Maizena Pudding
INGREDIENTS for pudding for 3 persons. -2 tablespoonfuls of maizena, 1 1/2 tablespoonful of moist sugar, 1 egg, 1 pint of milk. AVERAGE COST, 4d.
Mix the maizena into a paste with a little cold milk, put the rest of the milk in a saucepan over the fire and when it boils pour it on the paste, stir in the egg and sugar, pour in a deep dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
TIME.-15 minutes to bake.
SEASONABLE at any time.
Malt Wine. INGREDIENTS. -5 gallons of water, 28 lbs. of sugar, 6 quarts of sweet-wort, 6 quarts of tun, 3 lbs. of raisins, lb. of candy, 1 pint of brandy.
Boil the sugar and water together for 10 minutes; skim it well and put the liquor into a convenient-sized pan or tub. Allow it to cool; then mix it with the sweet-wort and tun. Let it stand for 3 days, then put MANSFIELD PUDDING. it into a barrel; here it will work or ferment for another three days or more; then bung up the cask and keep it undisturbed for 2 or 3 months. After this add the raisins (whole), the candy and brandy and, in 6 months' time bottle the wine off.
Those who do not brew, may procure the sweet-wort and tun from any brewer.
Sweet-wort is the liquor that leaves the mash of malt before it is boiled with the hops; tun is the new beer after the whole of the brewing operation has been completed.
TIME. To be boiled 10 minutes; to stand 3 days after mixing; to ferment 3 days; to remain in the cask 2 months before the raisins are added; bottle 6 months after.
SEASONABLE. - Make this in March or October.
A cornflour custard of the plainest sort, thickened on the stove and then set in the oven. The one thing to watch is the egg: it goes into milk that has just boiled, so it must be stirred in briskly or it will scramble.
- MaizenaA proprietary name for cornflour (maize starch), on sale in Britain from the second half of the nineteenth century. Use plain cornstarch (US) or cornflour (UK), 2 tablespoons as given.
- Moist sugarUnrefined soft sugar, damp and pale brown. Light brown sugar is the closest match; caster sugar will work but gives a whiter, less caramel pudding.
- The pintAn imperial pint is 20 fl oz, about 570 ml, not the 16 fl oz US pint. With only 2 tablespoons of cornflour this is a pouring-thin mixture that sets on the egg as much as the starch.
- Tempering the eggPour the boiling milk onto the slaked cornflour paste while stirring, let it cool for a minute or two, then beat in the egg. Dropping a whole egg straight into liquid at a full boil will curdle it.
- Oven heatNo temperature is given. A moderate oven, 350F/180C, suits a shallow custard of this size; a dish of water under it is not necessary for so short a bake.
- Time and donenessFifteen to twenty minutes browns the top and just sets the egg. Take it out while the centre still trembles; it firms as it cools.
- Yield and servingThree small servings, as stated.
- CostFourpence for the whole pudding, an inexpensive sweet dish.
Maizena was one of several proprietary cornflours sold to British grocers in the second half of the nineteenth century. A starch that needed only slaking in cold liquid and a boil produced a smooth pudding easily. The presence of the average cost, given here at fourpence, marks it as a household economy dish for a small family rather than anything for the dinner table proper.