Part 20

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.

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