Cookery for every household

First prepare the fruit, and as each article is ready put it into a large crock or basin. Pick and clean the currants and sultanas. Stone the raisins, peel and core the apples, and chop these two together with a long sharp knife. Shred the peel finely, and blanch and chop the almonds. Remove the stalks from the figs, wash them in very hot water, and then dry and cut them in small pieces. Add the spice to the fruit, also the suet finely chopped, and the lemon rind grated, and mix thoroughly with the hands. Then add the marmalade, lemon juice, rum and brandy, and mix again. Cover and stand in a cool place for twenty-four hours. Then mix once more, and pack into pots or jars. Tie a piece of parchment over the top of the pots to make them perfectly air-tight, and keep the mincemeat in a cool place. Do not use for several weeks. Note. — This mincemeat will keep quite good for a year at least. If it should become rather dry, more wine or spirit may be added. 1581. Orange Hearts Roll out some puff pastry to J inch in thickness and cut it out in small heart-shaped pieces. Lay these on a baking sheet, prick them with a fork and bake them in a good oven until brown and crisp. Then lift them out, and when cool split the pastry open and spread with orange marmalade. Now coat the top of the hearts with a little orange icing without quite covering the pastry, and decorate with thin pieces of orange peel. 1582. Orange Slices (Patisserie d’Orange) 1 orange. 2 oz. sugar. 1 oz. cornflour. 1£ gills of milk. 2 yolks of 'eggs. Puff or flaky pastry. scraps of pastry and roll them out again, cutting out more rounds as before. (The first rounds that are cut out are always the best, so keep them more To make the mixture, add the milk gradually to the cornflour, mixing until smooth. Turn this into a small saucepan, and stir over the fire until boiling. Grate the rind from the orange and rub it into the sugar. Add this orange sugar to the cornflour with the strained juice and yolks of eggs. Cook the mixture for a minute or two longer over the fire, and then turn it into a basin to cool. Roll out some puff pastry into an oblong-shaped piece and rather thin. Spread one half of it with the above orange mixture, wet round the edges and fold the other piece of pastry over, pressing the two edges well together. Brush over the surface with slightly beaten white of egg, and dredge well with sugar. With a sharp knife cut the pastry into finger-shaped pieces, and place them carefully on a wetted baking tin. Bake in a good oven, and sprinkle again with sugar while still hot. Time to bake, 15 to 20 minutes. Sufficient for 8 to 10 slices. Probable cost, Id. each. 1584. Potato Cheese Cakes 3 oz. castor sugar. Rind and juice of 1 orange. Rind and juice of i lemon. 3 oz. cooked and sieved potato. 2 oz. butter. 2 yolks of eggs. 1 white of egg. Short crust. Grate the rind from one orange and half a lemon, and rub it well into the sugar. Then cream the butter in a basin, add the potato sugar and yolks of eggs, then the orange and lemon juice, and lastly the white of egg beaten to a stiff froth. Line some patty tins with pastry, three-quarters fill them with the mixture, and bake in a good oven until nicely browned and well risen.