Send it to table hot, and eat it with butter and sugar, or with molasses and butter.
This is sometimes called a Five Minute Pudding, from its being made so soon. It is very good for children, as a plain dessert; or for supper.
Before it goes to table, you may season it with powdered ginger, or nutmeg.
APPLE TAPIOCA.—Take a quart bowl, and half fill it with tapioca: then fill it very nearly to the top with cold water, allowing a little space for the tapioca to swell in soaking. Cover it, and let it stand all night. In the morning, pare and core six or eight fine pippin or bell-flower apples. Put them into a preserving kettle; filling up the holes from whence the cores were extracted with powdered sugar, and the grated yellow rind of one large lemon, or two small ones; and also the juice. Stew among the apples additional sugar, so as to make them agreeably sweet. Add about half enough of water to cover them. This will be sufficient to keep them from burning. Stew them gently till about half done; turning them carefully several times. Then put in the tapioca, and let it simmer with them till perfectly clear, and the apples are tender and well done throughout; but not long enough for them to break and fall to pieces. The tapioca will form a fine clear jelly all round the apples.
This is a nice dessert for children. And also, cooling and nourishing for invalids.
Quinces may be done in the same manner. They require more cooking than apples. For quinces, it is best to use, as flavouring, the grated yellow rind, and the juice of very ripe oranges.
TERRA FIRMA.—Take a piece of rennet about four inches square, and wash it in two or three cold waters to get off all the salt. Then wipe it dry, put it into a cup, and pour on sufficient lukewarm water to cover it well. Let it stand four or five hours, or all night. Then stir the rennet-water into three pints of rich unskimmed milk, flavoured with rose or peach-water. Cover the pan of milk, and set it on the hearth near the fire, till it forms a very firm curd. Then take it out, (draining off the whey,) put it into a clean sieve, (under which set a pan to receive the droppings,) and with the back of a broad flat wooden ladle, press all the remaining whey out of the curd. Next put the mass of curd into a deep bowl to mould it; and set it on ice till tea-time. Then transfer it to a deep glass bowl or dish, and pour all round it some cream sweetened well with sugar, and flavoured with rose or peach like the curd. On the curd lay circles of small sweetmeats, such as preserved strawberries, raspberries, or gooseberries. You may add to the cream that is to surround it, white wine and nutmeg.