The Healthy Life Cook Book, 2d ed., Florence Daniel [most romantic novels txt] 📗

2em">18. JAM ROLL, BAKED.

Mix the paste for the crust just a little stiffer than for the boiled pudding. Spread with jam and roll up. Bake on a greased tin for half-an-hour.

19. MILK PUDDINGS.

Nearly every housewife makes milk puddings, but only one in a hundred can make them properly. When cooked, the grains should be quite soft and encased with a rich thick cream. Failure to produce this result simply indicates that the pudding has been cooked too quickly, or that the proportion of grain to milk is too large.

Allow 2 level tablespoons, not a grain more, of cereal (rice, sago, semolina, tapioca) and 1 level tablespoon sugar to every pint of milk. Put in a pie-dish with a vanilla pod or some strips of lemon rind, and stand for an hour in a warm place, on the hob for example. Then take out the pod or peel and put into a fairly hot oven. As soon as the pudding boils, stir it well, and move to a cooler part of the oven. It should now cook very slowly for 2 hours.

20. JELLY, ORANGE.

7 juicy oranges, 1 lemon, 6 ozs. lump sugar, water, 1/4 oz. prepared agar-agar.

Rub the skins of the oranges and lemons well with some of the lumps of sugar, and squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemon. Soak the agar-agar in cold water for half an hour and then thoroughly squeeze. Warm in 1 gill of water until dissolved. Put the fruit juice, agar-agar, and enough water to make the liquid up to 1-1/2 pints, into a saucepan. Bring to the boil.

Pour through a hot strainer into a wet mould. Turn out when cold. If difficult to turn out, stand the mould in a basin of warm water for 2 or 3 seconds.

21. JELLY, RASPBERRY & CURRANT.

1 lb. raspberries, 1/2 lb. currants, 6 ozs. sugar, 1/4 oz. prepared agar-agar, 3/4 pint water.

Soak agar-agar as for Orange Jelly. Cook fruit with 1/2 pint water until well done. Strain through muslin. Warm the agar-agar until dissolved in 1 gill of water. Put the fruit juice, sugar, and agar-agar into a saucepan. If liquid measures less than 1-1/2 pints, add enough water to make up quantity. Bring to the boil, pour through a hot strainer into wet mould. Turn out when cold and serve.

22. MINCEMEAT.

1/2 lb. raisins, 1/2 lb. sultanas, 1/2 lb. currants, 1/2 lb. castor sugar, 1/4 lb. nutter, 1/2 a nutmeg, grated rind of 2 lemons, 1-1/2 lb. apples.

Well wash all the dried fruit in warm water, and allow to dry thoroughly before using. Stone the raisins, pick the sultanas, and rub the currants in a cloth to remove stalks. Wash and core the apples, but do not peel them. Put all the fruit and apple through a fine food-chopper. Add the sugar, grated lemon rind, and nutmeg. Lastly, melt the nutter and add. Stir the mixture well, put it into clean jars, and tie down with parchment covers until needed for mince pies.

23. NUT PASTRY.

Flake brazil nuts or pine-kernels in a nut mill, or chop very finely by hand. Do not put them through the food-chopper, as this pulps them together, and the pudding will be heavy. Allow 1 heaped cup of flaked nuts to 2 level cups of flour. Mix to a paste with cold water. Roll out very lightly. Cover with chopped apple and sugar, or apples and sultanas, or jam. Roll up. Tie loosely in a floured pudding-cloth. Put into fast-boiling water and boil for 1 hour.

24. PLAIN PUDDING.

1 lb. flour, 3 ozs. nutter, a full 1/2 pint water.

Rub the nutter very lightly into the flour, or chop like suet and mix in. Add the water gradually, and mix well. Put into a pudding-basin, and boil or steam for 3 hours. Turn out and serve with golden syrup, lemon sauce or jam.

25. PLUM PUDDING, CHRISTMAS.

1/2 lb. raisins, 1/2 lb. sultanas, 1/2 lb. currants, 1/2 lb. cane sugar, 1/2 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. sweet almonds, 1/4 lb. grated carrot, 1/4 lb. grated apple, 1/4 lb. nutter, grated rind of 2 lemons, 1/2 a nutmeg.

Well wash the raisins, sultanas and currants in hot water. Don't imagine that this will deprive them of their goodness. The latter is all inside the skin. What comes off from the outside is dirt, and a mixture of syrup and water through which they have been passed to improve their appearance. Rub the currants in a cloth to get off the stalks, pick the stalks from the sultanas, and stone the raisins. Put the currants and sultanas in a basin, just barely cover them with water, cover them with a plate, and put into a warm oven—until they have fully swollen, when the water should be all absorbed. (Currants treated in this way will not disagree with the most delicate child. They are abominations if not so treated.) Rub the nutter into the flour, or chop it as you would suet. Blanch the almonds by steeping them in boiling water for a few minutes: the skins may then be easily removed; chop very finely, or put through a mincer. Wash, core, and mince (but do not peel) the apples. Grate off the yellow part of the lemon rind. Mince or grate the carrots.

Mix together the flour, nutter, sugar, lemon rind, almonds and nutmeg. Then add the raisins, sultanas and currants. Lastly, add the grated carrot and apple, taking care not to lose any of the juice. Don't add any other moisture. If the directions have been exactly followed, it will be moist enough. Put it into pudding-basins or tin moulds greased with nutter, and boil or steam for 8 hours.

26. RAILWAY PUDDING.

2 eggs, 1 oz. butter, 3 ozs. flour, 2 ozs. castor sugar, 2 tablespoons milk.

Beat the butter and sugar to a cream. Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Beat the yolks, and add to sugar and butter. Add the flour, and lastly, stir in the whites, whisked to a froth, very gently. Have ready a hot, greased tin, pour in the mixture quickly, and bake in a very hot oven from 6 to 8 minutes. Warm some jam in a small saucepan. Slip the pudding out of the tin on to a paper sprinkled with castor sugar. Spread with jam quickly and roll up. Serve hot or cold.

27. SAGO SHAPE.

5 ozs. small sago, sugar to taste, 1-1/2 pints water, or water and fruit juice.

Wash the sago. Soak it for 4 hours. Strain off the water. Add to the strainings enough water or the juice from stewed fruit to make 1-1/2 pints liquid. Sweeten if necessary, but if the juice from stewed fruit is used it will probably be sweet enough. This dish is spoiled if made too sweet. Put the sago and 1-1/2 pints liquid into a saucepan and stew for 20 minutes. Now add the stewed fruit which you deprived of its juice, stir well, pour into a wet mould, and serve cold. Made with water only, and flavoured with a very little sugar and lemon peel, it may be served with stewed fruit.

28. SUMMER PUDDING.

Put a layer of sponge cake at the bottom of a glass dish. Cut up a tinned pine-apple (get the pine-apple chunks if possible) and fill dish, first pouring a little of the juice over the cake. Melt a very little agar-agar in the rest of the juice. (Allow half the 1/4 oz. to a pint of juice.) Pour over the mixture. Serve when cold.

29. TREACLE PUDDING.

Line a pudding-basin with short crust. Mix together in another basin some good cane golden syrup, enough bread-crumbs to thicken it, and some grated lemon rind. Put a layer of this mixture at the bottom of the pudding-basin, cover with a layer of pastry, follow with a layer of the mixture, and so on, until the basin is full. Top with a layer of pastry, tie on a floured pudding-cloth, and boil or steam for 3 hours.

30. TRIFLE, SIMPLE.

Put a layer of sponge cake at the bottom of a glass dish. Better still, use sections of good home-made jam sandwich. Pour hot boiled custard on to this until the cake is barely covered. Blanch some sweet almonds, and cut into strips. Stick these into the top of the cake until it somewhat resembles the back of a hedgehog! Serve when cold.

X.—CAKES AND BISCUITS.

Cakes need a hot oven for the first half-hour.

If possible, they should not be moved from one shelf to another, but the oven should be cooled gradually by opening the ventilators or lowering the gas. A moderate oven is needed to finish the cooking.

All fruit cakes (unless weighing less than 1 lb.) need to be baked from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. The larger the cake the slower should be the baking.

The cake tins should be lined with greased paper.

If a gas oven is used, stand the cake tin on a sand tin (see Cold Water
Bread).

If the cake becomes sufficiently brown on top before it is cooked through, cover with a greased paper to prevent burning.

To test if done, dip a clean knife into hot water. Thrust it gently down the centre of cake. If done, the knife will come out clean and bright.

1. CAKE MIXTURE.

1/4 lb. butter, 1/4 lb. castor sugar, 6 ozs. flour, 2 eggs.

Half butter and half nutter gives just as good results and is more economical.

Beat together the butter and sugar to a cream. Whisk the eggs to a stiff froth and add. Stir in the flour gently. Mix well. Add a little milk if mixture is too stiff. This makes a Madeira Cake.

For other varieties, mix with the flour 1 dessertspoon caraway seeds for Seed Cake; 2 tablespoons desiccated cocoanut for Cocoanut Cake; 6 ozs. candied cherries chopped in halves for Cherry Cake; 6 ozs. sultanas and the grated rind of 1 lemon for Sultana Cake; the grated yellow part of 2 lemon rinds for Lemon Cake.

2. SMALL CAKES.

Take 2 small eggs and half quantities of the ingredients given for the cake mixture. Add the grated rind of half a lemon for flavouring. Grease a tin for small cakes with 9 depressions. Put a spoonful of the mixture in each depression. Bake for 20 minutes in a hot oven.

3. COCOANUT BISCUITS.

1/2 lb. desiccated cocoanut, 1/4 lb. sugar, 2 small eggs.

Proceed as for Macaroons, but make the cakes smaller. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour.

4. "CORN WINE AND OIL" CAKES.

1 lb. wholemeal flour, 3/4 lb. raisins, 4 tablespoons walnut oil, 1/4 pint water.

This recipe was especially concocted for non-users of milk and eggs. Stir the oil well into the flour. Add the washed and stoned raisins (or seedless raisins, or sultanas). Mix to a dough with the water. Divide dough into two portions. Roll out, form into rounds, and cut each round into 6 small scones. Bake in a hot oven for half an hour.

5. CURRANT SANDWICH.

8 ozs. butter, 1 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. cane sugar, currants.

Mix flour and sugar, and rub in the butter. Mix with water to plastic dough. Divide dough into two cakes, 1 inch in thickness. Cover one evenly with currants, lay the other on top, and roll out to the thickness of one-third of an inch. Cut into sections, and bake in a hot oven for about 30 minutes.

6. APPLE SANDWICH.

Make a short crust (see recipe). Well grease some shallow jam sandwich tins. Roll out the paste very thin and line with it the tins. Peel, core, and finely chop some good, juicy apples. Spread well all over the paste. Sprinkle with castor sugar and grated lemon rind. Cover with another layer of thin paste. Bake for about 20 minutes in a hot oven. When done, take carefully out of the tin to cool. Cut into wedges, sprinkle with castor sugar, and pile on a plate.

7. FANCY BISCUITS.

8 ozs. flour, 4 ozs. butter, or 3 ozs. butter and 1 egg, 4 ozs. cane sugar, flavouring.

Flavouring may consist of lemon rind, desiccated cocoanut, cooked currants, carraway seed, mace, ginger, etc. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add flavouring and flour. Mix with the beaten egg, if used; it not, treat like the Lemon