1317. INGREDIENTS.--Puff-paste, the white of an egg, sifted sugar, jelly or preserve.
_Mode_.--Make some good puff-paste by recipe No. 1205 (tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs answer very well for little dishes of this sort); roll it out to the thickness of 1/4 inch, and, with a round fluted paste-cutter, stamp out as many round pieces as may be required; brush over the upper side with the white of an egg; roll up the pieces, pressing the paste lightly together where it joins; place the rolls on a baking-sheet, and bake for about 1/4 hour. A few minutes before they are done, brush them over with the white of an egg; strew over sifted sugar, put them back in the oven; and when the icing is firm and of a pale brown colour, they are done. Place a strip of jelly or preserve across each roll, dish them high on a napkin, and serve cold.
_Time_.--1/4 hour before being iced; 5 to 10 minutes after.
_Average cost_, 1s. 3d.
_Sufficient_.--1/2 lb. of puff-paste for 2 dishes.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
PASTRY SANDWICHES.
1318. INGREDIENTS.--Puff-paste, jam of any kind, the white of an egg, sifted sugar.
_Mode_.--Roll the paste out thin; put half of it on a baking-sheet or tin, and spread equally over it apricot, greengage, or any preserve that may be preferred. Lay over this preserve another thin paste; press the edges together all round; and mark the paste in lines with a knife on the surface, to show where to cut it when baked. Bake from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour; and, a short time before being done, take the pastry out of the oven, brush it over with the white of an egg, sift over pounded sugar, and put it back in the oven to colour. When cold, cut it into strips; pile these on a dish pyramidically, and serve. These strips, cut about 2 inches long, piled in circular rows, and a plateful of flavoured whipped cream poured in the middle, make a very pretty dish.
_Time_.--20 minutes to 1 hour. _Average cost_, with 1/2 lb. of paste, 1s.
_Sufficient_.--1/2 lb. of paste will make 2 dishes of sandwiches.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
PEt.i.tES BOUCHEES.
1319. INGREDIENTS.--6 oz. of sweet almonds, 1/4 lb. of sifted sugar, the rind of 1/2 lemon, the white of 1 egg, puff-paste.
_Mode_.--Blanch the almonds, and chop them fine; rub the sugar on the lemon-rind, and pound it in a mortar; mix this with the almonds and the white of the egg. Roll some puff-paste out; cut it in any shape that may be preferred, such as diamonds, rings, ovals, &c., and spread the above mixture over the paste. Bake the bouchees in an oven, not too hot, and serve cold.
_Time_.--1/4 hour, or rather more. _Average cost_, 1s.
_Sufficient_ for 1/2 lb. of puff-paste. _Seasonable_ at any time.
POLISH TARTLETS.
1320. INGREDIENTS.--Puff-paste, the white of an egg, pounded sugar.
_Mode_.--Roll some good puff-paste out thin, and cut it into 2-1/2-inch squares; brush each square over with the white of an egg, then fold down the corners, so that they all meet in the middle of each piece of paste; slightly press the two pieces together, brush them over with the egg, sift over sugar, and bake in a nice quick oven for about 1/4 hour. When they are done, make a little hole in the middle of the paste, and fill it up with apricot jam, marmalade, or red-currant jelly. Pile them high in the centre of a dish, on a napkin, and garnish with the same preserve the tartlets are filled with.
_Time_.--1/4 hour or 20 minutes.
_Average cost_, with 1/2 lb. of puff-paste, 1s.
_Sufficient_ for 2 dishes of pastry.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Note_.--It should be borne in mind, that, for all dishes of small pastry, such as the preceding, tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of puff-pasty, left from larger tarts, answer as well as making the paste expressly.
PUITS d"AMOUR, or PUFF-PASTE RINGS.
1321. INGREDIENTS.--Puff-paste No. 1205, the white of an egg, sifted loaf sugar.
_Mode_.--Make some good puff-paste by recipe No. 1205; roll it out to the thickness of about 1/4 inch, and, with a round fluted paste-cutter, stamp out as many pieces as may be required; then work the paste up again, and roll it out to the same thickness, and with a smaller cutter, stamp out sufficient pieces to correspond with the larger ones. Again stamp out the centre of these smaller rings; brush over the others with the white of an egg, place a small ring on the top of every large circular piece of paste, egg over the tops, and bake from 15 to 20 minutes. Sift over sugar, put them back in the oven to colour them; then fill the rings with preserve of any bright colour. Dish them high on a napkin, and serve. So many pretty dishes of pastry may be made by stamping puff-paste out with fancy cutters, and filling the pieces, when baked, with jelly or preserve, that our s.p.a.ce will not allow us to give a separate recipe for each of them; but, as they are all made from one paste, and only the shape and garnishing varied, perhaps it is not necessary, and by exercising a little ingenuity, variety may always be obtained. Half-moons, leaves, diamonds, stars, shamrocks, rings, etc., are the most appropriate shapes for fancy pastry.
_Time_.--15 to 25 minutes.
_Average cost_, with 1/2 lb. of paste, 1s.
_Sufficient_ for 2 dishes of pastry.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
PARADISE PUDDING.
1322. INGREDIENTS.--3 eggs, 3 apples, 1/4 lb. of bread crumbs, 3 oz. of sugar, 3 oz. of currants, salt and grated nutmeg to taste, the rind of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 winegla.s.sful of brandy.
_Mode_.--Pare, core, and mince the apples into small pieces, and mix them with the other dry ingredients; beat up the eggs, moisten the mixture with these, and beat it well; stir in the brandy, and put the pudding into a b.u.t.tered mould; tie it down with a cloth, boil for 1-1/2 hour, and serve with sweet sauce.
_Time_.--1-1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 1s.
_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
PEASE PUDDING.
1323. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 pint of split peas, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 2 eggs, pepper and salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Put the peas to soak over-night, in rain-water, and float off any that are wormeaten or discoloured. Tie them loosely in a clean cloth, leaving a little room for them to swell, and put them on to boil in cold rain-water, allowing 2-1/2 hours after the water has simmered up. When the peas are tender, take them up and drain; rub them through a colander with a wooden spoon; add the b.u.t.ter, eggs, pepper, and salt; beat all well together for a few minutes, until the ingredients are well incorporated; then tie them tightly in a floured cloth; boil the pudding for another hour, turn it on to the dish, and serve very hot. This pudding should always be sent to table with boiled leg of pork, and is an exceedingly nice accompaniment to boiled beef.
_Time_.--2-1/2 hours to boil the peas, tied loosely in the cloth; 1 hour for the pudding.
_Average cost_, 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons.
_Seasonable_ from September to March.
BAKED PLUM-PUDDING.
1324. INGREDIENTS.--2 lbs. of flour, 1 lb. of currants, 1 lb. of raisins, 1 lb. of suet, 2 eggs, 1 pint of milk, a few slices of candied peel.
_Mode_.--Chop the suet finely; mix with it the flour, currants, stoned raisins, and candied peel; moisten with the well-beaten eggs, and add sufficient milk to make the pudding of the consistency of very thick batter. Put it into a b.u.t.tered dish, and bake in a good oven from 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours; turn it out, strew sifted sugar over, and serve. For a very plain pudding, use only half the quant.i.ty of fruit, omit the eggs, and subst.i.tute milk or water for them. The above ingredients make a large family pudding; for a small one, half the quant.i.ty would be found ample; but it must be baked quite 1-1/2 hour.