Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers Part 21

Take a quart of milk, a tea-cup of cream, half a pound of lard, quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, a spoonful of salt, and boil them together; beat well two eggs with a pound of sugar, and pour the boiling milk on them gradually, stirring all the time; when nearly cold, add a tea-cup of yeast, and flour sufficient to make a stiff batter; when quite light, knead it up as bread, and let it lighten again before molding out; when they are moulded out, wet them over with sugar and cream, and let them rise a few minutes and bake them; grate a little sugar over when they come out of the oven.

Rusk for Drying.

Boil a quart of milk, and put in it half a pound of b.u.t.ter, and a little salt; when nearly cold, stir in a tea-cup of yeast, a pound of sugar, and flour to make a batter; when it is light, knead it up with flour, and let it rise again; grease your pans, and make it out in cakes, about the size of a tea-cup, and an inch thick; put two layers in each part, and bake them three-quarters of an hour; when take them out, break them apart, and put the top ones in other pans, and let them dry slowly in the oven for an hour or more.

This rusk will keep for months, and is very useful in sickness, to make panada; it is also good for delicate persons that rich cake disagrees with, or to take on a journey. Nutmeg or mace to your taste.

If you like it richer, two eggs may be put in.

Bread Rusk.

Take as much lightened dough, as would make a loaf of bread, spread it open, and put in a tea-cup of sugar, some nutmeg and a piece of b.u.t.ter; work it well, mould it out, and bake it with your bread; wet the top with sugar and cream before it goes in the oven.

Dough-nuts.

Boil a quart of new milk and melt in it half a pound of b.u.t.ter; beat three eggs with two pounds of sugar, and pour on them the boiling milk, stirring all the time; when it is nearly cold, star in a tea-cup of yeast, a spoonful of salt, and flour enough to make a stiff batter; when this is quite light, knead in flour to make a soft dough, two grated nutmegs and a little mace; let it rise again till it is very light; roll it out thin, cut it in shapes, and fry them in hot lard; dust over cinnamon and loaf-sugar, pounded fine, while they are hot.

Common Dough-nuts.

Pour a pint of boiling water into a pint of new milk, put in a quarter of a pound of lard, and a table-spoonful of salt; stir in a tea-cup of yeast and flour to make a stiff batter; let it rise, and when very light put in two pounds of light-brown sugar, two nutmegs, and enough flour to make a soft dough; work it well and let it rise again till it is very light; roll out and fry as other dough-nuts.

PRESERVES, JELLIES, &c.

To Clarify Sugar.

To every four pounds of sugar put a quart of water and the whites of two eggs; if you put in the egg after it gets hot, it will cook before it has the desired effect; when it comes to a boil, and the sc.u.m rises, pour in a little cold water; let it boil up; take it off to settle, and skim it well; let it boil up, and skim it three times, when it will be fit to preserve with. You should always clarify white Havana sugar.

Apples.

Apples should be preserved in November, and they will keep till June.

Take firm pippins, pare them and take out the cores, leaving them whole; or after you have cored them, cut them across in two pieces, they will then be in rings; put them in cold water as fast as they are pared, to keep them from turning dark; make a syrup of a pound of loaf-sugar, and half a pint of water to each pound of apples; wipe the apples, and put in as many as will go in, without one laying on another; let them boil swiftly till they look clear, then take them up carefully on dishes, and put in some more; when all are done, if the syrup should seem too thin, boil it up after the apples are taken out; cut the peel of several lemons in thin rings, boil them in a little water till they are soft, and throw them in the syrup after the apples are taken out; put the syrup in a bowl, and set all away till the next day, when put the apples in gla.s.s jars or large bowls, spread the lemon peel about them and put the syrup on the top; paste several thicknesses of paper over, and set them in a dry cool closet.

If you only want the apples to keep a few weeks, they may be done with half a pound of sugar to a pound of apples, and will look and taste quite as well.

Apples with Brown Sugar.

Pare and halve your apples, either pippins, red-streaks or wine-saps; make a syrup of light-brown sugar, allowing half a pound to a pound of the fruit; after boiling and clarifying the syrup, pour it over the fruit, and set it by for two days, then cook them, and seasoned with green ginger root they are excellent; they will not require much cooking, and should be of a light-brown color.

Crab Apples.

Put the crab apples in a kettle with grape leaves in and around them, with some alum; keep them at scalding heat for an hour, take them out, skin them, and take out the seeds with a small knife, leaving on the stems; put them in cold water, make a syrup of a pound of sugar to a pound of apples; wipe the apples and put them in; let them stew gently till they look clear; take them out, and let the syrup boil longer.

Currants.

Make a syrup of one pint of currant juice to three pounds of sugar; if it is brown sugar, put in the white of an egg to clarify it; let it boil and skim it; have three pounds of currants picked and stemmed; put them in the syrup, and let them boil slowly, about twenty minutes; take them up and let the syrup boil longer.

Pine Apples.

Pare and slice the pine apples, and make a syrup of a pound of sugar and half a pint of water to a pound of fruit; clarify and skim it, then put in the apples and let them cook gently for half an hour; if you do not want to keep them long, much less sugar will do.

Blackberries.

Allow a pint of currant juice and a pint of water to six pounds of blackberries; give them their weight in brown sugar; let them boil till they appear to be done, and the syrup is rich. Blackberry jelly can be made as currant jelly, and is good for sick children, mixed with water.

Blackberry Flummery.

Stew three pints of blackberries with one pint of sugar--soak a tea-cup full of ground rice--and when the berries have been stewing about fifteen minutes, stir in the rice, and stir the whole time until it becomes thick. This should be eaten cold with cream, and will keep two days.

Cherries.

To preserve four pounds of cherries, take one pint of currant juice, into which put five pounds of sugar; when this boils up, take off any sc.u.m that rises, and put in half of the cherries, with part of each stem on; when they look so clear that you can see the stone, they are done; take these up on a dish and put in the rest, and let them do slowly the same length of time; take them up and let the syrup boil a few minutes longer; do not put them in the jars till they are quite cold. Gla.s.s jars are the best to keep all early fruits in, as you can then see if they begin to ferment; if they do, you must boil them over; always put them in a window where they will be exposed to the sun.

Common Cherries.

Stone the light-colored common cherries, and to every pound of fruit, allow a pound of sugar, which boil up with the juice; after you have skimmed it, throw in the cherries, and let them boil till the syrup is rich.

Cherries for Common Use.

Stone twelve pounds of morel cherries; allow half a pound of brown sugar to each pound of fruit, after it is stoned, let them cook slowly for two hours; examine them through the summer, and if they show any signs of fermentation, set them in a brick-oven, after the bread is done, or in a dutch-oven of hot water, which keep at boiling heat for an hour.

It is a good plan to know the weight of your preserving kettle, as you can then weigh the fruit in it, with a pair of steelyards.

Apricots.

Pour boiling water on the apricots and wipe them dry; then cut them in half and take out the stone; make a syrup of their weight in sugar, and a little water; when this has boiled, put in the fruit, and let it cook slowly till it is clear, and the syrup is rich.

Ginger.