Jane Austen and her mother wrote charades, poems, and verses to amuse family members. "A Receipt for a Pudding"—a recipe for bread pudding written in rhyme and included in Martha Lloyd's household book—is thought to have been composed for her by Mrs. Austen.
If the Vicar you treat,
You must give him to eat,
A pudding to hit his affection;
And to make his repast,
By the Canon of taste;
Be the present receipt your direction.
First take two pounds of Bread,
Be the crumb only weigh’d,
For crust the good house-wife refuses;
The proportion you’ll guess,
May be made more or less,
To the size that each family chuses.
Then its sweetness to make
Some currants you take
And Sugar of each half a pound
Be not Butter forgot
And the quantity sought
Must the same with your currants be found
Cloves & Mace you will want,
With rose water I grant,
And more savory things if well chosen;
Then to bind each ingredient,
You’ll find it expedient,
Of Eggs to put in half a dozen.
Some milk don’t refuse it,
But boiled ere you use it,
A proper hint this for its maker;
And the whole when compleat;
In a pan clean and neat,
With care recommend to the baker.
In praise of this pudding,
I vouch it a good one,
Or should you suspect a fond word;
To every Guest,
Perhaps it is best,
Two puddings should smoke on the board.
Two puddings! – yet—no;
For if one will do,
The other comes in out of season;
And these lines but obey,
Nor can any-one say,
That this pudding’s with-out rhyme or reason.
