cient. Quinces are prepared in the same way, and with the same proportions of fruit and water, but they must not be too long boiled, or the juice will become red. We have found it answer well to have them simmered until they are perfectly tender, and then to leave them with their liquor in a bowl until the following day, when the juice will be rich and clear. They should be thrown into the water very quickly after they are pared and weighed, as the air will soon discolour them. Water, 2 quarts; apples or quinces, 4 lbs.

COCOA-NUT FLAVOURED MILK.

(For sweet dishes, &c.)

Pare the dark outer rind from a very fresh nut, and grate it on a fine and exceedingly clean grater; to every three ounces pour a quart of new milk, and simmer them very softly for three quarters of an hour, or more, that a full flavour of the nut may be imparted to the milk without its being much reduced; strain it through a fine sieve, or cloth, with sufficient pressure to leave the nut almost dry: it may then be used for blamange, custards, rice, and other puddings, light cakes and bread.

To each quart new milk, 3 ozs. grated cocoa nut: to 1 hour.

Obs.-The milk of the nut, when perfectly sweet and good, may be added to the other with advantage. To obtain it, bore one end of the shell with a gimlet, and catch the liquid in a cup; and to extricate the kernel, break the shell with a hammer: this is better than sawing it asunder.

COMPOTES OF FRUIT.

We would particularly invite the attention of the reader to these wholesome and agreeable preparations of fruit, which are much less served at English tables, generally, than they deserve to be. We have found them often peculiarly acceptable to persons of delicate habit who were forbidden to partake of pastry in any form; and accompanied by a dish of boiled rice, they are very preferable for children, as well as for invalids, to either tarts or puddings.

Compote of spring fruit.—(Rhubarb.) Take a pound of the stalks after they are pared, and cut them into short lengths; have ready a quarter-pint of water boiled gently for ten minutes with five ounces of sugar, or with six should the fruit be very acid; put it in, and simmer it for about ten minutes. Some kinds will be tender in rather less time, some will require

more.

Obs.-Good sugar in lumps should be used generally for these dishes, and when they are intended for dessert the syrup should be enriched with an additional ounce or two. Lisbon sugar will answer for them very well on ordinary occasions, but that which is refined will render them much more delicate.

Compote of green currants.-Spring water half pint; sugar five ounces; boiled together ten minutes. One pint of green currants stripped from the stalks; simmered three to five mi

nutes.

Compote of green gooseberries.-This is an excellent compote if made with fine sugar, and very good with any kind. Break five ounces into small lumps and pour on them half a pint of water; boil these gently for ten minutes, and clear off all the scum; then add to them a pint of fresh gooseberries freed from the tops and stalks, washed, and well drained. Simmer them gently from eight to ten minutes, and serve them hot or cold. Increase the quantity for a large dish.

Compote of green apricots.-Wipe the down from a pound of quite young apricots, and stew them very gently for nearly twenty minutes in syrup made with eight ounces of sugar and three quarters of a pint of water, boiled together the usual time.

Compote of red currants.—A quarter-pint of water and five ounces of sugar: ten minutes. One pint of ready picked currants to be just simmered in the syrup from five to six minutes. This receipt will serve equally for raspberries, or for a compote of the two fruits mixed together. Either of them will be found an admirable accompaniment to batter, custard, bread, ground rice, and various other kinds of puddings, as well as to whole rice plainly boiled.

Compote of Kentish or Flemish cherries.-Simmer five ounces of sugar with half a pint of water for ten minutes; throw into the syrup a pound of cherries weighed after they are stalked, and let them stew gently for twenty minutes; it is a great improvement to stone the fruit, but a larger quantity will then be required for a dish.

Compote of Morella cherries. - Boil together for fifteen minutes, five ounces of sugar with half a pint of water; add a pound and a quarter of ripe Morella cherries, and simmer them very softly from five to seven minutes: this is a delicious compote.

Compote of Damsons.-Four ounces of sugar and half a pint of water to be boiled for ten minutes; one pound of damsons to be added, and simmered gently from ten to twelve minutes.

Compote of the Magnum Bonum, or other large plums.—Boil six ounces of sugar with half a pint of water the usual time; take the stalks from a pound of plums, and simmer them very softly for twenty minutes. Increase the proportion of sugar if needed, and regulate the time as may be necessary for the different varieties of fruit.

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Compote of bullaces. The large, or shepherds' bullace, is very good stewed, but will require a considerable quantity of sugar to render it palatable, unless it be quite ripe. Make a syrup with eight ounces, and three quarters of a pint of water, and boil in it gently from fifteen to twenty minutes, a pint and a half of the bullaces freed from their stalks.

Compote of Siberian crabs.-To three quarters of a pint of water add six ounces of fine sugar, boil them for ten or twelve minutes, and skim them well. Add a pound and a half of Siberian crabs without their stalks, and keep them just at the point of boiling for twenty minutes; they will then become tender without bursting. A few strips of lemon-rind and a little of the juice are sometimes added to this compote.

COMPOTE OF PEACHES.

Pare half a dozen ripe peaches, and stew them very softly from eighteen to twenty minutes, keeping them often turned in a light syrup, made with five ounces of sugar, and half a pint of water boiled together for ten minutes. Dish the fruit; reduce the syrup by quick boiling, pour it over the peaches, and serve them hot for a second-course dish, or cold for dessert. They should be quite ripe, and will be found delicious dressed thus. A little lemon-juice may be added to the syrup, and the blanched kernels of two or three peach or apricot stones.

Sugar, 5 ozs.; water, pint: 10 minutes. Peaches, 6: 18 to 20 minutes.

Obs.-Nectarines, without being pared, may be dressed in the same way, but will require to be stewed somewhat longer, unless they be perfectly ripe.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR STEWED PEACHES.

Should the fruit be not perfectly ripe, throw it into boiling water and keep it just simmering, until the skin can be easily stripped off. Have ready half a pound of fine sugar boiled to a light syrup with three quarters of a pint of water; throw in the peaches, let them stew softly until quite tender, and turn them often that they may be equally done; after they are dished, add a little strained lemon-juice to the syrup, and

reduce it by a few minutes' very quick boiling. The fruit is sometimes pared, divided, and stoned, then gently stewed until it is tender.

Sugar, 8 ozs.; water, pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Peaches, 6 or 7; lemon-juice, 1 large teaspoonful.

STEWED BARBERRIES, OR, COMPOTE D'EPINE-VINETTE.

Boil to a thin syrup half a pound of sugar and three quarters of a pint of water, skim it well, and throw into it three quarters of a pound of barberries stripped from the stalks; keep them pressed down into the syrup, and gently stirred: from five to seven minutes will boil them.

Sugar, 8 ozs.; water, & pint: 12 to 15 minutes. Barberries, lb.: 5 to 7 minutes.

ANOTHER COMPOTE OF BARBERRIES FOR DESSERT.

When this fruit is first ripe it requires, from its excessive acidity, nearly its weight of sugar to render it palatable; but after hanging some time upon the trees it becomes much mellowed in flavour, and may be sufficiently sweetened with a smaller proportion. According to the state of the fruit then, take for each pound (leaving it in bunches) from twelve to sixteen ounces of sugar, and boil it with three quarters of a pint of water until it forms a syrup. Throw in the bunches of fruit, and simmer them for five or six minutes. If their weight of sugar be used, they will become in that time perfectly transparent. As all vessels of tin affect the colour of the barberries, they should be boiled in a copper stewpan, or in a German enamelled one, which would be far better.

Barberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 12 to 16 ozs.; water, & pint: fruit simmered in syrup, 5 to 6 minutes.

GATEAU DE POMMES.

Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound of well refined sugar and half a pint of water; then add a couple of pounds of nonsuches, or of any other finely-flavoured apples which can be boiled easily to a smooth pulp, and the juice of a couple of small, or of one very large lemon. Stew these gently until the mixture is perfectly free from lumps, then boil it quickly, keeping it stirred, without quitting it, until it forms a very thick and dry marmalade. A few minutes before it is done add the finely grated rinds of a couple of lemons; when it leaves the bottom of the preserving-pan visible and dry, press it into moulds of tasteful form; and either store it for winter use, or if

wanted for table, serve it plain for dessert, or ornament it with spikes of blanched almonds, and pour a custard round it for a second course dish.

Sugar, 1 lb.; water, pint: 15 minutes. Nonsuches or other apples, 2 lbs.; juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons: 2 hours or more.

GATEAU OF MIXED FRUITS. (GOOD.)

Extract the juice from some fresh red currants by simmering them very gently for a few minutes over a slow fire; strain it through a folded muslin, and to one pound of it add a pound and a half of nonsuches or of freshly gathered codlings, pared, and rather deeply cored, that the fibrous part of the apple may be avoided. Boil these quite slowly until the mixture is perfectly smooth, then, to evaporate part of the moisture, let the boiling be quickened. In from twenty-five to thirty minutes draw the pan from the fire, and throw in gradually a pound and a quarter of sugar in fine powder; mix it well with the fruit, and when it is dissolved continue the boiling rapidly for twenty minutes longer, keeping the mixture constantly stirred; put it into a mould, and store it, when cold, for winter use, or serve it for dessert, or for the second course: in the latter case decorate it with spikes of almonds blanched, and heap solid whipped cream round it, or pour a custard into the dish. For dessert it may be garnished with dice of the palest apple-jelly. Juice of red currants, 1 lb.; nonsuches, or codlings (pared and cored), 1 lb.: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 1 lb.: 20 minutes. Obs. A portion of raspberries, if still in season, may be mixed with the currants for this gâteau, should their flavour be liked.

For other and excellent varieties of gâteaux of fruit, see Newton solid, and Damson solid, Chapter XXI. Ripe peaches and nonsuches will likewise do well for it. Codlings answer perfectly for the preceding receipt, and the preparation is of fine colour and very pleasant flavour: it ought to cut in clear firm slices.

JELLIES.

CALF'S FEET JELLY. (ENTREMETS.)

We hear inexperienced housekeepers frequently complain of the difficulty of rendering this jelly perfectly transparent; but by mixing with the other ingredients, while quite cold, the whites, and the crushed shells of a sufficient number of eggs, and allowing the head of scum which gathers on the jelly to remain undisturbed after it once forms, they will scarcely