_Seasonable_ in June, July, and August.
_Note_.--A few currants added to the cherries will be found to impart a nice piquant taste to them.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CHERRY.]
CHERRIES.--According to Lucullus, the cherry-tree was known in Asia in the year of Rome 680. Seventy different species of cherries, wild and cultivated, exist, which are distinguishable from each other by the difference of their form, size, and colour. The French distil from cherries a liqueur Darned _kirsch-waser_ (_eau de cerises_); the Italians prepare, from a cherry called marusca, the liqueur named _marasquin_, sweeter and more agreeable than the former. The most wholesome cherries have a tender and delicate skin; those with a hard skin should be very carefully masticated. Sweetmeats, syrups, tarts, entremets, &c., of cherries, are universally approved.
COLD PUDDING.
1262. INGREDIENTS.--4 eggs, 1 pint of milk, sugar to taste, a little grated lemon-rind, 2 oz. of raisins, 4 tablespoonfuls of marmalade, a few slices of sponge cake.
_Mode_.--Sweeten the milk with lump sugar, add a little grated lemon-rind, and stir to this the eggs, which should be well whisked; line a b.u.t.tered mould with the raisins, stoned and cut in half; spread the slices of cake with the marmalade, and place them in the mould; then pour in the custard, tie the pudding down with paper and a cloth, and boil gently for 1 hour: when cold, turn it out, and serve.
_Time_.--1 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 1d.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
COLLEGE PUDDINGS.
1263. INGREDIENTS.--1 pint of bread crumbs, 6 oz. of finely-chopped suet, 1/4 lb. of currants, a few thin slices of candied peel, 3 oz. of sugar, 1/4 nutmeg, 3 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls of brandy.
_Mode_.--Put the bread crumbs into a basin; add the suet, currants, candied peel, sugar, and nutmeg, grated, and stir these ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed. Beat up the eggs, moisten the pudding with these, and put in the brandy; beat well for a few minutes, then form the mixture into round b.a.l.l.s or egg-shaped pieces; fry these in hot b.u.t.ter or lard, letting them stew in it until thoroughly done, and turn them two or three times, till of a fine light brown; drain them on a piece of blotting-paper before the fire; dish, and serve with wine sauce.
_Time_.--15 to 20 minutes. _Average cost_, 1s.
_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 puddings. _Seasonable_ at any time.
CURRANT DUMPLINGS.
1264. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 6 oz. of suet, 1/2 lb. of currants, rather more than 1/2 pint of water.
_Mode_.--Chop the suet finely, mix it with the flour, and add the currants, which should be nicely washed, picked, and dried; mix the whole to a limp paste with the water (if wanted very nice, use milk); divide it into 7 or 8 dumplings; tie them in cloths, and boil for 1-1/4 hour. They may be boiled without a cloth: they should then be made into round b.a.l.l.s, and dropped into boiling water, and should be moved about at first, to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.
Serve with a cut lemon, cold b.u.t.ter, and sifted sugar.
_Time_.--In a cloth, 1-1/4 hour; without, 3/4 hour.
_Average cost_, 9 d.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ZANTE CURRANTS.]
ZANTE CURRANTS.--The dried fruit which goes by the name of currants in grocers" shops is not a currant really, but a small kind of grape, chiefly cultivated in the Morea and the Ionian Islands, Corfu, Zante, &c. Those of Zante are cultivated in an immense plain, under the shelter of mountains, on the sh.o.r.e of the island, where the sun has great power, and brings them to maturity. When gathered and dried by the sun and air, on mats, they are conveyed to magazines, heaped together, and left to cake, until ready for shipping. They are then dug out by iron crowbars, trodden into casks, and exported. The fertile vale of "Zante the woody" produces about 9,000,000 lbs. of currants annually. In cakes and puddings this delicious little grape is most extensively used; in fact, we could not make a plum pudding without the currant.
BOILED CURRANT PUDDING.
(_Plain and Economical_.)
1265. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 1/2 lb. of suet, 1/2 lb. of currants, milk.
_Mode_.--Wash the currants, dry them thoroughly, and pick away any stalks or grit; chop the suet finely; mix all the ingredients together, and moisten with sufficient milk to make the pudding into a stiff batter; tie it up in a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil for 3-1/2 hours; serve with a cut lemon, cold b.u.t.ter, and sifted sugar.
_Time_.--3-1/2 hours. _Average cost_, 10d.
_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time.
BLACK or RED CURRANT PUDDING.
1266. INGREDIENTS.--1 quart of red or black currants, measured with the stalks, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar, suet crust No. 1215, or b.u.t.ter crust No.
1213.
_Mode_.--Make, with 3/4 lb. of flour, either a suet crust or b.u.t.ter crust (the former is usually made); b.u.t.ter a basin, and line it with part of the crust; put in the currants, which should be stripped from the stalks, and sprinkle the sugar over them; put the cover of the pudding on; make the edges very secure, that the juice does not escape; tie it down with a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil from 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Boiled without a basin, allow 1/2 hour less. We have allowed rather a large proportion of sugar; but we find fruit puddings are so much more juicy and palatable when _well sweetened_ before they are boiled, besides being more economical. A few raspberries added to red-currant pudding are a very nice addition: about 1/2 pint would be sufficient for the above quant.i.ty of fruit. Fruit puddings are very delicious if, when they are turned out of the basin, the crust is browned with a salamander, or put into a very hot oven for a few minutes to colour it: this makes it crisp on the surface.
_Time_.--2-1/2 to 3 hours; without a basin, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
_Average cost_, in full season, 8d.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ in June, July, and August.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CURRANTS.]
CURRANTS.--The utility of currants, red, black, or white, has long been established in domestic economy. The juice of the red species, if boiled with an equal weight of loaf sugar, forms an agreeable substance called _currant jelly_, much employed in sauces, and very valuable in the cure of sore throats and colds.
The French mix it with sugar and water, and thus form an agreeable beverage. The juice of currants is a valuable remedy in obstructions of the bowels; and, in febrile complaints, it is useful on account of its readily quenching thirst, and for its cooling effect on the stomach. White and flesh-coloured currants have, with the exception of the fullness of flavour, in every respect, the same qualities as the red species. Both white and red currants are pleasant additions to the dessert, but the black variety is mostly used for culinary and medicinal purposes, especially in the form of jelly for quinsies. The leaves of the black currant make a pleasant tea.
RED-CURRANT AND RASPBERRY TART.
1267. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 pint of picked currants, 1/2 pint of raspberries, 3 heaped tablespoonfuls of moist sugar, 1/2 lb. of short crust.
_Mode_.--Strip the currants from the stalks, and put them into a deep pie-dish, with a small cup placed in the midst, bottom upwards; add the raspberries and sugar; place a border of paste round the edge of the dish, cover with crust, ornament the edges, and bake from 1/2 to 3/4 hour: strew some sifted sugar over before being sent to table. This tart is more generally served cold than hot.
_Time_.--1/2 to 3/4 hour.
_Average cost_.
_Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons.
_Seasonable_ in June, July, and August.
[Ill.u.s.tration: RASPBERRY.]