The New Cookery Books

III
The Pudding and Pastry Book

THE
NEW COOKERY BOOKS.

By ELIZABETH DOUGLAS.

Fcap. 8vo, cloth, Cover designed, 2s. each.

I.
THE SOUP AND SAUCE BOOK.
II.
THE CAKE AND BISCUIT BOOK.
III.
THE PUDDING AND PASTRY BOOK.

The
Pudding and Pastry Book

By
Elizabeth Douglas

London
Grant Richards
48 Leicester Square

Preface

The following pages naturally contain only a brief selection from the thousands of sweets which exist; they have been chosen with an eye to dainty quality, and to simplicity, and every receipt has been tested.

Three words concerning sweets: French white fire-proof dishes are better for baking puddings than the ordinary English culinary utensils; small cups or glasses are more charming receptacles for jellies, creams and custards than large dishes; and the magic properties of salt (even in the preparation of sweets) cannot be too much insisted upon, the deprecatory English cook to the contrary.

E. D.

Table of Contents

General Directions

Measuring.—Flour, sugar, salt, ground spices, should always be sifted before measuring.

A cup is a breakfast-cup holding half a pint. The spoons are the silver ones in general use.

A spoonful of dry material is one in which the convexity at the top corresponds to the concavity of the spoon. A scant spoonful should be made level with the edges of the spoon.

In measuring half a tea-spoon of dry material, fill it first, and then divide it with a knife the length of the spoon.

It is necessary to remember in measuring half or quarter cups that a cup is smaller at the bottom than the top. It is most satisfactory to have half-pint measures which are marked into quarters.

Table of Measures

4 cups flour = 1 quart or 1 lb.
2 cups of butter (solid) = 1 lb.
2¹⁄₂ cups powdered sugar = 1 lb.
1 cup = ¹⁄₂ pint
1 glass = ¹⁄₂ pint
1 pint milk or water = 1 lb.
9 large eggs = 1 lb.
1 table-spoon butter = 1 oz.
1 heaping table-spoon butter = 2 ozs.
Butter the size of an egg = 2 ozs.

To clean currants.—Sprinkle the currants with flour, put them on a coarse sieve, and rub them until the stems and grit are separated and go through the sieve. Then wash thoroughly in water, changing it until clear. Drain on a towel and pick over. Dry, if the weather permits, in the sun, not in an oven.

To stone raisins.—Pour boiling water over the raisins, and let them stand in it for ten minutes. Drain and rub each raisin between finger and thumb till the seeds come out. Cut open or chop.

Sultanas.—Pick over sultanas carefully, removing the little stems.

To chop suet.—Sprinkle the suet with flour. Chop in a cold place, removing all membrane carefully.

To boil puddings.—Pour the pudding mixture into a well-buttered basin, leaving room for it to swell or rise. Take a perfectly clean cloth, dip it in boiling water, and flour plentifully inside where it covers the pudding. Tie it up tightly round the basin. Stand in boiling water. Do not let the water stop boiling for an instant until the pudding is done. If it boils away, renew with fresh boiling water.

To steam puddings.—Cover the basin (which should be buttered) with buttered paper. Set in a covered steamer over boiling water. Keep the water boiling hard.

Bain-marie.—Bain-maries can be bought, but a saucepan placed upon a trivet in a larger saucepan containing hot water does equally well.

Gelatine.—Gelatine should always be soaked in cold water for one or two hours before using. Then it should be dissolved in a very little hot water, unless otherwise specified, and strained.

The greatest care must be taken in adding liquid gelatine to a cold mixture, as it so quickly solidifies. Strain it first, and then very gradually add it to the mixture, beating hard all the time.

To whip cream.—Whip cream in as cold a place as possible. It will whip easiest if it has been kept on ice for two or three hours. While whipping, remove the froth as it comes on to a sieve to drain. The liquid cream which drains off can be returned to the basin and whipped again. Sugar can be added before or after whipping. The cream will be lighter if the sugar is whipped with it.

To melt chocolate.—Put the chocolate in a saucepan on the oven when the heat is very moderate. Watch that it does not burn.

Meringue for puddings.—To make a meringue to cover a pudding, beat several whites of egg until frothy but not stiff. Then add the sugar gradually in the proportion of one table-spoon of powdered sugar to each white. Beat till stiff. Spread over the pudding when it is cool. Put in a moderate oven, and take out as soon as the meringue has risen, and is delicately browned. Serve quickly.

To blanch almonds.—Put the almonds into boiling water and let them soak in it until the skins rub off easily between the finger and thumb. Drain and spread out to dry.

To pound almonds.—After blanching let them soak for an hour in cold water, then pound in a good sized mortar until reduced to a soft pulp. Whilst pounding add a few drops of orange-flower water or lemon juice.

Mixing.—There are three ways of mixing. Stirring, Beating, Cutting (or Folding).

To stir.—Let the spoon touch the bottom and sides of the basin, and move it round quickly in circles of various sizes. Do not lift it out of the mixture, and work well against the sides.

To beat.—Tip the bowl to one side. Bring the spoon or fork quickly down into the mixture and through it, take it out the other side and bring it over and down again, scraping the sides well each time it goes in.

It is important to keep the bowl of the spoon well scraped out during mixing.

To cut or fold.—Turn over the mixture with a spoon, lift it up, folding in the white of egg as lightly as possible. Do not stir or beat but mix very gently until quite blended.

To beat butter.—Butter which is to be beaten should not be melted; but it can be softened by being kept for a while in a warm place.

To all sweets, with a few exceptions such as jellies, creams and fruit dishes, salt should be added. It must be used carefully, since the quantity required will necessarily vary. Salt is of the highest importance in bringing out the full flavour of the ingredients used. It can be added to flour or milk, or when the whites of eggs are used it will serve a double purpose if added to them, as it makes them much easier to beat up.

Milk Puddings

Apple Tapioca Pudding

1 teacup tapioca
1¹⁄₂ pints warm water
6 apples
1 lemon
1 tea-spoon butter
1 cup milk
1 cup powdered sugar

Soak the tapioca in the water. Add to it the butter, melted, a little salt, half the sugar and the milk. Peel and core six sour apples, filling them with the rest of the sugar with which the juice of half a lemon and the grated peel of a whole lemon have been mixed. Put the apples into a deep pudding-dish. Pour the tapioca and milk round them. Bake an hour.

This pudding may be made with plums, gooseberries or currants; they should be well sweetened.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Bread
Butter
Sultanas
Powdered cinnamon
3 eggs
1 pint milk
3 table-spoons powdered sugar

Cut a number of slices of bread, taking off the crusts and spreading them with butter. Butter a pudding-dish and fill it three parts full with the slices of bread and butter, sprinkling a little powdered cinnamon and a few sultanas between each layer. Beat the sugar and eggs together. Add the milk and flavouring. Strain. Pour slowly on the bread, letting it absorb all it can. Bake in a moderate oven for an hour.

A good variation of this pudding is made by spreading each layer of bread and butter with jam.

*Bread Pudding

1¹⁄₂ cups powdered sugar
2 cups bread-crumbs
1 quart milk
5 eggs
1 table-spoon butter
Vanilla

Put the bread-crumbs, which should be very fine, to soak in the milk. Mix the butter and one cup of sugar. Add the well-beaten yolks, and beat well together. Add bread-crumbs and milk and a little vanilla. Butter a pudding-dish and fill it not more than two-thirds full. Bake in a moderate oven until set. Spread quickly with jelly or jam and cover with the whites beaten to a froth and mixed with half a cup of sugar. Put back in the oven to brown quickly. Serve cold with cream.

This pudding can be made with crushed and sweetened fresh strawberries instead of jam.

Gâteau de Riz

5 table-spoons rice
¹⁄₂ cup powdered sugar
1 quart milk
6 eggs
Lemon peel
1 bay leaf

Boil the rice and sugar in the milk, with a thin strip of lemon peel and the bay leaf, very gently until all the milk is absorbed. When cold, add four whole eggs and two extra yolks previously well beaten, and two whites beaten to a stiff froth. Beat all well together. Butter a mould, and sprinkle very fine bread-crumbs all over it. Pour in the rice and bake for half-an-hour in a quick oven.

A small cup of strong coffee can be added while the rice is being cooked, or a handful of candied cherries after the eggs have been added.

Rice Cream

1 tea-cup rice
1¹⁄₂ pints milk or 1 pint milk and ¹⁄₂ pint cream
¹⁄₂ cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla

Boil the rice in the milk (with a very little salt) until it is soft and thick and all the milk is absorbed. Add the sugar when partly cooked, and stir in the vanilla when the rice is done. Pour into small moulds or cups. Leave till the following day. Serve cold with custard, cream or cold fruit sauce.

*Plain Rice Pudding

¹⁄₂ cup rice
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar
1 quart milk
A little salt

Let the rice soak for half-an-hour in the milk. Add the sugar. Bake over two hours in a moderate oven.

Rice Pudding with Apples or Raisins

3 table-spoons rice
1 quart milk
3 table-spoons brown sugar
Salt
3 sour apples
Or 1 cup raisins or sultanas

Soak the rice in the milk for an hour. Add a little salt, the sugar, the apples pared and cut into eighths, or the stoned raisins or sultanas. Butter a deep pudding-dish and fill it, covering it with a plate. Bake very slowly for four hours.

*Rice Soufflé

¹⁄₂ cup rice
1 pint milk
6 eggs
6 table-spoons powdered sugar
1 table-spoon butter
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla

Cook the rice for twenty minutes in a large sauce-pan of salted boiling water. Drain it and cook it in the milk in a double-boiler for ten minutes. Beat the yolks until light and creamy. Add the sugar and softened butter. Stir the eggs, etc. into the rice and cook for five minutes, but do not allow it to boil. Let it get cold. Beat well together, add the vanilla, and lightly stir in the whites beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in a buttered mould for half-an-hour. Serve with a sauce.

Tapioca Pudding—I

5 table-spoons tapioca
1 quart milk
1 table-spoon butter
¹⁄₂ cup brown sugar
(3 eggs)

Soak the tapioca over night, or if this has not been done, let it simmer for half-an-hour in water. Drain and add the milk, sugar, melted butter and a little salt. Butter a dish and bake in a moderate oven for an hour.

Three eggs and a little vanilla can be added. They should be thoroughly well beaten and stirred into the milk.

*Tapioca Pudding—II

1 breakfast-cup tapioca
5 eggs
1 quart milk
1 cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla

Cover the tapioca with water and soak all night. Then boil it till tender. Make a custard (see [p. 15]) of the five yolks, sugar and milk. Drain the tapioca. Put it into a large basin, adding a very little salt. Pour the custard over it and beat well together, adding the vanilla. Whip the whites to a firm froth. Stir them lightly in. Butter a pudding-dish and pour in the mixture. Set it in a pan of boiling water in a very moderate oven. Cover it with a dish. Bake until the custard becomes thick and a little set (it must not be as firm as a baked custard). Brown with a salamander or set in a hot oven for a few minutes.

Boiled Custards

General Directions

In making custards it is of the utmost importance that they should not be allowed to boil. They are best made in a porcelain double-boiler or in a bain-marie (see [p. 15]).

Cooked white of egg may be added as a garnish to any custard. To prepare it, beat the whites to a stiff froth, and either put it on a sieve and steam it; or drop a tablespoonful at a time into boiling milk, removing it with a skimmer as soon as firm. Whipped cream or ratafias may also be used.

Plain Custard

1 pint milk
3 or 4 yolks of eggs
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ teaspoon vanilla

Beat the yolks in a good sized basin until light and creamy. Add the sugar and a very little salt. Scald the milk and pour it gradually over the yolks, stirring constantly whilst doing so. Pour the custard back into a double-boiler in the outer part of which is very hot water. Stir continually until the custard thickens. When it is thick enough it will coat the spoon. It must not boil or the custard will curdle. Strain at once into a jug. Add the flavouring when cool.

Caramel Custard

Melt three table-spoons of powdered sugar in a saucepan and stir it over a quick fire until it is a rich brown, being very careful that it does not burn. Pour this into a basin and beat it well with three or four yolks of eggs. Proceed as for plain custard (see above).

*Chestnut Custard

1 lb. chestnuts
4 eggs
4 ozs. powdered sugar
1 pint milk or cream
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla

Boil, peel and pound the chestnuts. Add the well beaten yolks, a little salt and the sugar. Beat well together. Add the milk or cream. Beat the whites to a stiff froth and add them gradually, stirring continually. When well mixed, pour into a double boiler and stir until the custard thickens. Add the vanilla when the custard is cool.

*Chocolate Custard

Add to one pint of milk three table-spoons of grated chocolate. Boil until the chocolate is melted. Proceed as for plain custard (see [p. 15]). When cold stir in a gill of rich cream. Serve very cold.

*Coffee Custard

To a pint of plain custard (see [p. 15]) add a coffee cup of strong, good coffee, and an extra table-spoon of powdered sugar. Omit the vanilla.

*Tapioca Custard

2 table-spoons tapioca
1 pint milk
2 eggs
¹⁄₃ cup powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla

Soak the tapioca for two hours in hot water in a double-boiler. Drain. Put back and add the milk. Cook until tender and clear. Carefully mix with the tapioca the two yolks beaten well, the sugar and a little salt. Cook until the custard thickens. Take off the fire and stir in the whites beaten to a stiff froth. When cool add the vanilla. Serve very cold.

Baked Custards

General Directions

The milk for baked custards should always be boiled.

It is of the greatest importance in baking custards to have a slow oven. It is a good thing to leave the oven door a little open for a short time.

It is best, although not necessary, to stand the dish of custard in another containing hot water. The water should simmer.

Custards can also be cooked by placing them in a large saucepan containing hot water, which should reach half-way up the mould or cups used. The water should be brought to a boil. Then the saucepan should be set back where it will simmer gently, and it should be covered. This method takes about an hour. It is best to let the custard stay in the water until it is cold.

Baked Custard (plain)

6 yolks
2 whites
6 table-spoons powdered sugar
1 quart milk

Scald the milk. Beat the yolks and two whites together until light and creamy. Add the sugar to them and a little salt. Beat again. Pour the scalded milk over them slowly, stirring all the time. Strain into a buttered pudding-dish or into small cups. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Bake in a slow oven for forty minutes.

*Caramel Custard

¹⁄₂ cup sugar
1 quart milk
8 yolks
2 whites
1 tea-spoon vanilla

Melt the sugar with a very little water in an iron saucepan. Stir it over a quick fire until it is a rich brown, being very careful that it does not burn. Beat the yolks and whites till light. Scald the milk. Add the sugar to it and pour slowly on the eggs, stirring continually. Add vanilla and a little salt. Strain into dish. Set the dish containing custard inside another vessel in which there is hot water and bake in a very slow oven for an hour. This custard is best the day after it is made. It should be set but creamy, and not as stiff as the ordinary plain, baked custard.

Chocolate Custard

1 quart milk
6 yolks
1 cup powdered sugar
3 ozs. grated chocolate
1 tea-spoon vanilla

Add the chocolate to the milk and boil until it is thoroughly dissolved. Beat the yolks thoroughly. Add the sugar to them and beat again. Pour the boiling milk and chocolate over the yolks and sugar, stirring continually. Add the vanilla and strain into a pudding-dish. Bake in a very slow oven for forty-five minutes to an hour. Serve very cold.

*Cocoanut Custard

¹⁄₂ lb. grated fresh cocoanut
¹⁄₄ lb. powdered sugar
1 table-spoon rose-water
Milk
¹⁄₂ pint cream
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon powdered cinnamon
2 yolks
4 whites

If there is not half a pint of cocoanut milk, add to it cold milk until there is that amount. Into this stir the sugar and rose-water. Stir in the cream and well-beaten yolks. Beat the whites to a very stiff froth, and add them alternately with the grated cocoanut and cinnamon. Bake in cups set in hot water in a moderate oven.

Coffee Custard

Make as for chocolate custard, flavouring with a coffee-cup of good strong coffee instead of chocolate, and adding another yolk.

*Crème Brûlée

1 pint cream
4 yolks

Scald the cream. Pour it slowly over the well-beaten yolks. Put the cream in a double-boiler and stir until it thickens, but do not let it boil. Pour into a shallow dish.

When it is cold sift powdered sugar thickly over it. Set in a very slow oven for quarter of an hour. Take it out. Brown the sugar with a salamander. Serve cold.

*Crème Renversée

1³⁄₄ pints milk
6 yolks
3 whites
6 table-spoons powdered sugar
1 tea-spoon vanilla

Beat the yolks and whites together. Add the sugar. Beat again. Pour the scalded milk gently over the eggs, stirring continually. Add the vanilla and a little salt.

Melt a quarter of a pound of sugar in an iron sauce-pan; stir it over a quick fire until it is a rich brown. Plunge a mould into boiling water and drain it quickly. Pour part of the prepared sugar into it at once, coating the sides evenly with it. Strain the custard immediately into the mould. Cover with a plate and set in a pan of boiling water in a moderate oven. Bake until quite firm. This can be tested with a knife, which should come out clean if the custard is done. When the custard is cold, turn it carefully out of the mould and pour round it the rest of the syrup, with which a little hot water should have been mixed.

Lemon Custard

6 eggs
2 lemons
¹⁄₂ lb. powdered sugar
1 wine-glass brandy
1 stale sponge cake
1 pint milk or cream
2 ozs. butter

Into a basin put the yolks of the eggs. Beat them well. Add three whites, the rinds of the lemons grated fine and the juice of one lemon. Beat well again. Add the sugar, brandy, and sponge cake finely crushed. Beat all together thoroughly. Add the cream and the butter, previously softened, but not melted. Bake in small moulds in a quick oven for half-an-hour.

Fruit Dishes

Baked Apples—I

Peel and core several good cooking apples. Butter on both sides as many small slices of bread as you have apples. Fill the centre of each apple with butter. Sprinkle thickly with sugar. Bake in a moderate oven three-quarters of an hour. Baste five or six times with the juice and butter, adding more butter if necessary. Serve hot, having filled the centre of each apple with jelly.

Baked Apples—II

Peel and core several good cooking apples, and fill the hollow centres with lemon sugar (see [p. 164]). Put a little water in the bottom of a shallow tin. Set the apples in it close together. Bake in a quick oven, basting often with the syrup formed by the water and sugar.

Baked Bananas

Skin several bananas and cut them lengthways in half. Place on a tin. Sprinkle well with sugar, and put several small lumps of butter on them. Bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven, basting occasionally and adding a very little hot water if there is not sufficient juice with which to baste.

Flaming Peaches

Peel several peaches, which should not be too ripe. Let them simmer for five minutes in sweetened boiling water. Take them out and drain them. Sprinkle with sugar. Pour sufficient lighted kirsch-wasser over the peaches. The peaches must be kept very hot.

Grated Pine-Apple

Grate some pine-apple coarsely. To each pound of fruit add one pound of sugar. Put into a large jar and stir occasionally. After twenty-four hours put into glass jars and cover. This will keep for months.

Miroton

4 pears
1 table-spoon flour
1 table-spoon butter
1 wine-glass white wine
Powdered sugar

Pare and core the pears. Cut into quarters, let them simmer for half an hour in a little water and sugar. Melt the butter in a sauce-pan. Add the flour. Work till perfectly smooth. Add the wine, and when hot, the pears and juice. Simmer again for half an hour. Lay the pears on rounds of fried bread. Strain the juice over them and serve hot.

*Rum Tutti Frutti

Put one quart of rum and three pounds powdered sugar in a large jar which has an air-tight cover or cork. Leave for a week. Stir well. Put into the jar three pounds of strawberries and three pounds more sugar. Stir occasionally. After another week add three pounds raspberries and three pounds sugar. Stir every day. Again, after an interval, add apricots, peaches, plums, etc., always with an equal quantity of sugar. The jar must be kept air-tight and should be kept in a cool dry place. When it is full, put it away for several weeks. Then mix thoroughly and serve with whipped cream.

Stewed Fruit

Fruit should be stewed in plenty of well-sweetened water until tender, care being taken to keep it whole. When tender remove the fruit from the saucepan. Place it in the dish in which it is to be served. To the juice add a little thin lemon peel, a few drops of lemon juice, more sugar if required, and, if liked, a glass of white wine. Set again on a quick fire and reduce until thick. Strain this over the fruit and serve when cold.

Stewed Apples

Peel and take out the core of several sound good cooking apples, putting each when finished in water into which the juice of a lemon has been squeezed. When they are all prepared arrange them in a saucepan, covering them with water and adding sugar to sweeten thoroughly. Cook quickly for about twenty minutes, taking care to keep them whole. Lift out the apples. Place them on a glass dish. Add a little lemon juice to the apple juice, more sugar if necessary, a few drops of cochineal (and, if possible, the rind of a pine-apple). Boil quickly until considerably reduced—and quite thick. Pour over the apples. Decorate each apple with a little red currant jelly.

*Stewed Figs

1 lb. dried figs
1 pint water
4 ozs. powdered sugar
1 lemon
1 wine-glass sherry

Put the figs, water, sugar and finely-pared lemon peel into an enamelled saucepan. Stew gently until very tender. This will take from two to three hours. Take out the figs and place them in a dish. Stir into the juice the sherry and juice of a lemon. Strain over the fruit and serve cold.

Stewed Peaches

6 peaches
5 ozs. powdered sugar
¹⁄₂ pint cold water
1 table-spoon kirsch

Throw the peaches into boiling water to blanch. Take out and peel. Cut into quarters, removing the stones. Put into cold water. Add the sugar. Boil for five minutes, being careful not to break the fruit. Set the fruit in a dish. Add the kirsch to the juice. Strain on to the fruit.

Stewed Pears—I

Pare, core and cut in half a number of good large cooking pears, and put them into cold water in which there is the juice of a lemon. Prick them in several places. Make a syrup in the proportion of one cup of sugar to one cup of water. Boil up and skim. When cool pour it into an earthenware jar. Put the pears into the syrup. Add two cloves. Cover the jar tightly. Set in a very slow oven and leave for five or six hours. This is the best way of cooking pears: but it is essential that the oven should be slow all the time.

Stewed Pears—II

6 pears
¹⁄₄ lb. sugar
1 wine-glass red wine
2 cloves
Rind of a lemon thinly pared

Pare and cut the pears in half. Take out the cores. Put in a saucepan. Cover with water. Add the sugar, wine, cloves and lemon rind. Simmer as slowly as possible. Arrange in a dish. Add a few drops of cochineal to the juice. Strain it over the pears.

Stewed Pears (White)

(Old French Receipt)

Put several unpeeled pears into boiling water. Cook for several minutes. Take out and throw into cold water. Peel when cold and divide in two. Put back into fresh cold water.

To a gill of water add sufficient sugar to make a sweet syrup. Boil and skim. When clear, add the pears and a slice of lemon. Simmer until tender. Remove the lemon and serve cold.

Stewed Prunes

1 lb. prunes
1 pint water
¹⁄₂ lb. sugar
1 lemon

Peel the lemon very finely. Put the peel, water, sugar and prunes in a stew-pan. Simmer gently until very tender. Put the prunes in a glass dish. Add the juice of the lemon to the syrup. Reduce it until thick. Strain over the prunes. This is best prepared the day before it is required.

Strawberries and Cream

Pick over a number of fine strawberries. Put a layer of them in a glass dish. Sprinkle sugar over them. Add one or two more layers and sprinkle each with sugar. Set aside for about an hour.

Whip half a pint of cream with the white of two eggs and two ozs. powdered sugar until very frothy. Let it stand a few minutes. Remove all the froth to a sieve to drain, and whip up the liquid cream remaining. When that is frothy, drain it on a sieve as before. Keep the cream in a cold place till it is required, piling it on the strawberries when ready to serve.

Fruit Salad

Take tinned or fresh pine-apple, peaches, apricots and fresh strawberries, cherries, bananas, oranges, according to season. Cut the large fruit into small pieces. Put all into a large bowl. Make a syrup (see [p. 151]) of sugar and water, or, if tinned pears and pine apples have been used, of their juice and sugar. Pour it over the fruit while warm. Let it stand a little while. Place on the dish in which it is to be served. Decorate with grapes or crystallised sugar.

Orange Salad

Peel a number of oranges, scraping off all the white inner skin with a sharp knife. Cut across in slices, removing all the core and seeds. Put a layer of orange in a dish. Sprinkle thickly with sugar and a little rum. Add two or three more layers of orange and sugar. Serve at once, as the orange quickly becomes bitter.

Orange and Cocoanut Salad

Peel six oranges. Scrape off the inner white skin carefully. Slice them, removing the core and seeds. Grate half a cocoanut. Put alternate layers of orange and cocoanut in a dish. The top layer should be cocoanut. Sprinkle each layer with sugar. Serve as soon as possible after making.

Pine Apple Salad

1 pine apple
¹⁄₂ pint syrup
1 table-spoon curaçoa

Peel the pine apple and grate it. Mix the curaçoa with the syrup (see [p. 151]). Pour over the fruit.

Pancakes

General Directions

To fry pancakes, melt a piece of fresh butter in a small frying-pan. When it is very hot pour in sufficient batter to cover the frying-pan with a thin layer. Fry over a clear fire, shaking the pan constantly. Loosen the edges of the pancake, when set, with a knife. Give a good shake and toss, bringing the pancake down on the other side. As each is done, put it on a very hot plate in the oven and continue frying the others as quickly as possible.

Pancakes—I (French Receipt)

4 eggs
¹⁄₂ lb. sifted flour
1 pint milk
1 table-spoon olive oil
1 table-spoon brandy, rum, absinthe or kirsch
Salt

Beat the eggs. Add the milk, flour, etc., mixing well together until perfectly smooth. Set aside for three hours. When ready to fry, add to the batter one white of egg beaten to a stiff froth. Fry in butter.

Pancakes—II (American)

5 table-spoons flour
7 eggs
1 pint cream or milk

Sift the flour with a tea-spoon of salt. Mix it smoothly with the cream. Beat up the yolks and add them, mixing thoroughly. Beat four whites to a stiff froth and stir them lightly in. Fry in very hot butter. Serve with sugar and cinnamon or lemon.

Pancakes with Jam

¹⁄₂ lb. flour
1 table-spoon sugar
¹⁄₄ lb. melted butter
5 eggs
1¹⁄₄ pints milk

First mix the sugar, flour and unbeaten eggs. Add the butter, milk and a little salt. Fry in butter in a small frying-pan, two table-spoons at a time. As soon as a pancake is done on one side, lay it on a dish and spread it with apricot or strawberry jam. Cover it with another, and so on. Sprinkle the top pancake with sugar and glaze with a salamander. Serve very hot.

*French Pancakes

2 eggs
2 ozs. powdered sugar
2 ozs. flour
2 ozs. butter
¹⁄₂ pint milk

Beat the butter to a cream. Add the well-beaten eggs, and beat together. Stir in the sugar, flour, and lastly the milk, beating all the time.

Bake in six well-buttered saucers in a quick oven about twenty minutes. Fold each pancake over. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve with lemon.

Rice Pancakes

¹⁄₄ lb. rice
¹⁄₂ pint cream or milk
1 table-spoon powdered sugar
4 eggs
2 ozs. butter
Flour

Boil the rice in water until very tender. Pound it and put it through a sieve. When cold add the cream or milk, sugar, well-beaten eggs and butter, which should be warmed and creamed. Add flour, if necessary, to make a fairly stiff batter. Fry in butter.

Fritters

General Directions

Fritters are crisper if fried in clarified fat than in lard.

In making fruit fritters dip each piece of fruit into batter. See that it is well covered.

Drop fritters, a few at a time, into smoking hot fat, being careful that they do not touch each other; fry a rich yellow. Take out with a skimmer and set in the oven for a few minutes on soft paper to drain. Sift sugar over the fritters and serve with a wine or fruit sauce.

Batter for Fritters—I

(French Receipt)

2 eggs
¹⁄₂ lb. flour
1 table-spoon olive oil
1 table-spoon brandy
¹⁄₂ cup water, milk or beer

Mix the flour and water, milk or beer, perfectly smooth. Add the well-beaten yolks, the oil and brandy (which is optional) and a little salt. Mix well and set aside for two or three hours. When the batter is wanted, beat the whites until stiff and dry and add them.

Batter for Fritters—II

9 ozs. flour
1 table-spoon powdered sugar
4 eggs
8 table-spoons butter (melted)
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
2 table-spoons brandy

Mix the flour, sugar and well-beaten yolks together. Beat until smooth, adding a little salt. Stir in the melted butter, white wine and brandy, and, just before using, the whites beaten until they are stiff and dry.

Fruit Fritters

Fritters may be made of apples, bananas, oranges, apricots, pine-apple, peaches, etc. The fruit should be ripe and perfect.

Cut apples across in slices about a third of an inch thick. Take out the core from the centre of each piece.

Cut each slice of pine-apple into four pieces.

Slice bananas lengthwise, cutting each slice in half if too long.

Cut peaches and apricots in quarters.

All fruit for fritters is best soaked for a couple of hours in well-sweetened brandy, rum or kirsch, to which a little ground cinnamon and the finely grated peel and the juice of a lemon have been added. The fruit must be well drained before it is dipped in batter.

When this is not done each piece of fruit should be sprinkled with sugar, a very little lemon juice and spice.

For frying see general directions.

Henriettes

1 egg
¹⁄₂ gill cream
Salt
1 salt-spoon baking-powder
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon vanilla
1 tea-spoon brandy
Flour

Beat the yolk and white separately. Mix all smoothly together with sufficient flour to roll out. Roll as thin as possible, and cut into squares and ribbons. Fry in boiling lard. Drain and sprinkle with flavoured sugar (see [p. 164]).

Orange Fritters

Peel and divide several sweet oranges into sections. Scrape off all pith with a sharp knife. Take out the seeds. Drop them into a syrup made of water, sugar and a table-spoon of brandy, and let them simmer for a few minutes. Take out and drain on a sieve. Dip in batter and fry (see [p. 41]). Put in the oven to drain and sprinkle with orange sugar (see [p. 164]).

Pine-Apple Fritters

1 pine-apple (fresh or tinned)
2 cups flour
1 table-spoon melted butter
1 egg
Water

Pare and grate the pine-apple. To the juice add the flour. Mix perfectly smooth. Add the well-beaten yolk, a little salt and the butter. If fresh pine-apple is used add sufficient water to make the batter thin enough to drop from the end of spoon. Beat the white of egg to a stiff froth and stir it in quickly and lightly when ready to fry. Drop into the boiling fat by the table-spoon and fry a golden brown. Drain on paper in the oven and dust with lemon sugar (see [p. 164]).

Portuguese Fritters

(Pain Perdu)

1 pint milk
1 yolk
2 table-spoons sugar
Bread
2 ozs. butter
1 dessert-spoon orange-flower water

Boil the milk with the sugar, grated rind of a lemon, and orange-flower water until it is reduced one half.

Cut several slices of bread half an inch thick. Take off the crust and cut the bread into rounds about the size of the top of a tumbler. Dip these in the milk and then in the well-beaten yolk. Fry in butter. Sprinkle with lemon sugar (see [p. 164]) or put on each one a spoonful of jam. Serve very hot.

Soufflé Fritters

(Beignets Soufflés)

1 cup water
2 ozs. butter
4 ozs. flour
1 tea-spoon powdered sugar
6 yolks
3 whites

Set the water on the fire. Add the sugar, butter and a little salt. As soon as it boils add the flour all at once. Work it smooth with a wooden spoon, and stir it over the fire for two or three minutes. Take off the fire and add the yolks of six eggs, one after the other, beating hard all the time. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth. Add this to the batter stirring it lightly in. Divide into pieces about the size of an egg, sprinkle them with flour and fry them in a very large saucepan of clarified fat, giving each fritter room to swell without touching another. The fat should not be too hot at first, but as the fritters swell the heat should be increased. When a good colour take them out, drain them and sprinkle them with sugar. Serve at once very hot.

Strawberry Fritters

Dip whole strawberries into batter No. II. Fry a good colour. Drain. Sprinkle with sugar and glaze with a salamander.

Omelets

General Directions

A special pan should be kept for omelets. It must be used for nothing else. After being used it is best to scour it with a little salt and vinegar in order to keep a perfectly smooth surface.

Melt a tea-spoon of butter in the pan, let it run well over it, but do not let it burn. Pour in the eggs. Lift the egg mixture at the sides as it cooks so as to let the uncooked part flow under. This must, however, only be done at first or the surface will be roughened. When the egg is firm underneath but still soft on top, fold one side carefully over the other with a knife. Slip gently on a very hot plate. Serve quickly and very hot. Add a little salt to the eggs whilst beating.

Sweet Omelet—I

3 eggs
Powdered sugar
Jam

Beat the eggs slightly with one table-spoon of powdered sugar. Cook as directed. Before folding over spread with apricot or strawberry jam. Fold. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and score several diagonal lines on the top with a clean red-hot poker or iron.

Sweet Omelet—II

3 eggs
2 tablespoons rich cream
Powdered sugar
Jam

Beat the yolks with one table-spoon sugar and the cream until very light and frothy. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Fold them lightly into the yolks. Pour into a pan, and when firm set in the oven a few moments to dry. Fold in half, sprinkle with sugar and score several diagonal lines with a clean red-hot poker.

Foam Omelet

3 eggs
1 table-spoon powdered sugar

Beat the yolks and sugar together. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Add half of them to the yolks, folding lightly in. Pour into a pan, and when the mixture is nearly set spread it with the rest of the whites, flavoured with a little vanilla or lemon juice and sweetened. When the whites are thoroughly heated, fold over. Sprinkle with sugar and serve quickly.

Orange Omelet

3 eggs
Powdered sugar
Orange sugar
The finely grated rind of one orange
3 table-spoons orange juice

Beat the yolks and two table-spoons powdered sugar until creamy and light. Add the juice and rind. Beat again. Fold in the whites beaten to a stiff froth. Proceed as for sweet omelet No. II. Sprinkle the omelet thickly with orange sugar (see [p. 164]).

Rum Omelet

3 eggs
Powdered sugar
Rum

Beat the eggs with one table-spoon sugar. Pour into the pan. Sprinkle well with sugar before folding. Fold. Slip on a very hot dish. Pour lighted rum over the omelet, basting the omelet with the rum until it is extinguished. Serve quickly.

Baked Soufflés

General Directions

Soufflés should be made in dishes made for the purpose and must be served in the same. The dish should be spread with cold butter, the soufflé mixed not a moment before it is time to put it in the oven (which should be moderately hot), and served immediately it is taken out. A soufflé is better underdone than overdone.

Great care must be taken to whisk in the whites of eggs as quickly and lightly as possible.

It is best to tie a piece of buttered paper round the outside of the mould, so that the soufflé does not run over. In any case room must be given for it to rise.

If there is danger of the soufflé burning, cover it with a sheet of greased paper.

Chocolate Soufflé

To the vanilla soufflé (see [page 58]) add 2 ozs. fine powdered chocolate, stirring it into the mixture whilst boiling.

Coffee Soufflé

2 ozs. roasted whole coffee
1¹⁄₂ pints cream or milk
3 ozs. butter
3 ozs. fine flour
3 ozs. powdered sugar
1 tea-spoon vanilla
8 eggs

Throw the coffee into the boiling cream or milk. Cover closely and set aside for an hour. Strain through fine muslin. Melt the butter in a large enamel saucepan. Add the flour. Mix till perfectly smooth. Add the cream and sugar. Stir together. Set aside to cool. Add the yolks beaten till creamy, and the vanilla. Then whip in the whites, which should be whisked to a firm froth. Bake in a buttered soufflé dish in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour.

Maraschino Soufflé

3 yolks
4 whites
1 table-spoon maraschino
3 table-spoons powdered sugar
3 table-spoons flour
1 pint cream

Beat the yolks and sugar for ten minutes. Add the flour. Beat till perfectly smooth. Add the maraschino and cream. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Beat them lightly in. Pour into a soufflé dish and bake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Omelette Soufflée

6 eggs
4 heaped table-spoons powdered sugar
1 tea-spoon vanilla

Beat the yolks and sugar together for fifteen minutes. Add the flavouring. Beat the whites to a stiff froth. Pour the yolks on the whites and whisk them lightly and quickly till mixed. Pour into a buttered tin, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and put in a moderately hot oven. It should take about ten to fifteen minutes to bake. Serve at once.

Punch Soufflé

1 pint cream (or milk)
2 table-spoons China or green tea
3 ozs. butter
3 ozs. flour
1 glass rum
1 lemon
8 yolks

Boil the cream. Add to it the tea. Set it back on the oven and let it stand five minutes closely covered. Strain off the cream. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir till perfectly smooth. Add the cream. Stir continually for four or five minutes. Pour into a basin. Add the sugar, juice of the lemon, half of the grated rind and the rum. Beat well together until cooler. Gradually add the well-beaten yolks, beating vigorously while doing so. Bake for about three-quarters of an hour.

Soufflé Royal

¹⁄₂ pint cream
2 table-spoons flour
2 table-spoons powdered sugar
2 table-spoons orange flower water
¹⁄₂ cup pounded almonds
6 eggs

Mix the well-beaten yolks of six eggs with the rest of the ingredients, beating all together hard for ten minutes. Add the whites beaten to a firm froth. Mix well and pour into a buttered soufflé dish. Serve as soon as the soufflé has risen. Pounded macaroons may be used instead of almonds.

Strawberry Soufflé

1 quart strawberries
8 table-spoons powdered sugar
8 whites of eggs
¹⁄₂ tea-spoon lemon juice

Press the berries through a fine sieve into a basin. Add the sugar. Beat until very frothy. Add the lemon juice and the whites whipped to a firm froth. Bake in a slow oven for half an hour. Sprinkle with lemon sugar (see [p. 164]).

Vanilla Soufflé

2 ozs. potato flour (or fine flour)
2 table-spoons powdered sugar
1 tea-cup milk or cream
4 eggs
1 tea-spoon vanilla
2 table-spoons butter

Mix the flour, sugar and milk to a perfectly smooth paste and stir over the fire until the flour is cooked (the mixture should boil for at least five minutes). Add the butter whilst boiling. Strain and set aside to cool. Beat the yolks till creamy. Beat them together with the milk, etc. Add the flavouring. Beat in the whites, whipped to a stiff froth, very lightly. Bake in buttered soufflé dish in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes.

This soufflé may be flavoured with the syrup of preserved ginger, one table-spoon of maraschino, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, or with orange flower water.

Soufflé Puddings