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Queen Mab's Pudding

Put a pint and a half of new milk or cream into a saucepan with any flavouring that may be preferred--either an inch of stick cinnamon, the thin rind of a lemon, vanilla, or eight or nine bitter almonds, blanched or sliced. Simmer the liquor gently until it is pleasantly and rather strongly flavoured, then put with it a pinch of salt, four ounces of loaf sugar, and an ounce of isinglass or gelatine, and stir until the last is dissolved. Strain the mixture through muslin, and mix with it the well-beaten yolks of five eggs. Stir it again over the fire until it begins to thicken, but on no account allow it to boil, or it will curdle. Stir until it is cool, then mix with it an ounce and a half of candied peel and an ounce and a half of dried cherries--or, if preferred, preserved ginger or preserved pineapple may be used instead of the cherries, and a little of the juice of the fruit may be stirred in with the pudding. Pour the pudding into an oiled mould, and let it stand in a cool place, or upon ice, until set. Turn the pudding out very carefully, and pour round it a sauce made of clear syrup flavoured with lemonrind and coloured with cochineal, or, if preferred, mixed with a small portion of strawberry or currant acid. Time, about an hour to prepare the pudding. Sufficient for five or six persons. Probable cost, if made with milk and gelatine, 1s. 10d.