Handbook of practical cookery

Pound all well together, and season with the pepper and salt. When pounded, pass the mixture through a sieve, and putting the remainder of the cream into a small bowl, beat it with a fork until it comes to a stiff froth ; mix this very lightly with the strained mixture, grease a few cup tins, and, cutting the truffles into stars, place one of these in the bottom of each tin. Fill the tins about half full with the mixture, and place them into a saute can half filled with boiling water ; cover them with a round of greased paper, and let them steam slowly for fifteen minutes. When done, turn the souffles out upon a hot platter, having the truffle stars uppermost, and serve at once. NOTE. — Any shallow pan will answer if a saute pan is not available, but care must be taken that the boiling water does not reach more than half-way up the sides of the cup tins. Chestnut Souffle.— One pint of fresh chestnuts, one and one-half gill of milk, yolks of three eggs, whites of four eggs, one ounce of powdered sugar, one ounce of butter, one ounce of flour. Throw the chestnuts into boiling water, and boil them until the shells begin to crack open. Take them from the water, remove their shells and inner skins, pound them in a WELCOME GUEST PUDDING. 141 mortar, and make them perfectly smooth by passing them through a sieve. Pour the milk over the chestnut flour, and stirring this together, put the mixture into a small sauce-pan and let it cook over a slow fire for ten minutes. At the end of this time melt the butter in a separate sauce-pan, stir into it the flour, and, when these are mixed, pour in with them the milk and chestnuts. The instant this boils take it from the fire, and adding the sugar and yolks of eggs, beat all well together. Whip the whites of eggs to a stiff froth, and stir this in lightly also, and, greasing a pint and a half souffle tin, pour into it the mixture, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Serve in a silver souffle dish or in a folded napkin, and without any delay. Welcome Guest Pudding. — Eight ounces of bread crumbs, one half pint of milk, four ounces of beef suet, three ounces of citron, four ounces of sugar, rind of one lemon, three ounces of almonds, four eggs, one grain of salt. Place four ounces of the bread crumbs into a bowl, and, bringing the milk to the boiling-point, pour it over them. Cover the bowl with a plate, and allow the bread crumbs to soak in the milk for ten minutes. While the bread crumbs are soaking, pour over the almonds some boiling water to blanch them and remove their skins. Eemove the skin from the suet and chop it very finely, and chop the almonds. Stir into the bowl with the soaked bread crumbs the four remaining ounces of crumbs ; add to this the chopped suet and almonds, also the grated rind of lemon together with the sugar and citron, which last must have been cut into very small pieces. Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs very care- fully, drop the yolks one by one into the bowl, and stir all •well together.