A Very Fine Cabinet Pudding

Instructions

1. Butter thickly a mould of the same size as for the preceding pudding, and ornament it tastefully with dried cherries, or with the finest muscatel raisins opened and stoned.
2. Lay lightly into it a quarter-pound of sponge biscuit cut in slices, and intermixed with an equal weight of ratifias.
3. Sweeten with three ounces of sugar in lumps, and flavour highly with vanilla, or with the thin rind of half a fine lemon, and six sound bitter almonds bruised, should these be preferred, three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of thin cream, or of cream and new milk mixed.
4. Strain and pour this hot to the well-beaten yolks of six eggs and the whites of two, and when the mixture is nearly cold, throw in gradually a wineglassful of good brandy.
5. Pour it gently, and by degrees, into the mould, and steam or boil the pudding very softly for an hour. Quick boiling will destroy the good appearance of this kind of pudding.
6. Never omit a buttered paper over any sort of custard-mixture. The liquid should be quite cold before it is added to the cakes, or the butter on the mould would melt off, and the decorations with it.
7. Preserved ginger, and candied citron in slices, may be used to vary the decorations, and the syrup of the ginger may be added to give flavour to the other ingredients.
8. Serve it with well made wine sauce.
9. Proportions: Dried cherries, 3 to 4 oz.; sponge-biscuits, 1/4 lb.; ratifias, 4 oz.; thin cream, or cream and milk, 3/4 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; vanilla, 1/2 pod (or thin rind of 1/2 lemon and 6 bitter almonds bruised); yolks of 6 eggs, whites of 2; brandy, 1 wineglassful (preserved ginger and candied citron at choice): steamed, or gently boiled, 1 hour.