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Macaroni Pudding (Pint of scalding milk cover)
pint of scalding milk; cover for an hour. Beat up four eggs, and, when strained, add to the bread a tea-spoonful of flour, an ounce of butter, two ounces of sugar, half a pound of currants, an ounce of almonds beaten with orange-flower water, half an ounce of orange peel, and the same of lemon and citron. Butter a basin that will exactly hold it, flour the cloth, tie tight over, and boil one hour. 858. Brown Bread Pudding. -Mix half a pound of brown bread, crumbled, with four ounces of suet, four ounces of moist sugar, four eggs, half a pound of currants, half a pint of milk, and a little brandy. It must boil an hour and a half.
Two boiled puddings of the older English school, both built on stale bread rather than flour, and both cooked in a cloth-tied basin in a pot of water. The first entry begins mid-sentence, so the quantity of bread is not stated: half a pound of crumbs to a pint of milk is the usual proportion in books of this period.
- Scalding milk, not boilingMilk brought just to the point of steaming and shivering at the edge, around 180F. Poured over the crumbs and covered for an hour, it swells them into a smooth paste with no lumps left to beat out.
- The basin and cloth"A basin that will exactly hold it" means the mixture should come to the brim with no air space, so the pudding holds its shape. A pudding basin or heatproof bowl works; butter it, then lay a floured cloth over the top and tie it tight under the rim with string. The flour on the cloth sets into a seal that keeps water out.
- Boiling methodThe basin goes into a pan of simmering water reaching two-thirds up its side, lid on, topped up with boiling water as it falls. A steady simmer rather than a hard boil, or the water works its way past the cloth. Some modern cooks steam these puddings instead.
- Orange-flower waterA distilled floral water sold with baking supplies and in Middle Eastern groceries, not an extract or an oil. The almonds are pounded with it to a paste; a tablespoon or so is enough for an ounce of nuts. Sweet almonds are meant throughout.
- Candied peelsOrange peel, lemon and citron here are candied, sold in blocks or diced. Citron is the thick-rinded fruit used for candying, greenish-yellow and mild; ordinary mixed candied peel is the nearest substitute.
- Suet in the brown bread puddingBeef suet, finely shredded, is what carries that pudding. Packet shredded suet, beef or vegetable, goes in straight from the box; a solid piece from the butcher needs the membrane pulled off and grating while chilled.
- Moist sugarUnrefined soft brown sugar, damp enough to clump. Light or dark soft brown sugar is a direct swap.
- Brown breadIn this period a plain wholemeal loaf, not a molasses-sweetened rye. Use a wholemeal loaf a day or two old and crumble rather than blitz, so a little texture survives the boiling.
- YieldThe brown bread pudding's quantities suggest a basin of about two pints; the first pudding's size cannot be fixed, as the bread quantity is missing from the text. Both are traditionally sent to table with a sweet sauce, brandy or plain custard.