Ingredients.—½ lb. of butter, 6 eggs, ½ lb. of flour, 6 oz. of arrowroot, ½ lb. of pounded loaf sugar. Mode.—Beat the butter to a cream; whisk the eggs to a strong froth, add them to the butter, stir in the flour a little at a time, and beat the mixture well. Break down all the lumps from the arrowroot, and add that with the sugar to the other ingredients. Mix all well together, drop the dough on a buttered tin, in pieces the size of a shilling, and bake the biscuits about ¼ hour in a slow oven. If the whites of the eggs are separated from the yolks, and both are beaten separately before being added to the other ingredients, the biscuits will be much lighter. Time.—¼ hour. Average cost, 2s. 6d. Sufficient to make from 3 to 4 dozen biscuits. Seasonable at any time.
ARROWROOT BLANCMANGE (an inexpensive Supper Dish).
Ingredients.—4 heaped tablespoonfuls of arrowroot, 1½ pint of milk, 3 laurel-leaves or the rind of ½ lemon, sugar to taste. Mode.—Mix to a smooth batter the arrowroot with ½ pint of the milk; put the other pint on the fire, with laurel-leaves or lemon-peel, whichever may be preferred, and let the milk steep until it is well flavoured; then strain the milk, and add it, boiling, to the mixed arrowroot; sweeten it with sifted sugar, and let it boil, stirring it all the time, till it thickens sufficiently to come from the saucepan. Grease a mould with pure salad-oil, pour in the blancmange, and, when quite set, turn it out on a dish, and pour round it a compôte of any kind of fruit, or garnish it with jam. A tablespoonful of brandy, stirred in just before the blancmange is moulded, very much improves the flavour of this sweet dish. Time.—Altogether, ½ hour. Average cost, 6d. without the garnishing. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
ARROWROOT PUDDING, Baked or Boiled.
Ingredients.—2 tablespoonfuls of arrowroot, 1½ pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, the rind of ½ lemon, 2 heaped tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, a little grated nutmeg. Mode.—Mix the arrowroot with as much cold milk as will make it into a smooth batter, moderately thick; put the remainder of the milk into a stewpan with the lemon-peel, and let it infuse for about ½ hour; when it boils, strain it gently to the batter, stirring it all the time to keep it smooth; then add the butter; beat this well in until thoroughly mixed, and sweeten with moist sugar. Put the mixture into a pie-dish, round which has been placed a border of paste; grate a little nutmeg over the top, and bake the pudding from 1 to 1¼ hour, in a moderate oven, or boil it the same length of time in a well-buttered basin. To enrich this pudding, stir to the other ingredients, just before it is put in the oven, 3 well-whisked eggs, and add a tablespoonful of brandy. For a nursery pudding, the addition of the latter ingredients will be found quite superfluous, as also the paste round the edge of the dish. Time.—1 to 1¼ hour, baked or boiled. Average cost, 7d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable at any time.
ARROWROOT SAUCE, for Puddings.
Ingredients.—2 small teaspoonfuls of arrowroot, 4 dessertspoonfuls of pounded sugar, the juice of 1 lemon, ¼ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, ½ pint of water. Mode.—Mix the arrowroot smoothly with the water; put this into a stewpan; add the sugar, strained lemon-juice, and grated nutmeg. Stir these ingredients over the fire until they boil, when the sauce is ready for use. A small quantity of wine, or any liqueur, would very much improve the flavour of this sauce: it is usually served with bread, rice, custard, or any dry pudding that is not very rich. Time.—Altogether, 15 minutes. Average cost, 4d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons.
ARROWROOT, to make.
Ingredients.—Two teaspoonfuls of arrowroot, 3 tablespoonfuls of cold water, ½ pint of boiling water. Mode.—Mix the arrowroot smoothly in a basin with the cold water, then pour on it the boiling water, stirring all the time. The water must be boiling at the time it is poured on the mixture, or it will not thicken; if mixed with hot water only, it must be put into a clean saucepan, and boiled until it thickens; but this occasions more trouble, and is quite unnecessary, if the water is boiling at first. Put the arrowroot into a tumbler, sweeten it with lump sugar, and flavour it with grated nutmeg or cinnamon, or a piece of lemon-peel, or, when allowed, 3 tablespoonfuls of port or sherry. As arrowroot is in itself flavourless and insipid, it is almost necessary to add the wine to make it palatable. Arrowroot made with milk instead of water is far nicer, but is not so easily digested. It should be mixed in the same manner, with 3 tablespoonfuls of cold water, the boiling milk then poured on it, and well stirred. When made in this manner, no wine should be added, but merely sugar, and a little grated nutmeg or lemon-peel. Time.—If obliged to be boiled, 2 minutes. Average cost, 2d. per pint. Sufficient to make ½ pint of arrowroot.