Chapter 7

Stir into a quart of flour sufficient lukewarm milk to make a thick batter. The milk should be stirred in gradually, so as to have it free from lumps. Put in a table-spoonful of melted butter, a couple of beaten eggs, a tea-spoonsful of salt, and half a tea-cup of yeast. When risen, fill your waffle-irons with the batter, bake them on a hot bed of coals. When they have been on the fire between two and three minutes, turn the waffle-irons over--when brown on both sides, they are sufficiently baked. The waffle-irons should be well greased with lard, and very hot, before each one is put in. The waffles should be buttered as soon as cooked. Serve them up with powdered white sugar and cinnamon.

165. _Quick Waffles._

Mix flour and cold milk together, to make a thick batter. To a quart of the flour put six beaten eggs, a table-spoonful of melted butter, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Some cooks add a quarter of a pound of sugar, and half a nutmeg. Bake them immediately.

166. _Rice Waffles._

Take a tea-cup and a half of boiled rice--warm it with a pint of milk, mix it smooth, then take it from the fire, stir in a pint of cold milk, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Beat four eggs, and stir them in, together with sufficient flour to make a thick batter.

167. _Rice Wafers._

Melt a quarter of a pound of butter, and mix it with a pound of rice flour, a tea-spoonful of salt, and a wine glass of wine. Beat four eggs, and stir in, together with just cold milk enough to enable you to roll them out easily. They should be rolled out as thin as possible, cut with a wine glass into cakes, and baked in a moderate oven, on buttered flat tins.

168. _Rules to be observed in making nice Cake._

Cake, to be good, must be made of nice materials. The butter, eggs, and flour, should not be stale, and the sugar should be of a light color, and dry. Brown sugar answers very well for most kinds of cake, if rolled free from lumps, and stirred to a cream with the butter. The flour should be sifted, and if damp, dried perfectly, otherwise it will make the cake heavy. The eggs should be beaten to a froth; and the cake will be more delicate if the yelks and whites are beaten separately. Saleratus and soda should be perfectly dissolved, and strained before they are stirred into the cake. Raisins for cake should have the seeds taken out. Zante currants should be rinsed in several waters to cleanse them, rubbed in a dry cloth to get out the sticks, and then spread on platters, and dried perfectly, before they are put into the cake. Almonds should be blanched, which is done by turning boiling water on them, and letting them remain in it till the skins will rub off easily. When blanched, dry them, then pound them fine, with rosewater, to prevent their oiling. When the weather is cold, the materials for cake should be moderately warmed, before mixing them together. All kinds of cake that are made without yeast are better for being stirred, till just before they are baked. The butter and sugar should be stirred together till white, then the eggs, flour, and spice, added. Saleratus and cream should not be put in till just before the cake is baked--add the fruit last. Butter the cake pans well. The cake will be less liable to burn if the pans are lined with white buttered paper. The cake should not be moved while baking if it can be avoided, as moving it is apt to make it heavy. The quicker most kinds of cake are baked, the lighter and better they will be; but the oven should not be of such a furious heat as to burn them. It is impossible to give any exact rules as to the time to be allowed for baking various kinds of cake, as so much depends on the heat of the oven. It should be narrowly watched while in the oven, and if it browns too fast, it should be covered with a thick paper. To ascertain when rich cake is sufficiently baked, stick a clean broom splinter through the thickest part of the loaf--if none of the cake adheres to the splinter, it is sufficiently baked. When cake that is baked on flat tins moves easily on them, it is sufficiently baked.

169. _Frosting for Cake._

Allow for the white of one egg nine heaping tea-spoonsful of double refined sugar, and one of nice Poland starch. The sugar and starch should be pounded, and sifted through a very fine sieve. Beat the whites of eggs to a stiff froth, so that you can turn the plate upside down, without the eggs falling from it--then stir in the sugar gradually, with a wooden spoon--stir it ten or fifteen minutes without any cessation--then add a tea-spoonful of lemon juice, (vinegar will answer, but is not as nice)--put in sufficient rosewater to flavor it. If you wish to color it pink, stir in a few grains of cochineal powder, or rose pink--if you wish to have it of a blue tinge, add a little of what is called the powder blue. Lay the frosting on the cake with a knife, soon after it is taken from the oven--smooth it over, and let it remain in a cool place till hard. To frost a common sized loaf of cake, allow the white of one egg, and half of another.

170. _Sponge Gingerbread._

Melt a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg--mix it with a pint of nice molasses, a table-spoonful of ginger, and a quart of flour. Dissolve a heaping table-spoonful of saleratus in half a pint of milk, strain and mix it with the rest of the ingredients, add sufficient flour to enable you to roll it out easily, roll it out about half an inch thick, and bake it on flat tins in a quick oven. Gingerbread made in this manner will be light and spongy if baked quick, and made of nice molasses, but it will not keep good so long as hard gingerbread.

171. _Hard Molasses Gingerbread._

To a pint of molasses put half a tea-cup of melted butter, a table-spoonful of ginger, and a quart of flour. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in half a pint of water, and stir it in, together with flour sufficient to enable you to roll it out. Bake it in a moderately warm oven.

172. _Soft Molasses Gingerbread._

Melt a tea-cup of butter--mix it with a pint of molasses, a table-spoonful of ginger, a pint of flour, and a couple of beaten eggs. Fresh lemon peel, cut into small strips, improves it. Dissolve a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus in half a pint of milk, and stir it into the cake. Add flour to render it of the consistency of unbaked pound cake. Bake it in deep pans about half an hour.

173. _Sugar Gingerbread._

Mix a pound of sugar with six ounces of butter. Beat four eggs, and stir them into the butter and sugar, together with three tea-spoonsful of ginger. Stir in gradually a pound and a half of flour--dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a wine glass of milk, and stir it in, and bake the gingerbread immediately.

174. _Ginger Snaps._

Melt a quarter of a pound of butter, the same quantity of lard--mix them with a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, a pint of molasses, a couple of table-spoonsful of ginger, and a quart of flour. Dissolve a couple of tea-spoonsful of saleratus in a wine glass of milk, and strain it into the cake--add sufficient flour to enable you to roll it out very thin, cut it into small cakes, and bake them in a slow oven.

175. _Spice Cakes._

Melt a tea-cup of butter, mix it with a tea-cup of sugar, and half a tea-cup of molasses. Stir in a tea-spoonful of cinnamon, the same quantity of ginger, a grated nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful each of caraway and coriander seed--put in a tea-spoonful of saleratus, dissolved in half a tea-cup of water, stir in flour till stiff enough to roll out thin, cut it into cakes, and bake them in a slow oven.

176. _Cider Cake._

Stir together a tea-cup of butter, three of sugar--beat four eggs, and put into the cake, together with two tea-cups of flour, and a grated nutmeg. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in half a tea-cup of milk, strain it, and mix it with the above ingredients--stir in a tea-cup of cider, and four more cups of flour.

177. _Bannock or Indian Meal Cakes._

Stir to a cream a pound and a quarter of brown sugar, a pound of butter--beat six eggs, and mix them with the sugar and butter--add a tea-spoonful of cinnamon or ginger--stir in a pound and three quarters of white Indian meal, and a quarter of a pound of wheat flour, (the meal should be sifted.) Bake it in small cups, and let it remain in them till cold.

178. _Rich Cookies._

Rub together, till white, a tea-cup of butter, two of sugar--then stir in a couple of beaten eggs, a little flour, grate in a nutmeg--dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a tea-cup of milk or water, strain it on to the cake, then add flour till stiff enough to roll out easily. If you cannot roll out the cake without its sticking to the board and rolling-pin, (which should be previously floured,) work in more flour, stamp and cut it into cakes--bake them in a moderately warm oven.

179. _Plain Tea Cakes._

Mix thoroughly a tea-cup and a half of sugar, half a tea-cup of butter, stir in a little flour, and half a nutmeg. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a tea-cup of milk, strain and mix it with the cake--add flour till stiff enough to roll out--roll it out half an inch thick, cut it into cakes, bake them on flat buttered tins, in a quick oven. If baked slow, they will not be good.

180. _New Year's Cookies._

Weigh out a pound of sugar, three-quarters of a pound of butter--stir them to a cream, then add three beaten eggs, a grated nutmeg, two table-spoonsful of caraway seed, and a pint of flour. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a tea-cup of milk, strain and mix it with half a tea-cup of cider, and stir it into the cookies--then add flour to make them sufficiently stiff to roll out. Bake them as soon as cut into cakes, in a quick oven, till a light brown.

181. _Shrewsbury Cake._

Stir together three-quarters of a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter. When white, add five beaten eggs, a tea-spoonful of rosewater, or a nutmeg, and a pound of flour. Drop it with a large spoon on to flat tins that have been buttered--sift sugar over them.

182. _Tunbridge Cake._

Six ounces of butter, the same quantity of sugar, three-quarters of a pound of flour, a couple of eggs, and a tea-spoonful of rosewater. Stir to a cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, flour, and spice. Roll it out thin, and cut it into small cakes.

183. _Jumbles._

Stir together, till of a light color, a pound of sugar, and half the weight of butter--then add eight eggs, beaten to a froth, essence of lemon, or rosewater, to the taste, and flour to make them sufficiently stiff to roll out. Roll them out in powdered sugar, about half an inch thick, cut it into strips about half an inch wide, and four inches long, join the ends together, so as to form rings--lay them on flat tins that have been buttered--bake them in a quick oven.

184. _Composition Cake._

Five tea-cups of flour, three of sugar, two of butter, five eggs, a tea-spoonful of saleratus, a tea-cup of milk, a wine glass of wine, or brandy, one nutmeg, a pound of raisins. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream, then add the eggs, beaten to a froth, and part of the flour and the spice--dissolve the saleratus in the milk, strain and mix it with the brandy, stir it into the cake, with the rest of the flour--add the raisins just before the cake is put into the pans.

185. _Rusk._

Melt half a pound of butter, and mix it with two-thirds of a pint of milk--flour to make a thick batter. Add three table-spoonsful of yeast, and set the batter in a warm place to rise. When light, beat two eggs, with half a pound of rolled sugar--work it into the batter with the hand, add a tea-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful of cinnamon, and flour to make them sufficiently stiff to mould up. Mould them up into cakes of the size you would make biscuit, lay them on flat tins, previously buttered, let them remain till of a spongy lightness, before baking. They will bake, in a quick oven, in the course of fifteen minutes.

186. _Whigs._

Mix half a pound of sugar with six ounces of butter, a couple of beaten eggs, a tea-spoonful of cinnamon. Stir in two pounds of flour, a tea-cup of yeast, and milk sufficient to make a thick batter. When light, bake them in small cups.

187. _Nut Cakes._

Heat a pint of milk just lukewarm--stir into it a tea-cup of lard, (the lard should be melted.) Stir in flour, till it is a thick batter, then add a small tea-cup of yeast. Set it in a warm place--when light, work in two tea-cups and a half of rolled sugar, four eggs beaten to a froth, two tea-spoonsful of cinnamon, and one of salt. Knead in flour to make it sufficiently stiff to roll out--keep it in a warm place, till risen again. When it appears of a spongy lightness, roll it out about half an inch thick, cut it into cakes with a wine glass, let them remain fifteen or twenty minutes before boiling them--boil them in a pot, with about a couple of pounds of lard. The fat should be hot enough to boil up as they are put in, and a brisk fire kept under the pot. It should be shaken constantly while they are boiling. Only a few should be boiled at once--if crowded, they will not fry well. If you wish to have them look nice, dip them into powdered white sugar as soon as fried. The same lard, with a little more added, will answer to fry several batches of cakes in, if not burnt.

188. _Crollers._

Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in four table-spoonsful of milk, or leave out one spoonful of milk, and substitute one of wine. Strain it on to half a pint of flour, four table-spoonsful of melted butter, or lard, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Beat four eggs, with six heaping table-spoonsful of rolled sugar--work them into the rest of the ingredients, together with a grated nutmeg--add flour to make them stiff enough to roll out easily. They should be rolled out about half an inch thick, cut with a jagging iron or knife into strips about half an inch wide, and twisted, so as to form small cakes. Heat a pound of lard in a deep pot or kettle, (some cooks use a frying pan to fry crollers in, but they are more apt to burn when fried in a pan.) The fat should boil up, as the cakes are laid in, and they should be constantly watched while frying. When brown on the under side, turn them--when brown on both sides, they are sufficiently cooked.

189. _Molasses Dough Cake._

Melt half a tea-cup of butter, mix it with a tea-cup of molasses, the juice and chopped rind of a fresh lemon, a tea-spoonful of cinnamon--work the whole with the hand into three tea-cups of raised dough, together with a couple of beaten eggs. Work it with the hand for ten or twelve minutes, then put it into buttered pans. Let it remain ten or fifteen minutes before baking it.

190. _Sugar Dough Cake._

Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a wine glass of wine, or milk--strain it on to three tea-cups of raised dough. Work into the dough a tea-cup of lukewarm melted butter, two tea-cups of rolled sugar, three eggs well beaten, and a couple of tea-spoonsful of cinnamon. Work the whole well together for a quarter of an hour, then put it into cake pans. Let it stand in a warm place fifteen or twenty minutes, before baking it.

191. _Measure Cake._

Stir to a cream a tea-cup of butter, two of sugar, then stir in four eggs beaten to a froth, a grated nutmeg, and a pint of flour. Stir it until just before it is baked. It is good either baked in cups or pans.

192. _French Cake._

One pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, a pound and a half of flour, twelve eggs, a gill each of wine, brandy, and of milk. Mix the sugar and butter together--when white, add the eggs, beaten to a froth, (the whites and yelks should be separated)--then stir in the flour, the milk and wine, and one-fourth of a grated nutmeg. Just before it is baked, add three-quarters of a pound of seeded raisins, a quarter of a pound of citron, and a quarter of a pound of almonds, blanched and pounded fine. To blanch almonds, see directions in No. 168.

193. _Washington Cake._

Stir together, till quite white, a pound of sugar, three-quarters of a pound of butter, then add four beaten eggs. Stir in gradually a pound and a half of flour. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a tea-cup of milk, strain and mix it with a glass of wine, then stir it into the cake, together with a tea-spoonful of rosewater, and half a nutmeg. Just before it is baked, add a pound of seeded raisins.

194. _Cup Cake._

Mix three tea-cups of sugar with one and a half of butter. When white, beat three eggs, and stir them into the butter and sugar, together with three tea-cups of sifted flour, and rosewater or essence of lemon to the taste. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a tea-cup of milk, strain it into the cake, then add three more tea-cups of sifted flour. Bake the cake immediately, either in cups or pans.

195. _Plain Cream Cake._

Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a wine glass of milk, strain it on to a little sifted flour, beat three eggs with a tea-cup of rolled sugar, mix them with the above ingredients, together with half a grated nutmeg. Add a tea-cup of thick cream, and sifted flour to render it of the consistency of unbaked pound cake. Bake it as soon as the cream and flour are well mixed in, as stirring the cream much decomposes it.

196. _Rich Cream Cake._

Stir together, till very white, half a pound of butter, three-quarters of a pound of sugar. Beat the whites and yelks of seven eggs separately to a froth, stir them into the cake--put in a wine glass of brandy, a grated nutmeg, and a pound and a half of sifted flour. Just before it is baked, add half a pint of thick cream, and a pound of seeded raisins.

197. _Cymbals._

Half a pound of sugar, a quarter of a pound of butter, a couple of eggs, half a nutmeg, a tea-spoonful of saleratus, half a tea-cup of milk. Stir the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and a little flour, stir in the milk and saleratus, which should be previously strained, then add enough flour to make it stiff enough to roll out--roll it out half an inch thick, in pounded white sugar, cut it with a tumbler into cakes, and bake them on flat buttered tins.

198. _Rich Loaf Cake._

Stir gradually into a pint of lukewarm milk a pound of sifted wheat flour, add a small tea-cup of yeast, and set it where it will rise quick. When of a spongy lightness, weigh out a pound of butter, a pound and a quarter of nice sugar--stir them to a cream, then work them with the hand into the sponge. Beat four eggs to a froth, the whites and yelks separately--mix the eggs with the cake, together with a wine glass of wine, one of brandy, a quarter of an ounce of mace, or one nutmeg. Cinnamon is good spice for loaf cake, but it turns it a dark color. Add another pound of flour, and work it with the hand for fifteen or twenty minutes. (The longer it is worked, the more delicate will be the cake.) Let it remain till risen again--when perfectly light, beat it a few minutes with the hand, then add a couple of pounds of seeded raisins, a quarter of a pound of citron, or almonds blanched, and pounded fine. Butter three common sized cake pans, and put the cake into them--let them remain half an hour in a warm place, before setting them in the oven. Bake the cake in a quick, but not a furious oven, from an hour and fifteen to thirty minutes, according to the heat of the oven. If it browns too fast, cover it, while baking, with thick paper.

199. _Plain Loaf Cake._

Mix together a pint of lukewarm milk, two quarts of sifted flour, a small tea-cup of yeast. Set the batter where it will rise quick. When perfectly light, work in with the hand four beaten eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, two of cinnamon, a wine glass of brandy or wine. Stir a pound of sugar with three-quarters of a pound of butter--when white, work it into the cake, add another quart of sifted flour, and beat the whole well with the hand ten or fifteen minutes, then set it where it will rise again. When of a spongy lightness, put it into buttered cake pans, and let them stand fifteen or twenty minutes before baking. Add if you like a pound and a half of raisins, just before putting the cake into the pans.

200. _Shelah, or Quick Loaf Cake._

Melt half a pound of butter--when cool, work it into a pound and a half of raised dough. Beat four eggs with three-quarters of a pound of rolled sugar, mix it with the dough, together with a wine glass of wine, or brandy, a tea-spoonful of cinnamon, and a grated nutmeg. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus in a small tea-cup of milk, strain it on to the dough, work the whole well together for a quarter of an hour, then add a pound of seeded raisins, and put it into cake pans. Let them remain twenty minutes before setting them in the oven.

201. _Rice Cake._

Mix ten ounces of ground rice, three of wheat flour, eight ounces of powdered white sugar. Sift the whole by degrees into the beaten yelks of eight eggs. Add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, and half a grated nutmeg. Bake the cake in deep pans as soon as the ingredients are well mixed in. The cake will bake sufficiently in the course of twenty minutes, if the oven is hot.

202. _Diet Bread._

Sift a pound of flour, mix it with a pound of rolled sugar. Beat eight eggs to a froth, and stir the flour and sugar in very gradually. Season it to the taste with essence of lemon or rosewater. Bake it from fifteen to twenty minutes.

203. _Lemon Cake._

Stir together, till very white, a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter--then add eight eggs, beaten to a froth, (the whites and yelks should be beaten separately,) the grated rind of two lemons, and the juice of half a lemon. Stir in gradually a pound of sifted flour. Line a couple of cake pans with white buttered paper, turn the cake into them, and bake it in a quick oven.

204. _Scotch Cake._

Stir to a cream a pound of sugar, and three-quarters of a pound of butter--put in the juice and grated rind of a lemon, a wine glass of brandy. Separate the whites and yelks of nine eggs, beat them to a froth, and stir them into the cake--then add a pound of sifted flour, and just before it is put in the cake pans, a pound of seeded raisins.

205. _Pound Cake._

Mix a pound of sugar with three-quarters of a pound of butter. When worked white, stir in the yelks of eight eggs, beaten to a froth, then the whites. Add a pound of sifted flour, and mace or nutmeg to the taste. If you wish to have your cake particularly nice, stir in, just before you put it into the pans, a quarter of a pound of citron, or almonds blanched, and powdered fine in rosewater.

206. _Confectioner's Pound Cake._

Stir together a pound and a quarter of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter. When of a light color, stir in twelve beaten eggs, a pound and a half of sifted flour, and mace or nutmeg to the taste.

207. _Queen's Cake._

Rub together, till very white, a pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter. Mix a wine glass of wine, one of brandy, one of milk, and if you wish to have the cake look dark, put in a tea-spoonful of saleratus. Stir them into the butter and sugar, together with a pound of flour, a tea-spoonful of rosewater, or essence of lemon, a quarter of an ounce of mace. Beat the whites and yelks separately of six eggs--if no saleratus is used, two more eggs will be necessary. When beaten to a froth, mix them with the cake. Stir the whole well together, then add, just before baking it, half a pound of seeded raisins, the same weight of Zante currants, a quarter of a pound of citron, or almonds blanched, and pounded fine in rosewater. The fruit should be stirred in gradually, a handful of each alternately. Line a couple of three pint tin pans with buttered white paper, put in the cake, and bake it directly. If it browns too fast, cover it with paper. It takes from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half to bake it, according to the heat of the oven.

208. _Delicate Cake._