APPLE CHEESECAKES.
Ingredients.—½ lb. of apple pulp, ¼ lb. of sifted sugar, ¼ lb. of butter, 4 eggs, the rind and juice of 1 lemon. Mode.—Pare, core, and boil sufficient apples to make ½ lb. when cooked; add to these the sugar, the butter, which should be melted, the eggs, leaving out 2 of the whites, and the grated rind and juice of 1 lemon; stir the mixture well; line some patty-pans with puff-paste; put in the mixture, and bake about 20 minutes.—Time.—About 20 minutes. Average cost, for the above quantity, with the paste, 1s. 6d. Sufficient for about 18 or 20 cheesecakes. Seasonable from August to March.
APPLE CUSTARD, Baked.
Ingredients.—1 dozen large apples, moist sugar to taste, 1 small teacupful of cold water, the grated rind of 1 lemon, 1 pint of milk, 4 eggs, 2 oz. of loaf sugar. Mode.—Peel, cut, and core the apples; put them into a lined saucepan with the cold water, and, as they heat, bruise them to a pulp; sweeten with moist sugar, and add the grated lemon-rind. When cold, put the fruit at the bottom of a pie-dish, and pour over it a custard, made with the above proportion of milk, eggs, and sugar; grate a little nutmeg over the top, place the dish in a moderate oven, and bake from 25 to 35 minutes. The above proportions will make rather a large dish. Time.—25 to 35 minutes. Average cost, 1s. 6d., if fruit has to be bought. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable from August to March.
APPLE DUMPLINGS, Baked (Plain family Dish).
Ingredients.—6 apples, suet-crust, sugar to taste. Mode.—Pare and take out the cores of the apples with a scoop, and make a suet-crust with ¾ lb. of flour to 6 oz. of suet; roll the apples in the crust, previously sweetening them with moist sugar, and taking care to join the paste nicely. When they are formed into round balls, put them on a tin, and bake them for about ½ hour, or longer, should the apples be very large; arrange them pyramidically on a dish, and sift over them some pounded white sugar. These may be made richer by using puff-paste instead of suet-crust. Time.—From ½ to ¾ hour, or longer. Average cost, 1½d. each. Sufficient for 4 persons. Seasonable from August to March, but flavourless after the end of January.
APPLE DUMPLINGS, Boiled.
Ingredients.—6 apples, suet-crust, sugar to taste. Mode.—Pare and take out the cores of the apples with a scoop; sweeten, and roll each apple in a piece of crust, made with ¾ lb. of flour to 6 oz. of suet, and be particular that the paste is nicely joined. Put the dumplings into floured cloths, tie them securely, and place them in boiling water. Keep them boiling from ¾ to 1 hour; remove the cloths, and send them hot and quickly to table. Dumplings boiled in knitted cloths have a very pretty appearance when they come to table. The cloths should be made square, just large enough to hold one dumpling, and should be knitted in plain knitting, with very coarse cotton. Time.—¾ to 1 hour, or longer should the dumplings be very large. Average cost, 1½d. each. Sufficient for 4 persons. Seasonable from August to March, but flavourless after the end of January.
APPLE FRITTERS.
Ingredients.—For the batter, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, ½ oz. of butter, ½ saltspoonful of salt, 2 eggs, milk, 4 medium-sized apples, hot lard or clarified beef-dripping. Mode.—Break the eggs, dividing the whites from the yolks, and beat them separately. Put the flour into a basin, stir in the butter, which should be melted to a cream; add the salt, and moisten with sufficient warm milk to make it of a proper consistency, that is to say, a batter that will drop from the spoon. Stir this well, rub down any lumps that may be seen, add the yolks and then the whites of the eggs, which have been previously well whisked; beat up the batter for a few minutes, and it is ready for use. Now peel and cut the apples into rather thick whole slices, without dividing them, and stamp out the middle of each slice, where the core is, with a cutter. Throw the slices into the batter; have ready a pan of boiling lard or clarified dripping; take out the pieces of apple one by one, put them into the hot lard, and fry a nice brown, turning them when required. When done, lay them on a piece of blotting-paper before the fire, to absorb the greasy moisture; then dish on a white d’oyley, piling the fritters one above the other; strew over them some pounded sugar, and serve very hot. The flavour of the fritters would be very much improved by soaking the pieces of apple in a little wine, mixed with sugar and lemon-juice, for 3 or 4 hours before wanted for table; the batter, also, is better for being mixed some hours before the fritters are made. Time.—From 7 to 10 minutes to fry the fritters; 5 minutes to drain them. Average cost, 9d. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable from August to March.