Handbook of practical cookery

until boiling, and when boiling allow this to continue for five minutes, still stirring to prevent scorching, which the cornstarch and milk are both apt to do. Draw the sauce-pan then aside from the fire to let its contents cool a little, and in the time allowed for this beat together the eggs and sugar, add to the sugar and eggs the salt, and removing the bay-leaves from the mixture in the sauce-pan, stir into it the sugar and eggs ; after which all must be poured into a small pudding -dish, and this be placed in a moderate oven and permitted to bake for ten minutes. This pudding should be served hot. NOTE. — Corn-starch blanc-mange may be prepared exactly as is the above pudding, except that the eggs must be left out ; and instead of being baked, the preparation must be poured into moulds and allowed to stand in them until cooled into forms. This blancmange is served with jam or jelly and sweet cream. Pancakes. — Three ounces of flour, two eggs, one half pint of milk, one ounce of sugar, one salt-spoonful of salt, onehalf of a lemon, three ounces of butter. Put the flour into a large bowl, in the centre of this make a little well, into which drop the yolks of the eggs, sprinkle over these the salt, and pouring in upon this little by little the milk, mix the flour into the centre from the sides until all the milk is added and the flour thoroughly mixed with the other ingredients, the yolks of eggs thus helping to prevent the flour lumping through the small percentage of oil which they contain. Whip the whites of eggs now to a stiff froth, and stir this lightly into the batter; and when this is done melt onefourth of the butter in a frying-pan, pour into this onequarter of the batter from the bowl ; and when this browns upon one side, turn it over with a pancake shovel or broadbladed knife, taking care not to break the cake in the process. When the second side is browned also, remove the cake to a plate, sprinkle it with a little of the sugar, squeeze over this a few drops of the lemon -juice, roll the pancake quickly into a round roll, sprinkle over the top a little more of the sugar and a little more of the lemon-juice, and place it upon a platter to keep hot while the others are being fried. Divide the remaining batter into three equal parts, and in the manner above described pour into the frying-pan ; fry and turn each portion until the three other pancakes are sugared, sprinkled with the lemon-juice, rolled and placed beside the first, when they may be arranged in the fashion of a cob-house, or as the fancy may direct, upon the hot platter. They should be served at once. NOTE. — Tliis batter may also be fried in smaller sized cakes, and served, well buttered and very hot, as a breakfast dish. Rice Pudding.— One and one-half pint of milk, one half pound of rice, two ounces of sugar, one half tea-spoonful of salt, one egg, one ounce of butter. Grease a deep pudding-dish thoroughly inside with the butter, and pour into this the milk, into which stir the dry rice.