Original White House Cookbook

Into a pint of water stir a paste made of a tablespoonful of cornstarch or flour (rubbed smooth with a little cold water) ; add a cupful of sugar and a tablespoonful of vinegar. Cook well for three minutes. Take from the fire and add a piece of butter as large as a small egg; when cool, flavor with a tablespoonful of vanilla or lemon extract. SYRUP FOR FRUIT SAUCE. An excellent syrup for fruit sauce is made of Morello cherries (red, sour cherries). For each pound of cherry juice, allow half a pound of sugar and six cherry kernels ; seed the cherries and let them stand in a bowl over night ; in the morning, press them through a fine cloth, which has been dipped in boiling water, weigh the juice, add the sugar, boil fifteen minutes, removing all the scum. Fill small bottles that are perfectly dry with the syrup ; when it is cold, cork the bottles tightly, seal them and keep them in a cool place, standing upright. Most excellent to put into pudding sauces. ROSE BRANDY. (For Cakes and Puddings.) Gather the leaves of roses while the dew is on them, and as soon as they open put them into a wide-mouthed bottle, and when the bottle is full pour in the best of fourth proof French brandy. It will be fit for use in three or four weeks and may be frequently ♦ SAUCES FOR PUDDINGS. replenished. It is sometimes considered preferable to wine as a flavoring to pastries and pudding sauces. LEMON BRANDY. (For Cakes and Puddings.) When you use lemons for punch or lemonade, do not throw away the peels, but cut them in small pieces — the thin yellow outside (the thick part is not good) — and put them in a glass jar or bottle of brandy. You will And this brandy useful for many purposes. In the same way keep for use the kernels of peach and plum stones, pounding them slightly before you put them into the brandy. ★ ★ ★ Fruit for preserving should be sound and free from all defects, using white sugar, and also that which is dry, which produces the nicest syrup ; dark sugar can be used by being clarified, which is done by dissolving two pounds of sugar in a pint of water; add to it the white of an egg and beat it well, put it into a preserving kettle on the fire and stir with a wooden spoon. As soon as it begins to swell and boil up, throw in a little cold water ; let it boil up again, take it off and remove the scum ; boil it again, throw in more cold water and remove the scum ; repeat until it is clear and pours like oil from the spoon. In the old way of preserving, we used pound for pound, when they were kept in stone jars or crocks ; now, as most preserves are put up in sealed jars or cans, less sugar seems sufficient ; three-quarters of a pound of sugar is generally all that is required for a pound of fruit. Fruit should be boiled in a porcelain-lined or granite-ware dish, if possible ; but other utensils, copper or metal, if made bright and clean, answer as well.