Part 69

_Apricot Cake._--Make a cake with 3 eggs, their weight in butter, flour, and sugar; beat up the eggs till very light, mix with them their weight in castor sugar; now add the flour, into which you have mixed ½ teaspoonful baking powder; and lastly the butter, just dissolved by putting into a hot stewpan and shaking round. It should be dissolved, but not hot. Beat the cake a few minutes; put into a small cake tin, and bake ½ hour in a rather quick oven; when done, take from the oven, and let stay in the tin while you prepare the apricots, cut them in halves, take out the stones. Make a syrup with ¼ lb. sugar to ½ pint water; boil up, and put in the apricots, and stew gently till they are done, they should not be broken; lift them out, and reduce the syrup by quick boiling; let it cool, turn the cake very gently out of the tin; cut the cake round about ½ in. from the edge, take off the same, scoop out the centre, fill it with the apricots and put a whip of cream on the top, and the remainder of the apricots can be arranged round the base, the insides turned upwards, the stones cracked, and the kernels blanched, and one put in the centre of each half apricot.

_Apricot Chartreuse._--Take a tin of preserved apricots, turn out the contents into a saucepan, add 6 oz. sugar, ½ pint water, and a glass of wine; let them boil up; strain off the syrup, take out the kernels, remove the outer skin carefully from the apricots, and leave them to get cold. Add to 1 pint of the syrup 16 sheets best French gelatine steeped in a little water, boil up the whole, and clarify with 3 whites of eggs; have 2 plain moulds, one about 1¼ in. more in diameter than the other, pour a very little jelly at the bottom of the larger mould, and place in it a layer of slices of apricots prepared as above, and a few split kernels; cover this with more jelly, but only put enough to get a smooth surface; lay this on ice to set. When it is quite firm, put the small mould inside the large one, taking care to place it exactly in the middle, so that the vacant space between the two moulds be of the same width all round. In this vacant space dispose slices of apricots and the rest of the kernels, filling up the interstices with the jelly until all the space is filled up. Place the mould upon ice: whip a pint of cream with ½ oz. dissolved isinglass and some of the apricot syrup, which must be added to it a very little at a time, or the cream will not rise to a froth. When the cream is ready and the jelly set, remove the inner mould by pouring warm water into it, and fill up the inner space of the chartreuse with the cream: set it on ice for an hour, turn out and serve.

_Apricot Cream._--Take a tin of preserved apricots, turn out the contents into a saucepan, add 2 oz. sugar, let them boil for ¼ hour, and pass them through a tammy. Dissolve 1 oz. or 7 sheets best French gelatine in a little milk, whip to a froth a pint of cream. Mix the gelatine with the apricot pulp, then quickly work into it the cream, pour the mixture into a mould, and put it on ice to set. When wanted, dip the mould in hot water and turn out the cream.

_Apricot Omelet._--Beat up the whites of 4 and the yolks of 6 eggs with a very small pinch of salt. Put a piece of fresh butter in the omelet pan, and directly it is melted pour in the eggs. As soon as they are set, fold up the omelet, inserting within the fold as much apricot jam as will lie in it. Turn out the omelet neatly on its dish, cover it with powdered sugar, and glaze it with a red-hot salamander.

_Apricot Toast._--Take some ripe but not over-ripe apricots, halve and stone them. Make some syrup with plenty of white sugar and some water: when boiled for 2 hours strain; lay the pieces of apricot in the syrup, and add a glass of white wine; simmer for a few minutes. Cut out of the crumb of a milk loaf some rounds a little larger than the apricots. Fry them a pale yellow in fresh butter, drain and arrange them in a circle on a dish with a piece of apricot on each round, concave side uppermost: put a kernel in the centre of each, pour the syrup well over, and serve with some whipped cream in the centre of the dish.

_Arrowroot Blancmange._--(_a_) Take 1 qt. milk and mix 3 oz. best arrowroot with a cupful of it cold. Then boil the rest of it with 6 laurel leaves or a chip of vanilla as preferred, pour it boiling on the arrowroot, stir quite smooth, sweeten, boil the whole for 10 minutes, taking care it does not burn, and put into a mould. The cause of its cracking is either bad arrowroot or under-boiling.

(_b_) Dissolve a little isinglass or gelatine in the milk with which the arrowroot is made; it will stand, but it is the nature of arrowroot to become liquid after a short time. Sago and tapioca both make very nice blancmange, and are firmer than arrowroot. They may be either flavoured with lemon or vanilla, or served plain with jam and cream round them.

_Arrowroot Pudding._--Mix 1 teacupful arrowroot with ½ pint cold milk; put 1 qt. milk into a saucepan, with cinnamon, lemon or orange peel, and boil it, sweetening it with 2 oz. sugar. Pound 12 bitter almonds, and mix them with the arrowroot and cold milk; strain it through a hair sieve, and add it to the boiling milk, stirring it well. When it begins to thicken, add 1 teaspoonful fresh butter, and, when thoroughly done, pour it into a mould. Do not turn out until quite cold.

_Arrowroot Shape._--Mix 2 oz. arrowroot in ½ pint cold water, let it settle; pour off the water, and flavour the arrowroot with a little orange-flower water. Boil 1 qt. milk with some sugar and a little cinnamon, strain through a tammy on to the arrowroot, stirring all the time; simmer a short time, still stirring; put it into a well-oiled mould, turn it out the following day, and serve it with a custard made with 1 pint milk, 4 yolks of eggs, and flavoured with orange-flower water.

_Aunt Eleanor’s Tartlets._--Prepare ½ lb. apples, as for a tart, and put them in a stewpan with a wineglass of water, 4 oz. preserving sugar, a small piece of cinnamon, 4 cloves, and 2 small strips of lemon peel; stew until the apples are quite tender, when pass them through a sieve, and set them aside to cool. Should the apples not be rather sharp, a squeeze of lemon juice may be added. Now break 2 eggs into a basin, and whisk them until well mixed, stir to them gradually half a stale penny sponge cake, and 1 oz. loaf sugar reduced to a fine powder, and, last of all, 2 oz. liquefied butter; mix well. Line some pattypans with good puff crust, and put in them first a little of your apple pulp, and cover this with a layer of the egg mixture. Bake in a moderate oven until of a fine golden brown, and serve either hot or cold, as preferred.

_Baba._--Have ready 1 lb. fine flour passed through a sieve, 4 oz. raisins (stoned), 4 oz. currants, 8 eggs, 4 oz. pounded sugar, 4 oz. fresh butter, 1 glass brandy, 1 oz. German yeast. Dissolve the yeast in ½ pint tepid milk, strain it, and mix in it a good handful of the flour; work it lightly with the hand into a light soft dough, which is called “the sponge,” put it into a deep stewpan or basin, leave it in a warm place to rise, put the remainder of the flour on a slab or pastry board in a heap, make a hollow space in the centre, break the eggs into it, add a good pinch of salt, and pour the butter just warm on to the eggs; work all lightly together, using the fingers of both hands, raising the hands up and down, so as to beat the air into the paste, when whisking the white of an egg; this should be done just before the sponge is ready, then mix in the sponge in the same light way, and lastly, add the rest of the ingredients; lift the whole into a large well-buttered mould, and put it in a warm place free from draught until it is nicely risen: bake 1½-2 hours in a moderate oven; serve hot, with either red currant jelly or apple jelly, melted with a little brandy, in a sauceboat.

_Baden-Baden Pudding._--Boil ¼ lb. rice in milk to a smooth mash, and with it 1 in. vanilla to flavour. Soak ½ oz. gelatine in cold water a few minutes, then add it to the rice to boil. Whip a pint of cream, with a ¼ lb. sifted sugar, to a froth. When the rice is cooled to lukewarm, stir it briskly into the cream. Wet a mould, fill it with the mass, and set it in a cold place, or in ice. Turn it out when firm.

_Bakewell Pudding._-½ lb. butter, the yolks of 8 eggs, the whites of 2, ½ lb. powdered white sugar; cover a pie-dish with puff paste, put a layer of any kind of preserves about 1 in. thick; gently melt the butter, add that to the eggs. When nearly cold, beat all well together and flavour with almond essence; pour the mixture into the dish about 1 in. thick; bake it about 1 hour in a moderate oven.

_Batter Pudding._--(_a_) Take 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 1 of butter, and 1 breakfastcupful milk. Beat the butter to a cream, beat the eggs, add a little white sugar, and for a change the grated rind of a lemon; put in the flour and milk, and beat all together. Pour the mixture into a buttered shallow dish, and bake 20 minutes in a sharp oven. It may also be baked in common saucers instead of a dish, when the puddings should be doubled up when turned out, so as to form semicircles on the dish, and sifted sugar strewn over them.

(_b_) Make a batter of 2 eggs, 1 pint milk, 6 tablespoonfuls flour, and a pinch of salt; line a pie-dish with marmalade or preserve, and bake 40 minutes in a quick oven; apples sliced into the batter instead of the jam are very good.

(_c_) Mix ½ lb. flour in a basin with ½ teaspoonful salt; break in 2 eggs, mix well, and gradually add 1 pint milk, mixing it all the time. Should there be any lumps, they should disappear in the moistening. Let it stand a short time to rise, butter a pie-dish, pour the batter in, and bake in a quick oven; it ought not to take more than ½ hour to bake; it should have risen very high, and must be served at once, before it has time to fall. For boiling, butter a pudding basin, pour the same batter into it, tie down tightly with a cloth, and put it into a saucepan of boiling water. It should be moved about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to prevent the flour from settling in any part. It will take rather more than 1 hour to boil; turn it out, and serve at once, with either wine sauce or sweet sauce round it in the dish.

_Biscuit Charlotte._--Line a basin closely with some thin finger biscuits, so as to form a complete case. Peel, slice, and core 12 apples, and stew with them a few cherries in butter. Fill the case with the fruit, but leaving a hole in the centre, in which place a small glass, which may contain any jam or preserved fruits; boil 1 hour and turn out. Pour over or serve with clotted cream or custard.

_Bishop Pudding._--Butter some thin slices of bread, without crust, and over the butter spread a good layer of jam. Cut the slices into convenient pieces. Line and border a deep pie-dish with puff paste, arrange the slices of bread and butter in the dish until half full. Make an ordinary, rather milky ground rice pudding, flavour the milk with which it is made with the rind of a lemon. Sweeten to taste, and add to it 2 or 3 beaten-up eggs, according to the size of the pudding. Pour this mixture into the pie-dish, and bake in a brisk oven.

_Blackberry Mould._--Put 1 lb. ripe blackberries into a pudding basin, place this in a larger one of hot water, put a plate on the top, and let it remain in the oven until the fruit is soft. Press out all the juice and mix it with rather more than 1 lb. apples, previously pared, cored, and cut into quarters; put both together into a preserving pan; let them boil for ½ hour, and then add ¾ lb. powdered loaf sugar; let it boil for 10 minutes more, stirring with a silver spoon, when it will be ready to put into the mould, which should be of earthenware. A little grated lemon peel should be added.

_Blackberry Puddings and Tarts._--Both are better for having a small quantity of any good cooking apple mixed with the berries; the apples should be sliced as thinly as possible, and should be at once stirred in with the other fruit and with sugar.

_Blancmange._--Take 6 bitter almonds and 8-9 oz. sweet almonds blanched and peeled, pound them in a mortar with a little orange-flower water; when reduced to a paste add rather less than 1 pint milk, pounded loaf sugar to taste, a little more orange-flower water. Strain the mixture through a cloth, squeezing it well, into a basin containing 8 or 9 sheets best French gelatine dissolved in 1 pint water; mix well, put into a mould set on ice, turn it out just before serving.

_Bombay Pudding._--(_a_) Soojee is only the native name for semolina. Cut slices of bread without crust, ½ in. thick, and toast them a light brown on both sides. Then boil brown sugar to a syrup, and pour it over the bread, which become saturated with it.

(_b_) Half roast 2 lb. soojee, then boil it in water until it becomes very thick; butter a soup plate, and pour the boiled soojee into it; when it has cooled and congealed cut it into 8 cakes; rub the cakes over with the yolk of an egg, dredge with finely sifted flour, and fry in butter until they acquire a rich brown colour. Arrange them in a dish, and pour over them a thick syrup flavoured with lemon juice.

_Boston Pudding._--Rub 6 oz. butter or nice beef dripping into 1 lb. flour; add 6 oz. currants or sultana raisins, 6 oz. moist sugar, ½ teaspoonful powdered cinnamon, and ¼ nutmeg, grated. Dissolve 2 teaspoonfuls soda carbonate in ½ pint milk, being careful to mix the soda perfectly smooth and free from lumps in a tablespoonful of the milk first, and then add the rest of the half pint, stirring it well before mixing it with the other ingredients, so that the soda does not settle to the bottom of the milk. Beat all together for a minute, and put the mixture into a buttered mould, which should not be quite full. The pudding cloth should be allowed room for the pudding to swell, which it does considerably. Plunge into fast-boiling water, and keep boiling for 2½ hours. This makes a very light pudding, and, if properly made, no trace of the soda--which many people object to--can be detected.

_Bread Pudding._--(_a_) Put all scraps of bread into the oven until they become a nice brown, roll them while hot quite fine. For a good-sized pudding take ½ lb. crumbs ¼ lb. brown sugar or golden syrup, ¼ lb. currants or raisins, 1 pint milk, 1 teaspoonful allspice, and 1 pint boiling water. Pour the boiling water over the crumbs, stir them well, and let them soak until soft; then add all the ingredients, mix well, rub the pie-dish with dripping, fill it, put some more dripping on the top of the pudding, and bake ½ hour. This pudding is a general favourite with children and servants.

(_b_) Cut a roll in thin slices, well butter a mould, and stick it all round with raisins stoned and opened; put the bread lightly in; make a sweet batter with 3 or 4 eggs, flavour it with vanilla: pour it over, and leave it to soak well; bake or steam for an hour. Any flavouring may be used.

(_c_) 1 lb. breadcrumbs, 1 lb. raisins, 1 lb. currants, 1 pint milk, six eggs, 4 oz. butter, and 1 lb. sugar. Pour the boiling milk on the breadcrumbs, cover with a plate and let it remain for 1 hour; then add the butter, currants, raisins stoned and cut a little, and the sugar; mix all well together, adding candied fruit, a little grated lemon peel, and spice, and the eggs well beaten; boil 4 hours in a buttered basin or mould, and serve with sweet sauce. If it be requisite to add a little flour, boil an hour longer.

(_d_) Grate 3 oz. breadcrumbs, and pour over them ¾ pint boiling milk, in which a lump of butter, the size of an egg, has been dissolved. Soak for ½ hour; then add 1 tablespoonful moist sugar, and the yolks of 3 well beaten eggs; beat with a fork for 3 minutes; spread a layer of any kind of jam 1 in. thick at the bottom of a pie-dish, not greased. Pour the mixture over the jam, and then heap on the top the whites of the 3 eggs well whisked with a little castor sugar. Bake in a gentle oven for ½ hour, taking care the bottom of the oven is not hot enough to scorch the jam.

(_e_) Make a quantity of breadcrumbs by rubbing the crumb of a stale loaf through a fine wire sieve; put 1 pint milk and 1 oz. fresh butter into a saucepan on the fire, with sugar to taste, and the thin rind of a lemon, cut if possible in one piece; when the milk boils strew breadcrumbs into it until a thick porridge is obtained; turn it out into a basin. When cold remove the lemon rind, and stir in one by one the yolks of 4 eggs, mix well, then stir in the whites of 2 eggs beaten up to a stiff froth and a small quantity of candied citron peel cut very thin. Have a plain mould, buttered and breadcrumbed very carefully all over, pour the composition into it, and bake it about ½ hour. To be eaten hot or cold.

(_f_) Line the bottom and sides of a basin with slices of bread; mix a pot of jam with a little hot water, put a layer of the jam in the basin, then a layer of bread, then more jam; continue this until the basin is full; put a plate on the top. Turn out the next day, and serve with custard round it.

(_g_) 6 oz. stale brown breadcrumbs, 6 oz. fresh butter, 4 eggs (the yolks and whites whisked separately), ½ oz. powdered cinnamon, ½ lb. coarsest brown sugar. Cream the butter, then mix well with the sugar till quite smooth, add the well-beaten eggs, and stir in gradually the other ingredients. Steam the pudding for 2 hours or even more (it cannot be too much done). When turned out, pour melted cherry jam over it, and serve hot.

(_h_) Cut the crust from slices of a dry tin loaf ¼ in. thick; spread with butter slightly and cover thickly with preserve. Take a quart mould and butter perfectly--to look well the mould should be marked plainly in broad flutes. Pile the prepared bread lightly in the mould, having first cut it in diamonds as for sippets. Beat 4 eggs with a pint of milk, sweeten and pour over the bread. Lay a buttered paper on the top, and after standing ½ hour cook in boiling water for 1 hour. A cloth should be tied over the mould above the paper, and the water should only reach ¾ of the mould. A clear arrowroot sauce flavoured with sherry should be served with it, and a large spoonful of fresh jam spread on the top when turned out.

(_i_) Take 1 egg, its weight in fresh butter (melted), its weight in flour, 1 dessertspoonful marmalade, 1 ditto raspberry jam, the weight of the egg in breadcrumbs, and 1 teaspoonful soda carbonate. Break the egg and beat it up well; add the melted butter, the flour, the breadcrumbs, and the jam and marmalade; beat all up well together, and, lastly, put in the soda carbonate. Butter a basin, pour in the mixture, tie it down well, and steam it in a saucepan for 1½ hour. Turn out and serve with custard sauce. This is a light and delicious little pudding, and can be of course made larger by using double or treble the quantities. It turns out quite dark, and light as a feather. It is also nice with fruit sauce of any kind.

(_j_) Break the bread into small pieces and pour on them as much boiling water or milk as will soak them well. Let these stand till the liquid is cool, press it out, and mash the bread till it is quite free from lumps. Measure this pulp, and to every quart stir in ½ teaspoonful salt, 1 teaspoonful grated nutmeg, 3 oz. moist sugar, mix all well together, and put it into a well-buttered pie-dish. Break 1½ oz. butter in small pieces over the top; bake in a moderate oven 1½ hour. Or, to every ¾ pint pulp add 1½ pint milk, sugar to taste, 4 eggs, 1 oz. butter; pour the milk boiling on the bread, let it stand till cold, add the other ingredients, beat well, and put into a buttered basin, tie it down tightly, plunge it into boiling water, boil for 1¼ hour.

_Brioche._--Dissolve 1 oz. German yeast in ½ pint tepid water, strain and mix with it enough flour to form a light dough, put this sponge to rise in a warm place in a basin covered up with a cloth. When it has risen to double its size, put 1 lb. flour on the pastry slab, make a hollow in the centre, place the sponge in it with 1 lb. fresh butter just warmed sufficiently to make it liquid, ¼ oz. salt, 1 gill milk, and 10 eggs; work all lightly together into a paste, adding more flour if needful, to the consistency of bread dough, roll it into a ball, and put it by for 3 hours covered up in a warm place. Then flatten it out, fold up the edges towards the centre, and make it into a ball again, repeating this operation 3 times. The last time take rather less than ¼ of the paste away, make the remainder into a round cake, flatten it slightly, and place the lesser portion on the top, wetting the under side of it. The brioche should look like a cottage loaf. Glaze it all over with egg, and bake it on a buttered tin in a quick oven about ¾ hour.

_Brown or Quay Pudding._--2 eggs, their weight in flour and butter, the weight of one in sugar; beat the butter to a cream with the sugar, add the eggs well beaten, stir in the flour, then stir in 2 tablespoonfuls raspberry jam or jelly. Just before putting the pudding into the mould, beat in ½ teaspoonful soda carbonate. Boil or steam for 1¾ hour. Leave plenty of room for the pudding to rise in the mould. Serve with wine or sweet sauce. If preferred, put 2 tablespoonfuls nice treacle or golden syrup, with ½ teaspoonful ground ginger, instead of the raspberry jam.

_Cabinet Pudding._--(_a_) Spread the inside of a mould with butter, and ornament the bottom and the sides with dried cherries or raisins and candied peel; fill the mould with alternate slices of sponge cakes and ratafias or macaroons, then fill up the mould with a cold custard made with 7 eggs and 1 pint of milk boiled with 6 oz. sugar, flavour with rind of lemon or vanilla, all well mixed together; steam the pudding for 1¼ hour, and when done serve with whip sauce made in the following way: Put 4 yolks of eggs into a small deep stewpan, add 2 oz. sifted sugar, a glass of sherry, a little lemon juice and grated peel, and a grain of salt: whisk the sauce over a moderate heat, taking care to set the stewpan which contains the sauce in another of somewhat larger size already containing a little hot water, and as soon as it presents the appearance of a well-set creamy froth pour it over the pudding, and serve immediately.

(_b_) Well butter a plain mould and ornament it by sticking dried cherries along the sides in rows at equal distances from top to bottom, letting them meet in the centre. Place ratafia cakes and sponge biscuits cut to half their thickness in alternate layers, until the mould is full; pour over them sherry and a little brandy, just as much as they will absorb. If the mould be a large one, the yolks of 8 eggs will be required, these to be beaten with as much new milk as will make a sufficient quantity of custard to pour over the cakes and to quite fill the mould; a little grated nutmeg, and ginger if liked, to be added to the custard while beating. If the milk is not new a few spoonfuls of cream must be mixed with the milk. Cover the mould with a sheet of buttered writing paper, and place it in a stewpan half filled with boiling water; put on the lid, and let the pudding steam for 1½ hour. A hot custard may be poured round the pudding as sauce, or some red currant jelly diluted and thinned with a spoonful of hot water may be served with it; neither must be poured over the pudding.