Chapter 29

If crisp, cut cookies are desired, the dough should be rolled thin. To secure soft cookies roll the dough to at least 1/4 inch thickness. If cookies containing fat are stored in a tightly covered box, they become softer after several days.

COMPARE the recipe for Sugar Cookies with that for Plain Cake. Account for the difference in the quantity of milk. Explain why the quantity of milk is decreased rather than the quantity of flour increased.

SUGAR COOKIES

2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 egg 1 cupful sugar 1/2 cupful fat Milk or water (about 3/8 cupful) 1 teaspoonful flavoring or spice

Mix as for Plain Cake (do not separate the eggs), adding just sufficient milk to make the dough stiff enough to be rolled out. Put the dough in a cool place to chill. Roll out in small portions; then sprinkle with sugar. Cut and bake at 375 degrees F. 10 minutes or until browned.

SOUR MILK OR CREAM COOKIES

Follow the recipe for Sugar Cookies, using 1/2 cupful of thick sour milk or cream in the place of sweet milk and adding 1/4 teaspoonful of baking soda. If sour cream is used, only 1/3 cupful (instead of 1/2 cupful) of fat is needed. Nutmeg--1/2 teaspoonful--is a pleasing flavoring material for these cookies.

For _Ginger Cookies_, vary the recipe for Sour Cream Cookies as follows:

Use 1/2 cupful sugar and 1/2 cupful molasses instead of 1 cupful of sugar.

Increase the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoonful.

For flavoring use 1 teaspoonful ginger and 1 teaspoonful allspice.

Since the molasses furnishes some moisture, it is usually necessary to add more flour or decrease the sour milk or cream.

COOKIES WITH RAISIN FILLING

Prepare Sour Cream Cooky dough. Roll the dough into a thin sheet and cut it into rounds. Spread half of the rounds with a thin layer of Raisin Filling (see below). Then cover each round with another piece of dough. Press the edges together. Place on an oiled baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven.

RAISIN FILLING

1/2 cupful corn sirup 1 cupful seeded raisins 1/4 teaspoonful salt

Cook these ingredients until the mixture is thick enough to use as cake filling.

One fourth cupful of chopped nuts may be added. One egg may also be added to the mixture just before removing from the fire.

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

2 1/2 cupfuls flour 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful baking soda 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 egg 1 cupful sugar 3/4 cupful peanut butter 1 cupful sour milk

Mix and bake as Sugar Cookies. It is especially necessary to make the dough for these cookies very soft. It requires skilful handling.

CORN-MEAL COOKIES

1/2 cupful melted fat 1/2 cupful molasses 1/2 cupful corn sirup 1 egg 6 tablespoonfuls sour milk 1/2 teaspoonful baking soda 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 2 cupfuls corn-meal 1 cupful wheat flour 1/2 teaspoonful salt

Combine the melted fat, molasses, sirup, beaten egg, and milk. Sift the dry ingredients and combine with the liquid. Drop from a teaspoon on to a greased pan and bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees F.) for 15 minutes. This makes 55 to 60 cookies about 2 inches in diameter.

(Adapted from _United States Food Administration Bulletin_.)

QUESTIONS

How does the method of preparing cooky mixture differ from that of preparing cake mixture?

Why should cooky dough be chilled before rolling out?

What can be done to the cooky cutter to prevent it from sticking?

Why is less fat required for Sour Cream than for Sour Milk Cookies (see Figure 64)?

From the _United States Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin No. 28, find the per cent of fat in peanut butter. What is the per cent of fat in butter (see Figure 63)? If butter were substituted for peanut butter in Peanut Butter Cookies, how much would be needed to furnish the same quantity of fat?

LESSON CXLVIII

CAKES WITHOUT EGGS

OMITTING EGGS IN CAKE.--It was previously stated that 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder are required to leaven 1 cupful of flour when no eggs are used. The statement was also made that the quantity of baking powder is reduced when eggs are used. Hence cakes made with eggs require less than the proportionate quantity of leavening given above.

When eggs are omitted in a cake, it is necessary to use 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder (or its equivalent) for each cupful of flour.

The flavor of cakes is usually improved when eggs are used. In eggless cakes, it is advisable to use spices or other materials of pronounced flavor.

Since eggs are highly nutritious, their omission in cake decreases considerably the food value of the cake. Leavens and flavoring materials (except chocolate) used in eggless cakes have practically no food value.

APPLE SAUCE CAKE

2 cupfuls flour 1/8 teaspoonful cloves 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 1 teaspoonful nutmeg 1 teaspoonful baking soda 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1 cupful sugar 1 cupful apple sauce (unsweetened) 1/3 cupful fat 1 cupful raisins, cut in halves

Mix the sugar and apple sauce; add the fat. Mix the dry ingredients. Through a sifter, add them to the apple sauce mixture. Flour the raisins and stir them into the batter. Turn into a greased loaf-cake pan or into two layer-cake pans. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees F.). If the cake is baked in layers, put Raisin Filling between them, but omit the raisins in the cake batter.

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1 teaspoonful salt 1/3 cupful cocoa 1/3 cupful water 1/4 cupful fat 1/2 teaspoonful baking soda 1 cupful sugar 3/4 cupful sour milk 1 teaspoonful vanilla

Mix the cocoa and water. Stir and cook until a thick smooth paste is formed. Add the fat. If solid fat is used stir until it is melted. Set aside to cool.

Add the baking soda and mix well. Then add the sugar and sour milk. Through a sifter, add the dry ingredients. Then add the vanilla. Beat well. Bake in two layers (375 degrees F.) or in one sheet (350 degrees F.). Use frosting or Chocolate Filling made without eggs between the layers and frosting on the top layer.

If it is desired to save sugar, a thin layer of Chocolate Filling may be used between the layers and on the top layer.

SPICE CAKE

1 cupful brown sugar 1/4 cupful molasses 1 cupful seeded raisins 3/4 cupful water 1/2 cupful fat 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 teaspoonful nutmeg 2 teaspoonfuls cinnamon 1/8 teaspoonful cloves 2 1/2 cupfuls flour 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda 3 1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder

In a saucepan mix all the ingredients except flour and leavening materials. Stir and cook the mixture at boiling temperature for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Through a sifter, add the leavening materials and flour. Beat well. Turn into an oiled loaf-cake pan and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) from 45 to 60 minutes.

Chopped nuts--1/2 cupful--may be added to this cake. This addition, however, increases the cost. For economy the raisins may be omitted.

NOTE.--Various changes occur when certain of the ingredients of this cake are cooked, viz.,

(_a_) The sugar is dissolved (_b_) The raisins are softened (_c_) The fat is melted (_d_) The spices are improved in flavor.

QUESTIONS

What materials in Apple Sauce Cake leaven it?

What ingredient usually present in cake recipes is omitted in this cake? What takes the place of this ingredient?

In Chocolate Cake, how much baking soda is required to neutralize the acid of the sour milk? For what purpose is the additional quantity used?

What is the purpose of cooking the cocoa and water (see _Cocoa and Chocolate_)?

Determine the difference in the cost of Chocolate Cake with and without eggs.

What ingredient in Spice Cake contains a small quantity of acid? Explain why baking soda is an ingredient of this ingredient.

Why should the cooked mixture of Spice Cake be cool before the remaining ingredients are added?

RELATED WORK

LESSON CXLIX

THE LUNCHEON BOX

The luncheon box most commonly used is of pasteboard or tin. Both these materials have advantages and disadvantages. Bread and cake are prevented from drying out when placed in a tightly covered tin box. On the other hand, food odors are retained and one pronounced odor may permeate all of the foods. But since dry bread is unpalatable, the tin box is considered more satisfactory. It should be kept clean and free from odors, should be emptied of its contents every day, washed (scalded often), and allowed to remain open all night. The collapsible box is the most convenient.

For most lunches, a teaspoon, jelly glass, and in some cases a drinking cup are all the "dishes" needed. The jelly glass may serve for many purposes. Cup custard may be steamed or baked in it, or it makes an admirable mold for an individual steam pudding. Small fruits and fruit sauces may also be carried in jelly glasses.

MENU MAKING FOR THE LUNCHEON BOX.--A luncheon box may be made a source of pleasure to the school child or everyday worker. To bring this about, the foods must be varied on successive days. It is not necessary that each luncheon consist of various foods. Indeed, many kinds of food or foods in great quantity are not desirable for a child who sits quietly at study much of the day or for a person of sedentary occupation. It is both possible and necessary, however,--if the luncheon box is not to become monotonous,--to have different foods for each day of the week. As in any meal, all of the foodstuffs should be represented in the food of a luncheon box.

FOODS FOR THE LUNCHEON BOX.--(1) _Sandwiches_.--Bread is the basis of almost all box luncheons. Since sandwiches furnish the most convenient way of carrying foods that are to be eaten with bread, they invariably form a part of every luncheon. Because they are used so frequently they should be varied. Different kinds of bread, such as graham, Boston brown, and nut bread, may be used. Variety may be had by serving bread sometimes in the form of muffins or rolls. The slices of bread may be cut thin or thick to suit the appetite of the eater. It is often desirable to leave the crusts on the bread. Butter should be creamed before spreading it on the bread. If the sandwiches are to be cut extremely thin, spread the bread before cutting it into slices. If sandwiches are prepared some time before they are served, they can be kept moist by wrapping in a dry towel, covered with a towel wrung out of hot water.

The fillings for sandwiches offer many variations. They may be divided into two classes, seasoned and sweet. _Seasoned fillings_ may include meat, eggs, cheese, vegetables. If meat is used, it may be cut in slices, or chopped and mixed with a sauce. If sliced meat is used, it is well to tear it into pieces. (This applies also to lettuce.) If it is desired to lessen the quantity of meat in a diet, the meat should be chopped, for it has been found that only half as much meat is required when it is chopped and mixed with a dressing. Either Salad Dressing or White Sauce may be combined with meat. A French Dressing made of vegetable oil, lemon juice, and seasonings is better, so far as ease of digestion is concerned, than Cream or "Boiled" Salad Dressing. If oil is not palatable, learn to like it. Any of the seasoned fillings may be mixed with Salad Dressing. Sliced tomatoes spread with Mayonnaise or Cream Salad Dressing, chopped peanuts mixed with salad dressing, sardines or cold chicken with lemon juice and paprika make tasty sandwich fillings.

_Sweet fillings_ for sandwiches include: preserved or dried fruits, bananas, nuts. Sandwiches made with a sweet filling are most popular among children. Some of them make good substitutes for cake, and are much more easily digested. The dried fruits such as dates, figs, and prunes, cooked and combined with bread and butter, make excellent foods. The growing child is apt to become anemic. Since prunes contain iron, they should be frequently used in children's diet. Cooked prunes--seeded and flavored with lemon juice--make palatable sandwiches, especially when brown bread is used or a few chopped nuts are added. Breads containing sugar or molasses are most pleasing when used with a sweet filling. Banana sandwiches are much improved by the addition of lemon juice or Salad Dressing. Nuts are often combined with both sweet and seasoned materials; their use gives opportunity for variety. Chopped raisins and nuts may be moistened with grape juice and used as sandwich filling. Chopped dates, apples, and nuts mixed with salad dressing make a pleasing filling. Crushed maple or brown sugar mixed with cream or butter and used with whole wheat bread is a favorite sandwich among children.

(2) _Relishes_.--Celery, olives, and radishes serve as relishes for the luncheon box. Celery and olives (especially those stuffed with pimentos or nuts) are pleasing as a sandwich filling. Most relishes, however, are more suitable for the luncheon box of a mature person than for that of a child.

(3) _Desserts_.--Cake is a common constituent of the luncheon box. Not all cakes, however, are suitable for luncheons. For children, only the plainer cakes, _i.e._ those containing little fat, should be used. Plain cake and cookies, sponge cake, lady fingers, and gingerbread (if not too highly spiced) are also desirable for the school luncheon. Cookies or cakes baked in muffin pans are more suitable for packing than cut pieces of cake.

Most fresh fruits can be easily packed in the luncheon box. As has been mentioned, grapes, the small fruits such as strawberries and raspberries, sliced pineapple, or fruit sauces may be carried in jelly glasses.

Cup custards and simple puddings may be used as desserts. If a child is permitted to have sweets, a little candy may be placed in the luncheon box; it is better for a child to have candy at the end of a luncheon than after school (see _Use of Candy in Diet_).

PACKING THE LUNCHEON.--Neatness is an essential in an inviting luncheon box. All foods should be wrapped separately in paraffin paper, and placed neatly in the box. Since some foods crush readily, it is not always possible to place the foods to be eaten first on top, but it is desirable to arrange the foods so that not all of them will have to be removed before beginning to eat the luncheon. The paper napkin should always be placed on top. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that foods should not come in direct contact with newspapers or any printed matter.

QUESTION

Plan menus for five school luncheons, making them as varied as possible. If you carry your luncheon to school, follow these menus in preparing your luncheon box.

LESSON CL

PLANNING AND PREPARING BOX LUNCHEONS

Plan [Footnote 115: See Footnote 72.] box luncheons. Make sandwiches and other foods for the luncheon box. Fill one or more luncheon boxes according to plans.

LESSON CLI

REVIEW--MEAL COOKING

MENU

Cake (for Cottage Pudding) Vanilla Sauce Cocoa

See Lesson XIV for suggestions regarding the preparation of the lesson.

LESSON CLII

HOME PROJECTS [Footnote 116: See Lesson IX]

SUGGESTIONS FOR HOME WORK.--Bake cake or cookies at least once a week. If eggs are high in price, bake cake without eggs or bake One-egg Cake.

SUGGESTED AIMS: (1) To improve the quality of cake. As suggested in a previous Home Project, score your product, determine the cause of any undesirable quality, and then avoid your error at the next baking.

(2) To compare homemade and baker's cake. Determine the weight and cost of homemade and baker's cake. Compare like kinds of cake, _i.e._ plain, chocolate, etc. Compute the cost per pound of each. If possible compare the flavor, grain, and texture of each. What are the advantages of homemade over baker's cake?

DIVISION FIFTEEN

PASTRY

LESSON CLIII

PIE WITH UNDER CRUST

PASTRY.--Good pastry is: (_a_) light, (_b_) flaky or friable, and (_c_) tender. The _lightness_ of pastry is largely dependent upon the temperature of the ingredients. All the materials should be cold, so that the expansion in baking may be as great as possible. In order to keep the ingredients cold and the fats solid, a knife (instead of the fingers) should be used in mixing. It is well to chill pastry by placing it on the ice before rolling out. The lightness of pastry is dependent somewhat upon quick and deft manipulations. A little baking powder also increases the lightness of pastry.

_Flaky_ pastry results when the ingredients are mixed so as to form layers. To accomplish this, solid fat is used and it is not cut fine into the dry ingredients, but is left in pieces. Thus, when rolled, there are layers of flour and fat. Pastry is sometimes made by cutting part of the fat into the flour mixture, then moistening and rolling it out; adding the remainder of the fat in small bits, folding and rolling out again.

_Friable_ pastry usually results when oil is used instead of solid fat. The following fats may be used alone or in combination: butter, oleomargarine, lard, vegetable oil or fat, lard substitutes.

To make pastry _tender_ and not tough, the least possible moisture should be used. The quantity of fat used also determines its tenderness. The more fat used, the less the amount of water required. Less moisture is required when oil rather than solid fat is used. For this reason, many persons can produce more tender pastry by using a cooking oil. The fact that the moisture is decreased when oil is used may also account for the decreased quantity of oil given in the recipe for pastry. Less oil than solid fat will produce the same degree of tenderness, provided less water is used.

PIE WITH THE UNDER CRUST.--Pastry is somewhat difficult of digestion; but a crust that is brittle and easily crumbled is more readily digested than one that is moist and pasty. Pie crust should crumble as finely as a cracker. To prevent moist and pasty pie crust, it is advisable to bake "one crust" pie. If an under crust only is used, it should be baked before adding the filling. The filling should be cooked and sweetened before adding it to the crust.

PLAIN PASTRY (2 crusts)

1 1/2 cupfuls flour 1 teaspoonful baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1/4 to 1/2 cupful fat _or_ 1/6 to 1/3 cupful oil Ice water

Mix the dry ingredients, cut in the fat slightly; then add just enough water to hold the ingredients together. Chill; then roll out (one crust at a time).

Pastry should be baked in a hot oven. A pastry shell containing no filling should be baked at 400 degrees F., for 15 to 20 minutes.

Bake a one crust pie on the outside of a pie pan; it should be pricked with a fork before baking.

The pastry trimmings should be utilized. They may be made into tarts or cheese straws.

LEMON PIE

3 tablespoonfuls flour 3 tablespoonfuls corn-starch 1 cupful sugar 2 cupfuls boiling water 2 egg yolks Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon 1 tablespoonful butter 1/4 teaspoonful salt

MERINGUE

2 egg whites 2 tablespoonfuls powdered sugar

Mix the sugar, flour, and corn-starch, add the boiling water. Stir and cook on the back of the range, or over an asbestos mat, for 15 minutes. Add the egg yolks and cook at simmering temperature, until the eggs thicken. Add the remaining ingredients. Cool and place in a baked crust. Cover with a meringue. Bake until the meringue is a light brown, _i.e._ at 300 degrees F., 10 to 15 minutes.

Note that the lemon is added to the mixture after cooking. Cooking a starchy material with a small amount of acid, dextrinizes the starch. Since dextrin has less thickening power than starch, the starch mixture would become thinner if cooked for some time with lemon.

SCORE CARD FOR PIE,--DETERMINING ITS QUALITY

Flavor 30 Tenderness 20 Lightness 10 Flakiness 10 Appearance (color and thickness) 10 Filling (flavor and consistency) 20 --- Total 100

QUESTIONS

Why should not the fingers be used to mix the fat with the dry ingredients in pastry making?

Why is it easier to roll out pastry, if it has been chilled after mixing?

Why should a lower crust, when used alone, be baked before adding the filling?

What is the purpose of pricking the lower crust with a fork before baking?

Compare the filling for Lemon Pie with that for Cream Puffs. How do they differ in moisture, method of preparation, and length of time in cooking? Give the reason for these differences.

From _U. S. Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin No. 28, tabulate the percentage composition of butter (see Figure 63), oleomargarine, lard, lard substitute, and vegetable oil. What is the price per pound of each?

Which furnishes more fat,--a pound of butter or a pound of lard? If lard, lard substitute, or vegetable oil were substituted for butter in a cake or other quick bread, should the same quantity be used? Explain.

LESSON CLIV

PIES WITH UPPER CRUST

DIGESTION OF PASTRY.--As previously mentioned (see _Frying and Digestion_), when fats are heated to a high temperature, they decompose. The products of this decomposition are less readily digested than is fat before it is decomposed. Hence in fried foods, the fat is made somewhat indigestible. Thus it is much better to spread uncooked fat over hot potatoes than to combine the two foods by frying the potatoes.

Fat is the most slowly digested of all foodstuffs. Hence a combination of fat and carbohydrates is more slowly digested than carbohydrate. For this reason, foods consisting of fat and flour such as pastry may remain in the digestive tract for a long time and cause disturbances. Distressing effects are less likely to result, however, when a person's work is out of doors. Since fatty foods remain in the stomach longer than others, they may serve to allay the feeling of hunger which is caused by the contracting of an empty stomach.

PIE WITH THE UPPER CRUST.--In the previous lesson (see _Pie with Under Crust_), it was mentioned that "pasty" pie crust was not readily digested. For this reason, fresh fruit pie may be made with an upper crust only. Such pie should be baked in a pan of granite, glass, or similar material. The fruit is placed in the pie pan, then a half-inch strip of pastry is placed over the rim of the pie pan; the strip is moistened and the crust placed over the top. The strip of pastry and the upper crust are pressed together, then the edges of the latter are trimmed. The upper crust should be cut in several places for the escape of steam.

RHUBARB PIE

2 cupfuls rhubarb, cut in small pieces 1 egg 4 tablespoonfuls flour 1 cupful sugar Salt Lemon rind

Mix the sugar, salt, lemon rind, and flour; beat the egg. Add the rhubarb and flour mixture to the egg. Turn into an earthenware dish or a granite pan, and cover with pastry as directed above. Bake until the rhubarb is tender and the crust is brown, i.e. at 425 degrees F., 35 to 45 minutes.

Rhubarb contains such a large percentage of moisture that it is well to use but one crust.

QUESTIONS

Explain why it is that baked potatoes and butter are more readily digested than fried potatoes.

What is the advantage of using only a top crust for fresh fruit pie?

What is the purpose of egg and flour in Rhubarb Pie? Why is it desirable to use these ingredients with rhubarb?

Why should the flour in Rhubarb Pie be mixed with sugar?

How much water is there in apples and rhubarb (see _U. S. Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin No. 28 and Figure 70)?

LESSON CLV

TWO-CRUST PIES

TWO CRUSTS.--If both upper and lower crusts are used in making a pie, the lower crust should be placed inside the pan. The filling should be added, the edge of the crust moistened, and the upper crust placed over the pie and pressed around the edges. Then the edges should be trimmed. As was mentioned before, upper crusts should always be cut in several places for the escape of steam.

Sometimes a half-inch strip of pastry is placed around the edge of the under crust before placing the upper crust. This is thought to aid in preventing the escape of the moisture of the filling.

APPLE PIE