Part 13
Take a pint of bread crumbs, a quart of milk and four eggs. Make one pint of milk boiling hot, pour it over the bread crumbs, and beat it smooth; when cool, add a cup of sugar, and the yolks of the four eggs; also a lump of butter (the size of an egg). Beat all well together, thin it by adding the rest of the milk, flavor it with peach or nutmeg, and set it in the oven to bake. You must only bake it long enough to cook the eggs, for, if you leave it to stew and simmer in the stove, it loses its jelly-like consistence, and the milk turns to whey. When slightly brown on top, take the pudding out of the stove, and set it to cool. When cool, spread over it a layer of acid preserve or jelly, such as plums, apples, grapes, or currants. Then finish it by making an icing or meringue of the whites of the eggs, beaten up with a full cup of white sugar; flavor this with lemon extract, and then put the pudding again in the stove, and brown. If for a small family, use a pint of milk and half of all the materials mentioned. This is considered an elegant dish for any occasion.
A DELICIOUS PUDDING, VERY EASILY MADE
Butter some thin slices of rolls; lay them in a pudding-dish with currants and citron cut up fine, and strewed between the slices. Then pour over the rolls a custard made of a quart of milk, four eggs and half a pound of sugar; flavor this and bake lightly.
PRINCE ALBERT’S PUDDING
Take one-half pound of butter, one-half pound of grated bread crumbs, one-half pound of sugar, the juice of two lemons with the rinds grated in; add six eggs well beaten, a glass of brandy and four tablespoonfuls of marmalade. Steam this pudding in a mould and serve with wine sauce.
COCOANUT PUDDING OR PIES
Break a cocoanut and save the milk; peel off the brown skin, then throw each piece into cold water, and let it stay a few minutes to cool; take the pieces out, wipe dry and grate; add their own weight of white sugar and half the weight of butter; rub the butter and sugar to a cream, add five well beaten eggs, and a cup of milk; last of all, throw into the mixture the milk of the cocoanut and the grated rind of a lemon. Bake in a pudding-dish, or make it into pies with a bottom crust. Ornament the top of the pies with fancy twists of paste.
CUSTARD COCOANUT PUDDING
Grate one cocoanut; take a quart of milk, four eggs, and a cup of sugar. Beat sugar and eggs light, then stir in the milk, and last the cocoanut and such flavoring as you may prefer. Pour this into a deep pan lined with paste; put fancy strips of paste across it, and bake lightly.
A NICE ICE CREAM
Put on the fire a stew-pan containing a quart of nice fresh milk, and while it is coming to the boil beat the yolks of eight eggs and a pound of fine white sugar; when these are well beaten, take off the boiling milk, let it stand to cool five minutes, and pour it very hot over the eggs and sugar; strain this mixture, and add for flavoring any favorite extract, either of lemon, orange, peach or vanilla. Let it stand to get cool, and pour it into the freezer and surround it with layers of ice, pounded fine, and coarse dairy salt, well beaten down, and fill up till within a few inches of the top of the freezer. Now, if you have it you may pour in one quart of pure cream, and beat it with a wooden spoon into the mixture in the freezer. Turn the crank of your freezer briskly if you have a five minute freezer; if not, turn the can with your hand for fifteen minutes, and then pack round again with ice and salt. Draw off the melted ice and salt water, and fill up again and set away to harden before serving. Two tablespoonfuls of the extract are enough.
LEMON SHERBET
If a gallon is wanted, take ten fine lemons, or more, if small ones. Place to them three quarts of cold water sweetened, with two and one-half pounds of loaf sugar. Just before placing in the freezer, beat up the whites of three eggs with a little sugar and stir in. Then place the mixture of lemons, sugar, water and eggs in the freezer, and pack ice and salt around it. It freezes easily, with less trouble than ice cream. Pineapple or orange sherbet is also very nice made the same way.
BISCUIT CREAM IN MOULDS
One quart of firm clabber and one quart of sweet cream, make it very sweet with white sugar; flavor with vanilla bean boiled in half a cup of sweet milk. Churn all together ten minutes, then freeze in moulds, or in any ordinary freezer.
ORANGE CREAM
Squeeze the juice of four oranges, and put it with the peel of one into a sauce-pan; add to this a pint of water, half a pound of sugar, and the beaten whites of five eggs. Mix carefully, place it over a gentle fire, or it will curdle, stir it in one direction until it looks thick; strain it through a gauze sieve, and add to it, when cold, the yolks of five eggs, and a cup of cream or sweet milk. Set it on the fire until hot enough to cook the eggs, or nearly ready to boil them, take it off, stir until cold, and set it on ice, or freeze it as you choose. This is a delicious cream, with or without freezing, and one much used by families in Louisiana.
STRAWBERRY, RASPBERRY, OR BLACKBERRY CREAM FROZEN
Make a quart of rich custard, with eggs, and sugar and milk; when cold, pour it on a quart of ripe fruit, mash and pass it through a sieve. Add more sugar if required by the fruit, and freeze it.
PEACHES AND CREAM FROZEN
Peel and stone a quart of nice yellow peaches; put them in a bowl, sweeten them well, and chop very fine. If you have sweet cream, put to the fruit a quart of it; if you have not, take a quart of milk, sweeten it with half a pound of sugar, let it boil, and when boiling, pour it on to the beaten yolks of four eggs. When this custard cools, you may add the chopped peaches, which should be well sweetened. Pour all in the freezer and set it where it can be frozen.
BARLEY OR SAGE CREAM FOR INVALIDS
Wash the sage or barley clean; take a cup of either; put it on the fire with water to cover it; boil it gently until it is soft. While boiling, put in a stick of cinnamon, or any seasoning that is agreeable. When the barley has boiled soft and thick, take it off and strain it; then add to it a rich boiled custard, sweeten it to taste; add a glass of wine, if liked, and serve it frozen, or not, as is liked best by the sick.
FROZEN PEACHES AND CREAM
Peel and stone nice soft, ripe peaches, sprinkle enough sugar on them to make them very sweet; chop them up fine until they are a pulp, and add to them as much cream as you have peaches; put them into the freezer and turn it briskly until the cream is well frozen. Figs and other fruits are good served in the same way.
ANOTHER ICE CREAM WITHOUT CREAM
When cream can not be procured, a custard made as directed, is a good substitute. To a quart of milk, add sugar until it is _very sweet_, for in freezing it loses some of its sweetness; let this boil on the fire, when it boils gently, take it off and pour it scalding hot to the beaten yolks of eight eggs; stir it constantly, but never boil it as the scalding milk will cook the eggs sufficiently; it should also be stirred while cooking. Flavor with vanilla, or lemon or almond. If with a vanilla bean it is better to boil it in the milk before putting in the sugar. When the custard is cold, put it in the form or freezer. If you have no freezer you can make one, by using a tin kettle with a tight cover. Set this in the centre of a tub that is large enough to leave a space of four or five inches around it; fill the space with layers of cracked ice and coarse salt, a layer of ice last, and cover the whole with a woolen cover for half an hour. Then shake the kettle constantly, after that, until frozen. Cover up till wanted.
ICED CHOCOLATE CREAM
Grate half a pound of vanilla chocolate, put it in a stew-pan with half a pound of sugar, the yolks of eight eggs, and one pint of rich, sweet milk. Stir over the fire until it begins to thicken, strain through a sieve into a basin, add half a pint of whipped cream, and one and a half ounces of isinglass. Mix well and pour into a mould. Set it on ice if the weather is warm.
COFFEE CUSTARD
Boil one quart of milk with five spoonfuls of white sugar. Beat four eggs separately, throw the whites into the boiling milk for two minutes and dip them out with a skimmer as soon as they are cooked. Beat the four yolks of the eggs with half a cup of corn starch wet with a little cold milk; set it aside until you can put into the hot milk a cup of hot strong coffee; then pour in the mixed corn starch and eggs, give it a little boil and take it off. Last of all, place the pure white boiled eggs on the rich brown custard, and you have a beautiful and appetizing dessert. Serve with sponge cake. Some boil the coarsely ground coffee in the milk first and then strain it, proceeding after that as in other custards.
LEMON CHEESE-CAKES
Boil the peel of two lemons until tender, and pound them. Take half a pound of sugar, the yolks of six eggs, and one-half pound of butter. Stir all well together, and add the juice of the lemons last. Lay puff paste in your pans, fill them half full of the mixture, and bake lightly.
ORANGE CHEESE-CAKES
Boil the peel of four oranges in two waters, to take out the bitter taste. When tender, pound up with half a pound of sugar, one-quarter of a pound of butter, and the yolks of six eggs. I make these confections to use up the yolks when I have been using the whites of eggs for icing or white cake. Beat the mixture well and add the juice of the oranges; if the oranges are large the juice of two will be sufficient to make two pies. Put puff paste in your pans, fill them half full of the confection, and bake lightly.
WINE JELLY FROM SPARKLING GELATINE
Take a package of an ounce, or an ounce and a half of gelatine, pour upon it a pint of cold water, and let it remain to soften for an hour or so. When ready to make the jelly, pour on to the gelatine three-quarters of a pint of boiling water, and stir until the gelatine is dissolved; then add to it one and a half pounds of white sugar, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, and a spoonful of any essence. Then beat the whites of two eggs well, and stir briskly into the mixture; put it on a gentle fire, let it simmer slowly, take it off as soon as it boils up, then add a pint of wine and two tablespoonfuls of extract of lemon or vanilla; then strain it through a jelly bag until it runs clear. Some boil the extract and wine in the gelatine before straining, but it injures the fine flavor to do so. Boil the gelatine, the water, the sugar and eggs, and strain it; after it is clear and still warm, pour in a pint of wine and set the jelly on ice in summer, or to cool in the winter. This should give great satisfaction.
YELLOW CUSTARD JELLY FROM GELATINE
To one ounce of gelatine, soaked in one pint of water, add a quart of milk; if the weather is warm take a little less milk. Set the milk and gelatine (or double the quantity of isinglass) on to get hot, let it give one boil up, then sweeten it, and when a little cooled stir in the beaten yolks of eight eggs; do not let the eggs boil up or you might curdle them. Flavor with vanilla or lemon, pour into moulds, and set in a cool place, or on ice to harden.
CALVES’ FEET JELLY
Take two calves’ feet, add to them a gallon of water which you must reduce by boiling to a quart; strain it while hot, and set away to get cold. When cold take off the fat, and remove any settlings which may be in the bottom. Melt the jelly in a stew-pan, and add to it the whites of six eggs, well beaten, half a pint of wine, half a pound of white sugar, the juice of four lemons, and rind of one grated. Boil this a few minutes, and pass it through a flannel strainer. This is a most delicate and nourishing article of diet for the sick and convalescent. If the jelly is dropped upon the sliced peel of a lemon instead of the grated peel, it will look prettier.
CALVES’ FEET JELLY MADE WITH GELATINE
Take three quarts of water, one pint of white wine, six teaspoonfuls of brandy, six lemons, juice and peel, six eggs, the whites slightly beaten, the shells crushed--the yolks not used--three pounds of white sugar, and four ounces of gelatine. First, soak the gelatine in one quart of the measured water; let it remain for one-half an hour. Mix the ingredients named with the other two quarts, and let all boil twenty minutes; strain it through a flannel bag without squeezing. Wet the jelly mould in cold water. Pour the jelly in, and leave it to cool, or put it on ice until wanted.
AMBROSIA OF ORANGE OR PINEAPPLE
This is a pretty dessert or supper dish. You require a cocoanut and six oranges or a pineapple. Grate the cocoanut, and slice the oranges or pineapple; then in a glass dish lay a layer of fruit, and a layer of the grated cocoanut, until your bowl is full. Strew powdered sugar over each layer of fruit, and on the top, and it is ready.
FLOATING ISLAND, WITHOUT WINE
Beat the whites of five eggs with a little currant jelly until they are quite thick. Sweeten a pint of cream, add a teaspoonful of extract, pour it in the bowl, and then drop your whites of eggs and jelly by spoonfuls on the cream. If you can not procure cream, you may make a substitute of a custard, made of a pint of sweet milk, yolks of two eggs, and half a cup of white sugar.
EGG-NOG
Take the yolks of ten eggs; add to them ten tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar, three pints of new milk, and one pint of the best brandy (whiskey will do). Beat up the whites the last thing, and stir in, after the liquor is poured in.
PUDDINGS, PIES AND MINCEMEAT
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING AND BAKING PIES, TARTS, ETC.
The delicacy of pastry depends as much upon the baking as the making, therefore strict attention should be paid to the following directions:
Puff paste requires a quick, even heat; a hot oven will curl the paste and scorch it.
Tart paste or short paste requires a degree less of heat.
For raised or light crust, the oven may be heated as for puff paste.
When baking with coal, if the fire is not brisk enough do not put on more coal, but add a stick or two of hard wood; or if nearly done, put in a stick of pine wood.
FAMILY PIE CRUST, SHORT
Put a pound of sifted flour into a bowl, work into it half a pound of sweet lard or beef drippings, with a dessertspoonful of salt. When it is thoroughly mixed put to it enough cold water to bind together. Flour the paste slab, or table, and rolling pin. Take a part of the paste and roll it to less than a quarter of an inch in thickness. This will be quite rich enough for health or taste. A bit of volatile salts, the size of a small nutmeg, dissolved in a little hot water and put to the paste, will make it more light and delicate.
FINEST PUFF PASTE, FOR PUFFS
Heap one pound of flour in the centre of the breadboard, or slab; make a hollow in the centre; break one egg into it, then add a teaspoonful of salt and a piece of butter the size of an egg. Mix these lightly together with a little cold water, adding the water a little at a time, until the flour is made a nice paste; work it together, and roll it out to half an inch in thickness. Then divide a pound of butter in six parts, spread one part over the paste, then fold it and roll it out again, until you can perceive the butter through; then spread over another part, fold it up, and roll out again, and so continue until all the butter is used, and the paste has been worked over six times. It is now ready for making into pies, puffs or any other purpose. Flour the slab and rolling-pin, and roll it out to a quarter of an inch in thickness. A marble slab and rolling-pin are best for pastry, and much more durable than wood. After using them, scrape them clean, wash them first with cold water, then pour scalding water over them, and wipe them dry. Have a sieve ready to sift any flour you may wish to use; this is but little trouble or delay and it is always best to sift flour. To gild pastry, wet it over when nearly done, with the yolk of an egg beaten with a little milk.
PIE-CRUST
Three and a half cups of flour, one cup of sweet lard, one teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of baking powder, and a cupful of very cold water. Mix with a knife, using the hands as little as possible. Roll and cut after the crust is on the pie-plate.
BUTTERMILK PIE-CRUST--VERY WHOLESOME
Take a pint of buttermilk, add one large teacupful of lard, one teaspoonful of salt, and a teaspoonful of soda, and flour enough to form a soft dough. Mix the lard and flour by rubbing them together; then add the other ingredients. This is a tender and good pie-crust.
BOIL DUMPLING CRUST WITHOUT LARD OR BUTTER--FOR DYSPEPTICS
Sift a pint of flour in a basin, salt it as usual, then pour on it a fine stream of boiling water from the spout of a kettle, pour it slowly, or you will overflow the flour; mix the flour and hot water with a spoon until it is a nice soft dough that you can handle; then pour it on the biscuit board, which should be well floured; give it two or three turns, and it is ready for the fruit. This is fine for dyspeptics, and altogether lighter and nicer than the old way of mixing with grease.
TO MAKE MINCE PIE MIXTURE
Weigh two pounds of the chopped meat; put to it two pounds of suet free from strings or skin, and chopped fine; add two pounds of currants, picked, washed, and dried; four pounds of peeled and chopped rich tart apples, with the juice of two lemons, and the chopped peel of one; a pint of sweet wine, and one large nutmeg grated, or teaspoonful of ground mace; three pounds and a half of sugar, quarter of an ounce of ground cloves, or allspice, and the same of cinnamon, and a large tablespoonful of salt. Mix the whole well together, put it in a stone pot, or jar, cover it close, and set it in a cool place for use. Mix it well together again before using.
TO FINISH THE PIE MIXTURE
Pare, core, and chop, not very fine, some tart juicy apples; put to them one-third as much of the prepared meat; stone one pound of raisins, and cut a quarter of a citron in small bits; add a gill of brandy, and enough sweet cider to make the whole quite wet. A peck of apples, pared and chopped, with a quart bowl of the prepared meat, and the raisins, citron, and cider, as above-mentioned, with a large teacupful of brown sugar, is enough to make six or seven pies the size of a dinner plate. A teacupful of fine chopped suet may be added if liked, or a tablespoonful of butter to each pie, as it is to be baked.
MINCE PIE MEAT
Take a nice tender piece of beef which is free from gristle, skin or strings. The meat is used for mincemeat, also the sirloin, the heart, head and skirts; the tongue and sirloin are best. Put the meat in hot water, enough to cover it; boil it gently until turning a fork in it will break it; set it to become cold, then take out all the bone and gristle parts. If the tongue is used peel off the skin, chop it very fine. To this meat, apples, raisins and spices are added, for which see recipe mince pie mixture.
MINCE PIE. HOW TO FILL AND BAKE
Line a pie dish with a nice puff paste, rolled to twice the thickness of a dollar piece. Put in the _pie mixture_ half an inch deep, and spread it to within a finger width of the edge; roll out a puff paste crust, turn a plate the size of the one on which the pie is made on to it, and with a knife cut the paste around the edge of the plate; then take the plate off, make three small incisions with the end of the knife on each side of the middle, take it carefully up and cover the pie with it, press it lightly with the finger against the bottom crust, put it in a quick oven for three-quarters of an hour. The top may be brushed over with the yolk of an egg beaten with a little milk. Pies made in this way should be served warm.
MINCE MEAT FOR PIES
Two pounds of beef chopped fine, one peck of apples, two pounds of raisins, two pounds of currants, one pound of citron, one-half pound of suet, three pounds of sugar; powdered cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, a spoonful each. Moisten with a bottle of champagne cider. When you bake the pies, place a spoonful of butter on each pie; but do not put butter in the jar with the meat.
MINCE MEAT, FOR CHRISTMAS PIES