Part 4

For a family of four or five, take a quart of warm water, a spoonful of scalded Indian meal, a heaping teaspoonful of salt, and a gill of yeast. Stir in buckwheat flour enough to make a thin batter. Let it rise over night. In the morning add a quarter of a teaspoonful of saleratus or soda. Do this whether the cakes are sour or not. Buckwheat cakes cannot be made in perfection without this addition; but it should never be put in till just before they are baked. Such cakes are often made too thick, and fried with too much fat. They should be as thin as they can be, and be easily turned with a griddle shovel, and no more fat should be used than is necessary to keep them from sticking. To prevent the use of too much, tie a soft white rag, tight, round the tines of a large fork, and keep it for this purpose. If a gill of the batter is left, it will raise the next parcel.

Buckwheat cakes are as much better made with milk as other cakes are; but no others are so good made with water. They are very nice made of sour milk, with nothing added but salt and saleratus. These should be made only a short time before being baked.

=Fritters or Pan-Cakes.=

Make a batter of a pint of milk, three eggs, salt, and flour to make a rather thick batter. Beat it well, then drop it with a spoon into hot fat, and fry like doughnuts. These, and the snow fritters are usually eaten with sugar and cider, or lemon juice.

=Snow Fritters.=

Stir together milk, flour, and a little salt, to make rather a thick batter. Add new-fallen snow in the proportion of a teacupful to a pint of milk. Have the fat ready hot, at the time you stir in the snow, and drop the batter into it with a spoon. These pancakes are even preferred by some, to those made with eggs.

=Corn Cake.=

To a pint of sour milk, two cups of Indian meal, one of flour, one egg, two table-spoonfuls of molasses, a teaspoonful of salt, and one of saleratus. Mix it thoroughly, and bake twenty-five minutes in two shallow pans, or thirty-five in a deep one.

=Another.=

Take a pint of sweet milk, half a gill of yeast, one gill of flour, a teaspoonful of salt, and half a teaspoonful of saleratus; stir in Indian meal enough to make it rather stiffer than griddle cakes; let it rise over night, and in the morning bake as directed above.

This kind of cake has the advantage over those made without yeast; that if a piece of it is left, it is not heavy when cold, but is as palatable a lunch as a slice of good bread.

=Another.=

Take a pint of sour milk, or butter-milk, break an egg into it, stir in a spoonful or two of flour, and add Indian meal enough to make a thick batter; put in a teaspoonful of salt, stir it five or six minutes, and then add a heaping teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in hot water. If it is the season for berries of any kind, put in a gill or two; bake in a pan or on the griddle.

=Another.=

A pint of sweet milk, two eggs, a pint of Indian meal or corn flour, half a pint of white flour, one teaspoonful of tartaric acid, or cream of tartar, and one of soda, mixed dry in the flour. Bake in a pan, about an inch thick, or in drop cake tins.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING CAKE.

When cake or pastry is to be made, take care not to make trouble for others by scattering materials, and soiling the table or floor, or by the needless use of many dishes. Put on a large and clean apron, roll your sleeves above the elbows, tie something over your head lest hair may fall; take care that your hands are clean, and have a basin of water and a clean towel at hand. Place every thing you will need on the table; butter the pans, grate the nutmegs, and squeeze the lemons. Then break the eggs, each in a cup by itself, lest adding a bad one to the others should spoil the whole. Then weigh or measure flour and sugar, and, if not already done, _sift_ them. Make your cake in an earthen, and not in a tin pan.

In warm weather put your eggs into cold water some time before you are ready to break them. They cut into a much finer froth for being cold. For some kinds of cake the whites should be cut to a stiff froth, and the yolks beaten and strained, and then put to the butter and sugar after these have been stirred till they look like cream. Then mix the flour gradually.

When cream or sour milk is to be put in, half of it should be added when half the flour is mixed in; then the remainder of the flour, and then the saleratus dissolved in the other half of the cream or milk. Lastly, add the spice, wine, lemon-juice, or fruit.

In summer do not stir cake with the hand; the warmth of it makes it less light. A wooden spoon, kept on purpose, is the best thing. In winter, soften, but do not melt the butter, before using it. Cake not raised with yeast, should be baked _as soon as it is made_, except such as is hard enough to be rolled. Cookies and sugar gingerbread roll out more smoothly the next day.

_Firkin_ butter must be cut in small pieces, and washed, to remove some of the salt. Drain it well, or it will make heavy cake. Never put strong butter into cake; it renders it disagreeable and unhealthy.[6]

[6] See directions for keeping butter in rose-leaves. Page 216.

Fresh eggs are needed for nice white cake. Those kept in lime-water will do for raised cake and cookies.

New Orleans, or other good brown sugar, is best for raised, fruit, and wedding cake, but it should be coarse-grained and clean. It will answer also for cup cake, especially if fruit is used. White sugar must be used for sponge and other white cake.

The fruit should be added to raised cake when it is ready for the oven. Spread it equally over the top, and press it only a little below the surface, else it will sink to the bottom.

Cask raisins should be washed before being stoned, and box raisins also, unless fresh. In stoning them, cut them in two or three pieces, or chop them.

Keep currants ready prepared for use. To do this, wash them in warm water, rubbing them between the hands, and then pour off the water. Repeat this till the water is clear, then drain them in a sieve, spread them on a cloth on a table, and rub them dry with the ends of the cloth. Then brush the good ones into a dish in your lap, putting aside the bad ones on the table. Dry them in a gentle warmth, and set them away for use.

Buttered white paper in the bottom and sides of pans for cake requiring long baking, is needful; and paper not buttered is good for other kinds of cake, as it prevents burning. It will readily peel off when the cake is taken from the pans.

Attention and practice will teach when cake is well baked. When it is done enough, it settles a little away from the pan. Even well made cake becomes heavy by being taken out of the oven before it is perfectly baked. Moving it carelessly while it is baking will also make light cake fall. If you have occasion to change the position of the pans, do it gently.

A tin chest or a stone jar is good to keep cake in, and it is a good way to let that which is not to be kept long, remain in the tins in which it was baked.

=Directions for beating the Whites of Eggs.=

On breaking eggs, take care that none of the yolk becomes mingled with the whites. A single particle will sometimes prevent their frothing well. Put the whites into a large, flat dish, and beat them with an egg-beater made of doubled wire, with a tin handle; or with a cork stuck crosswise upon the prongs of a fork. Strike a sharp, quick stroke through the whole length of the dish. Beat them in a cool place till they look like snow, and you can turn the dish over without their slipping off. Never suspend the process nor let them stand, even for one minute, as they will begin to return to a liquid state, and cannot be restored, and thus will make heavy cake. After they are beaten to a stiff froth they will not return to a liquid state.

The above directions are designed to prevent the necessity of repetition and minuteness in each receipt. The young cook is advised to refer to them in making cake, that she may know at once how to proceed.

=Frosting.=

A pound of the best of fine white sugar, the whites of three fresh eggs, a teaspoonful of nice starch, pounded, and sifted through a piece of muslin or a very fine sieve, the juice of half a lemon, and a few drops of the essence.

Beat the whites to a stiff froth, then add them to the sugar, and stir it steadily until it will stay where you put it. It will take nearly two hours, perhaps more. Dredge a little flour over the cake, and brush it off with a feather. This is to prevent the frosting from being discolored by the butter contained in the cake. Lay it on smoothly with a knife, and return the cake to the oven twelve or fifteen minutes.

=Another (measured).=

To a coffee cup of sifted sugar, the white of one egg, half a teaspoonful of powdered starch, and a teaspoonful of lemon juice. Observe the directions for making it, in the previous receipt. This will frost two small pans or one large one.

=Another way.=

A pound of the best crushed or loaf sugar, the whites of three eggs, the juice of a lemon, and a teaspoonful of finely powdered starch. To mix it, put the sugar into a deep bowl, and pour upon it just cold water enough to soften the lumps, then beat the whites of eggs about half as much as for nice cake--not to a stiff froth; add them to the melted sugar, and set the bowl into a kettle of boiling water, and stir the mixture steadily. It will soon become thin and clear, and afterwards thicken. When it has become quite thick, take it from the fire and stir it till it is cold, and thick enough to spread with a knife. This is enough for a large loaf.

FRUIT CAKES.

=Wedding.=

Five pounds each of flour, butter, and sugar, six of raisins, twelve of currants, two of citron, fifty eggs, half a pint of good Malaga wine, three ounces of nutmegs, three of cinnamon, one and a half of mace. Bake in three large pans four hours.

=Another.=

Three pounds each of flour, butter, and sugar, six of currants, six of raisins, an ounce each of nutmegs and cinnamon, half an ounce of clove, a pound of citron, the grated peel of two lemons, half a gill each of brandy and rose-water, or a small teaspoonful of the essence of rose, and thirty eggs.

To mix either of these two receipts, stir the sugar and butter to a cream, beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately, and add them to the butter and sugar, then by degrees put in two thirds of the flour, then the spice and brandy or wine, and last the fruit, mixed with the remaining third of the flour. Have the citron ready cut up, and when you have put a little of the cake into the pan, put in a layer of citron, then more cake, and again citron and cake alternately. This quantity will bake in one cake in five hours, in two cakes, three hours. Each of these two kinds will keep years, if frosted.

=Maine Plumb.=

A pound each of butter, sugar, and flour, ten eggs, a pound of raisins, two of currants, half a pound of citron, a teaspoonful of powdered clove, half as much mace, a nutmeg, the juice of a lemon and the grated peel, and a half a teacup of good molasses. Before you proceed to mix it, scatter one teaspoonful of cream of tartar into the flour; and the last thing, before you put in the fruit, dissolve a half a teaspoonful of saleratus in a spoonful of boiling water, and add it, stirring the cake fast two or three minutes. Mix this in the same way as directed in the two previous receipts. If baked in a brick oven, bake it three hours in one pan; if in a stove, an hour and a half, in two.

Although this cake has no wine or brandy, it will keep fresh (if frosted) almost any length of time.

=One Loaf (plainer).=

A pound each of flour and sugar, ten ounces of butter, five eggs, a pint of milk, two pounds and a half of raisins and currants, a gill of wine, a nutmeg, a large spoonful of cinnamon, half a teaspoonful of clove. Add the same measure of cream of tartar and saleratus as in the last receipt, and in the same way, and bake the same length of time.

_To make just frosting enough for either of these two last cakes_, take the whites of four eggs, if the weather is cold, three, if it is warm, cut them to a stiff froth, add a pound of finest sugar, and beat it two hours. Add lemon, rose, or any essence you prefer, and a teaspoonful of sifted starch. When the loaf is baked, lay on the icing with a knife, and return it to the oven fifteen minutes.

=Washington.=

To one pound of flour, put one pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, eight eggs, two nutmegs, one pound of raisins, and one of currants.

RAISED CAKES.

=Commencement.=

Four pounds of flour, two and a half of sugar, two of butter, a small quart of milk, half a pint of wine, eight eggs, two gills of yeast, two nutmegs, two teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, one of clove, or a little mace. Make up the flour, yeast, and milk, exactly like bread, and when fully light, add the other ingredients, and put it into deep pans. If the weather is cool, let it stand till the next day. When it is again very light, add one pound of currants and two of raisins; and bake two hours.

This is excellent cake, and will keep good many weeks.

=Loaf.=

Three pounds of flour, two of sugar, one and a half of butter, two of fruit, six eggs, half a pint of yeast, a gill of wine, two nutmegs, a teaspoonful each of cinnamon and clove, and a little mace. Make up the flour and yeast with milk, just like bread; when it is very light add all the other ingredients, except the fruit. Put in the eggs without beating, warm the wine, and mix the whole very thoroughly. Then put it in pans and set it to rise till the next day, and when light enough to bake, put in the fruit as directed in the general observations at the beginning of this chapter.

=Another.=

A pound and a half of flour, one of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, a pound of raisins and currants, four eggs, a nutmeg, a glass of wine, a teaspoonful of cinnamon, half a one of clove. Make up the flour like bread, with a gill of yeast and new milk warmed. When it is perfectly light, add the eggs without beating, and stir all the ingredients together thoroughly. Put it into pans, and when it has risen again, add the fruit, and bake it.

=Bread Cake.=

Five teacups of very light bread dough, that is wet with milk; three of sugar, two of butter, three or four eggs; or if they are scarce, two. Mix it thoroughly, using both hands. Flavor it with such spice, or essence as you prefer, and then put it into three pans such as you use for cup cake, and let it stand till perfectly light before you bake it. In winter let it stand in a warm closet, or some place where it will not become very cold, and remain till the next day.

By the addition of spice, fruit, more sugar, &c., you can make it as rich as you please.

=Another.=

Take two cups of light dough, a small cup of butter, a cup and a half of sugar, one of sour milk, two and a half of flour, two eggs, and a teaspoonful of saleratus. Flavor it with nutmeg and cinnamon, or lemon. Let it rise in the pans.

=Another (plainer).=

To three cups of light dough, one of butter, one and a half of sugar, one of sour milk, a heaping cup of flour, a teaspoonful of saleratus, and some spice. Put the materials together as directed in the last receipt.

CUP CAKES.

[The _cup_ used as a measure for the receipts in this book is not the tea-table china cup, but the common large earthen teacup, except where a small one is specified; and the teaspoon used is neither the largest or smallest, but the medium sized.]

=Howard.=

To ten cups of flour, put six of sugar, three of butter, three of sour milk (a little warm), eight eggs, a glass of wine, a large teaspoonful of saleratus, a nutmeg, a pound of currants, a pound of raisins.

=Tunbridge.=

Four cups and a half of flour, three of sugar, one of butter, one of cream, one teaspoonful of saleratus, six eggs, spice, currants, citron, and a little wine.

=Bridgeport.=

To one teacup of butter, put two of sugar, three and a half of flour, four eggs, one cup of sour milk, the juice and part of the rind of a lemon, a small teaspoonful of saleratus and two cups of currants. Bake in small pans.

=Superior.=

One very heaping cup butter, two and a half of sugar, four eggs, four cups of flour, and one and a half of ground rice, one and a half of sweet milk, a nutmeg, a little grated lemon-rind, the juice of a lemon squeezed into the milk, and a teaspoonful of saleratus.

=Barnard.=

One cup of butter, three of sugar, four and a half of flour, four eggs, a cup of sour milk, the juice, and a little of the rind of a lemon, a teaspoonful of saleratus.

It is a good way to use butter that has been kept a few days in a jar of rose leaves, for these cup cakes, and then very little spice is necessary.

All delicate soft cake is improved in appearance by sifting a little fine sugar over the top, just as it goes into the oven.

=Mount Pleasant.=

Five teacups of flour, one heaping cup of butter, two cups and a half of sugar, one cup of sour milk, four eggs, a teaspoonful of saleratus, one nutmeg.

=Provence.=

Four cups of flour, one of sugar, one of butter, one of sour milk, one of molasses, four eggs, one nutmeg, one small teaspoonful of saleratus, and a pound and a half of raisins.

=Composition.=

A coffee cup of butter (small measure), two of sugar, three of flour, one and a half of good ground rice, one of sour milk, half a nutmeg, a little essence of lemon, and a large teaspoonful of saleratus. If you have sour cream, instead of the milk, use half a cup of butter.

=Diet Bread.=

Two cups of sugar, three and a half of flour, one of milk, four eggs, half a teaspoonful of soda, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar in the juice of half a lemon. Beat the eggs and sugar together, then add half the milk and flour; when these are mixed, the rest of the milk with the half teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it, the remainder of the flour, the lemon-juice and cream of tartar; and last, a little essence of rose.

SPONGE CAKES.

The goodness of all delicate cake, but specially of sponge, depends very much upon its being made with fresh eggs. There are several ways of making this cake which all result well. For those who choose not to be cheated of eggs by the use of cream of tartar, two excellent receipts, and two different methods of mixing, are given.

Two receipts for making it by measure are added, each of them perfect, if made right, and the last one requiring the least possible time and labor.

For the old-fashioned sponge cake, beat the yolks thoroughly, and the whites to a very stiff froth, and mix the ingredients thus: Stir the sugar and whites together, then add the yolks, next the flour, and last, the lemon or spice, or,

Mix the yolks and whites after they are beaten, and having stirred the flour and sugar together, add them, and the spice. It should then be stirred fast two minutes, and baked in rather a quick oven. It is made _sticky_, and less light by being stirred long. There is no other cake, the goodness of which depends so much upon care, and good judgment in baking.

=Lyman.=

To one pound of flour, put one and a half of sugar, fifteen eggs, the rind of two lemons, and juice of one, and a little salt.

=Brooklyn.=

To three quarters of a pound of flour, put one and a quarter of sugar, twelve eggs, and one lemon, juice and rind. A little salt.

=Measure.=

Twelve fresh eggs, three cups of flour, three of sugar, a little salt, and spice or lemon as you prefer. Break the eggs together, and put them without beating into the sugar, then beat steadily with a smart stroke half an hour, then stir in the flour, and bake in rather thick loaves three quarters of an hour.

No one but a person having a very strong arm can make this kind of sponge cake well. It is elegant when well made.

=Another. (Berwick Sponge.)=

Beat six eggs, yolks and whites together, two minutes; add three cups of sugar, and beat five minutes; two cups of flour with two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, and beat two minutes; one cup of cold water, with one teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in it, and beat one minute; the grated rind, and half the juice of a lemon, a little salt and two more cups of flour, and beat another minute. Observe the time exactly, and bake in rather deep cup cake pans.

VARIOUS KINDS OF CAKE.

=Queen's.=

One pound of flour, one of sugar, half a pound of butter (that which has lain in a jar of rose-leaves is best), five eggs, a gill of wine, a gill of cream, a nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of saleratus, two pounds of currants, or chopped raisins.

Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, beat the whites and yolks of the eggs separately, and after they and the flour are also mixed with it, warm the cream and wine together, and add them, then the saleratus, and last the fruit. Frost it, or sift fine sugar over the top just before it is put into the oven.

=Snow, or Bride's.=

A pound each of flour and sugar, half a pound of butter, and the whites of sixteen eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Flavor it with rose.

=Federal=

A pound each of butter and sugar, a pound and two ounces of flour, a pound of raisins, five eggs, a cup of sour cream (or, if milk is used instead of cream, add a quarter of a pound more of butter), half a nutmeg, a wineglass of brandy, and a teaspoonful of saleratus. Stir the butter, sugar, and nutmeg to a cream, then add the eggs, then the cream and saleratus mixed, next the flour (a little at a time), except a handful in which to mix the raisins, and last, the brandy and fruit.

Very delicious for persons who like rich cake.

=Gold.=

A pound each of flour and sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, the yolks of fourteen eggs, and the juice and grated rind of two lemons. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream, and add the yolks well beaten, and strained. Then put in the lemon peel, and the flour (dried), and a teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in a spoonful of hot water. Beat it fifteen minutes, and just before it goes into the oven, stir in the lemon juice very thoroughly. Bake it in a square, flat pan, ice it thickly, and cut it into square pieces.

=Silver.=

One pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of dried flour, six ounces of butter, the whites of fourteen eggs. Add mace and citron. Beat the sugar and butter to a cream, and add the whites, cut to a stiff froth, next the flour, and then the mace and citron. Bake in a pan of the same size as for the golden cake. They are not difficult to make, and are very beautiful together.

=Jelly-Cake, or Washington Pie.=

Make cup cake, and when the ingredients are well mixed, spread it upon round shallow tins, three table-spoonfuls to each tin. It will bake in ten or fifteen minutes; then turn it upon a hair sieve, the under surface uppermost. While it is warm spread upon it raspberry jam, currant, or other jelly; then lay the second sheet of cake upon it, the under side next to the jelly. If you wish to make several alternate layers of cake and jelly make the sheets of cake very thin; one large spoonful of the batter will be enough for each tin.

=White Mountain.=

Six eggs, six cups of flour, three of sugar, two of butter, one of milk, one nutmeg, one teaspoon of saleratus. To mix it, stir the butter and sugar to a cream, beat the whites and yolks of the eggs separately; add the yolks to the butter and sugar, next part of the milk and half of the flour, and the whites, then the rest of the milk with the saleratus dissolved in it, and then the remainder of the flour, and last the grated nutmeg.

=Lemon.=

A pound each of flour and sugar, half a pound of butter, eight eggs, the rind of one lemon, and the juice of half of one.

=Rice.=

Weigh nine eggs, and their weight in sugar, and the weight of six in ground rice. Add a lemon, and a little salt. A very delicate cake.

=Another.=