Blanch and pound fine, with a table-spoonful of rosewater, four ounces of almonds. Boil them four or five minutes in a quart of milk, with sufficient white sugar to sweeten the milk. Take it from the fire, and when lukewarm, stir in the beaten yelks of eight, and the whites of four eggs. Set the whole on the fire, and stir it constantly until it thickens--then take it up, stir it till partly cooled, and turn it into cups. If you wish to have the custards cool quick, set the cups into a pan of cold water--as fast as it gets warm, change it. Just before the custards are to be eaten, beat the reserved whites of the eggs to a froth, and cover the top of the custards with them.

264. _Apple Custards._

Take half a dozen tart mellow apples--pare and quarter them, and take out the cores. Put them in a pan, with half a tea-cup of water--set them on a few coals. When they begin to grow soft, turn them into a pudding dish, sprinkle sugar on them. Beat eight eggs with rolled brown sugar--mix them with three pints of milk, grate in half a nutmeg, and turn the whole over the apples. Bake the custard between twenty and thirty minutes.

265. _Directions for making Puddings._

A bag that is used for boiling puddings, should be made of thick cotton cloth. Before the pudding is turned in, the bag should be dipped into water, wrung out, and the inside of it floured. When the pudding is turned in, tie the bag tight, leaving plenty of room for the pudding to swell out in. Indian and flour puddings require a great deal of room.

Put them in a pot of boiling water, with an old plate at the bottom of the pot, to keep the pudding bag from sticking to it. When the pudding has been in a few minutes, turn the bag over, or the pudding will settle, and be heavy. There should be water enough in the pot to cover the pudding, and it should not be allowed to stop boiling a minute--if so, the pudding will not be nice. A tea-kettle of boiling water should be kept on the fire, to turn in as the water boils away. When the pudding is done, dip the bag into cold water for a minute--the pudding will then come out easily. When puddings are baked, the fruit should not be put in till the pudding has begun to thicken, otherwise they will sink to the bottom of the pudding.

266. _Hasty Pudding._

Wet sifted Indian meal with cold water, to make a thick batter. Stir it into a pot of boiling water gradually. Boil it an hour, then stir in sifted Indian meal, by the handful, till it becomes quite thick, and so that the pudding stick may be made to stand up in it. It should be stirred in very gradually, so that the pudding may not be lumpy. Add salt to the taste. Let it boil slowly, and stir it frequently, to keep it from burning on the inside of the pot. If you do not wish to fry the pudding, it will boil sufficiently in the course of an hour and a half.

If it is to be fried, it will be necessary to boil it an hour longer; and a little flour stirred in, just before it is taken up, will make it fry better. It must get perfectly cold before it is fried. When you wish to fry it, cut it in slices half an inch thick, flour them, and fry them brown in a little lard.

267. _Corn Puddings._

Grate sweet green corn--to three tea-cups of it, when grated, put two quarts of milk, eight eggs, a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, half a tea-cup of melted b.u.t.ter, and a grated nutmeg. Bake the pudding an hour--serve it up with sauce.

268. _Cracker Pudding._

Mix ten ounces of finely pounded crackers with a wine gla.s.s of wine, a little salt, and half a nutmeg, three or four table-spoonsful of sugar, two of melted b.u.t.ter. Beat eight eggs to a froth--mix them with three pints of milk, and turn them on to the rest of the ingredients. Let it remain till the crackers begin to soften, then bake it.

269. _Boiled Indian Pudding._

Stir enough sifted Indian meal into a quart of boiling milk or water, to make a very stiff batter--then stir in a couple of table-spoonsful of flour, three of sugar or mola.s.ses, half a spoonful of ginger, or a couple of tea-spoonsful of cinnamon, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Two or three eggs improve the pudding, but are not essential--some people like a little chopped suet in them. The pudding will boil, so as to be very good, in the course of three hours, but it is better for being boiled five or six hours. Some cooks boil them eight or nine hours--when boiled so long, it is necessary to boil them several hours the day before they are to be eaten.

270. _Baked Indian Pudding._

Boil a quart of milk, and turn it on to a pint of sifted Indian meal.

Stir it in well, so as to scald the meal--then mix three table-spoonsful of wheat flour with a pint of milk. The milk should be stirred gradually into the flour, so as to have it mix free from lumps. Turn it on to the Indian meal--mix the whole well together. When the whole is just lukewarm, beat three eggs with three table-spoonsful of sugar--stir them into the pudding, together with two tea-spoonsful of salt, two of cinnamon, or a grated nutmeg, and a couple of table-spoonsful of melted b.u.t.ter, or suet chopped fine. Add, if you wish to have the pudding very rich, half a pound of raisins--they should not be put in till the pudding has baked five or six minutes. If raisins are put in, an additional half pint of milk will be required, as they absorb a great deal of milk. A very good Indian pudding may be made without eggs, if half a pint more of meal is used, and no flour. It takes three hours to bake an Indian pudding without eggs--if it has eggs in, it will bake in much less time.

271. _Minute Pudding._

Put a pint and a half of milk on the fire. Mix five large table-spoonsful of either wheat or rye flour, smoothly, with half a pint of milk, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. When the milk boils, stir in the mixed flour and milk. Let the whole boil for one minute, stirring it constantly--take it from the fire, let it get lukewarm, then add three beaten eggs. Set it back on the fire, and stir it constantly until it thickens. Take it from the fire as soon as it boils.

272. _Boiled Bread Pudding._

Take about three-quarters of a pound of bread, cut it into small pieces, and soak them soft in cold water--then drain off the water, mash the bread fine, and mix with it two table-spoonsful of flour, three eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, a table-spoonful of melted b.u.t.ter, and cold milk sufficient to make it a thick batter. Mix the whole well together, then turn it into a floured pudding bag--tie it up, so as to leave room for the pudding to swell--boil it an hour and a half, without any intermission. Serve up the pudding with rich sauce.

273. _A Plain Baked Bread Pudding._

Pound rusked bread fine--to five heaping table-spoonsful of it, put a quart of milk, three beaten eggs, three table-spoonsful of rolled sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt, half a nutmeg, and three table-spoonsful of melted b.u.t.ter. Bake it about an hour--it does not need any sauce.

274. _Rich Bread Pudding._

Cut a pound loaf of bakers' bread into thin slices--spread b.u.t.ter on them as for eating--lay them in a pudding dish--sprinkle between each layer of bread seeded raisins, and citron, cut in small strips. Beat eight eggs with four table-spoonsful of rolled sugar--mix them with three pints of milk, half of a grated nutmeg. Turn the whole on to the bread, and let it remain until the bread has absorbed full half of the milk--then bake it about three-quarters of an hour.

275. _Flour Pudding._

Into a pint and a half of sifted flour stir gradually, so that it may not be lumpy, a quart of milk. Beat seven eggs, and put in, together with a couple of table-spoonsful of melted b.u.t.ter, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt. Grate in half of a nutmeg--add, if you want the pudding very rich, half a pound of raisins. They should not be put into a baked pudding till it has been cooking long enough to thicken, so that the raisins will not sink to the bottom of it. A pudding made in this manner is good either baked or boiled. It takes two hours to boil, and an hour and a quarter to bake it. When boiled, the bag should not be more than two-thirds full, as flour puddings swell very much. It should be put into boiling water, and kept boiling constantly. If the water boils away, so as to leave any part of the bag uncovered, more boiling water should be added. When the pudding has boiled eight or nine minutes, the bag should be turned over, otherwise the pudding will be heavy. Flour puddings should be eaten as soon as cooked, as they fall directly. Serve them up with rich sauce.

276. _Boiled Rice Pudding._

Put two tea-cups of rice into a quart of boiling water--add a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and let the rice boil till soft. Then take it from the fire, stir in a quart of cold milk, and half a pound of raisins; or omit the raisins, and subst.i.tute any other fruit that you may like. Beat a couple of eggs, and put in, together with half of a grated nutmeg. Set the whole on the fire, and let it boil till the fruit is soft. Serve it up with b.u.t.ter and sugar.

277. _A Baked Rice Pudding, without eggs._

Pick over and wash two small tea-cups of rice, and put it into two quarts of milk. Melt a small tea-cup of b.u.t.ter, and put in, together with two of sugar, a grated nutmeg, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and bake the pudding about two hours. This pudding does not need any sauce, and is good either hot or cold. If you wish to have the pudding very rich, add, when it has been baking five or six minutes, half a pound of raisins.

278. _Rice Pudding, with eggs._

Boil a quarter of a pound of unground rice in a quart of milk till soft, then stir in a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter--take it from the fire, put in a pint of cold milk, a couple of tea-spoonsful of salt, and a grated nutmeg. When it is lukewarm, beat four eggs with a quarter of a pound of sugar, and stir it into the pudding--add half a pound of raisins, and turn the whole into a b.u.t.tered pudding dish, and bake it three-quarters of an hour.

279. _Ground Rice Pudding._

Mix a pint and a half of ground rice, smooth, with a quart of milk--stir in a gla.s.s of wine, a quarter of a pound of melted b.u.t.ter, a tea-spoonful of salt, and spice to the taste. Beat eight eggs, and stir them in--turn the whole into a b.u.t.tered pudding dish, and when it has baked a few minutes, add half a pound of raisins, or Zante currants.

280. _Rice Snow b.a.l.l.s._

Pare small, tart apples, and take out the cores with a small knife--fill the cavity with a stick of cinnamon or mace. Put each one in a small floured bag, and fill the bags about half full of unground rice. Tie up the bags so as to leave a great deal of room for the rice to swell. Put them in a pot of water, with a table-spoonful of salt to a couple of quarts of water. The bags of rice should be boiled in a large proportion of water, as the rice absorbs it very much. Boil them about an hour and twenty minutes, then turn them out of the bags carefully into a dessert dish, and garnish them with marmalade cut in slices.

Serve them up with b.u.t.ter and sugar.

281. _Cream Pudding._

Beat six eggs to a froth--then mix with them three table-spoonsful of powdered white sugar, the grated rind of a lemon. Mix a pint of milk with a pint of flour, two tea-spoonsful of salt--then add the eggs and sugar. Just before it is baked, stir in a pint of thick cream. Bake it either in b.u.t.tered cups or a pudding dish.

282. _Custard Pudding._

Stir a quart of milk very gradually into half a pint of flour--mix it free from lumps, and put to it seven eggs, beaten with three table-spoonsful of sugar, a tea-spoonful of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. Bake it three-quarters of an hour.