CAKES, AND ICINGS FOR CAKES.
POUND CAKES.
Take one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, eight eggs, a few drops of lemon. Place the butter in a basin, and warm it in cold weather before the fire. Then beat with the hand. Have the eight eggs broken in a basin, and drop one at a time till the eight are added. Have a tin hoop lined with buttered paper; add one pound of sifted flour. Currants or raisins or lemon-peel can be added. Bake for one hour and a-quarter, in not too hot an oven.
CREAM CAKE.
Take three ounces of butter, three ounces of sugar, one egg, three glasses of milk, and a tea-spoonful of cinnamon; rub the butter and sugar to a cream, then add the egg and milk. Put two tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder with half-a-pound of flour, and knead it to a stiff dough. If this quantity of flour seems too soft, take a little more, as there is great difference in the strength of flour, and some flour takes more moisture in baking. Cooks must therefore be guided by its appearance. Roll the dough into a round cake; half cut through the centre with a smaller cutter. Bake for twenty minutes. When cooked, fill the centre with switched cream, and ice the top of it the same as ordinary cakes.
SPONGE CAKE.
Break three eggs into a copper pan; take the weight of three eggs of sifted sugar, and switch over a warm place, such as a pan of hot water, or over the fire, till the eggs are warmed. Then remove from the heat, and switch till cold, and the eggs assume the appearance of a thick cream. Then mix in very lightly the weight of three eggs of flour, flavour with vanilla, or almonds, or lemon, and bake in small sponge cake tins for ten minutes in a hot oven.
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR CAKE.
Take one cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three eggs, and four cups of flour. Rub the butter and sugar to a cream; add the three eggs, one at a time; one cup of milk; mix two tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder with the flour, and stir into butter and sugar. Bake for one hour in a moderate oven.
GOLD CAKE.
Separate the yolks and whites of six eggs. For the gold cake, take the yolks of six eggs and beat to a cream, with six ounces of butter, six ounces of sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and a tea-cupful of milk. Mix butter, sugar, yolk of eggs, lemon, and milk all together, with three-quarters of a pound of flour and two tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder. Mix with flour, and add to the creamed sugar and butter.
SILVER CAKE.
This cake is made the same as the above, the only difference being to switch the whites to a stiff froth. Use the same proportions. Butter two tins or one large one, and lay the cake in alternated, so that when it is cut it will be nicely mixed, one yellow and one white. Serve cut in a cake basket.
CHEESE CAKES.
Place a pint of milk on the fire to get hot, and make a curd by putting a few drops of rennet in it; press the whey from the curd, mix three eggs with the curd, three ratafia biscuits, a glass of cream, two ounces of sugar, and a few drops of lemon. Press the curd in a napkin to absorb the moisture. Pound the above mixture in a mortar. Line half-a-dozen tartlet pans with puff paste, fill the tartlet pans with the cheese custard, and place a couple of stripes of candied peel on the top of each.
GINGER BREAD.
Mix half-a-pound of butter, and half-a-pound of soft sugar, half-a-pound of treacle, with a wooden spoon, five eggs, yolks and whites switched separately; a tea-cupful of sour milk, one tea-spoonful of baking soda, one ounce of ginger, one pound and a-half of flour, a drop of browning to make it dark, and two ounces of candied peel. Bake in not too hot an oven.
LEMON CAKES.
Take four ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, the juice of a lemon, and half the rhind; rub on to the sugar the yolk of two eggs, one glass of warm milk; knead stiff dough, and roll out, and cut with fancy cutter any shape preferred.
JOHNNIE CAKE.
Take two cups of India meal, one cup of flour, mix three tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder, three spoonfuls of sugar, a half-cup of melted butter, two eggs. Add milk enough to make this a thick batter, and bake for half-an-hour in a square flat pan; cut in square pieces; it is a very nice cake for lunch.
GERMAN TEA CAKE.
Take three ounces of butter, three ounces of sugar, rubbed to a cream, one egg, yolk and white switched; add to the butter and sugar twelve ounces of flour, mix with the flour half-a-pound of currants, three tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder, and a tea-spoonful of cinnamon, one ounce lemon-peel, add one cup of milk to the butter and sugar; mix the flour, currants, cinnamon, and peel, all together, and bake for three-quarters of an hour in a hot oven. If the cakes are burning, lay a paper over to prevent this. Bake till nothing sticks to the straw when pierced.
QUAKER’S CAKES.
Take half-a-pound of sifted sugar, the yolks and whites of seven eggs beaten separately, the juice of one lemon, and a half-pound of almonds beaten fine with rose water. Beat the whites and yolks separately, then mix them with the other ingredients, except the flour. Beat them together half-an-hour, then shake in the flour, and put the cakes in the oven.
DESSERT BISCUITS.
Rub one pound of butter, one pound of sugar, and five eggs to a cream; add one tea-cupful of milk, a few drops of essence of lemon; knead to a stiff dough; cut in rings, and leaves, and heart; when done, ornament with icing sugar in the usual way.
LOAF CAKE.
Take the size of a walnut of German yeast dissolved in a pint of warm milk, and a pinch of salt; stir as much flour in as will make a thick sponge. Set it to raise till it gets light and throws up little bubbles; then take two pounds of flour and make a hole in the centre, and pour in the sponge. Add three-quarters of a pound of butter, half-a-pound of soft sugar, four eggs, two ounces of lemon-peel, three-quarters of a pound of currants, three-quarters of a pound of raisins, and knead this all together, and set to raise for another hour; then, when light, bake for one hour in a moderate oven.
DOUGH NUTS.
Take three ounces of butter, three ounces of soft sugar, rubbed to a cream, one egg, a drop of vanilla, and one cup of milk, a pound and a half of flour with three tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder. Knead into a stiff dough, cut with a round cutter, cut a hole in the centre with a smaller cutter, and fry in hot lard.
FRENCH WAFFLES.
Make a batter of nine table-spoonfuls of flour, in one pint of milk, rubbed smoothly with the back of a wooden spoon; switch up three eggs, and pour into the batter two ounces of melted butter, quarter of a pound of sugar, one tea-spoonful of baking-powder; grease waffle irons, and bake over a clear fire; sift over with white sugar, and serve hot.
ICES FOR CAKES.
Take half-a-pound of icing sugar to two whites of eggs; switch the whites to a stiff froth, stiff enough to lift on a knife; then add the sugar, and beat well up with the knife. Then pass through an icing-bag, on whatever is to be iced; ornament any fancy shape that is desired.