SOME CAPITAL DESSERTS.
Apple Pudding.—Peel and slice enough apples to nearly fill your pudding-dish, sugar to taste, and grate over them a little nutmeg. Also add a little water. Now make a batter as follows: Three quarters of a cup of sugar; a piece of butter the size of a small egg, one half-cup of milk, one egg, a pinch of salt, a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and one and one-eighth cups of flour. This is an extremely nice, wholesome pudding, which can be served with either cream or hard sauce.
To make hard sauce take a half-cup of butter and cream it with a fork; add a cupful of sugar and beat until nicely mixed and creamy. Flavor to taste and sprinkle a little nutmeg over it.
Cottage Pudding.—One cupful of sugar, one tablespoonful of butter, one half-cupful of milk, two eggs, one and one-half cupfuls of flour, and one teaspoonful of baking-powder. For the sauce, take three and a half cupfuls of boiling water and stir in it a cupful of sugar, and a tablespoonful of either flour or corn-starch rubbed smooth with a little cold water. Cook well for two or three minutes; take the pan from the fire, add the butter and flavor as you prefer.
Batter Pudding Boiled or Baked.—One quart of milk, six eggs beaten separately, six tablespoonfuls of flour worked gradually into the yolks of the eggs, and a pinch of salt. Bake or boil about three-quarters of an hour. Serve with sauce.
Cream of Corn-starch.—One quart of milk, four eggs, one half-cupful sugar, four tablespoonfuls of corn-starch dissolved in a little milk. Into a pint of the milk put the sugar, and place on the stove to heat. When very hot gradually stir in the corn-starch and beat well. Have ready the whites of the eggs, and beat them into the milk; flavor as preferred. Take the other pint of milk, the four yolks and four light tablespoonfuls of sugar, and place them over the fire, stirring constantly. This makes a nice custard. Just before serving pour the custard over the pudding.
Caramel Custard.—One egg for each person; also one teaspoonful of milk for each person. Put the yolks and milk together with a tablespoonful of sugar to each egg. Have ready some caramel, and stir in enough to give a decided flavor. Put this into cups or baking-dishes, and set in a pan of hot water on top of the stove for twenty minutes; then in the oven until the custard sets. Serve cold. For the caramel, take two cupfuls of sugar (preferably brown) and put it in a frying-pan with a teaspoonful of water. Cook until well burned. Add a cup of water, and, when cold, put it in a bottle or fruit-jar. This quantity will last a long time.
Brown Betty Pudding.—Take a cupful of grated bread-crumbs, two cupfuls of finely chopped, tart apples, half a cupful of brown sugar, a teaspoonful of cinnamon, and one tablespoonful of butter. Butter a deep pudding-dish, and put a layer of apples on the bottom; then sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and bits of the butter. Put in another layer of apples, and proceed as before until all the ingredients have been used. Cover the dish and bake for three-quarters of an hour in a moderate oven; remove the cover now and brown the pudding. Serve with sugar and cream.
Rice Pudding.—One cupful of boiled rice (better if still hot), three cupfuls of milk, three-quarters of a cup of sugar, a tablespoonful of corn-starch, and two eggs; add flavoring. Dissolve the corn-starch with a little of the milk, and stir it into the rest of the milk; also add the yolks of the eggs and the sugar beaten together. Put this over the fire and when hot add the rice. Stir it carefully until it begins to thicken, then take it off and add the flavoring. Put it into a pudding-dish and bake in the oven.