HOUSEHOLD NOTES.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4627, 7 May 1915, Page 4 (Supplement)

HOUSEHOLD NOTES.

THE FAMILY PUDDING

“If you could make a pudding wp thinking o’ the batter, it ’ud be easy getting the dinner.” *

—See “Adam Bede.”

As Mrs Poyser astutely said, it would k> easy getting dinner if you omy had to think about the constituents of the nioai. But there isn’t one practical housewife in fifty who does not have to give some consideration to that simple domestic affair—tbc family pudding, rseaily all children, women, and not ■» few men hardly feel that they have timed, unless a pudding or sweet course ot some sort follow the meat, A good savoury makes a nice change and may be preferred to pudding; but pudding after meat is a British institution, and as such the. national taste must be consulted. Teetotalers and very moderate usually relish sugary compositions in any form. “A sweet tooth,” as we term it, is by no means an exclusive possession.

In the days of good Queen Anne when John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, was fighting our enemies im Handers—just as_ we arc doing to-day -—the novelist, in his famous classic “Esmond,” chronicled not only feats of arms, but some of the domestic customs of that time. He relates that although the chaplain dined with the nohle and Itis family, he was expected to leave when the sweets came on the table, the entrance of the pudding thus making the social distinction between'the Peer and his spiritual adviser who was regarded as an inferior. In our time wo give precedence to the ministers o r religion, and rightly.

To return to the pudding question, I am giving a list of puddings whi,:h arc neither too expensive nor too rich in quality to debar their appearance on the family dinner-table. Some feu- nre perhaps a little more elabont; than others, hut the constituents of one and all are simple and usually to I e found in all hut the humblest henn-.s, where a pudding is a rarity. I vo t'.d it wore otherwise.

LEMON PUDDING—BAKFD. Bread crumbs four ounces, milk half a pint, butter one ounce, sugar two ounces, two lemons, and two eggs. Soak the breadcrumbs in milk for about an hour, then add butter, sugar, the •.•rated rind and juice of the lemons. Beat the eggs separate, add the yolks only at ibis stage. Butter a pie-dish, pour the mixture in, and hake in a moderate oven until set. Nov/ add the well whipped egg whites, put a ?it:le sugar in while whipping them. ’lot irn the pudding to the oven, and hake far eight minutes longer, or until lie meringue is ot a light brown colour. Lemon,- 1 are cheap now, eggs are getting cheaper, and essence d >;.r;iila and ratafia essence may be bought- for .1 few ponce at the chemist’s, and ar, : most useful flavourings for many puddings and sweets, only a *ew drops r/in ; required. » * ■»

BELFAST PUD Of XL*;. A very rich-looking pudding, although inexpensive, is the one prepared as follows. Ingredients: Two ounces of flour, two ounces of bread crumbs, two ounces of Memerara sugar, two ounces of chopped suet, four ounces of sultanas, a pinch of carbonate o f soda, a pinch of ground ginger, a pinch of salt, a tablespoonful of golden syrup, and a dash of milk.

Method : Mix all the dry ingredients together first in a good-sized bowl, then add syrup and milk. If it appeal's too dry, add a little more milk. Butler a basin, and pour the mixture in. Tie down with a cloth in the usual way, and boil for three hours, filling up the pot with boiling water from time to time as it evaporates. Serve this pudding with a sauce made thus; —Butter one ounce, sugar two ounces, lemon, rind, flour one ounce, milk half a pint, brandy or raisin wine rather less than a wineglassful. Melt the butter in an enamelled saucepan. Sift the flour slowly in, beating all the time. Now add milk, sugar, and grated lemon rind. Stir for five minutes, allowing the sauce to boil. Strain it over the pudding, or serve in a sauce boat. The latter way keeps the sauce hot, the former way improves the look of the pudding. A few sultanas should he added to the sauce when over the fire.

* * * GOLDEN PUDDING. Ingredients : A quarter of a pound of flour, two ounces of sugar, a quarter of a teaspoonful of baking powder, an egg, and half a teacupful of milk. Mix all well together, pour the whole into a well-greased basin, putting a small teacupful of golden syrup in the basin before adding the mixture. Steam for two hours. This is an excellent pudding. If required larger and plainer for a family, double all the other ingredients except the egg, but when eggs are cheap use two eggs for a large puddin«- * * * SODA PUDDING. Required: Flour four ounces, suet (chopped) two ounces, sugar one ounce, currants three ounces, sultanas three ounces, a teaspoonful of carbonate ox soda, candied peel one ounce, and a pinch of salt. Mix all the ingredients together, adding the soda last. Mix with a little water. It must he a smooth paste. Butter a basin, pour the mixture in, tie a floured cloth over, and steam for four hours. * * * FIVE MINUTES PUDDING. Required: Flour two ounces, sugaitwo ounces, a teaspoonful of bakingpowder, two eggs, any kind of jam. Boat all together but the jam. Bake in a buttered baking tin for six minutes in a hot oven. Take up, spread some jam over, roll up while hot, and sctvc at once. ■ f -Jr * POTATO PUDDING. Required : Four large mealy potatoes,, half a pint of milk, butter three ounces, sn-ar two ounces, two eggs 01 if stuct]y "economical a teaspoonful of eggnowder, juice of a lemon, and a pinch o Lilt. Method: Peel and cut up the potatoes, boil them in the milk, when conked pass them through a sieve. Then add the butter, sugar, and lemon juice. Mix well. Beat up the eggs separate, add the volks first—or the egg powder. Either boil the pudding in a small basin, or hake it m a sonfrle dish. Boil for one hour, and serve, or bake tor three-quarters of an hour. No sauce is required with the baked pudding. White sauce, sweetened and flavoured with ratafia, or vanilla essence, is good with the boiled pudding. A very few drops of either will suffice.

* * * BAKED MILK. Verv nourishing and much liked by invalids is baked milk: put two quarts of new milk into a delicately c.ean stone jar, cover it with two or three lavers of white paper, and tie securely down. Let the jar stand m a moder atelv heated oven, from eight to ten hours. It will then be found thick like cream, and very delicious. Persons who dislike boiled milk can take it in the form instanced; a basm of bread and milk slowly baked has quite a distinct flavour from the boiled variety, but the bakingnannot he-hur-ried. the word slow in this case, should" be emphasised.