The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;

Almond Puffs

Take one pound of fine sugar, and put water to it to make a wet candy: boil it till pretty thick; then put in a pound of beaten almonds, and mix them together, still keeping it stirred over a slow fire, but it must not boil, till it is as dry as paste. Then beat it a little in a mortar; put in the peel of a lemon grated, and a pound of sifted sugar; rub them well together, and wet this with the froth of whites of eggs.

Another way

Blanch and beat fine two ounces of sweet almonds, with orange-flower water, or brandy; beat the whites of three eggs to a very high froth, and then strew in a little sifted sugar till it is as stiff as paste. Lay it in cakes, and bake it on paper in a cool oven.

Angelica, to candy

Take the youngest shoots; scrape and boil them in water till tender, and put them on a cloth to drain. Make a very strong syrup of sugar; put in the angelica while the syrup is hot, but not boiling. Set it in a tin before the fire, or in the sun, for three or four days, to dry.

Apples, to do

Scoop as many apples as you choose to do; dip them several times in syrup, and fill them with preserved raspberries or apricots; then roll them in paste, and when baked put on them either a white iceing, or with the white of an egg rub them over; sift on sugar, and glaze them with a hot salamander.

Pippins, to candy

Take fine large pippins; pare and core them whole into an earthen platter: strew over them fine sugar; and sprinkle on the sugar a little rose-water. Bake them in an oven as hot as for manchet, and stop it up close. Let them remain there half an hour; then take them out of the dish, and lay them on the bottom of a sieve; leave them three or four days, till quite dry, when they will look clear as amber, and be finely candied.

Pippins, to dry

Take two pounds of fine sugar and a pint of water; let it boil up and skim it; put in sixteen quarters of Kentish pippins pared and cored, and let them boil fast till they are very clear. Put in a pint of jelly of pippins, and boil it till it jellies; then put in the juice of a lemon; just let it boil up, and put them in bottles. You may put in the rind of an orange, first boiled in water, then cut in long thin pieces, and put it into the sugar at the same time with the pippins.

Apples, to preserve green

Take green apples the size of a walnut, codlings are the best, with the stalks on; put them into spring water with vine leaves in a preserving pan, and cover them close; set them on a slow fire. When they are soft, take off the skins, and put them with vine leaves in the same water as before, and when quite cold put them over the fire till they are quite green. Then put them into a dish without liquor; sift loaf sugar over them while they are hot; when dry, they make a good syrup.

Golden Pippins, to preserve

Into a pint of clear spring water put a pound of double-refined sugar, and set it on the fire. Neatly pare and take out the stalks and eyes of a pound of pippins; put them into the sugar and water; cover them close, and boil them as fast as you can for half a quarter of an hour. Take them off a little to cool; set them on again to boil as fast and as long as they did before. Do this three or four times till they are very clear; then cover them close.

Crabs, to preserve

Gently scald them two or three times in a thin syrup; when they have lain a fortnight, the syrup must be made rich enough to keep, and the crabs scalded in it.

Siberian Crabs, to preserve (transparent.)

Take out the core and blossom with a bodkin; make a syrup with half their weight of sugar; put in the apples, and keep them under the syrup with a spoon, and they will be done in ten minutes over a slow fire. When cold, tie them down with brandy paper.

Another way

To each pound of fruit add an equal quantity of sugar, which clarify with as little water as possible, and skim it thoroughly; then put in the fruit, and boil it gently till it begins to break. Take out the apples, boil the syrup again till it grows thick, and then pour it over them. They are not to be pared; and half the stalk left on.

Golden Pippins, to stew

Cut the finest pippins, and pare them as thin as you can. As you do them, throw them into cold water to preserve their colour. Make a middling thick syrup, of about half a pound of sugar to a pint of water, and when it boils up skim it, and throw in the pippins with a bit of lemon-peel. Keep up a brisk fire; throw the syrup over the apples as they boil, to make them look clear. When they are done, add lemon-juice to your taste; and when you can run a straw through them they are done enough. Put them, without the syrup, into a bowl; cover them close, and boil the syrup till you think it sufficiently thick: then take it off, and throw it hot upon the pippins, keeping them always under it.

Apple Cheese

Seven pounds of apples cored, one pound and three quarters of sugar, the juice and peel of two lemons; boil these in a stewpan till quite a thick jelly. Bake the apple till soft; break it as smooth as possible; put it into pots, and tie down close.

Conserve of Apples

Take as many golden rennets as will fill the dish that is to go to table; pick them of a size; pare them, and take out the cores at the bottom, that they may appear whole at the top. With the cores and about half a glass of water make a syrup; when it is half done, put in your apples, and let them stew till they are done. Be careful not to break them; place them in your dish; that your syrup may be fine, add the white of an egg well beaten; skim it, and it will be clarified. Squeeze into it the juice of a lemon, with the peel cut in small shreds. This should boil a minute; then throw over the syrup, which should be quite a jelly.

Apple Demandon

The whites of seven or eight very fresh eggs, put into a flat dish, with a very little finely sifted sugar, and beaten to a very thick froth. It will require to be beaten full half an hour before it becomes of a sufficient substance. It is then to be put over the apple and custard, and piled up to some height; after which place it in a very quick oven, and let it remain till it becomes partially of a light brown colour.

It should be done immediately before it is sent up to table.

Apple Fraise

Pare six large apples, take out the cores, cut them in slices, and fry them on both sides with butter; put them on a sieve to drain; mix half a pint of milk and two eggs, with flour, to batter, not too stiff; put in a little lemon-peel, shred very fine, and a little beaten cinnamon. Put some butter into a frying-pan, and make it hot; put in half the batter, and lay the apples on it; let it fry a little to set it; then put the remaining batter over it; fry it on one side; then turn it, and fry the other brown: put it into a dish; strew powder-sugar over it, and squeeze on it the juice of a Seville orange.

Apple Fritters

Pare six large apples and cut out the cores; cut them in slices as thick as a half-crown piece. Mix half a pint of cream and two eggs with flour into a stiff batter, put in a glass of wine or brandy, a little lemon-peel, shred very fine, two ounces of powder-sugar: mix it well up, and then put in the apples. Have a pan of hog’s lard boiling hot; put in every slice singly as fast as you can, and fry them quick, of a fine gold colour on both sides; then take them out, and put them on a sieve to drain; lay them on a dish, and sprinkle them with sugar. For fritters be careful that the fat in which you fry them is quite sweet and clean.

Apple Jelly. No. 1

Pare and slice pippins, or sharp apples, into a stewpan, with just as much water as will cover them; boil them as fast as possible till half the liquid is wasted; then strain them through a jelly-bag, and to every pint of juice put three quarters of a pound of sugar. Boil it again till it becomes jelly; put lemon-juice and lemon-peel to the palate. Some threads of lemon-peel should remain in the jelly.

Apple Jelly. No. 2

Take about a half sieve of john apples, or golden pippins; pare them, and put them in a clean bright copper pan; add as much river water as will cover them; set them over a charcoal fire, turning them now and then, till they are boiled tender. Put a hair-sieve over a pan, and throw them on to drain; then put the apples in a large pan or mortar, and beat them into pulp. Put them back into the copper pan, adding about half the water that came from them; then set them on the fire, and stir them till they boil two or three minutes. Strain them into a flannel jelly-bag; it should run out quite slowly, and be thick like syrup; you should allow it six or eight hours to run or drop. Then measure the jelly into a bright copper pan, and to each pint add one pound of treble-refined sugar; put it on a slow fire till the sugar is melted; then let the fire be made up, that it may boil; keep skimming it constantly. When you hold up the skimmer near the window, or in the cool, and you perceive it hangs about half an inch, with a drop at the end, then add the juice of half a lemon, if a small quantity. Take it off the fire, and pour it into gallipots.

The apples that are supposed to have the most jelly in them in this country are the john apple. The best time to make the jelly is the autumn; the riper they get, the less jelly. If the flannel bag is quite new, it should be washed in several clean warm waters, without soap. The jelly, if well made, should appear like clear water, about the substance of currant-jelly.

Apple Jelly. No. 3

Take apples, of a light green, without any spot or redness, and rather sour; cut them in quarters, taking out the cores, and put them into a quart of water; let them boil to a pulp, and strain it through a hair-sieve, or jelly-bag. To a pint of liquor take a pound of double-refined sugar; wet your sugar, and boil it to a thick syrup, with the white and shell of an egg: then strain your syrup, and put your liquor to it. Let it boil again, and, as it boils, put in the juice of a lemon and the peel, pared extremely thin, and cut as fine as threads; when it jellies, which you may know by taking up some in your spoon, put it in moulds; when cold, turn it out into your dish; it should be so transparent as to let you see all the flowers of your china dish through it, and quite white.

Crab Jam or Jelly

Pare and core the crabs; to fifteen pounds of crabs take ten pounds of sugar, moistened with a little water; boil them well, skimming the top. When boiled tender, and broke to the consistency of jam, pour it into your pans, and let it stand twenty-four hours. It is better the second year than the first. The crabs should be ripe.

Pippin or Codling-Jelly

Slice a pound of pippins or codlings into a pint of clear spring water; let them boil till the water has extracted all the flavour of the fruit; strain it out, and to a pint of this liquor take a pound of double-refined sugar, boiled to sugar again; then put in your codling liquor; boil it a little together as fast as you can. Put in your golden pippins; boil them up fast for a little while; just before the last boiling, squeeze in the juice of a lemon; boil it up quick once more, taking care the apples do not lose their colour; cut them, and put them in glasses with the jelly. It makes a very pretty middle or corner dish.

Apples and Pears, to dry

Take Kirton pippins or royal russets, golden pippins or nonpareils; finely pare and quarter the russets, and pare and take out the core also of the smaller apples. Take the clean tops of wicker baskets or hampers, and put the apples on the wickers in a cool oven. Let them remain in till the oven is quite cold: then they must be turned as you find necessary, and the cool oven repeated till they are properly dry. They must stand some time before they are baked, and kept carefully from the damp air. The richer the pears the better; but they must not be over-ripe.

Apricots in Brandy

The apricots must be gathered before they are quite ripe, and, as the fruit is usually riper on one side than the other, you must prick the unripe side with the point of a penknife, or a very large needle. Put them into cold water, and give them a great deal of room in the preserving-pan; and proceed in the same manner as directed for peaches. If they are not well coloured, it is owing to an improper choice of the fruit, being too ripe or too high coloured, provided the brandy be of the right sort.

Apricot Chips

Cut apricots when ripe in small thin pieces; take double-refined sugar, pounded very small and sifted through a fine sieve, and strew a little at the bottom of a silver basin; then put in your chips, and more of your sugar. Set them over a chaffing-dish of coals, shaking your basin, lest the chips should stick to the bottom, till you put in your sugar. When your sugar is all candied, lay them on glass plates; put them in a stove, and turn them out.

Apricot Burnt Cream

Boil a pint of cream with some bitter almonds pounded, and strain it off. When the cream is cold, add to it the yolks of four eggs, with half a spoonful of flour, well mixed together; set it over the fire; keep stirring it till it is thick. Add to it a little apricot jam; put it in your dish; sift powdered sugar over it, and brown it with your salamander.

Apricots, to dry

Pare and stone a pound of apricots, and put to them three quarters of a pound of double-refined sugar, strewing some of the sugar over the apricots as you pare them, that they may not lose colour. When they are all pared put the remainder of the sugar on them; let them stand all night, and in the morning boil them on a quick fire till they are clear. Then let them stand till next day covered with a sheet of white paper. Set them on a gentle fire till scalding hot; let them stand three days in the syrup; lay them out on stone plates; put them into a stove, and turn them every day till they are dry.

Apricot Jam

Take two pounds of apricot paste in pulp and a pint of strong codling liquor; boil them very fast together till the liquor is almost wasted; then put to it one pound and a half of fine sugar pounded; boil it very fast till it jellies; put it into pots, and it will make clear cakes in the winter.

Apricot and Plum Jam

Stone the fruit; set them over the fire with half a pint of water; when scalded, rub them through a sieve, and to every pound of pulp put a pound of sifted loaf-sugar. Set it over a brisk fire in a preserving-pan; when it boils, skim it well, and throw in the kernels of the apricots and half an ounce of bitter almonds blanched; boil it together fast for a quarter of an hour, stirring it all the time.

Apricot Paste

Take ripe apricots, pare, stone, and quarter them, and put them into a skillet, setting them on embers, and stirring them till all the pieces are dissolved. Then take three quarters of their weight in fine sugar, and boil it to a candy; put in the apricots, and stir it a little on the fire; then turn it out into glasses. Set it in a warm stove; when it is dry on one side, turn the other. You may take apricots not fully ripe, and coddle them, and that will do also.

Another

Pare and stone your apricots; to one pound of fruit put one pound of fine sugar, and boil all together till they break. Then to five pounds of paste put three pounds of codling jelly, and make a candy of three pounds of fine sugar. Put it in all together; just scald it, and put it in little pots to dry quickly. Turn it out to dry on plates or glasses.

Apricots, to preserve

Stone and pare four dozen of large apricots, and cover them with three pounds of fine sugar finely beaten; put in some of the sugar as you pare them. Let them stand at least six or seven hours; then boil them on a slow fire till they are clear and tender. If any of them are clear before the rest, take them out and put them in again. When the rest are ready, let them stand closely covered with paper till next day. Then make very strong codling jelly: to two pounds of jelly add two pounds of sugar, which boil till they jelly; and while boiling make your apricots scalding hot; put the jelly to the apricots, and boil them, but not too fast. When the apricots rise in the jelly and jelly well, put them in pots or glasses, and cover closely with brandy paper.

Another way

Cut in half, and break in pieces, ripe apricots; put them in a preserving pan, simmer for a few minutes, and pass through a fine hair sieve: no water to be used. Add three quarters of a pound of white powdered sugar to a pound of fruit; put in the kernels; mix all together, and boil for twenty minutes: well skim when it begins to boil. Put it into pots; when cold, cover close with paper dipped in brandy, and tie down with an outer cover of paper.

Apricots, to preserve whole

Gather the fruit before it is too ripe, and to one pound put three quarters of a pound of fine sugar. Stone and pare the apricots as you put them into the pan; lay sugar under and over them, and let them stand till next day. Set them on a quick fire, and let them just boil; skim well; cover them till cold, or till the following day; give them another boil; put them in pots, and strew a little sugar over them while coddling, to make them keep their colour.

Apricots, to preserve in Jelly

To a pound of apricots, before they are stoned and pared, weigh a pound and a quarter of the best pounded sugar. Stone and pare the fruit, and, as you pare, sprinkle some sugar under and over them. When the sugar is pretty well melted, set them on the fire and boil them. Keep out some sugar to strew on them in the boiling, which assists to clear them. Skim very clear, and turn the fruit with a ladle or a feather. When clear and tender, put them in glasses; add to the syrup a quarter of a pint of strong pippin liquor, and nearly the weight of it in sugar; let it boil awhile, and put it to the apricots. The fire should be brisk, as the sooner any sweetmeat is done the clearer and better it will be. Let the liquor run through a jelly-bag, that it may clear before you put the syrup to it, or the syrup of the apricots to boil.

French Bances

Take half a pint of water, a bit of lemon-peel, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and a little orange-flower water; boil them gently three or four minutes; take out the lemon-peel, and add to it by degrees half a pint of flour: keep it boiling and stirring until it is a stiff paste; then take it off the fire, and put in six eggs, well beaten, leaving out three whites. Beat all very well for at least half an hour, till it is a stiff light paste; then take two pounds of hog’s-lard; put it in a stewpan; give it a boil up, and, if the bances are of a right lightness, fry them; keep stirring them all the time till they are of a proper brown. A large dish will take six or seven minutes boiling. When done, put them in a dish to drain; keep them by the fire; strew sugar over them; and, when you are going to fry them, drop them through the handle of a key.

Barberries, to preserve

Tie up the finest maiden barberries in bunches; to one pound of them put two pounds and a quarter of sugar; boil the sugar to a thick syrup, and when thick enough stir it till it is almost cold. Put in the barberries; set them on the fire, and keep them as much under the syrup as you can, shaking the pan frequently. Let them just simmer till the syrup is hot through, but not boiling, which would wrinkle them. Take them out of the syrup, and let them drain on a lawn sieve; put the syrup again into the pot, and boil it till it is thick. When half cold put in the barberries, and let them stand all night in the preserving-pan. If the syrup has become too thin, take out the fruit and boil it again, letting it stand all night: then put it into pots, and cover it with brandy paper.

Biscuits

Take one pound of loaf sugar, finely beaten and sifted; then take eight eggs, whites and all; beat them in a wooden bowl for an hour; then take a quarter of a pound of blanched almonds, beat them very small with some rose-water; put them into the bowl, and beat them for an hour longer; then shake in five ounces of fine flour and a spoonful of coriander seed, and one of caraways. Beat them half an hour; butter your plates, and bake them.

Another way

Take one pound of flour; mix it stiff with water; then roll it very thin; cut out the biscuits with cutters, and bake them.

Dutch Biscuits

Take the whites of six eggs in fine sugar, and the whites of four in flour; then beat your eggs with the sugar and flour well with a whisk: butter your pans, and only half fill them; strew them over with sugar before you put them in the oven; grate lemon-peel over them.

Ginger Biscuits

One pound of flour, half a pound of butter, half a pound of loaf sugar, rather more than one ounce of ginger powdered, all well mixed together. Let it stand before the fire for half an hour; roll it into thin paste, and cut out with a coffee-cup or wine-glass: bake it for a few minutes.

Lemon Biscuits

Blanch half a pound of sweet almonds in cold water; beat them with the whites of six eggs, first whipped up to a froth; put in a little at a time as they rise; the almonds must be very fine. Then add one pound of double-refined sugar, beaten and sifted; put in, by degrees, four ounces of fine flour, dried well and cold again; the yolks of six eggs well beaten; the peels of two large lemons finely grated: beat these all together about half an hour; put them in tin pans; sift on a little sugar. The oven must be pretty quick, though you keep the door open while you bake them.

Another way

Take three pounds of fine sugar, and wet it with a spoonful and a half of gum-dragon, and put in the juice of lemons, but make the mass as stiff as you can: mix it well, and beat it up with white of eggs. When beaten very light, put in two grains of musk and a great deal of grated lemon; drop the paste into round papers, and bake it.

Ratafia Biscuits

Blanch two ounces of bitter almonds in cold water, and beat them extremely fine with orange-flower water and rose-water. Put in by degrees the whites of five eggs, first beaten to a light froth. Beat it extremely well; then mix it up with fine sifted sugar to a light paste, and lay the biscuits on tin plates with wafer paper. Make the paste so light that you may take it up with a spoon. Lay it in cakes, and bake them in a rather brisk oven. If you make them with sweet almonds only, they are almond puffs or cakes.

Table Biscuits

Flour, milk, and sugar, well mixed together. Shape the biscuits with the top of a glass, and bake them on a tin.

Blancmange. No. 1

To one pint of calves’ foot or hartshorn jelly add four ounces of almonds blanched and beaten very fine with rose and orange-flower water; let half an ounce of the almonds be bitter, but apricot kernels are better. Put the almonds and jelly, mixed by degrees, into a skillet, with as much sugar as will sweeten it to your taste. Give it two or three boils; then take it up and strain it into a bowl; add to it some thick cream: give it a boil after the cream is in, and keep it stirred while on the fire. When strained, put it into moulds.

Blancmange. No. 2