Part 28

Molasses cake baked in layers, with whipped cream between the layers and over the top, with or without a sprinkling of grated cocoanut, is considered a great treat in some households.

=Cocoanut Cream=

1 cup cream, whipped. ⅓ cup sugar 1½ cup fresh grated cocoanut

Two layers and on top of cake, with cocoanut sprinkled over top. Some additional flavoring if desired.

=Butternut Filling=

1 cup sweet cream, ½-¾ cup sugar and 1 cup rolled butternut meats, mixed without whipping cream. Flavoring if desired.

=★ Sour Cream Filling=

Before I gave up cake I used to think this filling had no equal:

½ cup thick sour cream ½ cup sugar 1½ cup chopped blanched almonds 1 teaspn. vanilla

Whip cream (ice-cold), sugar and vanilla together until just thick, taking care not to whip too long as sour cream turns to butter more easily than sweet; add the almonds, spread quickly between layers of cake and roughly on top. The nuts may be sprinkled over the layers of cream instead of being mixed with it. The white of an egg beaten stiff with part of the sugar is sometimes added to the whipped cream. Shellbark, English walnut or rolled butternut meats may be substituted for almonds.

=Creamed Apple=

White of 1 large egg, 1½ cup granulated, powdered or confectioner’s sugar, 2 or 3 medium sized apples. Peel apples and grate on to unbeaten white of egg and sugar in large bowl; beat for 20 m.; or until light and creamy. Lemon, rose or strawberry may be used if flavoring is desired. Spread between layers and on top of cold cake. Bananas, peaches and other fruits rubbed through a fine colander may be used the same as apples.

Steamed quarters of apples may be used.

=Cocoanut Filling=

Spread under and upper sides of layers of warm cake with soft icing. Sprinkle tops with fresh grated cocoanut and put other layers on. Use plenty of icing on top of last layer and sprinkle well with cocoanut.

=Date Filling=

Stone and skin dates after boiling a moment, mash or grind them, and add water if necessary; spread between layers of cake. Cover the top of the cake with coffee icing with cream. Chopped nuts may be mixed with the dates and sprinkled over the top of the cake.

=Pineapple Filling and Icing=

Chop fresh pineapple and sprinkle with sugar; drain after 3 or 4 hrs; add beaten whites of 2 eggs, ⅔ cup sugar and 1 teaspn. lemon juice to 1 cup of pineapple and place between layers. Use some of the juice with confectioner’s sugar for icing the top and sides of the cake. When using confectioner’s sugar with pineapple omit whites of eggs.

Drain canned pineapple very dry, chop and add lemon juice and confectioner’s sugar, when fresh pineapple is not obtainable.

=Imperial Filling=

Spread layers of cake with jelly and the following:

_Filling_--

1 cup chopped raisins ½ cup chopped almonds ½ cup grated cocoanut white of 1 egg

Beat white stiff, add other ingredients and spread.

=Coffee Icing=

Add confectioner’s sugar and vanilla to strong cereal coffee, with or without a little heavy cream.

=Fig Jelly Filling=

1 lb. figs, chopped fine 1 cup sugar ½ cup boiling water

Boil to a jelly, stirring constantly, or cook in double boiler until thick.

=Prune Filling=

Stew ½ lb. of prunes in a very little water, rub through colander or cut fine, add whites of 2 eggs beaten to a stiff froth with 2 tablespns. of sugar.

=Nut and Raisin Filling=

1½ cup sugar ½ cup water white of 1 large or 2 small eggs 1 cup each of chopped or ground raisins and nut meats 1 teaspn. vanilla

Boil sugar and water till the syrup will form a soft ball in cold water; pour it into the stiffly-beaten white of egg, add nuts and raisins and spread while warm between the layers.

Raisins or nuts alone may be used. Shellbarks or butternuts are especially enjoyable. Figs or dates may be substituted for the raisins or for the nuts.

=★ Cream Filling=

1 cup milk ⅓-½ cup sugar 2¼ tablespns. (¼ cup) flour 1 egg or 2 yolks, or 1 egg and yolk of another ½ teaspn. vanilla

Mix sugar and flour dry, pour boiling milk over, boil up, turn over beaten eggs, stirring, return to fire and heat until creamy but do not boil; set dish at once into cold water, add flavoring.

Use ½ tablespn. less of flour for Washington Pie, and ¼ cream (or a small piece of butter) in the milk.

½ cup of flour is sometimes used. Add cocoanut for a cocoanut cake.

=Royal Filling and Icing=

¼ cup milk ¼ cup orange juice ¼ cup flour ½ cup sugar yolk of 1 egg oil from rind of half an orange 6 drops vanilla 1 drop rose

Flavor sugar with oil of orange, make cream according to directions for cream filling and add rose and vanilla when partly cool. Icing of cream and confectioner’s sugar, tinted with pink.

I have usually used this for Royal Sponge Cake and this quantity is sufficient for one large layer.

=Filling for Lemon Pie Cake and Washington Pie=

¾-1 cup sugar 1½ tablespn. corn starch or 2 of flour 1 teaspn. butter 1 cup water yolk 1 egg 3 tablespns. lemon juice 2-6 drops lemon extract or grated rind of ½ a lemon salt

Mix sugar and corn starch or flour, drop the teaspoon of butter on and pour the boiling water over gradually, stirring; boil up well and add 2 or 3 tablespns. to the yolk of egg stirring; then add yolk to the mixture and cook like custard. Remove from fire and when partially cooled add flavoring. Use sometimes for the filling of a cake with whipped cream on the top.

=Lemon Cheese for Cakes=

¼ cup butter ¾ cup sugar 2 whites and 3 yolks of egg 3 tablespns. lemon juice grated rind of 1 lemon

Cook in double boiler, cool, spread between layers of sponge or other cake or on crisp pastry, or put it into cream puff shells; or, without cooking put into pastry in patty pans and bake in moderate oven.

=Marshmallow Filling=

1 oz. (about 4 tablespns.) sifted powdered gum arabic, 4 tablespns. water, ½ cup sugar, whites 3 eggs, 1 teaspn. vanilla. Soak gum arabic in water for 1 hour, add sugar, cook in double boiler ½ hour, add stiffly-beaten whites of eggs and vanilla, beat until stiff and white.

Nice for 2 or 3-days old angel cake split in halves or thirds.

ICE CREAM AND FRUIT ICES

Neither very hot nor very cold foods should be taken at meals. If foods are too hot, the stomach is debilitated, and if they are very cold, vitality must be drawn from the system to warm them before the work of digestion can be carried on; so it would be better to take ice cream and all ices by themselves rather than as a dessert.

When ices are served for dessert, they should be eaten very slowly.

Water ices, sherbets and frozen fruits, without large quantities of sugar, are invaluable in cases of fever.

I am not going into the subject of ice cream exhaustively for there are plenty of books on that subject already, but will give you my own recipe which must be tried to be appreciated.

The little flour in it gives it a smoothness and creaminess with one third to one half milk equal to all cream without it; and does not give the disagreeable flavor of corn starch; also, made by this method, the cream and milk are sterilized.

Try the cream without any flavoring and see how delicious it is.

Use wet snow instead of ice for freezing in the winter. It works even better and is less trouble.

Beat the cream well with a wooden spoon after removing the dasher.

Add fruit or nuts to cream when removing the dasher, so that they will not become hard as they would do if frozen with the cream.

For freezing, have the ingredients cold. Have the ice very fine; the finer it is, the better the results. One-third as much rock salt should be at hand. The ice and salt may be mixed, or may be put around the freezer in the proportion of 3 inches of ice to 1 inch of salt.

First, adjust the freezer, having the mixture to be frozen in the can. Fill not over ⅔ full to allow for expansion. Then pack with the ice and salt, turning the handle around once in a while during the operation, to keep the mixture from freezing to the sides of the can. Have a stick to pound the ice and salt down well around the can.

Turn slowly at first to make a fine grain, then more rapidly as the cream thickens.

Before removing the cover to take out the dasher, scrape away the ice and salt and wipe off the water on the lid and near the top of the can, so that none can possibly get into the cream. Beat the cream and replace the cover, with a clean cork in the top. Drain off a part of the water and repack the can, using less salt than at first, sometimes not any, so as not to have the cream too hard. To be at its best, cream should be stiff enough only to hold its shape. Cover with paper, a blanket or carpet and let stand to “ripen” for 2 hours or longer. This part is important, as the flavor and texture are perfected only by standing.

If possible, open the can in an hour and a half and stir the cream so that the soft center comes to the edge of the can. Repack and cover the same and let stand for 2 or 3 hours.

Save the salt from the bottom of the freezer to use another time, and it is a good plan to save a little of the thick salt water to use instead of the last layer of salt near the top of the can for the next freezing, as it facilitates the work very much.

In serving, dip the spoon into hot water each time before putting it into the cream; this, with care, will give a nice shaped serving.

Pop corn without butter or salt is more suitable to serve with ice cream than cake.

Sugar syrup gives a finer, smoother and more substantial grain to frozen fruits, sherbets and water ices than sugar and water, and they do not melt as quickly when exposed to the air.

Pack all ices the same as creams and let stand the same after freezing, to become smooth and mellow.

For water ices, do not turn the crank continuously. Turn slowly and rest between, until the ice becomes quite stiff. This is the rule, but for a change the freezer may be turned rapidly and continuously, with a different result.

Stir sherbets constantly. Serve both sherbets and water ices in glasses.

Vegetable gelatine is an improvement to ices, giving body to them.

There is a great difference in freezers. Be sure to get a good one. The construction of the dasher has much to do with the texture of the cream. Those that freeze the quickest are not necessarily the best.

Do not buy a small freezer: you can freeze a small quantity in a large freezer, but you cannot freeze a large quantity in a small freezer.

=★ The “Laurel” Ice Cream=

2½ pts. heavy cream 2½ pts. whole milk 2 cups sugar 4 or 5 tablespns. pastry flour

Stir the flour smooth with some of the cold milk and heat the remainder of the milk, with the cream and sugar, in a double boiler and when hot, set over the fire. Let it boil up quickly, stir in the flour and when boiling all through, return to the double boiler for a few minutes, beating well. Or, heat the milk and cream only in the double boiler and pour gradually, stirring, over the sugar and flour which have been mixed together. Return to boiler and cook for 10-15 m. Turn through a fine wire strainer into a large pan to cool quickly; stir while cooling.

Do not take too large measures of flour.

Any kind of cream may be made from this. Flavor with vanilla for vanilla cream, or tint pink and flavor with ¾-1 teaspn. of strawberry extract for strawberry cream, or with a few drops of rose, for rose cream. Tint green and flavor with almond and vanilla for pistachio cream, using only a few drops of almond to a teaspn. of vanilla. This may have a few shredded almonds stirred into the frozen cream.

Sometimes sprinkle fresh grated cocoanut over each serving of cream, or the cocoanut may be stirred in as other flavorings are.

A very pretty cream is one with citron and candied cherries cut into tiny pieces and added when the dasher is removed.

We make a fruit and nut cream which is liked very much, by adding well washed English currants, raisins cut in quarters, citron in small pieces and coarse chopped English walnuts or pecans. Omit the nuts for a fruit cream.

For coffee cream, steep (not boil) cereal coffee in milk for 10 to 20 m. Strain through a cloth and use as plain milk with the cream. Flavor with vanilla.

One quart of sweetened, crushed strawberries or raspberries added to the recipe makes the right proportion for fruit cream. Drained, finely-shredded or grated pineapple makes a general favorite in cream.

=Maple Ice Cream=

1 qt. genuine maple syrup 1 qt. heavy cream 1 qt. light cream ¾ qt. milk 7 tablespns. flour

=Lemon Ice=

8-12 tablespns. lemon juice 1 orange 2½ cups sugar 1 qt. water including the gelatine ⅛ oz. vegetable gelatine

Soak and cook gelatine according to directions (p. 335), add water to make 1 cup, keep warm; cook sugar and 3 cups of water together for 5 minutes and strain into the gelatine. Prepare the lemon and orange juice, and if desired, shave off a little of the thin yellow rind and let it stand in the juice for a few minutes, then strain it out. When the gelatine mixture is partially cooled, add the juice gradually, stirring. The orange may be omitted.

Or, omit gelatine, boil sugar with 1 qt. of water and when cool combine with the juice.

=Orange Ice=

1 pt. sugar 1 qt. water 1 pt. of orange juice 6-8 tablespns. lemon juice ⅛ oz. vegetable gelatine

Flavor juice with thin yellow rind of orange and proceed as in lemon ice, omitting gelatine if preferred.

=Raspberry Ice=

1 cup raspberry juice ¾ cup sugar (less if juice is already sweetened) 1 pt. water 2 tablespns. lemon juice 1 sixteenth oz. vegetable gelatine, or not

Cook sugar and water together and add to prepared gelatine. When nearly cool, add raspberry juice and stir occasionally until cool. Freeze.

=Currant and Raspberry Ice=

2 cups currant juice 1 cup raspberry juice 1 pt. water 1-1½ cup sugar ⅛ oz. gelatine, or not

Proceed as in Raspberry Ice.

Use cherry, strawberry, quince, gooseberry, grape or pineapple for ices, varying the proportion of sugar and water according to the sweetness of the fruit. Pineapples should be grated and with the lemon juice added to cold syrup and strained through a sieve. Pineapple is one of the most delightful ices.

=Mint Ice=

Add fine cut or chopped spearmint to lemon ice mixture just before freezing, or to orange ice for orange mint ice.

=★ Grape Sherbet=

1½-1¾ cup sugar 1 qt. water, scant scant ¼ oz. vegetable gelatine 5-6 tablespns. lemon juice 2 cups grape juice whites of 2 eggs 2 tablespns. powdered sugar

Flavor the sugar with oil of lemon if desired, and boil with the water for 5 m. only. Prepare the gelatine with a scant cup of water, and add to warm syrup; cool; add lemon and grape juice, stirring. Put into freezer and stir for 15 m. Beat the whites of eggs until light but not stiff; add the powdered sugar and beat 2 m., add to the sherbet in the freezer and finish freezing. Ripen from 2 to 4 hours. This sherbet is of a beautiful lavender color when finished.

Substitute other fruit juices for the grape, varying the quantity of sugar. Red raspberry is better in water ice, as the whites of the eggs spoil its flavor.

=★ Mint Sherbet=

1 qt. water 1½ cup sugar 5-7 good-sized stalks of mint ⅓-½ cup lemon juice white of 1 large or 2 small eggs 1½ tablespn. powdered sugar scant ¼ oz. vegetable gelatine scant cup of water

Boil sugar and water and add to gelatine prepared with the scant cup of water. When cool, add stirring, the lemon juice and fine cut or chopped mint. Stir in freezer 15 m. Add whites of eggs beaten with powdered sugar as in grape sherbet and finish freezing. Ripen.

=Pineapple Sherbet, or Frozen Pineapple=

1¾ pint fine ground pineapple large 2½ cups sugar 1 qt. liquid, gelatine and all ¼ oz. gelatine 1½-2 tablespns. lemon juice whites of 2 eggs 2 tablespns. powdered sugar

Shred and grind nice, ripe pineapples. Prepare gelatine with 1 cup of water and add more to make 1½ cup. Cook sugar and 2½ cups of water together for 5 m. and add to gelatine. When nearly cool, combine with pineapple and lemon juice; cool; stir in freezer for 15 m. Add whites of eggs beaten with powdered sugar and finish freezing. Ripen.

=Mina’s Lemon and Orange Sherbets=

_Lemon_--

4 lemons 4 oranges 1 lb. sugar 1 qt. water whites of 4, or less, eggs ⅛ oz. of vegetable gelatine

_Orange_--

10 oranges 1 lemon 1 pt. sugar 1 qt. water whites of 4, or less, eggs ⅛ oz. vegetable gelatine

Follow directions for Grape Sherbet.

=Frozen Strawberries=

1 qt. berries 2 cups sugar 3 or 4 tablespns. lemon juice 1 qt. water

Add 1 cup of sugar and the lemon juice to well mashed berries. Let stand in ice box 1-2 hours. Boil water and remaining sugar together for 5 m., cool, add to berry mixture, freeze, ripen. Serve plain or with whipped cream.

=Frozen Peaches=

1 qt., in pieces, of nice ripe peaches 1-1½ cup sugar 1 qt. water 1-2 cups cream

Rub measured peaches through colander; add cold syrup made by boiling sugar and water together for 10 m. Freeze. Stir in cream whipped and slightly sweetened, when dasher is removed. Repack and ripen.

=Frappés=

Frappés are partly frozen mixtures of fruit juices, pulps or fine grated fruits and when not too sweet are excellent in fevers and are often served in place of a drink or a sherbet to well people. Of course they are served in glasses.

CEREALS

“The grains, with fruits, nuts and vegetables contain all the nutritive properties necessary to make good blood.”

“Those who eat flesh are eating grains and vegetables at second-hand; for the animal receives from these things the nutrition that produces growth.”

“The life that was in the grains and vegetables passes into the eater. We receive it by eating the flesh of the animal. How much better to get it direct, by eating the food that God provided for our use.”

“Grains used for porridge or mush should have several hours’ cooking; but soft or liquid foods are less wholesome than dry foods which require thorough mastication.”

When porridges are used, something dry like zwieback or crisp crackers should be eaten with them to induce mastication.

Foods containing starch should be well insalivated by thorough mastication before any tart foods are introduced into the stomach, as acid hinders the digestion of starch.

The large proportion of starch contained in grains is changed to sugar in the process of digestion, so the addition of more sugar gives an excess of that element, overtaxing the liver and increasing the tendency to fermentation, since both starch and sugar are substances that ferment easily. Then if milk, another easily fermented food, is added what can be said of the combination? Besides: “the presence of a considerable amount of sugar actually retards the digestion of starch.”--_Dr. Kress._

For those who feel that they cannot at once forego the sweet, stir in a few sliced dates to graham porridge or sprinkle them over the top and serve with nut or dairy cream. Chopped figs or stewed raisins may also be used the same with different cereals. A very harmonious combination is pearled barley cooked with raisins. Nice ripe blueberries or black raspberries may be served with cereals.

A complete meal may be made of graham or any preferred porridge, blanched almonds, English walnuts or pecans, with dates, figs or raisins. The combination will be satisfying without any milk or cream.

My readers will many of them be surprised to find that oatmeal and some other porridges are delightful served with cream sauce, old-fashioned milk gravy, macaroni sauce and other gravies; the cooked parched grains especially so. A poached egg may be placed on each serving of porridge, with or without sauce.

Raw rice may be ground coarse or fine for different purposes.

The parched grains may be served with suitable, sub-acid fruits.

The toasted breakfast cereals on the market, prepared without malt or any additional sweet are many of them excellent foods because of the dextrinization of the starch, and we can easily prepare dextrinized grains in our own homes.

=Parched Sweet Corn--the Ideal Cereal Preparation=

Put dried sweet corn into a corn popper, iron frying pan or round bottomed iron kettle; cover, and shake over the fire until the grains are browned and puffed up nearly round. Served plain, this corn supplies a complete and satisfying food, as any one will find who sits down with a nice fresh-parched porridge dish of it and chews it until it is fine and creamy in the mouth. It is much more delicious than the finest popcorn. It may be ground and eaten in cold or hot milk, nut or dairy, and it may have a little salt and sterilized butter mixed with it while it is warm. A cup of cereal coffee or tea-hygiene with a dish of parched corn makes a nice luncheon or supper.

The corn may be dried on the cob or shelled and dried. It may often be bought from dealers in seeds, after the planting season is over.

Parched field corn is a good nourishing food but not so sweet and tender. It is usually better to be ground.

One doctor says, “I could travel the world around on parched corn and never want grease of any kind.”

It is well understood that corn and oatmeal are the richest in oil of any of the grains. In some countries the soldiers carry parched corn in their pockets on long marches.

=Yolk--Egg=

Put yellow corn meal into an iron kettle or saucepan over a moderate fire; stir until of an even rich brown color. Serve warm or cold with hot or cold milk or cream. The donor of this recipe says: “When I was a child this was considered a great dainty, but I do not know how it obtained its name or where we learned to make it.”

The different preparations of grains may all be parched the same as sweet corn and corn meal in the preceding recipes. If more convenient they may be done in the oven but the flavor is not as good. Some of them are tender enough to be eaten dry or in milk without any further preparation; others are better to be ground before adding the milk or cream, and some need to stand in the milk, hot or cold, for a time, before serving, while others (rice especially) require cooking after parching. Some are better cooked in milk.

=Pop-corn=

To pop: “Wet the corn slightly and let it dry on the stove; put it in the popper while it is hot and in four minutes every kernel should be turned inside out, crisp and tender.”--_From a clipping._

Serve the popped kernels plain with nuts, cereal coffee, tea-hygiene, cream or milk, or sprinkle delicately with salt and turn a little oil or melted butter over, mixing thoroughly.

Put together the poorly popped kernels of corn and all the remains, cover with cold water and soak until soft, perhaps over night. Then add milk and cook in a double boiler ½ hour or so. Serve with cream or more milk if necessary, or, cook in all water and serve with cream. These left-overs may be ground and soaked in milk until soft.

=Rusk=

Dry slices or pieces of bread in the oven and brown delicately, grind through the food cutter and serve in milk or with cream.

=Porridges=

“Some people degrade these foods by calling them mushes, a horrible name, by the way; the good English word porridge is much better, and porridge is not gruel.”--_An Editor._

Unless cereals are steamed, they should be cooked in a double boiler or something that answers the same purpose.

A flat or round wire batter whip is the best for stirring the grain into the water, as that keeps even the finest flour from becoming lumpy.