Normandy Pudding (Good)

Instructions

1. Boil, until very soft and dry, eight ounces of rice in a pint and a half, or rather more, of water.
2. Stir to it two ounces of fresh butter and three of sugar, and simmer it for a few minutes after they are added; then pour it out, and let it cool for use.
3. Strip from the stalks as many red currants, or Kentish cherries, as will fill a tart-dish of moderate size, and for each pint of the fruit allow from three to four ounces of sugar.
4. Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish with part of the rice; next, put in a thick layer of fruit and sugar; then one of rice and one of fruit alternately until the dish is full.
5. Sufficient of the rice should be reserved to form a rather thick layer at the top: smooth this equally with a knife, sift sugar thickly on it, or brush it with good cream, and send the pudding to a moderate oven for half an hour, or longer, should it be large.
6. Morella cherries, with a little additional sugar, make an excellent pudding of this kind.
7. Note: A quart of milk can be substituted for the water; but with the fruit, water perhaps answers better.