Puddings and Pastry à la Mode

Butter a plain tin mould ; cut slices of bread not quite a quarter of an inch thick, which should be dipped into oiled butter, scored across in diamond patterns, to put at bottom of mould ; cut some more slices the height of the mould, and the width of Savoy biscuits ; dip all these into oiled butter, and then arrange them neatly all round the mould, each one just overlapping the other. Make a purée with a dozen good apples by stirring them in only just enough water to cover them, beat them dry and add four ounces of castor sugar, and the rind of a grated lemon ; boil this for half an hour, stirring constantly, then pour it carefully into the mould, and let it bake for three-quarters of an hour. Apple Hedgehog. Peel and core three pounds of apples, without being divided, and stew in syrup till tender. Drain them then from the syrup, and fill them with apricot jam, and arrange them in layers in B 2 the shape of a hedgehog. Stew down three pounds more of the apples till smooth and dry, and fill up all the spaces between the whole apples with this ; beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth, with a tablespoonful of sugar, and spread it very evenly all over the apple, sift some castor sugar over, cut some sweet almonds (blanched of course) into strips, and stick them all over this, to give an appearance of hedgehog quills. Place it in a moderate oven till the almonds just change colour and the pudding is hot through ; custard sauce may be served round it. Apple Meringue. Cut half a pound of apples into slices and warm them in a saucepan with six ounces of butter and three ounces of sugar ; when cooked pile on a dish, and whip the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth ; sweeten with a tablespoonful of pounded sugar, and a few drops of essence of vanilla ; cover the apple pile with this and put cross-bars over it of angelica, arranged like trelliswork ; put it into a slow oven, just to colour a little. Apple and Rice Souffle Pudding. Boil an ounce of rice in milk till it is quite soft and can be beaten to a pulp. Scald five goodsized apples which have been pared and cored, and beat them into the rice with a tablespoonful of castor sugar, a little grated lemon-peel, and a teaspoonful of lemon-juice. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth ; and add them to the mixture, and whisk them well together. Have a hot basin ready, and pour the souffle into it, and put the basin in a stewpan of boiling water till the egg is set and firm. Make a custard with the three yolks, flavour it with cinnamon, and pour round the pudding and serve. Apple and Tapioca Pudding. Line the edges of a pie-dish with paste ; then put in a layer of peeled, cored, and sliced apples with a little sugar and a few cloves ; then a layer of tapioca which has been in soak for some hours ; then place another layer of apples, and then a layer of tapioca till the dish is full ; cover with paste and bake in rather a quick oven. Apple Tartlets with Cream. Pare, core, and finely chop two large sharp apples ; add to them two ounces of Savoy biscuits rubbed through a fine sieve ; add a grate of nutmeg, a gill of cream, and sugar to taste ; then add the yolks of five eggs and two whites well beaten. Put this mixture into patty-pans lined with puffpaste, sift white sugar over them, and bake. Apricot Fritters. Take a tin of the Climax tinned apricots. Drain away the syrup ; then cover the apricots with finely powdered sugar, and dip them into batter and fry in very hot fat. Arrange them on a dish and sprinkle sugar over them. Pine-apple fritters should be made the same way. Apricot Pudding.