Superior Bread Puddings

Original Recipe

One and one-half cupfuls of white sugar, two cupfuls of fine, dry bread crumbs, five eggs, one tablespoonful of butter, vanilla, rose-water or lemon flavoring, one quart of fresh rich milk and half a cupful of jelly or jam. Rub the butter into a cupful of sugar; beat the yolks very light, and stir these together to a cream. The bread crumbs soaked in milk come next, then the flavoring. Bake in a buttered pudding-dish--a large one and but two-thirds full--until the custard is "set." Draw to the mouth of the oven, spread over with jam or other nice fruit conserve. Cover this with a meringue made of the whipped whites and half a cupful of sugar. Shut the oven and bake until the meringue begins to color. Eat cold with cream. In strawberry season, substitute a pint of fresh fruit for preserves. It is then delicious. Serve with any warm sauce.