Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-14
DAINTY DESSERTS


demands its spring rations OF fresh fruit
PIES and puddings The diplomatic house
wife may serve the fresh fruit ever 80
daintily with the prettiost Of baskets for
the pulverized sugar. the lghtest OF whipped
cream and the most iooihsomc of little
cakes Tor an accompaniment. hut Tire head
Of the house is reasonably sure TO lean
back in his chair and inquire.
Isn't ii about time for "a Straw ber~y
shortcake. or the sort Of batter pudding
your mother used to makcc-'
Thus she is forced To Weld TO "a, iuevIt-
able. even in bold defiance uC the tidy
little talk on hygienic cookery given 10y
her favor'te writer on dietetics in lhc place
of the department usually devoted To pies"
When the price OF fruit is stll high
housewife may argue that one box OF ucr-
rles Will go farther in the form % short
cake or batter pudding than If served i'm
its natural form This argument is not
sound. however, because pudding. shurtcake
or pastry foundations must be built of the
very best materials. bringing the dessert up
to the price OF the plain fresh fruit in gem
erouS quantities. The cheapest fruit on the
market just now is rhubarb or pie plant,
and properly cooked ii makes delicious
Die
Rhubarb Pe.-strip of the outside skin
and cut the stalks in pieces half an inch
long. Line pie dish (which. by the way.
should not be of TIM with pastry about
three-eghths of an inch thick. Cover this
with layer of the rhuharb at least an
men deep. SWeeten II In the proportion of
a large teacupful of sugar 10 "a quart bowl
of the cut rhubarb. Scatter over this salt
spoonful OF salt and a little grated nutmeg.
Drcdge lightly with flour and cover with
rich pie crust which has a slit cut in the
center. Trim off the edge with "A sharp
knife, pinch the border and bake in a quick
oven until the pie looSons from tie dish.
Rhubarb pies made after this recipe are less
apt To he leIvy than when tile fruit IS
stewed before it is added - the pastry.
Paste intended for fruit pics should he
made very carefully and chilled thorough
ly before il Is used. \ good recipe Is tins
Sift three cups OF the best pastry flour into
a cold china bowl; add one toaSpoonful Of
salt ami the same of sugar as you SIT H.
Have ready half pound of iCe-Cold butter
Cut il into tiny bits and mix lightly with
the flour with fork. Have ready two
thirds of cup of ice water. Drop etadu-
ally into the flour, and wlFen all u mo St
ened turn it out a board. and you are
ready for the delicate task OF rolling IT,
Alv aY; roll 1t away from You quickly and
lightly. Fold in the sides and the cads,
turn il around quickly and roll ii away
from: you again. Repeat this operation sew
eral tines and stand il on the ice until
you want to use it. 1t VIII do 40 harm TO
make ii a day before the fruit pie Is
bakcu. If at first ii sticks to the rolling pin
d. not turn. to the -four bin for help, be
cause this will make your pastry tough.
After little rolling the PARTICLES OF but
ter and flour VIII mix so thoroughly that
ii will fall away from the roller. and the
result Will be a paste as light and del cate
any piemaker would desire. Butter is
much better than lard for the pastry used
in fruit pies. Some very good up-to-date
cooks allow half teaspoonful of baking
powder to the above ingredients, but they
always run the risk of accident which
happened to an inexperienced cook. who
put baking powder in the pastry intended
for ct ard fRip no lEf 81 #1Nrh
through the eggs and milk. and her pie was
baked literally upside down.
A more elaborate recipe for rhubarh pie
is this: Make crust according to the di-
reCtions given above. Line the pan with
the pastry, scatter -four lightly over IL and
bake to a pale golden brown. Shake out
the -four as lightly as possible If any re-
main loose. Take n large cup Of Stcwed
pie plant that is not too watery. Beat into
it the yolks of two eggs, two level table
spoonsful of cornstarch and half pound
of sugar. Boil these together until they
form a custard Add the juice of one-third
OF lemon. Fill the baked crust with this
mixture and cover with a meringue made
frCm the whites of two eggs and two table,
spoonsful of pulverized sugar. Brown
quickly. Serve ice cold.
Pie cherries are beginning to appear on
the market, and they always find favor,
especially with men folk when served in
the form of either pie or batter pudding.
Line stoneware pie plate with crust as
described above. Have ready enough stoned
cherries to fill the plate about half full.
Sprinkle over them a cupful of sugar a
teaspoonful of sifted flour and half a tea
spoonful of butter broken into tiny bits.
Add more stoned cherries until the dish is
level, but not heaping full. Cover with an
upper crust, bake and serve hot.
Cherry Roll PuddIng-One pint of flour,
one teaspoonful of salt, one large spoonful
of sugar, two teaspoonsful of baking pow
der, one tablespoonful of butter, milk
water TO moisten. Work as little as posi-
al biSppIr ivi1 I'M
five parts, pat fiat, lay in a handfur OF
stoned cherries on each and roll Place in
a pan and pour over IL the following sauce:
One tablespoonful butter, one cup of sugar.
Cream these together and add a pint OF
boiling water. Stir and pour over the rolls.
Bake half hour with cover over it
Then remove the cover; brown and serve
hot.
Cherry Puff Pudding-Mix well one pint
of -four, one and one-half teaspoonfuls OF
baking powder. with enough milk for a
soft batter. Put into well creased cups
alternate spoonfuls of batter. with layers
OF stoned cherries. Steam twenty minutes
Serve with hot, foamy sauce.
Foamy Sauce.-Half cup of butter one
cup of powdered sugar, one teaspoonful OF
vanilla and two tablespoonfus of wine or
fruit juice. One-fourth cup of boiling water,
white of one egg beaten to foam. Cream
the butter and sugar and add vanilla and
wine. Just before serving add the boiling
water stir well. then add the egg and beat
till foamy.
Cherry Batter Pudding.-Have ready a cup
of stoned cherries Beat two eggs sepa-
IA tely, add half a pint of milk. better
STILL sweet cream, to the yolks. and TO this
one tablespoonful of melted butter. Have
ready one and one-half cups of flour. into
which two teaspoonfuls of baking powder
have been sifted, with a dash of salt. Add
this to the yolks of the eggs and milk, and
lastly add the whites Of the eggs beaten
light Beat vigorously for a few minutes
and turn into a creased baking pan, al
lowing the batter to be about an inch
thick. Cover it with the cherries, add one
third of cup of graduated sugar.
sprinkled lightly the top. and bake in
a quick oven for thirty minutes Serve hot
with hard sauce or sauce made from
cup of cherries and half a cup of sugar
stewed together until the cherries are re-
iuced to a pulp. Sauce well as pudding
should be served hot.
Almost every housewife has her favorite
recipe for shortcake, but the average man,
especially IL he was reared in the country,
swears by the rich biscuit dough for
foundation Sift three teaspoonfuls of
baking powder into one quart of -four.
Work in lightly one-half cup of butter and