(Contributed)
Boil until soft one cupful of rice in plenty of hot water. Drain and while hot add one tablespoonful of butter. When cold add to it one cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of grated nutmeg and one teaspoonful of ground cinnamon. Beat four eggs very light, whites and yolks separately, and add them to the rice. Then add one cupful of seeded raisins. Stir in one cupful of sweet milk gradually, turn into a buttered baking-dish and bake in a hot oven.
Bird’s nest pudding
(Contributed)
Put into a buttered baking-dish six or seven pared and cored apples. Mix to a smooth paste with cold milk five tablespoonfuls of flour, and add the yolks of three eggs well beaten. Then add one teaspoonful of salt and the whites of the eggs well beaten. Then more milk, using one pint in all. Pour this mixture over the apples and bake one hour in a moderate oven. Serve with any good sauce.
Minute pudding
(Contributed)
Beat two eggs very light and add a pint of flour and enough of a pint of milk to make it smooth. Put the remainder of the milk into a buttered saucepan; add a little salt, and when it comes to a boil add lightly the egg and flour mixture. Let it cook well and serve immediately with the following simple sauce: Rich milk or cream sweetened to taste and flavored with nutmeg.
Cracker pudding
Soak two cupfuls of crushed crackers, very fine, in a quart of hot milk, and stir in a double boiler over the fire until it smokes. Then put in a tablespoonful of butter, a saltspoonful of baking-powder and four beaten eggs. Turn into a greased pudding-dish and bake until the custard is set. Send to table at once, and eat with hard sauce.
Frumenty
(Old English recipe)
Cook a cupful of raw rice with two cupfuls of hot water in the inner vessel of a double boiler for half an hour. Then turn it into three cupfuls of milk heated in the double boiler, and cook until very tender. Stir in one level teaspoonful of salt and one level tablespoonful of butter. Beat two eggs light with two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and stir this into the hot rice when you take it from the fire.
Rub to a light cream two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar with one of butter and season with cinnamon. Turn the hot rice into a deep dish, spread this sauce smoothly over the top, and serve.
This dish, made with cracked wheat instead of rice, was what King Arthur’s cook was bearing across the courtyard when Tom Thumb, dropped by the bird of prey, fell plump into it. It is sometimes called “fermenty.”
Sago pudding
Soak half a cupful of sago in a cupful of cold water for two hours. Drain, put into the inner vessel of a farina kettle with a quart of hot milk, and simmer until the sago is clear, stirring up from the bottom several times. Add, then, a tablespoonful of butter, four of sugar, a good pinch of salt and three eggs beaten light. Beat all well and turn into a buttered bake-dish. Bake in a quick oven twenty minutes.
Eat hot with sauce, or cold with cream.
Apple soufflé pudding
Four eggs; one pint of milk; two tablespoonfuls of butter; six large apples, juicy and tart; a pinch of soda in the milk; two tablespoonfuls of flour.
Heat the milk; stir the butter over the fire until hot, then add the flour and mix to a paste; add the hot milk to this, stir until smooth, and pour gradually over the beaten yolks. Into this grate the pared apples, one by one, mixing well and quickly, that they may keep their color. Now, fold in the whites, beaten to a standing froth, pour into a buttered pudding-dish and bake very quickly.
Serve before it falls, and eat with hard or liquid sauce.
Apple puff
Peel and grate enough apples to make two cupfuls. Beat the whites of five eggs very stiff with four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar; stir in quickly the grated apples, and two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice. Turn into a pudding-dish and bake for half an hour. Eat as soon as baked with a hot custard sauce.
Cocoanut soufflé
Bring a pint of milk to the scalding point, and stir into it a cupful of grated cocoanut. Set aside until cold, then add five eggs, beaten very light, and a teaspoonful of essence of bitter almonds. Bake in a soufflé-dish until “set.” Serve with sweetened whipped cream.
Rice soufflé
Make a white sauce of a cupful of milk thickened with a tablespoonful of flour rubbed into one of butter. Let this cool, then beat into it a teacupful of cold boiled rice, the whipped yolks and the stiffened whites of five eggs. Turn into a greased pudding mold and bake until set. Serve immediately. Eat with cream and sugar.
Rhubarb soufflé
Soak half a cupful of bread-crumbs for an hour in a cupful of milk. Beat six eggs light, yolks and whites separate. Stir the thickened yolks into the soaked crumbs; add a cupful of stewed and sweetened rhubarb, and, last of all, fold in the whites. Turn into a greased pudding-dish and bake, covered, for half an hour; then uncover and brown. Send to the table as soon as it is removed from the oven, and serve immediately with sweetened whipped cream.
Sweet omelet soufflé
Beat the yolks of four eggs stiff, and stir into them four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Add two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, and beat hard for five minutes. Whip the whites of six eggs to a meringue with a heaping tablespoonful of powdered sugar, and stir lightly and quickly into the yolk mixture. Turn into a buttered pudding-dish and bake in a hot oven to a delicate brown. Serve immediately.
Prune soufflé (delicious)
Soak eighteen prunes over night and stew tender. Remove the stones and chop the prunes to a smooth pulp. Make a meringue of the whites of eight eggs and seven tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Beat the prunes into this, turn into a greased pudding-dish and bake for twenty minutes. Serve immediately with whipped cream.
Lemon soufflé
Make a white roux of two tablespoonfuls of butter and the same of flour; heat a cupful of milk to the boiling point, add to the roux and set aside to cool; then add the yolks of four eggs well beaten with powdered sugar and the juice and grated rind of one lemon. Just before putting into the oven to bake, stir in lightly the beaten whites of the eggs. Bake three-quarters of an hour and serve with whipped cream flavored with lemon and slightly sweetened.
Orange soufflé
(Contributed)
Cut stale sponge cake into small cubes and saturate with orange juice. Pour into a dish and pour over it rich custard. Cover with a good meringue, brown nicely and serve.
Bread soufflé
Soak a pint of bread-crumbs for two hours in a quart of rich milk. Beat hard until you have a soft mass. Stir into this the yolks of four beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of melted butter and, last of all, the stiffened whites of six eggs. Pour into a greased pudding-dish and bake for forty minutes in a steady oven. Serve immediately with a sweet, hot custard sauce made of the remaining yolks of the eggs.
Boiled rice with milk and egg
Wash a cupful of rice and cook in an abundance of boiling water slightly salted until tender, but not pasty. Drain off every drop of the water, shaking the rice in a colander. Return the cereal to the fire in a double boiler and stir into it a quart of boiling milk, into which three beaten eggs have been gradually whipped. Cook gently for a few minutes, or until much of the milk has been absorbed. Eat with sugar and cream.
Banana soufflé
Peel and chop very fine five bananas. Into a pint of whipped cream stir five well-beaten eggs, then stir in quickly the banana pulp. Turn into a soufflé-dish, bake in a quick oven until brown and light, and serve immediately with sugar and cream.
Chocolate soufflé
(Contributed)
Cook together in a saucepan a tablespoonful of butter and two of flour, and as these thicken stir into them six tablespoonfuls of sweet milk. Beat thick and smooth, then pour upon the yolks of three eggs that have been beaten light with two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Whip hard, adding four tablespoonfuls of grated sweetened chocolate, until the mixture is lukewarm; put on the ice to cool, covering it to keep a crust from forming on top. When cold add the stiffened whites of the eggs, fold these in lightly and bake in a quick oven. Serve at once with sweetened whipped cream.
FRITTERS
In making fritters an essential to their success is that the fat in which they are fried be very deep and boiling hot. Always test it by dropping into it a small spoonful of batter. If this do not rise quickly to the surface, swell rapidly, and acquire a light brown hue, your fat is too cool. Let it stand over the hottest part of the range for a few minutes and again test it. When it is at the right temperature fry your fritters quickly, dropping in the batter by the spoonful. When done, remove the fritters with a perforated spoon, and lay them in a heated colander lined with brown paper. Transfer to a hot platter covered with a folded napkin and serve at once.
Fritters à la créme
Stir a pinch of soda into a pint of milk and heat in a double boiler. Wet two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch with cold milk, and when dissolved turn it into the hot milk. Stir until thick; remove from the fire, and beat into it a tablespoonful of melted butter, three beaten eggs and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Pour into a square pan and set aside until very cold. Cut the mixture into small triangles, dip into batter, and fry to a golden brown. Remove the fritters very carefully from the fat, as they are tender and break easily. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Apple fritters
Beat the yolks and whites of five eggs separately. Into the yolks stir three generous cupfuls of sweet milk, a pinch of salt and three scant cupfuls of flour, sifted with a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Beat for a minute, add the stiffened whites and, when these are blended, a cupful of peeled and thinly-sliced apples. When the fritters are done and transferred to a hot dish, sprinkle them liberally with powdered sugar to which a little cinnamon has been added.
Orange fritters
Make a plain fritter batter with two eggs, a cupful of milk, half a teaspoonful of salt and sufficient flour to make a batter that will pour from the spoon, or coat whatever fruit is put into it. Peel the oranges and separate into sections, taking out the seeds. Dip these sections into the batter, covering well, and slide carefully into hot cottolene or other fat, browning, first on one side, then on the other. They can be served with sauce, or simply dusted with powdered sugar. If served as a dessert, use a sauce.
Apricot fritters
Peel and slice fourteen firm apricots and lay them in cold water while you make a batter of the following ingredients: Four eggs, beaten light, a half-pint of milk, a pinch of salt, and a heaping cupful of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder.
Remove the apricots from the water, and pat them dry between the folds of a clean dish towel. Beat the batter hard, stir into it the fruit and fry at once. Sprinkle with sugar while hot, and serve with a lemon sauce. Canned apricots may be used for this purpose, every drop of juice being removed.
Peach fritters
Peel and slice a dozen peaches, and stir them into a batter made by beating together three whipped eggs, a cupful of rich milk, a pinch of salt and a cupful of prepared flour. Drop this mixture by the spoonful into deep, boiling fat. When the fritters are of a golden-brown color, drain in a colander and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve very hot.
Rhubarb fritters
Scrape the stalks of the rhubarb, cut into quarter-inch lengths; stew in sugar and water for ten minutes; drain and set aside to get cold.
Make a batter of a half-pint of milk, three eggs, beaten light, and a cupful of prepared flour. Beat hard and stir into this batter a cupful of the rhubarb. Drop by the spoonful into deep, boiling cottolene or other fat, and fry to a bright brown. Serve with lemon sauce.
Banana fritters (No. 1)
Whip three eggs very light and beat into them a cupful of milk and a cupful of flour that has been sifted with a teaspoonful of baking-powder and a saltspoonful of salt. Cut six bananas into small bits, stir these into the batter, and drop by the spoonful into deep, boiling cottolene or other fat. When golden brown, drain in a colander lined with tissue-paper. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve hot.
Banana fritters (No. 2)
Peel and cut bananas lengthwise into thick slices. Squeeze over them a few drops of lemon juice, then turn over and squeeze juice on the under side. Dry between soft cloths, and dip into fritter batter, coating each slice thoroughly. Fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat to a light brown.
Swiss fritters
Slice stale bread nearly an inch thick, cut round with a cake-cutter, and fry quickly in deep hot cottolene or other fat. Drop each round, as soon as done, into boiling water for one second, to remove superfluous grease. Spread the fritters, as fast as they are fried and dipped, with powdered sugar, wet up with lemon juice. Cover and keep hot until needed.
Almond roulettes
Make a paste of twenty-five blanched and chopped almonds, a pint of fine bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful of extract of bitter almonds, the whipped whites of two eggs and a heaping teaspoonful of cornstarch. Form into balls, and set these in the ice-box for an hour. Make a batter of a cupful of lukewarm water, a pinch of salt, the frothed white of an egg, and a cupful of prepared flour. Take the balls of nut-paste from the ice-chest, dip each ball in the batter, rolling it about until thoroughly coated, and fry in boiling butter. Serve with a cream sauce.
Sweet potato fritters
Boil, skin, and dry in an open oven. Mash while warm, and rub through a colander, or a vegetable press. Stir into a pint of potatoes a cupful of milk, a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt and two tablespoonfuls of sugar; finally, the yolks of two beaten eggs. With floured hands shape into flat cakes, dip into the frothed whites, then in cracker-crumbs, repeating the process. Leave upon ice two hours and fry in deep, boiling cottolene or other fat to a golden brown.
Eat with lemon sauce.
PANCAKES AND DUMPLINGS
Risen pancakes
Make a sponge of a quart of flour, a half-cake of compressed yeast dissolved in a little water, and a teaspoonful of salt. Set to rise all night; in the morning beat in three well-whipped eggs and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Bake on a soapstone griddle.
Jersey pancakes
Four heaping tablespoonfuls of flour, mixed with sufficient milk to make a good batter. Add the beaten yolks of four eggs, and salt to taste; lastly, add the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Melt a tablespoonful of butter in a frying-pan, pour in batter until the bottom of the pan is thinly covered. Bake brown on both sides. When done, fold like an omelet, strewing sugar seasoned with powdered cinnamon between the folds.
Italian pancakes
Make a batter of a cupful of milk, three eggs beaten light, a saltspoonful of salt, two teaspoonfuls of salad oil, two teaspoonfuls of sugar and a half cupful of white flour. Beat hard and set aside for an hour. Put a little butter in a frying-pan, and when very hot pour in enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Spread with jelly; roll and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Jelly pancakes
Make a batter of five beaten eggs, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, three cupfuls of milk, and about a quart of prepared flour. Mix well and fry in a large frying-pan in which a little butter has been melted. The batter should cover the entire bottom of the pan. When brown on one side, turn. When done, spread with fruit jelly, and roll up as you would a sheet of music. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and send at once to the table.
Cherry dumplings
Into a pint of prepared flour chop a heaping tablespoonful of butter, stir in a cupful of milk and work into a dough. Roll into a sheet, and cut into squares about four inches across. In the center of each square put a great spoonful of stoned and sugared cherries, pinch the four corners of the pastry together in the middle over the cherries and lay the dumplings, joined sides down, in a floured baking-pan. Bake and eat hot with a hard sauce.
Raspberry dumplings
Make a dough of a quart of flour sifted with a half teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, two tablespoonfuls of butter chopped into bits, and a pint of milk.
Roll this dough out and cut into pieces about five inches square. In the middle of each of these squares put a heaping tablespoonful of black raspberries, sprinkle liberally with sugar, and turn over upon them the four corners of the dough square, pinching them together in the middle. Put in the oven and bake for half an hour.
Apple dumplings
Sift an even quart of flour twice with one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Chop into this a tablespoonful of cottolene or other fat and one of butter. Mix into a soft dough with two cupfuls of milk; roll out into a sheet a scant half-inch thick, and cut into squares about five inches each way. Lay in the center of each a large tart apple, pared and cored. Fill the space left by coring with sugar, fold the corners together, enveloping the apple, tie up in cheese-cloth squares, dipped into hot water, and well floured on the inside. Have ready a pot of boiling water. Drop in the dumplings and cook fast one hour. Dip each for one second in cold water to loosen the cloth, turn out upon a hot dish and eat with hard sauce.
Peach dumplings
Make as you would apple dumplings, substituting for the cored apple a stoned peach, the cavity filled with sugar, then the halves neatly fitted together. They are very good.
Suet dumplings
Rub a cupful of white suet free from strings, and powder it fine. Rub and chop it into two cupfuls of fine crumbs. Sift a teaspoonful of baking-powder three times with four tablespoonfuls of flour, and work into the crumbs and suet. Add a teaspoonful of salt. Beat three eggs very light and stir into a cupful and a half of milk. With this wet crumbs and flour into a rather stiff dough. Make into dumplings with floured hands; tie up in cheese-cloth dipped in hot water and floured on the inside, leaving plenty of room to swell, and boil one hour.
Eat with liquid sauce.
Cornmeal dumplings
Scald a quart of milk, stir in three cupfuls of Indian meal, or enough to make a stiff dough; cook for five minutes, stirring often from the bottom. Take from the fire; beat in one-half cupful of powdered suet with a teaspoonful of salt, and let it get perfectly cold. Then add three eggs beaten light with two tablespoonfuls of sugar, and, lastly, a tablespoonful of flour sifted three times with half a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Make out into balls the size of an egg with floured hands, envelop in cheese-cloth squares, prepared as directed in preceding recipes. The dumplings will double their size in boiling, so make allowances in tying them up.
Boil one hour hard. Dip into cold water for a second, turn out and eat with hard sauce.
Orange dumplings
Chop a tablespoonful of butter into two cupfuls of flour which has been twice sifted with one teaspoonful of baking-powder and a quarter-teaspoonful of salt. Mix with a cupful of milk to a soft dough, and roll this into a sheet a half-inch thick; cut into squares; lay in each a peeled, sliced and seeded orange, and sprinkle thickly with sugar. Envelop in cheese-cloth squares as already directed, and proceed as with other fruit dumplings.
SOME PUDDING SAUCES
Cream sauce
Work two tablespoonfuls of butter into a half cupful of sugar, then the beaten yolks of two eggs and a cupful of rich cream, to which a pinch of soda has been added. Cook altogether, stirring constantly in a double boiler, until like thick cream and very smooth; add a generous wineglassful of sherry, and serve. This is a delicious pudding sauce.
Chocolate sauce
Boil together a half cupful of sugar and a cupful of water for five minutes; stir in four tablespoonfuls of chocolate dissolved in a gill of milk, and a tablespoonful of arrowroot dissolved in four tablespoonfuls of cold water. Boil for five minutes longer, stirring steadily, add a teaspoonful of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon, and serve.
Hard sauce
Work two tablespoonfuls of butter and a cupful of powdered sugar to a white cream, then beat in the juice of a lemon and a pinch of nutmeg. Set in a cold place until needed.
Canned fruit sauce
Heat with additional sugar, one large cupful of any kind of fruit juice or syrup left from canning. If fresh fruit juice is used, more sugar will be needed than for the syrup. About one-half cupful of sugar to each cupful of juice is an average amount. Mix one teaspoonful of cornstarch with the sugar, or wet it with the liquid if syrup is used, also one tablespoonful of butter. Boil all together for five minutes.
Meringue sauce
Rub to a light cream one-half cupful of butter with one cupful of powdered sugar. When light and almost snow white, add gradually two tablespoonfuls of fruit juice or syrup, and, just before serving, one-fourth of a cupful of boiling water, and the white of an egg beaten to a froth.
Lemon sauce
Cook for fifteen minutes one cupful of sugar with three tablespoonfuls of boiling water, a half teaspoonful of grated lemon peel, and the strained juice of a lemon.
Take from the fire, and pour gradually upon the beaten yolks of three eggs. Set in boiling water and stir until the eggs are “set,” but not until they begin to harden.
Caramel sauce
Put a cupful of sugar into a saucepan and stir over the fire, until melted and light brown. Add one cupful of boiling water and let it simmer gently for ten minutes. When cool stir in a teaspoonful of vanilla.
Jelly sauce
Put into a saucepan over the fire one cupful of boiling water, one-half cupful of jelly, two tablespoonfuls of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of butter. When melted stir into it a teaspoonful of cornstarch dissolved in one-half cupful of cold water, and let it come to a boil. Keep warm over hot water until ready to use.
Foamy sauce
To the beaten whites of two eggs add one cupful of sugar. Beat thoroughly and add one cupful of boiling milk. When cool add one teaspoonful of vanilla.
Maraschino sauce
Put into a saucepan three-fourths of a cupful of boiling water and one-third of a cupful of sugar. Add one-fourth of a cupful of Maraschino cherries cut in halves, one-half cupful of Maraschino syrup and one-half tablespoonful of butter. When this comes to a boil, stir in slowly two teaspoonfuls of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water. Boil for five minutes.
Vanilla sauce
Add one well-beaten egg to one-half pint of milk. Sweeten to taste. Pour the mixture into a double boiler and cook over water until it begins to thicken; take from the fire and add one teaspoonful of vanilla. Serve hot.
Apricot sauce
(Contributed)
Rub three-fourths of a cupful of apricots through a sieve. Whip three-fourths of a cupful of heavy cream, sweetened and flavored. When stiff and dry, add the apricot pulp.
Plain whipped cream
(Contributed)
Add to one cupful of “double” cream, one-half cupful of powdered sugar, and one teaspoonful of lemon or vanilla. Put in a bowl and set in a larger bowl of cracked ice. Chill the whip, for everything must be very cold; whip until stiff and dry, then add the beaten white of one egg.
Strawberry sauce
Boil together for ten minutes three-fourths of a cupful of sugar and one-half cupful of water. Run through a vegetable press one pint of strawberries, and when the syrup is cool, add the strawberry pulp and one-half teaspoonful of vanilla.
Madeira sauce
Put one tablespoonful of butter into a saucepan. Stir into it one tablespoonful of flour and cook for one minute; add one pint of boiling water, stirring all the time until it boils. Next, add one-half cupful of sugar and one tablespoonful of caramel. Let it stand over boiling water for ten minutes and just before serving add one-fourth of a cupful of Madeira wine.
Claret sauce
(Contributed)
Make a syrup by boiling one cupful of sugar and one-third of a cup of water. When cold add one-third of a cupful of claret.
Brandy sauce (liquid)
Work two tablespoonfuls of butter into two cupfuls of powdered sugar, moistening with boiling water. Beat hard for five minutes, and set within a saucepan of water at a hard boil. Stir until scalding hot, add a teaspoonful of cornstarch wet in cold water, cook one minute and pour in a glass of good brandy. Take at once from the fire.
Wine sauce (liquid)
Make as just directed, but using wine in place of brandy.
COLD PUDDINGS AND CUSTARDS
Besides the ordinary baked and boiled custards, there are many varieties which are easily prepared, and are delicious, as well as digestible. The milk of which these are made should always have added to it a bit of soda the size of a pea to prevent curdling. I shall not mention this in the following recipes, as I shall take it for granted that the precaution has been taken.
Boiled cup custards
Heat a quart of milk in a double boiler, but do not bring it quite to the boil. Beat five eggs light and stir into them half a cupful of sugar. On this mixture pour the scalding milk very gradually, beating steadily all the time. Return to the double boiler, and cook, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the spoon. If boiled longer than this it will curdle and separate. Remove the custard from the fire, season with two teaspoonfuls of vanilla and set aside to cool. When cold, nearly fill glasses or cups with the mixture and heap with a meringue made by whipping the whites of two eggs stiff with two tablespoonfuls of sugar.
Baked custard
Proceed exactly as in the preceding recipe until you have poured the hot milk on the sugar and eggs. At this point flavor the mixture with two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, and turn it into a pudding-dish. Grate nutmeg over the top of the custard, set the pudding-dish in an outer pan of boiling water, and bake in a moderate oven. When the custard is firm it is done.
Boiled chocolate custards
(Contributed)
Scald a quart of milk in a double boiler, and stir into it a bit of soda the size of a pea. Beat five eggs light with a half cupful of powdered sugar, and whip into them five tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate. Pour the scalding milk upon this mixture, return it to the fire in a double boiler, and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens and coats the spoon. Remove from the fire and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla. When cold, pour into custard cups or glasses, and heap sweetened whipped cream upon the top of each.
Baked chocolate custard
Into a quart of scalding milk stir five tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate wet with cold milk. Cook for a minute. Have the yolks of seven eggs and the whites of five (reserving the other whites for a meringue) beaten light with a cupful of sugar. Pour the scalding milk and chocolate gradually on the eggs and sugar, and turn into a buttered pudding-dish set in a pan of boiling water. Bake until firm, then draw to the door of the oven and spread with a meringue made of the reserved whites and two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Return to the oven and bake to a delicate brown. Eat cold with cream.
French tapioca custard
Soak four tablespoonfuls of tapioca in two cupfuls of cold water and let it stand for four hours; add a quart of scalding milk, and stir for a minute. Turn all into a double boiler, and bring to the scalding point, then pour gradually upon the yolks of four eggs beaten light with a cupful of sugar. Cook again in a double boiler for ten minutes, by which time the custard should be thick. Set in the ice until very cold. Now whip the whites of the four eggs stiff, beat them into the custard, add two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, turn into a glass bowl, and serve.
Tapioca cocoanut custard
Make as directed in last recipe, but add to the beaten whites at the last a cupful of finely-grated cocoanut sweetened with powdered sugar.
Floating island
Heat a pint of milk to scalding in a double boiler. Beat the yolks of three eggs stiff—setting the whites in the ice-box until they are needed for a meringue. Into the whipped yolks stir three tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar, and pour the scalding milk gradually upon these. Return to the fire and cook, stirring all the time, until the custard is thick enough to coat the spoon. Remove from the fire, and, when the custard is cool, flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla and turn into a glass bowl. Whip the chilled whites to a stiff meringue and beat into this, a little at a time, three tablespoonfuls of red jelly—catawba grape or currant. The meringue should be pink in color, and may be heaped upon the top of the custard in the bowl.
Rice custard
Cream a tablespoonful of butter with two of powdered sugar, and gradually work in three beaten eggs. Add two cupfuls of milk, and when you have a smooth mixture, two cupfuls of cold, boiled rice. Beat until free from lumps, add a pinch of salt, and turn into a greased pudding-dish. Set in the oven in a pan of boiling water, and bake, covered, until the custard is set. Uncover and brown. Eat cold with sugar and cream.
Cocoanut custard
Wet five tablespoonfuls of cornstarch with cold milk, and stir it into a quart of scalding milk until thick and free of lumps. Whip six eggs light with a cupful of sugar, and add gradually to the thickened milk. Cook for five minutes; add, at once, a grated cocoanut, and take from the fire. Flavor with a teaspoonful of rose-water, and when it begins to cool, pour into a glass bowl. When cold, eat with sugar and cream.
Orange custard
(Contributed)
Squeeze out and strain the juice of six good oranges. Add a cupful of sugar and cook slowly for half an hour, skimming often. Take from the fire and turn into a bowl. When lukewarm, pour gradually, beating all the time, upon a warm custard made of the yolks of five eggs and two cupfuls of milk. Put in your egg-whip and beat steadily five minutes. Turn into a glass bowl, and lay upon the top a meringue made by whipping the whites of the eggs with five tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Set upon ice until very cold.
Coffee custards
Into a quart of rich custard cooked and still warm stir a pint of very strong, clear, hot, black coffee. Beat for five minutes until thick and creamy. Fill glasses or custard cups with it, and heap whipped cream on top of each. Set in cracked ice until you serve.
Cinnamon custard
(Contributed)
Bring a quart of milk to the boiling point. Add a saltspoon of salt, a piece of cinnamon stick and three ounces of sugar. Strain, and when cold mix with two or three well-beaten eggs. Pour into a pudding-dish and cover the top of the dish with slices of brown bread, buttered on both sides and cut in triangular pieces. Bake in a slow oven and serve with hot sauce.
WHIPPED CREAM DISHES
The easiest and most rapid way to whip cream is with an ordinary, old-fashioned wire egg-whip. Put the cream into a shallow dish and set in the ice-box until thoroughly chilled. Into a half-pint stir two teaspoonfuls of sugar and begin at once to beat with regular, steady strokes, not removing the froth as it forms, but whipping until the cream is a thick, stiff, smooth mass. If the cream is cold, if the utensils are chilled, and the room is not too warm, the desired effect may be produced in ten minutes. I have done it in five. When the sillibub has reached the right consistency add a teaspoonful of such flavoring as you desire. A half-pint of cream whips to a pint.
“INDIVIDUAL” FLOATING ISLAND
MERINGUE GLACÉ AND WHIPPED CREAM
Orange cream
Soak a half-package of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for an hour, then stir it into a cupful of boiling water. Have ready the juice of two oranges and the grated rind of one, and pour over them a cupful of sugar and the hot liquid gelatine. Set at the side of the range while you beat the yolks of three eggs stiff. Strain the hot liquid and pour, a very little at a time, upon the beaten yolks, stirring constantly. Heat again in a double boiler, beating all the while, and as soon as the custard reaches the boiling point remove and set aside to cool. When cold and thick, beat into it a pint of whipped cream.
Chestnuts with whipped cream
Shell and boil Spanish chestnuts, remove the skins and rub the nuts through a colander. Sweeten to taste and beat to a soft paste with a little cream. Form the mixture into a pyramid in the center of a chilled platter, and heap sweetened, whipped cream around it.
Prune Charlotte
Stew a dozen and a half large prunes; when cold, remove the stones and chop fine. Whip a pint of cream very stiff with three tablespoonfuls of sugar, then whip the minced prunes into this. Line a glass dish with lady-fingers, or thin slices of sponge cake, and fill the center with the prune cream. Set in the ice-box until time to serve.
Fruited whipped cream
Whip a pint of cream stiff, sweeten abundantly and stir into it lightly a cup of whole strawberries, a banana peeled, and cut into dice an orange, treated in the same way, and a cup of finely-minced pineapple. Serve very cold. As the fruits are acid, the cream should be very sweet.
Peach sponge
Mash two quarts of peeled and cut-up peaches. Strew sugar over them, and let them stand for an hour to draw out the juice. Put the fruit through a vegetable press and extract all the juice. Soak a box of gelatine in cold water until dissolved, add four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and heat to scalding. Now stir in the peach juice, remove from the fire, and strain. When cool, set the bowl containing the mixture in a pan of ice, and beat into it a pint of whipped cream. When very stiff turn into a mold to form.
Peach tapioca
Soak a cup of tapioca over night. Peel and cut up ten peaches; add a cup of sugar and stew until tender. Boil the tapioca in two cups of water until clear, then stir the stewed peaches into it. Remove from the fire, add the juice of a small lemon and set away to cool. Eat with whipped cream.
Strawberry float
Mash two quarts of berries and strain off the juice. Sweeten this and add it to a pint of very rich cream. Whip the whites of four eggs stiff with six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and beat in the mashed berries. Put the pink cream in the bottom of a glass bowl and heap the strawberry meringue high upon it.
Raspberry float
May be made according to the foregoing recipe, substituting raspberries for strawberries.
Pineapple Charlotte
Grate or chop a pineapple very fine, after peeling it and removing the “eyes.” Soak a half-box of gelatine for an hour in a half cupful of cold water, then add a cupful of granulated sugar and a cupful of boiling water, and stir over the fire just long enough to dissolve the gelatine. As the mixture cools add the pineapple; set the bowl containing it in a vessel of cracked ice, and stir steadily until the mixture thickens. Now beat in a pint of sweetened, whipped cream and turn into a mold wet with cold water. When formed, eat with powdered sugar and cream.
Apple snow
Stew peeled and sliced apples until they are so soft that they can be rubbed through a colander. There should be a pint of this apple sauce. Set aside until cold. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, and into this beat the apples by the spoonful, alternately with a cupful of powdered sugar. When very stiff, add a teaspoonful of lemon juice, turn into chilled glasses, heap whipped cream upon the top, and serve.
Marrons with whipped cream
Chop half a bottle of marrons and put a teaspoonful in the bottom of each glass custard cup. Pour a little of the liquor in which they were put upon these, and fill the glasses with whipped cream. Set in cracked ice until served.
Whipped cream with macaroons
Crush stale almond macaroons fine, and beat into whipped cream just before serving. Heap in a chilled bowl, sift macaroon-crumbs thickly on top, and serve.
Orange and cocoanut delight
Use very sweet oranges for this dish, and do not try dried cocoanut. Buy the fresh fruit, and grate it.
In the bottom of a glass bowl put a layer of sliced and seeded oranges, sprinkle with granulated sugar, and then with a layer of the grated cocoanut. On this put a generous spoonful of sweetened and whipped cream. Now another layer of the sugared oranges, more cocoanut and whipped cream, and so on until the dish is full. The top layer must be of whipped cream, heaped high in the center.
Pineapple snow
Soak a half-box of gelatine in a scant cupful of cold water for an hour. Peel a small pineapple, and grate it; then cover with a cup of sugar, and let it stand for an hour before stirring the soaked gelatine into it. Turn all into a saucepan set within a pan of boiling water, and stir until the gelatine and sugar are dissolved. Remove from the fire and let it cool, but not stiffen. Whip a pint of cream very stiff. Stand the saucepan containing the gelatine and pineapple in a deep bowl of cracked ice and, as the mixture stiffens, beat into it, by the spoonful, the whipped cream. Beat steadily until all the cream is in, and the jelly is stiff and white. Turn into a glass bowl, and set in the ice for some hours. Serve with rich cream.
Raspberry cream sponge
Mash a quart of red raspberries, and stir into them a large cupful of granulated sugar. Soak a half cupful of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for an hour. Pour upon the gelatine a cupful of boiling water. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved, then add the sweetened berries. Strain all through a muslin bag, pressing hard to extract the juice. Turn into a bowl to get cool. When cool, set the bowl in an outer vessel of cracked ice, and as the jelly stiffens, beat into it, by the spoonful, a pint of whipped cream. Beat until stiff and very cold. Set in the ice to form. Serve with sweetened cream.
Banana froth
Whip a cupful of cream stiff. Rub enough bananas through a fine sieve to make a cupful of pulp, and beat this at once into the whipped cream; add four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, and beat to a frothy mass. Line a glass dish with almond macaroons, fill it with the banana cream, and sprinkle this generously with tiny bits of crystallized cherries, citron and blanched and minced almonds. Serve at once. Of course, the fruits and nuts must be minced and made ready before the preparation of the banana cream is begun.
Macaroon Charlotte Russe
Soak macaroons in custard until rather soft, but not broken, and line a dish with them. Beat a pint of cream stiff, and stir into it half a cupful of blanched and chopped almonds and the same quantity of minced citron. Heap this upon the soaked macaroons.
BLANC MANGE
Arrowroot blanc mange
Put half a pint of milk into a double boiler, and when it reaches the scalding point stir into it three heaping teaspoonfuls of arrowroot which have been dissolved in a gill of cold water. Stir until thick and smooth; remove from the fire, flavor with a half-teaspoonful of vanilla, and pour into a bowl to cool. Set in the ice-box until needed. Serve with powdered sugar and cream.
Vanilla blanc mange
Soak a half-package of gelatine in enough water to cover it, and at the end of two hours stir into it a half cupful of sugar. Add this to a pint of scalding milk, and stir until the gelatine is dissolved; remove from the fire, strain and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla. Pour into wet molds to form. When firm, serve with sweetened whipped cream.
Chocolate blanc mange (No. 1)
Soak a package of gelatine in a half-pint of cold milk for two hours. Stir a pinch of soda into a quart of rich milk, and bring to the scalding point in double boiler. Beat the yolks of two eggs light with a small cupful of granulated sugar. Stir the soaked gelatine into the hot milk, and when it dissolves pour the hot liquid gradually upon the yolks and sugar; then whip in five tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate wet to a paste with a little cold milk. Put all into a double boiler and cook, stirring all the time, until the boiling point is just reached. Remove at once from the fire, turn into a bowl, whip in the stiffened whites of the eggs, and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Pour into a mold wet with cold water and set in a cool place to form. When ready to serve, wring a cloth out in hot water, wrap it for a moment about the mold, and turn the contents out upon a chilled glass dish. Eat with powdered sugar and rich, sweet cream.
Chocolate blanc mange (No. 2)
Heat a pint of milk and add to it a pinch of soda. Into the milk stir a half-cupful of sugar, and, when this is dissolved, two generous tablespoonfuls of corn-starch wet with cold milk. Cook until smooth and very thick; add two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate, and cook for a minute before removing from the fire. Stir into the pudding a teaspoonful of vanilla, turn into a mold wet with cold water, and set in a cold place to form.
Snow pudding
Soak a half-package of gelatine for two hours in enough water to cover it. At the end of the two hours add to the gelatine a cupful of granulated sugar and the juice of a lemon, and pour upon these two cupfuls of boiling water. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved, strain and set aside to cool. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff meringue, and when the jelly is cold and begins to thicken, whip into it this meringue. Beat from fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the mixture is like a stiff white foam. Wet a mold with cold water, pour the jelly into this, and set in the ice. When you are ready to serve the pudding, turn it out upon a chilled dish, and eat with sugar and cream, or with soft custard.
Banana blanc mange
Soak a tablespoonful of gelatine for an hour in a teacupful of water. Bring a cupful and a half of milk to the boiling point, add a pinch of baking-soda, and stir in a half cupful of sugar and the soaked gelatine. Boil for five minutes, stirring steadily. Line a jelly-mold with sliced bananas and pour the lukewarm blanc mange carefully in upon these. Set in the ice to form. Turn out and eat with whipped cream.
Peach sponge
Soak a half-box of gelatine for two hours. Peel and slice a dozen peaches, add to them a cupful and a half of sugar and a half cupful of water, and stew until the fruit is broken to pieces. Now stir in the soaked gelatine. When this is dissolved rub all through a coarse sieve, add a tablespoonful of lemon juice, and when the mixture is cool and beginning to thicken whip in the stiffened whites of four eggs. Beat steadily for fifteen minutes, and turn into a mold to form. Serve very cold with whipped cream.
Italian cream
Soak half a box of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for an hour. Heat four cupfuls of milk in a double boiler, and when hot stir into them the yolks of four eggs beaten light with half a cupful of sugar. Stir over the fire for two minutes, add the gelatine and keep stirring until dissolved. Take from the fire, flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla and set aside to cool. Beat the whites of the eggs stiff, and add them to the custard when it is cold, but before it has begun to form. Turn into a mold wet with cold water and set aside to form firm.
Pink pudding
Soak a package of gelatine for an hour in a cupful of cold water. Mash a pint of ripe strawberries and turn upon them a cupful of granulated sugar. Pour a pint of boiling water upon the gelatine, and stir over the fire until dissolved; add the sugar and mashed berries, and strain through coarse muslin. When the jelly is very cold whip the whites of five eggs to a stiff meringue and beat the jelly into them. Turn into a mold and set in ice to form. Serve with whipped cream.
Brown mange
Soak a half-box of gelatine in a cupful of milk for three hours. Stir into it a cupful of granulated sugar, and pour upon it a scant quart of scalding—not boiling—milk. Add a half-cake of grated chocolate wet to a paste with milk. Stir over the fire just long enough to dissolve the gelatine and melt the chocolate, but do not let the milk boil. Pour the hot milk gradually upon the stiffened whites of four eggs. Turn the mixture into a bowl and set this in a pan of ice while you beat the contents long and steadily—until the jelly begins to stiffen. Turn into a glass bowl and set on the ice to form. When cold and firm, send to the table with great spoonfuls of whipped cream upon the top of the brown “mange.”
Rose mange
A pretty blanc mange may be made according to the foregoing recipe by omitting the chocolate and using in its place just enough juice from preserved strawberries to color the mixture a delicate pink. When the whipped cream is added dot the white surface with a few of the preserved berries.
Strawberry sponge
Soak one-half package of gelatine in one-half cupful of cold water for two hours. Mash one quart of fine strawberries and add one-half cupful of sugar and the juice of two lemons. Boil one-half cupful of sugar in a cupful of water gently for twenty minutes. Rub the strawberries through a sieve. Add the gelatine to the boiling syrup and take from the fire at once. Then add the strawberries, pour the mixture into a dish set in cracked ice and beat thoroughly for five minutes. Add the beaten whites of four eggs and beat until the mixture begins to thicken. Pour into molds and set away until firm.
Cider jelly
Soak one package of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for two hours. Add three cupfuls of sugar and the juice of three lemons; also the grated rind of one lemon. Dissolve this in one quart of boiling water. Then add one pint of good sweet cider, strain, pour into molds and let it stand on ice for several hours.
Junket
Milk is indispensable for family desserts, forming as it does the basis of tender custards and velvety creams. One of the most delicious of the metamorphoses to which it is susceptible is when, by the addition of a rennet tablet, it is changed into a tender and smooth junket. The tablet is preferable to liquid rennet, being more easily carried and more easily kept.
Flavor a quart and a pint of fresh milk with two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, and then mix with it two tablespoonfuls of rennet. Stir for a moment and put into a warm room to form. As soon as the milk has “set,” put the dish containing it in the ice-chest until it is time to send it to the table. Eat with sugar and cream. This dessert should not be made more than two hours before it is to be served, as long standing causes the milk to separate and form into curds and whey.
Vanilla junket
Dissolve one rennet tablet in a tablespoonful of cold water. Stir this into a quart of milk that is just lukewarm and has been flavored with a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Set in a warm room until firm, then put into the ice-chest until needed. This dessert should not be made more than two hours before the meal for which it is intended, as long standing causes it to break and separate. Eat with sugar and cream.
Coffee junket (very nice)
Dissolve a rennet tablet in a tablespoonful of water. Into a pint and a half of milk stir a gill of very strong black coffee, liberally sweetened. Add the dissolved rennet and turn into a glass bowl. Leave in a cool room until formed, then set on the ice immediately. Eat with sweetened whipped cream.
Charlotte Russe (No. 1)
Cut a stale sponge cake into slices and line a glass bowl with them. Into a pint of chilled cream stir half a cupful of powdered sugar and whip until stiff. At the last, beat in two teaspoonfuls of extract of vanilla. Fill the bowl with the whipped cream and set in the ice-chest until wanted.
Charlotte Russe (No. 2)
Soak a quarter of a box of gelatine in a half cupful of milk for two hours. Stir a half-cupful of sugar into a pint of cream and whip the cream until stiff; then flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla. Into the soaked gelatine beat the stiffened whites of three eggs and the sweetened and flavored whipped cream. Beat hard for a minute. Line a glass bowl with thin slices of sponge cake, and heap the white mixture in the middle.
Banana Charlotte
In a double boiler heat a cupful of cream, to which you have added a pinch of soda. Sweeten slightly, and thicken with a heaping teaspoonful of corn-starch dissolved in a gill of cold milk. Keep warm over hot water—stirring occasionally to prevent lumping—while you nearly fill a bowl with alternate layers of sliced bananas and very thin slices of sponge cake—the latter moistened slightly with milk. When the bowl is three-quarters full pour over the contents the thickened cream and set aside to get very cold. Fill the bowl with sweetened whipped cream, heap it high and serve.
Pound cake trifle
Cut a pound cake and spread each slice thickly with raspberry jam. Lay on a flat dish, and heap on each slice a great spoonful of meringue made by whipping the whites of four eggs stiff, then adding sugar and currant jelly to taste, and beating into a pink mass. Serve with cream.
Peach trifle
Boil together for five minutes one cupful of sugar and one cupful of water. Put into this one quart of pared peaches. Stir slowly until tender. When almost cold press them through a sieve. Line a deep glass dish with stale sponge cake dipped in sherry. Spread over this the cold peach pulp. Flavor one and a half cupfuls of thick sweet cream with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and one teaspoonful, each, of vanilla and lemon and whip until thick and solid. Pour this into the peaches and let it stand until very cold.
Raspberry trifle
Line the bottom of a deep glass dish with thin slices of sponge cake. Squeeze over it a little raspberry juice and cover with a thick layer of whole sweetened red raspberries. Over this another layer of the cake and another of the raspberries until the dish is filled three-quarters full. Pour over all this a plain boiled custard and serve very cold.
Rhubarb trifle
Cook soft two cupfuls of rhubarb, scraped and cut into inch lengths, using barely enough water to keep it from scorching. Soak a half-ounce of gelatine, and when ready for use strain into it the rhubarb rubbed through a sieve; add six or eight ounces of sugar and a cupful of cream; stir over the fire until well heated through, but do not let it boil, and pour into a wet mold. Set on ice. Serve with whipped cream.
Strawberry Charlotte
Mash a quart of ripe “capped” berries, and sweeten abundantly. Beat the whites of four eggs stiff, then whip in the berries strained through a sieve. Beat until smooth and stiff. Line a chilled dish with sponge cake, and fill with the pink “whip.” Dot the top thickly with ripe berries.
Rice blanc mange
Soak a quarter-box of gelatine in a quarter-cupful of water one hour; rub a quarter of a pound of rice flour in a little cold milk; add this to one quart of scalding milk; stir constantly for five minutes; add a cupful and a half of sugar and the soaked gelatin; stir for one minute, then add the grated rind of one lemon; strain this into a bowl. When a little cool mix in half a teaspoonful of bitter almond; turn into a mold that has been wet in cold water; stand in a cold place until ready to serve.
Tipsy pudding
Line a glass dish with thin slices of sponge cake. Moisten the slices with sherry or some other good wine. Put over this a layer of preserved fruit, another layer of cake and another of fruit, and so on until the dish is filled. Pour over the whole a quart of rich boiled custard.
Strawberry sillibub
Line a glass bowl with thin slices of sponge cake. Pour over the cake enough strawberry juice to dissolve the cake. Rub off on blocks of loaf sugar the yellow rind of two oranges, and dissolve the sugar in a pint of rich cream. Squeeze the juice of the oranges on some powdered loaf sugar, and add it gradually to the cream. Whip the mixture to a stiff froth, then heap it on the dissolved cake. Ornament the top with large strawberries, halved.
Orange jelly (No. 1)
For a quart of jelly allow three oranges with deep yellow skins and two lemons. Squeeze out and strain the juice. Soak half a package of gelatine in the juice, but before pressing the fruit grate carefully all the outside, so that no white mixes with the yellow rind. Cover the grated peel with a quart of cold water, softened by a pinch of baking-soda; bring gradually to the boil and simmer for five minutes. Add a teacupful of sugar to the soaked gelatine, then strain into it through a flannel bag, or fine sieve, the hot orange water, stirring all the while.
Wet a mold with cold water, put in the jelly and set on ice to form.
Orange jelly (No. 2)
Soak a half-box of gelatine in enough cold water to cover it. At the end of two hours stir into it a cupful of granulated sugar, put it into a saucepan and pour upon it three cupfuls of boiling water. Stir over the fire until the gelatine and sugar are dissolved, when add a cupful of strained orange juice and a dash of cinnamon. Do not allow the jelly to boil after the orange juice has been added, but remove at once; strain through flannel and turn into a mold wet with cold water. Set in a cold place to form.
Or a prettier fashion is to pour the liquid jelly into halved orange peels from which the pulp has been carefully removed, and which have lain in cold water for half an hour. When firm, the jelly should be eaten from these improvised bowls.
Coffee jelly
Soak one-half box of gelatine in one-half cupful of cold water. Put a cupful of sugar and one of water over the fire, and stir to a quick boil. Pour it over the gelatine and stir until it is dissolved. Add two cupfuls of strong, clear, black coffee, and strain. Turn into a wetted mold. Serve with whipped cream.
Tapioca jelly
Soak a half cupful of tapioca over night in a cupful of cold water. Put into a double boiler a pint of boiling water and dissolve in this a tablespoonful of granulated sugar. Now turn in the soaked tapioca and cook until clear. Remove from the fire and add two teaspoonfuls of lemon juice. Have ready jelly glasses wet with cold water, and turn the liquid jelly into these. Set in a cold place to form. Serve very cold with sweetened cream.
Raspberry jelly
Stir into a quart of red raspberries a cupful of granulated sugar. At the end of an hour run the berries through a vegetable press, and strain the juice thus produced through a flannel bag. Have ready a half-box of gelatine soaked in a cupful of cold water for two hours, and pour over this a pint of boiling water. Strain and stir in the sweetened raspberry juice, then set aside to get cold. Wet a jelly mold, line with firm, ripe raspberries, and pour the cool half-firm jelly carefully into it. Set in a cold place to form. Eat with cream.
Rice jelly
Wash a cupful of rice and soak it for two hours in a cupful of water. Have ready on the range a quart of boiling water and turn the rice and the water in which it was soaked into this. Boil for three-quarters of an hour, then strain through a muslin bag. When cold and thick, serve with powdered sugar and cream. It is very nice and nourishing.
Banana soufflé (cold)
Put into a double boiler a pint of milk (half cream if you can get it), and add a pinch of baking-soda. Beat the yolks of three eggs light with five heaping tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar. Add to the beaten eggs and sugar a teaspoonful of corn-starch dissolved in a little cold milk. When the milk reaches the scalding point add the egg mixture and stir to a smooth custard, or one that will coat the spoon. Slice four bananas thin into the bottom of a deep pudding-dish, add to the hot custard a teaspoonful of vanilla and pour it over the bananas. Have the whites of the eggs whipped to a stiff meringue, with two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar; heap it on top of the custard and bake in a quick oven to a delicate brown. Serve very cold with whipped cream.
Cream puffs
Melt a half-pound of butter in a pint of scalding water, and when this boils stir in three-quarters of a pound of flour. Stir steadily for a minute, or until the flour does not stick to the sides of the saucepan. Remove from the fire. When the mixture is cool whip in, one at a time, eight eggs beaten very light. Set on the ice for an hour. Line pans with buttered paper and drop the mixture by even spoonfuls at regular intervals—far apart—upon this paper. Bake in a hot oven until the puffs are golden brown. When cold, cut a slit in the side of each and fill with a cream made by the following recipe:
Cream puff filling
Thicken a cupful of hot milk with three tablespoonfuls of flour wet to a paste with cold water. When it has boiled for a minute, and is free from lumps, remove from the fire and pour upon three eggs, well beaten with a half cupful of powdered sugar. Stir over the fire to a thick, smooth cream; remove, flavor with vanilla, and when cold fill the puffs.
Macaroons
Beat the whites of three eggs stiff with three-quarters of a pound of powdered sugar. Stir in half a pound of finely-crumbled almond paste; beat until smooth, and drop by the spoonful upon greased paper. Bake for ten minutes in a steady oven.
Tutti-frutti jelly of canned fruit
Make a good jelly, using the liquor from the canned fruit as seasoning. Strain while hot, and pour a little into a wet mold or bowl. When the jelly begins to form put a layer of chopped fruit upon the jelly, cover with more jelly (which you should have kept slightly warm). When this is firm, more fruit, and so on until materials are used up. When firm and cold, you can slice at pleasure.
Prune and nut jelly
Soak a cupful of prunes all night; drain and stew them until tender in three cupfuls of water. Before taking them from the fire add a cupful of sugar. Drain the prunes, keeping the syrup, chop them and stir into them two dozen blanched and chopped almonds. Soak two-thirds of a box of gelatine in a cupful of cold water for two hours, add a cupful of boiling water and the prune liquor. Stir over the fire until the gelatine is dissolved; then remove, add the juice of a lemon and two tablespoonfuls of sherry. Turn into a glass dish, and when partly congealed stir in the prunes and nuts. Every few minutes stir the jelly until it becomes firm enough to prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom. Eat very cold with sweetened, whipped cream.
Wine jelly
Soak one-half box of gelatine in one-half cupful of cold water for an hour; put into a saucepan two cupfuls of boiling water, one cupful of sugar and some thin slices of lemon peel. When the sugar has dissolved add the gelatin and stir until that has dissolved; remove from the fire, and when partly cool add the juice of one lemon and three-quarters of a cupful of sherry wine. Pour into molds and set to cool.
Creamed figs
Wash the figs and put them in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them and with half a cup of granulated sugar. Simmer until the figs are tender when pierced with a fork. Take from the fire and spread on a plate to cool. Add a cup of sugar to the liquid and boil to a rather thick syrup. Take from the fire and pour over the figs. When very cold put into a glass dish and just before sending to the table, heap whipped cream on top. Eat with light cake.
Fig jelly
Prepare the figs by stewing. Chop very fine. Have ready half a box of soaked gelatin, put this over the fire in a cup of boiling water, add the sweetened fig syrup, stir until the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved, take from the fire, add a wineglassful of sherry and stir in the minced figs. Turn into a mold wet with cold water to form.