Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, ¼ lb. of butter, 5 eggs, 2 small tablespoonfuls of yeast, 2 tablespoonfuls of finely-pounded sugar, milk, a very little salt. Mode.—Put the flour into a basin, make a hole in the centre, into which put the yeast, and rather more than ¼ pint of warm milk; make this into a batter with the middle of the flour, and let the sponge rise in a warm temperature. When sufficiently risen, mix the eggs, butter, sugar, and salt, with a little more warm milk, and knead the whole well together with the hands, beating the dough until it is perfectly smooth, and it drops from the fingers. Then cover the basin with a cloth, put it in a warm place, and when the dough has nicely risen, knead it into small balls; butter the bottom of a deep sauté-pan, strew over some pounded sugar, and let the dampfnudeln be laid in, but do not let them touch one another; then pour over sufficient milk to cover them, put on the lid, and let them rise to twice their original size by the side of the fire. Now place them in the oven for a few minutes to acquire a nice brown colour, and serve them on a napkin, with custard sauce flavoured with vanilla, or a compôte of any fruit that may be preferred. Time.—½ to ¾ hour for the sponge to rise; 10 to 15 minutes for the puddings to rise; 10 minutes to bake them in a brisk oven. Sufficient for 10 or 12 dampfnudeln. Seasonable at any time.
DAMSON CHEESE.
Ingredients.—Damsons; to every lb. of fruit pulp allow ½ lb. of loaf sugar. Mode.—Pick the stalks from the damsons, and put them into a preserving-pan; simmer them over the fire until they are soft, occasionally stirring them, then beat them through a coarse sieve, and put the pulp and juice into the preserving-pan, with sugar in the above proportion, having previously carefully weighed them. Stir the sugar well in, and simmer the damsons slowly for 2 hours. Skim well, then boil the preserve quickly for ½ hour, or until it looks firm and hard in the spoon; put it quickly into shallow pots, or very tiny earthenware moulds, and, when cold, cover it with oiled papers, and the jars with tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg. A few of the stones may be cracked, and the kernels boiled with the damsons, which very much improves the flavour of the cheese. Time.—1 hour to boil the damsons without the sugar; 2 hours to simmer them slowly, ½ hour quickly. Average cost, from 8d. to 10d. per ¼-lb. pot. Sufficient.—1 pint of damsons to make a very small pot of cheese. Seasonable.—Make this in September or October.
DAMSON JAM.
Ingredients.—Damsons; to every lb. of fruit allow ¾ lb. of loaf sugar. Mode.—Have the fruit gathered in dry weather, pick it over, and reject any that is at all blemished. Stone the damsons, weigh them, and to every lb. allow ¾ lb. of loaf sugar. Put the fruit and sugar into a preserving-pan; keep stirring them gently until the sugar is dissolved, and carefully remove the scum as it rises. Boil the jam for about an hour, reckoning from the time it commences to simmer all over alike: it must be well stirred all the time, or it will be liable to burn and stick to the pan, which will cause the jam to have a very disagreeable flavour. When the jam looks firm, and the juice appears to set, it is done; then take it off the fire, put it into pots, cover it down, when quite cold, with oiled and egged papers, and store it away in a dry place. Time.—1 hour after the jam simmers all over. Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. per lb. pot. Sufficient.—1½ pint of damsons for a lb. pot. Seasonable.—Make this in September or October.
DAMSON PUDDING.
Ingredients.—1½ pint of damsons, ¼ lb. of moist sugar, ¾ lb. of suet or butter crust. Mode.—Make a suet crust with ¾ lb. of flour by recipe; line a buttered pudding-basin with a portion of it; fill the basin with the damsons, sweeten them, and put on the lid; pinch the edges of the crust together, that the juice does not escape; tie over a floured cloth, put the pudding into boiling water, and boil from 2½ to 3 hours. Time.—2½ to 3 hours. Average cost, 8d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable in September and October.
DAMSON TART.
Ingredients.—1½ pint of damsons, ¼ lb. of moist sugar, ½ lb. of short or puff crust. Mode.—Put the damsons, with the sugar between them, into a deep pie-dish, in the midst of which place a small cup or jar turned upside down; pile the fruit high in the middle, line the edges of the dish with short or puff crust, whichever may be preferred; put on the cover, ornament the edges, and bake from ½ to ¾ hour in a good oven. If puff-crust is used, about 10 minutes before the pie is done, take it out of the oven, brush it over with the white of an egg beaten to a froth with the blade of a knife; strew some sifted sugar over, and a few drops of water, and put the tart back to finish baking: with short crust, a little plain sifted sugar, sprinkled over, is all that will be required. Time.—½ to ¾ hour. Average cost, 10d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable in September and October.