b.u.t.ter a baking-dish and line it with stale sponge cake cut in thin slices. Fill nearly full with stewed peaches or cherries, cover with cake and spread with a meringue made of the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs and two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Bake until puffed and brown and serve cold with cream.

BIRD'S NEST PUDDING

Peel and core eight apples and put into a b.u.t.tered baking-dish, filling the cores with brown sugar seasoned with grated nutmeg. Cover and bake until the apples are done. Beat the yolks of four eggs, add two cupfuls of flour sifted with three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and a pinch of salt, two cupfuls of milk and the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Pour the batter over the apples, bake for an hour in a moderate oven, and serve with any preferred sauce.

BLACKBERRY PUDDING

Stew a quart of blackberries with sugar and pour hot over thin slices of b.u.t.tered bread, making alternate layers, and having fruit on top.

Cover with a plate, chill, and serve with sugar and cream. Cherries and other fruits may be used in the same way.

BLUEBERRY PUDDING--I

Sift together two cupfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, two heaping teaspoonfuls of cream tartar and a teaspoonful of soda. Add a pint of berries and enough milk to mix to a stiff batter. Turn into a b.u.t.tered mould, cover and steam for an hour and a half. Serve with a sauce made by creaming half a cupful of b.u.t.ter with a cupful of sugar and two teaspoonfuls of flour and cooking until thick with a cupful of boiling water. Flavor with nutmeg or vanilla.

BLUEBERRY PUDDING--II

Sift together three cupfuls of flour, a pinch of salt, and two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add one cupful of milk, one egg well-beaten, and two cupfuls of blueberries. Turn into a deep b.u.t.tered mould, leaving room for the pudding to swell. Steam for two hours and serve hot with any preferred sauce. Apples, apricots, blackberries, cherries, currants, figs, preserved ginger, plums, oranges, peaches, pears, pineapples, raspberries, and strawberries may be used in the same way.

BREAD AND APPLE PUDDING

Fill a b.u.t.tered pudding-dish with alternate layers of thin b.u.t.tered slices of bread and sliced apples which have been peeled and cored, seasoning the apples with sugar and spice. Add enough water to moisten, cover and bake slowly for two hours. Serve hot or cold with cream or Hard Sauce.

CABINET PUDDING

b.u.t.ter a mould and line it with raisins or currants and bits of citron. Fill the mould nearly full with alternate layers of stale sponge cake and candied fruit or raisins and citron. Pour over a custard made of three eggs beaten with a pint of milk and sweetened to taste. Put the mould in a pan of boiling water to reach to one-third its height and bake for an hour in a moderate oven.

CALIFORNIA PUDDING

Beat three eggs with one and one-half cupfuls of milk and half a winegla.s.sful of claret. Add a few drops of almond extract. Cook until it thickens, stirring constantly. Put small pieces of stale sponge cake into a baking-dish and sprinkle with chopped citron. Pour over the custard and let stand for half an hour. Cream half a cupful each of b.u.t.ter and sugar, spread over the pudding, bake for an hour, and serve either hot or cold.

CARAMEL PUDDING

Make a custard of one cupful of milk beaten with the yolks of four eggs and the white of one, and a tablespoonful of sugar. Brown half a cupful of sugar in an iron pan, add half a cupful of water and simmer until it is a thick syrup. Line a mould with the caramel, turning rapidly from side to side, strain in the uncooked custard, cover and steam for half an hour.

CHERRY PUDDING

Soak three cupfuls of stale bread crumbs until soft in milk to cover.

Add a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of sugar, grated nutmeg to flavor, and flour to make a batter sifted with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add three eggs well-beaten, and as many stoned cherries as can be incorporated in the batter. Fill a b.u.t.tered tin, leaving room for the pudding to rise one-third, steam for two hours and a half and serve hot with any preferred sauce.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Heat two cupfuls of milk and add slowly one-half cake of grated chocolate, one heaping tablespoonful of sugar and one tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth with a little cold milk. Cook until smooth and thick, stirring constantly, take from the fire, add a few drops of vanilla, mould, chill and serve with cream and sugar.

CHOCOLATE CREAM PUDDING

Cook to a smooth paste two squares of grated bitter chocolate, four teaspoonfuls of sugar, and four tablespoonfuls of hot water. Add half a cupful of cream and one-fourth cupful of milk. Bring to a boil, add the yolks of two eggs beaten with a little milk, and cook until it thickens, stirring constantly. Fold in the stiffly beaten whites, add a pinch of salt, and vanilla or cinnamon to flavor. Cover and let stand in a double boiler until light and spongy. Turn into a serving-dish, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve cold with whipped cream.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Open a pint can of mince meat and add to it the yolks of six eggs well-beaten. Add enough sifted flour to make a stiff batter and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Pour into a b.u.t.tered mould, leaving room to swell, cover tightly, put into boiling water and boil rapidly for five hours. Serve with Wine Sauce.

CRACKER PUDDING

Roll six crackers to crumbs. Add a cupful of milk and the grated rind of half a lemon and cook to a smooth paste. Add three tablespoonfuls of softened b.u.t.ter, two heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar, a tablespoonful of sherry, and four eggs well-beaten. Pour into a b.u.t.tered dish, cover and steam for half an hour. Serve with Hard Sauce.

CORNSTARCH PUDDING

Heat two cupfuls of water and thicken with three tablespoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth with a little cold water. Cook for ten minutes, stirring constantly, add the juice and grated rind of a lemon, half a cupful of sugar, the yolks of two eggs well-beaten, half a cupful of milk, and two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter. Take from the fire, mix thoroughly, turn into a b.u.t.tered baking-dish, bake for half an hour, cover with meringue and return to the oven until puffed and brown. Serve either hot or cold.

COTTAGE PUDDING

Cream together one cupful of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter.

Add two eggs beaten separately and a cupful of milk. Sift in two cupfuls of flour and three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, beat thoroughly, turn into a b.u.t.tered baking-dish, sprinkle thickly with powdered sugar, and bake in a moderate oven for forty minutes. Serve hot with Lemon Sauce.

CURRANT PUDDING

Fill a small b.u.t.tered baking-dish with thin slices of baker's bread, b.u.t.tered, and alternate layers of fresh currants, stewed and sweetened to taste. Have fruit on top. Cover and bake for half an hour in a moderate oven, cool, and serve with sugar and cream. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, gooseberries, and strawberries may be used in the same way.

CUSTARD PUDDING

Heat a pint of milk in a double boiler and thicken with a tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Add a pinch of salt, half a cupful of sugar, half a teaspoonful of powdered cinnamon, take from the fire, cool, and add three eggs well-beaten.

Turn into a b.u.t.tered baking-dish and bake until a knife thrust into the centre of the pudding comes out clean. Serve very cold. Any other flavor may be used instead of cinnamon.

DATE PUDDING

Chop fine one cupful of suet. Add the yolks of two eggs beaten with a cupful of milk, a teaspoonful of cinnamon, a pinch of salt and half a nutmeg grated. Sift in three cupfuls of flour and a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Add a pound of washed, stoned, and and chopped dates dredged with flour, turn into a b.u.t.tered mould, and steam for three hours. Serve hot with Hard Sauce.

DATE CUSTARD PUDDING

Thicken a pint of milk with one tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth with a little cold milk, add the yolks of three eggs well-beaten with two tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar, and a teaspoonful of lemon extract. Take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, turn into a b.u.t.tered baking-dish, and bake brown. Cover with chopped dates and almonds or English walnuts, then with meringue flavored with lemon, and return to the oven until puffed and brown.