Orange Custard.—Boil very tender the rind of half a Seville orange; beat it in a mortar to a paste; put to it a spoonful of the best brandy, the juice of a Seville orange, four ounces of lump-sugar, and the yolks of four eggs. Beat all together for ten minutes, and pour in by degrees a pint of boiling cream. Keep beating until the mixture is cold; then put into custard-cups, and set them in a soup-dish of boiling water; let them stand until thick, then put preserved orange-peel in slices, upon the custard. Serve either hot or cold. Or:—Take the juice of twelve oranges, strain it, and sweeten it well with pounded loaf-sugar, stir it over a slow fire till the sugar is dissolved, taking off the scum as it rises; when nearly cold, add the yolks of twelve eggs well beaten, and a pint of cream; stir it again over the fire till it thickens. Serve it in a glass dish or in custard-cups.
Lemon Custard may be made in the same manner, or as follows: Strain three wineglassfuls of lemon-juice through a sieve; beat nine eggs, yolks and whites, strain them also, and add them to the lemon-juice, with one-quarter pound of powdered loaf-sugar, a glass of white wine, and half a wineglass of water, with a little grated lemon-peel. Mix all together, and put the ingredients into a sauce-pan on the fire, stirring it until it becomes thick and of a proper consistence.
Almond Custard.—Boil in a pint of milk, or cream, two or three bitter almonds, a stick of cinnamon, and a piece of lemon-peel pared thin, with eight or ten lumps of sugar; let it simmer to extract the flavor, then strain it and stir it till cold. Beat the yolks of six eggs, mix it with the milk, and stir the whole over a slow fire until of a proper thickness, adding one ounce of sweet almonds, beaten fine in rose-water.
Plain Custard.—To one quart of cream or new milk, add a stick of cinnamon, four bay leaves and some mace; boil them altogether a few minutes; then beat well twelve eggs, sweeten them, and when the milk is cold, stir in the eggs, and bake or boil it till of a proper consistency, and perfectly smooth. The spice can be omitted, and four or five bitter almonds used in its place.
Centre-Table Gossip.
Not BY MRS. CHAPENE.
Letter-Writing.—We are very sorry to confess the humiliating fact that, notwithstanding the number of editions of the "Complete Letter-Writer" that have been issued, and the quantity of female seminaries scattered through the country, very many of our sex are not elegant correspondents. We do not mean by this that they spell incorrectly, fold awkwardly, or seal splashingly—this last has been in some measure corrected by the introduction of self-secured envelopes; but, nevertheless, a letter may have its round periods and distinctly marked paragraphs, yet be destitute of the pith and marrow of a really agreeable epistle.