The art of cooking

Chocolate Pudding. — One-quarter of a pound of grated chocolate, one pint of milk, one-half ounce of gelatine, two ounces of sugar, one teaspoonful of essence of vanilla, yolks of four eggs, one-half gill of cold water. Cover the gelatine with the cold water and allow it to soak therein for ten minutes. Place the gelatine when dissolved into a small saucepan ; put it over the fire and stir slowly until melted, taking care that it does not boil. When melted take the saucepan from the fire and allow the gelatine to cool a little. Mix together the milk and grated chocolate, until they come to a smooth paste, then in a fresh saucepan stir the ITALIAN PUDDING. mixture over the fire until boiling. Drop the yolks of eggs into a bowl, cover them with the sugar and pour over all the hot chocolate mixture. Return this compound to the saucepan, place it over the fire and let its contents cook for two minutes, stirring constantly to prevent boiling. Remove the saucepan at the end of this time from the fire ; stir into the mixture it contains the melted gelatine and drop in the essence of vanilla. Dip a pint and a half mould into cold water to wet it inside and so prevent the pudding sticking ; pour into it the pudding and set it away in a cool dry place, until the gelatine congeals and the pudding has * set * in the mould, and when this transpires turn the pudding out upon a crystal dish and serve. Italian Pudding, — One-half of a quart can of pre* served peaches, four tablespoonfuls of bread crumbs, two eggs, one gill of milk, one teaspoonful of lemon-juice, two ounces of sugar. Arrange upon a fiat dish a layer of the peaches ; cover this with a blanket of the bread crumbs, and in this way arrange alternate layers of the fruit and bread crumbs until the specified quantity be used. Put the yolks of the eggs into a bowl and with them one ounce of sugar, bring the gill of milk to the boiling point and pouring this over the yolks of eggs and sugar, stir all together and throw into the mixture the lemon-juice. Pour this liquid over the fruit and bread crumbs by spoonfuls, in order that it may be absorbed thereby — and the preparation so become moistened but not juicy; when this is done place the pudding in a moderate oven and bake it for half an hour. At the end of this time take the pudding from the oven, beat the whites of the eggs to a light froth and pile this roughly upon the top of it. Sprinkle over all the remaining ounce of sugar, place the dish once more in the oven for five minutes, to firm the froth of egg and brown it also slightly. Serve at once. Note. — This pudding may also be made with preserved apples or pears as taste or convenience may dictate. Apple Dumplings. — Five apples, twelve ounces of flour, four ounces of butter, one ounce of sugar, one teaspoonful of baking powder, one and one-half gills of cold water, one saltspoonful of salt. Rub this flour and butter together in a bowl, add to them the baking powder and the salt, and with the cold water mix all to a firm dough. Place this dough upon a mixing board, and cut it into five equal pieces. Pare the apples now very thinly, and take from them their cores, leaving the form of the apple unbroken. Roll the dough into balls, and taking an apple, work it into the centre of a ball of the dough ; and just before closing the ball so formed at the top, put into the place of the apple cores, a portion of the sugar. When the apples are all prepared in this way with the dough and sugar, place them into a baking tin, and the baking tin into a quick oven for half an hour. At the end of half an hour test the dumplings with a skewer, and if the apples be not soft to the centre, they must remain in the oven until the skewer proves them entirely done. SWISS JilSSOLES. IS9