Sweets/Treats Ratafia Pudding

ratafia pudding

(from Godey's Ladies Magazine, edited by L.A. Godey, Sarah J. Hale, 1861)

Ingredients:

1 pint good milk​

1 lemon​

cinnamon​

2 ounces of sugar​

crumb of two small rolls​

pieces of Savoy cake, or four sponge cakes​

1/4 pound of ratafias​

1/4 pound of almond cakes​

5 eggs​

1 glass of brandy,​

1 glass of sherry,​

grated nutmeg.​

butter​

stoned raisins​

dried cherries​

slices of oranges​

citron-peel​

Instructions:

Put a pint of good milk into a saucepan with the yellow rind of a lemon pared thin, a little cinnamon, and about two ounces of sugar. Place this by the side of the fire to simmer very gently for about a quarter of an hour. In the meantime, put into a basin the crumb of two small rolls, sliced thin, some pieces of Savoy cake, or four sponge cakes, a quarter of a pound of ratafias, and quarter of a pound of almond cakes, and pour the boiling milk over, taking out the peel and spice. Cover close with a plate until nearly cold and the cakes are well soaked; then break five eggs into a basin, whisk them up well, and beat them well in the mixture, adding a glass of brandy, a glass of sherry, and some grated nutmeg. Butter a quart mould well all over on the inside, and garnish it with stoned raisins, dried cherries, slices of oranges, lemon, or citron-peel, and fill it with the mixture in the basin. Tie a piece of buttered paper over the top, and put the mould into a saucepan of boiling water, to reach about halfway up the sides of the mould. Boil about an hour and a quarter.​