PLUM PUDDING, Excellent, made without Eggs.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of flour, 6 oz. of raisins, 6 oz. of currants, ¼ lb. of chopped suet, ¼ lb. of brown sugar, ¼ lb. of mashed carrot, ¼ lb. of mashed potatoes, 1 tablespoonful of treacle, 1 oz. of candied lemon-peel, 1 oz. of candied citron. Mode.—Mix the flour, currants, suet and sugar well together; have ready the above proportions of mashed carrot and potato, which stir into the other ingredients; add the treacle and lemon-peel; but put no liquid in the mixture, or it will be spoiled. Tie it loosely in a cloth, or, if put in a basin, do not quite fill it, as the pudding should have room to swell, and boil it for 4 hours. Serve with brandy-sauce. This pudding is better for being mixed over-night. Time.—4 hours. Average cost, 1s. 6d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable in winter.
PLUM PUDDING, Unrivalled.
Ingredients.—1½ lb. of muscatel raisins, 1¾ lb. of currants, 1 lb. of sultana raisins, 2 lbs. of the finest moist sugar, 2 lbs. of bread-crumbs, 16 eggs, 2 lbs. of finely-chopped suet, 6 oz. of mixed candied peel, the rind of 2 lemons, 1 oz. of ground nutmeg, 1 oz. of ground cinnamon, ½ oz. of pounded bitter almonds, ¼ pint of brandy. Mode.—Stone and cut up the raisins, but do not chop them; wash and dry the currants, and cut the candied peel into thin slices. Mix all the dry ingredients well together, and moisten with the eggs, which should be well beaten and strained, to the pudding; stir in the brandy, and, when all is thoroughly mixed, well butter and flour a stout new pudding-cloth; put in the pudding, tie it down very tightly and closely, boil from 6 to 8 hours, and serve with brandy-sauce. A few sweet almonds, blanched and cut in strips, and stuck on the pudding, ornament it prettily. This quantity may be divided and boiled in buttered moulds. For small families this is the most desirable way, as the above will be found to make a pudding of rather large dimensions. Time.—6 to 8 hours. Average cost, 7s. 6d. Seasonable in winter. Sufficient for 12 or 14 persons.
Note.—The muscatel raisins can be purchased at a cheap rate loose (not in bunches): they are then scarcely higher in price than the ordinary raisins, and impart a much richer flavour to the pudding.
PLUM PUDDING, a Plain Christmas, for Children.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, 1 lb. of bread-crumbs, ¾ lb. of stoned raisins, ¾ lb. of currants, ¾ lb. of suet, 3 or 4 eggs, milk, 2 oz. of candied peel, 1 teaspoonful of powdered allspice, ½ saltspoonful of salt. Mode.—Let the suet be finely chopped, the raisins stoned, and the currants well washed, picked and dried. Mix these with the other dry ingredients, and stir all well together; beat and strain the eggs to the pudding, stir these in, and add just sufficient milk to make it mix properly. Tie it up in a well-floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil for at least 5 hours. Serve with a sprig of holly placed in the middle of the pudding, and a little pounded sugar sprinkled over it. Time.—5 hours. Average cost, 1s. 9d. Sufficient for 9 or 10 children. Seasonable at Christmas.
PLUM PUDDING, Christmas (very good).
CHRISTMAS PLUM PUDDING IN MOULD.