Part 6

Mix together a pint of milk, four tablespoonfuls of melted butter, a teaspoonful of salt and a half-cake of yeast dissolved in a half-cup of lukewarm water. Add enough flour to make a thick batter, beat it in well, cover the bowl containing this, and set in a warm place for two hours. Now work in the beaten eggs, and, when these are incorporated, add enough flour to make a dough that can easily be rolled out. Set to rise for two hours longer, then turn upon a floured board, roll out and cut into round biscuits. Lay in a baking-pan and set these near the range to rise for half an hour. Bake, and when done leave in the open oven to dry out. See that the fire is so low that the rusk will dry, not brown or burn. If you can spare the oven so long leave the rusk in it for six or eight hours; then set in a dry closet for several days before using. When you wish to use them lay in a deep bowl, pour iced milk upon them and let them soak until soft. Serve very cold with butter.

They are delicious for summer-morning breakfasts.

Caraway biscuits

(Contributed)

Sift together three pints of flour, one teaspoonful of salt and one and one-half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Rub into this four tablespoonfuls of shortening. Add two tablespoonfuls of caraway seed, two eggs, well beaten, and one pint of milk. Mix this into a smooth, firm dough. Knead quickly; roll out to about a quarter of an inch in thickness and cut with a large biscuit-cutter. Prick with a fork, lay on greased baking tins and bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes.

Egg biscuits

(Contributed)

Sift together a quart of flour and two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Rub into this a piece of butter the size of an egg. Add two well-beaten eggs, one teaspoonful of sugar and one teaspoonful of salt. Mix together quickly with one cup of milk or more if needed. Roll to one-half inch thickness, cut into biscuits and bake at once in a quick oven twenty minutes.

French rolls

(Contributed)

To three cupfuls of sweet milk add a cup of shortening and one-half cake of compressed yeast and one teaspoonful of salt. Add flour enough to make a stiff dough. Let this rise over night. In the morning add two well-beaten eggs; knead thoroughly and let rise again. Make into balls about as large as an egg and then roll between the hands. Place close together on well buttered pans. Cover, let rise again, then bake in a quick oven to a delicate brown.

Fruit rolls

(Contributed)

Sift two cupfuls of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, one-half teaspoonful of salt thoroughly together and mix with two-thirds cup of milk. Roll to a quarter of an inch thickness. Brush over with two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Mix together one-third cupful of stoned raisins, chopped fine, two teaspoonfuls of citron, chopped fine, two teaspoonfuls of sugar and one-third teaspoonful of cinnamon. Spread this mixture over the dough, roll up like a jelly roll, cut in pieces three-fourths of an inch in thickness, and bake in quick oven fifteen minutes.

Hot cross buns

(Contributed)

To three cups of milk add flour enough to make a thick batter. Into this stir one cake of compressed yeast dissolved in warm water. Set this to rise over night. In the morning add a few spoonfuls of melted butter and one-half spoonful of grated nutmeg, one saltspoon of salt, one teaspoonful of soda, and flour enough to make a stiff dough like biscuit. Knead well and let rise five hours. Roll to one-half inch thickness, cut in round cakes and put in buttered baking pans. Let stand until light. Make a deep gash in each with a knife. Bake in moderate oven till light brown. Brush over the top with the beaten white of an egg and powdered sugar.

Currant buns

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 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.

Raised muffins

In a quart of warm milk dissolve thoroughly half a yeast-cake. Stir into this two tablespoonfuls of sugar, a teaspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of melted cottolene or other fat. Add enough flour to make a quite stiff batter—not dough—and set to rise over night. In the morning whip into the batter four well-beaten eggs and turn into heated and greased muffin-tins. Bake at once.

English muffins

Bring a pint of milk to the boiling point and stir into it a teaspoonful of cottolene or other fat. Set aside until the mixture is lukewarm, then add two cups of flour into which a teaspoonful of salt has been sifted. Now beat in half a yeast-cake dissolved in a quarter of a cup of warm water, and set the batter aside to rise all night. In the morning add a cup of sifted flour, and with floured hands make lightly into round muffins and set to rise in greased muffin-tins for half an hour. Slip the rings and their contents on to a greased griddle and bake, first on one side, then on the other, until done.

English crumpets (No. 1)

Mix together three gills of lukewarm water, a half-teaspoonful, each, of salt and sugar and a teaspoonful of melted butter; then dissolve a quarter of a yeast-cake in this mixture. Into this stir enough flour to make a very stiff batter. Beat for ten minutes, adding as you do so enough lukewarm milk to make batter just stiff enough to be poured slowly from the bowl. Grease shallow muffin-rings, place these on a soapstone griddle, and when hot pour the batter into them to the depth of a quarter-inch and bake slowly, not turning until brown on the under side. Then turn for just a few minutes.

English crumpets (No. 2)

On baking-day take a pint of dough from your bread-bowl an hour before breakfast. Put into a bowl and make a hole in the middle. Have ready two eggs beaten very light, and work them into the dough. Then thin it with milk and water to the consistency of griddle-cakes; beat it well, let it rise until breakfast, bake them on a hot griddle, butter and send to the table hot.

QUICK BISCUITS, ETCETERA

Milk biscuits

One quart flour, three cups of milk, one tablespoonful mixed butter and cottolene or other fat, one heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder, half-teaspoonful of salt. Sift the salt with the flour, chop in the butter and cottolene or other fat, add the baking-powder and the milk and mix to a soft dough. Handle as little as possible. Roll out into a sheet an inch thick, cut into rounds and bake in a floured pan.

Milk-and-water biscuits

Make as in the preceding recipe, but using one and one-half cups of milk and the same quantity of water. Some housewives prefer these to the all-milk biscuits, alleging that the milk tends to make the dough heavy.

Quick Sally Lunn

A quart of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder, one cupful of milk, one-half cupful of melted butter, four eggs, beaten light; one teaspoonful of salt. Add the sifted flour last, in great handfuls, stirring all the time, as long as you can use a spoon. The dough should be very soft; in fact, almost a batter. Bake in a mold with a funnel in the middle, and eat while hot.

Potato biscuits

Boil and mash six or eight potatoes. While warm, lay on a floured pastry-board, and run the rolling-pin over and over them until they are free from lumps. Turn into a bowl, wet with a cup of sweet milk, add a teaspoonful of melted butter; when well mixed work in half a cup of salted flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Return to the board, roll out quickly and lightly into a thin sheet, and cut into round cakes. Bake in a quick oven. Butter as soon as they are done, laying one on top of the other in a pile. Eat before they fall.

The excellence of potato biscuits depends very greatly upon the softness of the dough, light handling, and quick baking. If properly made, they will be found extremely nice. They are a favorite Irish dish.

Graham biscuits

Stir together in a chopping-bowl a pint of graham flour and a half-pint of white flour. To this add a teaspoonful of salt, one of sugar, and two rounded teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Mix thoroughly, and chop into the mixture two tablespoonfuls of cottelene or other fat. Add a pint of milk, and if the mixture is then too stiff to handle, add enough water to make into a soft dough. Turn upon a floured board, roll out, and cut into biscuits, handling as little and as lightly as possible. Bake in a steady oven.

Virginia beaten biscuits

One pint of flour, one cup of water, one teaspoonful of salt. Mix into a stiff dough; transfer to a floured block of wood and beat with a rolling-pin, steadily, for ten minutes, shifting the dough often and turning it over several times. In the olden days half an hour was the regulation time, but ten minutes are enough if one has a strict eye to business. Cut into round cakes, prick with a straw and bake in a brisk oven.

MUFFINS AND THEIR CONGENERS

Whole wheat muffins

Into a quart of whole wheat flour stir a teaspoonful of salt and two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Beat three eggs light and stir them into three cups of rich milk. Add these to the flour, stir in a tablespoonful of melted cottolene or other fat, and beat very hard for at least five minutes. Turn into greased muffin-tins and bake in a quick oven.

Oatmeal muffins

(Contributed)

To one cup of oatmeal mush add one-half cup of milk, one well-beaten egg, one teaspoonful of butter, one tablespoonful of sugar and one cup of flour in which has been sifted two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Stir well together and bake in hot muffin-pans.

Sally’s muffins

One egg; a tablespoonful of sugar; one-quarter cup of butter. Beat all together thoroughly. Add one cup of milk, a little salt and one cup of flour into which is sifted two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Now add enough flour to make a batter a little stiffer than for griddle-cakes. Bake in well-buttered, hot muffin-tins.

Risen brunette muffins

Cream together two tablespoonfuls of brown sugar and one tablespoonful of butter and add to it three cups of warm (not hot) milk. Sift into a bowl three cups of graham flour and one of white, with a teaspoonful of salt. Pour into this the butter, sugar and milk mixture and add a cup of warm milk in which half a yeast-cake has been dissolved. Beat thoroughly and set in a warm place to rise for at least six hours. Butter muffin-tins, half fill with the mixture, and set on a stool by the range to rise for fifteen minutes before baking in a steady oven.

Graham puffs

Thoroughly beat the yolks of four eggs, and whip the whites to a stiff meringue. To the yolks add a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, three teaspoonfuls of melted cottolene or other fat, and a tablespoonful of sugar. Sift two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder into a quart of graham flour and stir this gradually into the milk and yolks. Beat until all lumps are gone and you have a smooth batter, then, with a few strong strokes, add the stiffened whites of the eggs. Half fill deep heated muffin-tins with the batter and bake at once in a hot but steady oven.

Graham gems (No. 1)

Into a quart of warm milk stir four eggs that have been beaten only a little, add a tablespoonful, each, of melted butter and sugar. Add now, gradually, three cupfuls of graham flour that has been sifted with a heaping teaspoonful of baking-powder. Beat very hard for seven or eight minutes and bake in greased and heated gem pans.

Graham gems (No. 2)

Into a pint of warm milk whip three unbeaten eggs, one tablespoonful of melted butter and a teaspoonful of sugar. Gradually stir in a cup and a half of graham flour and beat hard for several minutes. Turn into heated gem pans, and bake in a very hot oven. Serve immediately.

Rice muffins

Make a batter of a quart of milk, three beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of melted butter, a teaspoonful, each, of salt and sugar, and two cups of prepared flour. Mix thoroughly and beat in a cup of cold boiled rice. Beat very hard and bake in a quick oven.

Graham muffins

Rub to a cream a tablespoonful of sugar and two of butter. Into this beat four eggs. Sift a teaspoonful of baking-powder into three cups of graham flour, add the butter and egg mixture, and beat very hard. Turn into heated and greased muffin-tins and bake in a very hot oven.

Popovers

Two cups of flour, sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder; half a teaspoonful of salt; two cups of milk; one egg, beaten very light. Beat for four minutes and bake in hot, buttered _pâté_, or gem pans, in a brisk oven. Serve at once.

WAFFLES

Risen waffles

Four eggs; two cups of milk; three tablespoonfuls of melted butter; one tablespoonful of sugar; three cupfuls of flour, sifted with half a teaspoonful of salt; one-half yeast-cake dissolved in warm water. Beat well and long; set in a warm place to rise and bake in waffle-irons.

Rice waffles

One cup of boiled rice; one pint of sweet milk; two eggs; one teaspoonful of baking-powder; one teaspoonful of salt; a tablespoonful of butter and flour to make a thin batter. Sift salt, baking-powder and one scant cup of flour twice together; add milk and eggs, beat in butter and rice. Beat two minutes.

Quick waffles

Two cups of flour sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder and the same of salt. Three eggs; one tablespoonful of butter or cottolene or other fat. Two cupfuls of milk.

Beat the yolks smooth, add the milk, and turn this upon the prepared flour. Whip lightly and quickly for one minute, add the stiffened whites and drop by the spoonful into heated and greased waffle-irons.

GRIDDLE CAKES

If you can get a soapstone griddle, use no other. Cakes are baked—not fried—upon it, and are thereby made comparatively wholesome. Set the griddle at the side of the range to heat gradually at least one hour before you begin to bake the cakes. If heated suddenly it is liable to crack. Clean with dry salt, then wipe with a clean cloth and it is ready for use. _Never_ allow a drop of grease to touch it.

If you have an iron griddle, lubricate with a bit of salt pork, leaving just enough grease on the surface to prevent sticking. The popular prejudice against griddle-cakes is founded mainly upon the fact that dough or batter soaked in grease is abhorrent to dietetic ethics.

Soapstone and iron griddles alike need tempering or seasoning in order to do their work well. They are seldom “just right” at the first trial. Give them time and handle them patiently.

Buckwheat cakes (No. 1)

Mix together a quart of buckwheat flour, four tablespoonfuls of yeast, a handful of Indian meal, two tablespoonfuls of New Orleans molasses, a teaspoonful of salt and enough water to make a thin batter. Beat hard and set to rise in the warm kitchen. A pint of this may be left over in the morning after the baking of the cakes and used as a sponge the following night, the flour, etc., being added. If the batter seems sour, add a very little baking-soda. This batter may be kept in a stone crock for a week or longer.

Buckwheat cakes (No. 2)

One cup of milk and same of boiling water; two tablespoonfuls of molasses; half cake of compressed yeast dissolved in warm water; one-half teaspoonful of salt; two cups of buckwheat flour, or enough for a good batter.

Beat five minutes, and set in a warm place to rise. In the morning beat hard for one minute; if it be sour, add a little soda, and let it rise near the fire for half an hour before baking.

Quick buckwheat cakes

Two cups of buckwheat and half a cup of corn-meal; two cups of warm milk and half a cup of warm water; two tablespoonfuls of molasses, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder; one even teaspoonful of salt.

Mix milk, water and molasses together. Sift meal and flour three times with the baking-powder and salt. Make a hole in the center of the flour, stir in the milk and water quickly and lightly until you have a good batter—not too stiff—and bake.

Sour milk buckwheat cakes

Make as in preceding recipe, substituting loppered milk or buttermilk for sweet, and a rounded teaspoonful of baking-soda for the baking-powder.

Whole wheat griddle-cakes

Sift a quart of whole wheat flour, a teaspoonful of baking-powder and one of salt well together. Stir into this a tablespoonful of melted butter, a tablespoonful of sugar, two beaten eggs and two cupfuls of milk. Beat all together and bake upon a soapstone griddle.

Lizzie’s flannel cakes

Two cups of flour; two cups of sweet milk; one egg; one teaspoonful of baking-powder; a generous pinch of salt. Beat the egg very light; add the milk and, lastly, with just enough beating to mix all together, the flour, sifted twice with salt and baking-powder. Bake at once.

After several years trial of this simple recipe, I can recommend it unhesitatingly as the best, cheapest and most wholesome way I know for preparing breakfast cakes. The excellence of the cakes depends upon quick mixing and baking. A soapstone griddle, which is never greased, should be used.

Waffles may be made in the same way mixed a little thinner by using less flour.

Huckleberry griddle-cakes

(Contributed)

To one cup of milk add one-half teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of baking-powder, one tablespoonful of sugar and two well beaten eggs. Add sufficient flour to make a batter. Stir into this one pint of huckleberries rolled in flour. Fry on hot griddle. Butter them hot and serve.

Feather griddle-cakes

Add to a pint of water and milk a teaspoonful of salt, a half-teacupful of yeast and flour enough to make a batter. Let stand all night. In the morning add one cupful of thick sour milk, two eggs well beaten, one level tablespoonful of butter, one level teaspoonful of soda and flour enough to make the consistency of pancake batter. Let stand twenty minutes and then bake.

Rice griddle-cakes

Scald one pint of milk and let stand until cold. Then add one-half cake of compressed yeast, one teaspoonful of salt, one cup of boiled rice and about one and one-half cups of flour. Beat continuously for three minutes. Cover and let stand in warm place till morning. In the morning beat two eggs separately until they are very light. Add first the yolks and then the whites. Mix thoroughly and let stand fifteen minutes and then bake on hot griddle.

Peas griddle-cakes

Take two cups of cooked green peas and rub through a strainer. Pour into this one cup of boiling milk. Add a teaspoonful of butter and one of sugar and one of salt. When cold add one egg beaten till light and one cup of flour into which has been sifted three level teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Fry on a soapstone griddle.

French pancakes

To the yolks of three eggs add one cup of milk, one-half teaspoonful of salt and one teaspoonful of sugar. Pour one-third of this mixture on one-half cup of flour and stir to a smooth paste; then add the remainder of the mixture and beat well. To this add one-half teaspoonful of salad oil. Pour enough of the batter into a hot buttered frying-pan to cover the pan. When brown turn and brown the other side. Spread with butter and jelly, roll up and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Sour milk griddle-cakes

Into a quart of loppered milk stir a quart of flour, a teaspoonful of salt and two beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly, then add as much flour as will be needed to make a good batter. Last of all, add a teaspoonful of baking soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of hot water. Bake at once on a very hot griddle.

Stale bread griddle-cakes

Let two cupfuls of dry bread crumbs soak for an hour in a quart of milk. Into this beat a tablespoonful, each, of molasses and melted butter, a teaspoonful of salt and three well-beaten eggs. When thoroughly mixed, add half a cupful of flour which has been sifted with a half teaspoonful of baking-powder. Bake on a soapstone griddle if possible.

Hominy griddle-cakes

One cup of cold boiled hominy beaten to a smooth paste with a tablespoonful of melted butter, then whipped light with the yolks of the eggs; two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately; one cup of milk; one tablespoonful of flour sifted twice, with an even teaspoonful of baking-powder and a teaspoonful of salt; one tablespoonful of molasses. Stir molasses into the milk, add to the hominy, butter and yolks; lastly, put in prepared flour and the whites of the eggs.

Sweet corn griddle-cakes

One cup of sweet corn fresh or canned, chopped fine and run through a vegetable press; one cup of hot milk; one tablespoonful, each, of butter and sugar; half teaspoonful of salt; one cup of flour sifted twice with a rounded teaspoonful of baking-powder and a little salt; two eggs. Mix as you would hominy cakes.

Corn-meal and graham griddle-cakes

Two cups of corn-meal and one cup of graham flour. The flour should be sifted three times with one even teaspoonful of baking-powder and a little salt. One quart of scalding milk. One tablespoonful of butter and the same of molasses, stirred to a cream. One even teaspoonful of salt. Two eggs—whites and yolks beaten separately.

Scald the meal with the milk, beat in butter and molasses and let it cool to blood warmth before adding the beaten yolks and the prepared flour alternately with the stiffened whites. If too stiff, thin with cold milk. Beat hard and bake. Wholesome and palatable if properly made.

Graham griddle-cakes

Two cups of graham flour; two tablespoonfuls of butter, or one of butter and one of cottolene or other fat; one of molasses; three cups of milk; four eggs; one teaspoonful of baking-powder and twice as much salt sifted twice with the flour; half a cup of white flour mixed thoroughly with the brown. Stir shortening and molasses to a cream, beat in the yolks of the eggs, then the milk, a little at a time, lastly the mixed flour alternately with the whites of the eggs. The batter should be like thick cream before you bake it.

VARIOUS BREAKFAST BREADS OF INDIAN MEAL

Corn bread made of northern meal

Two cupfuls of corn-meal; one cupful of flour; two and a half cupfuls of milk; three eggs; a tablespoonful, each, of butter and white sugar; one teaspoonful of salt; two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.

Melt the butter and stir it into the eggs, which should have been beaten very light, and after sifting the salt, sugar and baking-powder with the meal and flour, put in the milk, eggs and butter. Beat hard and bake for half an hour in a greased pan in a steady oven.

Corn bread made of southern meal

Beat two eggs light; stir half a cupful of cold boiled rice into a pint of milk and add to the eggs, rice and milk a tablespoonful of melted butter. Sift a teaspoonful of salt into two cups of Indian meal; stir all together and bake in shallow pans. Eat hot.

This is the Southern batter bread, or “egg bread.”

Indian meal crumpets

Heat a quart of milk to scalding and pour it gradually upon two full cups of corn-meal. When thoroughly mixed, stir into this a tablespoonful of granulated sugar and a quarter of a yeast-cake dissolved in a little warm milk. Cover the bowl or batter with a clean cloth and set to rise. Early in the morning add a tablespoonful of melted cottolene or other fat and beat hard for a moment before pouring the batter into muffin-tins. Set near the range for twenty minutes and bake.

Steamed corn loaf