The home cook book

Salt to taste a quart of milk. Add three well beaten eggs. Dissolve in some of the milk three tablespoons of cornstarch, stirring it smooth. Put the milk in a saucepan, stir constantly, and when near boiling add the dissolved cornstarch. Stir hard, and boil four minutes. Wet a quart pan or teacups with cold water, pour the pudding in to harden. When perfectly cold turn it out, and serve with a cold boiled custard flavored with vanilla for a sauce. CORNSTARCH BLANC-MANGE WITH FRUIT Put a quart of milk in a double-boiler and heat, keeping one-half a cup from the quart. Take half a cup of sugar, four tablespoons (or quarter of a cup) of cornstarch, a pinch of salt and wet with the half a cup of milk you reserved. When the milk in the double-boiler boils, stir in the sugar mixture and stir till all is cooked smooth and the cornstarch thickens the milk. Beat to a froth the whites of two eggs, and as you take from the fire stir them in the blanc-mange. Set to become a little cool. In the serving dish put a layer of preserved fruit. Pour the cooled blanc-mange over. Set away to chill, and serve with cream. CREAM PUFFS Melt half a teacup of butter in a teacup of boiling water with a pinch of salt. When thoroughly melted and boiling, pour it gradually over one rounded cup of flour, stirring rapidly until smoothly mixed. When cool add four beaten eggs. Beat smooth till free from lumps. Drop a tablespoon of the batter on buttered tins and bake from thirty to forty minutes in a moderate oven. Put the pufifs close together, so they will not spread out. CREAM FOR THE PUFFS For the cream mix together one teacup of cream and half a teacup of boiling water. When boiling stir in half a teacup of sugar. Beat three eggs into one tablespoon of flour. Pour the boiling cream and sugar gradually over the eggs, stirring hard. This done, set the saucepan in another of hot water, stir constantly and let the cream gradually thicken rather thick. Flavor it with vanilla extract. When the puffs are cool cut each puff near the top with a sharp knife, and cut enough to admit a teaspoon. With a spoon put the cream in each puff. CURRANT SHORTCAKE Sift one teaspoon of salt, three teaspoons of baking powder and one quart of flour; then rub into it four tablespoons of butter. Add enough sweet milk to work into a soft dough. Divide into two parts, and pat out so as to fit two oblong pans and bake in hot oven. When done, split and spread with butter. Have ready one quart of currants stripped from stems. Put in a bowl and add one pint of sugar and crush. Spread between the layers of the shortcake. Sift pulverized sugar over the top and arrange stems of red and white currants on top and stemmed currants about the base. One seldom sees currants served except when converted into jam, but a currant shortcake is as delicious as the famous and favored strawberry. When stripped from the stem and heaped in a crystal glass and served accompanied with pulverized sugar, they make one of the most appetizing fruit dishes to serve for breakfast. [See illustration, Plate XXHL] BAKED CUSTARD