Science in the Kitchen / A Scientific Treatise On Food Substances and Their Dietetic Properties, Together with a Practical Explanation of the Principles of Healthful Cookery, and a Large Number of Original, Palatable, and Wholesome Recipes

by E. E. Kellogg

Custard puddings and all other baked puddings which require to be cooked slowly, are best cooked in an earthen dish set in the oven in a pan of hot water, and baked only till the pudding is set. If it is desirable to use with eggs any ingredient which requires a lengthy cooking, it is much better to cook it partially before adding the eggs. Many custard desserts are much more dainty and more easily served when cooked in cups than when baked in a large dish. The blue willow pattern stoneware cups and the blue and white Japanese ware are very suitable for this purpose. When cooking, set the cups, allowing one for each person, in the oven in a dripping pan containing hot water, and bake. Serve without removing from the cups.

If desired to stir beaten eggs into heated milk, add a few spoonfuls of cold milk to the eggs, and pour the mixture, a little at a time, into the hot milk, taking care to stir it constantly.

A nice way to flavour custards and meringues for custard puddings is to beat fruit jelly with the whites of the eggs; red raspberry, quince, and pineapple jellies give especially nice flavours.

RECIPES.

Apple Custard.—Bake good tart apples; when done, remove the pulp, and rub through a sieve; sweeten, and flavour with grated pineapple or grated orange or lemon rind. Put in a glass dish, and cover with a plain custard prepared as directed on [page 328]. Bits of jelly may be scattered over the top of the custard.

Apple Custard No. 2.—Peel, halve, and core eight or ten medium-sized sour apples. Have prepared a syrup made with a cup of water, the juice of one lemon, a little grated rind, and a half cup of sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, add the fruit, and simmer till tender but not fallen to pieces. Skim out the apples, draining thoroughly, and lay them in a glass dish. Boil up the syrup until thick, and poor it over the apples. Make a soft boiled custard with a pint of milk, yolks of three eggs, and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. When cold, spread over the apples; whip the whites to a stiff froth, flavor with lemon, and pile irregularly upon the top. Brown lightly in the oven.

Apple Custard No. 3.—Pare and remove the cores from a dozen tart apples, and fill the cavities with black raspberry, quince, or grape jelly. Put them in a covered baking dish with a tablespoonful of water, and steam in the oven till tender but not fallen to pieces. Then cover the apples with a raw custard made by cooking two tablespoonfuls of flour rubbed smooth with a little milk, in a quart of milk, till just thickened, and adding, when cold, the yolks of two eggs well beaten with two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, and lastly the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff froth. Bake in a dish set in a pan of hot water, until the custard has set, but not till it separates.

Apple Cornstarch Custard.—Cover the bottom of a small earthen-ware pudding dish an inch or more in depth with apples stewed until very dry, sweetened and flavored with a teaspoonful of rose water. Heat a cup of milk to boiling, and stir into it a tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk, and one fourth cup of sugar; cook until thickened, then add the yolk of one egg, and pour the whole over the apple. Meringue the top with the white of the egg beaten stiff with a tablespoonful of sugar, and flavored with a little rose water.

Apple and Bread Custard.—For this is required one cup of finely rolled bread crumbs, two eggs, one half cup of sugar, one cup minced sour apples, and one quart of milk. Beat the sugar and yolks together, add the milk, bread, and fruit, and lastly the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in a dish set in a pan of hot water till firm but not dry.