yolks of 4 eggs, the whites of 2, both being previously well beaten; stir it over the fire till it is the thickness of cream; then pour it into an open tart-paste and bake it in a moderate

oven.

Yorkshire Pudding.-Put 1 pint of boiling milk to the crumb of a penny loaf, 4 eggs, a little salt and flour; put it. in a tin and bake it under roast beef or mutton.

A Welsh Pudding.-Let lb. of fine butter melt gently, beat with it the yolks of 8 and whites of 4 eggs, mix in 6 oz. of loaf-sugar, and the rind of a lemon grated. Put a paste into a dish for turning out, and pour the above in, and nicely bake it.

Gloucester Puddings.-Weigh 3 eggs in the shell; take their weight in flour and butter; take 12 bitter almonds and 5 oz. of pounded sugar; beat all together for an hour, and put the mixture in pudding-cups, filling the cups only half full. Bake them an hour.

DUMPLINGS.

657.-Oxford Dumplings. Of grated bread 2 oz., currants and shred suet 4 oz. each, 2 large spoonfuls of flour, a great deal of grated lemon-peel, a bit of sugar, and a little pimento in fine powder. Mix with 2 eggs and a little milk into 5 dumplings, and fry of a fine yellow brown. Made with flour instead of bread, but half the quantity, they are excellent. Serve with sweet-sauce.

Apple Dumplings should be made of 1 large apple quartered and cored, then put together, covered with a thin paste, and boiled till the fruit shall be done enough.

Or :-The apple is best not cut, but the core scooped out, and the centre filled up with a piece of butter and sugar, according to the tartness of the apple. The paste should not be rolled out, but a lump of the proper quantity taken, the apple placed upon it, and the paste carefully pressed round it: bringing it to a point which is easily closed, so as to keep in the juice and butter. They have a pretty effect if boiled in nets instead of cloths.

Yeast or Suffolk Dumplings.-Make a very light dough with yeast, as for bread, but with milk instead of water, and put salt. Let it rise an hour before the fire. 20 minutes before you are to serve, have ready a large stewpan of boiling

water; make the dough into balls the size of a middling apple, throw them in, and boil 20 minutes. If you doubt when done enough, stick a clean fork into one, and if it come out clear it is done.

The way to eat them is, to tear them apart on the top with 2 forks, for they become heavy by their own steam. Eat immediately with meat, or sugar and butter, or salt; or with melted butter, sweetened, and add a tablespoonful of lemonjuice.

Norfolk Dumplings. With a pint of milk, two well-beaten eggs, and a little salt, mix as much flour as will make a thick batter. Drop a spoonful at a time into a stewpan of boiling water; a few minutes will do them. Take them up in a sieve to drain, and serve quickly with cold butter; the water must not cease boiling while they are doing.

Dumplings quickly made.-Beat 4 eggs and strain them; mix 4 oz. of flour very smoothly with a pint of milk; add to it the eggs, strain it again, and flavour the batter with sugar and nutmeg; butter some teacups, fill them three parts full, and put them into an oven: they will take of an hour, and, if well mixed, will be equal to custard.

Or :-If boiled for an hour in a cloth, the ingredients will make an excellent batter pudding.

Have

Another mode.-Shred suet, and mix with grated bread, a few currants, the yolks of 4 eggs and the whites of 2, some grated lemon-peel and ginger: make this into little balls about the size and shape of an egg, with a little flour. ready a skillet of boiling water, and throw them in. 20 minutes will boil them; but they will rise to the top when done. Serve with pudding-sauce.a

Currant Dumplings.—Take lb. each of flour, breadcrumbs, suet (chopped fine), and currants: mix all together with a pinch of salt, a tablespoonful of moist sugar, a little grated lemon-peel and nutmeg, with 4 eggs, and sufficient milk to make it a tolerably stiff batter; wet a cloth and tie the mixture in dumplings about the size of a teacup; boil for an hour, and serve with melted butter sweetened with moist sugar.

a If the currants, lemon-peel, and ginger be omitted, the above is the mode of making suet dumplings to be put into soup.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CUSTARDS, CREAMS, JELLIES, &c.

CUSTARDS.

658.-CUSTARD is always eaten cold, and either poured over fruit tarts, or served up separately in custard-cups, in each of which a macaroon steeped in wine, and laid at the bottom, will be found a good addition.

The flavouring may likewise be altered, according to taste, by using a different kind of essence, the name of which it then acquires; as of lemon, orange, maraschino, vanilla, &c. It is almost needless to say that cream or a portion of it will make it richer than mere milk.

It should be recollected that in custard, when made as cream, and eaten as usually called "raw," the whites of the eggs are never all used; but they may be devoted to many other purposes.

The French mode of making it is, to measure the number of cups which are to be filled, and use nearly that quantity of milk or cream, simmering it upon the fire until beginning to boil, then adding about oz. of powdered sugar to each cup, with lemon-peel, bay-leaves, or almond-powder; then take the yolk of an egg to each small cup, beat them up with the milk, fill the cups, place in a bain-marie or vase of boiling water until the custard become firm.

Custard Cream:-Boil pint of new milk with a piece of lemon-peel, 2 peach-leaves, a stick of cinnamon, and 8 lumps of white sugar. Should cream be employed instead of milk, there will be no occasion to strain it. Beat the yolks, say of 4 eggs; strain the milk through coarse muslin, or a hair sieve; then mix the eggs and milk very gradually together, and simmer it gently on the fire, stirring it until it thickens,

but removing it the moment it begins to boil, or it will curdle. The addition of a glass of brandy beaten up with it materially improves its flavour.

Or:-Boil a quart of milk with 6 laurel-leaves and 2 oz. of loaf-sugar: have ready the yolks of 7 eggs and the whites of 3, well beaten; pour them into a jug, and pour on them the boiling milk, having taken out the leaves; put the jug into a pan of boiling water, and keep stirring till of sufficient thickness, which will be in a few minutes.

A cheap and excellent sort is made by boiling 3 pints of new milk with a bit of lemon-peel, a bit of cinnamon, 2 or 3 bay-leaves, and sweetening it. Meanwhile, rub down smooth a large spoonful of rice-flour into a cup of cold milk, and mix with it 4 yolks of eggs well beaten. Take a basin of the boiling milk, mix it with the cold, and pour that to the boiling, stirring it one way till it begins to thicken, and is just going to boil up; then pour it into a pan, stir it some time, add a large spoonful of peach-water, 2 teaspoonfuls of brandy, or a little ratafia.a

Custard Cream of Chocolate is made by grating any quantity of spiced chocolate, moistened by degrees with warm milk, and put into a stewpan, with yolks of eggs, to thicken.

Or :-Scrape lb. of the best chocolate; pour on it a teacupful of boiling water, and let it stand by the fire till it has dissolved. Beat 8 eggs very light, omitting the whites of 2. Stir them by degrees into a quart of cream or rich milk, alternately with the melted chocolate and 3 tablespoonfuls of powdered white sugar. Put the mixture into cups and bake it 10 minutes. Send them to table cold, with whipped white of egg heaped on the top of each custard.

Coffee Custard.-Boil a pint of milk, and when boiling pour it upon 2 tablespoonfuls of whole coffee, that you have just warmed before the fire. Let it stand for an hour, then sweeten it, add 4 yolks of eggs, thicken over the fire, and when thick enough strain and fill the glasses.

Almond Custard.-Boil in a pint of milk, or cream, 2 or 3 bitter almonds, a stick of cinnamon, and a piece of lemonpeel pared thin, with 8 or 10 lumps of sugar; let it simmer

a Marbles, boiled in custard, or anything likely to burn, will, if shaken in the saucepan, prevent it from catching.

Beat

to extract the flavour, then strain it and stir it till cold. the yolks of 6 eggs, mix it with the milk, and stir the whole over a slow fire until of a proper thickness, adding 1 oz. of sweet almonds, beaten fine in rose-water.

Or :-Blanch and beat 4 oz. of almonds with a spoonful of water; beat a pint of cream with 2 spoonfuls of rose-water, and put them to the yolks of 4 eggs, with as much sugar as will make it pretty sweet; then add the almonds: stir it all over a slow fire till it is of a proper thickness, but do not boil. Pour it into cups or glasses.

Or:-Blanch 2 oz. of sweet and 2 oz. of bitter almonds; beat them very fine in a mortar, using 2 spoonfuls of orangeflower water or a little milk in the pounding, to prevent their oiling. Whisk up 4 eggs well (8 or 10 yolks may be used instead) with 6 or 8 oz. of powdered loaf-sugar, to which add a pint of milk, or part milk and cream, and the pounded almonds put the whole into a saucepan on the fire, and stir it constantly from the bottom with a whisk until it becomes thick; but remember it must not boil, or it will curdle and be spoiled. Take it from the fire, keep stirring it for a few minutes, pour it into a basin, and stir it occasionally with a spoon to prevent a skin forming on the top; then pour it into cups, and grate nutmeg over the tops.

For rich Custard.-Boil a pint of milk with lemon-peel and cinnamon; mix a pint of cream and the yolks of 8 eggs well beaten ; when the milk tastes of the seasoning, strain it and sweeten it enough for the whole; pour it into the cream, stirring it well; then give the custard a simmer till of a proper thickness. Do not let it boil; stir the whole time one

way.

Or :-Boil a pint of cream with some mace, cinnamon, and a little lemon-peel: strain it, and when cold add to it the yolks of 4 and whites of 2 eggs, a little orange-flower water, and sugar to your taste. A little nutmeg and 2 spoonfuls of sweet wine may be added, if approved. Mix well, and bake in cups.

A still richer sort is made by using cream without any portion of milk, or other flavouring than a glass or two of any of the highly flavoured liqueurs-either curaçao, noyeau, or maraschino, beaten up with the yolks only of strictly fresh eggs, from which the "tread has been picked out. If the