CURRANT PUDDING, Boiled (Plain and Economical).
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, ½ lb. of suet, ½ lb. of currants, milk. Mode.—Wash the currants, dry them thoroughly, and pick away any stalks or grit; chop the suet finely; mix all the ingredients together, and moisten with sufficient milk to make the pudding into a stiff batter; tie it up in a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil for 3½ hours; serve with a cut lemon, cold butter, and sifted sugar. Time.—3½ hours. Average cost, 10d. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons. Seasonable at any time.
CURRANT PUDDING, Black or Red.
Ingredients.—1 quart of red or black currants, measured with the stalks, ¼ lb. of moist sugar, suet crust or butter crust (see recipes for [Crusts]). Mode.—Make, with ¾ lb. of flour, either a suet crust or butter crust (the former is usually made); butter a basin, and line it with part of the crust; add the currants, which should be stripped from the stalks, and sprinkle the sugar over them; put the cover of the pudding on; make the edges very secure, that the juice does not escape; tie it down with a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil from 2½ to 3 hours. Boiled without a basin, allow ½ hour less. We have given rather a large proportion of sugar; but we find fruit puddings are so much more juicy and palatable when well sweetened before they are boiled, besides being more economical. A few raspberries added to red-currant pudding are a very nice addition; about ½ pint would be sufficient for the above quantity of fruit. Fruit puddings are very delicious if, when they are turned out of the basin, the crust is browned with a salamander, or put into a very hot oven for a few minutes to colour it: this makes it crisp on the surface. Time.—2½ to 3 hours; without a basin, 2 to 2½ hours. Average cost, in full season, 8d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable in June, July, and August.
CURRANT AND RASPBERRY TART, Red.
Ingredients.—1½ pint of picked currants, ½ pint of raspberries, 3 heaped tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, ½ lb of short crust. Mode.—Strip the currants from the stalks, and put them into a deep pie-dish, with a small cup placed in the midst, bottom upwards; add the raspberries and sugar; place a border of paste round the edge of the dish, cover with crust, ornament the edges, and bake from ½ to ¾ hour; strew some sifted sugar over before being sent to table. This tart is more generally served cold than hot. Time.—½ to ¾ hour, Average cost, 1s. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable in June, July, and August.
Note.—In tarts of this description carefully avoid washing the fruit.
CURRANTS, Iced, for Dessert.
Ingredients.—¼ pint of water, the whites of 2 eggs, currants, pounded sugar. Mode.—Select very fine bunches of red or white currants, and well beat the whites of the eggs. Mix these with the water; then take the currants, a bunch at a time, and dip them in; let them drain for a minute or two, and roll them in very fine-pounded sugar. Lay them to dry on paper, when the sugar will crystallize round each currant, and have a very pretty effect. All fresh fruit may be prepared in the same manner; and a mixture of various fruits iced in this manner, and arranged on one dish, looks very well for a summer dessert. Time.—¼ day to dry the fruit. Average cost, 8d. for a pint of iced currants. Seasonable in summer.