A pine-apple pudding made in this way is excellent. There must be as much pine-apple as will measure a quart, after it is pared, sliced, and grated fine. Sweeten it well with loaf-sugar.
A COTTAGE PUDDING.—Take ripe currants, and having stripped them from the stalks, measure as many as will make a heaping quart. Cover the bottom of a deep dish with slices of bread, slightly buttered, and with the crust cut off. Put a thick layer of currants on the bread; and then a layer of sugar. Then other layers of bread, currants, and sugar, till the dish is full; finishing at the top with very thin slices of bread. Set it into the oven, and bake it half an hour. Serve it either warm or cold; and eat it with sweetened cream.
Instead of currants you may take cherries, (first stoning them all,) raspberries, ripe blackberries, or barberries, plums, (first extracting the stones,) stewed cranberries, or stewed gooseberries. If the fruit is previously stewed, the pudding will require but ten minutes’ baking. When it is sent to table have sugar at hand in case it should not be sweet enough.
RIPE CURRANT PUDDING.—Take two quarts of fine ripe currants, strip them from the stalks, and mix with them a quarter of a pound of sugar. Make a paste of a pound and a half of sifted flour, and three-quarters of a pound of the best fresh butter. Cut up half a pound of the butter into the pan of flour, and rub the butter into the flour with your hands till it is thoroughly mixed all through. Mix with it barely as much cold water as will make it into a stiff dough. If you use too much water the paste will be tough. Beat the lumps of dough on both sides with the rolling-pin. Then transfer it to your paste-board; roll it out into a thin sheet, and spread over it with a knife another quarter of a pound of butter. Then flour it, fold it up, and beat it again with the rolling-pin. Afterwards roll it out thicker. Put the currants into it, and close the paste over the top in the manner of a large dumpling. Boil it in a cloth in the usual manner. It will require two hours or more. Eat it with sugar.
You may make the paste of minced suet instead of butter.
CHERRY PUDDING may be made as above, first stoning the cherries, which should be ripe and red, and made very sweet with sugar.