Soak one cake of compressed yeast in a cup of lukewarm milk with a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, and sift a pint of flour in a bowl, in which you may also stir a small cup of milk and one egg. Pour in the yeast and work all thoroughly, adding more flour, but guarding against getting the dough too stiff. Cover up the bowl of dough and let it raise until it is as high again, which will take at least four hours.

Flour a baking-board and mold small biscuits out of your dough, let them raise at least half an hour. Then b.u.t.ter a large, round, deep pan and set in your dumplings, brushing each with melted b.u.t.ter as you do so.

When all are in, pour in enough milk to reach just half way up to the dumplings. Bake until a light brown. Eat hot, with vanilla sauce.

BAIRISCHE DAMPFNUDELN, No. 2

Make the dough just as you would in the above recipe, adding a tablespoon of b.u.t.ter, and after they have risen steam instead of baking them. If you have no steamer improvise one in this way: Put on a kettle of boiling water, set a colander on top of the kettle and lay in your dumplings, but do not crowd them; cover with a close-fitting lid and put a weight on top of it to keep in the steam, when done they will be as large again as when first put in. Take up one at first to try whether it is done by tearing open with two forks. If you have more than enough for your family, bake a pan of biscuits out of the remaining dough. Serve dumplings hot with prune sauce.

APPLE SLUMP

Pare, core and quarter apples, add a little water and sugar to taste, stew until tender and cover with the following mixture: Sift one pint of flour and one teaspoon of baking powder, add a pinch of salt and two cups of milk, mix and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Roll to one-half inch thickness and place over the stewed apples, cover and cook for ten minutes without lifting the lid. Serve hot with cream and sugar or soft custard.

BOILED APPLE DUMPLINGS

Beat well, without separating, two eggs, add a pinch of salt, two cups of milk and one cup of flour. To a second cup of flour, add two teaspoons of baking powder; add this to the batter and as much more flour as is necessary to make a soft dough. Roll out quickly one-half inch thick. Cut into squares, lay two or three quarters of pared apples on each, sprinkle with sugar and pinch the dough around the apples. Have a number of pudding cloths ready, wrung out of cold water, and sprinkle well with flour. Put a dumpling in each, leave a little room for swelling and tie tightly. Drop into a kettle of rapidly boiling water and keep the water at a steady boil for an hour. Serve hot with hard sauce.

Have a saucer in the bottom of kettle to prevent burning.

FARINA DUMPLINGS

Beat yolks of four eggs with three tablespoons of goose, turkey or chicken fat, but if these are not convenient, clear beef drippings will do. Put in enough farina to make a good Batter. Beat whites of eggs to a stiff froth with pinch of salt, and stir in batter. Put on in large boiler sufficient water to boil dumplings and add one tablespoon of salt. When boiling drop in by tablespoons. Boil one hour. This quant.i.ty makes twenty dumplings.

HUCKLEBERRY DUMPLINGS

Take a loaf of stale bread; cut off the crust and soak in cold water, then squeeze dry. Beat three eggs light, yolks and whites together add one quart berries and mix all together with a little brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Boil steadily one hour, serve with hard sauce.

PLUM KNOEDEL (HUNGARIAN)

Boil several potatoes, mash, mix with one egg yolk, a little salt and enough flour to make a dough soft enough to hold the impress of the finger. Roll out and cut into four-cornered pieces; in each square place a German plum which has had the pits removed and a mixture of sugar and cinnamon; put in place of the pit. Roll each square into a round dumpling; put these into a pan with boiling; salted water and let them cook covered for six or eight minutes. When done, serve with some bread crumbs browned in b.u.t.ter or schmalz and spread over the knoedel.

PEAR DUMPLING (BIRNE KLOESSE)

Take half a loaf of white bread or as much stale white bread, soak the white part and grate the crust, add one cup of suet chopped very fine, one cup of flour, one egg, salt and spices to taste, and one-half teaspoon of baking-powder. Make this into a dumpling, put it on a tiny plate in a large kettle. Lay prunes and pears around, about a pound of each, one cup of brown sugar, two pieces of stick cinnamon, dash of claret and cold water to almost cover; then cover kettle tightly and boil four hours. Serve hot.

Prunes and dried apples may be used as well.

PEACH DUMPLINGS

Make a dough of a quart of flour and a pint of milk, or water, a tablespoon of shortening, a pinch of salt, one egg and a spoon of sugar; add a piece of compressed yeast, which has previously been dissolved in water. Let the dough raise for three hours. In the meantime make a compote of peaches by stewing them with sugar and spices, such as cinnamon and cloves. Stew enough to answer for both sauce and filling.

When raised, flour the baking-board and roll out the dough half an inch thick. Cut cakes out of it with a tumbler, brush the edges with white of egg, put a teaspoon of peach compote in the centre of a cake and cover it with another layer of cake and press the edges firmly together. Steam over boiling water and serve with peach sauce. A delicious dessert may also be made by letting the dough rise another half hour after being rolled out, and before cutting.

Compote of huckleberries may be used with these dumplings instead of peaches, if so desired.

CHERRY ROLEY-POLEY

Make a rich baking-powder biscuit dough, and roll it out until it is about two-thirds of an inch thick. Pit and stew enough cherries to make a thick layer of fruit and add sugar to taste. Spread them over the dough thickly and roll it up, taking care to keep the cherries from falling out. Wrap a cloth around it, and sew it up loosely with coa.r.s.e thread, which is easily pulled out. Allow plenty of room for the dough to rise. Lay the roley-poley on a plate, set it in a steamer and steam for an hour and a half. Serve in slices, with cream or sauce.

SHABBAS KUGEL

Soak five wheat rolls in water, then press the bread quite dry, add one cup of drippings or one-half pound of suet chopped very fine, a pinch of salt, two eggs well beaten, one teaspoon of cinnamon, one grated lemon rind, one-half cup of sugar, one tablespoon of water. Stir all together thoroughly, grease the kugel pot well with warm melted fat, pour in the mixture and send it Friday afternoon to the bakery where it will remain till Sat.u.r.day noon; it will then be baked brown. If one has a coal range that will retain the heat for the length of time required, it will be baked nicely. The kugel must be warm, however, when served.

KUGEL (SCHARFE)

If one desires an unsweetened kugel omit the sugar and cinnamon in the recipe above and season with salt and pepper. When required for any other meal but Shabbas, a kugel can be baked brown in two hours.

KUGEL

Soak five ounces of white bread--it may be stale bread--in cold water; then squeeze out every bit of water, put it in a bowl, add three-fourths cup of soft goose fat in small pieces, five whole eggs; one cup of flour, one-half cup of sugar, one-fourth cup of cracker meal, three apples and two pears cut in small pieces, two dozen raisins with the seeds removed, salt to taste, a tiny pinch of pepper, one-quarter teaspoon each of cinnamon and allspice. Mix all well together, and pour into an iron pan that has the bottom well covered with goose-fat; stick a few pieces of cut apple or pear in the top of the pudding. Pour a cup of cold water over all; place in the oven to bake. Bake slowly for five or six hours. If the water cooks out before it is ready to brown, add more. Bake brown, top and bottom.

NOODLE KUGEL

Cook three cups of broad noodles in salted boiling water ten minutes.

Drain and add three-fourths cup of chicken or goose fat and four eggs, well beaten. Place in a well-greased iron pot and bake until the top of the kugel is well browned. Serve hot with raspberry jelly or stewed fruit of any kind.

PEAR KUGEL

Cream one cup of rendered fat with one cup of sugar, add one-half loaf of bread, previously soaked and pressed dry, a little salt, one-fourth cup of flour. Grease pudding-dish and put in alternate layers of the mixture and pears that have been boiled with water, sugar and claret.

Bake slowly three hours.

KRAUT KUGEL

Chop up cabbage and let stew in fat slowly until quite brown. Do this the day previous to using. Next day mix in with the stewed cabbage one-fourth of a loaf of bread soaked in water and squeezed dry, one-half cup of flour, one-half cup of brown sugar, one-eighth pound of raisins, some finely chopped citron, one-fourth pound of almonds (mixed with a few bitter almonds), one-half teaspoon of salt, some cinnamon and allspice, about a teaspoon, juice and peel of one lemon and four eggs.

Mix all thoroughly, pour into well-greased iron pan (kugel pot) and bake slowly.

APPLE KUGEL

Soak half a loaf of bread in water and squeeze dry, shave a cup of suet very fine and cut up some tart apples in thin slices. Add sugar, raisins, cinnamon, about one-quarter cup of pounded almonds and the yolks of three eggs. Mix all thoroughly. Add whites beaten to a stiff froth last. Bake one hour.

RICE KUGEL

Boil one cup of rice in water until done, then let it cool. In the meanwhile rub one-fourth cup of chicken-fat to a cream, add a scant cup of powdered sugar, a little cinnamon, the grated peel of one lemon, the yolks of three eggs, adding one at a time; one-half cup of raisins seeded, one-half pound of stewed prunes pitted, then add the cold rice.

One-half cup of pounded almonds mixed with a few bitter ones improves this pudding. Serve with a pudding sauce, either wine or brandy. This pudding may be eaten hot or cold and may be either baked or boiled. If baked, one hour is required; if boiled, two hours; the water must be kept boiling steadily. Left-over rice may be used, b.u.t.ter instead of the fat, and the rice may be boiled in milk.