Chapter M: E. James: ‘How to Decorate our Ceilings, Walls, and Floors.’ (25)

_Apple Compote._--Peel, core, and halve 6 large apples, trimming them so as to get them all of a size; drop them as they are done into cold water with the juice of a lemon squeezed into it, to prevent their turning brown. Have ready a strong syrup (made with 1 lb. sugar and 1 qt. water) boiling hot; put the apples into this, with the thin rind of a lemon and 2 or 3 cloves. As soon as they are cooked (great care must be taken that they do not break), take them out and dispose them, concave side uppermost, on a glass dish; place a piece of currant jelly or quince jelly in the hollow of each apple, then well reduce the syrup, and, when cold, pour as much of it as is necessary under the apples.

_Apple Cream Cake._--Rub 1 oz. butter into ¾ lb. flour, and take half a pint of sour cream; dissolve 1 teaspoonful soda carbonate in 1 teaspoon boiling water, add it to the sour cream, and stir until it froths well. If the cream is very sour, it may require a little more soda. Be careful that it is frothy, or else the paste will not be light. Stir the frothing cream into the flour, enough to make a soft paste; line a greased plate with a thin layer of paste; have ready some stewed apples, sweetened and perfectly cold, grated lemon peel mixed in just before they are put into the cake, and as little juice from the apples as possible, or the crust will be soddened. Spread the stewed apple over the paste, leaving a narrow margin for the top crust to adhere to the bottom; roll out the top crust 1 in. thick; pinch the edges well together to make it a little ornamented round the edge, and bake it in a quick oven. This quantity of paste should make two good-sized cakes, the size of a dinner plate; a tin plate is best to bake them on; they are equally good cold or hot, and are eaten with sugar and cream.

_Apple Custard._--Apple chips or rings are as nice as ordinary fruit, and in winter much cheaper. They can be got at an ordinary grocers, and must be soaked 12 hours before using. Take ½ lb. of the fruit when soaked, and stir gently with sugar, lemon peel and cloves to taste, till tender. When cool, pour into a glass dish, and cover with the following custard: ½ pint milk, 1 egg, ½ small teaspoonful cornflour, 2 lumps of sugar. Mix the cornflour carefully with the milk, then whisk the egg and add it with the sugar (which is best sifted); put the whole into a jug and stand in boiling water, stirring well till it thickens, then pour it over the apples, and grate nutmeg on the top. (Bessie Tremaine.)

_Apple Devil._--The following is a delicious way of dressing apples, and is not very well known: Peel and core about 30 good baking apples, and slice them into a little cold water; add equal weight of lump sugar, the juice and peel of 2 lemons cut very thin, 2 oz. very finely grated ginger, and 1 teaspoonful cayenne pepper. Boil all together till the apples look quite clear. The quantity of cayenne can be diminished to suit the taste. This will keep good for 2-3 years, and is to be eaten as a preserve. If required for a dish for dinner, beat up the whites of 4 eggs till very stiff; sprinkle with a little crushed sugar whilst beating. When very firm pile it on some of the preserve previously placed in a dish, and put in the oven till nicely browned. It may be served either hot or cold.

_Apple Dumplings._--Take some finely sifted flour, say ½ lb., and ¼ lb. suet very finely shred, and well freed from skin. Mix the suet and flour, add a pinch of salt and ½ teaspoonful baking powder, with sufficient cold water or milk to make it of the right consistency. Knead it well, and roll it out to the thickness required. Divide this paste into as many pieces as are required for the dumplings. Take some large-sized apples, peel, core, sprinkle them with moist sugar, then insert into the cavity of each some butter, sugar, and a clove. Cover them with the paste, and join the edges carefully. Tie each dumpling up in a floured cloth, and boil about 1 hour. Untie them carefully, and turn them out without breaking them; serve with cream and sugar. A little currant jelly may be substituted for the butter, sugar, and clove.

_Apple Fool._--(_a_) In the country where milk and apples are plentiful, this is a cheap treat for children, and very nice. In towns, it may be necessary to soak a little light bread in the milk and beat it up with the apples to make them go further. Bake good sharp apples slowly, then they will not burst; when done, take out the pulp, rub it smooth, sweeten, add a little lemon flavouring, and a tablespoonful of new, or a teaspoonful of condensed, milk, and serve in a bowl. (Mary Hooper.)

(_b_) The proportion of milk or cream would be 1 pint new milk to 2 lb. apples. It is impossible to give the exact quantity of sugar also, as it must entirely depend on the kind of apple used, some apples requiring so much more sweetening than others; it must be a matter of taste. It is better not to put too much in at first, but a certain amount must be put in with the first boiling of the apples, and more added afterwards if not sweet enough. The apples must be peeled, the cores removed, and then put into a pudding basin with a little water, just enough to start the juice, loaf sugar, and a few cloves. Cover the basin with a plate, and put it into a moderately hot oven to cook the apples gradually until quite soft, when they must be beaten until smooth with a wooden spoon. The milk must have been previously boiled, sweetened, and allowed to get cold. Add this by degrees to the beaten apple; mix thoroughly, and, when well amalgamated, serve it cold in a glass dish. Unless the milk be new, cream should be used with it in equal quantities. A bay leaf boiled with the milk is a great improvement.

_Apple Ginger._--(_a_) 7 lb. apples, pared and cored, 7 lb. pounded loaf sugar, 2 oz. ground ginger, the juice of 3 lemons, 1 pint water. Boil slowly rather more than ½ hour. Put in moulds and cover with paper.

(_b_) Peel, core, and quarter 2-3 lb. small russet apples. Any apples will do that do not break in the boiling, but small ones look better. Put them in a jar with layers of whole ginger, about 2 oz. Make a syrup with ¾ pint water, 1 oz. ginger, and 1½ lb. lump sugar, and pour it boiling over the apples. Let it stand till the next day, then simmer the whole very slowly until the apples are tender and look transparent; take the apples out and drain them, and boil the syrup fast until it is thick. Pour it again over the apples, and when cold bottle.

(_c_) 4 lb. apples, 1 qt. water, 4 lb. sugar, 2 oz. best essence of ginger. Pare the apples, and cut them in slices as for a pie. As you pare and core them, throw them into a basin of cold water. Boil the sugar and water nearly 15 minutes until it forms a nice syrup; then put in the apples. Do not stir them much. Add the ginger; boil 1 hour till it becomes yellow and clear. Be sure not to let it boil fast.

_Apple Pudding._--(_a_) Make a paste with equal quantities sifted flour and finely chopped suet, a pinch of salt, and a little water. Roll it out thin into a large piece, place this over a well-buttered basin, and push it in so as to line the basin with it, cut it off all round so as to leave enough to fold up; roll out the trimmings to such a size as to cover the top of the basin. Pare, core, and slice a quantity of good sound apples. Put them in the basin with brown sugar to taste, and either some chopped lemon peel, 2 or 3 cloves, or a little grated nutmeg; add a small piece of fresh butter, pack the apples tight in, put on the cover of paste, turn up the edges and press them down, tie a floured pudding cloth over, and put the basin into a saucepanful of boiling water, which should come well over the pudding. Boil 2-3 hours according to size.

(_b_) Stew 2 lb. apples to a pulp; sweeten to taste while stewing, and when taken off the fire stir in 2 oz. good fresh butter; when cold, add 2 eggs beaten up; butter well the bottom and sides of a pudding dish; strew crumbs of bread 2 in. thick, over the bottom and sides, put in the apples well mixed with the 2 eggs, strew breadcrumbs over the top, and a few tiny bits of butter and white sugar. Bake in a moderate oven, and serve the pudding with cream or custard.

_Apple Rings._--(_a_) Soak apple rings for 12 hours in cold water, when they will be fit for every use in casking apples, and found superior to our English apples, for sauce, puddings, &c., in particular. (J. B. F.)

(_b_) These cook much nicer and softer if they are soaked overnight in sufficient cold water to cover them, using the same water to stew them with. If this is not convenient, put them in an enamelled saucepan--an iron one turns them black--and nearly cover them with cold water. Put in a small piece of stick cinnamon, and a few cloves: this flavouring seems to suit them better than lemon peel; add sufficient sugar when they begin to simmer, and stew until soft, which should be in ½ hour. When apple rings are stewed, they can be spread on a suet paste and be used for roly-poly puddings, or be eaten with blancmange or boiled rice, or be made into puffs, open tarts, or an apple pasty. For example, line a Yorkshire pudding tin, greased, with short paste, put in a deep layer of stewed apples and cover it with a lid of paste, pinching the edges well between finger and thumb in a crinkled fashion; brush over the top with water, sprinkle castor sugar thickly over, and bake for ½ hour in a moderate oven; turn it carefully out of the tin by placing a flat board on the top of the pasty, and turn the tin bottom upwards, when the pasty will come out of the tin; now place your dish on the bottom of the pasty and turn it over again, which will bring the pasty right side uppermost, and if done carefully it will not break. If any of the sugar falls off, grate some sugar on the bare places. To be eaten either hot or cold. Covered tarts can be made with apple rings in this way: line a shallow tin, or a dinner plate, with a thin paste, spread a layer of stewed apple and cover with a lid of paste--either short or puff--and bake it for 20 minutes; cover with thin icing, made by beating the white of an egg with 1 tablespoonful castor sugar and 1 teaspoonful lemon juice together for 5 minutes with a whisk; spread this icing over the tart with a knife and set it in a cool oven for ¼ hour to harden. These covered tarts can be made to look pretty by spreading the white icing evenly over the crust, letting it harden 5 minutes in the oven; colour a small portion of the icing with cochineal, and put it round the edge in little pink buttons, setting the tart back in the oven for the rest of the time to harden. Apple rings can be cooked nicely in deep tarts; but, unless there is a good bottom heat to the oven, they do not cook sufficiently soft in the same time it takes to bake the crust properly, and it is best to have them stewed first.

_Apple Roly-Poly._--Make a suet crust, roll it out thinly, put slices of apple all over it, sift over the apple sugar and the grated peel of a lemon or powdered cinnamon; roll it up, pinch the ends very securely; boil it in a cloth 1½ hour, and, if large, 2 hours.

_Apple Snow._--(_a_) Pare and core 6 good-sized apples, steam them in 2 tablespoonfuls water, with a little lemon peel, till quite soft. Add ¼ lb. finely sifted white sugar, and the white of 1 quite fresh egg. Beat it well for ¾ hour without stopping, and serve as you please. It looks best in custard glasses heaped up.

(_b_) Take ¼ lb. of the pulp of roasted apples, ¼ lb. powdered loaf sugar, the juice of half a lemon, some of the rind rubbed into 2 lumps of sugar and then pounded, and the whites of 3 or 4 eggs. Whip all together for an hour, till it is like whipped cream, and drop it lightly into a glass dish.

(_c_) Stew some apples till tender, sweeten to taste, mash them up, and place them in the centre of a dish; round and over them place a layer of boiled rice (dry); whisk the whites of 3 or 4 eggs until quite light and frothy; cover the whole with this froth, sprinkle over it powdered sugar, colouring a little of it with cochineal.

_Apples, Stewed._--(_a_) Peel and core 6 apples, put the cores and parings into 1 qt. water, and simmer gently. Strain off, and pour the liquor over the apples, adding the juice of half a lemon, and 3 oz. white sugar. Boil gently till the apples are quite tender, then turn out into a basin, and beat up with a fork, gradually adding about 1 teacupful cream. When the whole is about the consistency of cream, pile up in a glass dish, and put away in a cool place. Whipped cream or the whites of eggs, well whisked, may be put over the top before serving.

(_b_) For a small dish, 5 large apples will be enough. Peel them, take out the cores, put them into a pie-dish with their weight of loaf sugar, 1 pint water, half the rind of a lemon, and a few drops of cochineal. Put them in the oven until done through. Remove the apples on to a dish without breaking, put the liquor into a stewpan, and set it on the fire to reduce to a syrup; pour it over the apples, first taking out the lemon peel. They may be done in the same way without colouring; the lemon peel should then be taken out at the same time as the apples. Cut the peel up into very fine strips, and when the syrup is made, throw in the strips of peel, to be served up in it round the apples. The syrup should be perfectly clear. Just before sending to table, put 1 teaspoonful red currant jelly in the hole at the top of each apple, or a dried cherry on the top of each makes a pretty garnish.

_Apple Tart._--Lay a disc of puff paste on a round tin, spread a layer (about ⅜ in. thick) of apple marmalade over it, leaving a rim 1 in. wide clear all round; roll out, and cut some of the paste in strips the size of a straw; form a trellis-work with them over the marmalade, then put a border of paste all round over the rim. Glaze the top of the border and trellis with beaten-up egg, and bake in quick oven.

_Apricot Cake._--Make a cake with 3 eggs, their weight in butter, flour, and sugar; beat up the eggs till very light, mix with them their weight in castor sugar; now add the flour, into which you have mixed ½ teaspoonful baking powder; and lastly the butter, just dissolved by putting into a hot stewpan and shaking round. It should be dissolved, but not hot. Beat the cake a few minutes; put into a small cake tin, and bake ½ hour in a rather quick oven; when done, take from the oven, and let stay in the tin while you prepare the apricots, cut them in halves, take out the stones. Make a syrup with ¼ lb. sugar to ½ pint water; boil up, and put in the apricots, and stew gently till they are done, they should not be broken; lift them out, and reduce the syrup by quick boiling; let it cool, turn the cake very gently out of the tin; cut the cake round about ½ in. from the edge, take off the same, scoop out the centre, fill it with the apricots and put a whip of cream on the top, and the remainder of the apricots can be arranged round the base, the insides turned upwards, the stones cracked, and the kernels blanched, and one put in the centre of each half apricot.

_Apricot Chartreuse._--Take a tin of preserved apricots, turn out the contents into a saucepan, add 6 oz. sugar, ½ pint water, and a glass of wine; let them boil up; strain off the syrup, take out the kernels, remove the outer skin carefully from the apricots, and leave them to get cold. Add to 1 pint of the syrup 16 sheets best French gelatine steeped in a little water, boil up the whole, and clarify with 3 whites of eggs; have 2 plain moulds, one about 1¼ in. more in diameter than the other, pour a very little jelly at the bottom of the larger mould, and place in it a layer of slices of apricots prepared as above, and a few split kernels; cover this with more jelly, but only put enough to get a smooth surface; lay this on ice to set. When it is quite firm, put the small mould inside the large one, taking care to place it exactly in the middle, so that the vacant space between the two moulds be of the same width all round. In this vacant space dispose slices of apricots and the rest of the kernels, filling up the interstices with the jelly until all the space is filled up. Place the mould upon ice: whip a pint of cream with ½ oz. dissolved isinglass and some of the apricot syrup, which must be added to it a very little at a time, or the cream will not rise to a froth. When the cream is ready and the jelly set, remove the inner mould by pouring warm water into it, and fill up the inner space of the chartreuse with the cream: set it on ice for an hour, turn out and serve.

_Apricot Cream._--Take a tin of preserved apricots, turn out the contents into a saucepan, add 2 oz. sugar, let them boil for ¼ hour, and pass them through a tammy. Dissolve 1 oz. or 7 sheets best French gelatine in a little milk, whip to a froth a pint of cream. Mix the gelatine with the apricot pulp, then quickly work into it the cream, pour the mixture into a mould, and put it on ice to set. When wanted, dip the mould in hot water and turn out the cream.

_Apricot Omelet._--Beat up the whites of 4 and the yolks of 6 eggs with a very small pinch of salt. Put a piece of fresh butter in the omelet pan, and directly it is melted pour in the eggs. As soon as they are set, fold up the omelet, inserting within the fold as much apricot jam as will lie in it. Turn out the omelet neatly on its dish, cover it with powdered sugar, and glaze it with a red-hot salamander.

_Apricot Toast._--Take some ripe but not over-ripe apricots, halve and stone them. Make some syrup with plenty of white sugar and some water: when boiled for 2 hours strain; lay the pieces of apricot in the syrup, and add a glass of white wine; simmer for a few minutes. Cut out of the crumb of a milk loaf some rounds a little larger than the apricots. Fry them a pale yellow in fresh butter, drain and arrange them in a circle on a dish with a piece of apricot on each round, concave side uppermost: put a kernel in the centre of each, pour the syrup well over, and serve with some whipped cream in the centre of the dish.

_Arrowroot Blancmange._--(_a_) Take 1 qt. milk and mix 3 oz. best arrowroot with a cupful of it cold. Then boil the rest of it with 6 laurel leaves or a chip of vanilla as preferred, pour it boiling on the arrowroot, stir quite smooth, sweeten, boil the whole for 10 minutes, taking care it does not burn, and put into a mould. The cause of its cracking is either bad arrowroot or under-boiling.

(_b_) Dissolve a little isinglass or gelatine in the milk with which the arrowroot is made; it will stand, but it is the nature of arrowroot to become liquid after a short time. Sago and tapioca both make very nice blancmange, and are firmer than arrowroot. They may be either flavoured with lemon or vanilla, or served plain with jam and cream round them.

_Arrowroot Pudding._--Mix 1 teacupful arrowroot with ½ pint cold milk; put 1 qt. milk into a saucepan, with cinnamon, lemon or orange peel, and boil it, sweetening it with 2 oz. sugar. Pound 12 bitter almonds, and mix them with the arrowroot and cold milk; strain it through a hair sieve, and add it to the boiling milk, stirring it well. When it begins to thicken, add 1 teaspoonful fresh butter, and, when thoroughly done, pour it into a mould. Do not turn out until quite cold.

_Arrowroot Shape._--Mix 2 oz. arrowroot in ½ pint cold water, let it settle; pour off the water, and flavour the arrowroot with a little orange-flower water. Boil 1 qt. milk with some sugar and a little cinnamon, strain through a tammy on to the arrowroot, stirring all the time; simmer a short time, still stirring; put it into a well-oiled mould, turn it out the following day, and serve it with a custard made with 1 pint milk, 4 yolks of eggs, and flavoured with orange-flower water.

_Aunt Eleanor’s Tartlets._--Prepare ½ lb. apples, as for a tart, and put them in a stewpan with a wineglass of water, 4 oz. preserving sugar, a small piece of cinnamon, 4 cloves, and 2 small strips of lemon peel; stew until the apples are quite tender, when pass them through a sieve, and set them aside to cool. Should the apples not be rather sharp, a squeeze of lemon juice may be added. Now break 2 eggs into a basin, and whisk them until well mixed, stir to them gradually half a stale penny sponge cake, and 1 oz. loaf sugar reduced to a fine powder, and, last of all, 2 oz. liquefied butter; mix well. Line some pattypans with good puff crust, and put in them first a little of your apple pulp, and cover this with a layer of the egg mixture. Bake in a moderate oven until of a fine golden brown, and serve either hot or cold, as preferred.

_Baba._--Have ready 1 lb. fine flour passed through a sieve, 4 oz. raisins (stoned), 4 oz. currants, 8 eggs, 4 oz. pounded sugar, 4 oz. fresh butter, 1 glass brandy, 1 oz. German yeast. Dissolve the yeast in ½ pint tepid milk, strain it, and mix in it a good handful of the flour; work it lightly with the hand into a light soft dough, which is called “the sponge,” put it into a deep stewpan or basin, leave it in a warm place to rise, put the remainder of the flour on a slab or pastry board in a heap, make a hollow space in the centre, break the eggs into it, add a good pinch of salt, and pour the butter just warm on to the eggs; work all lightly together, using the fingers of both hands, raising the hands up and down, so as to beat the air into the paste, when whisking the white of an egg; this should be done just before the sponge is ready, then mix in the sponge in the same light way, and lastly, add the rest of the ingredients; lift the whole into a large well-buttered mould, and put it in a warm place free from draught until it is nicely risen: bake 1½-2 hours in a moderate oven; serve hot, with either red currant jelly or apple jelly, melted with a little brandy, in a sauceboat.

_Baden-Baden Pudding._--Boil ¼ lb. rice in milk to a smooth mash, and with it 1 in. vanilla to flavour. Soak ½ oz. gelatine in cold water a few minutes, then add it to the rice to boil. Whip a pint of cream, with a ¼ lb. sifted sugar, to a froth. When the rice is cooled to lukewarm, stir it briskly into the cream. Wet a mould, fill it with the mass, and set it in a cold place, or in ice. Turn it out when firm.

_Bakewell Pudding._-½ lb. butter, the yolks of 8 eggs, the whites of 2, ½ lb. powdered white sugar; cover a pie-dish with puff paste, put a layer of any kind of preserves about 1 in. thick; gently melt the butter, add that to the eggs. When nearly cold, beat all well together and flavour with almond essence; pour the mixture into the dish about 1 in. thick; bake it about 1 hour in a moderate oven.

_Batter Pudding._--(_a_) Take 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 1 of butter, and 1 breakfastcupful milk. Beat the butter to a cream, beat the eggs, add a little white sugar, and for a change the grated rind of a lemon; put in the flour and milk, and beat all together. Pour the mixture into a buttered shallow dish, and bake 20 minutes in a sharp oven. It may also be baked in common saucers instead of a dish, when the puddings should be doubled up when turned out, so as to form semicircles on the dish, and sifted sugar strewn over them.

(_b_) Make a batter of 2 eggs, 1 pint milk, 6 tablespoonfuls flour, and a pinch of salt; line a pie-dish with marmalade or preserve, and bake 40 minutes in a quick oven; apples sliced into the batter instead of the jam are very good.

(_c_) Mix ½ lb. flour in a basin with ½ teaspoonful salt; break in 2 eggs, mix well, and gradually add 1 pint milk, mixing it all the time. Should there be any lumps, they should disappear in the moistening. Let it stand a short time to rise, butter a pie-dish, pour the batter in, and bake in a quick oven; it ought not to take more than ½ hour to bake; it should have risen very high, and must be served at once, before it has time to fall. For boiling, butter a pudding basin, pour the same batter into it, tie down tightly with a cloth, and put it into a saucepan of boiling water. It should be moved about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to prevent the flour from settling in any part. It will take rather more than 1 hour to boil; turn it out, and serve at once, with either wine sauce or sweet sauce round it in the dish.

_Biscuit Charlotte._--Line a basin closely with some thin finger biscuits, so as to form a complete case. Peel, slice, and core 12 apples, and stew with them a few cherries in butter. Fill the case with the fruit, but leaving a hole in the centre, in which place a small glass, which may contain any jam or preserved fruits; boil 1 hour and turn out. Pour over or serve with clotted cream or custard.

_Bishop Pudding._--Butter some thin slices of bread, without crust, and over the butter spread a good layer of jam. Cut the slices into convenient pieces. Line and border a deep pie-dish with puff paste, arrange the slices of bread and butter in the dish until half full. Make an ordinary, rather milky ground rice pudding, flavour the milk with which it is made with the rind of a lemon. Sweeten to taste, and add to it 2 or 3 beaten-up eggs, according to the size of the pudding. Pour this mixture into the pie-dish, and bake in a brisk oven.

_Blackberry Mould._--Put 1 lb. ripe blackberries into a pudding basin, place this in a larger one of hot water, put a plate on the top, and let it remain in the oven until the fruit is soft. Press out all the juice and mix it with rather more than 1 lb. apples, previously pared, cored, and cut into quarters; put both together into a preserving pan; let them boil for ½ hour, and then add ¾ lb. powdered loaf sugar; let it boil for 10 minutes more, stirring with a silver spoon, when it will be ready to put into the mould, which should be of earthenware. A little grated lemon peel should be added.

_Blackberry Puddings and Tarts._--Both are better for having a small quantity of any good cooking apple mixed with the berries; the apples should be sliced as thinly as possible, and should be at once stirred in with the other fruit and with sugar.

_Blancmange._--Take 6 bitter almonds and 8-9 oz. sweet almonds blanched and peeled, pound them in a mortar with a little orange-flower water; when reduced to a paste add rather less than 1 pint milk, pounded loaf sugar to taste, a little more orange-flower water. Strain the mixture through a cloth, squeezing it well, into a basin containing 8 or 9 sheets best French gelatine dissolved in 1 pint water; mix well, put into a mould set on ice, turn it out just before serving.

_Bombay Pudding._--(_a_) Soojee is only the native name for semolina. Cut slices of bread without crust, ½ in. thick, and toast them a light brown on both sides. Then boil brown sugar to a syrup, and pour it over the bread, which become saturated with it.

(_b_) Half roast 2 lb. soojee, then boil it in water until it becomes very thick; butter a soup plate, and pour the boiled soojee into it; when it has cooled and congealed cut it into 8 cakes; rub the cakes over with the yolk of an egg, dredge with finely sifted flour, and fry in butter until they acquire a rich brown colour. Arrange them in a dish, and pour over them a thick syrup flavoured with lemon juice.

_Boston Pudding._--Rub 6 oz. butter or nice beef dripping into 1 lb. flour; add 6 oz. currants or sultana raisins, 6 oz. moist sugar, ½ teaspoonful powdered cinnamon, and ¼ nutmeg, grated. Dissolve 2 teaspoonfuls soda carbonate in ½ pint milk, being careful to mix the soda perfectly smooth and free from lumps in a tablespoonful of the milk first, and then add the rest of the half pint, stirring it well before mixing it with the other ingredients, so that the soda does not settle to the bottom of the milk. Beat all together for a minute, and put the mixture into a buttered mould, which should not be quite full. The pudding cloth should be allowed room for the pudding to swell, which it does considerably. Plunge into fast-boiling water, and keep boiling for 2½ hours. This makes a very light pudding, and, if properly made, no trace of the soda--which many people object to--can be detected.

_Bread Pudding._--(_a_) Put all scraps of bread into the oven until they become a nice brown, roll them while hot quite fine. For a good-sized pudding take ½ lb. crumbs ¼ lb. brown sugar or golden syrup, ¼ lb. currants or raisins, 1 pint milk, 1 teaspoonful allspice, and 1 pint boiling water. Pour the boiling water over the crumbs, stir them well, and let them soak until soft; then add all the ingredients, mix well, rub the pie-dish with dripping, fill it, put some more dripping on the top of the pudding, and bake ½ hour. This pudding is a general favourite with children and servants.

(_b_) Cut a roll in thin slices, well butter a mould, and stick it all round with raisins stoned and opened; put the bread lightly in; make a sweet batter with 3 or 4 eggs, flavour it with vanilla: pour it over, and leave it to soak well; bake or steam for an hour. Any flavouring may be used.

(_c_) 1 lb. breadcrumbs, 1 lb. raisins, 1 lb. currants, 1 pint milk, six eggs, 4 oz. butter, and 1 lb. sugar. Pour the boiling milk on the breadcrumbs, cover with a plate and let it remain for 1 hour; then add the butter, currants, raisins stoned and cut a little, and the sugar; mix all well together, adding candied fruit, a little grated lemon peel, and spice, and the eggs well beaten; boil 4 hours in a buttered basin or mould, and serve with sweet sauce. If it be requisite to add a little flour, boil an hour longer.

(_d_) Grate 3 oz. breadcrumbs, and pour over them ¾ pint boiling milk, in which a lump of butter, the size of an egg, has been dissolved. Soak for ½ hour; then add 1 tablespoonful moist sugar, and the yolks of 3 well beaten eggs; beat with a fork for 3 minutes; spread a layer of any kind of jam 1 in. thick at the bottom of a pie-dish, not greased. Pour the mixture over the jam, and then heap on the top the whites of the 3 eggs well whisked with a little castor sugar. Bake in a gentle oven for ½ hour, taking care the bottom of the oven is not hot enough to scorch the jam.

(_e_) Make a quantity of breadcrumbs by rubbing the crumb of a stale loaf through a fine wire sieve; put 1 pint milk and 1 oz. fresh butter into a saucepan on the fire, with sugar to taste, and the thin rind of a lemon, cut if possible in one piece; when the milk boils strew breadcrumbs into it until a thick porridge is obtained; turn it out into a basin. When cold remove the lemon rind, and stir in one by one the yolks of 4 eggs, mix well, then stir in the whites of 2 eggs beaten up to a stiff froth and a small quantity of candied citron peel cut very thin. Have a plain mould, buttered and breadcrumbed very carefully all over, pour the composition into it, and bake it about ½ hour. To be eaten hot or cold.

(_f_) Line the bottom and sides of a basin with slices of bread; mix a pot of jam with a little hot water, put a layer of the jam in the basin, then a layer of bread, then more jam; continue this until the basin is full; put a plate on the top. Turn out the next day, and serve with custard round it.

(_g_) 6 oz. stale brown breadcrumbs, 6 oz. fresh butter, 4 eggs (the yolks and whites whisked separately), ½ oz. powdered cinnamon, ½ lb. coarsest brown sugar. Cream the butter, then mix well with the sugar till quite smooth, add the well-beaten eggs, and stir in gradually the other ingredients. Steam the pudding for 2 hours or even more (it cannot be too much done). When turned out, pour melted cherry jam over it, and serve hot.

(_h_) Cut the crust from slices of a dry tin loaf ¼ in. thick; spread with butter slightly and cover thickly with preserve. Take a quart mould and butter perfectly--to look well the mould should be marked plainly in broad flutes. Pile the prepared bread lightly in the mould, having first cut it in diamonds as for sippets. Beat 4 eggs with a pint of milk, sweeten and pour over the bread. Lay a buttered paper on the top, and after standing ½ hour cook in boiling water for 1 hour. A cloth should be tied over the mould above the paper, and the water should only reach ¾ of the mould. A clear arrowroot sauce flavoured with sherry should be served with it, and a large spoonful of fresh jam spread on the top when turned out.

(_i_) Take 1 egg, its weight in fresh butter (melted), its weight in flour, 1 dessertspoonful marmalade, 1 ditto raspberry jam, the weight of the egg in breadcrumbs, and 1 teaspoonful soda carbonate. Break the egg and beat it up well; add the melted butter, the flour, the breadcrumbs, and the jam and marmalade; beat all up well together, and, lastly, put in the soda carbonate. Butter a basin, pour in the mixture, tie it down well, and steam it in a saucepan for 1½ hour. Turn out and serve with custard sauce. This is a light and delicious little pudding, and can be of course made larger by using double or treble the quantities. It turns out quite dark, and light as a feather. It is also nice with fruit sauce of any kind.

(_j_) Break the bread into small pieces and pour on them as much boiling water or milk as will soak them well. Let these stand till the liquid is cool, press it out, and mash the bread till it is quite free from lumps. Measure this pulp, and to every quart stir in ½ teaspoonful salt, 1 teaspoonful grated nutmeg, 3 oz. moist sugar, mix all well together, and put it into a well-buttered pie-dish. Break 1½ oz. butter in small pieces over the top; bake in a moderate oven 1½ hour. Or, to every ¾ pint pulp add 1½ pint milk, sugar to taste, 4 eggs, 1 oz. butter; pour the milk boiling on the bread, let it stand till cold, add the other ingredients, beat well, and put into a buttered basin, tie it down tightly, plunge it into boiling water, boil for 1¼ hour.

_Brioche._--Dissolve 1 oz. German yeast in ½ pint tepid water, strain and mix with it enough flour to form a light dough, put this sponge to rise in a warm place in a basin covered up with a cloth. When it has risen to double its size, put 1 lb. flour on the pastry slab, make a hollow in the centre, place the sponge in it with 1 lb. fresh butter just warmed sufficiently to make it liquid, ¼ oz. salt, 1 gill milk, and 10 eggs; work all lightly together into a paste, adding more flour if needful, to the consistency of bread dough, roll it into a ball, and put it by for 3 hours covered up in a warm place. Then flatten it out, fold up the edges towards the centre, and make it into a ball again, repeating this operation 3 times. The last time take rather less than ¼ of the paste away, make the remainder into a round cake, flatten it slightly, and place the lesser portion on the top, wetting the under side of it. The brioche should look like a cottage loaf. Glaze it all over with egg, and bake it on a buttered tin in a quick oven about ¾ hour.

_Brown or Quay Pudding._--2 eggs, their weight in flour and butter, the weight of one in sugar; beat the butter to a cream with the sugar, add the eggs well beaten, stir in the flour, then stir in 2 tablespoonfuls raspberry jam or jelly. Just before putting the pudding into the mould, beat in ½ teaspoonful soda carbonate. Boil or steam for 1¾ hour. Leave plenty of room for the pudding to rise in the mould. Serve with wine or sweet sauce. If preferred, put 2 tablespoonfuls nice treacle or golden syrup, with ½ teaspoonful ground ginger, instead of the raspberry jam.

_Cabinet Pudding._--(_a_) Spread the inside of a mould with butter, and ornament the bottom and the sides with dried cherries or raisins and candied peel; fill the mould with alternate slices of sponge cakes and ratafias or macaroons, then fill up the mould with a cold custard made with 7 eggs and 1 pint of milk boiled with 6 oz. sugar, flavour with rind of lemon or vanilla, all well mixed together; steam the pudding for 1¼ hour, and when done serve with whip sauce made in the following way: Put 4 yolks of eggs into a small deep stewpan, add 2 oz. sifted sugar, a glass of sherry, a little lemon juice and grated peel, and a grain of salt: whisk the sauce over a moderate heat, taking care to set the stewpan which contains the sauce in another of somewhat larger size already containing a little hot water, and as soon as it presents the appearance of a well-set creamy froth pour it over the pudding, and serve immediately.

(_b_) Well butter a plain mould and ornament it by sticking dried cherries along the sides in rows at equal distances from top to bottom, letting them meet in the centre. Place ratafia cakes and sponge biscuits cut to half their thickness in alternate layers, until the mould is full; pour over them sherry and a little brandy, just as much as they will absorb. If the mould be a large one, the yolks of 8 eggs will be required, these to be beaten with as much new milk as will make a sufficient quantity of custard to pour over the cakes and to quite fill the mould; a little grated nutmeg, and ginger if liked, to be added to the custard while beating. If the milk is not new a few spoonfuls of cream must be mixed with the milk. Cover the mould with a sheet of buttered writing paper, and place it in a stewpan half filled with boiling water; put on the lid, and let the pudding steam for 1½ hour. A hot custard may be poured round the pudding as sauce, or some red currant jelly diluted and thinned with a spoonful of hot water may be served with it; neither must be poured over the pudding.

(_c_) Butter a plain mould, ornament it with raisins split and stoned in the same way as in (_b_), nearly fill up the mould with slices of bread and butter (leaving room for the bread to swell), cut from the crumb of a French roll, the slices should not be very thin, but should be well buttered. Make a custard of the yolks of 3 or 4 eggs (according to the size of the mould) and milk, flavouring as before; pour this over the bread and butter until the mould is full, cover with buttered writing-paper, and steam for 1½ hour. Serve with sweet sauce in the dish.

_Caledonian Cream._--2 oz. raspberry jam, 2 oz. red currant jam, 2 oz. sifted loaf sugar, the whites of 2 eggs. Put all into a bowl, and beat with a spoon for ¾ hour.

_Cambridge Pudding._--Take 1 lb. flour, 1 dessertspoonful Borwick’s egg powder, 3 oz. white sugar, 6 oz. good dripping, a pinch of salt, a teacupful of sultana raisins or currants, and 1 oz. candied peel cut fine. Mix well together, then stir in ½ pint milk; pour into a buttered dish, and bake more than ½ hour. Another plain pudding is to line a basin with paste made of dripping; then put a layer of treacle, then a layer of paste, and so on until the basin is filled; then tie in a cloth and boil 1½ hour.

_Canary Pudding._--The weight of 3 eggs in sugar and butter, the weight of 2 eggs in flour, the rind of a small lemon, 3 eggs. Melt the butter to a liquid state, but do not allow it to oil, stir to this the sugar and finely minced lemon peel, then very gradually dredge in the flour, stirring the mixture well all the time, then add the eggs well beaten, mix well until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended, put into a well-buttered basin or mould, boil for 2 hours, and serve with wine sauce. (Beeton.)

_Caramel Custards._--Put a handful of loaf sugar in a saucepan with a little water, and set it on the fire until it becomes a dark brown caramel, then add more water (boiling) to produce a dark liquor like strong coffee. Beat up the yolks of 6 eggs with a little milk; strain, add 1 pint milk (sugar to taste) and as much caramel liquor (cold) as will give the mixture the desired colour. Pour it into a well-buttered mould; put this in a _bain-marie_ with cold water; then place the apparatus on a gentle fire, taking care that the water does not boil. Half an hour’s steaming will set the custard, which then turn out and serve. By using the white of 1 or 2 eggs in addition to the 6 yolks, the chances of the custard not breaking are made more certain.

_Caramel Pudding._--(_a_) Prepare a mould by giving it a thick coating of caramel sugar; when this has set, pour into the mould a custard, made of the yolks of 8 eggs and 1½ pint best cream; steam for 1 hour and serve when cold.

(_b_) Put a handful of loaf sugar to boil with ¼ pint water until the syrup becomes a deep brown. Warm a small basin, pour the syrup in it, and keep turning the basin in your hand until the inside is completely coated with the syrup, which by that time will have set. Strain the yolks of 8 eggs from the whites, and mix them gradually and effectually with 1 pint milk. Pour this mixture into the prepared mould. Lay a piece of paper on the top. Set it in a saucepan full of cold water, taking care that the water does not come over the top of the mould, put on the cover, and let it boil gently by the side of the fire for 1 hour. Remove the saucepan to a cool place, and when the water is quite cold take out the mould, and turn out the pudding very carefully.

_Carrot Pudding._--(_a_) ½ lb. each of raisins and currants picked and stoned, ½ lb. finely chopped beef suet, ¾ lb. breadcrumbs, ½ lb. each of carrots and potatoes (raw) when scraped and grated, ¼ lb. fine moist sugar, a little finely cut lemon peel (or if preferred 2 oz. candied peel), spice to taste, a teaspoonful of salt. Very little liquid is required to form the right consistency, as the moisture from the vegetables is nearly sufficient. What more is wanted should be milk. Boil in a basin or mould 4-5 hours. Serve with or without brandy sauce. This is a very nice and inexpensive pudding, no eggs being used.

(_b_) 1 lb. grated carrot, 6 oz. breadcrumbs, 6 oz. raisins, 6 oz. currants, 6 oz. sugar, ½ lb. suet, half a nutmeg, half the rind of a lemon grated, 2 tablespoonfuls flour, 1 egg, and a little salt. Mix all well together, and put it into a well-buttered mould. Boil 4 hours.

_Castle Pudding._--Mix 1½ oz. finely sifted flour with the same weight of powdered sugar. Dissolve in a basin before the fire 1½ oz. fresh butter, beat it to a cream; whisk 2 eggs, and mix them slowly with the butter, stir in the sugar, and afterwards the flour; add a spoonful of grated nutmeg and ½ lemon peel grated. Put the mixture into tins, and bake in a moderately heated oven for 20 minutes.

_Charlotte Russe._--These are best made in a plain round tin. Take some Savoy biscuits, using half at a time, and keeping the rounded side next the mould; form a star at the bottom by cutting them to the shape you require to fit into each other; touch the edges of the biscuits lightly with white of egg to hold them together, but be very careful not to let the egg touch the mould, or it will stick and prevent it from turning out. Having made a star for the centre, proceed in the same way to line the sides by placing the biscuits standing upright all round it, their edges slightly overlapping each other; these must also be fastened to each other, and to the centre star by a slight application of white of egg, after which the tin must be placed in the oven for a few minutes to dry the egg. For a small mould, ½ pint double cream, 3 teaspoonfuls pounded sugar, and rather more than ¼ oz. gelatine would be sufficient. The cream must be whisked to a stiff froth with the previously melted gelatine, the sugar, and a few drops of vanilla flavouring; pour this mixture into the mould, covering it with a slice of sponge cake, the size of the mould, to form a foundation when it is turned out; the biscuits forming the sides must have been cut evenly with the top, and must be touched lightly with the white of egg to make them adhere to this foundation slice. Place the mould on ice until required, then turn it out on a dish and serve at once. This requires great care in the turning out.

_Cherry Jelly._--Make some jelly as above, and flavour it with a small quantity of noyeau. Have some preserved cherries stoned; pour some jelly in a mould, dispose some cherries round, cover with jelly, then put in more cherries, and so on until the mould is full.

_Cherry Pudding._--Mix 3 tablespoonfuls flour to a smooth paste with part of 1 pint milk; then add the remainder. Warm 1 oz. butter, and stir it in; 3 eggs well beaten, and a pinch of salt. Stone 1 lb. bottled cherries, and stir them into the batter. Tie up in a pudding cloth, or put into a shape, and boil 2 hours. Serve with sweet butter sauce.

_Cherry Tart._--Make a short paste with 1 white and 3 yolks of eggs, 1 oz. sugar, a little milk, 1 oz. butter, a pinch of salt, and sufficient flour. Work it lightly, roll it out to the thickness of ¼ in.; line a flat mould with the paste, uniting the joint, carefully with white of egg, fill the mould with uncooked rice and bake it. Stone 1½ lb. stewing cherries and cook them with some sugar, a little sherry, and a few drops of cochineal to give them a nice colour. Remove the rice and put in the stewed cherries. Serve hot or cold.

_Chestnut Compote._--Roast about 30 chestnuts, take off the peel, and put them into a preserving pan with ¼ lb. sugar, pounded, and half a glass of water. Let them remain until they have absorbed the sugar, then take them out and dress them high on a dish; squeeze over them the juice of a lemon and sprinkle them with fine sugar, when they are ready to serve.

_Chestnut Cream._--Peel about 20 sound chestnuts, and parboil them in slightly salted water until the skin comes off easily. Pound them in a mortar, and pass them through a fine sieve. Soak 1½ oz. gelatine in ½ pint milk, add 6 sweet almonds blanched and bruised, the thin rind of half a lemon, and sufficient sugar. Let the whole come to the boil, and then put it by to cool a little, and strain this on the chestnut purée, mixing the two very thoroughly. Add a wineglassful of dry curaçoa, and, lastly, ½ pint cream; mix thoroughly, pour into a mould, set it on ice to set, and turn it out on a bed of cream whipped with sugar to a froth. If the cream put into the mixture is previously whipped, it is an improvement.

_Chestnut Pudding._--(_a_) Boil 20-30 chestnuts in water till they feel tender, then dry them in the oven; take off the shells and skins, and pound the nuts to powder. To 6 oz., add 4 oz. butter beaten to a cream, 3 oz. loaf sugar, 6 fresh eggs, and 1 gill new milk. Butter a mould, stick it tastefully with either cherries or raisins; put in the pudding, cover it with writing paper spread with butter, and steam over fast-boiling water for 1½ hour, or bake in a quick oven ¼ hour less. Serve with clarified sugar or with sauce.