1630. The milk should stand 24 hours in the winter, half that time when the weather is very warm. The milkpan is then set on a stove, and should there remain until the milk is quite hot; but it must not boil, or there will be a thick skin on the surface. When it is sufficiently done, the undulations on the surface look thick, and small rings appear. The time required for scalding cream depends on the size of the pan and the heat of the fire; but the slower it is done, the better. The pan should be placed in the dairy when the cream is sufficiently scalded, and skimmed the following day. This cream is so much esteemed that it is sent to the London markets in small square tins, and is exceedingly delicious eaten with fresh fruit. In Devonshire, butter is made from this cream, and is usually very firm.
DEVONSHIRE JUNKET.
1631. INGREDIENTS.—To every pint of new milk allow 2 dessertspoonfuls of brandy, 1 dessertspoonful of sugar, and 1-1/2 dessertspoonful of prepared rennet; thick cream, pounded cinnamon, or grated nutmeg.
Mode.—Make the milk blood-warm; put it into a deep dish with the brandy, sugar, and rennet; stir it altogether, and cover it over until it is set. Then spread some thick or clotted cream over the top, grate some nutmeg, and strew some sugar over, and the dish will be ready to serve.
Time.—About 2 hours to set the milk. Seasonable at any time.
TO KEEP AND CHOOSE FRESH BUTTER.
1632. Fresh butter should be kept in a dark, cool place, and in as large a mass as possible. Mould as much only as is required, as the more surface is exposed, the more liability there will be to spoil; and the outside very soon becomes rancid. Fresh butter should be kept covered with white paper. For small larders, butter-coolers of red brick are now very much used for keeping fresh butter in warm weather. These coolers are made with a large bell-shaped cover, into the top of which a little cold water should be poured, and in summer time very frequently changed; and the butter must be kept covered. These coolers keep butter remarkably firm in hot weather, and are extremely convenient for those whose larder accommodation is limited.
[Illustration: BUTTER-DISH.]
In choosing fresh butter, remember it should smell deliciously, and be of an equal colour all through: if it smells sour, it has not been sufficiently washed from the buttermilk; and if veiny and open, it has probably been worked with a staler or an inferior sort.