Cassell's dictionary of cookery

high in the middle. Strew over them a little sifted 'sugar, and a few of the kernels blanched and chopped small. Cover them with a good light crust, and bake in a moderate oven. Time to bake, three-quarters of an hour. Probable cost, 2s. for a moderate-sized dish. Sufficient for four or five persons. Apricot Preserve. — Peel and stone some moderately ripe apricots ; put them at night in a deep jar between layers of crushed loaf sugar. Next morning pour over them some white currant juice, or white wine, and place the jar in a large saucepan of water, which must be kept boiling until the sugar is completely dissolved; then take the saucepan off the fire and let it get cold. Place the fruit and syrup in a preserving-pan, and boil very gently until the fruit is tender. Allow half a pint of juice and a pound and a half of sugar to every pound of fruit. Time to simmer, forty minutes. Apricot Pudding. — Pour a pint of new milk (boiling) over six table-spoonfids of breadcrumbs. Let them stand until cold. Then add the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, two tablespoonfuls of sherry, a slight flavouring of the essence of almonds, and four ounces of sifted sugar. Beat them thoroughly, then add to them twelve apricots which have been pared, stoned, and simmered gently until they have been reduced to a pulp. Lastly, whisk the whites of two eggs to a thin froth, and add them to the rest. Place the whole in a pie-dish which has been lined with good puff paste, and bake La a quick oven. Time to bake, half an hour. Probable cost, 2s. Sufficient for four or five persons. Apricot Pudding, Baked. — Peel, stone, and halve a dozen fresh ripe apricots : place them in a saucepan with a glassful of white wine, and let them simmer very gently for a quarter of an hour. Take them from the fire, and add four of the kernels blanched and pounded, and two tablespoonfuls of sifted sugar. Beat them with a fork ; then mix with them four sponge-cakes crumbled, a breakfast-cupful of new milk, and three eggs well beaten. Pour the mixtme into a well-oiled mould, and bake immediately. This pudding may be eaten hot or cold. If cold, turn it out into a glass dish, and pour round it a good custard. Time to bake, forty minutes. Sufficient for six persons. Probable cost, 1s. lOd., with apricots, Id. each. Apricot Ratafia. — Cover some sliced apricots with white wine, and simmer them gently until they are reduced to a pulp ; then pour them into an earthen jar. Add to them a cupful of brandy, and a quarter of a pound of sugar to each quart of liquid. Put in with them three or four of the kernels of the fruit broken in pieces, with a little mace, cloves, and cinnamon. Let these materials macerate in the ratafia for a fortnight ; then strain the liquid, and preserve it in well-closed vessels. Time to simmer the apricots, half an hour. Apricot Souffle. — Pare, stone, and slice one dozen large ripe apricots. Place them in a saucepan with three table-spoonfuls of sifted sugar and three of water. Let them simmer gently until reduced to a pulp, then mix in very smoothly three table-spoonfuls of ground rice ORNAMENTAL SOUil-Lli or flour, a piece of butter the size of a walnut, and a breakfast-cupful of cream or new milk. When the liquid boils pour it out and add to it the yolks of six eggs. WeU oil the soufflc- PLAIN SOUFFL]£ DISH