Chapter 34

Take very nearly half a pound of Parmesan cheese, two ounces of mild Gloucester, four yolks of eggs, about six ounces of the best butter, and a good tea-cupful of cream. Beat the cheese first in a mortar; add by degrees the other ingredients, and in some measure be regulated by your taste, whether the proportion of any of them should be increased or diminished. A little while bakes them; the oven must not be too hot. They are baked in little paper cases, and served as hot as possible.

_Ramaquins._ No. 3.

Put to a little water just warm a little salt; stir in a quarter of a pound of butter; it must not boil. When well mixed, let it stand till cold: then stir in three eggs, one at a time, beating it well till it is quite smooth; then add three more eggs, beating it well, and half a pound of Parmesan cheese. Beat it well again, adding two yolks of eggs and a quarter of a pound of cold butter, and again beat it. Just before it is going into the oven, beat six eggs to a froth, and beat the whole together. Bake in paper moulds and in a quick oven. Serve as hot as possible.

_Ramaquins._ No. 4.

Take a quarter of a pound of Cheshire cheese, two eggs, and two ounces of butter; beat them fine in a mortar, and make them up in cakes that will cover a piece of bread of the size of a crown-piece. Lay them on a dish, not touching one another; set them on a chaffing-dish of coals, and hold a salamander over them till they are quite brown. Serve up hot.

_Raspberries, to preserve._

Take the juice of red and white raspberries; if you have no white raspberries, put half codling jelly; put a pint and a half of juice to two pounds of sugar; let it boil, and skim it. Then put in three quarters of a pound of large red raspberries; boil them very fast till they jelly and are very clear; do not take them off the fire, that would make them hard, and a quarter of an hour will do them. After they begin to boil fast, put the raspberries in pots or glasses; then strain the jelly from the seeds, and put it to them. When they begin to cool, stir them, that they may not lie at the top of the glasses; and, when cold, lay upon them papers wetted with brandy and dried with a cloth.

_Another way._

Put three quarters of a pound of moist sugar to every quart of fruit, and let them boil gently till they jelly.

_Raspberries, to preserve in Currant Jelly._

Strip the currants from the stalks; weigh one pound of sugar to one pound of fruit, and to every eight pounds of currants put one pound of raspberries, for which you are not to allow any sugar. Wet the sugar, and let it boil till it is almost sugar again; then throw in the fruit, and, with a very smart fire, let it boil up all over. Take it off, and strain it through a lawn sieve. You must not let it boil too much, for fear of the currants breaking, and the seeds coming through into the jelly. When it boils up in the middle, and the syrup diffuses itself generally, it is sufficiently done; then take it off instantly. This makes a very elegant, clear currant jelly, and may be kept and used as such. Take some whole fine large raspberries; stalk them; put some of the jelly, made as above directed, in your preserving-pan; sprinkle in the raspberries, not too many at a time, for fear of bruising them. About ten minutes will do them. Take them off, and put them in pots or glasses. If you choose to do more, you must put in the pan a fresh supply of jelly. Let the jelly nearly boil up before you put in the raspberries.

_Raspberry Jam._ No. 1.--_Very good._

Take to each pound of raspberries half a pint of juice of red and white currants, an equal quantity of each, in the whole half a pint, and a pound of double-refined sugar. Stew or bake the currants in a pot, to get out the juice. Let the sugar be finely beaten; then take half the raspberries and squeeze through a coarse cloth, to keep back the seeds; bruise the rest with the back of a wooden spoon; the half that is bruised must be of the best raspberries. Mix the raspberries, juice, and sugar, together: set it over a good fire, and let it boil as fast as possible, till you see it will jelly, which you may try in a spoon.

_Raspberry Jam._ No. 2.

Weigh equal quantities of sugar and of fruit; put the fruit into a preserving-pan: boil it very quickly; break it; and stir it constantly. When the juice is almost wasted, add the sugar, and simmer it half an hour. Use a silver spoon.

_Raspberry Jam._ No. 3.

To six quarts of raspberries put three pounds of refined sugar finely pounded; strain half the raspberries from the seed; then boil the juice and the other half together. As it jellies, put it into pots. The sugar should first be boiled separately, before the raspberries are added.

_Raspberry Paste._

Break three parts of your raspberries red and white; strain them through linen; break the other part, and put into the juice; boil it till it jellies, and then let it stand till cold. To every pint put a pound of sugar, and make it scalding hot: add some codling jelly before you put in the seeds.

_Apple Tart with Rice Crust._

Pare and quarter six russet apples; stew them till soft; sweeten with lump-sugar; grate some lemon-peel; boil a tea-cupful of rice in milk till it becomes thick: sweeten it well with loaf-sugar. Add a little cream, cinnamon, and nutmeg; lay the apple in the dish; cover it with rice; beat the whites of two eggs to a strong froth; lay it on the top; dust a little sugar over it, and brown it in the oven.

_Another way._

Pare and core as many apples as your dish will conveniently bake; stew them with sugar, a bit of lemon-peel, and a little cinnamon. Prepare your rice as for a rice pudding. Fill your dish three parts full of apples, and cover it with the rice.

_Rolls._

Take two pounds of flour; divide it; put one half into a deep pan; rub two ounces of butter into the flour; the whites of two eggs whisked to a high froth; add one table-spoonful of yest, four table-spoonfuls of cream, the yolk of one egg, a pint of milk, rather more than new milk warm. Mix the above together into a lather; beat it for ten minutes; then cover it, and set it before the fire for two hours to rise. Mix in the other half of the flour, and set it before the fire for a quarter of an hour. These rolls must be baked in earthenware cups, rubbed with a little butter, and not more than half filled with dough; they must be baked a quarter of an hour in a very hot oven.

_Another way._

Take one quart of fine flour; wet it with warm milk, and six table-spoonfuls of small beer yest, a quarter of a pound of butter, and a little salt. Do not make the dough too stiff at first, but let it rise awhile; then work in the flour to the proper consistency. Set it to rise some time longer, then form your rolls of any size you please; bake them in a warmish oven; twenty minutes will bake the small and half an hour the large ones.

_Excellent Rolls._

Take three pounds of the finest flour, and mix up the yolks of three eggs with the yest. Wet the flour with milk, first melting in the milk one ounce of butter, and add a little salt to the flour.

_Little Rolls._

One pound of flour, two or three spoonfuls of yest, the yolks of two eggs, the white of one, a little salt, moistened with milk. This dough must be made softer than for bread, and beaten well with a spoon till it is quite light; let it stand some hours before it is baked; some persons make it over-night. The Dutch oven, which must first be made warm, will bake the rolls, which must be turned to prevent their catching.

_Breakfast Rolls._

Rub exceedingly fine two ounces of good butter in a pound and three quarters of fine flour. Mix a table-spoonful of yest in half a pint of warm milk; set a light sponge in the flour till it rises for an hour; beat up one or two eggs in half a spoonful of fine sugar, and intermix it with the sponge, adding to it a little less than half a pint of warm milk with a tea-spoonful of salt. Mix all up to a light dough, and keep it warm, to rise again for another hour. Then break it in pieces, and roll them to the thickness of your finger of the proper length; lay them on tin plates, and set them in a warm stove for an hour more. Then touch them over with a little milk, and bake them in a slow oven with care. To take off the bitterness from the yest, mix one pint of it in two gallons of water, and let it stand for twenty-four hours; then throw off the water, and the yest is fit for use; if not, repeat it.

_Another way._

With two pounds of flour mix about half a pound of butter, till it is like crumbled bread; add two whole eggs, three spoonfuls of good yest, and a little salt. Make it up into little rolls; set them before the fire for a short time to rise, but, if the yest is very good, this will not be necessary.

_Brentford Rolls._

Take two pounds of fine flour; put to it a little salt, and two spoonfuls of fine sugar sifted; rub in a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, the yolks of two eggs, two spoonfuls of yest, and about a pint of milk. Work the whole into a dough, and set it to the fire to rise. Make twelve rolls of it; lay them on buttered tins, let them stand to the fire to rise till they are very light, then bake them about half an hour.

_Dutch Rolls._

Into one pound of flour rub three ounces of butter; with a spoonful of yest, mixed up with warm milk, make it into light paste; set it before the fire to rise. When risen nearly half as big again, make it into rolls about the length of four inches, and the breadth of two fingers; set them again to rise before the fire, till risen very well; put them into the oven for a quarter of an hour.

_French Rolls._ No. 1.

Seven pounds of flour, four eggs leaving out two yolks--the whites of the eggs should be beaten to a snow--three quarters of a pint of ale yest. Beat the eggs and yest together, adding warm milk; put it so beat into the flour, in which must be well rubbed four ounces of butter; wet the whole into a soft paste. Keep beating it in the bowl with your hand for a quarter of an hour at least; let it stand by the fire half an hour, then make it into rolls, and put them into pans or dishes, first well floured, or, what is still better, iron moulds, which are made on purpose to bake rolls in. Let them stand by the fire another half hour, and put them, bottom upwards, on tin plates, in the middle of a hot oven for three quarters of an hour or more: take them out, and rasp them.

_French Rolls._ No. 2.

Take two or three spoonfuls of good yest, as much warm water, two or three lumps of loaf-sugar, and the yolk of an egg. Mix all together; let it stand to rise. Meanwhile take a quartern of the finest flour, and rub in about an ounce of butter. Then take a quart of new milk, and put into it a pint of boiling water, so as to make it rather warmer than new milk from the cow. Mix together the milk and yest, and strain through a sieve into the flour, and, when you have made it into a light paste, flour a piece of clean linen cloth well, lay it upon a thick double flannel, put your paste into the cloth, wrap it up close, and put it in an earthen pan before the fire till it rises. Make it up into ten rolls, and put them into a quick oven for a quarter of an hour.

_French Rolls._ No. 3.

To half a peck of the best flour put six eggs, leaving out two whites, a little salt, a pint of good ale yest, and as much new milk, a little warmed, as will make it a thin light paste. Stir it about with your hand, or with a large wooden spoon, but by no means knead it. Set it in a pan before the fire for about an hour, or till it rises; then make it up into little rolls, and bake it in a quick oven.

_Milton Rolls._

Take one pound of fine rye flour, a little salt, the yolk of one egg, a small cupful of yest, and some warm new milk, with a bit of butter in it. Mix all together; let it stand one hour to rise; and bake your rolls half an hour in a quick oven.

_Runnet._

Take out the stomachs of fowls before you dress them; wash and cleanse them thoroughly; then string them, and hang them up to dry. When wanted for use, soak them in water, and boil them in milk; this makes the best and sweetest whey.

_Another way._

Take the curd out of a calf's maw; wash and pick it clean from the hair and stones that are sometimes in it, and season it well with salt. Wipe the maw, and salt it well, within and without, and put in the curd. Let it lie in salt for three or four days, and then hang it up.

_Rusks._

Take flour, water, or milk, yest, and brown sugar; work it just the same as for bread. Make it up into a long loaf, and bake it. Then let it be one day old before you cut it in slices: make your oven extremely hot, and dry them in it for about two minutes, watching them all the time.

_Another way._

Put five pounds of fine flour in a large basin; add to it eight eggs unbeat, yolks and whites; dissolve half a pound of sugar over the fire, in a choppin (or a Scotch quart) of new milk; add all this to the flour with half a mutchkin, (one English pint) of new yest; mix it well, and set it before a good fire covered with a cloth. Let it stand half an hour, then work it up with a little more flour, and let it stand half an hour longer. Then take it out of the basin, and make it up on a board into small round or square biscuits, place them upon sheets of white iron, and set them before the fire, covered with a cloth, till they rise, which will be in half an hour. Put them into the oven, just when the bread is taken out; shut the oven till the biscuits turn brown on the top; then take them out, and cut them through.

_Rusks, and Tops and Bottoms._

Well mix two pounds of sugar, dried and sifted, with twelve pounds of flour, also well dried and sifted. Beat up eighteen eggs, leaving out eight whites, very light, with half a pint of new yest, and put it into the flour. Melt two pounds of butter in three pints of new milk, and wet the paste with it to your liking. Make it up in little cakes; lay them one on another; when baked, separate them, and return them to the oven to harden.

_Sally Lunn._

To two pounds of fine flour put about two table-spoonfuls of fresh yest, mixed with a pint of new milk made warm. Add the yolks of three eggs, well beat up. Rub into the flour about a quarter of a pound of butter, with salt to your taste; put it to the fire to rise, as you do bread. Make it into a cake, and put it on a tin over a chaffing-dish of slow coals, or on a hot hearth, till you see it rise; then put it into a quick oven, and, when the upper side is well baked, turn it. When done, rasp it all over and butter it; the top will take a pound of butter.

_Slip-Cote._

A piece of runnet, the size of half-a-crown, put into a table-spoonful of boiling water over-night, and strained into a quart of new milk, lukewarm, an hour before it is eaten.

_Soufflé._

Two table-spoonfuls of ground rice, half a pint of milk or cream, and the rind of a lemon, pared very thin, sugar, and a bay-leaf, to be stewed together for ten minutes; take out the peel, and let it stand till cold; then add the yolks of four eggs, which have been well beaten, with sifted sugar; the four whites to be beaten separately to a fine froth, and added to the above, which must be gently stirred all together, put into a tin mould, and baked in a quick oven for twenty minutes.

_Another way._

Make a raised pie of any size you think proper. Take some milk, a bay-leaf, a little cinnamon, sugar, and coriander seeds; boil it till it is quite thick. Melt a piece of butter in another stewpan, with a handful of flour well stirred in; let it boil some time; strain the milk through, and put all together, adding four or five eggs, beaten up for a long time; these are to be added at the last, and then baked.

_Soufflé of Apples and Rice._

Prepare some rice of a strong solid substance; dress it up all round a dish, the same height as a raised crust, that is, about three inches high. Have some marmalade of apple ready made; mix with it six yolks of eggs, and a small piece of butter; warm it on the stove in order to do the eggs; then have eight whites of eggs well whipped, as for biscuits; mix them lightly with the apples, and put the whole into the middle of the rice. Set it in a moderately hot oven, and, when the soufflé is raised sufficiently, send it up quickly to table, as it would soon fall and spoil.

_Strawberries, to preserve for eating with Cream._

Take the largest scarlet strawberries you can get, full red, but not too ripe, and their weight in double-refined sugar. Take more strawberries of the same sort; put them in a pot, and set them in water over the fire to draw out the juice. To every pound of strawberries allow full half a pint of this juice, adding to it nearly a quarter of a pound more sugar. Dip all the sugar in water; set it on the fire; and, when it is thoroughly melted, take it off, and stir it till it is almost cold. Then put in the strawberries, and boil them over a quick fire; skim them; and, when they look clear, they are done enough. If you think the syrup too thin, take out the fruit, and boil it more; but you must stir it till it is cold before you put the strawberries in again.

_Strawberries, to preserve in Currant Jelly._

Boil all the ordinary strawberries you can spare in the water in which you mean to put the sugar to make the syrup for the strawberries. Take three quarters of a pound of the finest scarlet or pine strawberries; add to them one pound and a quarter of sugar, which dip in the above-mentioned strawberry liquor; then boil the strawberries quick, and skim them clear once. When cold, remove them out of the pan into a China bowl. If you touch them while hot, you break or bruise them. Keep them closely covered with white paper till the currants are ripe, every now and then looking at them to see if they ferment or want heating up again. Do it if required, and put on fresh papers. When the currants are ripe, boil up the strawberries; skim them well; let them stand till almost cold, and then take them out of the syrup very carefully. Lay them on a lawn sieve, with a dish under them to catch the syrup; then strain the syrup through another lawn sieve, to clear it of all the bits and seeds; add to this syrup full half a pint of red and white currant juice, in equal quantities of each; then boil it quick about ten minutes, skimming it well. When it jellies, which you may know by trying it in a spoon, add the strawberries to it, and let them just simmer without boiling. Put them carefully into the pots, but, for fear of the strawberries settling at the bottom, put in a little of the jelly first and let it set; then put in the strawberries and jelly; watch them a little till they are cold, and, as the strawberries rise above the syrup, with a tea-spoon gently force them down again under it. In a few days put on brandy papers--they will turn out in a firm jelly.

_Strawberries, to preserve in Gooseberry Jelly._

Take a quart of the sharpest white gooseberries and a quart of water; let them come up to a boil, and then strain them through a lawn sieve. To a pint of the liquor put one pound of double-refined sugar; let it boil till it jellies; skim it very well, and take it off; when cool, put in the strawberries whole and picked. Set them on the fire; let them come to a boil; take them off till cold; repeat this three or four times till they are clear; then take the strawberries out carefully, that they may not bruise or break, and boil the jelly till it is stiff. Put a little first in the bottom of your pots or glasses; when set, put in the rest, first mixed with the strawberries, but not till nearly cold.

_Strawberry Jam--very good._

To one pound of scarlet strawberries, which are by far the best for the purpose, put a pound of powdered sugar. Take another half pound of strawberries, and squeeze all their juice through a cloth, taking care that none of the seeds come through to the jam. Then boil the strawberries, juice, and sugar, over a quick fire; skim it very clean; set it by in a clean China bowl, covering it close with writing paper; when the currants are ripe, add to the strawberries full half a pint of red currant juice, and half a pound more of pounded sugar: boil it all together for about ten or twelve minutes over a quick fire, and skim it very well.

_Another way._

Gather the strawberries very ripe; bruise them fine; put to them a little juice of strawberries; beat and sift their weight in sugar, and strew it over them. Put the pulp into a preserving-pan; set it on a clear fire, and boil it three quarters of an hour, stirring it all the time. Put it into pots, and keep it in a dry place, with brandy paper over it.

_Sugar, to clarify._

Break into pieces two pounds of double-refined sugar; put it into a stewpan, with a pint of cold spring water; when dissolved, set it over a moderate fire; beat about half the white of an egg; put it to the sugar, before it gets warm, and stir it well together. When it boils, take off the scum; keep it boiling till no scum rises and it is perfectly clear. Run it through a clean napkin; put it in a bottle well corked, and it will keep for months.

_Syllabub._

Take a quart of cream with a slice or two of lemon-peel, to be laid to soak in the cream. Take half a pint of sack and six spoonfuls of white wine, dividing it equally into your syllabub. Set your cream over the fire, and make it something more than lukewarm; sweeten both sack and cream, and put the cream into a spouted pot, pouring it rather high from the pot into the vessel in which you intend to put it. Let it be made about eight or nine hours before you want it for use.

_Another way._

Mix a quart of cream, not too thick, with a pint of white wine, and the juice of two lemons; sweeten it to your taste; put it in a broad earthen pan; then whisk it up. As the froth rises, take it off with a spoon, and put it in your glasses, but do not make it long before you want them.

_Everlasting Syllabub--very excellent._

Take a quart and half a pint of cream, one pint of Rhenish wine, half a pint of sack, the juice of three lemons, about a pound of double-refined sugar, beaten fine and sifted before you put it into the cream. Grate off the rinds of the three lemons used, put it with the juice into the wine, and that to the cream. Then beat all together with a whisk just half an hour; take it up with a spoon, and fill your glasses. It will keep good nine or ten days, and is best three or four days old.

_Solid Syllabub._

Half a pint of white wine, a wine-glass of brandy, the peel of a lemon grated and the juice, half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar, and a pint of cream. Stir these ingredients well together; then dissolve one ounce of isinglass in half a pint of water; strain it; and when cool add it to the syllabub, stirring it well all the time; then put it in a mould. It is better made the day before you want it.

_Whipt Syllabub._

Boil a quart of cream with a bit of cinnamon; let it cool; take out the cinnamon, and sweeten to your taste. Put in half a pint of white wine, or sack, and a piece of lemon-peel. Whip it with a whisk to a froth; take it off with a spoon as it rises; lay it on the bottom of a sieve; put wine sweetened in the bottom of your glasses, and lay on the syllabub as high as you can.

_Taffy._

Two pounds of moist sugar, an ounce of candied orange-peel, the same of citron, the juice of three lemons, the rind of two grated, and two ounces and a half of butter. Keep stirring these on the fire until they attain the desired consistency. Pour it on paper oiled to prevent its sticking.

_Trifle._ No. 1.