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Third Day: Pudding-Sauce

No. 11-CHERRY PUDDING.

Two cups milk, one tablespoon butter, two eggs, two teaspoonfuls cream tartar, one of soda, three light pints flour, or enough to make a stiff batter, one quart cherries, measured after stemming. Boil or steam two hours.

No. 12-BERRY PUDDING.

The same recipe as for No. 11, substituting berries for cherries.

No. 13-DAISY'S CAKE.

Three eggs, half a pint sugar, half a pint flour, two tablespoonfuls sweet milk, one teaspoonful baking powder, rind and juice of one lemon.

No. 14-CREAMY PUDDING-SAUCE.

Half a pound brown sugar, a quarter of a pound butter, four tablespoonfuls sweet cream, juice and rind of one lemon. "First we will attend to the pudding, as that takes the longest to cook," said Aunt Jane. "Amy, you may beat the eggs and grate and squeeze the lemon for your cake; Mabel may pick the cherries off their stems, and see that every one is perfectly clean-no scrap of a leaf or anything else sticking to it-and Jessie can begin upon the pudding." "What is a 'light pint,' Aunt Jane?" said Jessie. "A pint not pressed down very hard. One of the first things you have to learn is just how to measure flour. It musn't be packed too hard, or your cake will be hard too; it musn't be put in too lightly, or the cake will fall and be heavy and 'soggy.' It must be pressed down just hard enough, and that you'll soon learn how to do." "I don't see any half-pint measure here, mamma," said Amy. "A common tumbler holds half a pint; not one of those that slant in towards the bottom, but one that goes down straight, like this. Now, Jessie, you may warm the butter a little, so that it will stir easily into the milk. We need not be as particular not to melt it as we are in making cake. Dissolve the soda in a quarter of a teacup of warm water-not boiling, remember, or you destroy its strength-measure your flour and put the cream tartar into the sieve with it, so that it may be thoroughly mixed." "Can't you ever use flour without sifting, Aunt Jane?" asked Jessie, who was not fond of taking extra trouble. "Never, if you want to be sure of having things nice," said her aunt. "In the first place, you often find scraps of other things in the flour, like little sticks or straws; and then the sifting makes it much easier to mix with any liquid, and less liable to be lumpy. Now beat the eggs-not very long-and then stir all together, putting the flour in last. Ah! your pints must have been a little too light; that is not quite what is called a stiff batter; we must put in a little more. There, that will do. Now stir it in very thoroughly, putting in the cherries gradually." "What's that funny-looking thing for, Aunt Jane?" asked Jessie. "That is called a form, and is to pour the pudding into. In old times, before such things were known, we used either to bake our batter-puddings in the oven, or make them stiff enough to tie in a cloth. This is a great improvement."

The batter was now poured into the form, (which was previously well buttered,) leaving a little room for it to swell in, and the form, after being tightly closed, was plunged into the kettle of boiling water ready to receive it. "Now we can forget all about it for two hours," said Aunt Jane, "except that we must be sure not to let the water boil away so that any part of the form is left uncovered. Now, Amy dear, for your cake."

Amy had the eggs beaten and every thing measured out, so there was nothing to do but put it together, which was a very simple matter, there being no butter. First the sugar and yolks were beaten up, then the lemon was added, then the milk; afterward a little flour (sifted with the baking-powder) and a little white of egg alternately, until all was in. "This can be baked in one large cake or in the little gem-tins, just as you please, Amy," said her mother. "Which shall it be?" "Oh, the little ones, please! They look so cunning, and then it seems so much more when there are a good many of them!" "Very well; you may butter the tins and fill them half full, then put them all into one pan, as we did the first day. Are you almost tired of waiting for your turn, Mabel?" "Oh, no," said Mabel, "I love to look on and see the girls doing these things." "We must get out the scales for your 'creamy sauce,' and you can learn how to weigh things. We will take the sugar first, because that will not soil anything. And that reminds me of a suggestion I saw in an excellent receipt-book lately, that there should be paper bags ready to slip sugar and flour and such dry things into after they were weighed and measured, so as to save using so many dishes. I thought it would be a good plan to try it." "Shall we make some bags, aunty?" "No, I think we need not do that if Rhoda will save us some of those that are sent from the grocers. They are usually only burnt up. Now take a good large bowl for beating your pudding-sauce in, so that you won't be afraid of spattering anything. You must stir the butter to a cream first with the smallest-sized wooden spoon, then add the sugar, little by little, and afterward the cream, beating them all the while until they are as light as possible. The lemon goes in last. Some people put a little wine, but I think we'll do without that. Now we will just take off the cover of the tea-kettle and set the bowl into it. After a while it will all be melted together into a thick, creamy froth, and then it may be taken off, but it must not be allowed to get cool until it is served. You must ask Rhoda to keep it in a warm place, and then just heat it up the last thing before she sends in the pudding, but not boil it. Pudding sauces should never boil." "Do just see how Mabel has spelt 'recipe' on the cover of her book!" said Grace, who had just come in and was spying around. "Ressipy-book!" "That's a very natural mistake," said Aunt Jane kindly, "and it isn't quite polite in you to laugh at her. She spells it as it sounds. When I was a little girl nobody said anything but receipt-books; now that 'recipe' seems to be the fashion, I have adopted it, but I find myself quite as often speaking of 'receipts,' and I think there is something to be said in its favor. However, the main point is to find out whether the dishes made after our recipes are good. Mabel has plenty of time yet to learn how to spell them."