Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes Compiled during Her Visit Part 43

AN ECONOMICAL BREAD AND APPLE PUDDING

Into a well-b.u.t.tered pudding dish put a layer of sliced sour apples.

On the top of these a layer of stale bread crumbs with small bits of b.u.t.ter and sugar sprinkled over them, more sliced apples and bread crumbs, having the crumbs for the top layer. To about three apples use 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar, piece of b.u.t.ter size of walnut and bake in oven until apples are tender. Serve with cream.

CUP CUSTARDS

1 quart of sweet milk.

5 large eggs.

3 tablespoons sugar.

Grated nutmeg or vanilla flavoring.

Scald milk. Beat whites of eggs separately. Add milk when cooled to the beaten yolks. Add sugar and flavoring. Stir in stiffly beaten whites of eggs, pour into custard cups, stand them in a dripping pan half filled with boiling water. Stand the pan in a moderate oven about twenty minutes, or until custard is "set." This quant.i.ty fills about eight small custard cups. The water surrounding the custard cups should not be allowed to boil, but the custard should cook slowly.

Grate nutmeg thickly over top of each custard before placing in the oven. Scalding the milk before using improves the custard.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S GRAHAM PUDDING

Sift into a bowl 1/4 cup of pastry flour and 1 teaspoonful of baking powder. Add 1 cup Graham flour, pinch of salt and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Mix all thoroughly, then add 1/2 cup of finely chopped kidney suet. Add 1 cup of seedless raisins mixed with one extra tablespoonful of white flour. Mix into a batter with 1 cup of sweet milk, to which add yolk of one egg. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten white of egg.

Flavor with either a little grated nutmeg or essence of vanilla.

Make a strong, unbleached muslin bag 7 by 12 inches. Pour the batter into the bag, which had been previously dipped in cold water, the inside of the bag sifted over with flour, and tie bag at top with a string, allowing room for the pudding to swell. Place the bag in the perforated compartment of a steamer, over boiling water, and boil continuously 1-1/2 hours, or longer, without removing lid of steamer oftener than absolutely necessary.

Serve Graham Pudding hot with sauce used for "cottage pudding," or serve simply with sugar and cream, or a sauce may be served composed of 1/2 cup of pulverized sugar, creamed with 1/4 cup of b.u.t.ter. Add 1 tablespoonful of lemon juice or flavor with vanilla. Stand sauce in a cool place a short time and serve cold on hot pudding.

SPONGE BREAD PUDDING

Place 1-3/4 cups of soft stale (either white or graham) bread crumbs in a pudding dish. Pour 2 cups of hot milk over the crumbs, cover with a plate and allow it to stand about thirty minutes, then add yolks of 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoonful of salt, 1 tablespoonful of sugar and grated yellow rind of orange or lemon for flavoring. Beat the mixture until perfectly smooth, add the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Bake in a moderately hot oven. Serve hot with the following sauce:

SAUCE.

Three large tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar and 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter were beaten together until smooth and creamy, 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice was added. The sauce, when quite cold, was served with the warm pudding.

AUNT SARAH'S COTTAGE PUDDING

Cream together 1 cup of sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter, 1 egg, white beaten separately, and added last, 1 cup of sweet milk, pinch of salt, 2 cups of flour, sifted with 2 heaping teaspoonfuls of Royal baking powder, 1/2 cup of dried currants, well floured. Add stiffly beaten white of egg. Bake in a small oblong bread pan.

SAUCE.

One cup of milk, 1/2 cup of water, 1 large teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter, a scant tablespoonful of flour moistened with a small quant.i.ty of water, before adding. Sweeten to taste, add 1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.

Cook all together a few minutes, allow the mixture to partly cool, then stir in the yolk of one egg; stand on stove to heat, but not to cook. Serve hot over freshly baked, warm cottage pudding, cut in squares.

APPLE "STRUDEL"

Aunt Sarah pared and quartered six medium-sized tart apples, placed in the bottom of an agate pudding dish, poured over them one cup of hot water and 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar. She allowed this to stand on the range and cook while she mixed the following dough.

Into a bowl she sifted 1 pint of flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder, one teaspoonful of sugar, a little salt. Cut 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter through the flour. Lightly mixed all together into a soft dough with about 3/4 cup sweet milk. Should she have a left-over yolk of egg, that was added to the milk. She rolled dough out lightly on the bread board, cut vents in the crust to allow steam to escape and spread it over the top of the dish containing the hot apples; placed in a hot oven to bake until light brown on top. Serve with sugar and cream.

Aunt Sarah called this "Apple Strudel," but the German recipe for "Apple Strudel," handed down by her Grandmother, was quite different.

An ordinary noodle dough was made, placed on a clean cloth on the table and rolled as thin as tissue paper. Small bits of b.u.t.ter were scattered over this, covered with tart apples, thinly sliced, sprinkled with cinnamon, sugar and chopped raisins, rolled up and baked in the oven until brown on top, basting frequently with a thin syrup composed of sugar, b.u.t.ter and water.

"LEMON MERINGUE" PUDDING

1 pint of milk.

1/2 cup of sugar 1 cup bread crumbs.

Juice and grated rind of one lemon.

2 eggs.

1/3 cup of b.u.t.ter.

3 tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar used for top. Soak the bread crumbs in milk. Beat the b.u.t.ter and sugar together. Add yolks of eggs, soaked bread crumbs and grated lemon rind and about 3/4 of the juice of the lemon. Bake in a b.u.t.tered pudding dish until firm, then cover the pudding with a meringue composed of the stiffly beaten whites of eggs, 3 tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar and the remaining lemon juice. Place in oven to brown. Stand on ice; serve cold.

SUET PUDDING

1 cup suet, chopped fine.

1 cup sugar.

1 cup sweet milk.

2 eggs.

1 teaspoonful cinnamon.

1 cup raisins.

1 cup currants.

3 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder.

Steam 2-1/2 hours, then place in oven two or three minutes. This quant.i.ty will partly fill three empty 1-pound baking powder cans; allowing room to swell. These puddings are equally as good as when freshly prepared if placed in a steamer a short time before serving until heated through.

SAUCE FOR SUET PUDDING.

One cup of pulverized sugar and 1 large tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter creamed together. One teaspoonful of vanilla. Add one whole egg or the yolks of two eggs, or the whites of two eggs, whichever you happen to have.

STEAMED FRUIT PUDDING

1 cup sweet milk.

1 cup chopped suet.

1 cup mola.s.ses.

1 cup raisins.

1 teaspoonful soda dissolved in a little water.

1 teaspoonful salt.

SAUCE FOR PUDDING.