ONION DUMPLINGS.

Take as many onions as may be required, peel them, and make a deep incision across them; put into this cut a piece of b.u.t.ter or dripping, salt, and pepper. Make a good short crust, roll it out, and cut into as many pieces as there are onions. Put an onion on each, and work up the paste as if making an apple dumpling. Put into a well greased bag and cook about an hour.

CHAPTER V.

PUDDINGS AND CAKES.

With the exception of soup, an entire dinner can be cooked in "Papakukery" fashion, and, apart from other advantages, it will gain immensely in flavour and nutritive value from being thus cooked. Almost all puddings and sweet dishes can be cooked in paper bags, and are much improved in taste and goodness.

APPLE PUDDING.

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Make a good short paste crust, roll it out to a medium thickness; lay the apples neatly on one half, cover thickly with castor sugar, add the juice of half a lemon, squeezed over the apples; fold over the pastry, pinching the edges well together; put into a well greased bag and cook fifteen minutes.

APPLE PUFFS.

Make half a pound of the finest flour perfectly smooth by pa.s.sing it through a sieve. Roll half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter in a cloth to free from moisture; rub a piece into the flour with the finger-tips very thoroughly till it quite disappears; add a well beaten egg, and roll out the paste on a stone slab with a gla.s.s rolling-pin; a clean round bottle will answer if the only household roller is of wood. Put more b.u.t.ter in tiny bits over the paste; dredge lightly with flour; fold it up and roll it out; let it stand three or four minutes. Repeat this, leaving it a few minutes each time, for four or five times. Then roll it out and cut into square pieces. Lay a few slices of apple on each, cover with castor sugar and a little ground cinnamon, fold half the paste over, point to point, forming a triangular puff. Put the puffs into a b.u.t.tered "Papakuk" bag and cook fifteen minutes.

APPLE DUMPLINGS.

A plain, not too rich, paste crust is best for these. With a corer extract the core from the whole, unpared apple, which is less likely to break than one which has been peeled. Fill the hollow with powdered sugar and a little ground cinnamon, if the flavour is liked; a little ground ginger makes a nice flavour, with the zest of a lemon or a pinch of mixed spice according to taste. Divide the paste into as many neat rounds as there are apples, put one apple on each round, work the paste smoothly over, wetting the edges to make them adhere. Place them in a well b.u.t.tered "Papakuk" bag and cook in a moderate oven for forty minutes.

STEWED APPLES

are best cooked in a shallow tin or pie-dish, though they can be cooked placed simply in a well b.u.t.tered bag. The apples are sliced, add a little lemon juice, sugar to taste, and a small quant.i.ty of water. Place in a well b.u.t.tered bag, or put first into a pie dish which is slid into a bag--the last is really the best way. With or without the dish, cook for half an hour. The oven, after the first five minutes, must not be very hot.

ECONOMICAL BREAD PUDDING.

Put about a pound of stale bread into a basin and just cover with cold water. Leave it for an hour or two; or overnight, if more convenient.

Drain off the liquid, pressing the bread in a colander or a vegetable presser; or press with the hand until free from moisture. Put into a basin, add two ounces of moist sugar, a quarter of a pound of cleaned sultanas or raisins, a teaspoonful of mixed spice, and one well beaten egg. Beat very thoroughly, put into a thickly greased bag, and cook forty minutes.

BREAD PUDDING.

This is a richer pudding than the foregoing, but is very light and digestible. Put stale bread to soak in just enough cold milk to cover.

When quite soft, beat it well up, without pouring off any of the milk which may not have been absorbed by the bread. Add a quarter of a pound of sugar. Put into a well b.u.t.tered bag and cook forty minutes.

GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.

Three breakfastcupfuls of bread-crumbs are mixed with half a pint of gooseberries and quarter of a pound of brown sugar. A little spice may be added, if liked. Mix in two ounces of b.u.t.ter or grated suet; beat in one or two eggs. Put into a well b.u.t.tered bag and cook forty-five minutes. Reduce the gas by one-half after the first five minutes.

LEMON DUMPLINGS

are made exactly in the same way as the foregoing, subst.i.tuting the juice and the grated rind of one large or two small lemons for the gooseberries, and mixing with one egg only. Form into b.a.l.l.s, adding a little flour if the mixture is not sufficiently firm. Place into a b.u.t.tered bag and cook for about fifteen minutes.

JAM ROLY-POLY.

This favourite nursery pudding is never so dainty as when cooked in a paper bag. In this way there is no risk of the jam "boiling out," to the disappointment of the little people to whom the jam is the chief part of the pudding. Make a nice, but not too rich, crust from vegetable lard and self-raising flour. Roll it out to an oblong shape, spread over with any kind of jam preferred, leaving a good two inches clear all round.

Roll up the pudding very carefully, securing the edges by wetting and sifting flour over. Put in a thoroughly greased bag and cook thirty minutes. If any jam should chance to ooze out, it will be retained in the bag, and should be poured over the pudding when in the dish.

RAISIN BLANKET.

This is another nursery favourite. Roll out a light paste crust, as directed in the foregoing recipe. Sprinkle it over with large raisins, stoned and cut in halves; cover with a thick layer of brown sugar; squeeze the juice of a lemon over; roll up, secure the ends, put into a well b.u.t.tered bag, and cook thirty minutes.

RICE PUDDING.

For this pudding use flaked rice. Bring a pint of milk to the boil, add an ounce of loaf sugar, stir in one and a half or two ounces of flaked rice and boil a few minutes whilst stirring; take from the fire and allow to cook. When nearly cold, add two well beaten eggs, put into a thickly b.u.t.tered bag, and cook thirty minutes, the heat of the oven being reduced after five minutes to less than half. Have ready a dish in which a layer of stewed fruit or jam has been placed, and turn the pudding out on the top of this.

TAPIOCA PUDDING.

Flaked tapioca should be used for this, and it should be made in exactly the same manner as rice pudding. Both these puddings, and also semolina and ground rice, can be poured first into a b.u.t.tered dish, and the dish put into a "Papakuk" bag. This secures a good appearance for the pudding, without losing the advantages of paper-bag cookery.

FRUIT TARTS

can be made in the ordinary fashion, and the dish containing the tart can be put into a bag to get the full advantages of the method. Or they can be made without dishes. Either a short crust or puff paste may be used, as may be preferred. The paste is rolled out to a medium thickness and cut into two ovals or rounds. On one is laid the fruit--gooseberries, rhubarb, apples, black currants, red currants, and raspberries, or any suitable fruit in season--sweeten the layer of fruit with castor sugar.

A little lemon juice, a pinch of ground ginger, or cinnamon, are considered by many people to improve the flavour of rhubarb and apples, and a very little sherry is thought to bring out the flavour of red currants and raspberries, but much less flavouring of any kind is required in paper-bag cookery, for the bag retains the flavour so perfectly that it is easy to overdo any strong flavour.

The fruit is then covered with the other piece of paste, pinch the edges of paste together, and ornament to taste; put into a well b.u.t.tered bag, bake for about twenty to twenty-five minutes, and serve with castor sugar sifted over.

STRAWBERRY _GaTEAU_.

A sixpenny sponge or Madeira cake is the foundation of this summer sweet. Cut the top neatly off, scoop out a deep hole, saving the cake to be used in making a Cabinet pudding. Fill the cavity with ripe strawberries, cover with sifted sugar put on the top; pour over the whole a gla.s.s of sherry, mixed with a tablespoonful of strawberry syrup, and one of lemon juice. Let it stand to soak for a few minutes, then put it into a well b.u.t.tered "Papakuk" bag, and place in a hot oven for ten minutes. Take out and serve at once, handing custard or whipped cream with it.

CABINET PUDDING.

Bring one pint of milk to the boil, stir in a cupful of cake-crumbs. The pieces cut out of the cake used for the Strawberry Gateau will be sufficient, finely crumbled. Stir for a few minutes, then lift off the fire, and when slightly cooled, add the well beaten yolks of three eggs, a quarter of a pound of raisins, cleaned and stoned, a quarter of a pound of candied peel, two ounces crystallised ginger, and two ounces of b.u.t.ter. Beat all together very thoroughly, put into a well b.u.t.tered bag, and cook forty-five minutes, reducing the heat by half a few minutes after putting in the pudding. Beat up the whites of the eggs with a little sifted sugar and a few drops of essence of vanilla. When very stiff, pile it on the top of the pudding and serve at once.

PLAIN SUET PUDDING.

This pudding, whether intended to be eaten with meat or with jam or treacle, is infinitely superior cooked in a paper bag to the same pudding boiled or steamed. Mix one pound of self-raising flour with four ounces of chopped suet, preferably vegetable, and a pinch of salt. Mix to a stiff dough with water, put into a b.u.t.tered bag and cook for forty-five minutes. This has quite a different flavour from a boiled suet pudding.