This though usually called a cheese cake, is in fact a pudding.
Cut a piece of rennet about two inches square, wash off the salt
in cold water, and wipe it dry. Put it into a tea-cup, pour on it
sufficient lukewarm water to cover it, and let it soak all night,
or at least several hours. Take a quart of milk, which must be
made warm, but not boiling. Stir the rennet-water into it. Cover
it, and set it in a warm place. When the curd has become quite
firm, and the whey looks greenish, drain off the whey, and set the
curd in a cool place. While the milk is turning, prepare the other
ingredients. Wash and dry half a pound of currants, and dredge
them well with flour. Blanch three ounces of sweet and one ounce
of bitter almonds, by scalding and peeling them. Then cool them in
cold water, wiping them dry before you put them into the mortar.
If you cannot procure bitter almonds, peach kernels may be
substituted. Beat them, one at a time, in the mortar to a smooth
paste, pouring in with every one a few drops of rose water to
prevent their being oily, dull-coloured, and heavy. If you put a
sufficiency of rose water, the pounded almond paste will be light,
creamy, and perfectly white. Mix, as you do them, the sweet and
bitter almonds together. Then beat the yolks of eight eggs, and
when light, mix them gradually with the curd. Add five table-spoonfuls
of cream, and a tea-spoonful of mixed spice. Lastly,
stir in, by degrees, the pounded almonds, and the currants
alternately. Stir the whole mixture very hard. Bake it in buttered
dishes, laying puff paste round the edges. If accurately made, it
will be found delicious. It must be put in the oven immediately.