice, must be stirred gradually in while the cream is freezing.