English Housewifery Part 28

31. _To make_ ALMOND b.u.t.tER _another Way_.

Take a quart of cream, six eggs well beat, mix them and strain them into a pan, keep it stirring on the fire whilst it be ready to boil; then add a jack of sack, keeping it stirring till it comes to a curd; wrap it close in a cloth till the whey be run from it; then put the curd into a mortar, and beat it very fine, together with a quarter of a pound of blanch'd almonds, beaten with rose-water, and half a pound of loaf sugar; When all these are well beaten together, put it into gla.s.ses.

This will keep a fortnight.

32. APRIc.o.c.k JUMb.a.l.l.s.

Take ripe apric.o.c.ks, pare, stone, and beat them small, then boil them till they are thick, and the moisture dry'd up, then take them off the fire, and beat them up with searc'd sugar, to make them into pretty stiff paste, roll them, without sugar, the thickness of a straw; make them up in little knots in what form you please; dry them in a stove or in the sun. You may make jumb.a.l.l.s of any sort of fruit the same way.

33. BURNT CREAM.

Boil a stick of cinnamon in a pint of cream, four eggs well beat, leaving out two whites, boil the cream and thicken it with the eggs as for a custard; then put it in your dish, and put over it half a pound of loaf sugar beat and searc'd; heat a fire-shovel red-hot, and hold it over the top till the sugar be brown. So serve it up.

34. _Little_ PLUMB CAKES.

Take two pounds of flour dry'd, three pounds of currans well wash'd, pick'd and dry'd, four eggs beaten with two spoonfuls of sack, half a jack of cream, and one spoonful of orange-flower or rose-water; two nutmegs grated, one pound of b.u.t.ter wash'd in rose-water and rub'd into the flour, and one pound of loaf sugar searc'd, mix all well together, and put in the currans; b.u.t.ter the tins and bake them in a quick oven; half an hour will bake it.

35. York GINGER-BREAD _another Way_.

Take two pounds and a half of stale bread grated fine, (but not dry'd) two pound of fine powder sugar, an ounce of cinnamon, half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of ginger, a quarter of an ounce of saunders, and a quarter of a pound of almonds; boil the sugar, saunders, ginger, and mace in half a pint of red wine; then put in three spoonfuls of brandy, cinnamon, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves; stir in half the bread on the fire, but do not let it boil; pour it out, and work in the rest of the bread with the almonds; then smother it close half an hour; print it with cinnamon and sugar search'd, and keep it dry.

36. GINGER-BREAD _in little Tins_.

To three quarters of a pound of flour, put half a pound of treacle, one pound of sugar, and a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter; mace, cloves, and nutmeg, in all a quarter of an ounce; a little ginger, and a few carraway seeds; melt the b.u.t.ter in a gla.s.s of brandy, mix altogether with one egg; then b.u.t.ter the tins, and bake them in a pretty quick oven.

37. OAT-MEAL CAKES.

Take a peck of fine flour, half a peck of oat-meal, and mix it well together; put to it seven eggs well beat, three quarts of new milk, a little warm water, a pint of sack, and a pint of new yeast; mix all these well together, and let it stand to rise; then bake them. b.u.t.ter the stone every time you lie on the cakes, and make them rather thicker than a pan-cake.

38. BATH CAKES.

Take two pounds of flour, a pound of sugar, and a pound of b.u.t.ter; wash the b.u.t.ter in orange-flower water, and dry the flour; rub the b.u.t.ter into the flour as for puff-paste, beat three eggs fine in three spoonfuls of cream, and a little mace and salt, mix these well together with your hand, and make them into little cakes; rub them over with white of egg, and grate sugar upon them; a quarter of an hour will bake them in a slow oven.

39. _A Rich White_ PLUMB-CAKE.

Take four pounds of flour dry'd, two pounds of b.u.t.ter, one pound and a half of double refin'd sugar beat and searc'd, beat the b.u.t.ter to cream, then put in the sugar and beat it well together; sixteen eggs leaving out four yolks; a pint of new yeast; five jills of good cream, and one ounce of mace shred; beat the eggs well and mix them with the b.u.t.ter and sugar; put the mace in the flour; warm the cream, mix it with the yeast, and run it thro' a hair sieve, mix all these into a paste; then add one pound of almonds blanch'd and cut small, and six pounds of currans well wash'd, pick'd and dry'd; when the oven is ready, stir in the currans, with one pound of citron, lemon or orange; then b.u.t.ter the hoop and put it in.

This cake will require two hours and a half baking in a quick oven.

40. _An_ ISING _for the_ CAKE.

One pound and a half of double-refin'd sugar, beat and searc'd; the whites of four eggs, the bigness of a walnut of gum-dragon, steep'd in rose or orange-flower water; two ounces of starch, beat fine with a little powder-blue (which adds to the whiteness) while the cake is baking beat the ising and lie it on with a knife as soon as the cake is brought from the oven.

41. LEMON BRANDY.

Pour a gallon of brandy into an earthen pot, put to it the yellow peel of two dozen lemons, let it stand two days and two nights, then pour two quarts of spring water into a pan and dissolve in it two pounds of refin'd loaf sugar, boil it a quarter of an hour, and put it to the brandy; then boil and sc.u.m three jills of blue milk, and mix all together, let it stand two days more, then run it thro' a flannel bag, or a paper within a tunnel, and bottle it.

42. _To make_ RATIFEE _another Way_.

Take a hundred apric.o.c.ks stones, break them, and bruise the kernels, then put them in a quart of the best brandy; let them stand a fortnight; shake them every day; put to them six ounces of white sugar-candy, and let them stand a week longer; then put the liquor thro' a jelly bag, and bottle it for use.

43. _To preserve_ GRAPES _all Winter_.

Pull them when dry, dip the stalks about an an inch of boiling water, and seal the end with wax; chop wheat straw and put a little at the bottom of the barrel, then a layer of grapes, and a layer of straw, 'till the barrel is fill'd up; do not lie the bunches too near one another; stop the barrel close, and set it in a dry place; but not any way in the sun.

44. _To preserve_ GRAPES _another Way_.

Take ripe grapes and stone them; to every pound of grapes take a pound of double-refined sugar; let them stand till the sugar is dissolved; boil them pretty quick till clear; then strain out the grapes, and add half a pound of pippen jelly, and half a pound more sugar; boil and skim it till a jelly; put in the grapes to heat; afterwards strain them out, and give the jelly a boil; put it to the grapes and stir it till near cold; then gla.s.s it.

45. BARBERRY CAKES.

Draw off the juice as for curran jelly, take the weight of the jelly in sugar, boil the sugar to sugar again; then put in the jelly, and keep stirring till the sugar is dissolved; let it be hot, but not boil; then pour it out, and stir it three or four times; when it is near cold drop it on gla.s.ses in little cakes, and set them in the stove. If you would have them in the form of jumb.a.l.l.s, boil the sugar to a high candy, but not to sugar again, and pour it on a pie plate; when it will part from the plate cut it, and turn them into what form you please.

46. BARBERRY DROPS.

When the barberries are full ripe, pull 'em off the stalk, put them in a pot, and boil them in a pan of water till they are soft, then pulp them thro' a hair-sieve, beat and searce the sugar, and mix as much of the searc'd sugar with the pulp, as will make it of the consistance of a light paste; then drop them with a pen-knife on paper (glaz'd with a slight stone) and set them within the air of the fire for an hour, then take them off the paper and keep them dry.

47. _To candy_ ORANGES _whole another Way_.

Take the Seville oranges, pare off the red as thin as you can, then tie them in a thin cloth (with a lead weight to keep the cloth down) put 'em in a lead or cistern of river water, let them lie five or six days, stirring 'em about every day, then boil them while they are very tender, that you may put a straw thro' them; mark them at the top with a thimble, cut it out, and take out all the inside very carefully, then wash the skins clean in warm water, and set them to drain with the tops downwards; fine the sugar very well, and when it is cold put in the oranges; drain the syrrup from the oranges, and boil it every day till it be very thick, then once a month; one orange will take a pound of sugar.

48. _To candy_ GINGER.

Take the thickest races of ginger, put them them in an earthen pot, and cover them with river water; put fresh water to them every day for a fortnight; then tie the ginger in a cloth, and boil it an hour in a large pan of water; sc.r.a.pe off the brown rind, and cut the inside of the races as broad and thin as you can, one pound of ginger will take three pounds of loaf sugar; beat and searce the sugar, and put a layer of the thin-slic'd ginger, and a layer of searc'd sugar into an earthen bowl, having sugar at the top; stir it well every other day for a fortnight, then boil it over a little charcoal; when it is candy-height take it out of the pan as quick as you can with a spoon, and lie it in cakes on a board; when near cold take them off and keep them dry.

49. _To preserve_ WINE-SOURS.

Take wine-sours and loaf sugar an equal weight, wet the sugar with water; the white of one egg will fine four pounds of sugar, and as the sc.u.m rises throw on a little water; then take off the pan, let it stand a little to settle and skim it; boil it again while any sc.u.m rises; when it is clear and a thick syrrup, take it off, and let it stand till near cold; then nick the plumbs down the seam, and let them have a gentle heat over the fire; take the plumbs and syrrup and let them stand a day or two, but don't cover them; then give them another gentle heat; let them stand a day longer, and heat them again; take the plumbs out out and drain them, boil the syrrup and skim it well, then put the syrrup on the winesours, and when cold, put them into bottles or pots, tie a bladder close over the top, so keep them for use.