Part 4

Cream 12 oz. of butter with 1 lb. of sugar, add 13 eggs; mix ½ oz. of carbonate of soda and ¼ oz. of acid with 2 lbs. of flour; weigh 8 ozs. of currants. Mix all together with milk, and bake in a small edged pan. Cut into squares when cold.

IV. GINGERBREAD, PARKINGS, SHORTBREAD, ETC.

35.--Queen’s Gingerbread.

Take 2 lbs. of honey, 1¾ lb. of best moist sugar, and 3 lbs. of flour, ½ lb. of sweet almonds blanched, and ½ lb. of preserved orange peel cut into thin fillets, the yellow rinds of two lemons grated off, 1 oz. of cinnamon, ½ oz. of cloves, mace, and cardamoms mixed and powdered.

Put the honey in a pan over the fire with a wineglassful of water, and make it quite hot; mix the other ingredients and the flour together, make a bay, pour in the honey, and mix all well together. Let it stand till next day, make it into cakes, and bake it. Rub a little clarified sugar until it will blow in bubbles through a skimmer, and with a paste-brush rub over the gingerbread when baked.

36.--German Gingerbread.

Same as Queen’s Gingerbread, but dust tins with flour instead of grease.

37.--Spiced Gingerbread.

Take 3 lbs. of flour, 1 lb. of butter, 1 lb. of moist sugar, 4 ozs. of candied lemon or orange peel cut small, 1 oz. of powdered ginger, 2 ozs. of powdered allspice, ½ oz. of powdered cinnamon, 1 oz. of caraway seeds, and 3 lbs. of treacle.

Rub the butter into the flour, then add the other ingredients, and mix in the dough with the treacle. Make it into nuts or cakes, and bake in a cool oven.

38.--Scarborough Gingerbread (for wholesale purposes).

Take 180 lb. of treacle, 4 lbs. of lard, 4 lbs. 10 ozs. of carbonate of soda, 2 lbs. 11 ozs. of caraway seeds, 2 lbs. 11 ozs. of ginger, and ½ a gallon of water to dissolve the soda. Mix all together with a sufficient quantity of flour.

This should turn out about 390 lbs. of very good gingerbread. Wash with glue and water which has been boiled.

The taste for gingerbread is very widespread, large quantities of the best quality being exported to India. Holland is regarded as carrying off the palm for making good gingerbread. Shakespeare makes mention of it in _Love’s Labour’s Lost_, where he says, “An I had but one penny in the world thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.”

39.--Ginger Cakes.

2¼ lbs. of flour, ½ lb. of butter, 1 lb. moist sugar, 2 ozs. of ginger. Rub the butter in with the flour and make the whole into a paste with prepared treacle. Make them into round flat cakes, wash the top with milk, lay a slice of peel on each, and bake in a cool oven.

40.--Prepared Treacle.

Take 4 lbs. of treacle, 1 oz. of alum, 2 ozs. of pearlash, and mix.

41.--Prepared Treacle for Thick Gingerbread.

Take 7 lbs. of treacle, 3 ozs. of potash, 1 oz. volatile salt, and 2 ozs. of alum. The colour of the gingerbread when baked will be according to the quality of the treacle used. Golden syrup makes the lightest coloured and best.

42.--Laughing or Fun Nuts.

1 lb. of gingerbread dough, 3 ozs. of butter, 3 ozs. of sugar, 1 oz. of cayenne pepper. Mix all together, pin out in a sheet, one-eighth of an inch thick. Cut them out the size of a penny. They are very hot.

43.--Grantham or White Gingerbread.

4 lbs. of flour, 2½ lbs. of loaf sugar, 4 ozs. of butter, 1 oz. of volatile salt, 1 pint of milk, ½ oz. of ginger, ¼ oz. of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace, ½ oz. caraway seeds.

44.--Spice Nuts.

3 lbs. of flour, 1 lb. of butter, 1 lb. of moist sugar, 4 ozs. of candied peel cut small, 1 oz. ginger, 2 ozs. allspice, ¼ oz. of cinnamon, 1 oz. caraway seeds, 3 lbs. prepared treacle. Mix same as other doughs.

45. _Another Way._--Take 3 lbs. of flour, 2 lbs. of sugar, 2 lbs. of treacle, 2 ozs. of ginger, ¼ oz. of carbonate of soda, 2 drs. of tartaric acid. Mix the day before baking.

46. _Another Way._--7 lbs. of flour, 5 lbs. of syrup, 2¾ lbs. of moist sugar, 1 lb. of lard, 4 ozs. ginger, ½ oz. of tartaric acid, ½ oz. of carbonate of soda, ½ oz. of cinnamon, ½ oz. of mace. Mix and work same as other doughs. This is a capital mixture.

47.--Light Gingerbread.

Dr. Colquhoun gives a recipe for preparing a light gingerbread as follows: Take 1 lb. of flour, ¼ oz. of carbonate of magnesia, and 1/8 oz. of tartaric acid. Mix the flour and magnesia thoroughly, then dissolve and add the acid; take the usual quantity of butter, treacle, and spice; melt the butter and pour it with the treacle and acid into the flour and magnesia. The whole must then be made into a dough by kneading, and set aside for a period varying from half an hour to an hour; it will then be ready for the oven, and should not on any account be kept longer than two or three hours before being baked. When taken from the oven it will prove a light, pleasant, and spongy bread, having no injurious ingredients in it. That made with potash, says Dr. Colquhoun, gives the bread a disagreeable alkaline flavour, unless disguised with some aromatic ingredient, and is likely to prove injurious to delicate persons.

48.--Italian Jumbles, or Brandy Snaps.

6 lbs. of flour, 7 lbs. of good rich sugar, 1¼ lb. of butter or lard, 2 ozs. of ginger or mixed spice, 6 lbs. of raw syrup. Make the whole into a moderately stiff paste or dough, roll out into sheets fully an eighth of an inch thick, cut them with a plain round cutter of 3 inches diameter, put them on tins well greased, and bake in a moderate oven. When baked cut them from the tin and lay them on the peel-shaft till they are hard. If they should get too cold to turn, put them in the oven to warm. Brandy snaps are the same as above, without being turned.

NOTE.--For cakes, spice nuts, or biscuits of a small size, that require washing on top, use a piece of linen the size of the tin, dip it in water, squeeze it, and spread it on top of the snaps or biscuits and gently press your hand over it. This will prevent them from running together on the tins.

49.--Halfpenny Gingerbread Squares.

8 lbs. of flour, 4 lbs. of treacle, 3 ozs. of pearlash, 3 ozs. of alum, and 1 oz. of carbonate of soda. Make a bay, put in the treacle, add the soda, dissolve the pearlash in 1 gill of cold water and pour it on the treacle; put another gill of water in a small pan, add the alum, and let it boil till it is dissolved; then pour it on the other ingredients. Mix all together, put into two tins about 24 inches by 18 inches with an edge 1 inch high. Cut out of each tin 2s. 3½d. worth. This mixture is for wholesale purposes, and pays well.

NOTE.--Nearly all mixtures made in this way are best made the day before.

50.--Hunting Nuts.

7 lbs. of flour, 3½ lbs. of treacle, 1 lb. of sugar, 1 lb. of butter, 3 ozs. of pearlash, 3 ozs. of alum, half a teaspoonful of essence of lemon, 1 lb. of lemon peel cut small. Mix as above; roll out the dough in strips, and with the fingers break off pieces the size of a small marble, lay on the tins in rows and bake in a moderate oven on tins slightly buttered.

51.--Parkings.

3½ lbs. of oatmeal, 1 lb. of flour, 1 lb. of butter, 8 ozs. of moist sugar, ½ oz. of baking powder, with sufficient syrup to make all into a moderately stiff dough; weigh off at 4 ozs. for a penny, mould up round, and place on tins 2½ inches apart. Bake in a cool oven.

52. _Another Way._--6 lbs. of snap dough, 12 ozs. of moist sugar, 10 ozs. of butter, 1¾ lb. of oatmeal, 1½ oz. of carbonate of soda, 1 oz. of caraway seeds, 1 oz. of seasoning. Proceed as above.

53.--Parking Cake.

3 lbs. of oatmeal, 1 lb. of flour, 4 lbs. of treacle, 1 lb. of good butter, 2 teaspoonfuls of carbonate of soda, 1 gill of beer. Mixed up as above. Baked in an edged pan 3 inches high, in a cool oven.

54.--Scotch Shortbread.

Take 1 lb. of butter, 2 lbs. of flour, 8 ozs. of powdered sugar. Mix the sugar in the butter, then take in all the flour and thoroughly mix and rub all together till of a nice mellow colour and easy to work; weigh off the size required, and shape into square or round pieces; dock them on the top, notch them round the sides, put on clean dry tins, and bake in a moderate oven.

55.--English Shortbread.

1 lb. of flour, ½ lb. of sugar, ½ lb. butter, 2 eggs. Mix as for Scotch Shortbread, ornament the tops with designs of neatly-cut lemon peel and caraway comfits.

56.--French Shortbread.

2 lbs. of flour, ¾ lb. of butter, ¾ lb. of sugar, 4 eggs, ½ oz. of ammonia. Rub the butter in the flour, make a bay, put in the eggs, sugar, and ammonia; beat them well with your hand, then draw in the flour and butter; make all into a dough, weigh at 12 ozs., chaff them up round, pin out a good breadth, mark them off into eight, place a piece of peel on each, and bake in good oven. Cut the marked pieces with a sharp knife after they are baked.

V. HARD BISCUITS.

57.--Machine-made Biscuits.

In making the dough for hard biscuits it should be kept in a loose crumbly state until the whole is of an equal consistency, then work, rub, or press it together with your hands until the whole is collected or formed into a mass. If the old-fashioned biscuit brake is replaced by a biscuit machine so much the better for the baker and the goods he turns out. If so, then all that is necessary will be to properly adjust the rollers whether for braking (that is making the dough) or rolling out for the cutter. If an amateur tries to make biscuits he will always experience some difficulty in moulding them if they are hand-made. When this is so it would be better to cut them out with a cutter.

58.--Ship Biscuits.

These were evidently the first biscuits, from which have sprung all the varieties of hard biscuits which we at present possess. They are of the same character as those which were first made by man in his progress towards civilisation, and were baked or roasted on hot embers. Before this, men knew of no other use for their meal than to make it into a kind of porridge. Biscuits prepared in a simple fashion were for centuries the food of the Roman soldiers. The name is derived from the Latin _bis_, twice, and the French _cuit_ = _coctus_, meaning twice baked or cooked.

Ship biscuits are composed of flour and water only; but some think a small proportion of yeast makes a great improvement in them. The method adopted is to make a small weak sponge as for bread previous to making the dough; the necessary quantity of water is then added. The flour used for the commoner sort of these biscuits is known as middlings or fine sharps; and those made from the finer or best are called captains or cabin biscuits. A sack of flour loses, by drying and baking, 28 lbs.

59.--Captains’ Biscuits.

7 lbs. of fine flour, 6 ozs. of butter, 1 quart of water or milk. Rub the butter in with the flour until it is crumbled into very small pieces, make a bay in the centre of the flour, pour in the water or milk, make it into a dough, and break it when made into dough, chaff or mould up the required size, 4 or 5 ozs. each, pin out with a rolling pin about 5 inches in diameter, dock them and lay them with their faces together. When they are ready bake them in a moderately quick oven, of a nice brown colour. These are seldom made with hand, as the machinery in use outstrips hand-made biscuits of this class in speed and gives a better appearance and quality.

60.--Thick Captains.

7½ lbs. of flour, ½ lb. of butter, 1 quart of water or milk. Mix as directed. When ready weigh out at 2 ozs. each, mould or chaff, roll out, dock quite through and bake in a hot oven. All biscuits of this class require thorough drying in the drying room.

61.--Abernethy Biscuits.

(_Dr. Abernethy’s Original Recipe._)

1 quart of milk, 6 eggs, 8 ozs. of sugar, ½ oz. of caraway seeds, with flour sufficient to make the whole of the required consistency. They are generally weighed off at 2 ozs. each, moulded up, pinned and docked, and baked in a moderate oven.

NOTE.--The heat of an oven is not required so strong for biscuits containing sugar, as it causes them to take more colour in less time.

62.--Abernethys as made in London.

7 lbs. of flour, 8 ozs. of sugar, 8 ozs. of butter, 4 eggs, 1½ pint of milk, 2 tablespoonfuls of orange-flower water, ½ oz. of caraway seeds.

63.--Usual Way of making Abernethy Biscuits.

Take 8 lbs. of flour, 1½ lb. of butter and lard, 12 ozs. of sugar, ½ oz. of caraway seeds; some use about ½ oz. of powdered volatile salts. Proceed to make into dough as before. Well break the dough and finish with either hand or machine.

64.--Wine Biscuits.

Take 8 lbs. of flour, rub in 2 lbs. of good butter. Make a bay, add about 1 quart of water, take in your flour and butter and well shake up, and note the more your mixture is shaken up and worked the better biscuits you will have. Also note in shaking up these biscuits, when they are mixed let your two thumbs meet, giving the mixture a shake up in the air till you have all the dry flour worked in and the mixture is nice and moist. Bake in a smart oven on wires.

65.--Soda Biscuits.

14 lbs. of flour, 1¼ lb. of butter, ½ oz. of carbonate of soda, 3 drachms of muriatic acid, 2 quarts of water. Mix as the last, adding the acid mixed with half-a-pint of the water after the dough is shaken up, then finish with the machine.

66.--Boston Lemon Crackers.

26 lbs. of flour, 2¼ lbs. of butter, 5 lbs. of sugar, 2 ozs. of ammonia, ½ oz. of essence of lemon, 3 quarts of water. This should be made into small round biscuits rather larger than pic-nics. Bake them in a sound oven.

67.--Pic-Nics.

30 lbs. of flour, 4 lbs. of butter, 4 lbs. of castor sugar, 3 ozs. of carbonate of soda, 2 ozs. of muriatic acid, 4 quarts of milk.

68.--Common Pic-Nics.

28 lbs. of flour, 2 lbs. of lard, 2 lbs. of sugar, 2 ozs. of carbonate of soda, 2 ozs. of hydrochloric acid. Mix as above and finish the dough in the usual way. Bake in a moderately brisk oven.

69.--Luncheon Biscuits.

56 lbs. of flour, 3½ lbs. of lard, 3½ lbs. of butter, 1¼ lb. of castor sugar, 4 quarts of milk, 4 quarts of water, 2 ozs. of carbonate of soda, 1½ oz. of hydrochloric acid. Mix as before described. Let the dough be of a good stiffness and broken very clear. The cutters may be either round or oval. They require about 20 minutes’ baking. As soon as they are drawing put them in the stove for about two hours.

70.--Digestive Biscuits.

Take equal parts of fine flour and wheat-meal flour and mix them together to 5 quarts of milk and water. Use 2½ lbs. of butter and 2 ozs. of German yeast. Rub the butter in the flour, make a bay, pour in your liquor and yeast. Mix the whole into a dough, break it a little, and put it in a warm place to prove. After it is light enough, break it quite smooth and clear, roll it out in a sheet one-eighth of an inch in thickness and cut out your biscuits. As soon as the biscuits are cut out bake in a hot oven.

71. _Another way._--5 lbs. of granulated wheat meal, 1 lb. of butter, ¼ lb. of sugar, ¼ lb. of ground arrowroot, 4 eggs, 1 quart of milk, ¼ oz. of carbonate of soda. These are mixed up in the usual way, pinned out and cut with a small round cutter, docked and baked in a moderate oven.

72.--Small Arrowroot Biscuits.

5½ lbs. of flour, 8 ozs. of butter, 6 ozs. of sugar, 6 ozs. of arrowroot, 3 eggs, 1 pint of liquor. Prepare as the last. Make 16 biscuits from 1 lb. of dough. Mould and pin into round cakes 3 inches in diameter, dock them with an arrowroot docker, and bake them in a sound oven.

73.--Coffee Biscuits.

4 lbs. of flour, 4 ozs. of butter, 4 ozs. of castor sugar, 5 large eggs, with enough water to fill a pint. Make a bay; after the butter is rubbed in with the flour, add the sugar and beat up the eggs and water together; pour into your bay, make the whole into a dough, break it clear and make it quite thin. When you finish it roll it out the tenth of an inch in thickness, cut with your coffee biscuit cutter and bake them in a brisk oven. If the oven should not be hot enough to raise them round the edges twist up a handful of shavings rather hard and place them round the edges of the biscuits when baking.

74.--Victoria Biscuits.

3½ lbs. of flour, 2 ozs. butter, 2 ozs. of sugar, 1 pint of eggs. Make a bay, rub the butter in the flour before you make a bay, add the sugar, pour in the eggs, beat them well up with your hands, make the whole into a dough, break well that it may be clear, roll into thin sheets, cut with an oval cutter the same as used for Brightons, put them on clean tins, and bake in a hot oven the same as Coffee Biscuits.

75.--Shell Biscuits.

5 lbs. of flour, 12 ozs. of castor sugar, 12 ozs. of butter, 1 pint of milk. Make all into a good dough, roll into sheets half-an-inch thick, cut with an oval-pointed cutter in shape thus [Illustration], place them on a crimp board and with a knife or scraper curl them up, put on clean dry tins. Bake in moderate heat.

76.--York Biscuits.

5¼ lbs. of flour, 12 ozs. of butter, 2 lbs. of sugar, 1 pint of milk. Mix as before into a dough, roll out the dough ¼ of an inch thick, cut them into long strips, and cut them diamond shape or square, dock them either on the table or crimping-board as your fancy dictates. Bake them in a rather warm oven.

77.--Machine Biscuits.

10 lbs. of flour, 2¼ lbs. of butter, 10 ozs. of castor sugar, 1 quart of water. Mix up the same as the others, roll out a sheet ½ inch in thickness, cut them out in various forms, dock them, and bake on clean dry tins in a moderate oven.

78.--Bath Oliver Biscuits.

1 quart of milk, 1 lb. of butter, 2 ozs. of German yeast, 6½ lbs. of flour. Make the milk warm, add the sugar, yeast and a handful of flour to form a ferment, let it ferment for an hour and a half. Rub the butter into the remaining flour and make all into a nice smooth dough; let it stand about two hours, then roll it out thin; cut the biscuits out with a cutter about three inches in diameter, dock them well, place on clean tins sprinkled with water, wash over with milk when you have them all off, put them in a steam press or drawers for half an hour, and bake in a cool oven.

79.--Edinburgh Biscuits.

4 lbs. of flour, 12 ozs. of butter, 6 ozs of sugar, 1 pint of milk. Mix up in the usual way, break smooth, and make 12 biscuits out of a pound of dough; roll thin, dock them, and bake in a brisk oven. Sold at a halfpenny each.

80.--Nursery Biscuits.

Take 1 quart of milk, 5 ozs. sugar, 3 ozs. yeast, ¼ lb. of flour. Mix all together into a ferment and let it drop, add ¼ lb. arrowroot, 5 ozs. butter, and as much flour as will make a good dough. Put it away till you think it is ripe enough to work off, which you will know by its appearing light and spongy. When it has reached this stage take 4 lbs. of the dough and roll it out ½ inch thick, cut out with a plain round cutter an inch and a half in diameter, put them on tins a quarter of an inch apart, prove them in steam press, and when ready bake in a sound oven. Put them in a drying stove or some warm place to thoroughly dry them, to make them light and easily digestible.

81.--Soda Biscuits.

12½ lbs. of flour, 1 oz. of salt, 6 ozs. of lard, 1 oz. of acid, 1½ oz. of soda, 2 quarts of water. Mix as for Machine Biscuits, break the dough smooth and clear, let it lay for about half an hour, then roll out in large sheets nearly the thickness of three penny pieces, cut out with an oval spring cutter five inches in length and three inches in breadth. The dough must be well made and of a good stiffness. When cut out lay them on top of each other in sixes on carrying boards. Have the oven of a good sound heat and well cleaned out, have a running peel that will hold six biscuits, and run them on the sole of the oven.

VI. FANCY BISCUITS, ALMONDS, ETC.

82.--Digestive Biscuits.

5 lbs. of wheat meal, 1 lb. of butter, 4 ozs. of sugar, 4 eggs, ¼ oz. of carbonate of soda in 1 quart of water. Rub the butter in the wheat meal, make a bay, add the sugar, eggs, and soda; mix well together, add the water, and take in the wheat meal. After making it into dough, take about 2 lbs., roll it out into a sheet the thickness of a penny; take it on the pin again, and roll it on to a piece of cloth spread on the table; cut them out with a small oval cutter, put on tins well cleaned but not greased, and bake in a cool oven.

83.--Kent Biscuits.

4 lbs. of flour, 1 lb. of butter, 1½ lb. of sugar, 10 eggs, and 3 drs. of volatile salt. Rub butter in with flour; or make a bay, put in the butter, partly cream it, add eggs and sugar, and voil after well mixing all together; take in the flour and make it into a dough. Roll out a sheet the thickness of two penny pieces, cut out with a small fluted cutter, lay them in rows, take a brush and egg-wash top, lay them on lump sugar previously broken into pieces the size of split peas, and bake on tins slightly buttered, in a moderate oven.

84.--Imperial or Lemon Biscuits.

Take 1¼ lb. of flour, 1¼ lb. of sugar, 4 eggs, 4 ozs. of butter, and a pinch of volatile salt. Rub butter in the flour, then take the sugar and mix it with the flour and butter; make a bay, put in your eggs and voil, and mix all lightly but well together. Take a piece, roll it out same as for hunting nuts, in strips, place on slightly buttered tins 1 inch apart, and bake on double tins, unless the oven is very cold.

NOTE.--In making fancy biscuits the tins must be as clean as it is possible to get them. I have seen a whole batch of biscuits spoiled through “only a little bit of dirt,” as the boy said when taken to task for his carelessness.

85.--Venice Biscuits.

5 lbs. of flour, 1½ lb. of butter, 2½ lbs. of sugar, 11 eggs, 1 lb. of mixed peel and 1 oz. of volatile salt. Proceed to make the dough in the same way as for Imperial or Lemon Biscuits, roll out in a sheet, and cut out with a small oval fluted cutter; egg them on the top, and throw them on large crystallised sugar. Bake on slightly buttered tins in a moderate oven.

86.--Shrewsbury Biscuits.

2 lbs. of flour, 1 lb. of sugar, 1 lb. of butter, 4 eggs, pinch of powdered cinnamon, and a little milk.

87. _Another Way._--14 ozs. of flour, 10 ozs. of sugar, 10 ozs. of butter, 2 small eggs, half a nutmeg grated, a little cinnamon and mace, and a pinch of voil.

88. _Another Way._--1½ lb. of flour, ½ lb. of butter, ½ lb. of sugar, 1 egg, with sufficient milk to make dough. Some add about ¼ oz. of volatile salt. Rub the butter in with the flour, make a bay, add the sugar, eggs, milk, and spice; make the whole into a dough, roll it out on an even board to the thickness of an eighth of an inch, cut out with a plain round cutter two and a half inches in diameter, place them on clean tins, not buttered, bake in a cool oven. When the biscuits are a little coloured on the edges they are done.

89.--Peruvian Biscuits.

4 ozs. of flour, 1 lb. of rice-flour, ½ lb. of arrowroot, 1 lb. of butter, 1 lb. of sugar, 6 eggs, ½ oz. of voil. Make into a dough same as for other biscuits, roll into strips the thickness of your finger, cut them the size of small marbles, and bake on slightly greased tins in a moderate oven.

90.--Currant Fruit Biscuits.

3 lbs. of flour, 12 ozs. of arrowroot, 14 ozs. of butter, 2 lbs. of sugar, 10 eggs, 20 ozs. of currants, ½ oz. of voil. Proceed to make dough as before; roll out in a sheet the thickness of two penny pieces. Cut with a plain round cutter, and bake in a moderate oven.

91.--Snowdrop Biscuits.

1 lb. of arrowroot, 1 lb. of flour, the whites of 10 eggs, ½ lb. of butter, ¾ lb. of sugar, ¼ oz. of voil. Rub the butter in the flour, add the arrowroot, make a bay, add all the other ingredients, mix into a dough. Proceed the same as for Peruvian biscuits, and bake in a very cool oven.

92.--Rice Biscuits.

1¼ lb. flour, ¾ lb. rice-flour, ½ lb. butter, 1 lb. sugar, 2 eggs, ¼ oz. of voil. Make into dough with a little milk, roll out in sheets same size as for Currant Fruit, place on dry tins, and dust the tops with ground rice.

93.--Genoa and Toulouse Biscuits, Exhibition Nuts and Marseillaise Biscuits.