Apple Jelly. (By consent, from Mrs. Rorer's "Philadelphia Cook Book.")—Lady Blush or Fall Pippins are best for jelly. The first make a bright-red jelly, and the latter an almost white jelly. Wipe the fruit, cut it into pieces without paring or removing the seeds. Put into kettle and barely cover with cold water; cover the kettle, and boil slowly until the apples are very tender; then drain them through a flannel jelly bag—do not squeeze or the jelly will be cloudy. To every pint of this juice allow one pound of granulated sugar. Put the juice into the kettle and bring it quickly to the boiling-point; add the sugar and stir until dissolved, and then boil rapidly and continuously until it jellies, skimming as a scum rises to the surface. Twenty minutes is usually sufficient for the boiling, though not always. After fifteen minutes' boiling begin the testing by taking out one teaspoonful of the boiling jelly, pouring it into the bottom of a saucepan, and standing it in a cool place for a moment. Scrape it up with the side of a spoon, and, if jellied, the surface will be partly solid; if not, boil a few minutes longer and try again; as soon as it jellies roll the tumblers in boiling water and fill with the boiling liquid. Stand aside until cold and firm (about twenty-four hours). If the glasses have lids put them on; if not, cover with two thicknesses of tissue paper and paste the edges down over the edge of the tumbler. Then moisten the papers with a sponge dipped in cold water, so that when it dries it will shrink and be tight. Keep in a cool, dark place.
Apple Rose Cream. (By consent, from Mrs. E. E. Kellogg's "Every-Day Dishes.")—Wash, core, slice and cook without paring a dozen fresh Snow apples until soft and very dry. Rub through a colander to remove skins, add sugar to taste and the beaten whites of two eggs, beating vigorously until stiff; add a teaspoonful of rose-water for flavoring, and serve at once or keep on ice. It is important that the apples be very dry, as otherwise the cream will not be light. Other varieties of apples may be used, and flavored with vanilla or pineapple. It is sometimes better to steam the apples than to stew them tender.
Apple Tapioca Pudding. (By consent, from Mrs. Lincoln's "Boston Cook-Book.")—Pick over and wash three-quarters of a cup of pearl tapioca. Pour one quart of boiling water over it, and cook in the double boiler until transparent; stir often and add a half teaspoonful of salt. Core and pare seven apples. Put them in a round baking dish and fill the core cavities with sugar and lemon juice. Pour the tapioca over them and bake until the apples are very soft. Serve hot or cold, with sugar and cream. A delicious variation may be made by using half pears or canned quinces and half apples.
Apple and Rice Pudding.—Steam one cupful of rice in two cupfuls of boiling salted water until soft. With this, line a buttered pudding dish on the sides and bottom, leaving a portion for the top. Fill the dish with thinly sliced tart apples and cover with the remainder of the rice. Put the dish in a steamer and steam until the apples are found to be tender by running a fork into them. Set it away to cool and invert the dish so that the pudding will come out entire. Serve with sweetened cream, thin custard, or fruit sauce. Flavoring may be added to the apple according to taste.
Dutch Apple Cake. (By consent, from Mrs. Lincoln's "Boston Cook-Book.")—One pint flour, one-half teaspoonful salt, two heaping teaspoonfuls baking-powder, one-fourth cup butter, one egg, one scant cup milk, four sour apples, two tablespoonfuls sugar. Mix the dry ingredients in the order given; rub in the butter, beat the egg and mix it with the milk, then stir this into the dry mixture. The dough should be soft enough to spread half an inch thick on a shallow baking pan. Core, pare and cut four or five apples into eighths; lay them in parallel rows on top of the dough, the sharp edge down, and press enough to make the edge penetrate slightly. Sprinkle the sugar on the apple. Bake in a hot oven twenty or thirty minutes. To be eaten hot with butter as a tea cake, or with lemon sauce or with sugar and cream as a pudding.
Scalloped Apples. (By consent, from Mrs. Lincoln's "Boston Cook-Book.")—Mix half a cup of sugar and an eighth of a teaspoonful of cinnamon or the grated rind of half a lemon. Melt half a cup of butter and stir it into one pint of soft bread crumbs; prepare three pints of sliced apples. Butter a pudding dish, put in a layer of crumbs, then sliced apple, and sprinkle with sugar; then another layer of crumbs, apple, and sugar, until the materials are used. Have a thick layer of crumbs on top. When the apples are not juicy, add half a cup of cold water; and if not tart apples, add the juice of half a lemon. Bake about an hour, covering at first to prevent burning. Serve with cream. Ripe berries and other acid fruits may be used instead of the apples, and oat-meal or cracked-wheat mush in place of the bread crumbs.
Brown Betty. (By consent, from "Century Cook-Book.")—In a quart pudding dish arrange alternate layers of sliced apples and bread crumbs; season each layer with bits of butter, a little sugar, and a pinch each of ground cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. When the dish is full pour over it a half cupful each of molasses and water mixed; cover the top with crumbs. Place the dish in a pan containing hot water, and bake for three-quarters of an hour, or until the apples are soft. Serve with cream or with any sauce. Raisins or chopped almonds improve the pudding.
Friar's Omelet. (Mrs. Treat.)—Stew six or seven good-sized apples as for apple-sauce; when cooked and still warm stir in one teaspoonful of butter and one cupful of sugar; when cold, stir in three well-beaten eggs and a little lemon juice. Now put a small piece of butter into a saucepan, and, when hot, add to it a cupful of bread crumbs and stir until they assume a light-brown color. Butter a pudding mold, and sprinkle on the bottom and sides as many of these bread crumbs as will adhere; fill in the apple preparation, sprinkle bread crumbs on top, bake it for fifteen or twenty minutes, and turn it out on a good-sized platter. It can be eaten with or without a sweet sauce.
Baked Apple Dumplings.—Make a short pie-crust; roll it thin and cut it into squares large enough to cover an apple. Select apples of the same size, core and pare them, and fill the space with sugar, butter, and a little ground cinnamon or nutmeg. Place an apple in each square of pie-crust; wet the edges with water or white of egg, and fold together so that the points meet on the top. Pinch and turn the edges so that they are fluted. Bake in a moderate oven about forty minutes, or until the apples are soft without having lost their form. Serve with hard sauce or with sugar and cream.
Steamed Apple Dumplings.—Core and pare six or eight apples. Make a biscuit dough, using four cups of flour, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one large tablespoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of salt, and one cup of milk. Use more or less milk as is needed to make a soft dough that will roll out without being sticky. Roll the dough about half an inch thick and cut in squares to cover the apples, as in the preceding recipe, after sweetening and flavoring. Place the dumplings on a dinner plate which can be set in the steamer. Steam forty minutes and serve from the same plate, with hard sauce or sweetened cream. A variation of this recipe, which is sometimes more convenient, is as follows: Cut the apples into eighths, and put them, with half a cup of water, into a granite pudding pan; roll the biscuit dough out to fit the pan, and cover the apples; cover the pan, and steam or cook in the oven. Sprinkle sugar thickly over the top and serve in the pudding pan, with hard sauce in another dish.