LUNCHEON CAKES
Huckleberry shortcake
Sift two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and one of salt into a quart and a pint of flour. Chop into this two tablespoonfuls of cottolene or other fat and two of butter. Beat two eggs light and add them to a pint of sweet milk. Make a hole in the flour, pour in the milk and egg, and mix with a wooden spoon. Turn out upon a pastry board and roll into two sheets, about a third of an inch in thickness. Line a greased biscuit-pan with one sheet, cover it three-quarters of an inch thick with huckleberries, strew these with granulated sugar, fit the upper sheet of dough on the pan and bake in a steady oven until done. Cut into squares and send to table. Split, and eat with butter and sugar.
Currant shortcake
Mash a quart of ripe red currants and stir into them two cups of granulated sugar. Cover and set aside for half an hour.
Make a dough as for quick biscuit, only using a tablespoonful more butter than usual. Roll into a large round biscuit about ten inches in diameter. Bake, and, as soon as done, split open, spread with butter and then with half the sweetened currants. Replace the top of the biscuit and pour the remainder of the currants and juice over and around the shortcake. Serve at once.
Hot strawberry shortcake
Mash a quart of berries, sweeten them with plenty of granulated sugar, and let them stand for an hour and a half.
Into a pint of flour sift a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Chop into this one tablespoonful of butter until it is thoroughly incorporated. Add enough milk to make a dough that can be easily handled. Turn this upon a floured pastry-board, roll lightly into a huge biscuit as large as a pie-plate. Put into a greased pan and bake in a quick oven. When done, split open quickly, spread with butter, then thickly with the mashed berries, put the two halves together again, pour the remaining mashed berries over the entire cake, and serve very hot.
Cold strawberry shortcake
Cream two tablespoonfuls of butter with a cup of powdered sugar. Beat three eggs light, add to them a quarter of a cup of cream, and stir into the creamed butter and sugar. Beat long and hard before adding a cupful of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder. Grease three jelly-cake tins, half-fill with the batter and bake in a quick oven. When cold, remove the cakes from the tins, spread each layer with halved strawberries, sprinkle with sugar and pile on a dish. Serve with an abundance of cream.
Scotch shortcake
(Contributed)
Cream a half-pound of fresh butter with a quarter-pound of sugar, and work into it with the hands a pound of flour. Knead long, then turn upon a pastry-board and press into a flat sheet half an inch thick. Cut into squares and bake until light-brown and crisp.
Orange shortcake
(Contributed)
Sift into one and one-half cupfuls of flour one-half cupful of corn-starch, one level teaspoonful of baking-powder and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Rub into this with the tips of the fingers one-third of a cup of butter and moisten with milk enough to make a soft dough. Divide the dough in halves and spread over the bottom of two tins. When done butter the cakes, sift over each powdered sugar, and put between them thin slices of peeled oranges.
German coffee cake (No. 1)
Two cupfuls of scalded milk, one cupful of water, one yeast-cake (one-cent size), one cupful of sugar, one-half cupful of butter, two eggs, a little salt.
Cream sugar and butter, add milk and yeast dissolved in the water, the salt and eggs, well-beaten. Thicken with enough flour to make a batter that can be stirred with a spoon. Beat well and set to rise for about three hours. When light, add enough flour to enable you to roll it out. Roll about an inch thick, and place in long, shallow pans. Set to rise. When light, drop over the top bits of butter about the size of a hickory-nut, and sprinkle generously with sugar and a little cinnamon. Bake about thirty minutes.
German coffee cake (No. 2)
To two cupfuls of soft bread sponge that has been allowed to rise, add one-half cupful of warm milk, a little salt, one-quarter cupful of melted shortening, two eggs, beaten with three-quarters of a cup of sugar. Add one-half grated nutmeg, some raisins or currants, and as much warmed flour as can be worked in with a spoon. Put it into a greased tin and let it rise. When very light, moisten the top with milk, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and bake in a slow oven forty minutes. Cover with brown paper until almost done.
Potato cake
Two cupfuls of white sugar, one cupful of butter, four eggs, one-half cupful of milk, one cupful of potatoes, one teaspoonful, each, of cinnamon and cloves, one-half cup of chocolate, two cups of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one cup of almonds. Blanch and chop almonds; grate cold boiled potatoes; beat eggs separately, adding whites last. Bake in a shallow pan in a moderate oven, and cover with caramel frosting.
Huckleberry cake
Sift a scant quart of flour twice with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Cream together one cupful of butter and two of sugar, add to them five beaten eggs, a cup and a half of milk, a half-teaspoonful, each, of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg and the prepared flour. Last of all, stir in a cupful of huckleberries thoroughly dredged with flour. Bake in greased muffin tins in a steady oven.
This excellent cake is better when twenty-four hours old than when freshly baked.
Apple cake
Cream together a half-cupful of butter and two cupfuls of sugar, and beat into them a half-cupful of milk and five whipped eggs. Last of all, add three cupfuls of flour into which have been sifted two small teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Bake in layers. When cold, make the filling by heating in a double boiler a cupful of apple sauce, adding sugar to taste, and then beating in gradually the yolks of two eggs and the juice of a lemon. Cook, stirring, for a minute, and set aside until cold before spreading on the cake.
Springleys (No. 1)
(A German recipe.)
Beat one pound of granulated sugar for ten minutes with four eggs, leave for an hour, then add one tablespoonful of lemon extract, and one teaspoonful of hartshorn. Work in enough flour (about two pounds) to make it stiff enough to roll out. Powder the forms with flour before using, so as to prevent sticking. Cut apart and lay on a smooth slab until morning. Sprinkle anise seed in the bottom of the tins before putting cakes in. Bake in a quick oven and watch very closely in order to keep them from burning.
Springerlein (No. 2)
(An old German recipe.)
One cup of powdered sugar, rolled fine, sifted and warmed. Four large eggs. Grated rind of one lemon. One pound of flour thoroughly dried and sifted three times. One-half teaspoonful of baking-powder sifted thoroughly with the flour.
With a silver or wooden spoon stir the sugar and eggs steadily for one hour, stirring one way, add rind of lemon, flour and baking-powder, mix quickly into a loaf-shape without much handling. Set aside in a cool place for two hours. Flour your baking-board lightly—take a small piece of dough, which by this time must be stiff enough to cut with a knife, roll out to about a quarter of an inch thick. Put about two tablespoonfuls of flour in a small cheese-cloth bag and with this lightly dust the mold. Press the dough on the mold, lightly but firmly with the finger tips, then turn the mold over and carefully remove. With a cutter cut off surplus dough, put with remainder and proceed as before. Use as little flour as possible in rolling out. Put a cloth on the table, sprinkle it with anise-seed, lay the cakes on this and stand them for twelve hours in a cool room. Bake in a moderate oven in lightly-buttered pans. This recipe will make from sixty-five to seventy-five cakes.
Currant bun
Warm a cupful of cream in a double-boiler, take it from the fire and stir into it a cupful of melted butter, which has not been allowed to cook in melting. Beat three eggs very light, add them to the cream and butter, then stir in a cupful of sugar. Dissolve a half-cake of yeast in a couple of tablespoonfuls of water, sift a good quart of flour, make a hollow in it, stir into it the yeast and then, after adding to the other mixture, a teaspoonful, each, of powdered mace and cinnamon, put in the flour and the yeast. Beat all well for a few minutes, add a cupful of currants that have been washed, dried and dredged with flour, pour into a shallow baking-pan, let it rise for several hours, until it has doubled in size; bake one hour in a rather quick oven; sprinkle with fine sugar when done.
Cinnamon buns
Save a cupful of bread dough from the second rising. Cream a half-cupful of butter with a half-cupful of sugar, stir in a well-beaten egg and work these into the dough. Now add a half-teaspoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in a little hot water and a half-cupful of cleaned currants, dredged with flour. Knead for several minutes, form into buns, set to rise for a half-hour, then bake.
Parkin
Mix together three pounds of oatmeal, a pound and a half of molasses, a half-pound of butter creamed with a half-pound of sugar, a dash of ginger and as much baking-soda as will lie upon a shilling, dissolved in a little boiling water. Mix thoroughly and bake in flat pans.
Grandmother’s apple cake
(From an old family recipe.)
Three cups of dried apples stewed slowly in two cups of molasses, then set aside to cool. Three cups of flour; two-thirds of a cup of butter; two cups of brown sugar; one-half cup of raisins; currants and grated lemon peel, mixed; eight teaspoonfuls of water, one level teaspoonful of soda dissolved in the water, three eggs, spices to taste.
This cake will keep for weeks. It is better when a few days old than when first made.
The apples should be carefully washed, first in warm, then in cold water, lying in this last for half an hour. Drain and toss in a towel before adding the molasses.
In the “old times” the quantity of cake made by this recipe lasted the children a month.
Bun loaf
(An English recipe.)
Cream together half a cupful of mixed butter and lard with a half-cupful of brown sugar; beat into this one egg and work both into a cupful of bread dough that has had its second rising. Work in, also, half a teaspoonful of cinnamon and quarter of a grated nutmeg, half a cupful of mixed raisins and currants, the raisins seeded and chopped, the currants washed and dried, and both dredged with flour, a tablespoonful of citron shredded and also dredged, and knead all well for three or four minutes. Make into a loaf, let it rise half an hour and bake in a moderate oven.
Fruit cake (No. 1)
One cupful of butter; one and a half cupfuls of powdered sugar; two cupfuls of flour; six eggs; half a pound, each, of raisins and currants; quarter-pound of citron; teaspoonful of cinnamon and nutmeg; half teaspoonful of ground cloves; three tablespoonfuls of brandy.
Cream butter and sugar, beat in the whipped yolks of the eggs, stir in the flour, the spice, the raisins, seeded and chopped; the currants, washed; the citron, shredded, and all the fruit, well dredged with flour, then the whites, beaten stiff, and the brandy. Bake about two hours in a steady oven.
Fruit cake (No. 2)
Seed and chop a quarter of a pound of raisins; stem and wash a quarter of a pound of currants; and mince three tablespoonfuls of citron. Mix all this fruit together and thoroughly dredge with flour.
Rub to a cream a generous cupful of powdered sugar and a half-cupful of butter, and beat into this five whipped eggs. Now add half a teaspoonful, each, of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and mace, and stir in a cupful of flour. Last of all, add the fruit, turn into a greased cake tin and bake steadily, not fast, until done. This will probably take from an hour to an hour and a half.
Fruit cake (No. 3)
Cream one cupful of butter with two cupfuls of powdered sugar, beat the yolks of six eggs and add to the butter and sugar. Put in two and a half cupfuls of sifted flour, half a pound, each, of seeded and chopped raisins, and of washed and dried currants, a quarter of a pound of shredded citron, all well dredged with flour, and a teaspoonful, each, of cinnamon and grated nutmeg. Last of all, put in the whites of the eggs beaten stiff. Bake in a steady oven.
Christmas fruit cake
This cake may be made as long before Christmas as you desire, as it will keep for months. Cream together a half-pound, each, of butter and sugar, and stir in six beaten eggs. Now beat in one teaspoonful, each, of powdered nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, one cupful of flour, a half pound, each, of cleaned currants, seeded and chopped raisins, and a quarter of a pound of shredded citron—all thoroughly dredged with flour. Last of all, add a tablespoonful of rose water. Turn into a deep tin, well greased, and bake in a steady oven until done.
Pound cake
One pound, each, of butter, of sugar, of eggs, of flour; one tablespoonful of brandy, one-half teaspoonful of mace.
Cream butter and sugar, beat whites and yolks separately and very light. Add the brandy and mace to the creamed butter and sugar, stir in the yolks, and, after beating hard for a couple of minutes, add the flour and whites alternately, whipping them in lightly, but not stirring after they have gone in. A pound cake batter should be as stiff as it can be stirred. Bake in brick tins, or in small pans in a steady oven, covering with paper to prevent too quick browning.
Grafton cake
Cream together three tablespoonfuls of butter with two cupfuls of sugar and beat into these the yolks of three eggs, whipped light. Add a cupful of cold water and two cupfuls of sifted flour. Stir in, then, the whites of the eggs, beaten stiff, and another cupful of flour into which has been sifted a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. Flavor with a half-teaspoonful of nutmeg and cinnamon, mixed.
Gold cake
Cream together a cupful of butter and two cupfuls of sugar. When well blended, stir in the beaten yolks of four eggs and a scant cupful of milk. Now add, gradually, enough prepared flour to make a good batter, and, at the last, the juice and grated rind of one orange. Turn into a greased tin and bake until a straw comes out clean from the thickest part of the loaf. Frost with an icing made by beating a cupful of powdered sugar into the unbeaten white of one egg. When light and smooth, add a teaspoonful of orange juice and a tablespoonful of grated orange peel.
Silver cake
Cream together a cupful of sugar and a half-cupful of butter, and beat into them the whites of four eggs, then a half-cupful of cold water. Sift a pint of flour with a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder and add this gradually, beating to a light batter. Stir in, at the last, a teaspoonful of rose-water and bake in a loaf. Cover with icing flavored with rose-water.
Chocolate loaf cake (No. 1)
Cream together a cupful of sugar and a half-cupful of butter; add a cupful of milk, four beaten eggs, and three ounces of grated chocolate dissolved in a little milk. Beat all hard, then stir in quickly two cupfuls of sifted prepared flour; flavor with vanilla and turn all into a greased cake tin. Bake in a steady oven until a straw comes out clean from the thickest part of the loaf.
Chocolate loaf cake (No. 2)
Dissolve eight tablespoonfuls of sweet grated chocolate in a gill of hot milk. Rub to a cream a half-cupful of butter and a large cupful of sugar, and into this beat five whipped eggs, the dissolved chocolate, a pint of prepared flour and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Turn into a loaf-tin and bake. Cover with chocolate icing.
AN EASTER WEDDING BREAKFAST, WITH LILIES
JAPANESE DECORATIONS FOR A CHILDREN’S LUNCHEON
Cocoanut and citron layer cake
Rub together three-quarters of a cupful of butter and a cupful and a half of powdered sugar. When this mixture is like a soft cream, add six eggs, beaten light, a cupful of water, and three cupfuls of flour sifted twice with a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. If the batter should be too thin, add cautiously a little more flour. Pour into three greased layer-cake tins, and bake to a delicate brown.
Whip a pint of cream stiff with a generous half-cupful of powdered sugar. Have ready a fresh cocoanut, grated. Beat this into the whipped cream. When the cake is cold, spread each layer of it with this mixture, and sprinkle with minced citron. On the top layer heap the cocoanut cream, and dot it here and there with bits of the green citron. This cake must be eaten within a few hours after it is made.
Old-fashioned sponge cake
Weigh ten eggs; allow their weight in sugar, and half their weight in flour. Beat the yolks light, whip the sugar into them, stir in half the grated peel and all the juice of a lemon, then the flour, and lastly the whites folded in. Bake in a steady oven.
A good cup sponge cake
Beat the yolks and whites of five eggs separate. Into the yolks stir a cupful of sugar and a small teacupful of flour that has been well sifted with a small teaspoonful of baking-powder. Beat long and hard—if you do it for twenty minutes it will not be too long. Add a teaspoonful, each, of lemon and orange juice and fold in lightly the stiff whites. Bake at once in a loaf tin in a steady oven. It should be done in three-quarters of an hour.
Boiled sponge cake (No. 1)
Eight eggs. The weight of the eggs in sugar, and half their weight in flour. Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs carefully. Beat the yolks very light, add the sugar to them, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, and half the flour. Whip the whites to a stiff froth, add half of these to the batter, stir in the rest of the flour and the remaining whites. Pour into a greased cake-mold, with a tight-fitting top, and put this on the stove in a pot of boiling water. Do not let the water come up over the top of the tin. Boil steadily for at least an hour before looking at the cake. Test then with a straw, and if not done, boil a while longer. The straw should come out clean when the cake is done.
Boiled sponge cake (No. 2)
Beat six eggs light, yolks and whites separately. Bring to a boil three-quarters of a pound of sugar and a half-cupful of water. Boil for five minutes and pour gradually, beating steadily, upon the yolks of the eggs. Now whip in the juice of a lemon, a half-pound of prepared flour, and the whites of the eggs, added quickly and lightly. Bake in brick-shaped tins in a steady oven, covering the cake with paper for the first twenty minutes of the baking. The loaf should be done in half an hour.
Raisin bread
Scald a pint of milk and beat into it a teaspoonful of melted butter and one of salt. When the mixture is lukewarm add half a yeast-cake, dissolved in a half-cupful of warm water, and beat in enough flour to make a good batter. Set in a warm room to rise for eight hours. Beat hard, add a cupful of flour and work in a cupful of halved and seeded raisins, plentifully dredged with flour. Set to rise until light, then bake.
Water crackers or wafers
(A Southern recipe.)
Into a half-pound of flour rub a tablespoonful of butter, a little salt, and add enough cold water to make a dough that can be rolled out. Roll very thin, cut out, and roll again. Bake in a floured tin to a pale brown.
Pork cake
(A Yorkshire recipe.)
One pound of fat salt pork free from lean or rind; chop so fine as to be almost like lard, pour upon it one-half pint of boiling water, add two cupfuls of dark brown sugar, one of New Orleans molasses, one teaspoonful of soda stirred into the molasses, one pound of raisins, one pound of dates, chopped; one-fourth of a pound of citron shaved fine. Stir in enough sifted flour to make it the consistency of common cake batter; season with one teaspoonful, each, of cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Bake in a moderate oven.
Kleiner
(A Danish recipe.)
The yolks of six eggs, the yolks and whites of two eggs, one-quarter of a pound of sugar. Whip these together, add two tablespoonfuls of cream, one ounce of melted butter, and work in as much flour as possible, but not more than a pound. Knead this with flour until the dough stops sticking to the fingers. Roll out very thin with a little more flour, and cut in oblong pieces about three inches long, and not quite half as wide. Cut a slit in the middle of each, and bend one end through, so as to make a twist in the middle. Boil in deep cottolene or other fat until light brown. Put up in tin boxes. They will keep for a long time.
Poverty cake
Mix together half a cupful of molasses, half a cupful of sugar, one egg and two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. When these are beaten together thoroughly add one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in half a cupful of cold water, cinnamon or ginger to taste, and one and a half cupfuls of flour. Bake in a shallow pan in a moderate oven for about thirty minutes.
Good, in spite of the name!
Jelly roll
Take four eggs and their weight in butter, sugar and flour. Cream the butter and sugar, add the beaten yolks, and whip for five minutes. Put in the flour, the stiffened whites, and, last of all, a full teaspoonful of baking-powder. Pour into a greased baking-tin, and make the layer not more than half an inch thick. Bake quickly and steadily, turn from the pan while hot, spread with jelly at once and roll. Cover with paper and tie into shape until cold.
Angel cake
Sift a teaspoonful of cream of tartar six times with a half-cupful of flour. Whip the whites of six eggs until they stand alone, then gradually stir into them a half-cupful of granulated sugar and the sifted flour. Beat very hard, turn into a clean, ungreased pan with a funnel in the middle. Bake in a steady oven until a straw comes out clean from the thickest part. Turn the pan upside down upon a clean towel, and as the cake cools, it will slip out of the tin. When cold, ice the bottom and sides of the loaf.
Devil’s food
Half a cupful of chocolate, grated; half a cupful of sweet milk; half a cupful of brown sugar. Boil these together until as thick as cream, and let cool.
One cupful of brown sugar; half a cupful of butter; two eggs; two-thirds of a cupful of milk; vanilla flavoring. Mix well, beat in the boiled mixture and two cupfuls of flour sifted with a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. Bake in layers, put together with chocolate filling and cover with a white icing.
Sunshine cake
Sift one cupful of granulated sugar and add it to the yolks of five eggs, first beating these until they are thick. Add a dash of salt. Sift three-quarters of a cupful of flour twice with half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and add to the eggs and sugar. Beat for twenty minutes, and fold in the whites of seven eggs whipped stiff with a teaspoonful of white sugar dissolved in one teaspoonful of lemon juice and one tablespoonful of orange juice. Butter a pan, flour it lightly, and bake the cake in a steady oven for forty minutes.
Orange layer cake
Cream three tablespoonfuls of butter with two cupfuls of sugar, add the beaten yolks of five eggs, the juice and half the grated rind of an orange, and three cupfuls of flour—or enough for a batter—sifted with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Last of all, fold in the stiffened whites of three eggs. Bake in layer tins.
Filling for orange cake
Beat the whites of two eggs very stiff with one cupful of powdered sugar; add the juice and half the grated peel of an orange. Whip to a soft cream, and spread between the layers when they are cold.
Almond cake
Blanch enough almonds to make a cupful of them when skinned, and when cold pound to a paste. Or, what is more convenient, buy the almond paste ready prepared. Cream a quarter-pound of butter with a pound of powdered sugar, and beat into this the well-whipped yolks of seven eggs. Now beat in gradually the almond paste, a teaspoonful of rose-water, a quart of sifted flour, and, lastly, the stiffened whites of the eggs. Bake in a loaf in a steady oven until a straw comes out clean from the thickest part. When cold, ice, flavoring the icing with rose-water and a very little essence of bitter almonds.
Chrysanthemum cake
Half a pint of butter and one pint of sugar rubbed to a cream; the beaten whites of eight eggs, and one and a half pints of flour in which have been sifted one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one-half pint of milk and the grated rind of an orange. Color the batter a delicate pink with cochineal, and bake in jelly-cake tins in a moderate oven. Use red sugar for icing.
Daisy cake
Beat the yolks of four eggs very light with a cupful of sugar. Cream a quarter of a pound of butter and stir into the beaten egg and sugar, then add a gill of water into which three teaspoonfuls of cream have been stirred, and flavor with vanilla extract. Now fold in one and a half cupfuls of flour that have been sifted with two even teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. If this quantity makes the batter too stiff, add less, as some flours thicken more than others. Bake in layers. These form the yellow part of the cake. For the white part cream a half cupful of butter with one and a half cupfuls of sugar, add a cupful of lukewarm water and two and a half cupfuls of flour that have been sifted with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Beat hard. Add the juice and rind of one lemon, and fold in the stiffened whites of the four eggs. Bake in layers. When cold, put the layers together, alternating yellow and white, using a boiled icing filling. Use the same icing for the top, coloring it with grated orange peel. When this frosting is firm, make a plain white boiled icing and, with a pastry tube, make of it the form of a daisy on top of the other icing.
Lemon cake
One cupful of butter; two and a half cupfuls of sugar; three eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately; four cupfuls of flour; one scant teaspoonful of baking-soda dissolved in a little milk; one cupful of sweet milk; the juice and grated rind of two lemons. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add the yolks, well beaten, then the milk and soda. Then add two cupfuls of the flour, the juice and grated rind of the lemons. Mix again, and, last of all, add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Bake in a hot oven.
White mountain cake
Into three cupfuls of sugar rub one cupful of butter and stir in a half-cupful of sweet milk. Add four cupfuls of prepared flour alternately with the stiffened whites of ten eggs. If you find that the batter is going to be too stiff, do not put in the whole quantity of flour. Bake in layer tins.
Filling for white mountain cake
Boil together a half-pound of sugar and a half-cupful of water until the syrup is thick enough to hang in a thick thread from a fork dipped into it. Stir in, a teaspoonful at a time, the stiffened whites of two eggs, beating them hard into the boiling syrup. Remove from the fire and beat until like thick cream, and cool; then add a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Spread on each layer of the cake, put the layers in a pile on top of one another and pour the remaining icing over the top layer, spreading it smoothly with a knife dipped in boiling water. Sprinkle the whole cake with powdered sugar while the frosting is still moist.
Mocha cake
Cream a half cupful of butter with one and a half cupfuls of sugar. Add three-quarters of a cupful of milk, and the stiffened whites of three eggs alternately with enough prepared flour to make a good batter. Bake in layers.
Filling for Mocha cake
Thicken a cupful of scalding milk with a tablespoonful of cornstarch wet with a little cold milk. Stir over the fire until smooth, then pour gradually on the yolks of three eggs that have been beaten light with a half cupful of sugar. Stir over the fire for three minutes, and set aside until almost cold, when beat in a gill of strong black coffee. Spread upon the cake layers.
Thanksgiving citron cake
Cream a cupful of butter with three cupfuls of powdered sugar, add a cupful of milk, and four cupfuls of prepared flour alternately with the stiffened whites of ten eggs. If too stiff lessen the quantity of flour. Flavor with rose-water, and stir in two cups of shredded citron, plentifully dredged with flour. Bake in an oven, not too hot, for two hours.
Minnehaha cake
Cream a half-cupful of butter with one and a half cupfuls of sugar, add the beaten yolks of four eggs; a half-pint of milk, and the stiffened whites of the eggs alternately with three even cupfuls of prepared flour, or enough to make a good batter. Bake in layer tins.
Filling for Minnehaha cake
Boil a cupful of sugar with four tablespoonfuls of water until a drop “threads” when pressed between the thumb and finger; then beat in the whipped white of an egg, and a half-cupful, each, of seeded and chopped raisins and walnut meats. Spread this mixture on the layers of cake.
Marshmallow layer cake
Cream a cupful of butter with two cupfuls of sugar, and when smooth and light, add the well-beaten yolks of six eggs, a cupful of milk and two cupfuls of prepared flour, alternately with the stiffened whites of the six eggs. If the batter is too thin, add a little more flour. Flavor with vanilla and bake in layer tins.
Filling for marshmallow cake
Dissolve five tablespoonfuls of gum arabic in a gill of cold water; then stir in a half-cupful of powdered sugar and boil all together until a little dropped in cold water can be rolled into a soft ball between the finger and thumb. Have ready-beaten the white of an egg and strain the syrup into this, beating the stiffened egg constantly as you do so. Flavor with vanilla and spread upon the cake layers with a knife dipped in boiling water.
Plain loaf cake
One cupful of butter rubbed to a cream with two cupfuls of sugar; three cupfuls of flour sifted three times with a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder; four eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and very light; one cupful of milk. Bake in two loaves.
This simple formula is the foundation for scores of fancy cakes, especially of those baked in layers.
Nut cake
Cream one cupful of butter with two cupfuls of sugar; add a cupful of cold water, the well-beaten yolks of four eggs, a half teaspoonful of ground mace and cinnamon, mixed, and three cupfuls of prepared flour, stirred in alternately with the stiffened whites of the eggs. Do not get the batter too stiff. Now add two cupfuls of hickory-nut kernels, thoroughly dredged with flour. Stir in quickly and turn at once into a well-greased loaf-tin. Bake in a steady oven, covering the cake with brown paper for the first half-hour it is in the oven. When a straw comes out clean from the thickest part it is done. When cold, turn out, and cover with a plain white-of-egg icing. Arrange half-kernels of hickory-nuts at regular intervals on the top of the icing.
Sour cream cake
(Contributed)
Beat the yolks of three eggs until stiff, add one cupful of sugar and one cupful of rich sour cream, in which has been dissolved one scant teaspoonful of soda. Add two cupfuls of sifted flour, one-half teaspoonful of salt, and one teaspoonful of lemon extract. Bake in a shallow pan.
Bride’s cake
Cream together three cupfuls of sugar and one scant cupful of butter, adding the sugar a little at a time. Add one cupful of milk. Sift thoroughly three cupfuls of flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and one cupful of corn-starch. Beat very light the whites of twelve eggs. To the egg and sugar mixture add the sifted flour, and, last, of all, the beaten whites of the twelve eggs. Flavor to taste. Stir all together thoroughly. Pour into well-buttered and floured tins. Bake slowly in a moderate oven.
Cream cake
(Contributed)
Beat separately the whites and yolks of four eggs, to the yolks add two cupfuls of sugar stirred in a little at a time, and one cupful of sweet cream. Sift thoroughly two heaping cupfuls of flour, one teaspoonful of soda and two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Add this to the egg mixture. Stir in the whites last, stirring gently.
Marble cake
(Contributed)
White Part: With two and one-half cupfuls of flour sift two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Cream one-half cupful of butter and one cupful of white sugar. Add one-half cupful of sweet milk and the sifted flour. Then the whites of four eggs beaten stiff and a teaspoonful of vanilla.
Dark Part: Stir until perfectly smooth and creamy one-half cupful of butter and one cupful of brown sugar. Add to this the well-beaten yolks of four eggs, one-half cupful of cooking molasses, one-half cupful of sour milk. Sift with one and a half cupfuls of flour, one teaspoonful, each, of cloves, cinnamon, mace and grated nutmeg. Stir in part of the flour mixture. Then add one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little milk, and the rest of the flour. Butter well the cake pan and drop in a spoonful of each kind, trying to drop the mixture so as to give the appearance of marble.
One egg cake
(Contributed)
Cream one-half cup of butter, two cupfuls of sugar; add one egg beaten light, one cupful of milk, one teaspoonful of vanilla, and two cupfuls of flour into which have been sifted two level teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Bake in a moderate oven.
Caramel cake
(Contributed)
Sift together three cupfuls of pastry flour and three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Cream one-half cupful of butter and two cupfuls of sugar. Beat the yolks of four eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Add one cupful of milk and alternately the well-beaten whites of the eggs and the flour. Then add one teaspoonful of vanilla extract and one teacupful of chopped walnuts. Bake in loaf and when done cover with the caramel frosting.
Currant cake
(Contributed)
Sift together three cupfuls of pastry flour and three level teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Cream one scant cupful of butter with one and one-half cupfuls of sugar, adding the sugar gradually; and the well-beaten yolks of three eggs and one teaspoonful of vanilla. Add to this one-half cupful of milk alternately with the flour and last of all one cupful of cleaned and floured currants. Bake in a moderate oven about fifty minutes.
FROSTINGS FOR CAKES
Boiled frosting for cake
Put into a saucepan half a cupful of water and a pound of granulated sugar and let it boil slowly. Do not stir. When it spins a thread from the tip of a spoon dipped into it, take it from the fire. Set it aside until it is blood-warm, and then stir steadily until you have a smooth white cream. Apply it to the cake as you would any other icing. If made properly it will harden by the time it is fairly on the cake. If it hardens too much before it is used set it in warm water until it softens. Flavor it while stirring.
Frosting for plain loaf cake
One cupful of cream; one pound of confectioner’s sugar XXX; one cupful of seeded raisins, chopped; one cupful of almonds, chopped; one teaspoonful of lemon juice. Mix quite stiff.
Chocolate frosting for layer cake
Put into a porcelain-lined saucepan a cupful of granulated sugar and a third of a cupful of hot water and boil without stirring until it threads, then pour slowly upon the beaten white of an egg to which has been added a pinch of cream of tartar. Beat steadily, adding, as you do so, two heaping tablespoonfuls of grated chocolate, two tablespoonfuls of cream, a half-teaspoonful of butter, and a teaspoonful of vanilla. When the mixture is blood-warm, cover the cake with it.
Milk frosting
(Contributed)
To ten tablespoonfuls of sweet milk, add one and one-half cupfuls of sugar, and boil six minutes. Take from the fire and stir until white. Flavor and spread quickly.
Frosting made with yolks
(Contributed)
Proceed exactly the same as for ordinary frosting, using the yolks of the eggs instead of the whites.
VARIOUS FILLINGS FOR CAKE
Marshmallow filling
Dissolve five teaspoonfuls of powdered gum arabic in half a cup of cold water, add half a cupful of powdered sugar and boil until thick enough to form a soft ball between the fingers when dropped into ice water. Pour upon the white of an egg beaten stiff, flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla and a few drops of lemon juice and spread on the cake with a knife dipped in hot water.
Soft white filling for layer cake
Make a syrup of a cupful of granulated sugar and a third of a cupful of water and simmer over the fire until it threads. Beat the whites of two eggs stiff, add a generous pinch of cream of tartar, and beat steadily while you pour in the hot syrup. Do not cease beating until it is like a thick white paste; then flavor with vanilla or lemon and spread at once on the layer cakes.
Caramel filling (No. 1)
Put together over the fire three-quarters of a cupful of cream, half a cupful of sugar and a tablespoonful of butter. Cook until it spins a thread, add to it four tablespoonfuls of burnt sugar, or caramel, and a teaspoonful of vanilla. When it is cool, use for the filling and frosting of cake.
Caramel filling (No. 2)
Make the caramel of burnt sugar by putting a cupful of sugar over the fire with a quarter-cup of water and let them boil until the syrup begins to change color. Tip the saucepan from one side to the other so that it may brown equally. When it is nearly black, but before it has begun to char, add to it a cupful of boiling water, pouring it in carefully lest in its sputtering you should be scorched. It must boil after this until all is dissolved and it is like very dark syrup. In making your cake filling put over the fire one tablespoonful of butter, three-quarters of a cupful of cream and half a cupful of white sugar. Boil all together until they spin a thread from the end of a fork tine, add four tablespoonfuls of the caramel and a teaspoonful of vanilla and set aside to cool. Use for filling and frosting cakes.
Raisin filling
One cupful of granulated sugar and one-fourth cupful of water. Boil together without stirring until it is brittle when dropped into cold water. Stir quickly into the beaten white of one egg. Add to this one small cup of stoned raisins chopped very fine.
Cocoanut filling
(Contributed)
Chill one cupful of thick sweet cream and add one-half cupful of powdered sugar. Whip until light and dry and fold in the well-beaten white of one egg and one cupful of grated cocoanut. Spread between the layers and over the top of the cake.
Custard filling
(Contributed)
Put two cupfuls of milk into a double boiler and bring to the boiling point. Moisten two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch in a little cold milk. Beat the yolks of four eggs very light and add one-half cupful of sugar; then the corn-starch. Stir this mixture with the boiling milk and let it cook long enough for the corn-starch to be thoroughly cooked. Flavor when almost cold.
Fig filling
(Contributed)
Put one cupful of water into a saucepan over the fire and add one-half cupful of sugar. Add one pint of figs, finely chopped, to the syrup and cook together until soft and smooth. When cold spread between the layers of the cake.
Almond filling
(Contributed)
Beat three cupfuls of powdered sugar into the whites of three eggs. Blanch one pound of sweet almonds. Pound in a mortar until they make an even paste, with a little sugar. Then add to the whites of the eggs, and flavor with a little vanilla. Stir thoroughly.
GINGERBREADS
Molasses gingerbread (No. 1)
Warm together two cupfuls of molasses, a half cupful each of cottolene or other fat and butter, and two tablespoonfuls of ground ginger, and when a little more than blood-warm, beat hard for ten minutes; then add two teaspoonfuls of soda dissolved in a little hot water, a cupful of sour milk and enough flour to make a soft dough that can be rolled out. Turn on a floured board, roll out, cut into shapes and bake in a good oven. While hot brush over with the white of an egg.
Molasses gingerbread (No. 2)
One cupful of New Orleans molasses; one cupful of sugar; one cupful of sour cream; one small cupful of butter; three eggs; three cupfuls of flour; one teaspoonful each of cloves, cinnamon, ginger and baking-soda, the last dissolved in a little hot water. Bake in two loaves in a moderate oven.
Hard gingerbread
In a double boiler heat a cupful of New Orleans molasses, and add half a cupful of melted butter to it. Pour into a bowl and when blood-warm add a tablespoonful of ginger, a half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little boiling water, and stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Turn upon a floured board, roll thin, cut out and bake in a hot oven.
Soft gingerbread
Sift one teaspoonful of baking powder and a half teaspoonful of salt twice with two cupfuls of flour. Stir to a cream half a cupful of butter, the same of sugar and the same of molasses. Warm the mixture slightly and beat light before adding a well-whipped egg, a half teaspoonful of ground mace and a tablespoonful of ginger. Dissolve half a teaspoonful of baking soda in a tablespoonful of hot water; stir this into half a cupful of sweet milk; lastly, stir in the flour; beat hard for one minute, and bake in two shallow pans, well buttered, or in pâté pans.
Raisin gingerbread
Mix as above, adding at the last half a cupful of seeded raisins cut into halves and well dredged with flour.
Aunt Nelly’s gingerbread
Sift half a teaspoonful of salt and an even teaspoonful of baking-soda in one and a half cupfuls of flour. Rub to a cream half a cupful of butter, with an equal quantity of brown sugar and of molasses. Beat smooth and light, adding, gradually, half a cupful of milk. Now stir in a cupful of prepared flour, after which add more flour until you can knead it as you would bread dough. Work it hard for one minute, roll into an even sheet, and cut to fit your baking pans, which must be well greased. Cut into squares with a jagging iron as the sheet lies in the pan, and bake in a good oven covered for twelve minutes. Then uncover and brown.
Gingerbread, “such as mother used to make”
Mix together a half-cupful each of brown sugar and New Orleans molasses, and stir in a tablespoonful of melted butter, a teaspoonful of ground ginger and a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Set the bowl containing these ingredients at the side of the range until the contents are blood-warm; then remove from the range and beat with an egg-beater until the batter is light brown in color. Now stir in a cupful of sour milk and three cupfuls of sifted flour. Beat very hard, adding, last of all, a teaspoonful of baking-soda dissolved in hot water. Beat for two minutes longer and bake in deep muffin-tins, or in a shallow baking-pan.
Sour milk gingerbread
Mix together a half cupful of sugar, a half cupful of molasses, a tablespoonful of butter, a half teaspoonful of ground cinnamon and a teaspoonful of ground ginger. Set the bowl containing this mixture at the side of the range until the contents are warm, then beat until light in color and foamy in appearance. Now beat in a teacupful of sour milk, a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of boiling water, and two and a half cupfuls of flour. Turn into a greased shallow pan, and bake in a steady oven. Eat hot.
Currant gingerbread
Make as directed in last recipe, adding at the last half a cupful of currants that have been carefully washed and picked over, then soaked for half an hour in warm water, dried between two towels and dredged with flour.
Honey gingerbread
Warm a generous half-cupful of butter and beat into it two scant cupfuls of strained honey. When you have a light cream, beat in one tablespoonful of powdered sugar, a tablespoonful of ginger and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Now add the beaten yolks of four eggs, and, alternately with the frothed whites, three even cupfuls of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder.
Beat hard for one minute and bake in buttered shallow pans in a moderate oven forty-five minutes. Keep covered for thirty minutes.
SMALL CAKES
What the old-fashioned people call “dough cakes”—what we term “cookies” or “jumbles”—are amongst the most popular small cakes that the housemother can present to her brood. The only trouble is that they are sometimes too popular, as they melt away before John’s and the boys’ onslaughts like snow under spring sunshine. Still the mother makes them gladly. It is always a great convenience to have a stone crock full of cookies in the house. They are nice for luncheon, for afternoon tea, and to eat with a glass of milk before going to bed. They must be kept in a dry atmosphere, as they are doubly delicious when crisp and friable.
Almond macaroons
Beat the whites of three eggs stiff and whip into them half a cupful of powdered sugar, a quarter-pound of almond paste, crumbled fine, half a teaspoonful of corn-starch, and five drops of essence of bitter almonds. Drop by the spoonful on buttered paper and bake in a hot oven. If you can not get almond paste, pound blanched almonds fine.
Cocoanut macaroons
Into two cups of grated cocoanut stir a cupful and a half of powdered sugar and a gill of cream, or just enough to wet the cocoanut. Add the beaten whites of two eggs, and mix all thoroughly. Line a baking pan with buttered paper, drop the cocoanut mixture by the teaspoonful upon this and bake quickly in a hot oven. Sift powdered sugar over the macaroons while they are still warm.
Auntie’s cookies
One cupful of butter; two cupfuls of sugar; three eggs; one-half teaspoonful of baking-powder; one even teaspoonful of nutmeg and half as much cloves; flour for a soft dough. Begin with two cupfuls, adding cautiously until you have the right consistency.
Rub butter and sugar to a soft cream; add the yolks of the eggs, beaten light, then the spice, one cupful of flour with which the baking-powder has been sifted twice, and half the whites beaten stiff. Next another cupful of flour and the rest of the whites. Roll into a sheet of dough about a quarter-inch thick, cut into rounds and bake in a good oven. If you like, you may stick a seeded raisin or a bit of citron in the top of each cooky before baking.
Currant cookies
One cupful of sugar; two scant cupfuls of flour; four tablespoonfuls of butter; two eggs; one scant teaspoonful of baking-powder; one cupful of cleaned currants, chopped fine; nutmeg and cinnamon to taste.
Rub butter and sugar to a cream; add spices and the eggs beaten light, then the flour with which the baking-powder has been sifted twice; lastly, the chopped currants. Roll out with quick, light strokes, cut into shapes and bake in a tolerably brisk oven. They are better the second day after baking than on the first.
Oatmeal cookies
Mix together four cupfuls of flour (into which you have sifted a teaspoonful of soda) and three cupfuls of oatmeal; add two cupfuls of powdered sugar, a cupful of melted butter, and a teaspoonful of salt. Moisten the mass with enough cold water to make a very stiff dough. Roll as thin as possible, cut into round cakes and bake. This will make a very large number of cookies, but they will keep well for weeks.
German almond cookies
The yolks of six eggs; one and a half cupfuls of sugar; three-quarters of a cupful of butter; one cupful of almonds, chopped; one tablespoonful of cinnamon; three cupfuls of flour. Beat well, drop small spoonfuls on a well-greased pan and bake lightly.
Sponge cookies
Beat the yolks of two eggs light with one cupful of sugar. When smooth, add the whites beaten to a standing froth, the juice of half a lemon, and, with quick, light strokes, a cupful of flour sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder and a little salt. Now, work in more flour until you have a “rollable” dough. Cut into shapes, and bake quickly in a floured shallow pan.
Lemon cookies
Cream two cupfuls of granulated sugar and one cupful of butter. Add three beaten eggs and flavor with lemon juice. Sift into the mixture enough flour to make the dough stiff enough to handle, roll thin, cut out and bake.
Spice cookies
Cream one cupful of butter with two of sugar, and add three eggs. Mix together a teaspoonful each of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir these into the batter. Add enough flour to make a good dough, roll out and bake.
Caraway cookies
Rub one-half cupful of butter to a cream with one cupful of powdered sugar, and when light beat in the yolks of three eggs. Beat the whites stiff and add them alternately with two cupfuls of flour. Stir in one teaspoonful of caraway seed and enough more flour to enable you to roll it very thin. Cut into rounds and bake quickly.
Fanny’s cookies
Into two cupfuls of granulated sugar rub one cupful of butter, then stir in three eggs, well beaten, and flour enough to make a stiff dough. Roll out on a floured board, cut, sprinkle with granulated sugar, stick a raisin in the center of each and bake.
Sand cookies
Cream a cupful of butter with two cupfuls of granulated sugar, add two eggs beaten light, yolks and whites separately, then half a teaspoonful of ground mace or of nutmeg. Have ready three cupfuls of flour sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder, and work into the mixture until you can roll out the dough.
Cut round with a tin cutter; wash the tops lightly with white of egg; press half of a split blanched almond into the center of each, and sprinkle well with coarse granulated sugar.
This is the “sand.”
Bake quickly.
Peanut cookies
One cupful of butter; one and one-half cupfuls of powdered sugar; three eggs; one cupful of freshly roasted peanuts, pounded, rolled to a coarse powder, and mixed with about three cupfuls of flour.
Cream the butter and sugar, add the beaten eggs, then the flour and crushed peanuts. The dough should be just stiff enough to handle easily. Drop the dough by the spoonful upon a floured board, pat it into round cakes with the fingers, grate a little nutmeg over the top of each cake and bake. A novelty, and one that is likely to be popular.
Alma’s drop cakes
Beat five eggs light—yolks and whites separately. Into the yolks stir a cupful of powdered sugar, the juice of a lemon and half the grated peel—then the stiffened whites of the eggs. Sift together a heaping cupful of flour and a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and beat this into the other ingredients. Line a hot buttered pan with thick writing paper, well buttered; drop the batter by the spoonful upon the paper, and bake at once in a quick oven. Sift powdered sugar over them while hot.
Vanilla cookies
Cream one cupful of butter with two of sugar, and stir in a cupful of sour cream, two beaten eggs and three cupfuls of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of soda. Flavor with vanilla extract. If your dough is not stiff enough to handle, add more sifted flour until it is of the right consistency. Roll into a sheet about a quarter of an inch thick, cut into rounds and bake.
Cocoanut cream puffs
These cakes, while requiring care in their preparation, amply repay one for the time spent in their making.
Into a cupful of hot water stir a half-cupful of butter and bring to a boil. Then add a cupful and a half of flour, and cook (stirring constantly) for two minutes; take from the fire and pour into a bowl to cool. When the mixture is cold beat into it the whipped yolks of four eggs; lastly, the stiffened whites. Line a baking pan with buttered paper; drop the batter by the large spoonful upon it, and bake in a quick oven. The puffs should be done in fifteen minutes. When they are cold cut off the tops, fill with the following mixture and replace the tops.
Filling
Into two cupfuls of thick whipped cream beat a cupful of grated cocoanut, half a cupful of powdered sugar and a teaspoonful of extract of bitter almonds. Whip up hard before putting into the puff shells.
Molasses cookies
Warm a cupful of molasses slightly and beat to a cream with half a cupful of softened butter. Add the juice of half a lemon, one tablespoonful of ginger and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon.
Now stir in two cupfuls of flour sifted three times with an even teaspoonful of baking-soda, until you have a soft dough. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake in a good oven.
Ginger jumbles
Into two cupfuls of molasses stir a cupful of melted butter, a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, a tablespoonful of pulverized ginger, and a half a teaspoonful of baking-soda. Beat well, add enough flour to make a soft dough, form with floured hands into small cakes and bake.
Gingersnaps (No. 1)
One cupful of sugar, one cupful of butter, one tablespoonful of ginger, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little water, as much flour as can be stirred in with a spoon—not kneaded. Pinch off a bit of the dough the size of a large marble, roll in the hands until round, pat it flat and place in a pan, leaving between each cake space for spreading; bake in a good oven to a moderate brown. Leave in the pan until sufficiently cool to be “snappy.”
Gingersnaps (No. 2)
Cream a cupful of butter with one of sugar, beat in a cupful of molasses, stir in a cupful of water, a teaspoonful each of ground ginger and cinnamon, a teaspoonful of allspice and a scant one of soda sifted with a pint and a half of flour. Add enough flour to make a dough that can be rolled out, roll thin, cut into rounds, and bake.
Pfeffernüsse
(A German recipe.)
One pound of fine flour, sifted; one teaspoonful of baking-powder; one pound of sugar, sifted; four large eggs; three ounces of citron; the grated rind of one lemon; one grated nutmeg; one teaspoonful of cinnamon; one scant teaspoonful of ground cloves. Mix the baking-powder and spices and sift with the flour, then work in the beaten eggs and sugar; form into small balls and bake in a slow oven. Place in a pan sufficiently far apart to allow them to swell to the size of macaroons when baked.
White peppernuts
Cream one and a half cupfuls of granulated sugar and a half-cupful of butter together, add three eggs, beaten light, a half cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of vanilla extract, and flour sifted with two even teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add this flour until stiff enough to roll out; roll a half inch thick, cut out with a thimble and bake in a hot oven. Care should be taken to put them so far apart that they will not run together in the baking.
Brown peppernuts
Three eggs; one cupful of brown sugar; a half-cupful of butter; one cupful of molasses; a half-cupful of sour or buttermilk; a teaspoonful of baking-soda; a scant teaspoonful of cinnamon and ginger, and flour enough to handle. Mix, roll out and bake as you would white peppernuts.
Peppernuts (No. 4)
Mix together half a pound of powdered sugar, the yolks of two eggs, one whole egg and a quarter-teaspoonful of potash procured from a druggist. Stir this well for fifteen minutes; add a quarter-ounce of ground cinnamon, a quarter-teaspoonful each of ground pepper and cloves, and the grated rind of a lemon. When all is well mixed, put with it half a pound of pastry flour. Knead well on a floured board, roll out about half an inch thick and cut into small rounds with a biscuit cutter. Bake in a greased tin in a very moderate oven.
Peppernuts (No. 5)
Sift together two cupfuls of sugar, four cupfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of cinnamon, half a tablespoonful of cloves, and one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add to this half a cupful of citron, chopped fine; the grated rind of a lemon and a quarter of a nutmeg. Make to a dough with four eggs beaten enough to mix yolks and whites. Shape into balls the size of a hickory-nut, with buttered hands, and bake in pans lined with greased paper. When done, cover with an icing.
Icing for peppernuts
Into two tablespoonfuls of boiling water stir enough confectioner’s sugar to make it thick. Flavor with lemon juice and a little of the grated rind. The icing should be of the right consistency to be applied with a pastry brush. Let the cakes stand in a cool, dry place until the icing has hardened.
Vanities (No. 1)
Beat two eggs; stir in a pinch of salt and a half-teaspoonful of rose water; add sifted flour until just stiff enough to roll out. Cut with a cake-cutter and fry quickly in hot cottolene or other fat. Sift powdered sugar on them while hot, and when cool put a teaspoonful of jelly in the center of each.
Vanities (No. 2)
Boil a cupful of milk and thicken it in the saucepan with flour to a stiff dough. Let it become cool, then break in three eggs, one at a time, and beat thoroughly. Add a tablespoonful of melted butter. Drop it by small teaspoonfuls into hot cottolene or some good fat, fry to a delicate brown; drain and roll in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
Anise cakes
Cream a half-pound of butter with a half-pound of sugar, add three well-beaten eggs and enough flour to make a stiff dough, adding to the flour an ounce of anise seed. Roll into a thin sheet, cut into shapes with a cutter and bake.
Hermits
Cream together a cupful of butter and two of sugar. Beat in the whipped yolks of three eggs, add a half-cupful of milk and then the beaten whites. Work in two cupfuls of flour, sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and if this does not make a dough that could be rolled out, add more flour cautiously, not to have the cakes too stiff. Roll into a very thin sheet, strew thickly with the kernels of hickory-nuts, pecans or English walnuts, chopped fine and sprinkled with sugar. Fold the dough once over the nuts, passing the rolling-pin lightly over the upper sheet, and cut into rounds with a cake cutter. Bake in a quick oven, covered, for fifteen minutes; uncover and brown.
Plain cookies
(Contributed)
Cream together one cupful of butter and two cupfuls of sugar. Add one egg, well beaten, one cupful of milk, three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and flour enough to make a soft dough. Roll thin, cut in small cakes and bake in a moderate oven.
Eggless cookies
(Contributed)
Cream one cupful of butter and add one cupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of vanilla, and one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water. Use flour enough to make a soft dough. Cakes made by this recipe will keep fresh for a long time.