Page:The Lady's Receipt-book.djvu/137

Rh broken very small. Flavour it with a wine-glass of peach water, or with the yellow rind of two large lemons grated off on some of the largest lumps of the sugar. Or, for the flayouring, you may use a vanilla bean, or a handful of bitter almonds or peach-kernels, boiled a long time in half a pint of milk, which must then be strained, and mixed with the other milk. Beat very light eight eggs, or the yolks only of sixteen; mix them with the milk, &c., (having first strained the beaten eggs,) and having stirred the whole very hard, pour it into a whiteware pitcher, and set it into a pot rather more than half-full of boiling water. Place it on a stove or a bed of hot coals on the hearth, and stir it to the bottom, and watch it continually till it has almost come to a boil. When very near boiling, take it off the fire immediately; for if it quite boils, it will curdle. Set it away to get cold. When lukewarm it will be an improvement to stir into it two table-spoonfuls or more of rose-water. Cover the bottom of a large glass-bowl or a deep dish, with slices of sponge-cake or Naples biscuit. Then put on green sweetmeats, such as preserved goose-berries, green gages, green grapes, or green citron melon. When the custard is quite cold pour it on, and fill up the bowl with it. If made as above, this will be found both delicious and ornamental for a dessert, or supper table.

It may be served up in glass cups; putting into the bottom of each cup a portion of sponge-cake, then a portion of green sweetmeats, and then filling up with the green custard after it has become cold.

Pistachio-nuts pounded in a mortar will give a fine green colour.

RED CUSTARD—May be made according to the foregoing receipt, only colouring it red by adding a teacup-full of milk, in which has been steeped a small thin muslin