Puff paste makes a delicious strawberry shortcake. Roll thin, as for pie crust, and line three layer cake tins and bake. Put a quart of fresh, ripe strawberries stemmed in a bowl, sweeten them, cover and stand the bowl on the shelf over the range, stir occasionally and mash slightly with the back of a spoon. When serving time comes lay one of the sh.e.l.ls on the dish in which it is to be served, and pour a third of the berries over it, then put on a second and a third, decorate the top layer with whipped cream and serve with cream. It should be served immediately after the berries are added to the crust that it may be crisp. Both berries and sh.e.l.ls should be cold.

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.--No. 2.

Make a biscuit dough in the proportion of a pint of flour, a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of salt, a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and enough milk to mix it. Roll about an inch thick, cut it round or oblong and bake in a quick oven about fifteen minutes. Cut around the edge and pull gently apart, b.u.t.ter slightly, have the berries prepared as for Shortcake No. 1. Put the crust on the serving dish, pour half the berries over it, put on the top and pour the remainder of the berries over it. Serve with cream.

LADIES' LOCKS FILLED WITH STRAWBERRIES.

Roll the puff paste thin, cut in strips an inch wide and about twelve inches long; wind these around the forms overlapping the paste as it is wound. Brush over with beaten egg and bake on the forms. When baked slip the forms out, fill with strawberries prepared as for strawberry shortcake.

STRAWBERRIES SCALLOPED.

Equal quant.i.ties of fresh strawberries and bakers' stale bread grated.

Begin with a layer of the berries, sprinkle well with sugar, then a layer of bread crumbs, dot with bits of b.u.t.ter, then another layer of fruit and sugar; finish with bread crumbs and b.u.t.ter, sprinkle a little sugar over the top and bake half an hour in a good oven. Serve hot with cream. Currants and raspberries, either separately or mixed, and blackberries also make excellent puddings.

CURRANT PUDDING.

Stem and wash some currants, mash through a sieve, add as much water as there is currant juice and sweeten to taste. To one quart of liquid take two ounces of Groult's potato flour. Mix the potato flour with a little of the cold fruit juice, put the rest over the fire, and when it comes to a boil stir in the flour and let it cook for a few minutes. It will become clear. Turn it into a mould that has been dipped in cold water, and set it when cool on the ice until the next day. Turn out carefully and serve with cream.

STEWED DATES.

Break the dates apart, wash in cold, then in hot water, drain them and cover with cold water; cook until tender--a very few minutes--take out the fruit, add a little sugar to the water and boil five minutes, pour over the dates and set away to get cold.

STUFFED DATES.

Wash the dates as in the other recipes, drain in a colander and shake from time to time until they are dry. Stone them and fill with blanched almonds, or chopped nuts or cocoanut grated.

TAPIOCA AND APPLE PUDDING.

Six good, tart cooking apples, three-quarters of a cup of pearl tapioca, sugar to taste and one quart of water. Soak the tapioca in the water two hours, then put in a double boiler and cook until clear, sweeten to taste. It may be flavored with the rind of lemon cut very thin and removed when the tapioca is done. Peel and core the apples and fill the holes with sugar, arrange them in a pudding dish and pour the tapioca over them, bake until the apples are tender. A few tiny bits of b.u.t.ter on the top will make it brown a little. Serve hot or cold with cream and sugar.

TAPIOCA AND STRAWBERRY JELLY.

Five ounces of Groult's tapioca, two cups of boiling water, two cups of strawberry juice, four heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar and a dash of salt. Hull and wash the berries, mash with a spoon and strain through a fine cheese-cloth. Put the boiling water in a double boiler, and sprinkle in the tapioca, stirring to prevent lumping. Let it cook until clear, add the sugar and salt, and then the strawberry juice, and boil until thick--a few minutes only; turn into an earthenware mould; when cold set on the ice. It is better to make it the day before it is wanted. It should be served with cream.

TAPIOCA AND RASPBERRY JELLY.

Follow the above recipe, using raspberries in the same proportion.

TAPIOCA AND CURRANT JELLY.

Follow the recipe for tapioca and strawberry jelly.

PEARL SAGO AND FRUIT JELLIES.

Soak half a cup of pearl sago two hours in a cup of cold water, then add half a cup of water and a cup and a half of fruit juice--strawberry, raspberry, or currant; boil for twenty minutes and sweeten to taste.

Fruit syrups may be used in winter; it will require less of the syrup than fruit juice.

BREAD AND b.u.t.tER PUDDING.--No. 1.

Cut six small tea buns in half, b.u.t.ter well, using two generous ounces of b.u.t.ter for the six, and put them together again. Beat three eggs with a cup and a half of rich milk, add half a cup of almonds blanched and chopped fine, one ounce of sugar, two tablespoonfuls of sherry, let the buns soak in this for awhile. b.u.t.ter a mould, sprinkle with fine bread crumbs, take the buns out of the custard, lay them in the mould and pour the custard over them. Set the mould in a pan of boiling water in the oven and bake three-quarters of an hour, and serve hot with a sauce.

BREAD AND b.u.t.tER PUDDING.--No. 2.

Cut some slices of home-made bread about half an inch thick, b.u.t.ter and lay in a pudding dish, sprinkle with currants, put another layer of b.u.t.tered bread and currants. Beat three eggs light and stir into a pint of milk, sweeten to taste, flavor with a little grated lemon peel or cinnamon, pour over the bread and b.u.t.ter and bake in a moderate oven until the custard is set. Test with a knife; if it comes out clean it is done. If baked too long the pudding will be watery. Serve cold and in the dish in which it is baked.

BREAD CUSTARD.

Put a pint of rich milk in a saucepan on the fire. When it comes to a boil, add half a cup of grated stale bread crumbs, then stir in a heaping tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, a little grating of lemon peel, a quarter of a cup of granulated sugar and a tablespoonful of almonds blanched and chopped fine. Have two eggs beaten light, remove the saucepan from the fire, stir a little of the mixture into the eggs and then turn that into the saucepan, stir well for a moment and pour it into a pudding dish. Set the dish in a pan of hot water in the oven and bake about twenty minutes, until firm in the center; test with a knife.

If it comes out clean the pudding is done; if it bakes too long it will be watery. It may be eaten cold or hot. If served hot add a quarter of a cup more bread crumbs.

FRIED BREAD.

Sweeten a pint of milk, flavor with cinnamon or nutmeg to taste. Have some slices of home-made bread half an inch thick, cut off the crust and soak the bread in the custard until all is absorbed, turning the bread in it. Put some b.u.t.ter in a spider; when hot fry the bread a nice brown on both sides. Arrange the slices nicely on a platter and serve with or without a sauce.

CHOCOLATE CREAM.

Soak a third of a box of gelatine in a very little cold water. Put a cup and a half of milk in a saucepan with four ounces of sweet, fine chocolate grated, let it boil until dissolved and add a slightly heaping tablespoonful of sugar. Take two-thirds of the soaked gelatine and put into the chocolate when melted, cool the mixture and turn into a mould, roll the mould from side to side in the hands until it is thoroughly coated with the mixture about a finger thick. When cold, even off the surface with a knife. Whip about half a pint of nice, rich cream, sweeten with powdered sugar and flavor with vanilla. Melt the other third of the soaked gelatine in a little boiling water and stir quickly into the cream and fill the chocolate with it. Set on the ice. Serve very cold.

CHOCOLATE CUSTARD.

Put a pint and a half of rich milk into a double boiler over the fire with the third of a vanilla bean split and cut in small pieces, let it come to a boil, and stir in two ounces of fine, sweet chocolate grated and a lump of b.u.t.ter the size of a walnut. Let it boil for a few moments, remove from the fire and beat very light four eggs, strain the chocolate gradually over them, stirring all the time, add a little salt, and sugar if necessary. Rinse a plain mould in cold water, pour the custard into it, set the mould in a pan of hot water and bake twenty-five minutes. Test with a knife. Too long cooking makes the custard watery. It must be served ice cold and may be prepared the day before. Serve with cream or soft boiled custard.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING.

Beat one-quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter to a cream and stir in six egg yolks, one at a time, then add a quarter of a pound of fine, sweet chocolate grated, a cup of almonds blanched and chopped fine, six tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar and one tablespoonful of citron cut very fine, beat the six whites of eggs to a stiff froth and stir in at the last. Pour into a mould and boil three-quarters of an hour and send to the table hot with whipped cream poured around it, or any fine sauce served in a sauceboat.

COTTAGE PUDDING.

One cup of granulated sugar, a cup and a half of flour sifted, half a cup of milk, a heaping tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, a teaspoonful of Cleveland's baking powder mixed with the flour. Beat b.u.t.ter and sugar to a cream, add the well-beaten yolks of the eggs, then add milk and flour alternately by degrees, and the whites of eggs beaten to a stiff froth, stirred in at the last. Bake half an hour. Serve hot with plenty of sauce.