PUDDINGS AND SAUCES

No ingredient of doubtful quality should enter into the composi- tion of puddings. Suet must be 'perfecdy Sfweet^ and milk should be firesh and without the least unpleasant flavor. Suet when over kept and milk soured or curdled in the slightest degree, ruins a pudding which would otherwise be most delicious. Dried currants, such as are sold in the market, need very careful and thorough washing (after which they must be dried in a napkin), and raisins should be rubbed in a coarse towel to remove stems and all dirt from the out- aide, and afterward carefully seeded. Almonds and spices must be very finely pounded, and the rinds of oranges or lemons rasped or grated lighUy off (the white part of the peel has no flavor and is an mjury).

In making puddings, always beat the eggs separately, straining the yolks and adding the whites the last thing. If boiled milk is used, let it cool somewhat before adding the eggs; when fruit is added, stir it in at the last. Puddings are either baked, boiled or steamed; rice, bread, custard, and fruit puddings require a mod- erate heat; batter and com starch, a rather quick oven. Always bake them as soon as mixed. Add a pinch of salt to any pud- dmg.

Boiled puddings are lighter when boiled in a cloth and allowed full room to swell, but many use either a tin mold or bowl with cloth tied over it ; grease the former well on the inside with lard or butter, and in boiling do not let the water reach quite to the top. The pudding-bag should be made of firm drilling, tapering from top to bottom, and rounded on the comers; stitch and fell the

226 PUDDINGS AND 8A UCES.

Beams, which should be outside when in use, and sew a tape to flie seam, about three inches ^m top. Wring the bag out of hot water, flour the inside well, pour in the pudding (which should be well beaten the instant before pouring), tie securely, leaving room to swell (especially when made of Indian meal, bread, rice, or crackers), and place in a kettle with a saucer at the bottom to pre* vent burning; immediately pour in enough boiling water to entireljr cover the bag, which must be turned several times, keeping it boiling constantly, filling up from the tea-kettle when needed. If the pud* ding is boiled in a bowl, grease, fill, and cover with a square of drilling wrung out of hot water, floured and tied on. To use a pan, tie a cloth tightly over the rim, bringing the ends back together, and pinning them over the top of the pan ; the puddipg may then be lifted out easily by a strong fork put through the ends or cor- ners of the cloth. Open bag a little to I6t steam escape, and serve immediately, as delay ruins all boiled pudding. For plum pud- dings, invert the pan when put in the kettle, and the pudding will not become water-soaked. When the pudding is done, give what- ever it is boiled in a quick plunge into cold water, and turn out at once, serving immediately. As a general rule, boiled puddings re- quire double the time required for baked. Steaming is safer than either boiling or baking, as the pudding is sure to be light and wholesome. Put on over cold water and do not remove cover while steaming. In making sauces, do not boil after the butter is added. Use brown or powdered sugar for sauces. In place of wine or brandy, flavor with juice of the grape, or any other fruit prepared

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Apple Roley Foley. Peely quarter and core sour apples, make rich soda-biscuit dough, (or raised-biscuit dough may be used if rolled thinner), roll to half an inch thick, slice the quarters, and lay on the prepared paste or crust, roll up, tuck ends in, prick deeply with a fork, lay in a steamer and place over a kettle of boiling water, cook an hour and three-quarters. Or, wrap in a cloth, tie up the ends and baste up sides, put in kettle of boiling water, and boil an hour and a half or more, keeping the water boiling constantly. Cut across, and eat with sweetened cream or butter and sugar. Cherries, dried fruit, any kind of berries, jelly, or apple-butter (with the two last raisins may be added), can be used. — Mrs. T. B, J.

Orange Roley Foley. Make a light pastry as for apple dumplings, roll in oblong sheets and lay oranges peeled, sliced, and seeded, thickly all over it ; sprin- kle with white sugar ; scatter over all a tea-spoon or two of grated orange-peel, and roll up, folding down the edges closely to keep the syrup from running out; boil in a cloth one and one-half hours. Eat with lemon-sauce prepared as follows: Six eggs, leaving out the whites of two, half pound butter, one jwund sugar, juice of two lemons and rind of both grated ; place over a slow fire, stir till k thickens like honey. Very nice. — Mrs. A. E. WcUshj NashviUe,

Boiled Apple Dumplings.

Add to two cups sour milk one tea-spoon soda, and one of salt, half cup of butter, lard, flour enough to make dough a little stiffer than for biscuit; or make a good baking-powder crust; peel and tore apples, roll out crust, place apples on dough, fill cavity of each with sugar, encase each apple in coating of the crust, press edges light together, (it is nice to tie a cloth around each one), put into kettle of boiling water slightly salted, boil half an hour, taking care that the water covers the dumplings. They are also very nice steamed. To bake, make in same way, using a soft dough, place in a shallow pan, bake in a hot oven, and serve with cream and sugar, or place in a pan which is four or five inches deep (do not have the dump- lings touch each other); then pour in hot water, just leaving top of dumplings uncovered. To a pan of four or five dumplings, add

228 BUDDINOS AND SA VCE&

one tea-cup sugar and half a tea-cup butter; bake from balf to three-quarters of an hour. If water cooks away too much, add more. Serve dumplings on platter and the liquid in sauoe^boat for dress- ing. Fresh or canned peaches may be made in the same way.

Rolled Apple Dumplinqb. Peel and chop fine tart apples, make a crust of one cup rich but- termilk, one tea-spoon soda, and flour enough to roll; roll half an inch thick, spread with the apple, sprinkle well with sugar and cin* namon, cut in strips two inches wide, roll up like jelly-cake, set up the rolls in a dripping-pan, putting a tea-spoon butter on each, put in a moderate oven, and baste them often with the juice.

Bird's-nest Puddikg.

Pare and core without quartering enough quick-cooking tart

apples to fill a pudding-pan ; make a custard of one quart milk and

the yolks of six eggs ; sweeten, spice, pour over apples, and bake ;

when done, use the whites of eggs beaten stifiT with six tablespoons

white sugar; spread on the custard, brown lightly, and serve either

hot or cold. If necessary, apples may be baked a short time before

adding custard.

Brown Betty.

Put a layer of sweetened apple sauce in a buttered dish, add a few lumps butter, then a layer of cracker crumbs sprinkled with a little cinnamon, then layer of sauce, etc., making the last layer of crumbs ; bake in oven, and eat hot with cold, sweetened cream.-^ Mrs. T, J, Buxton^

Rice Apples.

Boil half a pound rice in a custard-kettle till tender m one quart milk, sweetened with half tea-cup sugar; pare and core with apple* corer seven or eight good-cooking apples, place in slightly buttered baking-dish, put a tea-spoon of jam or jelly into each cavity, and fill with rich cream ; put the rice in around apples, leaving top un- covered ; bake thirty minutes, then cover with the whites of two Qgg8» sifti on sugar, and return to the oven for ten minutes. Serve with sweetened cream. — Mrs, S. M. Ouy, Meehanicsburg,

Bread Pudding.

One quart sweet milk, quart bread-crumbs, four eggs, four table- spoons sugar ; soak bread in half the milk until soft ; m»4i fine»

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add the rest of milk, the well-beaten eggs and sugar, and a tea- cup raisins ; bake one hour, serve warm with warm sauce or maple sugar hard sauce; or, slice, butter, and spread bread with preserves or jellj, place nicely in a baking-dish. Make a custard of one pint of sweet milk, three eggs, and sugar to taste, and while boiling poor it over bread. Place in oven and bake till brown, eat with or

ivithout sauce.

Blackberry Mush.

To two quarts ripe berries add one and a half pints boiling water, and one pound sugar ; cook a few moments, then stir in a pint of wheat flour, boil a few moments longer, put in greased mold to cool, and serve with cream or hard sauce. — AKsa JET. D. Martin, Hew York OUy.