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HOUSEHOLD AND OTHER RECIPES.
Mr. Jas. W. Parkinson gives in a recent number of the Confectioner’s Journal the following useful recipes:
CHRISTMAS PLUM PUDDING.
Stone a pound of bloom raisins; wash and clean a pound of Zante currants; mince finely a pound of beef suet; mix with this, in a large pan, a pound of stale bread crumbs and half a pound of sifted flour. Beat together in another pan six eggs, and mix with them half a pint of milk. Pour this over the suet and flour, and stir and beat the whole well together; then add the raisins, currants, and a seasoning of ground cinnamon, grated nutmeg, powdered ginger, and a little ground cloves, a teaspoonful of salt, one pound of sugar, and a glass of Jamaica rum. This pudding may now be boiled in a floured cloth or in an ornamental mould tied up in a cloth. In either way it requires long and constant boiling, six hours at least for one such as the above. Every pudding in a cloth should be boiled briskly, till finished, in plenty of water, in a large pot, so as to allow it to move about freely.
To take the boiled pudding out of the cloth without breaking it, dip it into cold water for a minute or two, then place it in a round bottomed basin that will just hold it, untie the cloth and lay bare the pudding down to the edge of the basin; then place upon it, upside down, the dish on which it is to be served, and invert the whole so that the pudding may rest on the dish; lastly, lift off the basin and remove the cloth. The use of the cold water is to chill and solidify the surface, so that it may part from the cloth smoothly.
Plum pudding may also be baked in a mould or pan, which must be well buttered inside before pouring the pudding into it. Two hours’ boiling suffices.
PLUM-PUDDING SAUCE.
Put into a saucepan two ounces of best butter and a tablespoonful of flour; mix these well together with a wooden spoon, and stir in half a pint of cold water and a little salt and pepper. Set this on the fire and stir constantly till nearly boiling; then add half a tumbler of Madeira wine, brandy, or Jamaica rum, fine sugar to the taste, and a little ground cinnamon or grated nutmeg. Make the sauce very hot, and serve over each portion of the pudding.