Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Use for this pudding a cupful of milk, one of molasses, one of fine-chopped suet, three cupfuls and a quarter of flour, one teaspoonful of soda, half a teaspoonful of salt, the rind and juice of a lemon, one table-spoonful of cinnamon, and half a teaspoonful of clove. Mix the molasses, suet, lemon, and spice. Dissolve the soda in the milk, and add to the mixture. Stir well, and then add the flour. When the mixture has been beaten well, turn it into well-buttered moulds, and steam for five hours. With the ingredients mentioned above, a three-quart mould may be filled ; but if the family be not a large one, it will be well to steam the pudding in two moulds, using the contents of one on the first day and those of the second mould five or six days later ; or half the mixture may be put into a small mould, and to the remainder may be added half a cupful of currants, thus giving a rich fruit-pudding later in the week. These puddings are always better the second than the first day. Brown-bread tins are good moulds in which to steam them, if there be no regular pudding-moulds in the house. A rich wine or a lemon sauce should be served with the pudding. * Quaking Pudding. The materials required are : a quart of milk, six eggs, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one quart of stale bread, cut in very thin slices, half a cupful of dried currants, one pint of stoned raisins, half a teaspoonful of salt, three table-spoonfuls of sugar, and one-fourth of a nutmeg, grated. Measure the bread after it has been cut, and pack it rather solidly in a quart measure. Butter a three-quart mould very thoroughly, and after sprinkling the bottom and sides with the currants, lay the bread in the mould in layers, sprinkling raisins over each layer. Beat together the eggs, sugar, salt, and nutmeg; then add the milk. Pour this mixture over that in the mould. Set away in a cold place for three hours, and at the end of that time set the pudding in a steamer, and cook it for an hour and a quarter. At serving-time turn out on a flat dish, and serve with a vanilla or rich wine sauce. This pudding can be made with four eggs, and the currants may be omitted. Delicate Plum Pudding. A pudding for eight or ten persons will require a cupful and a half of powdered crackers, two pints and a half of milk, one generous cupful of sugar, half a cupful of molasses, two table-spoonfuls of butter, one cupful of stoned raisins, one- third of a nutmeg, grated, and six eggs. Heat the milk to the boiling-point, and pour it on the crackers. Add the butter, and set away to cool. When the mixture is cold, add the eggs, well beaten, and the other ingredients. Butter a pudding-dish that will hold about two quarts. Pour the mixture into the dish, and place in a moderate oven. When the pudding has been cooking for half an hour, draw it to the front of the oven and stir it well, being careful to distribute the raisins (which will have settled to the bottom) through the pudding. Move the dish back into the oven, and bake for an hour and a half longer. The heat in the oven must be very moderate or the pudding will burn. Serve with a creamy sauce. Plum Pudding.