Instead of wreaths, you may make a puff-paste border by laying a thick evenly cut band of paste round the flat rim of the dish, and notching it, forming with a penknife small squares about an inch wide, and turning one square up and one square down alternately, _cheveux de frize_ fashion. Or you may make the squares near two inches wide and turn over one corner sharp, leaving the other flat. This looks pretty when baked, if the paste is _very puff_.

LEMON PUDDING.--To make two puddings take two fine large ripe lemons, and rub them under your hand on a table. Grate off the thin yellow rind upon a large lump of loaf sugar. Cut the lemon, and squeeze the juice into a saucer through a strainer, to avoid the seeds. Put half a pound of powdered white sugar into a deep earthen pan, (including the sugar on which you have rubbed the lemons) and cut up in it half a pound of the best fresh b.u.t.ter, adding the juice. Stir them to a light cream with a wooden spaddle, which is shorter than a mush-stick, and flattened at one end; that end rather thin, and rather broad. Beat in a shallow pan, (with hickory rods) six eggs, till very thick and smooth, and stir them gradually into the mixture. Have ready some of the best puff-paste, made in the proportion of a pint or half a pound of very nice fresh b.u.t.ter to a pint or half a pound of sifted flour. Take china or white-ware dishes with broad rims. b.u.t.ter the rim, and lay round it neatly a border of the paste. _Put no paste inside the dish beneath the mixture._ Fill each dish to the top with the pudding mixture, and set it immediately into the oven. It will bake in about half an hour When done, and browned on the surface, set it to cool, and send it to table in the dish it was baked in.

Fine puddings are now made without an under crust, but merely a handsome border of puff-paste laid round the edge, and helped with the pudding.

Sift sugar over the surface. This quant.i.ty will make one large pudding, or two small ones.

To almost all puddings the flavor of lemon or orange is an improvement.

A genuine _baked_ lemon pudding, (such as was introduced by the justly celebrated Mrs. Goodfellow,) and is well known at Philadelphia dinner parties, must have _no flour_ or bread whatever. The mixture only of b.u.t.ter, sugar, and eggs, (with the proper flavoring) and when baked it cuts down smooth and shining, like a nice custard. Made this way, they are among the most delicious of puddings; but, of course, are not intended for children or invalids. We have already given numerous receipts for _plain_ family desserts. In this _chapter_ the receipts are "for company." The author was _really_ a pupil of Mrs. Goodfellow's, and for double the usual term, and while there took notes of every thing that was made, it being the desire of the liberal and honest instructress that her scholars _should learn in reality_.

ALMOND PUDDING.--Blanch in hot water a quarter of a pound of sh.e.l.led sweet and two ounces of bitter almonds, and as you blanch them throw them into a bowl of cold water. When all are thus peeled, take them out singly, wipe them dry in a clean napkin, and lay them on a plate. Pound them one at a time in a marble mortar till they become a smooth paste, adding frequently a few drops of rose-water to make them light and preserve their whiteness, mixing the bitter almonds with the sweet. As you pound them, take out the paste and lay it in a saucer with a tea-spoon. Without the rose-water they will become oily and dark-colored. Without a few bitter almonds the others will be insipid.

The almonds may be thus prepared a day before they are wanted for use.

Cut up a large quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter in a large quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, and stir them together with a spaddle till very light and creamy. Add a large wine-gla.s.s of mixed wine and brandy, and half a grated nutmeg. Beat, till they stand alone, the whites only of six eggs, and stir them gradually into the b.u.t.ter and sugar, in turn with the pounded almonds. Stir the whole very hard at the last. Put the mixture into a deep dish with a broad rim, and fill it up to the top, laying a border of puff-paste all round the rim. Serve up the pudding cool, having sifted sugar over it.

_Boiled Almond Pudding_--Is made as above; only with whole eggs, both yolks and whites beaten together. Boil it in a _bain-marie_ or in a thick square cloth, in a pot of boiling water. When done, turn it out and send it to table warm. Eat it with sugar, wet with rose-water.

_Orange Pudding_--Is made exactly like lemon pudding; the ingredients in the same proportion, and baked without an under crust, having a border of puff-paste all round the edge, and sent to table in the dish it was baked in. These fine-baked puddings should have no addition whatever of bread-crumbs or flour. They should cut down smooth and gla.s.sy.

_Boiled Lemon or Orange Pudding_--Make the foregoing mixture either with two lemons or two oranges, adding to the other ingredients a half pint finely-crumbled sponge cake. Boil the mixture either in a _bain-marie_ or a thick pudding cloth, and serve it up warm. For sauce, have ready b.u.t.ter and sugar beaten to a cream, and flavored well with lemon or orange, and grated nutmeg.

COCOA-NUT PUDDING.--Break up a ripe cocoa-nut. Having peeled off the brown skin, wash all the pieces of nut in cold water, and wipe them dry on a clean napkin. Then grate the cocoa-nut _very fine_ into a pan, till you have a quart. In a deep pan cut up a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, and add a very light quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.

Stir together (with a spaddle,) the b.u.t.ter and sugar till they are very light and creamy, and add a grated nutmeg. Beat, (till they stand alone) the _whites only_ of six eggs; the yolks may be reserved for soft custards. Stir the beaten white of egg gradually into the pan of b.u.t.ter and sugar, alternately with the grated cocoa-nut, a little at a time of each, and a gla.s.s of mixed brandy and white wine. Stir the whole very hard. Fill with it a broad-edged deep white dish, and lay a puff-paste border all round the rim. Bake it light brown, and when cool sift white sugar over it, serving it up in the dish it was baked in.

_Boiled Cocoa-nut Pudding._--For this make the above mixture, and boil it in a mould, or in a _bain-marie_, with the water in the outside kettle. Eat it either warm or cold.

SWEET POTATO PUDDING.--Wash, boil, and peel some fine sweet potatos.

Mash them, and rub them through a coa.r.s.e sieve--this will make them loose and light. If merely _mashed_ the pudding will clod and be heavy.

In a deep pan stir to a cream a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, and a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar; adding a grated nutmeg, a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a half gla.s.s of white wine, and a half gla.s.s of brandy. Beat in a shallow pan three eggs, till very thick and smooth, and stir them into the mixture of b.u.t.ter and sugar, alternately with the sweet potato. At the last mix all thoroughly with a very hard stirring. Put the mixture into a deep dish, and lay a border of puff-paste all round the rim. Set the pudding immediately into a rather brisk oven, and when cool sift white sugar over it. For two of these puddings _double_ the quant.i.ties of all the ingredients.

_White Potato Pudding_--Is made exactly as above. Chestnut pudding also--the large Spanish chestnuts, boiled, peeled, and mashed.

_Fine Pumpkin Pudding_--Also, allowing to the above ingredients a half pint of stewed pumpkins, squeezed dry and rubbed through a sieve.

_Cashaw Pudding._--A similar pudding may be made of stewed cashaw, or winter squash.

PINE-APPLE TART.--Take a fine large ripe pine-apple. Remove the leaves, and quarter it without paring, standing up each quarter in a deep plate, and grating it down till you come to the rind. Strew plenty of powdered sugar over the grated fruit. Cover it, and let it rest for an hour. Then put it into a porcelain kettle, and steam it in its own syrup till perfectly soft. Have ready some empty sh.e.l.ls of puff-paste, baked either in patty-pans or in soup plates. When they are cool, fill them full with the grated pine-apple; add more sugar, and lay round the rim a border of puff-paste.

QUINCE PIES.--Wash well, pare, and core some fine ripe quinces, having cut out all the blemishes. Put the cores and parings into a small sauce-pan, and stew them in a little water, till all broken to pieces.

Then strain and save the quince water. Having quartered the quinces, or sliced them in round slices, transfer them to a porcelain stew-pan, and pour over the quinces water extracted from boiling the cores and parings. Let them cook in this till quite soft all through. Make them very sweet with powdered sugar, and fill with them two deep soup plates that have been baked empty, with a puff paste border round the rims.

Fill them up to the top, (they are already cooked) and sift sugar over them--or, you may pile on the surface of each some ice-cream. You may cook the quinces whole, and lay one on each tart.

FINE APPLE PIES--May be made in the same manner, flavored with the grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon. The apples should be fine juicy pippins. If done whole, lay one on each patty-pan tart, and stick into the core hole a slip of the yellow rind of lemon, pared so thin as to be nearly transparent.

A MERINGUE PUDDING.--Rub off upon a large lump of _sugar_ the yellow rind of two fine ripe lemons, and mix it with a pound of powdered loaf sugar, adding the juice. Whip, to a stiff froth, the _whites only_ of eight eggs; and then, gradually, beat in the sugar and lemon, adding a heaped table-spoonful of the finest flour. Spread part of the mixture thickly over the bottom of a deep dish, the rim of which has been bordered with a handsome wreath of puff-paste, and baked. Lay upon it a thick layer of stiff currant or strawberry jelly. Then fill up the dish, and set it, a few minutes in a rather cool oven to brown slightly.

This pudding is for dinner company. If you use oranges, omit half the grated peel.

You may flavor the meringue with vanilla. Split, and break up a small vanilla bean, and boil it in a _very little_ cream till all the vanilla flavor is extracted, the cream tasting of it strongly. Then strain it well, and mix the vanilla cream with the white of egg. Or, a little _home-made_ extract of vanilla will be still better. This is obtained by splitting and breaking up some vanilla beans, and steeping them for a week or two in a bottle of _absolute_ alcohol; then straining the liquid, transferring it to a clean bottle, and keeping it closely corked. Very little of what is called "Extract of Vanilla" is good, and it is more expensive than to make it yourself. Also, what is generally sold for essence of lemon is very inferior to real lemon juice.

JELLY OR MARMALADE PUDDING.--Divide the paste equally and line two puff-paste sh.e.l.ls. Bake them empty; and while baking, beat till very light and thick, the yolks of six eggs. Mix the beaten egg with a liberal portion of any nice kind of fruit, jelly or marmalade, and boil it ten minutes in a sauce-pan, stirring it well. Take it up and set it away to cool. When cold, fill with it the baked sh.e.l.ls. Fill them up to the top with the mixture, and before they go to table sift powdered white sugar over the surface of the puddings.

CHEESE PUDDING.--Take a quarter of a pound of excellent cheese; rich, but not strong or old. Cut it in small bits, and then beat it (a little at a time) in a marble mortar. Add a quarter of a pound of the best fresh b.u.t.ter. Cut it up, and pound it in the mortar with the cheese, till perfectly smooth and well mixed. Beat five eggs till very thick and smooth. Mix them, gradually, with the cheese and b.u.t.ter. Put the mixture into a deep dish with a rim. Have ready some puff-paste, and lay a broad border of it all round the edge, ornamenting it handsomely. Set it immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it till the paste is browned, and has risen very high all round the edge of the dish. Sift white sugar over it before it goes to table.

It is intended that the cheese taste shall predominate. But, if preferred, you may make the mixture very sweet by adding powdered sugar; it may be seasoned with nutmeg and mace. Either way is good.

It may be baked in small patty-pans, lined at the bottom and sides with puff-paste. Remove them from the tins as soon as they come out of the oven, and place them on a large dish.

This pudding is very nice made of rich fresh cream cheese; the rind, of course, being pared off. Cream cheese pudding will require sugar and spice--that is, a heaped tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon, all mixed; two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, and six eggs.

FLORENDINES.--These are made of any sort of fruit, stewed in its own juice or in sweetmeat syrup, but when practicable, without any water. A pint of this fruit is mixed with half a pint of fresh b.u.t.ter, and half a pint of powdered sugar stirred together to a light cream, and then mixed with three well-beaten eggs, and the fruit stirred in alternately with the beaten b.u.t.ter and sugar. Have ready baked sh.e.l.ls of puff-paste, ready to be filled with the mixture. The fruit may be apples, quinces, peaches, gooseberries, currants, raspberries. Cranberries, gooseberries, and currants, require additional sugar, as they are naturally very sour.

If you use plums or cherries for any sort of cooking, stone them first.

PEACH PIES.--Take a sufficient number of fine juicy freestone peaches.

Clingstones are very hard and insipid when raw, and still more tasteless when cooked. Peel the peaches and quarter them, having removed the stones. Stew them in their own juice, and while hot make them very sweet with white sugar. When you put them to stew, place among them a bunch of fresh green peach leaves, to be removed when the peaches are done. Or, cook with them some peach kernels, blanched in hot water, to be picked out when the stewing is finished. Peach leaves or kernels communicate a flavor which to most persons is pleasant. Have ready some puff-paste sh.e.l.ls; baked, and beginning to cool. Fill them to the top with the stewed peaches, and pile on them some whipped cream sweetened, and flavored with noyau or rose-water.

A FRUIT CHARLOTTE.--Have ready a large fresh almond sponge cake, or lady cake. Cut a round or circular piece to fit the bottom of a great gla.s.s bowl. Also, about twelve or fourteen oblong slices, to stand up all round to line the sides. Have ready two quarts or more of ripe strawberries or raspberries. Mash the fruit to a jam, and having made it very sweet with white sugar, spread it thickly over the pieces of cake.

Lay the circular piece of cake in the bottom of the bowl and stand up the others all round the sides, all close to each other or wrapping over a little. Proceed to fill the bowl with the fruit; and when half way up, put on another layer of sliced cake spread with fruit. Then fill up with fruit to the top. Have ready a quart of whipped cream flavored with vanilla or bitter almonds. Heap it high on the bowl, and set it in a cool place till it goes to table. This is a very fine article for a nice dessert, and can be prepared at a short notice, and without going down stairs, as it requires no cooking.

For the whipped cream, you may pile the bowl with any sort of white ice-cream ready made, and if there is no fresh fruit in season, subst.i.tute marmalade or fruit jelly.

If you have no large bowl you may serve up this charlotte in gla.s.s or china saucers, laying in the bottom of each a circular slice of cake spread over with ripe fruit or marmalade. Fill up with the same, and finish with whipped cream, or ice-cream heaped on the top.

VANILLA CUSTARDS.--Split a vanilla bean, break it into small bits, and boil it in a half pint of milk, till all the flavor of the vanilla is extracted. Strain it through a very fine strainer, cover it, and set it aside. Boil a quart of rich milk, and when it comes to a boil set it away to cool. Beat eight eggs till very thick and smooth, (and when the milk is cold) add that which is flavored with vanilla, and stir it in gradually with a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. Divide the mixture in custard cups, (filling them to the top) and set them into an iron bake-pan filled with boiling water, reaching nearly to the the rim of the cups. Put them into a moderate oven, and bake them a pale brown.

When cool, grate nutmeg, or lay a maccaroon on the top over each. Never send custards warm to table. If well made, and baked not too much, there will be no whey at the bottom of the cups, and the custards will be smooth and firm all through, and have no spongy holes in them.

To make soft custards, omit the whites of all the eggs, and have a double quant.i.ty of yolks. The whites may be used for almond or cocoa-nut pudding, for lady cake, for meringue or icing, and for kisses or maccaroons.

_Orange Custards._--Prepare four large ripe oranges, by rolling them under your hand on a table to increase the juice. Use none of the peel for these custards, but reserve it for something else. Beat in a shallow pan twelve eggs till thick and smooth. Mix the orange juice with a winegla.s.s of cold water, and stir it gradually into the beaten egg, with a small tumblerful of powdered sugar. There is no milk in these custards. Divide them into custard cups, and beat them ten minutes. When cold, grate nutmeg over them.

_Lemon Custard_--Is made in the above manner, with the juice of four large lemons, (omitting the rind) a small winegla.s.s of cold water, twelve beaten eggs, and a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar. Any of these fine custards may be boiled in a _bain-marie_, with water in the outside kettle, and there is no way better. When boiled and cool, grate in some nutmeg, and serve up the custard in a gla.s.s or china pitcher, with saucers of the same to eat it from, or divide it in small gla.s.s cups with handles to them.

Lemon or orange custards are very fine. They are made without milk.

_Chocolate Custard._--Make some strong chocolate, allowing a quarter of a pound of the best, (which is Baker's prepared cocoa) to a quart of rich milk; first mixing the milk and sc.r.a.ped chocolate to a smooth paste. Boil them together a quarter of an hour. While warm, stir in two or three table-spoonfuls of loaf sugar. Then set it away to cool. Have ready eight well-beaten eggs, and stir them gradually into the chocolate. Bake the mixture in cups, and serve them up with a chocolate maccaroon laid on the top of each.

_Almond and Maccaroon Custard._--Boil in half a pint of rich milk a handful of _bitter_ almonds, blanched and broken up. When highly flavored, strain that milk and set it aside. Boil a quart of milk by itself, and when cold stir in, gradually, eight well beaten eggs, adding the flavored milk, and half a pint of powdered sugar. Stir the whole very hard at the last. Bake it in cups, and when done and cold, lay on the top of each a maccaroon with four others placed around it; five maccaroons to each custard. Or, if the maccaroons are made in the house, let every one be large enough to cover the top of the custard like a lid.