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Strawberry Pudding
Sprinkle 1 cupful of sugar over 1 quart of strawberries; mash, and let them stand until the sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Squeeze the mixture through a square of cheesecloth; there should be about 1 cupful of juice. Add boiling water to make 1 pint of liquid and put it on to boil. Wet 3 tablespoonfuls of corn starch in a little cold water and stir it into the boiling syrup; cook ten minutes, stirring frequently. Beat the whites of 3 eggs stiff and stir into the thickened syrup just before removing it from the fire. Turn it into a mould which has been wet in cold water, and set on ice. To be eaten with whipped cream or a custard sauce made of the yolks of the eggs.
A moulded cornstarch pudding set with strawberry juice rather than milk, so it turns out clear and pink instead of white. Despite its place in the baked pudding chapter, nothing here goes near an oven.
- The hinge: cook the cornstarch outTen minutes of steady simmering is not padding — it is what removes the raw starch taste and lets the mixture set clear. Stir often; fruit-acid starch mixtures scorch on the bottom quickly.
- QuantitiesA quart of strawberries is roughly 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb whole, which should yield about the cupful of juice called for. A pint of liquid is 2 cups; American measure throughout.
- Acid and starchStrawberry juice is acidic enough to weaken cornstarch if held at a hard boil too long. Bring it to a gentle boil, add the slurry, and keep it just bubbling rather than raging.
- The egg whitesStiff whites stirred into the very hot starch base will be partly set by it and will lighten the finished pudding, but they are not necessarily cooked through; if you take the pan off direct heat first, less so. Fold rather than beat so they do not deflate entirely.
- Wetting the mouldRinsing the mould in cold water and leaving it damp is what lets the pudding release. A 1-quart mould is about right; chill until thoroughly firm, or overnight for a clean turn-out.
- "Set on ice"This means the icebox or a bowl of ice water. The refrigerator does the same job; cover the surface with plastic wrap if you dislike a skin.
- Custard sauce from the yolksThe three leftover yolks with about a cup of milk and 2 tablespoons sugar, stirred over low heat to 170-175F, make the sauce intended. Do not let it boil.
- YieldServes four to six as written. It is quite sweet and quite firm; a shallower mould and a shorter chill give a softer texture.