(b) Beat 2 oz. fresh butter to a cream, then add 2 oz. sifted sugar, and 1 wineglassful brandy drop by drop, mixing well all the time; continue beating until they are all thoroughly incorporated and the mixture looks like smooth solid cream. It is better than the usual melted butter with many puddings besides plum pudding.
(c) Take ¾ lb. fresh butter and beat it to a cream, add ¼ lb. finely sifted sugar, add very slowly 1½ wineglass brandy, and continue beating until well mixed.
Brandy Sauce.—(a) Mix 1 dessertspoonful French potato flour in a little cold water, stir into it ½ pint boiling water. Let it boil for 2 minutes; add 3 oz. lump sugar, the juice of a lemon, a grate of nutmeg, and 1 oz. sweet, fresh butter. When this is dissolved stir in 1 gill brandy, and do not afterwards boil the sauce.
(b) Mix 1 tablespoonful potato flour or arrowroot with a little cold water, then add as much water as will make enough sauce, with powdered loaf sugar to taste, and keep it on the fire until the sauce thickens; put into it at the time of serving as much brandy as may be necessary.
Breadcrumbs.—(a) Baked (Chapelure).—Bake any odd pieces of bread (taking care that none of them be greasy) to a rich brown colour. When cold pound them in a mortar, sift them through a fine sieve, and put them by for use.
(b) Fried.—Toast carefully in the oven a few thin slices of bread with the crusts cut off, and then rub them down or pass them through a colander. Put a liberal allowance of lard into a stewpan or frying pan, make it very hot, and take care that the fat is perfectly clear and transparent. Fry the prepared crumbs, taking care not to overdo them, and drain them before the fire very thoroughly and completely, as the whole success of fried crumbs consists in their being sent to table perfectly dry and quite hot.
(c) Plain.—Take the crumb of a stale loaf, and rub it through a wire sieve. They should be made from day to day.
Bread Sauce.—(a) Take 3-4 tablespoonfuls sifted breadcrumbs, pour over sufficient boiling new milk to cover, put a plate over the basin to keep in the steam; when cold put them into a saucepan with 2 tablespoonfuls good white stock, a small slice of onion, 3 or 4 peppercorns, a small blade of mace, and a little salt; when boiling, stir in a piece of butter the size of a pigeon’s egg in which a little flour has been rubbed, let the bread sauce thicken, take out the peppercorns and mace, serve very hot. Good white gravy can generally be made for this from the head and neck of the fowl, &c., for which the bread sauce is required. Some add a small piece of lemon peel.
(b) The great secret of the uneatable bread sauce one so often tastes is that the breadcrumbs are not grated finely enough. Grate the breadcrumbs, and then pass them through a colander into a basin, and pour over them some boiling milk (say ½ pint to a teacupful of crumbs), in which onion and spice to taste have been previously boiled, and strained off. This stands till the bread is thoroughly soaked, when it is put into a saucepan with more milk if necessary, salt, and pepper, and boiled to the proper consistency.
Brown Sauce (Espagnole).—Butter slightly a gallon saucepan, put a layer of slices of onion at the bottom, over this 2 lb. lean veal, 1 lb. beef, and ½ lb. ham, all cut in small pieces; add ½ pint gravy stock. Put the saucepan on the fire, stirring the contents frequently. When the meat is well coloured add 1 carrot cut in small pieces, 1 bay leaf, some parsley, thyme, and marjoram, 1 or 2 cloves, a little whole pepper and salt to taste, then put in as much more stock as will well cover the contents of the saucepan. Let the whole boil gently for about 3 hours, and strain the liquor through a tammy. Put into a saucepan ¼ lb. butter and 2 oz. flour, stir on the fire till the two are well mixed, and are of a light brown colour; then gradually add the strained liquor boiling hot. Set the saucepan at the side of the fire, and let it simmer for 1½ hour, carefully skimming the contents from time to time. Lastly, turn out the sauce into a basin, and if not wanted immediately let it be stirred every 5-10 minutes till quite cold. In a good larder it will keep several days, but it should be warmed every day in hot weather.