fUDDiNGS are by many supposed to belong especially
to children and young people, but there are to be
found here and there in the world “ grown-ups ” who
say that they, too, are very fond of them. By this they
mean that they are partial to particular puddings that
have taken their fancy. There is pudding and pudding ;
and we may enjoy one kind, and be very decidedly indif-
ferent to another kind, and puddings are of all sorts.
It would be a very disgraceful thing if, after all the talk
we have had together about cookery, the girls belonging
to our cooking class were not able to make puddings. I
propose, therefore, that we give a little attention to the
subject, and discuss the general principles connected with
their concoction.
Puddings may be rich and expensive, or they may be
plain and economical ; but if they are to be good and
wholesome, the ingredients used in making them must be
fresh and of good quality. If one of the articles used in
making a pudding be in the least tainted and musty, the
pudding into which it enters will be spoilt.
Especially is this the case with eggs, suet, and milk
The taste of suet that is not perfectly sweet is particularly
disagreeable. The taint may seem very slight before the
suet is mixed in the pudding and cooked ; but if it is there
at all, heat will bring it out, and it is sure to be obtrusively
evident when the pudding is served. In the same way,
milk that shows a very feeble disposition to turn when
cold will act in a more decided manner when mixed with
eggs and baked, and will curdle and spoil the pudding
altogether.
Fuddings. 39
As to eggs, their condition >s perhaps more important
than that of any thing that can be used. One bad egg
introduced into a pudding would spoil the effect of a
dozen new laid ones. However an.xious a girl might be
to mix a pudding quickly, I would advise her never to
allow herself to break a number of eggs into a basin
without first trying them separately in a cup. She may
have bought them at the best shop in the town, and paid
the highest price for them, but there is an element of un-
certainty about eggs that no good cook can afford to
disregard.
There is one thing connected with eggs that always
astonishes me very much, and that is, how few cooks
trouble to remove the “speck.” or thick knotted substance
that lies by the side of the yolk. When the egg is turned
into a cup, the speck can be taken out easily with the
point of a fork, and it is very unpleasant to come into
contact with it while eating. We are often told that, “ in
delicate cookery,” the specks should be removed from
eggs. They should be removed in all cookery, for they
never improve a dish, and they are always objectionable.
When there is time for it the whites and the yolks of
eggs should be beaten separately, the yolks put in first
and the whisked whites dashed in at the last moment
before cooking the pudding. The reason of this is that
white of egg can be so easily whisked into a foam, and if
this can be introduced into the pudding before it has time
to fall, the little air bubbles that were beaten in it, and
that made the white of egg rise, will expand still further
with the heat, and will lift up the pudding in the same
way that they lifted up the white of egg, and so make it
light.
Page 22
Presented as published in 1882. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
PUDDINGS are by many supposed to belong especially to children and young people, but there are to be found here and there in the world “ grown-ups ” who say that they, too, are very fond of them. By this they mean that they are partial to particular puddings that have taken their fancy. There is pudding and pudding ; and we may enjoy one kind, and be very decidedly indifferent to another kind, and puddings are of all sorts.
It would be a very disgraceful thing if, after all the talk we have had together about cookery, the girls belonging to our cooking class were not able to make puddings. I propose, therefore, that we give a little attention to the subject, and discuss the general principles connected with their concoction.
Puddings may be rich and expensive, or they may be plain and economical ; but if they are to be good and wholesome, the ingredients used in making them must be fresh and of good quality. If one of the articles used in making a pudding be in the least tainted and musty, the pudding into which it enters will be spoilt.
Especially is this the case with eggs, suet, and milk The taste of suet that is not perfectly sweet is particularly disagreeable. The taint may seem very slight before the suet is mixed in the pudding and cooked ; but if it is there at all, heat will bring it out, and it is sure to be obtrusively evident when the pudding is served. In the same way, milk that shows a very feeble disposition to turn when cold will act in a more decided manner when mixed with eggs and baked, and will curdle and spoil the pudding altogether.
Fuddings. 39
As to eggs, their condition is perhaps more important than that of any thing that can be used. One bad egg introduced into a pudding would spoil the effect of a dozen new laid ones. However anxious a girl might be to mix a pudding quickly, I would advise her never to allow herself to break a number of eggs into a basin without first trying them separately in a cup. She may have bought them at the best shop in the town, and paid the highest price for them, but there is an element of uncertainty about eggs that no good cook can afford to disregard.
There is one thing connected with eggs that always astonishes me very much, and that is, how few cooks trouble to remove the “speck.” or thick knotted substance that lies by the side of the yolk. When the egg is turned into a cup, the speck can be taken out easily with the point of a fork, and it is very unpleasant to come into contact with it while eating. We are often told that, “ in delicate cookery,” the specks should be removed from eggs. They should be removed in all cookery, for they never improve a dish, and they are always objectionable.
When there is time for it the whites and the yolks of eggs should be beaten separately, the yolks put in first and the whisked whites dashed in at the last moment before cooking the pudding. The reason of this is that white of egg can be so easily whisked into a foam, and if this can be introduced into the pudding before it has time to fall, the little air bubbles that were beaten in it, and that made the white of egg rise, will expand still further with the heat, and will lift up the pudding in the same way that they lifted up the white of egg, and so make it light.