A little cook book for a little girl

by Caroline French Benton

DESSERTS

Corn-starch Pudding

1 pint of milk. 2 heaping tablespoonfuls of corn-starch. 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar. Whites of three eggs. 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla.

Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff. Mix the corn-starch with half a cup of the milk, and stir till it melts. Mix the rest of the milk and the sugar, and put them on the fire in the double boiler. When it bubbles, stir up the corn-starch and milk well, and stir them in and cook and stir till it gets as thick as oatmeal mush; then turn in the eggs and stir them lightly, and cook for a minute more. Take it off the stove, mix in the vanilla, and put in a mould to cool. When dinner is ready, turn it out on a platter and put small bits of red jelly around it, or pieces of preserved ginger, or a pretty circle of preserved peaches, or preserved pineapple. Have a pitcher of cream to pass with it, or have a nice bowl of whipped cream. If you have a ring-mould, let it harden in that, and have the whipped cream piled in the centre after it is on the platter, and put the jelly or preserves around last.

Chocolate Corn-starch Pudding

Use the same rule as before, but put in one more tablespoonful of sugar. Then shave thin two squares of Baker's chocolate, and stir in over the teakettle till it melts, and stir it in very thoroughly before you put in the eggs. Instead of pouring this into one large mould, put it in egg-cups to harden; turn these out carefully, each on a separate plate, and put a spoonful of whipped cream by each one.

Cocoanut Corn-starch Pudding

Make the first rule; before you put in the eggs, stir in a cup of grated cocoanut, with an extra spoonful of sugar, or a cup of that which comes in packages without more sugar, as it is already sweetened. Serve in a large mould, or in small ones, with cream.

Baked Custard

2 cups milk. Yolks of two eggs. 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar. A little nutmeg.

Beat the eggs till they are light; mix the milk and sugar till the sugar melts; put the two together, and put it into a nice baking-dish, or into small cups, and dust the nutmeg over the tops. Bake till the top is brown, and till when you put a knife-blade into the custard it comes out clean.

Cocoanut Custard

Add a cup of cocoanut to this rule and bake it in one dish, stirring it up two or three times from the bottom, but, after it begins to brown, leaving it alone to finish. Do not put any nutmeg on it.

Tapioca Pudding

2 tablespoonfuls tapioca. Yolks of two eggs. 1/2 cup of sugar. 1 quart of milk.

Put the tapioca into a small half-cup of water and let it stand one hour. Then drain it and put it in the milk in the double boiler, and cook and stir it till the tapioca looks clear, like glass. Beat the eggs and mix the sugar with them, and beat again till both are light, and put them with the milk and tapioca and cook three minutes, stirring all the time. Then take it off the fire and add a saltspoonful of salt and a half-teaspoonful of vanilla, and let it get perfectly cold.

Floating Island

1 pint milk. 3 eggs. One-third cup of sugar.

Put the milk on the stove to heat in a good-sized pan. Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff, and as soon as the milk scalds,—that is, gets a little wrinkled on top,—drop spoonfuls of the egg on to it in little islands; let them stand there to cook just one minute, and then with the skimmer take them off and lay them on a plate. Put the milk where it will keep hot but not boil while you beat the yolks of the eggs stiff, mixing in the sugar and beating that, too. Pour the milk into the bowl of egg, a little at a time, beating all the while, and then put it in the double boiler and cook till it is as thick as cream. Take it off the fire, stir in a saltspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of vanilla, and set it away to cool. When it is dinner-time, strain the custard into a pretty dish and slip the whites off the top, one by one. If you like, you can dot them over with very tiny specks of red jelly.

Cake and Custard

Make a plain boiled custard, just as before, with—

1 pint of milk. Yolks of three eggs. One-third cup of sugar. 1 saltspoonful of salt. 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla.

Beat the eggs and sugar, add the hot milk, and cook till creamy, put in the salt and vanilla, and cool. Then cut stale cake into strips, or split lady-fingers into halves, and spread with jam. Put them on the sides and bottom of a flat glass dish, and gently pour the custard over.

Brown Betty

Peel, core, and slice six apples. Butter a baking-dish and sprinkle the inside all over with fine bread-crumbs. Then take six very thin slices of buttered bread and line the sides and bottom of the dish. Put a layer of apples an inch thick, a thin layer of brown sugar, six bits of butter, and a dusting of cinnamon, another layer of crumbs, another of apples and sugar, and so on till the dish is full, with crumbs and butter on top, and three tablespoonfuls of molasses poured over. Bake this one hour, and have hard sauce to eat with it.

Lemon Pudding

1 cup of sugar. 4 eggs. 2 lemons. 1 pint of milk. 1 tablespoonful of sugar. 2 tablespoonfuls of corn-starch. 1 pinch of salt.

Wet the corn-starch with half a cup of the milk, and heat what is left. Stir up the corn-starch well, and when the milk is hot put it in and stir; then boil five minutes, stirring all the time. Melt the butter, and put that in with a pinch of salt, and cool it. Beat the yolks of the eggs, and add the sugar, the juice of both lemons, and the grated rind of one, pour into the milk, and stir well; put in a buttered baking-dish and bake till slightly brown. Take it out of the oven; beat the whites of two eggs with a tablespoonful of granulated sugar, and pile lightly on top, and put in the oven again till it is just brown. This is a very nice rule.

Rice Pudding with Raisins

1 quart of milk. 2 tablespoonfuls of rice. One-third cup of sugar. 1/2 cup seeded raisins.

Wash the rice and the raisins and stir everything together till the sugar dissolves. Then put it in a baking-dish in the oven. Every little while open the door and see if a light brown crust is forming on top, and, if it is, stir the pudding all up from the bottom and push down the crust. Keep on doing this till the rice swells and makes the milk all thick and creamy, which it will after about an hour. Then let the pudding cook, and when it is a nice deep brown take it out and let it get very cold.

Bread Pudding

2 cups of milk. 1 cup soft bread-crumbs. 1 tablespoonful of sugar. 2 egg yolks. 1 egg white. 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla. 1 saltspoonful of salt.

Crumb the bread evenly and soak in the milk till soft. Beat it till smooth, and put in the beaten yolks of the eggs, the sugar, vanilla, and salt, and last the beaten white of the egg. Put it in a buttered pudding-dish, and stand this in a pan of hot water in the oven for fifteen minutes. Take it out and spread its top with jam, and cover with the beaten white of the other egg, with one tablespoonful of granulated sugar put in it, and brown in the oven. You can eat this as it is, or with cream, and you may serve it either hot or cold.

Sometimes you can put a cup of washed raisins into the bread-crumbs and milk, and mix in the other things; sometimes you can put in a cup of chopped almonds, or a little preserved ginger. Orange marmalade is especially nice on bread pudding.

Orange Pudding

Make just like Lemon Pudding, but use three oranges instead of two lemons.

Cabinet Pudding

1 pint of milk. Yolks of three eggs. 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar. 1 saltspoonful of salt.

Beat the eggs, add the sugar, and stir them into the milk, which must be very hot but not boiling; stir till it thickens, and then take it from the fire. Put a layer of washed raisins in the bottom of a mould, then a layer of slices of stale cake or lady-fingers, then more raisins around the edge of the mould, and more cake, till the mould is full. Pour the custard over very slowly, so the cake will soak well, and bake in a pan of water in the oven for an hour. This pudding is to be eaten hot, with any sauce you like, such as Foamy Sauce.

Cut-up figs are nice to use with the raisins, and chopped nuts are a delicious addition, dropped between the layers of the cake.

Cottage Pudding

1 egg. 1/2 cup of sugar. 1/2 cup of milk. 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. 1 cup of flour. 1 tablespoonful of butter.

Beat the yolk of the egg light, add the sugar and butter mixed, then put in the milk, the flour, the whites of the eggs beaten stiff, and last of all the baking-powder, and stir it up well. Put in a greased pan and bake nearly half an hour. If you want this very nice, put in half a cup of chopped figs, mixed with part of the flour.

Serve with Foamy Sauce.

Prune Whips

This was a cooking-school rule which the Pretty Aunt put in, because she said it was the best sort of pudding for little girls to make.

1 tablespoonful of powdered sugar. 2 tablespoonfuls stewed prunes. White of one egg.

Cook the prunes till soft, take out the stones, and mash the prunes fine. Beat the white of the egg very stiff, mix in the sugar and prunes, and bake in small buttered dishes. Serve hot or cold, with cream.

Junket

1 junket tablet. 1 quart milk. 1/2 cup sugar. 1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Break up the junket tablet into small pieces, and put them into a tablespoonful of water to dissolve. Put the sugar into the milk with the vanilla, and stir till it is dissolved. Warm the milk a little, but only till it is as warm as your finger, so that if you try it by touching it with the tip, you do not feel it at all as colder or warmer. Then quickly turn in the water with the tablet melted in it, stirring it only once, and pour immediately into small cups on the table. These must stand for half and hour without being moved, and then the junket will be stiff, and the cups can be put in the ice-box. In winter you must warm the cups till they are like the milk. This is very nice with a spoonful of whipped cream on each cup, and bits of preserved ginger or of jelly on it.

Strawberry Shortcake

Margaret's mother called this the Thousand Mile Shortcake, because she sent so far for the recipe to the place where she had once eaten it, when she thought it the best she had ever tasted.

1 pint flour. 1/2 cup butter. 1 egg. 1 teaspoonful baking-powder. 1/2 cup milk. 1 saltspoonful of salt.

Mix the baking-powder and salt with the flour and sift all together. The butter should stand on the kitchen table till it is warm and ready to melt, when it may be mixed in with a spoon, and then the egg, well beaten, and the milk.

Divide the dough into halves; put one in a round biscuit-tin, butter it, and lay the other half on top, evenly. Bake a light brown; when you take it out of the oven, let it cool, and then lift the layer apart. Mash the berries, keeping out some of the biggest ones for the top of the cake, and put on the bottom layer; put a small half-cup of powdered sugar on them, and put the top layer on. Dust this over with sugar till it is white, and set the large berries about on it, or cover the top with whipped cream and put the berries on this.

Cake Shortcake

1 small cup sugar. 1/2 cup butter. 1 cup cold water. 1 egg. 2 cups flour. 3 teaspoonfuls baking-powder.

Rub the butter and sugar to a cream; sift the flour and baking-powder together; beat the egg stiff without separating; put the egg with the sugar and butter, add the water and flour in turn, a little at a time, stirring steadily; bake in two layer-tins. Put crushed berries between, and whole berries on top.

Tiny field strawberries make the most delicious shortcake of all.

Peach Shortcake

Make either of the rules above, and put mashed and sweetened peaches between the layers. Slice evenly about four more, and arrange these on top, making a ring of them overlapping all around the edge, and laying them inside in the same way. Sugar well, and serve with whipped cream or a pitcher of plain cream.

Lemon Jelly

1/2 box gelatine. 1/2 cup cold water. 2 cups boiling water. 1 cup sugar. Juice of three lemons, and three scrapings of the yellow rind.

Put the gelatine into the cold water and soak one hour. Put the boiling water, the sugar, and the scrapings of the peel on the fire, and still till the sugar dissolves. Take it off the fire and stir in the gelatine, and mix till this is dissolved; when it is partly cool, turn in the lemon juice and strain through a flannel bag dipped in water and wrung dry. Put in a pretty mould.

Orange Jelly

Make this exactly as you did the lemon jelly, only instead of taking the juice of three lemons, take the juice of two oranges and one lemon, and scrape the orange peel instead of the lemon peel.

Whipped cream is nicer with either of these jellies.

Prune Jelly

Wash well a cup of prunes, and cover them with cold water and soak overnight. In the morning put them on the fire in the same water, and simmer till so tender that the stones will slip out. Cut each prune in two and sprinkle with sugar as you lay them in the mould; pour over them lemon jelly made by the recipe above, and put on ice. Turn out on a pretty dish, and put whipped cream around.

Sometimes Margaret colored lemon jelly with red raspberry juice, and piled sugared raspberries around the mould. Lemon jelly is one of the best things to put things with; peaches may be used instead of prunes, in that rule, or strawberries, with plenty of sugar, or bits of pineapple.

Fruit Jelly

Make a plain lemon jelly, as before. Cut up very thin two oranges, one banana, six figs, and a handful of white grapes, which you have seeded, and sweeten them. Put in a mould and pour in the jelly; as it begins to grow firm you can gently lift the fruit from the bottom once or twice.

You can also fill the mould quite full of fruit, and make only half the jelly and pour over. Whipped cream is nice to eat with this.

Coffee Jelly

1/2 box of gelatine. 1/2 cup of cold water. 1 pint strong hot coffee. 3/4 cup sugar. 1/2 pint boiling water.

Put the gelatine in the cold water and soak two minutes, and pour over it the coffee, boiling hot. When it is dissolved, put in the sugar and boiling water and strain; put in little individual moulds, and turn out with whipped cream under each one. Or, set in a large mould, and have whipped cream around it.

Snow Pudding

1/2 box of gelatine. 1 pint of cold water. 3 eggs. Juice of three lemons. 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.

Pour the water over the gelatine and let it stand ten minutes; then put the bowl over the fire and stir till it is dissolved, and take it off at once. As soon as it seems nearly cold, beat to a froth with the egg-beater. Beat the whites of the eggs stiffly, and add to the gelatine, with the lemon juice and sugar, and mix well. Put in a mould and set on ice. Make a soft custard by the rule, and pour around the pudding when you serve it.

Velvet Cream

1/4 box of gelatine. 1 pint milk. 2 eggs. 3 tablespoonfuls of sugar. Small teaspoonful of vanilla.

Put the gelatine in the milk and soak fifteen minutes; put on the stove and heat till it steams, but do not let it boil; stir carefully often, as there is danger of its burning. Beat the yolks of the eggs with the sugar, and put these in the custard, and cook till it all thickens and is smooth, but do not boil it. Strain, cool, and add the vanilla, and last fold in the beaten whites of the eggs, and put in a mould on the ice.

Preserved peaches laid around this are very nice, or rich pineapple, or apricot jam; or a ring of whipped cream, with bits of red jelly, make a pretty border.

Easy Charlotte Russe

1/4 box gelatine. 1/2 pint of milk. 1 pint thick cream. 1/2 cup powdered sugar. 1 small teaspoonful vanilla.

Put the gelatine in the milk and stand on the stove till the gelatine is dissolved, stirring often. Then take it off, and beat with the egg-beater till cold. Beat the cream with the egg-beater till perfectly stiff, put in the sugar and vanilla, and mix with the milk, and set on ice in a mould. When you wish to use it, turn out and put lady-fingers split in halves all around it.