Banana Pudding.—Beat the yolks of three eggs and whites of two. Add a cupful of sugar, a scant half cupful softened butter, a cupful stale cake crumbs and a cupful of milk. Beat all together well, then add three bananas sliced thin, and the juice of a half lemon. Put into a basin then in a well-buttered bag, seal and bake half an hour, take out, cover with a meringue made from the whipped white of the egg that was left over and a tablespoonful of sugar with a little lemon juice to flavor. Strew a little candied peel over the meringue and set in the oven, which should be quite cool for the meringue to rise slowly and stiffen. Serve with lemon sauce.
Farmer's Plum Pudding.—Put into a basin two cupfuls of flour sifted with two level teaspoonfuls baking powder, a pinch of salt and a level teaspoonful ginger and cinnamon. Add one-half cupful sugar, one cupful chopped suet, one-half cupful each candied peel and currants and raisins. Make to batter consistency with one-half cupful each molasses and milk and one beaten egg. Put in small buttered molds, set in paper bag, pour in enough cold water to come three parts up the sides, seal and bake two hours, reducing the heat of the oven after the first ten minutes. Serve with hard or foamy sauce.
Peach Betty.—Sprinkle a layer of crumbs in a buttered baking dish and over this a layer of peach quarters. Sprinkle with sugar, then repeat a layer of crumbs and peaches and sugar until the dish is filled, having the crumbs on top. Put in buttered bag and bake thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven, and serve with sweetened cream. To prepare the buttered crumbs melt a little butter and pour over the crumbs.
Peach Cobbler.—For this the richest and ripest peaches are none too good. Some variety of the yellow peach is usually chosen because of its superior richness. For its baking a pudding dish at least three and a half inches deep is chosen. This is lined with a rich crust, a square of the dough being taken from the bottom. Now peel enough ripe and luscious peaches to fill the dish, tearing them apart but leaving the pits in to impart their superior flavor. Sweeten abundantly, add about two tablespoonfuls water, and a tablespoonful of butter cut in bits. Cover with a layer of puff paste, sealing it down carefully on the sides to the border, so as to lose none of the juices. Bag and bake in a quick oven for forty-five minutes. When nearly done, draw to the edge of the oven, open the top of the bag, dust with powdered sugar and set back a few moments longer for the crust to glaze. This is perfection, whether eaten hot or cold, serving it alone, with cream or with a hard sauce as preferred.
Peach Roly Poly.—Make a sweet biscuit dough. Roll out thin and spread with a layer of sliced or chopped peaches and roll the dough over as for jelly roll. Put in buttered bag and bake in a moderate oven.
Plum Roly Poly.—Wash and stew any ripe sound plums and remove the pits. If very juicy, drain away the most of the juice. Sweeten to taste. Make a good biscuit dough or puff paste as preferred, roll out in long strips, sprinkle sugar on the upper side, then spread thinly with the stewed plums, roll up and pinch the ends tight. Put in buttered bag and cook thirty minutes. Serve with a sauce made from the extra juice sweetened and slightly thickened with a little cornstarch.
Rye Bread Pudding.—Toast stale rye bread to a golden brown, then roll into fine crumbs. Brush small custard cups or a mould with melted butter, sprinkle over a few currants, raisins, prunes (cut fine) or figs, then fill with crumbs. Beat three eggs without separating until light, add three tablespoonfuls of sugar, a pint of milk (with vanilla or nutmeg to flavor) and pour carefully over the bread crumbs. Let them stand ten minutes, until the mixture has soaked into the crumbs; then set in a paper bag in a pan of cold water and cook like a custard in the oven. It will take about half an hour. Test by slipping the blade of the knife down the side of the bag. If it comes up clear, the pudding is sufficiently baked. Serve hot with lemon or egg sauce or fruit syrup.
Tapioca Apple Pudding.—Soak one cupful tapioca in three pints cold water over night. In the morning put on to boil and cook twenty or thirty minutes, until it looks clear. Add a quart and a half peeled and quartered apples, one cup of sugar, a teaspoonful salt, and lemon juice or extract to flavor. Turn into a buttered dish, put in bag and bake an hour in a moderate oven. When cold serve with cream and sugar.
A White Plum Pudding.—Beat to a cream a half cup of sugar and three-quarters cup of butter. Add four eggs well beaten, a saltspoonful of salt, two cups milk, a quart of flour mixed with one-half cup shredded citron, one-half cup currants, a teaspoonful grated nutmeg and a teaspoonful vanilla. Just before turning into the mould stir in two even tablespoonfuls pure baking powder. Put in bag, surround with water, steam two hours and serve with any good sauce.