NURSERY PUDDINGS

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 20, 24 January 1936, Page 15

NURSERY PUDDINGS

IMAGINATION IN COOKING

It is inadvisable to prepare elaborate sweets atid puddings for children, says a writer in an exchange. Children's natural tastes are simple, and it is not wise to give them an appetite for complex flavours too early in life: Imagination in cooking, however, is appreciated by children as well as by grown-ups, and variety will always be welcomed. The ordinary milk pudding .tends to be over-Ated as an article of nursery diet; but there are other ways of using milk which children like Better, and even the milk pudding will be eaten without fuss if it does not appear on the menu too often. Suet puddings should not be given to very; young children. They are too difficult to digest after an already solid meal; butter should therefore be substituted for suet in steamed puddings. -

These are some suggestions for light puddings. They need not be prepared specially for the nursery, as they will please the grown-ups, too.

A delicious orange pudding can be made by creaming together two ounces of butter with two ounces of castor sugar, adding- a beaten egg, a tablespoonful of fine breadcrumbs, two ounces of self-raising flour* sifted with a pinch of salt, the grated rind of an orange, and about a dessertspoonful of the juice. Beat lightly, put into a greased basin, and steam for about an hour. This quantity makes enough for two adults and one or two children.

A nourishing sauce to serve with it can be made as follows: —Blend two heaped teaspoonfuls of cornflour with a little cold milk. Boil up the rest out of half a pint with a dessertspoonful or more of sugar and the rind of an orange cut into strips. Add the cornflour and simmer for five to ten minutes, stirring often. Remove the orange rind, add the juice of half an orange and a dessertspoonful of lemon juice. Lemon pudding can be made in the same way, by substituting lemon rind and juice for orange, and using a little more sugar. This is a light and delicious chocolate pudding which will be a general favourite, as chocolate flavouring is always welcomed in the nursery. Cream together two ounces of butter and three ounces of castor sugar. Then add two beaten egg yolks. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a, stiff froth. Sift together a pinch of salt, two ounces of self-raising flour, and two ounces of chocolate powder. Mix this in lightly with the rest of the mixture, alternately with the egg whites and four ounces of breadcrumbs. If the mixture seems too stiff add another egg or a little milk. 'Steam in a greased basin for about an hour and a Half and serve with custard.

Chocolate meringue is another chocolate pudding which all children will like. Pour half a pint of hot milk over two ounces of breadcrumbs, first taking a little of it out in which to dissolve a tablespoonful of chocolate powder or grated chocolate. Mix chocolate with the milk and breadcrumbs, add a piece of butter, a heaped tablespoonful of sugar, a few drops of vanilla essence, and the yolk of an egg. Bake for about half an hour until it is just set. Then whisk the egg white to a stiff froth with a tabletpoonful of icing sugar and put it on the top of the pudding in heaps. Put back in the oven for a few minutes until the merlngte sets.