The handy dictionary of cookery

ounces of butter, two tablespoonfuls of sugar ; cook them over the fire till soft, pass them through a hair sieve ; when quite cool, add the beaten yolks of four eggs, the grated rind of a lemon, and a teacup of bread crumbs ; mix them well together. Beat up the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth on a dry plate with a knife, and a tiny pinch of sugar ; add them lightly to the pudding; pour the mixture into a buttered piedish, and twist a buttered paper over the top ; bake twenty minutes, the paper should be removed for the last ten minutes to allow it to brown. Apple Tart. Put into a bowl half a pound of flour, a tiny pinch of salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful of baking powder, a teaspoonful of fine sugar ; mix them well together. Rub in very finely five ounces of lard, butter, or dripping ; add the juice of half a lemon ; make into a stiff paste with cold water, roll out three times, and it is ready for use. Peel some apples ; cut them up into a pie-dish ; when half full, add two tablespoonfuls of sugar ; fill up the dish with apples ; wet the edges of the dish, line them with a thin strip of paste, then cover the top, taking care not to stretch the pastry in putting it over; mark it with a knife round the edge ; make four holes at the sides ; bake for ten minutes in a very hot part of the oven, then remove it to a cooler part for thirty minutes. Apple Water. Choose a nice juicy apple, rub it in a clean cloth ; do not peel it ; cut it into thin slices ; put them into a jug with two lumps of sugar, a piece of thin yellow rind from a lemon ; pour over them half a pint of boiling water ; cover the top of the jug, and allow it to stand until cold ; strain it and serve. Note. — Cooling and very useful in fevers. Apricot Nougat. Make a piece of flaky crust thus : — Put into a bowl half a pound of flour, drop into the centre of it the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth, with a pinch of salt ; add just enough cold water to make a stiff paste, mixing it with the right hand ; turn it out on a floured board, roll it out to about half a yard in length, cover it all over with tiny pieces of butter, lard, or half and half of each ; fold it in three, turn the rough edges toward you ; repeat this until five ounces of butter are in, it will need about five times rolling; when this is done, line a flat baking tin with a thin layer of it ; place a piece of crumpled paper in the centre to prevent it rising to the top of the tin ; bake in a hot oven till a golden colour ; blanch a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds ; dry them on a tin near the fire ; cut them into strips ; mix them with the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth, two tablespoonfuls of sugar, eight drops of ratafia. Spread over the pastry a layer of apricot jam ; on the top of the jam a layer of the egg and almond mixture ; sift over some fine sugar ; return it to the oven to take a pale brown : cut it into pieces about three inches long and two wide ; serve high on a dish, either on paper or a napkin. Arrowroot.