The American Housewife Part 15

283. _Rennet Pudding._

Put cleaned calf's rennet into white wine, in the proportion of a piece three inches square to a pint of wine. It will be fit for use in the course of seven or eight hours. Whenever you wish to make a pudding, put three table-spoonsful of the wine to a quart of sweet milk, and four table-spoonsful of powdered white sugar--flavor it with rosewater or essence of lemon. Stir it twenty minutes, then dish it out, and grate nutmeg over it. It should be eaten in the course of an hour after it is made, as it soon curdles.

284. _Fruit Pudding._

Make good common pie crust--roll it out half an inch thick, and strew over it any one of the following kinds of fruit: Cherries, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or cranberries. A thick layer of marmalade spread on, is also very nice. Sprinkle over the fruit a little cinnamon or cloves, and sugar. If the pudding is made of gooseberries, currants, or cranberries, a great deal of sugar will be necessary. Roll the crust up carefully, join the ends so that the fruit will not drop out, and lay the pudding in a thick white towel, that has been previously dipped into water, and floured. Baste up the towel, and lay it carefully in a pot of boiling water, with a plate at the bottom of it. Boil it an hour, and serve it up with rich liquid sauce. For a baked fruit pudding, make a batter of wheat flour, or Indian meal, with milk and eggs. Mix the ingredients in the proportion of a pint of flour and six eggs to a quart of milk. Put to each quart of milk a pint of fruit, and sugar to the taste.

285. _A Quaking Pudding._

Slice up three-quarters of a pound of bakers' bread. Beat eight eggs to a froth, stir in several large spoonsful of sugar, and mix it with a quart of milk, a grated nutmeg. Turn it on to the sliced bread--let the whole remain till the bread has soaked up most of the milk, then stir in a couple of table-spoonsful of flour, a tea-spoonful of salt, and turn it into a pudding bag, and boil it an hour. Serve it up with rich sauce.

286. _Lemon Pudding._

Grate the rind of two fresh lemons, being careful not to grate any off the white part. Squeeze the juice out of the lemons, and strain it, to separate it from the seeds. Mix it with six large spoonsful of fine white sugar. Take a quart of milk, and mix it with the rind of the lemons, a couple of table-spoonsful of pounded crackers, and a table-spoonful of melted b.u.t.ter. Beat six eggs to a froth, and stir them into the milk. Stir in the lemon-juice and sugar last, and then turn the whole into a pudding dish that has a lining and rim of puff paste. Bake it from twenty-five to thirty minutes. It should not be eaten till it is cold.

287. _Almond Pudding._

Turn boiling water on three-quarters of a pound of sweet almonds. Let them remain in it till the skins will slip off easily--rub the skins off with a dry cloth. When they are perfectly dry, pound them fine, with a table-spoonful of rosewater. Beat six eggs to a froth, then mix them with four table-spoonsful of powdered sugar--put them into a quart of milk, with three table-spoonsful of pounded crackers, a quarter of a pound of melted b.u.t.ter, four ounces of citron, and the pounded almonds.

Line a pudding dish with pastry, put round it a rim of puff paste, turn in the pudding, and bake it about half an hour. The pudding should be eaten cold.

288. _Tapioca Pudding._

To a quart of warm milk put eight table-spoonsful of tapioca. Let it soak till it softens, then stir it up, and put to it a couple of table-spoonsful of melted b.u.t.ter, four beaten eggs, and cinnamon or mace to the taste. Mix four table-spoonsful of white powdered sugar with a wine gla.s.s of wine, and stir it into the rest of the ingredients. Turn the whole into a pudding dish that has a lining of pastry, and bake it immediately.

289. _Sago Pudding._

Rinse half a pound of sago in hot water, till it is thoroughly cleansed--then drain off the water, and boil the sago in a quart of milk, with a stick of cinnamon or mace. Stir it constantly, or it will burn. When soft, take it from the fire, take out the stick of cinnamon, and put in a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter. Mix a wine gla.s.s of wine with four large spoonsful of fine white sugar, and stir it into the sago--add, when cold, five beaten eggs, and bake the pudding in a deep dish, with a lining and rim of pastry. Strew over the pudding a quarter of a pound of Zante currants, and bake it directly, in a quick oven. It is the best when cold.

290. _Orange Pudding._

Stir to a cream six ounces of white powdered sugar, with four of b.u.t.ter--then add a wine gla.s.s of wine, the juice and chopped peel of a couple of large fresh oranges. Beat eight eggs to a froth, the whites and yelks separately--mix them with a quart of milk, a couple of ounces citron, cut in small strips, and a couple of ounces of pounded crackers.

Mix all the ingredients well together--line a pudding dish with pastry, put a rim of puff paste round the edge of the dish, and then turn in the pudding, and bake it in a quick oven about half an hour.

291. _Bird's Nest, or Transparent Pudding._

Pare and halve tart mellow apples, scoop out the cores. Put a little flour and water in the hollow of each apple, so as to form a thick paste--then stick three or four Zante currants in each one. b.u.t.ter and line a pudding dish with pastry, put on a rim of puff paste, and lay in the apples, with the hollow side up. Have just enough apples to cover the bottom of the dish, and stick citron, cut in very long narrow strips, round the apples. Stir to a cream half a pound each of b.u.t.ter and fine white sugar--beat the yelks and whites separately, of eight eggs, to a froth, and mix them with the b.u.t.ter and sugar. Flavor it with nutmeg, and set it on a few coals--stir it constantly till quite hot--take it from the fire, stir it till nearly cold, then turn it over the apples, and bake it directly.

292. _English Plum Pudding._

Soak three-quarters of a pound of crackers in two quarts of milk--they should be broken in small pieces. When they have soaked soft, put in a quarter of a pound of melted b.u.t.ter, the same weight of rolled sugar, half a pint of wheat flour, a wine gla.s.s of wine, and a grated nutmeg.

Beat ten eggs to a froth, and stir them into the milk. Add half a pound of seeded raisins, the same weight of Zante currants, and a quarter of a pound of citron, cut in small strips. Bake or boil it a couple of hours.

293. _Plain Fritters._

Stir a quart of milk gradually into a quart of flour--put in a tea-spoonful of salt, and seven beaten eggs. Drop them by the large spoonful into hot lard, and fry them till a very light brown color. They are the lightest fried in a great deal of fat, but less greasy if fried in just fat enough to keep them from sticking to the frying pan. Serve them up with liquid pudding sauce.

294. _Apple Fritters._

Take four or five tart, mellow apples, pare and cut them in slices, and soak them in sweetened lemon-juice. Make a batter of a quart of milk, a quart of flour, eight eggs--grate in the rind of two lemons, and the juice and apples. Drop the batter by the spoonful into hot lard, taking care to have a slice of apple in each fritter.

295. _Cream Fritters._

Mix a pint and a half of wheat flour with a pint of milk--beat six eggs to a froth, and stir them into the flour--grate in half a nutmeg, then add a pint of cream, a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Stir the whole just long enough to have the cream get well mixed in, then fry the mixture in small cakes.

296. _Oxford Dumplings._

Take eight ounces of biscuit that is pounded fine, and soak it in just sufficient milk to cover it. When soft, stir in three beaten eggs, a table-spoonful of flour, and a quarter of a pound of Zante currants.

Grate in half a nutmeg, and do up the mixture into b.a.l.l.s of the size of an egg--fry them till a light brown.

297. _Apple Dumplings._

Pare tart, mellow apples--take out the cores with a small knife, and fill the holes with sugar. Make good pie crust--roll it out about two-thirds of an inch thick, cut it into pieces just large enough to enclose one apple. Lay the apples on them, and close the crust tight over them--tie them up in small pieces of thick cloth, that has been well floured--put the dumplings in a pot of boiling water, and boil them an hour without any intermission--if allowed to stop boiling, they will be heavy. Serve them up with pudding sauce, or b.u.t.ter and sugar.

298. _Lemon Syrup._

Pare thin the rind of fresh lemons, squeeze out the juice, and to a pint of it, when strained, put a pound and three-quarters of sugar, and the rind of the lemons. Dissolve the sugar by a gentle heat, skim it clear, then let it simmer gently eight or ten minutes--strain it through a flannel bag. When cool, bottle, cork, and seal it tight, and keep it in a cool place.

299. _Orange Syrup._

Squeeze out the juice of fresh oranges, and strain it. To a pint of the juice, put a pound and a half of sugar--set it on a moderate fire--when the sugar has dissolved, put in the peel of the oranges, and set the syrup where it will boil slowly for six or eight minutes--then strain it, till clear, through a flannel bag. The bag should not be squeezed while the syrup is pa.s.sing through it, or it will not be clear. Bottle, cork, and seal it tight. This syrup is very nice to flavor puddings and pies.

300. _Blackberry Syrup._

Procure nice, high vine blackberries, that are perfectly ripe--the low vine blackberries will not answer for syrup, as they do not possess the medicinal properties of the high vine blackberries. Set them on a moderate fire, and let them simmer till they break to pieces, then strain them through a flannel cloth--to each pint of juice put a pound of white sugar, half an ounce of cinnamon, powdered fine, a quarter of an ounce of finely powdered mace, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of powdered cloves. Boil the whole together fifteen minutes--strain it, and when cool, add to each pint of syrup a wine gla.s.s of French brandy.

Bottle, cork, and seal it--keep it in a cool place. This, mixed with cold water, in the proportion of a wine gla.s.s of syrup to two-thirds of a tumbler of water, is an excellent remedy for the dysentery, and similar complaints. It is also a very pleasant summer beverage.

301. _Elderberry Syrup._

Wash and strain the berries, which should be perfectly ripe. To a pint of juice, put a pint of mola.s.ses. Boil it twenty minutes, stirring it constantly, then take it from the fire--when cold, add to each quart four table-spoonsful of French brandy--bottle and cork it tight. This is an excellent remedy for a tight cough.