Boil a quart of milk and sweeten it to your taste with loaf sugar; add the juice and grated peel of a lemon. Mix four table spoonsful of ground rice smoothly with a little cold milk, and stir it into the boiling milk. Boil the whole together ten minutes, stirring it occasionally while boiling; then take it from the fire, stir into it the beaten whites of three eggs, set it back on a few coals, and stir it constantly until nearly boiling hot, take it off, fill your moulds, and let it remain till cold. This is very good food for invalids.
[186.] Ice Cream.
To one quart of milk, put the yolks of four eggs well beaten, the rind of a lemon pared thin, sweeten it very sweet with loaf sugar. Put it on a slow fire and stir it constantly till scalding hot, care must be taken then it does not get to boiling. Take it up, take out the lemon peel, set it away to cool. When perfectly cold put it into an ice cream form, (if you cannot procure one, a milk kettle will do,) set it into a large tub, strew round it a layer of ice cracked fine, then a layer of rock salt, then another layer of ice and salt, and so on, till the ice is as high as the top of the form; a layer of ice should be last. Shake the form frequently, while the cream is freezing; care must be taken that none of the salt gets into the cream. The tub should be covered with a flannel cloth, while the cream is freezing. If you wish to shape the cream in moulds, turn it into them, as soon as it freezes in the form, and set them in the tub, and let them remain in it, till just before they are to be eaten. When you wish to get them out of the moulds or form, dip them into warm water and take them out of it instantly and turn them out into your dishes. Where cream is used instead of milk, no eggs or scalding will be necessary. Three table spoonsful of pine apple juice, to a quart of the cream gives it a fine flavor, strawberries are also nice in the cream. If you wish to color the cream, stir in a little cochineal powder, saffron or powder blue, before you freeze it.
[187.] Pastry.
For good common pie crust, allow two tea cups of shortening to a quart of flour, and a tea spoonful of salt, half lard and half butter is the best, beef shortening does very well with butter for plain pie crust. Rub part of the shortening thoroughly with two thirds of the flour; then put in the salt, together with cold water, to moisten it just enough to roll out easily. Roll it out thin, spread on the reserved shortening, then sprinkle on the remainder of your flour, and roll it up. Cut it into as many pieces as you have pies, roll out the under crust very thin, butter your pie plates, and put it on them, fill your plates with your fruit, roll out the upper crust lightly, about half an inch thick, and cover your pies, pare it off neatly round the edges of the plates. This rule furnishes crust enough for a couple of pies. Pie crust to be light, should be baked in a quick oven.
[188.] Puff Paste or Confectioner's Pastry.
Sift three quarters of a pound of flour, and mix it with cold water enough to render it sufficiently stiff to roll out, put in one half a tea spoonful of salt, before you put in the water. Weigh out a pound of butter, cut it into thin slices, and roll it out thin as possible on a moulding board; in order to do this a great deal of flour should be sprinkled on the board and butter, and rubbed on the rolling pin. Lay your rolled butter on a platter. Then roll out your crust very thin, lay the pieces of butter thickly over it. Weigh out a quarter of a pound of sifted flour, and sprinkle part of it over it, roll it up, then roll it out again, put on the remainder of the butter and flour, roll it up and let it stand half an hour in a cool place. Roll it our lightly half an inch thick, for the upper crust to the pies. Bake it in a quick oven till of a light brown.
[189.] Apple Pie.
Pare, quarter, and take out the cores of the apples, and if not ripe, stew them before baking them, and season them to your taste. Butter your plates, put on a thin under crust, fill the plates, and cover them with a thick crust. Bake them about three quarters of an hour. When done take off the upper crust carefully, and put a piece of butter of the size of a walnut, into each pie, sweeten them to your taste, if not acid enough, squeeze in the juice of part of a lemon, or put in a little tartaric acid, dissolved in a little water. Essence of lemon, nutmeg, or rosewater, are all good spice for apple pies. Apples stewed in new cider, and molasses, with a few quinces and strained, with a little cinnamon in it makes nice pies. Dried apples for pies, should have boiling water turned on them, and stewed till tender, then add a little sour cider, and a little orange peel, and stew them a few moments longer, take them up, put in a little butter, sugar, and the juice and peel of a lemon improve them, they are better for being rubbed through a sieve. Fill your pie plates and bake the pies half an hour.