THE RIGHT RECIPE

Evening Star, Issue 21904, 15 December 1934, Page 28

THE RIGHT RECIPE

THE PLUM PUDDING AFFROFRJATE SAUCES. Notwithstanding many attempts to convince us that the old-tashioned Christmas pudding is not suitable for our climate, it continues in popular favour. And, indeed, its advantages are many. It can be made well in advance of the festive season, and even improves with age. Made in various sizes and stored away, it is a splendid stand by during the holiday season. Many types of Christmas pudding appear here. Some are rich, some plain ; some should be eaten hot, others are excellent cold. Recipes for sauces for all types are added.

English Plum Pudding. Take 11b suet, 11b soft sugar, 11b currants, 11b raisins, 11b sultanas, 11b mixed candied peel, Jib breadcrumbs, jib flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon mixed spice, 8 eggs, 4 pint brandy. Chop the suet finely, prepare all the fruit, and, have them all dry. Sift the breadcrumbs and flour, mix all the dry ingredients, and add the eggs (well beaten), then the brandy. Mix for some time until very thoroughly blended, butter a mould, and put in the mixture, or scald a clean cloth, and flour it, tie the pudding in it, and boil for thirteen hours.,

Christmas Pudding. Take IJlb raisins, -Jib currants, Jib mixed peel, |lb breadcrumbs, £lb suet, eight eggs, one wineglassful brandy. Stone and cut the raisins in half, mince the suet finely, prepare the currants, and cut the peel very finely. Grate the bread into fine crumbs, mix all the dry ingredients, and stir in the well-beaten eggs and the brandy. Stir very well and press firmly into a buttered mould. Tie it down with a floured cloth and boil for five or six hours. On the day it is to be eaten put the mould into boiling water and keep- it boiling for two hours, and serve the pudding with brandy sauce.. Brandy poured over it at the last moment and set alight adds to the flavour of the pudding and the festiveness of the occasion.

Frozen Plum Pudding. Take two cups milk, one cup sugar, six egg yolks, two and a-half cups cream, three-quarter-cup candied fruit, half-cup chopped almonds, half-cup sultanas, half-cup pounded macaroons. Take half the sugar, the milk, egg yolks, and a pinch of salt, ■ and make a custard. Take the rest of the sugar and make a caramel of it, add it to the custard, strain, and allow to cool. Add the rest of the ingredients and freeze. . .

Sago Plum Pudding. Take four tablespoons sago and soak it in one cup milk for some hours. Beat one cup sugar with one tablespodn butter, add one egg (well beaten), one cup breadcrumbs, one cup raisins, and a little grated lemon rind. Add the sago and half-teaspoon carbonate of soda dissolved in one tablespoon milk. Mix well together and steam in a buttered basin for two and a-half hours.

Plum Pudding Without Eggs. Take {-lb butter, _ Jib brown sugar, 11b sultanas, 11b raisins, Jib currants, Jib chopped dates, Jib chopped almonds, Jib breadcrumbs, Jib flour, one teaspoon carbonate soda, half-cup hot water, half-cup milk, Jib candied peel, one teaspoon allspice, quarter-pint brandy. Mix all the dry ingredients together, melt the butter in the hot water, dissolve the soda in the milk, and - stir into, the mixture with the brandy. Blend all together. Carefully put into a buttered basin, which should be covered with a scalded and floured cloth. Boil for at least four hours.

Hard Sauce (1). Cream one-third-cup butter, add gradually one cup brown sugar and two tablespoons ; brandy, drop by drop. Force through a rose tube and garnish with green leaves and candied cherries.

Hard Sauce (2). Take one cupful butter, two cupfuls caster sugar, three-quarter-cup white wine, and the juice of one lemon. Beat the sugar and butter to a cream and add gradually the wine and lemon juice, beating long and thoroughly. Make into a fancy shape and put on ice until needed.

Liquid Sauce. Mix half-cup sugar, half-teaspoon arrowroot, and a pinch salt. Add gradually, while stirring constantly, one cup of boiling water. Boil gently for five minutes, remove from fire, add one tablespoon lemon juice and two tablespoons brandy, then colour with fruit juice. Wine Sauce. Place in a double saucepan half-cup sherry, three egg yolks, and one tablespoon caster sugar. Put over fire, but do not allow to boil. Stir constantly until it thickens. ' Custard Sauce. Put half-pint milk into a double saucepan and place over heat. Add one tablespoon sugar, two egg yolks (well beaten), and stir until it thickens. Do not allow to boil. Flavour with rum or brandy, and lightly fold in the beaten egg whites. A Rich Fruit Cake. These quantities will make a, 41b cake: Jib butter, Jib caster or brown sugar, six eggs, |lb flour, half-teaspoon baking powder, Jib currants, Jib peel, Jib blanched almonds, Jib cherries. Jib sultanas, Jib raisins, a little spice and nutmeg, two tablespoons brandy. Chop the peel and blanched almonds very finely, cut the raisins and cherries into quarters, and clean the currants and sultanas carefully. Sift the flour and baking powder, take one-third of the flour and mix with the fruit, as this helps to prevent the fruit from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Cream the butter by hand, add the sugar, add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in very thoroughly, and add a very little of the flour after the third egg to prevent curdling. Add the brandy and a little colouring if a very dark cake is desired, then the rest of the fruit and flour. Stir well and put into the tin, which should not be greased, but should be lined very Carefully on the bottom and well up the sides with two thicknesses of brown paper (be sure that it fits the tin perfectly, as any creases will spoil the shape of the cake). Allow the middle of the cake to be a little lower than the sides. Put in the centre of the middle shelf of the oven and cook for about three hours. The gas should be light-eel some time before the cake is put in, so that tho oven becomes thoroughly hot. Just before putting in the cake reduce to halfstrength, put in tho cake, leave for ten minutes, then turn the gas very low, as slow heat is needed to cook a fruit ioakQrf . . -