Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Raisin Pudding, Boiled.— Shred half a pound of beef suet very finely. ]\Iix with this four ounces of flour, two ounces of ground rice, a pinch of salt, four ounces of Demerara sugar, four ounces of stoned raisins, and the grated rind of a small lemon. Mix the diy ingredients thoroughly, stir in with them a quarter of a pint of milk which has been beaten up with one egg and the strained juice of a lemon. Pour the mixture into a plain, well-buttered mould, tie it closely down, plunge it into plenty of fast-boiling water, and let it boil quickly until done enough. Turn it out, sift powdered sugar thickly over it, and serve with pudding sauce. Time to boil, thi-ee hours. Probable cost, Is. Sufficient for four or five persons. Raisin Pudding (economical). — Shred eight ounces of beef suet very finely, and mix with it one pound of flour, a pinch of salt, a dessert-spoonful of moist sugar, a tea- spoonful of baking powder, the eighth of a nutmeg grated, and ten ounces of stoned raisins. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly, and stir in with them as much milk as will make a thick batter. Pour the preparation into a buttered dish, and bake in a well-heated oven. Turn out the pudding, strew sugar over it, and serve. This pudding may be boiled as well as baked. Time to bake, one hour and a half. Probable cost, Is. 2d. Sufficient for seven or eight persons. Raisin Wine. — March is the best time for nialdng raisin wine. Take eight pounds of fine Smyrna raisins for every gallon of water that is to be used. Pick the large stalks only from the raisins. Put them into a perfectly sound sweet tub, pour the water over them, and press them well down. Cover the tub, and stir the mixture every day for four weeks. Strain the liquor, and squeeze the raisins as dry as.possible. Put the wine into a cask, cover up the bunghole to keep out the dust, and when the hissing sound ceases, bung the hole closely, and leave the wine untouched for twelve months. Draw it off into a clean cask, and filter the dregs carefully through three or four folds of muslin. Bung it up again, and bottle it at the end of three years. If preferred, the wine may be bottled at the end of a twelvemonth, but it will be much improved by keeping. Those who prefer having a little brandy in the wine may put a bottle or more into the cask with the liquor. Good vinegar may be made from raisins which have been used for wine. Time, four weeks to stir the liquor before putting it into the cask. Raisin Wine (another way). — Take two hundredweight of raisins with all their stalks, put them into a large hogshead, and fill it up with water ; let them steep a fortnight, stirring them every day ; then pour off the liquor, and press the raisins. Put both liquors together into a nice clean vessel that will just hold it, but remember it must be quite full ; let it stand till it has done hissing or making the least noise, then stop it close, and let it stand six months. Peg it, and if you find it quite clear, rack it off into another vessel. Stop it again close, and let it stand three months longer; then bottle it, and when wanted for use rack it oft" into a decanter.