The handy dictionary of cookery

Beat to a cream a quarter of a pound of butter ; add to it a quarter of a pound of sugar, the grated rind of one lemon. Put the whites of three eggs upon a dry plate with a pinch of sugar ; whip them to a stiff froth. Beat well the three yolks. Mix them and a quarter of a pound of flour alternately to the pudding, and lastly, stir in lightly the whites. Have ready a buttered china mould ornamented with raisins ; pour the mixture therein ; cover the top with a buttered paper, and steam it one hour and a half. Note. — There are three rules to be observed in steaming, ist, Allow the boiling water to come only half way up the sides of the mould. 2d, Add boiling water as it reduces or the pan would boil dry. 3d, Have a tightly fitting lid to the pan in which you are steaming. Pudding, Alexandra. Mix four ounces of bread crumbs, four ounces of fine castor sugar, the yolks of four eggs well beaten, and the rind of one lemon, with a pint and a half of fresh milk. Bake in a mould for one hour. Beat the whites stiff with one ounce of powdered sugar and the juice of the lemon. Place over the turned-out pudding, and return to the oven and brown slightly. (^Another way.) Put six yolks of eggs into a basin, with two ounces of fine sugar. Stir them one way with a wooden spoon ten minutes ; add half a pint of cream, a quarter of a pint of milk, half a teaspoonful of essence of vanilla, and lastly, stir in lightly 1.39 the beaten whites of five eggs. Pour it into a buttered mould ; cover the top ; steam very slowly one hour and a quarter. Turn out. When quite cold, serve with red currant jelly. Pudding, Amber. Take one pound and a half of cooking apples ; peel them ; core them; cut them into slices. Put them into a pan with five ounces of sugar, one ounce of butter, the rind and juice of one lemon. Cook them over the fire till soft. Pass them through a sieve into a basin ; then add the yolks of three eggs, well beaten. Whip up the whites of the three eggs to a stiff froth on a clean plate with a dry broad-pointed knife and a pinch of salt. Line a flat dish with puff pastry, and fill the centre with crumpled paper, to prevent it rising to the top of the dish. Bake it in a hot oven; remove the paper; fill the centre with the apple mixture; pile on the top the whites of the eggs ; ornament with strips of angelica and dried cherries. Sift over some fine sugar, and place it in the oven to take a pale brown. Pudding, Apple. Put into a bowl half a pound of flour; chop finely a quarter of a pound of suet ; add it to the flour with a pinch of salt and mix them well together. Make into a stiff paste with cold water, forming the paste in one lump with the tips of the fingers on the right hand ; roll it out on a floured board. Line a pudding basin with it, cut it evenly round the edges with a sharp knife ; fill it with apples, put a tablespoonful of sugar in the middle of the apples. Roll out the remaining piece of paste, wet round the edges, and cover the top ; cut it evenly ; tie firmly over it a pudding cloth. Plunge it into boiling water and cook two hours. Note. — Take care more boiling water is added as it reduces, or the pan will boil dry. Pudding, Apricot.