MOLASSES PIE.—
Make a plain paste, allowing a quart of flour to a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a quarter of a pound of lard. Cut up the butter into the pan of flour, and rub it into a dough, with a half tumbler of cold water. Too much water is injurious to any paste, rendering it tough and hard. Roll out the paste into a sheet, and with a broad knife spread all over it one-half of the lard. Sprinkle it with flour, fold it, and roll it out again. Spread on the remainder of the lard, dredge it slightly, fold it again, and then divide it into two sheets. Line with one sheet the inside of a pie-dish, and fill it with molasses, mixed with butter, and flavored with ginger and cinnamon, or lemon or orange. Put on the other sheet of paste as a lid to the pie. Crimp or notch the edges. Bake it of a pale brown, and send it to table fresh, but not hot.
MOLASSES POT-PIE.—
Make plenty of paste, allowing to each quart of flour a small half pound of finely minced suet. Line the pot three-quarters up the sides with paste, and put in a quart of West India molasses, flavored with ginger and cinnamon, lemon or orange grating, and juice. Cover it with a lid of paste, not fitting closely round its edges, and cut a cross slit in the top. Have ready six or eight extra pieces of suet paste, cut into squares, and boiled by themselves. When the pie is done, put these little cakes (ready boiled) into the molasses, having removed the lid or cover of the pie, and cut it up. Take out the inside paste, and cut it in pieces also. Serve up the whole in one large dish.
BATTER PUDDING.—
Having beaten eight eggs till very thick and smooth, stir them gradually into a pan of milk, in turn with eight table-spoonfuls of flour, added by degrees. Give the whole a hard stirring at last. Dip a square pudding cloth into hot water, shake it out, dredge it with flour, and spread it over the inside of an empty pan. Pour the pudding mixture into it. Gather up the cloth, leaving ample space for the pudding to swell in boiling, and securing the string tightly. Put the pudding into a large pot of boiling water, and boil it fast and steadily for two hours. Turn it with a large fork once or twice while boiling. When done, dip it for a moment in cold water, that you may turn it out easily. Send it to table hot, and eat it with any sauce you like, from molasses, or butter and sugar, to wine sauce. This, if exactly followed, is the very best receipt for a plain batter pudding. It may be made of corn meal, or wheat bread-crumbs, (eight table-spoonfuls to eight eggs, and one quart of milk.) Corn meal requires with it one or two spoonfuls of wheat flour for this pudding.
We cannot approve of boiling batter puddings in moulds, as they are rarely allowed sufficient space for swelling, and are therefore tough and solid. Also, it is frequently very difficult to get a hot pudding out of a mould.
The above pudding is very nice baked in the dripping pan under a piece of roast beef or veal.