SWEETS.

309.-Cabinet Pudding.

Spread the inside of a mould with butter; ornament the bottom and sides with pieces of preserved fruits. Fill the mould with alternate slices of sponge cake, ratafias, and maccaroons, and some more pieces of dried fruits, or small lumps of guava jelly or apricot marmalade. Make a custard with 7 eggs, 1 pint of milk, 6 ounces of sugar, and a little vanilla or grated lemon-peel; add 1 wine-glassful of brandy. Let it get cold, and pour it by degrees into the mould so as to penetrate every corner; then cover the mould and steam it an hour. Serve cold with custard over it, into which mix another wine-glassful of brandy.

310.-Winter Pudding.

1 pint of very fine bread-crumbs, 1 quart of milk, 1 teacupful of sugar, 4 yolks of eggs well beaten, grated rind of 1 lemon, a lump of butter about the size of an egg. Mix all this well together in a dish, and bake it till just set (if cooked too much it will be watery).

Whip up 4 whites of eggs to a stiff froth; then whisk in a teacupful of castor sugar, mixed with the juice of 1 lemon. Now turn out the pudding; spread over it a layer of jam or jelly, pour over the whisked whites, and bake slightly. Serve cold with cream.

311.-Swiss Apples.

Peel and cut the apples in quarters; fry them in butter a pale gold colour; put them to drain (on a piece of blotting-paper is best). Heap them up on a dish, and keep them warm. Now put in a saucepan 1 pint of claret, a little cinnamon; sweeten with about half a pound of brown sugar; add the grated rind of 1 lemon and the juice of half a lemon. Make the sauce quite hot, but do not let it boil. Pour it over the apples.

312.-Banana Fritters.

Cut some bananas in half; sprinkle them with castor sugar; put them to soak in a little rum. Have some frying batter; dip each piece in; fry in boiling fat, and serve up on a napkin.

N.B.-Slices of apple, orange, pineapple, etc., are good if cooked in this manner.

313.-Pain Perdu.

Cut some bread into round slices of a medium thickness. Boil some milk with sugar, and vanilla,

and a pinch of salt. Dip each piece of bread in the milk; then dip them into a well-beaten yolk of egg. Now fry each piece in butter, and serve hot with castor sugar over them.

314.-Torrijas (Spanish).

Cut some bread in round slices of a medium thickness. Beat the yolk of an egg in milk; sweeten it. Dip each piece of bread in the milk, then in some liqueur, such as curaçoa or maraschino, etc. Let the pieces drain; then fry them, sprinkle some grated nutmeg and sugar over them, and serve hot.

315.-Maraschino Toast.

Cut some bread in slices about the size of a slice of lemon; fry them a nice gold colour. Melt some jam (either cherry, or apricot, or plum) with a small quantity of water and maraschino. Simmer it for a few minutes, and pour it over your fried bread. Serve hot.

316.-Puffs.

1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 egg, half a pint of milk, a little grated lemon-peel. Mix the flour and milk to a smooth batter; add the egg, well beaten, and the grated lemon-peel; half fill some buttered cups or small moulds; bake half an hour; turn out, and serve with sifted sugar over them.

317.-Stewed Pears.

Peel the pears and put them in a stewpan, with a little water, lemon-peel, and sugar (to every pound of pears a quarter of a pound of sugar); if liked coloured, a few drops of cochineal. Simmer very gently till the pears are cooked. Take them out and continue simmering the syrup until it is thick.

318.-Fig Mould.

Half a pound of dried figs, a small piece of lemonpeel, 2 ounces of white sugar. Cover them with half a pint of claret, or claret and water, or water alone; simmer them gently till quite soft and the liquor absorbed. Press it into a mould; when cold, turn out and serve with whipped cream or custard. When the figs are stewed, they ought to form a thick paste. If they should be at all lumpy, pass them through a wire sieve.

319.-Prune Mould.

Made exactly like the fig mould. Of course, take out the stones after the prunes are cooked. Crack a few of the stones, and put some of the kernels in the mould with the prunes.

320.-Plum-Pudding.

1 pound of suet, 1 pound of bread-crumbs, 1 pound of raisins, 1 pound of currants, 1 pound of moist sugar, quarter of a pound of candied lemon-peel, 1 finely chopped apple, 8 well-beaten eggs, 1 grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon, 2 wine-glasses of port or sherry or brandy, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour. Mix well, and boil 5 hours, either in a covered tin or tied up in a cloth.

N.B.-It is wise to mix all the above ingredients thoroughly well for 3 days before adding the eggs; then add the eggs and cook the pudding. Mixed in this manner, the suet gets quite absorbed.

321. Plain Plum-Pudding.

4 ounces of currants, 4 ounces of suet, 4 ounces of flour, 4 ounces of raisins, half a pint of milk, 4 ounces of fine bread-crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of treacle. Boil for 4 hours in a cloth or covered mould.

322.-Mincemeat.

2 pounds of currants (chop 1 pound finely), 2 pounds of raisins stoned and chopped, three-quarters of a pound of mixed candied peels chopped; 1 pound of apples peeled, cored, and chopped; 1 pound of fresh suet, the grated rind and juice of 2 lemons,

K