FRUIT PUDDINGS.
By the Author of “Summer Puddings,” “Savouries,” etc.
S
omany people get tired of the ordinary way of serving fruit simply stewed or as a tart, that I hope the following collection of recipes of different and dainty ways of utilising fruit may be used to vary somewhat the monotony of a wholesome article of diet.
Apple Pudding.—Six apples peeled and cut up in pieces, one quince, half a teacupful of water, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, the rind of half a lemon, one teaspoonful of lemon juice and a piece of butter the size of an egg. Put all into an enamelled pan and stew to a soft pulp and rub through a sieve. If the apples have been cooked very soft and are free from lumps, then it is not necessary to put them through a sieve.
Into the pulp stir three eggs, well beaten, a quarter of a pound of stale bread or cake crumbs grated, a dash of nutmeg, and two tablespoonfuls of milk. Pour into a tin mould previously well buttered inside and dusted with crumbs and bake in a good oven for quite an hour, turn out and serve with fine sugar over the top.
Apple Soufflé.—Butter the outside of a pie-dish and cover with pastry made as follows—
Six ounces of flour, three ounces of butter, two teaspoonfuls of sugar, and the yolk of an egg. Rub butter, sugar, and flour together, then mix to a paste with the beaten yolk and a little water. Roll out in the usual way, cut to the size of your dish, cover, and put into a good oven to bake, and slip off, and then you have a dish of paste. Meanwhile peel and core one and a half pounds of apples, and stew them with a quarter of a pound of sugar and juice and grated rind of half a lemon till quite soft; then stir in half-a-dozen ratafia biscuits and a penny sponge cake crumbled down, the yolks of two eggs and a drop of water. Cook on the fire again for a minute or two, then pour into the pastry-dish and spread over the top the whites of the three eggs beaten to a stiff froth with a tablespoonful of sifted sugar, dust sugar on the top and ornament with ratafia biscuits and preserved cherries to taste, then place in a nearly cold oven to slightly brown.
Apple Fritters.—Make a batter of a pint of milk, two well-beaten eggs, and flour enough to make a thick batter. Pare, core, and chop up into small pieces six apples, mix into the batter and fry in spoonfuls in boiling lard deep enough to cover the fritters. Fritters can also be made by slicing pared and cored apples, dipping them into thick pancake batter and frying them in butter.
Apple Dumplings.—Six apples pared and cored, six ounces of dripping, one pound of flour, one teaspoonful of baking powder, one quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, two ounces of sugar.
Put flour, powder, and salt in a basin, rub in the dripping lightly, then make into a stiff paste with water. Divide into six pieces, roll out and place an apple on each, fill up cores with sugar and work paste round each apple till covered, brush over with milk, place on a greased tin and bake from half an hour to three-quarters.
Apple Meringue.—Stew six apples pared and cored till soft, then stir in a small piece of butter. When cold add a cup of grated bread-crumbs, the yolks of two eggs, a tip of salt, sugar to taste, and a small cup of milk.
Butter a dinner plate, cover it with short crust or puff paste, make a fancy border, and bake till done. In the middle pour the apple batter, and heat up. Take the whites of the eggs, beat stiff with half a teacup of fine sugar and a few drops of essence of lemon, pile on the top of apples to cover them, place in oven to set but not to brown. Sprinkle pink sugar over the top and serve hot or cold.
Apple Pudding(American).—One quart of milk, four eggs, three cupfuls of chopped apples, the juice of a lemon and half the grated rind, nutmeg to taste and a pinch of cinnamon, one quarter of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda dissolved in a little vinegar, flour enough to make a stiff batter. Beat the yolks of the eggs very light, add the milk and seasoning, then the flour; stir hard for five minutes, then beat in the apples, then the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and lastly mix the soda well in. Bake in two square shallow tins, buttered, for one hour. Cover with a buttered paper when half done to prevent it hardening. Eaten hot with a sweet sauce.
Apple Meringue Pudding.—One pint of stewed apples, three eggs (yolks and whites beaten separately), a half cupful of fine sugar and one dessertspoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of nutmeg and cinnamon mixed, one teaspoonful of lemon juice. Add sugar, spices, butter and yolks to the apples while hot, pour into a buttered dish and bake for ten minutes. Cover while still in the oven with a meringue made of the stiffly-beaten whites, two tablespoonfuls of castor sugar and a little almond essence. Spread it smoothly and quickly, close the oven again and brown slightly. Eat cold with cream and sugar.
Apple Omelette.—Six apples, one tablespoonful of butter, nutmeg to taste, and a teaspoonful of rose-water.
Stew the apples as for sauce, beat them smooth while hot, adding the butter, sugar and nutmeg. When perfectly cold put in the yolks beaten well, then the rose-water, and lastly the whites whipped stiff; pour into a warmed and buttered pie-dish. Bake in a moderate oven till delicately browned.
Brown Betty.—One cupful of bread-crumbs, two cups of sour chopped apples, half a cupful of sugar, a teaspoonful of cinnamon, and twotablespoonfuls of butter chopped into small bits.
Butter a deep pie-dish, put a layer of apples at the bottom, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and pieces of butter, then crumbs, then another layer of apples, sugar, and so on till the dish is full, having crumbs on the top. Cover closely and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour, then uncover, sprinkle with a little sugar and brown quickly.
Apple Batter Pudding.—One pint of rich milk, two cups of flour, four eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in hot water.
Peel and core eight apples, and arrange them closely together in a pie-dish. Beat the above batter till light and pour it over the apples and bake for one hour in a good oven. Unless the apples are very sweet, the cores should be filled up with sugar.
Apples and Tapioca.—One teacupful of tapioca, six juicy sweet apples, a quart of water and some salt.
Soak the tapioca in three cups of lukewarm water in a pan, put the pan back on the range and let it just keep warm for several hours till the tapioca becomes a clear jelly. Peel, core, and pack the apples together in a dish, fill the centres with sugar, cover and steam in the oven, then put the tip of salt into the tapioca, and pour it over the apples, return to the oven and leave till quite cooked—about an hour. Serve with cream. If there is any objection to the appearance of the pudding, then a beaten white of egg can be spread over it just before removing from the oven.
German Apple Tart.—One and three-quarter pounds of apples, quarter of a pound of dates.
Peel, core, and cut the apples into small pieces, stone and quarter the dates, and put them in a pan with a very little water and stew till soft. Then stir in two tablespoonfuls of sugar, one ounce of butter, one teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of ginger. Beat smooth, then turn out to cool.
Make a short crust of half a pound of flour, two ounces of castor sugar, one teaspoonful of cinnamon, a small teaspoonful of baking powder, and a quarter of a pound of butter. Rub all together and work into a dough with the yolk of one egg and half a teacup of milk. Divide the dough into three pieces, roll out for bottom and sides a little thicker than the piece for the top. Line tin, fill up with the apple mixture, smooth on top, then lay third piece of crust over it, pinching the edge to the side crust, then bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. Beat the white of the egg to a stiff froth, sift in two ounces of castor sugar, a drop or two of lemon juice, and then spread evenly on top of the tart when nearly cool, and leave to set.
Apple Mould.—One and a half pounds of apples, pare, core, and cut in quarters, put in a pan with half a pound of sugar and four ounces of butter. Stew till soft, but keep the pieces whole, lift them on to a sieve and let the syrup run into a dish. Butter a pudding-dish, line it with thin fingers of bread, lay in the pieces of apple, cover with slices of bread, brush over with egg, pour over some syrup, and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour. Turn out and serve with sauce.
Apple Charlotte.—One and a half pounds of apples, peel, core, and cut up, and put on to stew with very little water and three ounces of sugar. When soft rub through a sieve, then put back into the pan, add four ounces more sugar and simmer till thick, taking care not to let the pulp burn.
Cut some stale bread into fingers, dip into melted butter, and arrange them round a well-buttered pudding mould, lapping one edge over the other and pressing firmly down, cover the bottom with rounds of bread in the same way, shake in some bread-crumbs, fill up with the apples, place more rounds of bread on the top, put into the oven and bake for an hour. Turn on to a dish, let it stand a few minutes, then draw off the mould and dust sugar over. By allowing the mould to remain a little, there is less danger of it sticking.
Before leaving the recipes for apples, I would like to give an excellent way of stewing. Pare the apples, quarter them, take out the cores, and cut the quarters into thin slices, then put them into a pan, put sugar over them to taste, shake it down through the fruit, then put a piece of white paper over, tucking it well round the edges to keep in the steam, then put on the lid, and set the pan at the side of the fire and shake occasionally till it heats.
The steam generated by the moisture of the apples is quite enough to prevent burning, and if care is taken in shaking the pan well there is no fear of burning. Stew slowly till soft. By using no water, the flavour of the fruit is much finer and the apples become a clear jelly and are most delicious to taste.
Gooseberry Fool.—Take a quart of green gooseberries, put them, after topping and tailing them, into a pan with four ounces of loaf sugar and stew them as directed for the apples—without water. When soft, rub them through a sieve, and then stir into the purée half a pint of thick cream, stir all together, add more sugar if required, then when cold pour into a crystal dish. Garnish with whipped cream on the top.
Gooseberry Pudding.—One pint of nearly ripe gooseberries, six slices of stale bread toasted, one cupful of milk, half a cupful of sugar, and one tablespoonful of melted butter. Stew the gooseberries very slowly so as not to break them. Cut your bread to fit your pudding-dish, toast the pieces, then dip while hot into the milk, then spread with butter, and cover the bottom of the dish with some of the pieces; put next a layer of the cooked gooseberries, sprinkle with sugar, then put more toast, more fruit and sugar, and so on till the dish is full. Cover closely and steam in a moderate oven for half an hour. Turn out and pour a sauce over it or eat with cream.
Gooseberry Flummery.—Take six ounces of rice and wash it, then put it into a pan with two pints of milk, and let it cook slowly till it gets soft and thick, then add two ounces of sugar and stir well. Let it get cold, then butter or oil a mould and cover the inside with a layer of the rice about an inch thick, leaving the inside empty till the rice sets. Then fill up with gooseberries stewed thick and soft with sugar and no water, and let it stand till quite stiff and cold. Turn upside down carefully—just before serving a little time—and draw off the mould carefully so as not to break the rice. This can also be steamed after putting in the fruit and served hot with custard sauce.
Flummery of Currants.—Take two pints of red currants, squeeze them and take the juice, add a little raspberry juice, and add three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar and six ounces of rice flour to it; cook all over the fire and stir continually. Boil for five minutes, then pour into a mould which has been dipped in cold water. Let it stand till cold and set, then turn out.
Raspberry Mould.—Have a mould—a plain one—or a small bowl lined with strips of stale bread, packing them closely together. Then have some raspberries stewed with enough sugar to sweeten them, pour into the mould, cover the top over with fingers of bread, seeing that the mould is quite full, put a plate or saucer on the top with a weight on it and set away till cold. Then turn out. This is all the better for being made the day before it is required so as to give it time to soak up all the juice into the bread; then it is a pretty pink shape. Any kind of fruit—juicy—can be used in this way, but raspberries or red currants are the nicest.
Lemon Pudding.—Take two tablespoonfuls of cornflour and wet it with a little cold water, then add boiling water to make a thick starch, add five spoonfuls of sugar, the juice and grated rind of two lemons and the yolks of two eggs well beaten. Pour into a dish and bake for ten minutes, then heap the stiffly-beaten whites on the top, dust with sugar and brown very lightly in the oven for a few minutes.
Compôte of Oranges.—Pare the rind of three large oranges, cut the fruit across into halves, removing the pips and white skin and pile the fruit in a glass dish. Boil the thin rind with half a pint of water and six ounces of loaf sugar, till the syrup is clear and thick, then strain it over the fruit. Garnish with little spoonfuls of whipped cream.
Pear Meringue.—Take a dozen and a half pears, peel them and put into a pan with sugar and a very little water and stew till tender, but avoid breaking them. Lift them carefully and arrange them neatly in a glass dish. Boil up the syrup with more sugar till thickish, add a drop or two of cochineal—pear syrup is always rather a dull colour without it—and pour over the fruit. Take the whites of three eggs and whip them very stiff, add six spoonfuls of castor sugar, spread roughly over the pears and brown slightly in the oven or with a salamander.
Rhubarb Cheesecake.—Stew a bunch of green rhubarb till soft, then beat it smooth with a fork, draining nearly all the syrup away. Add to the pulp the juice of two lemons, grated rind of one, a scrape of nutmeg—if liked—and sugar to taste, then add three well-beaten eggs. Have a pie-dish lined with pastry—or a deep plate will do—pour in the mixture and bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour. Serve cold.
Prune Pudding.—Half a pound of prunes. Stew till soft, then remove the stones and add sugar to taste, then the whites of four eggs beaten stiff, put into a dish and bake to a pale brown.
Orange Fool.—Juice of four sweet oranges, three eggs well beaten, one pint of cream, sugar to taste, and a very little cinnamon and nutmeg.
Put all into a pan and set it on the fire till the mixture is as thick as melted butter, keep stirring, but do not let it boil, then when a little cool pour into a glass dish. Serve cold.
Queen’s Mould.—Skin and cut into small pieces enough young rhubarb to fill a quart measure, put into an enamelled pan with one and a quarter pounds of sugar, the grated rind and juice of half a lemon, and twelve almonds blanched and chopped; boil fast and skin and stir till all is a rich marmalade, then add half an ounce of gelatine dissolved in two tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Rub a mould with oil, pour in the rhubarb, and set aside to cool and set. Turn out and serve with cream.
Rhubarb Scone Pudding.—Make a plain paste of half a pound of flour, two ounces of butter, a dessertspoonful of castor sugar, a pinch of salt, one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, half a teaspoonful of baking soda. Rub all together, then add enough sweet milk to make a nice firm paste, roll out the size of a dinner plate, butter the plate, lay the paste on and ornament the edge, and bake in a moderate oven till done. Fill the middle with stewed rhubarb—any stewed fruit is good—cover with the whites of two eggs beaten stiff, dust the top thickly with castor sugar and return to the oven to let it get a pale brown.
Constance.