Queen of Puddings

Melt the butter in the milk; soak the crumbs in the milk for one-half hour; beat the yolks of three eggs and the white of one till mixed, add the sugar, salt, and spice to them. Mix all together and pour it into a pudding pan to fit in a cooker-pail of boiling water. Stir it till the pudding is 160 degrees Fahrenheit, then cover it and put it into a cooker for from one to two hours. Make a meringue as directed in the recipe for [chocolate bread pudding], using the whites of two eggs and two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Pour the pudding into a baking-dish for serving, spread the jelly on top and the meringue over this, and brown it in a hot oven.

Serves six or eight persons.