PIES, PUDDINGS, AND DESSERTS.
Pastry.—One quart flour, half-pound butter; mix half the flour with ice-cold water, stiff enough to roll; put it on a well-floured paste-board, sprinkle flour over and roll half an inch thick. Divide the butter into three parts; shave one of the three portions quite thin and put it lightly over the paste, shake one third of the dry flour over it, fold the four ends inward, then double the sheet together and beat it with the rolling-pin till it is about half an inch thick; shave a second portion of the butter and put on the paste, flour, fold up and beat out as at first. Repeat this process for the third and last time, using up all the butter and flour, and put the paste on the ice for a half-hour. Then cut off a piece large enough to cover a plate, roll out,—always rolling from you,—and handle as little as possible; cover the plate, trim it by passing the knife round the plate, cutting upwards. (This should be borne in mind with all pastry. If cut round the edge of the plate upwards, it will be light; if downwards, it will cling to the plate and be heavy.) Cut a strip an inch wide and lay round the edge, fill in the fruit or whatever the contents are to be, and if it is to have an upper crust roll out, put it on and trim as above directed. Prick the top to let out steam and prevent the waste of the juice.
Puff Paste.—Half a pound of butter, half a pound of lard, one and a quarter pounds of flour; wet half the flour to a paste; mix the other half with the shortening, chopping it fine, but do not use your hand; stir together with a silver or wooden spoon. Roll the paste out on the board about a quarter of an inch thick, and add one third of the mixed flour and shortening; fold the four ends over it, and beat out with the rolling-pin till again a quarter of an inch thick; spread over it one third more of the shortening; fold over the ends; beat out thin again; add the remainder of the shortening; beat, roll out, and use.
Potato Pastry for Meat Pies.—Six good-sized potatoes, boiled and mashed mealy and white, one teacup of sweet cream, a teaspoonful of salt, and flour enough to make it stay together and roll out. Work and handle as little as possible, and roll thicker than common pastry.
Pumpkin Pies.—Cut the pumpkin into small pieces; take out the seeds and inside, but do not pare it. It must be a well-grown and thoroughly ripened pumpkin, and not watery. Put the pieces in a saucepan, with only a few spoonfuls of water, not more than four; cover close and let it cook gently, so as not to scorch, until the water has all evaporated, and the pumpkin has cooked quite dry and of a rich, dark orange color. While hot sift it through a coarse sieve. Season only as much as you are needing for the day. For one large pie, one egg, one table-spoonful of molasses, four table-spoonfuls of condensed milk, and enough of new milk to make it as thin as you wish, or if you have it, half milk and half cream, instead of condensed milk; sugar and spice to suit the taste. Ginger and cinnamon are very nice. Bake to a clear, rich brown, but do not blister or scorch.
Dried-Apple Pies.—Wash the apples in several waters, then put them into an earthen dish or stone pot, and pour on rather more water than will cover them; for if the apples are good, they will absorb a good deal of water and become twice as large by soaking. Never soak or cook fruit in tin or iron. A few hours should soak the apples sufficiently for cooking. If soaked overnight they become insipid. Put them into an earthen pipkin or porcelain kettle and cook in the water they are soaked in. If you like it, cut up a little dried orange or lemon peel and stew with the apples. Some use dried plums with apples, but they make it too sharp for our taste. Let them cook slowly, till very tender. When they rise up in the kettle, press them down gently, but never stir them. When perfectly tender, before taking from the fire, stir in a little butter—about one table-spoonful to a quart of cooked apples—and sugar to suit your taste. Season with very little nutmeg and cinnamon, if you do not use the orange or lemon peel,—nothing else is needed if you do. Bake with an upper and under crust, but do not make the pie very thick with apples. Half an inch deep is sufficient.
Dried plums and peaches may be prepared in the same way, but require no spice.
Pies of Canned Fruit.—Canned pears, peaches, and quinces usually will bear scalding in their own liquor before putting them in the pie-plate. When tender, skim out and lay on a dish to cool. Then add to the liquor enough sugar to make a syrup, more or less rich, according to the taste of those who are to eat them. When both fruit and liquor are cold, if the pears, peaches, or quinces are in halves, cut them in slices a quarter of an inch thick, and lay into the pie-plate; pour over as much of the syrup as it will hold, having first put on the under crust and laid an edge of crust around it. Fill the plate not quite an inch thick. This is more economical, and, to our taste, much nicer than to use the fruit in large pieces. Cut a few small bits of butter (half a table-spoonful in all) and lay the spice over; put on the upper crust and bake a rich brown, but be careful not to scorch the crust, as a little scorch spoils the best of pastry.
Plums must not be scalded before baking, as they come to pieces very easily, but prepare the liquor in which they are canned the same as for pears, peaches, and quinces.
Mince Pie.—Put a large-sized tongue into boiling water, with a little salt and pepper. A fresh tongue is better than one smoked and dried. Boil slowly till tender, then take out and dip for a minute in cold water; then peel it, beginning at the tip, as it peels easier. Cut off all the gristly parts and chop fine. Pare and chop enough of the best flavored sour apples to fill a three-pint bowl when chopped. The finer the meat and apples are chopped the better the pies will be. Pick over and rub clean one pound Sultana, or stoneless raisins, one pound Malaga, or bloom raisins, stoned and chopped, and one pound whole raisins. Slice thin half a pound citron and half a pound candied orange peel; chop and pick clean from skinny pieces three quarters of a pound of suet; add a table-spoonful salt, five grated nutmegs, one and a half table-spoonfuls ground cloves, the same of cinnamon, a pound of sugar, half a pint maple syrup, one pint cider, one of Madeira wine, one of brandy. Syrups from preserves, or small portions of jelly of any kind left over, and not sufficient to be put on the table again, are a great improvement to mince-meat for pies, beside finding an economical way of use. Put all these ingredients into a porcelain kettle, and set over the range to scald, not boil, one hour, stirring all the time; then pack in a stone jar and cover closely, ready for use.
Rice Pie.—Take cold rice, cooked with milk, add sufficient cream to make quite thin, mash it with a wooden or silver spoon till free from lumps. Beat up four eggs very light,—yelks and whites separately,—sweeten the rice to suit your taste, and pour in the egg,—the whites last; stir well, grate a little nutmeg over all; cover a deep custard or pumpkin pie-plate with pastry, pour in the rice, and bake, but not long enough to make the custard watery.
Apple Puffs.—Peel and core as many sour apples as will be needed, simmer with a little water till tender, then add a half-pound of sugar to a pound of apples, let it simmer till the apples become a kind of marmalade; take it up, and when cold put it into puff paste and bake quickly; when done ice it, return to the oven just long enough to turn the icing golden.
Marlborough Pie.—One cup stewed apples, sifted; one cup sugar, one cup cream or milk; one fourth cup butter if cream is used, if milk, one third; half a gill wine, three well-beaten eggs, whites whisked separately, and a little nutmeg; beat sugar, butter, and apple together, then add the wine, then milk or cream, nutmeg and yelks, adding the whites the last thing. No upper crust.
Chess Pie.—Four eggs, two cups sugar, one of cream, two thirds of a cup butter, one table-spoonful flour; flavor with nutmeg. When a delicate brown, try with a spoon as for a custard.
English Christmas Plum Pudding.—One pound of clean, dry currants, half a pound of the best raisins, stoned; mix these with one pound of bread crumbs, half a pound of fine flour, and one pound and a half of finely shred suet; add a quarter of a pound of sifted sugar, one grated nutmeg, a drachm of cinnamon, two drachms of cloves, half a dozen almonds, pounded, and an ounce each of candied orange and lemon, sliced thin; mix all these materials thoroughly together in a bowl, with a glass of brandy and one of sherry, then beat six eggs very light, and slowly stir them in till all is well blended; cover the bowl, and let this mixture stand for twelve hours; then pour it into a pudding-bag, and tie it not very tight, leaving room for it to swell; or fill a pudding-mold not quite two thirds full, lay a clean cloth over the top, and shut the cover over tightly to exclude all water; put the bag or mold into boiling water; keep it covered, and keep it boiling all the time, for six hours. Serve with sugar sifted over, and wine sauce. Brandy is usually sent in with a Christmas pudding, to be poured over the whole pudding, or over each slice, then lighted, and served while burning.
A Family Christmas Pudding.—Beat up four eggs very light (which always means yelks and whites beaten separately); add to the yelks, after beating, a quarter of a teaspoonful each of ginger, nutmeg, grated lemon peel, and salt; four ounces of sugar, half a pound of well-cleaned and dried currants, one pound of flour, half a pound of well-shred and chopped suet; beat this all up thoroughly, adding the whites of the eggs last. Wine or brandy, or both, may be added, if one has no scruples about using them in cooking; but the pudding will be good without this addition. Tie it in a cloth or pudding-bag, or put it into a mold, and boil six hours. Serve with any good sauce.
In boiling puddings of all kinds, the cloth should be dipped in hot water before the batter is put in, or the mold be well buttered. Any of these Christmas puddings may be kept for a month after boiling, if the cloth in which they are boiled be replaced by a clean one, and the pudding be hung up to the ceiling of a kitchen, or in a warm store-room. When wanted, they will require one hour’s boiling to heat them through, as all such puddings should be sent to the table hot.
A Simple Christmas Pudding.—Six ounces of finely chopped suet, six ounces of Malaga raisins, stoned and chopped; eight ounces of well-cleaned and dried currants, three ounces of fine bread crumbs, three ounces of flour, three well-beaten eggs, the sixth part of a nutmeg, grated; half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon, cloves, and mace; four ounces of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt, half a pint of milk; one ounce of candied orange or lemon peel, and the same of citron, all sliced thin. Beat all together thoroughly; pour into a pudding-bag or mold; put into boiling water, and keep it boiling six hours. Serve with sauce to suit your taste.
Bread Pudding.—One quart fine bread crumbs, one cup of sugar, two table-spoonfuls of molasses, half-pound suet chopped fine, one coffee-cup raisins, half a rind of preserved orange peel or citron cut thin and fine, a very little nutmeg and cinnamon, two teaspoonfuls cream of tartar, one small teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful of salt. Stir in milk enough to make it thick as pound-cake, beating all thoroughly together; put it into a buttered pudding-mold, and boil three hours. Be careful to keep the water boiling all the time.
Boiled Indian Pudding.—Two cupfuls of sour milk, two spoonfuls of molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, one of salt, half a cupful of sifted flour, mixed with enough corn meal to make a batter not very stiff; half a cupful of chopped suet, from which all the stringy substance has been removed; a cup and a half of chopped sweet apples, or huckleberries, dried or fresh, as you have on hand. Boil from two and a half to three hours.
Baked Indian Pudding.—Boil one quart of milk, and pour over a pint of sifted Indian meal; stir it well till the meal is thoroughly wet and scalded. Mix three table-spoonfuls of wheat flour with one pint of milk, and beat to a smooth batter, entirely free from lumps; then pour it in with the Indian batter, and beat well together. When the whole is lukewarm, beat three eggs and three table-spoonfuls of sugar, and mix with the batter, together with two table-spoonfuls of molasses; add two teaspoonfuls of salt, two of nutmeg, cinnamon, or ginger, as you prefer; two great spoonfuls of suet chopped fine, or the same of melted butter; let it bake a few minutes, and then add half a pound of raisins and half a pint of milk, which the raisins will soak up. Bake till the pudding is of a rich color, but do not let it whey.
Palmyra, or Date Pudding.—One pound of fresh dates, chopped fine and free from stones; one pound of suet, chopped fine; a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, and a pound of flour. Mix all well together; add a little salt and nutmeg, and make into a soft dough with milk. Beat three eggs very stiff, yelks and whites separately, and add the last thing. Boil in a pudding-dish three hours, or bake slowly two hours. Eat with liquid sauce.
Sponge-Cake Pudding.—Make a batter as for good sponge-cake. Bake on a flat, square pan, so as to be an inch thick, when done. When cold, cut it into pieces about three inches square; slice and butter them, and lay each slice together as it was before you split it. Make a custard with four eggs and a quart of new milk, flavor and sweeten as you like it. Almond in the cake, and lemon or vanilla in the custard, are very good. Put the buttered slices of cake in a baking-dish, so that when the custard is poured over them, the dish will be full. Bake half an hour; eat with or without sauce as you prefer.
Steamed Pudding.—Two eggs, two teacupfuls of sour milk, one teaspoonful of soda, a little salt, flour enough to make it quite thick, or it will be heavy. Beat this smooth. Add cherries, raspberries, currants, or any dried fruit you may have. Steam two hours, taking care that the water is kept over the pudding or bag all the time, and that it does not stop boiling. Eat with cream and sugar, hard sauce, or any liquid sauce you may prefer.
An Excellent Pudding.—One cup of sugar, one cup of milk, three eggs, beaten stiff; one table-spoonful of butter, a little clove and cinnamon, about half a teaspoonful of each; one cup of raisins, stoned; half a teaspoonful of salt, and three cups of prepared flour. Bake quick. Eat with liquid or hard sauce, according to taste. We think this would also be excellent steamed or boiled.
Apple and Tapioca Pudding.—Put a teacup of tapioca into a pint and a half of cold water overnight. Before breakfast the next morning set it where it will become quite warm, but not hot enough to cook. After breakfast pare six good-sized sour apples, or eight if not very large; quarter them and steam them in a dish till tender. Lay them into the pudding-dish, stir a cup and a half of sugar into the soaked tapioca, add a teacup of water and an even teaspoonful of salt, stir together and pour over the apple, slice a lemon very thin and lay over the top, bake slowly three hours; eat with butter, with wine sauce, or hard sauce, as you prefer.
Sweet-Apple Pudding.—One pint of scalded milk, half a pint of Indian meal, one teaspoonful of salt, six sweet apples cut in small pieces, one small teacupful of finely chopped suet, two great spoonfuls of molasses, half a teaspoonful of ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon,—whichever is most desirable,—two eggs well beaten, and half a teaspoonful soda. Beat all well together, put into a pudding-mold, and boil two hours.
Fig Pudding.—Half a pound of the best figs, washed and chopped fine, two teacupfuls of grated bread, half a cupful of sweet cream, half a cupful of sugar, and one cupful of milk. Mix the bread and cream, add the figs, then the sugar, and lastly the milk. Pour the mixture into a mold, and boil three hours. Eat with wine or hard sauce.
Barley Cream for Invalids.—Boil two pounds of lean veal in one quart of water, add to it a quarter of a pound of pearl barley, and boil till it can be rubbed through a sieve. It should be about as thick as cream. Add a little salt.
Apple Float.—One pint stewed and well-mashed apples; whites of three eggs, and four large spoonfuls of sugar, beaten until stiff; then add the apples, and beat all together till stiff enough to stand alone. Fill a deep dish with rich cream, or boiled soft custard, and pile the float on top. This is excellent with other fruits in place of the apples.
Sago Pudding.—One dozen tart apples, one and a half cup of sago,—soak the sago in water till soft; peel and core the apples and place in a dish, fill the apples with sugar, a very little cinnamon and nutmeg, pour the sago over and bake until the apples are cooked. Eat with wine sauce or hard sauce.
Cocoa-nut Custard.—One pound grated cocoa-nut, one pint of rich milk, and six ounces of sugar. Beat the yelks of six eggs, and stir them into the milk with the nut and sugar. Put into a farina-kettle, or into a small pail which you can set into a kettle of boiling water; stir all the time till very smooth and thick; as soon as it comes to a hard boil, take off and pour into cups.
Apple Pudding.—One pint of stewed and sifted apples, three eggs well beaten, whites and yelks separate, sugar enough to make the apple quite sweet, one cup of stoned raisins rolled in flour; half-pint each of milk and cream or condensed milk, and a little salt and nutmeg.
Sauce.—One cup of sugar and half a cup of butter, rubbed to a cream; the white of one egg well beaten, a little nutmeg or orange, and when ready to serve, stir in two great spoonfuls of boiling water; if preferred, add half a gill of wine instead of orange juice.
Nice Cheap Pudding.—One quart of milk, four table-spoonfuls of flour, four eggs, six table-spoonfuls of sugar, nutmeg. Steam three fourths of an hour.
Orange Pudding.—Peel five oranges; cut in thin slices; take out all the seeds. Pour over them a large cupful of white sugar. Bring a pint of rich milk to a boil in a farina-kettle; wet a table-spoonful of corn-starch in a little cold milk; beat the yelks of three eggs and pour them into the boiling milk, stirring all the time. When it thickens a little, pour over the fruit. Beat the whites to a stiff foam; add a table-spoonful of white sugar, and pour over the top; set it in the oven a few minutes to harden, but do not brown it. Eaten hot or cold for dinner or tea. Substitute berries or peaches for oranges, if you prefer.
Custard without Eggs.—To one quart of new milk one teaspoonful of rennet wine, or a small piece of rennet, a little lemon, nutmeg, or vanilla, or any spice you prefer, and one table-spoonful of sugar to each quart of milk. If too sweet, the milk will not set firmly or quickly. Stir all together, and set by the stove or near the fire; cover closely. It should begin to stiffen in an hour. If it does not, add more wine, or rennet. When firm, before the whey separates, take out the piece of rennet if the skin was used, and set on ice till dinner. To be eaten with sugar and rich cream. Nutmeg is always an improvement, even if lemon or vanilla is used.
The wine rennet is nicer than simply the skin, and it is a good idea to keep a bottle of wine with a piece of rennet in always on hand, as it is often desirable to have it ready.
A Quick Pudding.—Bring a quart of milk to the boiling point in a farina-kettle or a pail set into boiling water; add a small teaspoonful of salt, two table-spoonfuls of rice or wheat flour, wet smooth with cold milk. Stir this in as soon as the milk boils. Stir it a few minutes till perfectly smooth, and let it remain in the outside vessel of boiling water half an hour. Be sure and keep the water in receiver or saucepan boiling hard around the inner one all the time. Eat with butter and sugar, or thick cream and sugar.
This is very healthful, especially in the summer, and invaluable for invalids, or children suffering with summer complaint. When used as a remedy or preventive, it should boil longer, say one hour.
Rice Meringue.—Pick over one teacup of rice, wash clean, and boil in water until it is soft. When done, drain all the water from it. Let it get cool and then add one quart of new milk, the well-beaten yelks of three eggs, three table-spoonfuls of white sugar, and a little nutmeg; pour into a baking-dish and bake half an hour. Let it get cold; then beat the whites stiff, add two great spoonfuls of sugar, flavor with lemon or vanilla, and spread it over the pudding, and slightly brown it in the oven. Be careful not to let it scorch.
Sago Pudding.—One dozen tart apples, one and a half cups of sago, soak the sago in water till soft; peel and core the apples and place in a dish; fill the apples with sugar, a very little cinnamon and nutmeg, pour the sago over, and bake until the apples are cooked. Eat with wine or hard sauce.
Lemon or Orange Honeycomb.—Sweeten the juice of two oranges or lemons. Beat the whites of two eggs into a quart of rich cream, and whisk it; as the froth rises, skim off and lay on the lemon or orange juice. Whisk until you have the whole frothed and laid on the juice. It makes a pretty and agreeable dish. It should be prepared the day before needed, and set in a cool place.
Apple Snow.—Stew fine flavored, sour apples; sweeten and flavor to suit your taste; strain, and to one quart of sifted apples allow the whites of four eggs. Whisk them to a stiff froth; then put the apple and whites together, and continue to whip until they are so stiff you can turn the dish upside down without the mass falling off. Eat with cream or with bread and milk.
Snow Pudding.—Dissolve one box Cox’s gelatine in one pint of boiling water; add two cups sugar and the juice of one lemon; strain when nearly cold; beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, add them to the gelatine; beat all well together and put into a mold to shape it and let it get cold. Then take the yelks of three eggs, beat and add to a pint of rich milk, one teaspoonful corn-starch, flavor with vanilla, and boil in a farina-kettle. When you wish to serve, empty the mold of gelatine, etc. into the dish, and pour the custard over. In boiling the custard, be careful not to cook it too much; stir all the time, and the moment it begins to set or thicken remove it. If cooked too long it will whey.
Cocoa-nut Pudding or Pies.—Break the nut, save the milk; take out the meat and grate it very fine; take equal weight of sugar and cocoa-nut, and half the quantity of butter; rub the butter and sugar to a cream; take five eggs, whites and yelks beaten separately very stiff; one cup of milk and the milk of the cocoa-nut, and a little grated lemon. Line the dish with a nice paste, put in the pudding, and bake one hour. Cover the rim with paper to prevent burning. This receipt will answer equally as well for pies as for pudding. It will make three pies.
Bohemian Cream.—Four ounces of any fruit you choose, which has been steamed soft and sweetened. Pass the fruit through a sieve, and add one and a half ounces of melted or dissolved isinglass to a half-pint of fruit; mix it well together; then whip a pint of rich cream, and add the fruit and isinglass gradually to it. Then pour it all into a mold; set it on ice or in a cool place, and when hardened or set, dip the mold a moment in warm water, and turn it out on a dish, ready for the table.
Spanish Cream.—Dissolve three quarters of an ounce Cox’s gelatine in one half-pint of water; take one pint milk, one pint cream, the well-beaten yelks of five eggs, five table-spoonfuls of sugar. Sift all well together. Flavor with vanilla, lemon, or orange, or any flavor most agreeable. Put into a farina-kettle and boil till it just begins to turn. If done too much it will be watery, or wheyey, which spoils it. When thickened like a smooth rich cream, stir in the dissolved gelatine, pour into molds, and set in the refrigerator or a very cool place to harden. Beat up the whites of the eggs and pour over the top of the cream after you have removed it from the mold to the glass dish, for the table.
Rennet Wine.—Buy a dried rennet in market, or get a fresh one from the butcher’s and prepare and dry it yourself. When well dried and cured, cut it in pieces of one or two inches; put it into a large bottle and fill up with Madeira wine; for a good-sized rennet add from three pints to two quarts of wine. It will keep for a year or two.
Cold Custard.—Warm one quart of milk as warm as when just milked; sweeten and flavor to suit your taste; stir into it two table-spoonfuls of rennet wine, and turn it at once into the dish in which it is to be sent to table.
Baked Apples.—Core some Baldwin pippins, or any other fine-flavored tart apple. Sprinkle sugar on the bottom of a deep dish, and set the apples into the dish with two or three on top. Fill the holes with sugar; cover the lower apples with water, and bake one hour. A little cinnamon, nutmeg, or lemon will be an improvement for those who like fruit seasoned.
Apple Snow.—Stew some fine-flavored sour apples tender, sweeten to taste; strain them through a fine wire sieve, and break into one pint of strained apples the white of an egg; whisk the apple and egg very briskly, till quite stiff, and it will be as white as snow; eaten with a nice boiled custard, it makes a very desirable dessert.
Season with a very little nutmeg and cinnamon, add a little butter, and bake in good pastry, and you will have a very good apple pie.