Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
by
Eliza Leslie
Part 6 out of 9
minced fine.
A SUET PUDDING.
Mince very finely as much beef suet as will make two large
table-spoonfuls. Grate two handfuls of bread-crumbs; boil a quart
of milk and pour it hot on the bread. Cover it, and set it aside
to steep for half an hour; then put it to cool. Beat eight eggs
very light; stir the suet, and three table-spoonfuls of floor
alternately into the bread and milk, and add, by degrees, the
eggs. Lastly, stir in a table-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and
cinnamon mixed, and a glass of mixed wine and brandy. Pour it into
a bag that has been dipped in hot water and floured; tie it
firmly, put it into a pot of boiling water, and boil it two hours.
Do not take it up till immediately before it is wanted, and send
it to table hot.
Eat it with wine sauce, or with molasses.
A CUSTARD PUDDING.
Take five table-spoonfuls out of a quart of cream or rich milk, and
mix them with two large spoonfuls of fine flour. Set the rest of
the milk to boil, flavouring it with half a dozen peach leaves, or
with bitter almonds broken up. When it has boiled hard, take it
off, strain it, and stir in the cold milk and flour. Set it away
to cool, and beat very light ten yolks and four whites of eggs;
add them to the milk, and stir in, at the last, a glass of brandy,
or white wine, a powdered nutmeg, and a quarter of a pound of
sugar. Butter a large bowl or mould; pour in the mixture; tie a
cloth tightly over it; put it into a pot of boiling water, and
boil it two hours, replenishing the pot with hot water from a tea-kettle.
When the pudding is done, let it get cool before you turn
it out. Eat it with butter and sugar stirred together to a cream,
and flavoured with lemon.
FLOUR HASTY PUDDING.
Tie together half a dozen peach leaves, put them into a quart of
milk, and set it on the fire to boil. When it has come to a hard
boil, take out the leaves, but let the pot remain boiling on the
fire. Then with a large wooden spoon in one hand, and some wheat
flour in the other, thicken and stir it till it is about the
consistence of a boiled custard. Afterwards throw in, one at a
time, a dozen small bits of butter rolled in a thick coat of
flour. You may enrich it by stirring in a beaten egg or two, a few
minutes before you take it from the fire. When done, pour it into
a deep dish, and strew brown sugar thickly over the top. Eat it
warm.
INDIAN MUSH.
Have ready on the fire a pot of boiling water. Stir into it by
degrees (a handful at a time) sufficient Indian meal to make it
very thick, and then add a very small portion of salt. You must
keep the pot boiling on the fire all the time you are throwing in
the meal; and between every handful, stir very hard with the mush-stick,
(a round stick flattened at one end,) that the mush may not
be lumpy. After it is sufficiently thick, keep it boiling for an
hour longer, stirring it occasionally. Then cover the pot, and
hang it higher up the chimney, so as to simmer slowly or keep hot
for another hour. The goodness of mush depends greatly on its
being long and thoroughly boiled. If sufficiency cooked, it is
wholesome and nutritious, but exactly the reverse, if made in
haste. It is not too long to have it altogether three of four
hours over the fire; on the contrary it will be much the better
for it.
Eat it warm; either with milk, or cover your plate with mush, make
a hole in the middle, put some butter in the hole and fill it up
with molasses.
Cold mush that has been left, may be cut into slices and fried in
butter.
Burgoo is made precisely in the same manner as mush, but with
oatmeal instead of Indian.
A BAKED INDIAN PUDDING.
Cut up a quarter of a pound of butter in a pint of molasses, and
warm them together till the butter is melted. Boil a quart of
milk; and while scalding hot, pour it slowly over a pint of sifted
Indian meal, and stir in the molasses and butter. Cover it, and
let it steep for an hour. Then take off the cover, and set the
mixture to cool. When it is cold, beat six eggs, and stir them
gradually into it; add a table-spoonful of mixed cinnamon and
nutmeg; and the grated peel of a lemon. Stir the whole very hard;
put it into a buttered dish, and bake it two hours. Serve it up
hot, and eat it with wine sauce, or with butter and molasses.
A BOILED INDIAN PUDDING.
Chop very fine a quarter of a pound of beef suet, and mix it with
a pint of sifted Indian meal. Boil a quart of milk with some
pieces of cinnamon broken up; strain it, and while it is hot, stir
in gradually the meal and suet; add half a pint of molasses. Cover
the mixture and set it away for an hour; then put it to cool. Beat
six eggs, and stir them gradually into the mixture when it is
cold; add a grated nutmeg, and the grated peel of a lemon. Tie the
pudding in a cloth that has been dipped in hot water and floured;
and leave plenty of room for it to swell. Secure it well at the
tying place lest the water should get in, which will infallibly
spoil it. Put it into a pot of boiling water, (which must be
replenished as it boils away,) and boil it four hours at least;
but five or six will be better. To have an Indian pudding _very
good_, it should be mixed the night before, (all except the
eggs,) and put on to boil early in the morning. Do not take it out
of the pot till immediately before it is wanted. Eat it with wine
sauce, or with molasses and butter.
INDIAN PUDDING WITHOUT EGGS.
Boil some cinnamon in a quart of milk, and then strain it. While
the milk is hot, stir into it a pint of molasses, and then add by
degrees a quart or more of Indian meal so as to make a thick
batter. It will be much improved by the grated peel and juice of a
large lemon or orange. Tie it very securely in a thick cloth,
leaving room for it to swell, and pasting up the tying-place with
a lump of flour and water. Put it into a pot of boiling water,
(having ready a kettle to fill it up as it boils away,) hang it
over a good fire, and keep it boiling hard for four or five hours.
Eat it warm with molasses and butter.
This is a very economical, and not an unpalatable pudding; and may
be found convenient when it is difficult to obtain eggs.
A BAKED PLUM PUDDING.
Grate all the crumb of a stale six cent loaf; boil a quart of rich
milk, and pour it boiling hot over the grated bread; cover it, and
let it steep for an hour; then set it out to cool. In the mean
time prepare half a pound of currants, picked, washed, and dried;
half a pound of raisins, stoned and cut in half; and a quarter of
a pound of citron cut in large slips; also, two nutmegs beaten to
a powder; and a table-spoonful of mace and cinnamon powdered and
mixed together. Crush with a rolling-pin half a pound of sugar,
and cut up half a pound of butter. When the bread and milk is
uncovered to cool, mix with it the butter, sugar, spice and
citron; adding a glass of brandy, and a glass of white wine. Beat
eight eggs very light, and when the milk is quite cold, stir them
gradually into the mixture. Then add, by degrees, the raisins and
currants, (which must be previously dredged with flour) and stir
the whole very hard. Put it into a buttered dish, and bake it two
hours. Send it to table warm, and eat it with wine sauce, or with
wine and sugar only.
In making this pudding, you may substitute for the butter, half a
pound of beef suet minced as fine as possible. It will be found
best to prepare the ingredients the day before, covering them
closely and putting them away.
A BOILED PLUM PUDDING.
Grate the crumb of a twelve cent loaf of bread, and boil a quart
of rich milk with a small bunch of peach leaves in it, then strain
it and set it out to cool. Pick, wash and dry a pound of currants,
and stone and cut in half a pound of raisins; strew over them
three large table-spoonfuls of flour. Roll fine a pound of brown
sugar, and mince as fine as possible three quarters of a pound of
beef suet. Prepare two beaten nutmegs, and a large table-spoonful
of powdered mace and cinnamon; also the grated peel and the juice
of two large lemons or oranges. Beat ten eggs very light, and
(when it is cold) stir them gradually into the milk, alternately
with the suet and grated bread.
Add, by degrees, the sugar, fruit, and spice, with a large glass
of brandy, and one of white wine. Mix the whole very well, and
stir it hard. Then put it into a thick cloth that has been scalded
and floured; leave room for it to swell, and tie it very firmly,
pasting the tying-place with a small lump of moistened flour. Put
the pudding into a large pot of boiling water, and boil it
steadily five hours, replenishing the pot occasionally from a
boiling kettle. Turn the pudding frequently in the pot. Prepare
half a pound of citron cut in slips, and half a pound of almonds
blanched and split in half lengthways. Stick the almonds and the
citron all over the outside of the pudding as soon as you take it
out of the cloth. Send it to table hot, and eat it with wine
sauce, or with cold wine and sugar.
If there is enough of the pudding left, it may be cut in slices,
and fried in butter next day.
All the ingredients of this plum pudding (except the eggs) should
be prepared the day before, otherwise it cannot be made in time to
allow of its being sufficiently boiled.
We have known of a very rich plum pudding being mixed in England
and sent to America in a covered bowl; it arrived perfectly good
after a month's voyage, the season being winter.
A BAKED APPLE PUDDING.
Take nine large pippin apples; pare and core them whole. Set them
in the bottom of a large deep dish, and pour round them a very
little water, just enough to keep them from burning. Put them into
an oven, and let them bake about half an hour. In the mean time,
mix three table-spoonfuls of flour with a quart of milk, a quarter
of a pound of brown sugar, and a tea-spoonful of mixed spice. Beat
seven eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk. Then
take out the dish of apples, (which by this time should be half
baked,) and fill up the holes from whence you extracted the cores,
with brown sugar; pressing down into each a slice of fresh lemon.
Pour the batter round the apples; put the dish again into the
oven, and let it bake another half hour; but not long enough for
the apples to fall to pieces; as they should, when done, be soft
throughout, but quite whole. Send it to table warm.
This is sometimes called a _Bird's Nest Pudding_.
It will be much improved by previously boiling in the milk a small
handful of peach leaves. Let it get cold before you stir in the
eggs.
BOILED APPLE PUDDING.
Pare, core, and quarter as many fine juicy apples as will weigh
two pounds when done. Strew among them a quarter of a pound of
brown sugar, and add a grated nutmeg, and the juice and yellow
peel of a large lemon. Prepare a paste of suet and flour, in the
proportion of a pound of chopped suet to two pounds of flour. Roll
it out of moderate thickness; lay the apples in the centre, and
close the paste nicely over them in the form of a large dumpling;
tie it in a cloth and boil it three hours. Send it to table hot,
and eat with it cream sauce, or with butter and sugar.
Any fruit pudding may be made in a similar manner.
AN EASTERN PUDDING.
Make a paste of a pound of flour and half a pound of minced suet;
and roll it out thin into a square or oblong sheet; trim off the
edges so as to make it an even shape. Spread thickly over it some
marmalade, or cold stewed fruit, (which must be made very sweet,)
either apple, peach, plum, gooseberry or cranberry. Roll up the
paste, with the fruit spread on it, into a scroll. Secure each end
by putting on nicely a thin round piece rolled out from the
trimmings that you cut off the edges of the sheet. Put the pudding
into a cloth, and boil it at least three hours. Serve it up hot,
and eat it with cream sauce, or with butter and sugar.
APPLE DUMPLINGS.
Take large fine juicy apples. Pare them, and extract the cores
without dividing the apple. Fill each hole with brown sugar, and
some chips of lemon peel. Also squeeze in some lemon juice. Or you
may fill the cavities with raspberry jam, or with any sort of
marmalade. Have ready a paste, made in the proportion of a pound
of suet, chopped as fine as possible, to two pounds and a half of
sifted flour, well mixed, and wetted with as little water as
possible. Roll out the paste to a moderate thickness, and cut it
into circular pieces, allowing two pieces to each dumpling. Lay
your apple on one piece, and put another piece on the top, closing
the paste round the sides with your fingers, so as to cover the
apple entirely. This is a better way than gathering up the paste
at one end, as the dumpling is less liable to burst. Boil each
dumpling in a small coarse cloth, which has first been dipped in
hot water. There should always be a set of cloths kept for the
purpose. Tie them tightly, leaving a small space for the dumpling
to swell. Plaster a little flour on the inside of each tying place
to prevent the water from getting in. Have ready a pot of boiling
water. Put in the dumplings and boil them from three quarters to
an hour. Send them to table hot in a covered dish. Do not take
them up till a moment before they are wanted.
Eat them with cream and sugar, or with butter and sugar.
You may make the paste with butter instead of suet, allowing a
pound of butter to two pounds and a quarter of flour. But when
paste is to be boiled, suet will make it much lighter and finer
than butter.
Apple dumplings may be made in a very plain manner with potato
paste, and boiled without cloths, dredging the outside of each
dumpling with flour. They should boil about three quarters of an
hour when without cloths.
The apples for dumplings should always be whole, (except the
cores;) for if quartered, the pieces will separate in boiling and
break through the crust. The apples should never be sweet ones.
RICE DUMPLINGS.
Pick and wash a pound of rice, and boil it gently in two quarts of
water till it becomes dry; keeping the pot well covered, and not
stirring it. Then take it off the fire, and spread it out to cool
on the bottom, of an inverted sieve; loosening the grains lightly
with a fork, that all the moisture may evaporate. Pare a dozen
pippins or other, large juicy apples, and scoop out the core. Then
fill up the cavity with marmalade, or with lemon and sugar. Cover
every apple all over with a thick coating of the boiled rice. Tie
up each in a separate, cloth, [Footnote: Your pudding and dumpling
cloths should be squares of coarse thick linen, hemmed, and with
tape strings sewed to them. After using, they should be washed,
dried, and ironed; and kept in one of the kitchen drawers, that
they may be always ready when wanted.] and put them into a pot of
cold water. They will require about an hour and a quarter after
they begin to boil; perhaps longer.
Turn them out on a large dish, and be careful in doing so not to
break the dumplings. Eat them with cream sauce, or with wine
sauce, or with butter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together.
PIGEON DUMPLINGS OR PUDDINGS.
Take four pigeons and stuff them with chopped oysters, seasoned
with pepper, salt, mace, and nutmeg. Score the breasts, and loosen
all the joints with a sharp knife, as if you were going to carve
them for eating; but do not cut them quite apart. Make a
sufficient quantity of nice suet paste, allowing a pound of suet
to two pounds of flour; roll it out thick, and divide it into
four. Lay one pigeon on each sheet of the paste with the back
downwards, and put at the lower part of the breast a piece of
butter rolled in flour. Close the paste over the pigeon in the
form of a dumpling or small pudding; pouring in at the last a very
little cold water to add to the gravy. Tie each dumpling in a
cloth, put them into a pot of hot water, and boil them two hours.
Send them to table with made gravy in a boat.
Partridges or quails may be cooked in this manner; also chickens,
which must be accompanied by egg sauce. These dumplings or
puddings will be found very good.
FINE SUET DUMPLINGS.
Grate the crumb of a stale six cent loaf, and mix it with nearly
as much beef suet, chopped as fine as possible. Add a grated
nutmeg, and two large table-spoonfuls of sugar. Beat four eggs
with four table-spoonfuls of white wine or brandy. Mix all well
together to a stiff paste. Flour your hands, and make up the
mixture into balls or dumplings about the size of turkey eggs.
Have ready a pot of boiling water. Put the dumplings into cloths,
and let them boil about half an hour. Serve them hot, and eat them
with wine sauce.
PLAIN SUET DUMPLINGS.
Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, and add a salt-spoon of salt.
Mince very fine one pound of beef suet, and rub it into the flour.
Make it into a stiff dough with a little cold water. Then roll it
out an inch thick or rather more. Cut it into dumplings with the
edge of a tumbler. Put them into a pot of boiling water, and let
them boil an hour and a half. Send them to table hot, to eat with
boiled loin of mutton, or with molasses after the meat is removed.
INDIAN DUMPLINGS.
Take a pint of milk, and four eggs well beaten. Stir them
together, and add a salt-spoon of salt. Then mix in as much sifted
Indian meal as will make a stiff dough. Flour your hands; divide
the dough into equal portions, and make it into balls about the
size of a goose egg. Flatten each with the rolling-pin, tie them
in cloths, and put them into a pot of boiling water. They will
boil in a short time. Take care not to let them go to pieces by
keeping them too long in the pot.
Serve them up hot, and eat them with corned pork, or with bacon.
Or you may eat them with molasses and butter after the meat is
removed.
If to be eaten without meat, you may mix in the dough a quarter of
a pound of finely chopped suet.
LIVER DUMPLINGS.
Take a calf's liver, and chop it very fine. Mix with it half a
pound of beef suet chopped line also; half a pound of flour; two
minced onions; a handful of bread-crumbs; a table-spoonful of
chopped parsley and sweet marjoram mixed; a few blades of mace and
a few cloves powdered; and a little pepper and salt. Mix all well
together. Wet the mixture with six eggs well beaten, and make it
up into dumplings, with your hands well floured. Have ready a
large pot of boiling water. Drop the dumplings into it with a
ladle, and let them boil an hour. Have ready bread-crumbs browned
in butter to poor over them before they go to table.
HAM DUMPLINGS.
Chop some cold ham, the fat and lean in equal proportions. Season
it with pepper and minced sage. Make a crust, allowing half a
pound of chopped suet; or half a pound of butter to a pound of
flour. Roll it out thick, and divide it into equal portions. Put
some minced ham into each, and close up the crust. Have ready a
pot of boiling water, and put in the dumplings. Boil them about
three quarters of an hour.
LIGHT DUMPLINGS.
Mix together as much grated bread, butter and beaten egg (seasoned
with powdered cinnamon) as will make a stiff paste. Stir it well.
Make the mixture into round dumplings, with your hands well
floured. Tie up each in a separate cloth, and boil them a short
time,--about fifteen minutes. Eat them with wine sauce, or with
molasses and butter.
PLAIN FRITTERS.
Beat seven eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart
of milk; add, by degrees, three quarters of a pound, or a pint and
a half of sifted flour. Beat the whole very hard. Have ready in a
frying-pan over the fire, a large quantity of lard. When the lard
has come to a hard boil, begin to put in the fritters; allowing
for each about a jill of batter, or half a large tea-cup full.
They do not require turning, and will be done in a few minutes.
Fry as many at a time as the pan will hold. Send them to table
hot, and eat them with powdered cinnamon, sugar, and white wine.
Let fresh hot ones be sent in as they are wanted; they chill and
become heavy immediately.
Begin to fry the fritters as soon as the batter is mixed, as it
will fall by setting. Near a pound and a half of lard will be
required for the above quantity of fritters.
APPLE FRITTERS.
Pave, core, and parboil (in a very little water) some large juicy
pippins. When half done, take them out, drain them, and mince them
very fine. Make a batter according to the preceding receipt;
adding some lemon juice and grated lemon-peel. Stir into the
batter a sufficient quantity of the minced apple to make it very
thick. Then fry the fritters in hot lard as before directed. Eat
them with nutmeg and sugar.
PLAIN PANCAKES.
Sift half a pound or a pint of flour. Beat seven eggs very light,
and stir them gradually into a quart of rich milk. Then add by
degrees the flour, so as to make a thin batter. Mix it very
smooth, pressing out all the lumps with the back of a spoon. Set
the frying-pan over the fire, and when it is hot, grease it with a
spoonful of lard. Then put in a ladle full of the batter, and fry
it of a light brown, turning it with care to prevent its breaking.
Make each pancake large enough to cover the bottom of a dessert
plate; greasing the pan every time. Send them to table hot,
accompanied by powdered sugar and nutmeg mixed in a small glass
bowl. Have wine with them also.
SWEETMEAT PANCAKES.
Take a large red beet-root that has been boiled tender; cut it up
and pound it in a mortar till you have sufficient juice for
colouring the pancakes. Then make a batter as in the preceding
receipt, and stir into it at the last enough of the beet juice to
give it a fine pink colour. Or instead of the beet juice, you may
use a little cochineal dissolved in a very small quantity of
brandy. Fry the pancakes in a pan greased with lard or fresh
butter; and as fast as they are done, spread thickly over them
raspberry jam or any sort of marmalade. Then roll them up nicely,
and trim off the ends. Lay them, side by side, on a large dish,
and strew powdered sugar over them. Send them to table hot, and
eat them with sweetened cream.
PLAIN CUSTARDS.
Tie together six or eight peach leaves, and boil them in a quart
of milk with a large stick of cinnamon broken up. If you cannot
procure peach leaves, substitute a handful of peach-kernels or
bitter almonds, or a vanilla bean split in pieces. When it has
boiled hard, strain the milk and set it away to cool. Beat very
light eight eggs, and stir them by degrees into the milk when it
is quite cold, (if warm, the eggs will curdle it, and cause whey
at the bottom,) and add gradually a quarter of a pound of sugar.
Fill your cups with it; set them in a Dutch-oven, and pour round
them boiling water sufficient to reach nearly to the tops of the
cups. Put hot coals under the oven and on the lid, (which must be
previously heated by standing it up before a hot fire,) and bake
the custards about twenty minutes. Send them to table cold, with
nutmeg grated over each. Or you may bake the whole in one large
dish.
SOFT CUSTARDS.
Are made in the above manner, except that to a quart of milk you
must have twelve yolks of eggs, and no whites. You may devote to
this purpose the yolks that are left when you have used the whites
for cocoa-nut or almond puddings, or for lady cake or maccaroons.
BOILED CUSTARDS.
Beat eight eggs very light, omitting the whites of four. Mix them
gradually with a quart of cold milk and a quarter of a pound of
sugar. Put the mixture into a sauce-pan with a bunch of peach
leaves, or a handful of broken up peach-kernels or bitter almonds;
the yellow peel of a. lemon, and a handful of broken cinnamon; or
you may boil in it a vanilla bean. Set it on hot coals, and
simmer it slowly, stirring it all the time. As soon as it comes to
a boil, take it immediately off the fire, or it will curdle and be
lumpy. Then strain it; add eight or ten drops of oil of lemon, and
put it into glass cups. You may lay in the bottom of each cup a
maccaroon soaked in wine. Grate nutmeg over the top, and send it
to table cold. Eat it with tarts or sweetmeats.
RICE CUSTARD.
Boil some rice in milk till it is quite dry; then
put it into small tea-cups, (pressing it down hard,) and when it
is cold and has taken the shape of the cups, turn it out into a
deep dish, and pour a boiled custard round it. Lay on the top of
each lump of rice a piece of preserved quince or peach, or a piece
of fruit jelly. In boiling the rice, you may mix with, it raisins
or currants; if so, omit the sweetmeats on the top.
Another way of boiling custard is to put the mixture into a
pitches, set it in a vessel of boiling water, place it on hot
coals or in a stove, and let it boil slowly, stirring it all the
time.
SNOWBALL CUSTARD.
Make a boiled custard as in the preceding receipts; and when it is
done and quite cold, put it into a deep glass dish. Beat to a
stiff froth the four whites of eggs that have been omitted in the
custard, adding eight or ten drops of oil of lemon. Drop the froth
in balls on the top of the dish of custard, heaping and forming
them with a spoon into a regular size and shape. Do not let them
touch each other. You may lay a fresh, rose leaf on the top of
every one.
APPLE CUSTARD.
Pare, core, and quarter a dozen large juicy pippins. Strew among
them the yellow peel of a large lemon pared very thin; and stew
them till tender, in a very small portion of water. When done,
mash them smooth with the back of a spoon; (you must have a pint
and a half of the stewed apple;) mix a quarter of a pound of sugar
with them, and set them away till cold. Beat six eggs very light,
and stir them gradually into a quart of rich milk, alternately
with the stewed apple. Put the mixture into cups, or into a deep
dish, and bake it about twenty minutes. Send it to table cold,
with nutmeg grated over the top.
LEMON CUSTARD.
Take four large ripe lemons, and roll them under
your hand on the table to increase the juice. Then squeeze them
into a bowl, and mix with the juice a very small tea-cup full of
cold water. Use none of the peel. Add gradually sufficient sugar
to make it very sweet. Beat twelve eggs till quite light, and then
stir the lemon juice gradually into them, beating very hard at the
last. Put the mixture into cups, and bake it ten minutes. When
done, grate nutmeg over the top of each, and set them among ice,
or in a very cold place.
These custards being made without milk, can be prepared at a short
notice; they will be found very fine.
Orange custards may be made in the same manner.
GOOSEBERRY CUSTARD.
Top and tail two quarts of green gooseberries. Stew them in a very
little water; stirring and mashing them frequently. When they have
stewed till entirely to pieces, take them out, and with a wooden
spoon press the pulp through a cullender. Stir in (while the pulp
is hot) a table-spoonful of butter, and sufficient sugar to make
it very sweet. Beat six eggs very light. Simmer the gooseberry
pulp over a gentle fire, and gradually stir the beaten eggs into
it. When it comes to a boil, take it off immediately, stir it
very hard, and set it out to cool. Serve it up cold in glasses or
custard cups, grating some nutmeg; over each.
ALMOND CUSTARD.
Scald and blanch half a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and three
ounces of shelled bitter almonds; throwing them as you do them
into a large bowl of cold water. Then pound them one at a time in
a mortar; pouring in frequently a little rose water to prevent
their oiling, and becoming dark-coloured and heavy. Melt a quarter
of a pound of loaf-sugar in a quart of cream or rich milk, and
stir in by degrees the pounded almonds. Beat ten eggs very light,
and stir them gradually into the mixture; adding a powdered
nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed.
Then put the whole into a pitcher, and place it in a kettle or pan
of boiling water, the water coming up to the lower part of the
neck of the pitcher. Set it over hot coals, and let it boil
(stirring it all the time) till it is quite thick, but not till it
curdles. Then take the pitcher out of the water; pour the custard
into a large bowl, and stir it till it cools. Put it into glass
cups, and send it to table cold. Sweeten some cream or white of
egg. Beat it to stiff froth, and pile it on the top of the
custards.
BOILED COCOA-NUT CUSTARD.
To a pound of grated cocoa-nut allow a pint of unskimmed milk, and
six ounces of white sugar. Beat very light the yolks of six eggs.
Stir them gradually into the milk, alternately with the cocoa-nut
and sugar. Put the mixture into a pitcher; set it in a vessel of
boiling water; place it on hot coals, and simmer it till it is
very smooth and thick; stirring it all the time. As soon as it
comes to a hard boil, take it off the fire; pour it into a large
bowl, and set it out to cool. When cold, put it into glass cups.
Beat to a stiff froth the white of egg that was left, and pile it
on the custards.
BAKED COCOA-NUT CUSTARD.
Grate as much cocoa-nut as will weigh a pound. Mix half a pound of
powdered white sugar with the milk of the cocoa-nut, or with a
pint of cream; adding two table-spoonfuls of rose water. Then stir
in gradually a pint of rich milk. Beat to a stiff froth the whites
of eight eggs, and stir them into the milk and sugar, a little at
a time, alternately with the grated cocoa-nut; add a tea-spoonful
of powdered nutmeg and cinnamon. Then put the mixture into cups,
and bake them twenty minutes in a Dutch oven half filled with
boiling water. When cold, grate loaf-sugar over them.
CHOCOLATE CUSTARD.
Scrape fine a quarter of a pound of the best chocolate, and pour
on it a tea-cup of boiling water. Cover it, and let it stand by
the fire till it has dissolved, stirring it twice. Beat eight eggs
very light, omitting the whites of two. Stir them by degrees into
a quart of cream or rich milk, alternately with the melted
chocolate, and three table-spoonfuls of powdered white sugar. Pat
the mixture into cups, and bake it about ten minutes. Send them to
table cold, with sweetened cream, or white of egg beaten to a
stiff froth, and heaped on the top of each custard.
MACCAROON CUSTARDS.
These must he made in china custard cups. Put a maccaroon in the
bottom of each cup, and pour on it a table-spoonful of white wine.
Mix together a pint of cream, and a pint of milk; and boil them
with a large stick of cinnamon broken up, and a small bunch of
peach leaves or a handful of broken bitter almonds. Then strain
the milk; stir in a quarter of a pound of white sugar, and set it
away to cool. Beat very light eight eggs, (omitting the whites of
four,) and stir them gradually into the cream and milk when quite
cold. Fill your cups with the mixture, (leaving the maccaroons at
the bottom,) and set them in a Dutch oven or iron baking pan,
which must be half full of boiling water. Heat the oven-lid first,
by standing it up before a hot fire; then put it on, spreading
coals over the top. Place sufficient coals under the oven, and
bake the custards about ten minutes. When cold, heap beaten white
of egg on the top of each. These custards are very fine.
SYLLABUB, OR WHIPT CREAM.
Pare off very thin the yellow rind of four large lemons, And lay
it in the bottom of a deep dish. Squeeze the juice of the lemons
into a large bowl containing a pint of white wine, and sweeten it
with half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar Then, by degrees, mix in
a quart of cream. Pour the whole into the dish in which you have
laid the lemon-peel, and let the mixture stand untouched for three
hours. Then beat it with rods to a stiff froth, (first taking out
the lemon-peel,) and having put into each of your glasses a table-spoonful
or more of fruit jelly, heap the syllabub upon it so as
to stand up high at the top. This syllabub, if it can be kept in a
cold place, may be made the day before you want to use it.
COUNTRY SYLLABUB.
Mix half a pound of white sugar with a pint of fine sweet cider,
or of white wine; and grate in a nutmeg. Prepare them in a large
bowl, just before milking time. Then let it be taken to the cow,
and have about three pints milked into it; stirring it
occasionally with a spoon. Let it be eaten before the froth
subsides. If you use cider, a little brandy will improve it.
A TRIFLE.
Place half a pound of maccaroons or Naples biscuits at the bottom
of a large glass bowl. Pour on them as much white wine as will
cover and dissolve them. Make a rich custard, flavoured with
bitter almonds or peach leaves; and pour it when cold on the
maccaroons; the custard may be either baked or boiled. Then add a
layer of marmalade or jam. Take a quart of cream, mix with it a
quarter of a pound of sugar, and half a pint of white wine, and
whip it with rods to a stiff froth; laying the froth (as you
proceed) on an inverted sieve, with a dish under it to catch the
cream that drips through; which must be saved and whipped over
again. Instead of rods you may use a little tin churn. Pile the
frothed cream upon the marmalade in a high pyramid. To ornament
it,--take preserved water-melon rind that has been cut into leaves
or flowers; split them nicely to make them thinner and lighter;
place a circle or wreath of them round the heap of frothed cream,
interspersing them with spots of stiff red currant jelly. Stick on
the top of the pyramid a sprig of real flowers.
FLOATING ISLAND.
Take a quart of rich cream, and divide it in half. Sweeten one
pint of it with loaf-sugar, and stir into it sufficient currant
jelly to colour it of a fine pink. Put it into a glass bowl, and
place in the centre a pile of sliced almond-sponge cake, or of
lady cake; every slice spread thickly with raspberry jam or
marmalade, and laid evenly one on another. Have ready the other
pint of cream, flavoured with a few drops of oil of lemon, and
beaten with rods to a stiff froth. Heap it all over the pile of
cake, so as entirely to cover it.
A RASPBERRY CHARLOTTE.
Take a dozen of the square or oblong sponge-cakes that are
commonly called Naples biscuits. They should be quite fresh.
Spread over each a thick layer of raspberry jam, and place them in
the bottom and round the sides of a glass bowl. Take the whites of
six eggs, and mix with them six table-spoonfuls of raspberry or
currant jelly. Beat the egg and jelly with rods till very light,
and then fill up the bowl with it. For this purpose, cream (if you
can conveniently procure it) is still better than white of egg.
You may make a charlotte with any sort of jam, marmalade, or fruit
jelly. It can be prepared at a short notice, and is very generally
liked.
A PLUM CHARLOTTE.
Stone a quart of ripe plums, and stew them with a pound of brown
sugar. Cut slices of bread and butter and lay them in the bottom
and round the sides of a large bowl or deep dish. Pour in the
plums boiling hot, cover the bowl, and set it away to cool
gradually. When, quite cold, send it to table, and eat it with
cream.
CLOTTED CREAM.
Mix together a jill of rich milk, a large wine glass of rose
water, and four ounces of white sugar. Add to it the beaten yolks
of two eggs. Stir the mixture into a quart of the best cream; set
it over hot coals, and let it just come to a boil, stirring it all
the time. Then take it off, pour it into a glass bowl, and set it
away to get cold. Eat it with fresh strawberries, raspberries, or
with any sort of sweetmeats.
LEMON CREAM.
Beat well together a quart of thick cream and the yolks of eight
eggs. Then gradually beat in half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar,
and the grated rind of three large lemons. Put the mixture into a
porcelain skillet, and set it on hot coals till it comes to a
boil; then take it off, and stir it till nearly cold. Squeeze the
juice of the lemons into a bowl; pour the cream upon it, and
continue to stir it till quite cold. You may serve it up in a
glass bowl, in glass cups, or in jelly glasses. Eat it with tarts
or sweetmeats.
ORANGE CREAM.
Beat very light six eggs, omitting the whites of two. Have ready a
pint of orange juice, and stir it gradually into the beaten egg,
alternately with a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Put into a
porcelain skillet the yellow rind of one orange, pared very thin;
pour the mixture upon it, and set it over a slow fire. Simmer it
steadily, stirring it all the time; but when nearly ready to boil,
take it off, remove the orange-peel, and put the mixture into
glasses to get cold.
CURDS AND WHEY.
Take a piece of rennet about three inches square, and wash it in
two or three cold waters to get off the salt; wipe it dry, and
fasten a string to one corner of it. Have ready in a deep dish or
pan, a quart of unskimmed milk that has been warmed but not
boiled. Put the rennet into it, leaving the string hanging out
over the side, that you may know where to find it. Cover the pan,
and set it by the fire-side or in some other warm place. When the
milk becomes a firm mass of curd, and the whey looks clear and
greenish, remove the rennet as gently as possible, pulling it out
by the string; and set the pan in ice, or in a very cold place.
Send to table with it a small pitcher of white wine, sugar and
nutmeg mixed together; or a bowl of sweetened cream, with nutmeg
grated over it.
You may keep rennet in white wine; cutting it in small pieces, and
putting it into a glass jar with wine enough to cover it well.
Either the wine or the rennet will be found good for turning milk;
but do not put in both together, or the curd will become so hard
and tough, as to be uneatable.
Rennets properly prepared and dried, are sold constantly in the
Philadelphia markets. The cost is trifling; and it is well to have
one always in the house, in case of being wanted to make whey for
sick persons. They will keep a year or more.
LEMON ICE CREAM.
Have ready two quarts of very rich thick cream, and take out a
pint. Stir gradually into the pint, a pound of the best loaf-sugar
powdered fine; and the grated rind and the juice of four ripe
lemons of the largest size, or of five or six smaller ones. If you
cannot procure the fruit, you may flavour the cream with essence
or oil of lemon; a tea-spoonful or more, according to its
strength. The strongest and best essence of lemon is the white or
whitish; when tinged with green, it is comparatively weak, having
been diluted with water; if quite green, a large tea-spoonful will
not communicate as much flavour as five or six drops of the white.
After you have mixed the pint of cream with the sugar and lemon,
beat it gradually and hard into the remaining cream, that is, the
three pints. Cover it, and let it stand to infuse from half an
hour to an hour. Then taste it, and if you think it necessary,
stir in a little more lemon juice or a little more sugar. Strain
it into the freezer through a fine strainer, (a tin one with small
close holes is best,) to get rid of the grated lemon-peel, which
if left in would prevent the cream from being smooth. Cover the
freezer, and stand it in the ice cream tub, which should be filled
with a mixture, in equal quantities, of coarse salt, and ice
broken up as small as possible, that it may lie close and compact
round the freezer, and thus add to its coldness. Snow, when it can
be procured, is still better than ice to mix with the salt. It
should be packed closely into the tub, and pressed down hard. Keep
turning the freezer about by the handle till the cream is frozen,
which it will generally be in two hours. Occasionally open the lid
and scrape down the cream from the sides with a long-handled tin
spoon. Take care that no salt gets in, or the cream will be
spoiled. When it is entirely frozen, take it out of the freezer
and put it into your mould; set it again in the tub, (which must
be filled with fresh ice and salt,) and leave it undisturbed till
you want it for immediate use. This second freezing, however,
should not continue longer than two hours, or the cream will
become inconveniently and unpleasantly hard, and have much of the
flavour frozen out of it. Place the mould in the ice tub, with the
head downwards, and cover the tub with pieces of old carpet while
the second freezing is going on. When it has arrived at the proper
consistence, and it is time to serve it up, dip a cloth in hot
water, and wrap it round the mould for a few moments, to loosen
the cream and make it come out easily; setting the mould on a
glass or china dish. If a pyramid or obelisk mould, lift it
carefully off the top. If the mould or form represents doves,
dolphins, lap-dogs, fruit baskets, &c. it will open down the
middle, and must be taken off in that manner. Serve it up
immediately lest it begin to melt. Send round sponge-cake with it,
and wine or cordials immediately after.
If you have no moulds, but intend serving it up in a large bowl or
in glasses, it must still be frozen twice over; otherwise it can
have no smoothness, delicacy, or consistence, but will be rough
and coarse, and feel in the mouth like broken icicles. The second
freezing (if you have no mould) must be done in the freezer, which
should be washed out, and set again in the tub with fresh ice and
salt. Cover it closely, and let the cream stand in it untouched,
but not less than two hours. When you put it into glasses, heap it
high on the top.
Begin to make ice cream about five or six hours before it is
wanted for use. If you commence it too early, it may probably be
injured by having to remain too long in the second freezing, as it
must not be turned out till a few moments before it is served up.
In damp weather it requires a longer time to freeze.
If cream is scarce, mix with it an equal quantity of rich milk,
and then add, for each quart, two table-spoonfuls of powdered
arrow-root rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Orange ice cream
is made in the same manner as lemon.
STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM.
Take two quarts of ripe strawberries; hull them, and put them into
a deep dish, strewing among them half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
Cover them, and let them stand an hour or two. Then mash
them through a sieve till you have pressed out all the juice, and
stir into it half a pound more of powdered sugar, or enough to
make it very sweet, and like a thick syrup. Then mix it by degrees
with two quarts of rich cream, beating it in very hard. Put it
into a freezer, and proceed as in the foregoing receipt. In two
hours, remove it to a mould, or take it out and return it again to
the freezer with fresh salt and ice, that it may be frozen a
second time. In two hours more, it should be ready to turn out.
RASPBERRY ICE CREAM.
Is made according to the preceding receipt.
PINE-APPLE ICE CREAM.
To each quart of cream allow a large ripe pine-apple, and a pound
of powdered loaf-sugar. Pare the pine-apple, slice it very thin,
and mince it small. Lay it in a deep dish and strew the sugar
among it. Cover the dish, and let the pine-apple lie in the sugar
for two or three hours. Then strain it through a sieve, mashing
and pressing out all the juice. Stir the juice gradually into the
cream, beating it hard. Put it into the freezer, and let it be
twice frozen before it is served up.
VANILLA ICE CREAM.
Split up half a vanilla bean, and boil it slowly in half a pint of
milk till all the flavour is drawn out, which you may know by
tasting it. Then mix into the milk half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar,
and stir it very hard into a quart of rich cream. Put it
into the freezer, and proceed as directed in the receipt for Lemon
Ice Cream; freezing it twice.
ALMOND ICE CREAM.
Take six ounces of bitter almonds, (sweet ones will not do,)
blanch them, and pound them in a mortar, adding by degrees a
little rose water. Then boil them gently in a pint of cream till
you find that it is highly flavoured with them. Then pour the
cream into a bowl, stir in a pound of powdered loaf-sugar, cover
it, and set it away to cool gradually; when it is cold, strain it
and then stir it gradually and hard into three pints of cream. Put
it into the freezer, and proceed as directed in the first ice
cream receipt. Freeze it twice. It will be found very fine.
Send round always with ice cream, sponge cake or Savoy biscuits.
Afterwards wine, and cordials, or liqueurs as they are now
generally called.
ICE ORANGEADE.
Take a pint and a half of orange juice, and mix it with half a
pint of clear or filtered water. Stir in half a pound of powdered
loaf-sugar. Pare very thin the yellow rind of six deep-coloured
oranges, cut in pieces, and lay it at the bottom of a bowl or
tureen. Pour the orange juice and sugar upon it; cover it, and let
it infuse an hour. Then strain the liquid into a freezer, and
proceed as for ice cream. When it is frozen, put it into a mould,
(it will look best in the form of a pine-apple,) and freeze it a
second time. Serve it in glass cups, with any sort of very nice
sweet cakes.
ICE LEMONADE.
May be made in the above manner, but with a larger proportion of
sugar.
The juice of pine-apples, strawberries, raspberries, currants and
cherries, may be prepared and frozen according to the above
receipts. They will freeze in a shorter time than if mixed with
cream, but are very inferior in richness.
BLANC-MANGE.
Put into a bowl an ounce of isinglass; (in warm weather you must
take an ounce and a quarter;) pour on as much rose water as will
cover the isinglass, and set it on hot ashes to dissolve.
[Footnote: You may make the stock for blanc-mange without
isinglass, by boiling four calves' feet in two quarts of water
till reduced one half, and till the meat is entirely to rags.
Strain it, and set it away till next day. Then clear it from the
fat and sediment; cut it into pieces and boil it with the cream
and the other ingredients. When you take it from the fire, and
strain it into the pitcher, keep stirring it till it gets cold.]
Blanch a quarter of a pound of shelled almonds, (half sweet and
half bitter,) and beat them to a paste in a mortar, (one at a
time,) moistening them all the while with a little rose water.
Stir the almonds by degrees into a quart of cream, alternately
with half a pound of powdered white sugar; add a large tea-spoonful
of beaten mace. Put in the melted isinglass, and stir the
whole very hard. Then put it into a porcelain skillet, and let it
boil fast for a quarter of an hour. Then strain it into a pitcher,
and pour it into your moulds, which must first be wetted with cold
water. Let it stand in a cool place undisturbed, till it has
entirely congealed, which will be in about five hours. Then wrap a
cloth dipped in hot water round the moulds, loosen the blanc-mange
round the edges with a knife, and turn it out into glass dishes.
It is best to make it the day before it is wanted.
Instead of using a figure-mould, you may set it to congeal in tea-cups
or wine glasses.
Blanc-mange may be coloured green by mixing with the cream a
little juice of spinage; cochineal which has been infused in a
little brandy for half an hour, will colour it red; and saffron
will give it a bright yellow tinge.
CARRAGEEN BLANC-MANGE.
This is made of a sea-weed resembling moss, that is found in large
quantities on some parts of our coast, and is to be purchased in
the cities at most of the druggists. Carrageen costs but little,
and is considered extremely salutary for persons of delicate
constitutions. Its glutinous nature when boiled, renders it very
suitable for blanc-mange.
From a quart of rich unskimmed milk take half a pint. Add to the
half pint two ounces of bitter almonds, blanched and pounded; half
a nutmeg; and a large stick of cinnamon, broken up; also eight or
nine blades of mace. Set it in a closed pan over hot coals, and
boil it half an hour. In the mean time, wash through two or three
_cold_ waters half a handful of carrageen, (if you put in too
much it will communicate an unpleasant taste to the blanc-mange,)
and add it to the pint and a half of cold milk. Then when it is
sufficiently flavoured, stir in the boiled milk, adding gradually
half a pound of powdered sugar, and mix the whole very well. Set
it over the fire, and keep it boiling hard five minutes from the
time it has come to a boil. Then strain it into a pitcher; wet
your moulds or cups with cold water, put the blanc-mange into
them, and leave it undisturbed till it congeals.
After washing the sea-weed, you must drain it well, and shake the
water from the sprigs. You may flavour the mixture (_after_
it is boiled and strained) with rose-water or peach-water, stirred
in at the last.
ARROW ROOT BLANC-MANGE.
Take a tea-cup full of arrow root, put it into a large bowl, and
dissolve it in a little cold water. When it is melted, pour off
the water, and let the arrow root remain undisturbed. Boil in half
a pint of unskimmed milk, (made very sweet with white sugar,) a
beaten nutmeg, and eight or nine blades of mace, mixed with the
juice and grated peel of a lemon. When it has boiled long enough
to be highly flavoured, strain it into a pint and a half of very
rich milk or cream, and add a quarter of a pound of sugar. Boil
the whole for ten minutes; then strain it, boiling hot, over the
arrow roof. Stir it well and frequently till cold; then put it
into moulds and let it set to congeal.
JAUNE-MANGE.
Put two ounces of isinglass into a pint of water, and boil it till
it has dissolved. Then strain it into a porcelain skillet, and add
to it half a pint of white wine; the grated peel and juice of two
large deep-coloured oranges; half a pound of loaf-sugar; and the
yolks only of eight eggs that have been well beaten. Mix the whole
thoroughly; place it on hot coals and simmer it, stirring it all
the time till it boils hard. Then take it off directly, strain it,
and put it into moulds to congeal.
CALVES' FOOT JELLY.
The best calves' feet for jelly are those that have had the hair
removed by scalding, but are not skinned; the skin containing a
great deal of glutinous matter. In Philadelphia, unskinned calves'
feet are generally to be met with in the lower or Jersey market.
Boil a set of feet in four quarts of cold water; (if the feet have
been skinned allow but three quarts;) they should boil slowly till
the liquid is reduced to two quarts or one half the original
quantity, and the meat has dropped in rags from the bone. Then
strain the liquid; measure and set it away in a large earthen pan
to get cold; and let it rest till next morning. Then, if you do
not find it a firm cake of jelly, boil it over again with an ounce
of isinglass, and again set it away till cold and congealed.
Remove the sediment from the bottom of the cake of jelly, and
carefully scrape off all the fat. The smallest bit of fat will
eventually render it dull and cloudy. Press some clean blotting
paper all over it to absorb what little grease may yet remain.
Then cut the cake of jelly into pieces, and put it into a
porcelain kettle to melt over the fire. To each quart allow a
pound of broken up loaf-sugar, a pint of Madeira wine, and a large
glass of brandy; three large sticks of the best Ceylon cinnamon
broken up, (if common cinnamon, use four sticks,) the grated peel
and juice of four large lemons; and lastly, the whites of four
eggs strained, but not beaten. In breaking the eggs, take care to
separate them so nicely that none of the yellow gets into the
white; as the smallest portion of yolk of egg will prevent the
jelly from being perfectly clear. Mix all the ingredients well
together, and put them to the jelly in the kettle. Set it on the
fire, and boil it hard for twenty minutes, but do not stir it.
Then throw in a tea-cup of cold water, and boil it five minutes
longer; then take the kettle off the fire, and set it aside,
keeping it closely covered for half an hour; this will improve its
clearness. Take a large white flannel jelly-bag; suspend it by the
strings to a wooden frame made for such purposes, or to the legs
of a table. Pour in the mixture boiling hot, and when it is all
in, close up the mouth of the bag that none of the flavour may
evaporate. Hang it over a deep white dish or bowl, and let it drip
slowly; but on no account squeeze the bag, as that will certainly
make the jelly dull and cloudy. If it is not clear the first time,
empty the bag, wash it, put in the jelly that has dripped into the
dish, and pass it through again. Repeat this till it is clear. You
may put it into moulds to congeal, setting them in a cold place.
When it is quite firm, wrap a cloth that has been dipped in hot
water, round the moulds to make the jelly turn out easily. But it
will look much better, and the taste will be more lively, if you
break it up after it has congealed, and put it into a glass bowl,
or heap it in jelly glasses Unless it is broken, its sparkling
clearness shows to little advantage.
After the clear jelly has done dripping, you may return the
ingredients to the kettle, and warm them over again for about five
minutes. Then put them into the bag (which you may now squeeze
hard) till all the liquid is pressed out of it into a second dish
or bowl. This last jelly cannot, of course, be clear, but it will
taste very well, and may be eaten in the family.
A pound of the best raisins picked and washed, and boiled with the
other ingredients, is thought by many persons greatly to improve
the richness and flavour or calves' feet jelly. They must be put
in whole, and can be afterwards used for a pudding.
Similar jelly may be made of pigs' or sheep's feet; but it is not
so nice and delicate as that of calves.
By boiling two sets, or eight calves' feet in five quarts of
Water, you may be sure of having the jelly very firm. In damp
weather it is sometimes very difficult to get it to congeal if you
use but one set of feet; there is the same risk if the weather is
hot. In winter it maybe made several days before it is to be
eaten. In summer it will keep in ice for two days; perhaps longer.
TO PRESERVE CREAM.
Take four quarts of new cream; it must he of the richest quality,
and have no milk mixed with it. Put it into a preserving kettle,
and simmer it gently over the fire; carefully taking off whatever
scum may rise to the top, till nothing more appears. Then stir,
gradually, into it four pounds of double-refined loaf-sugar that
has been finely powdered and sifted. Let the cream and sugar boil
briskly together half an hour; skimming it, if necessary, and
afterwards stirring it as long as it continues on the fire. Put it
into small bottles; and when it is cold, cork it, and secure the
corks with melted rosin. This cream, if properly prepared, will
keep perfectly good during a long sea voyage.
ITALIAN CREAM.
Put two pints of cream into two bowls. With one bowl mix six
ounces of powdered loaf-sugar, the juice of two large lemons, and
two glasses of white wine. Then add the other pint of cream, and
stir the whole very hard. Boil two ounces, of isinglass with, four
small tea-cups full of water, till it is reduced to one half. Then
stir the isinglass lukewarm, into the other ingredients, and put
them into a glass dish to congeal.
CHOCOLATE CREAM.
Melt six ounces of scraped chocolate and four ounces of white
sugar in half a pint of boiling; water. Stir in an ounce of
dissolved isinglass. When the whole has boiled, pour it into a
mould.
COLOURING FOR CONFECTIONARY.
RED.
Take twenty grains of cochineal, and fifteen grains of cream of
tartar finely powdered; add to them a piece of alum the size of a
cherry stone, and boil them with a jill of soft water, in an
earthen vessel, slowly, for half an hour. Then strain it through
muslin, and keep it tightly-corked in a phial.
COCHINEAL FOR PRESENT USE.
Take two cents' worth of cochineal. Lay it on a flat plate, and
bruise it with the blade of a knife. Put it into half a tea-cup of
white brandy. Let it stand a quarter of an hour, and then filter
it through fine muslin.
YELLOW COLOURING.
Take a little saffron, put it into an earthen vessel with a very
small quantity of cold soft water, and let it steep till the
colour of the infusion is a bright yellow. Then strain it. The
yellow seeds of lilies will answer nearly the saffron's purpose.
GREEN.
Take fresh spinach or beet leaves, and pound them in a marble
mortar. If you want it for immediate use, take off the green froth
as it rises, and mix it with the article you intend to colour. If
you wish to keep it a few days, take the juice when you have
pressed out a tea-cup full, and adding to it a piece of alum the
size of a pea, give it a boil in a sauce-pan.
WHITE
Blanch some almonds, soak them in cold water, and then pound them
to a smooth paste in a marble mortar; adding at intervals a little
rose water. Thick cream will communicate a white colour.
These preparations may be used for jellies, ice creams, blanc-mange,
syllabubs, icing for cakes; and for various articles of
confectionary.
CAKES, ETC.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
Unless you are provided with proper and convenient utensils and
materials, the difficulty of preparing cakes will be great, and in
most instances a failure; involving disappointment, waste of time,
and useless expense. Accuracy in proportioning the ingredients is
indispensable; and therefore scales and weights, and a set of tin
measures (at least from a quart down to a jill) are of the utmost
importance. A large sieve for flour is also necessary; and smaller
ones for sugar and spice. There should be a marble mortar, or one
of lignum vitae, (the hardest of all wood;) those of iron (however
well, tinned) are apt to discolour the articles pounded in them.
Spice may be ground in a mill kept, exclusively for that purpose.
Every kitchen should be provided with spice-boxes. You should have
a large grater for lemon, cocoa-nut, &c., and a small one for
nutmeg. Butter and sugar cannot be stirred together conveniently
without a spaddle or spattle, which is a round stick flattened at
one end; and a deep earthen pan with sides nearly straight. For
beating eggs, you should have hickory rods or a wire whip, and
broad shallow earthen pans. Neither the eggs, nor the butter and
sugar should be beaten, in tin, as the coldness of the metal will
prevent them from becoming light.
For baking large cakes, the pans (whether of block tin or earthen)
should have straight sides; if the aides slope inward, there will
be much difficulty in icing the cake. Pans with a hollow tube
going up from the centre, are supposed to diffuse the heat more
equally through the middle of the cake. Buns and some other cakes
should be baked in square shallow pans of block tin or iron.
Little tins for queen cakes, &c. are most convenient when of a
round or oval shape. All baking pans, whether large or small,
should be well greased with butter or lard before the mixture is
put into them, and should be filled but little more than half. You
should have at least two dozen little tins, that a second supply
may be ready for the oven, the moment the first is taken out. You
will also want tin cutters for cakes that are rolled out in dough.
All the utensils should be cleaned and put away as soon as they
are done with. They should be all kept together, and, if possible,
not used for any other purposes. [Footnote: All the utensils
necessary for cake and pastry-making, (and for the other branches
of cooking,) may be purchased in Philadelphia; at Gideon Cox's
household store in Market street, No. 335, two doors below Ninth.
Every thing of the sort will be found there in great variety, of
good quality, and at reasonable prices.]
As it is always desirable that, cake-making should be commenced at
an early hour, it is well on the day previous to ascertain if all
the materials are in the house; that there may be no unnecessary
delay from sending or waiting for them in the morning.
Wastefulness is to be avoided in every thing; but it is utterly
impossible that cakes can be good (or indeed any thing else)
without a liberal allowance of good materials. Cakes are
frequently rendered hard, heavy, and uneatable by a misplaced
economy in eggs and butter; or tasteless and insipid for want of
their due seasoning of spice, lemon, &c.
Use no flour but the best superfine; if the flour is of inferior.
quality, the cakes will he heavy, ill-coloured, and unfit to eat.
Even the best flour should always be sifted. No butter that is not
fresh and good; should ever be put into cakes; for it will give
them a disagreeable taste which can never be disguised by the
other ingredients. Even when of excellent quality, the butter will
be improved by washing it in cold, water, and squeezing and
pressing it. Except for gingerbread, use only white sugar, (for
the finest cakes the best loaf,) and have it pulverized by
pounding it in a mortar, or crushing it on the paste-board with the
rolling-pin. It should then be sifted. In mixing butter and sugar,
sift the sugar into a deep pan, cut up the butter in it, set it in
a warm place to soften, and then stir it very hard with the
spaddle, till it becomes quite light, and of the consistence of
cream. In preparing eggs, break them one at a time, into a saucer,
that, in case there should be a bad one among them, it may not
spoil the others. Put them into a broad shallow pan, and beat them
with rods or with a wire whisk, not merely till they froth, but
long afterwards, till the froth subsides, and they become thick
and smooth like boiled custard. White of egg by itself may be
beaten with small rods, or with a three-pronged fork, or a broad
knife. It is a very easy process, and should be continued till the
liquid is all converted into a stiff froth so firm that it will
not drop from the rods when held up. In damp weather it is
sometimes difficult to get the froth stiff.
The first thing to be done in making cake, is to weigh or measure
all the ingredients. Next sift the flour, powder the sugar, pound
or grind the spice, and prepare the fruit; afterwards mix and stir
the butter and sugar, and lastly beat the eggs; as, if allowed to
stand any time, they will fall and become heavy. When all the
ingredients are mixed together, they should be stirred very hard
at the last; and (unless there is yeast in the cake) the sooner it
is put into the oven the better. While baking, no air should be
admitted to it, except for a moment, now and then, when it is
necessary to examine if it is baking properly, For baking; cakes,
the best guide is practice and experience; so much depending on
the state of the fire, that it is impossible to lay down any
infallible rules.
If you bake in a Dutch oven, let the lid be first heated by
standing it up before the fire; and cover the inside of the bottom
with sand or ashes, to temper the heat. For the same purpose, when
you bake in a stove, place bricks under the pans. Sheets of iron
without sides will be found very useful for baking small flat
cakes. For cakes of this description, the fire should be brisk; if
baked slowly, they will spread, lose their shape, and run into
each other. For all cakes, the heat should be regular and even; if
one part of the oven is cooler than another, the cake will bake
imperfectly, and have heavy streaks through it. Gingerbread (on
account of the molasses) is more apt to scorch and burn than any
other cake; therefore it should he baked with a moderate fire.
It is safest, when practicable, to send all large cakes to a
professional baker's; provided they can be put immediately into
the oven, as standing will spoil them. If you bake them at home,
you will find that they are generally done when they cease to make
a simmering noise; and when on probing them to the bottom with a
twig from a broom, or with the blade of the knife, it comes out
quite clean. The fire should then be withdrawn, and the cake
allowed to get cold in the oven. Small cakes should be laid to
cool on an inverted sieve. It may be recommended to novices in the
art of baking, to do every thing in little tins or in very shallow
pans; there being then less risk than with a large thick cake. In
mixing batter that is to be baked in small cakes; use less
proportion of flour.
Small cakes should be kept' closely covered in stone jars. For
large ones, you should have broad stone pans with close lids, or
else tin boxes. All cakes that are made with yeast should be eaten
quite fresh; so also should sponge cake. Some sorts may be kept a
week; black cake much longer.
BLACK CAKE.
Prepare two pounds of currants by picking them clean, washing and
draining them, through a cullender, and then spreading them out on
a large dish to dry before the fire or in the sun, placing the
dish in a slanting position. Pick and stone two pounds of the best
raisins, and cut them in half. Dredge the currants (when they are
dry) and the raisins thickly with flour to prevent them from
sinking in the cake. Grind or powder as much cinnamon as will make
a large gravy-spoonful when done; also a table-spoonful of mace
and four nutmegs; sift these spices, and mix them all together in
a cup. Mix together two large glasses of white wine, one of brandy
and one of rose water, and cut a pound of citron into large slips.
Sift a pound of flour into one pan, and a pound of powdered loaf-sugar
into another. Cut up among the sugar a pound of the best
fresh butter, and stir them to a cream. Beat twelve eggs till
perfectly thick and smooth, and stir them gradually into the
butter and sugar, alternately with the flour. Then add by degrees,
the fruit, spice and liquor, and stir the whole very hard at the
last. Then put the mixture into a well-buttered tin pan with
straight or perpendicular sides. Put it immediately into a
moderate oven, and bake it at least four hours. When done, let it
remain in the oven to get cold; it will be the better for staying
in all night. Ice it next morning; first dredging the outside all
over with flour, and then wiping it with a towel. This will make
the icing stick.
ICING.
A quarter of a pound of finely powdered loaf-sugar, of the whitest
and best quality, is the usual allowance to one white of egg. For
the cake in the preceding receipt, three quarters of a pound of
sugar and the whites of three eggs will be about the proper
quantity. Beat the white of egg by itself till it stands alone.
Have ready the powdered sugar, and then beat it hard into the
white of egg, till it becomes thick and smooth; flavouring it as
you proceed with a few drops of oil of lemon, or a little extract
of roses. Spread it evenly over the cake with a broad knife or a
feather; if you find it too thin, beat in a little more powdered
sugar. Cover with it thickly the top and sides of the cake, taking
care not to have it rough and streaky. To ice well requires skill
and practice. When the icing is about half dry, put on the
ornaments. You may flower it with coloured sugar-sand or
nonparels; but a newer and more elegant mode is to decorate it
with, devices and borders in white sugar; they can be procured at
the confectioners, and look extremely well on icing that has been
tinted with pink by the addition of a little cochineal.
You may colour icing of a pale or deep yellow, by rubbing the
lumps of loaf-sugar (before they are powdered) upon the outside of
a large lemon or orange. This will also flavour it finely.
Almond icing, for a very fine cake, is made by mixing gradually
with the white of egg and sugar, some almonds, half bitter and
half sweet, that have been pounded in a mortar with rose water to
a smooth paste. The whole must be well incorporated, and spread
over the cake near half an inch thick. It must be set in a cool
oven to dry, and then taken out and covered with a smooth plain
icing of sugar and white of egg.
Whatever icing is left, may be used to make maccaroons or kisses.
POUND CAKE.
Prepare a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a tea-spoonful of
powdered mace, and two nutmegs grated or powdered. Mix together in
a tumbler, a glass of white--wine, a glass of brandy, and a glass
of rose water. Sift a pound of the finest flour into a broad pan,
and powder a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a deep pan,
and cut up in it a pound of fresh butter. Warm them by the fire
till soft; and then stir them to a cream. When they are perfectly
light, add gradually the spice and liquor, a little at a time.
Beat ten eggs as light as possible, and stir them by degrees into
the mixture, alternately with the flour. Then add twelve drops of
oil of lemon; or more, if it is not strong. Stir the whole very
hard; put it into a deep tin pan with straight or upright sides,
and bake it in a moderate oven from two to three hours. If baked
in a Dutch oven, take off the lid when you have ascertained that
the cake is quite done, and let it remain in the oven to cool
gradually. If any part is burnt, scrape it off as soon as cold.
It may be iced either warm or cool; first dredging the cake with
flour and then wiping it off. It will be best to put on two coats
of icing; the second coat not till the first is entirely dry.
Flavour the icing with essence of lemon, or with extract of roses.
This cake will be very delicate if made with a pound of rice flour
instead of wheat.
INDIAN POUND CAKE.
Sift a pint of fine yellow Indian meal, and half a pint of wheat
flour, and mix them well together. Prepare a nutmeg beaten, and
mixed with a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Stir together
till very light, half a pound of powdered white sugar; and half a
pound of fresh butter; adding the spice, with a glass of white
wine, and a glass of brandy. Having beaten eight eggs as light as
possible, stir them into the butter and sugar, a little at a time
in turn with the meal. Give the whole a hard stirring at the last;
put it into a well-buttered tin pan, and bake it about an hour and
a half.
This cake (like every thing else in which Indian meal is an
ingredient) should be eaten quite fresh; it is then very nice.
When stale, (even a day old,) it becomes dry and rough as if made
with saw-dust.
QUEEN CAKE.
Sift fourteen ounces of the finest flour, being two ounces less
than a pound. Cakes baked in little tins, should have a smaller
proportion of flour than those that are done in large loaves.
Prepare a table-spoonful of beaten cinnamon, a tea-spoonful of
mace, and two beaten nutmegs; and mix them all together when
powdered. Mix in a tumbler, half a glass of white wine, half a
glass of brandy, and half a glass of rose water. Powder a pound of
loaf-sugar, and sift it into a deep pan; cut up in it a pound of
fresh butter; warm them by the fire, and stir them to a cream. Add
gradually the spice and the liquor. Beat ten eggs very light, and
stir them into the mixture in turn with the flour. Stir in twelve
drops of essence of lemon, and beat the whole very hard. Butter
some little tins; half fill them with the mixture; set them into a
brisk oven, and cake them about a quarter of an hour. When done,
they will shrink from the sides of the tins. After you turn them
out, spread them on an inverted sieve to cool. If you have
occasion to fill your tins a second time, scrape and wipe them
well before they are used again.
Make an icing flavoured with oil of lemon, or with extract of
roses; and spread two coats of it on the queen cakes. Set them to
dry in a warm place, but not near enough the fire to discolour the
icing and cause it to crack.
Queen cakes are best the day they are baked.
FRUIT QUEEN CAKES.
Make them in the above manner, with the addition of a pound of
currants, (picked, washed, dried, and floured,) and the juice and
grated peel of two large lemons, stirred in gradually at the last.
Instead of currants, you may put in sultana or seedless raisins,
cut in half and floured.
You may make a fruit pound cake in this manner.
LADY CAKE.
Take a quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels.
Put them into a bowl of boiling water, (renewing the
water as it cools) and let them lie in it till the skin peels off
easily; then throw them, as they, are blanched, into a bowl of
cold water, which will much improve their whiteness. Pound them,
one at a time, in a mortar; pouring in frequently a few drops of
rose water to prevent them from oiling and being heavy. Cut up
three quarters of a pound of fresh butter into a whole pound of
powdered loaf-sugar. Having warmed it, stir it to a light cream,
and then add very gradually the pounded almonds, beating them in
very hard. Sift into a separate pan half a pound and two ounces of
flour, and beat in another pan to a stiff froth, the, whites only
of seventeen eggs. Stir the flour and the white of egg alternately
into the pan of butter, sugar and almonds, a very little at a time
of each. Having beaten the whole as hard as possible, put it into
a buttered tin pan, (a square one is best,) and set it immediately
into a moderate oven. Bake it about an hour, more or less,
according to its thickness. When cool, ice it, flavouring the
icing, with oil of lemon. It is best the day after it is baked,
but it may be eaten fresh. When you put it away wrap it in a thick
cloth.
If you bake it in little tins, use two ounces less of flour.
SPANISH BUNS.
Cut up three quarters of a pound of butter into a jill and a half
or three wine glasses of rich unskimmed milk, (cream will be still
better,) and get the pan on a stove or near the fire, till the
butter becomes soft enough to stir all through the milk with a
knife; but do not let it get so hot as to boil of itself. Then set
it away in a cold place. Sift into separate pans, a half pound and
a quarter of a pound of the finest flour; and having beaten four
eggs as light as possible, mix them with the milk and butter, and
then pour the whole into the pan that contains the half pound of
flour. Having previously prepared two grated nutmegs, and a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon and mace, stir them into the
mixture; adding six drops of extract of roses, or a large table-spoonful
of rose water. Add a wine glass and a half of the best
fresh yeast from a brewery. If you cannot procure yeast of the
very best quality, an attempt to make these buns will most
probably prove a failure, as the variety of other ingredients will
prevent them from rising unless the yeast is as strong as
possible. Before you put it in, skim off the thin liquid or beer
from the top, and then stir up the bottom. After you have put in
the yeast, add the sugar; stirring it well in, a very little at a
time. If too much sugar is put in at once, the buns will be heavy.
Lastly, sprinkle in the quarter of a pound of flour that was
sifted separately; and stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture
into a square pan well buttered, and (having covered it with a
cloth) place it in a corner of the hearth to rise, which will
require, perhaps, about five hours; therefore these buns should
always be made early in the day. Do not bake it till the batter
has risen to twice its original quantity, and is covered on the
top with bubbles; then set the pan into a moderate oven, and bake
it about twenty minutes. Let it get cool in the pan; then, cut it
into squares, and either ice them, (flavouring the icing with
essence of lemon or extract of roses,) or sift grated loaf-sugar
thickly over them. These buns (like all other cakes made with
yeast) should be eaten the day they are baked; as when stale, they
fall and become hard.
In mixing them, you may stir in at the last half a pound of
raisins, stoned, chopped and floured; or half a pound of currants.
If you use fruit, put in half a wine glass more of the yeast.
BATH BUNS.
Boil a little saffron in sufficient water to cover it, till the
liquid is of a bright yellow; then strain it, and set it to cool.
Rub half a pound of fresh butter into a pound of sifted flour, and
make it into a paste with four eggs that have been well beaten,
and a large wine glass of the best and strongest yeast; adding the
infusion of saffron to colour it yellow. Put the dough into a pan,
cover it with a cloth, and set it before the fire to rise. When it
is quite light, mix into it a quarter of a pound of powdered and
sifted loaf-sugar; a grated nutmeg; and, if you choose, two or
three spoonfuls of carraway seeds. Roll out the dough into a thick
sheet, and divide it into round cakes with a cutter. Strew the top
of each bun with carraway comfits, and bake them on flat tins
buttered well. They should be eaten the day they are baked, as
they are not good unless quite fresh.
JELLY CAKE.
Sift three quarters of a pound of flour. Stir to a cream a pound
of butter and a pound of powdered white sugar, and mix in half a
tea-cup of rose water, and a grated nutmeg, with a tea-spoonful of
powdered cinnamon. Beat ten eggs very light, and add them
gradually to the mixture, alternately with the flour; stirring the
whole very hard. Put your griddle into the oven of a stove; and
when it is quite hot, grease it with fresh butter tied in a clean
rag, and set on it a tin cake-ring, (about the size of a large
dinner plate,) greased also. Dip out two large table-spoonfuls and
a half of the cake batter; put it within the tin ring, and bake it
about five minutes (or a little longer) without turning it. When
it is done, take it carefully off; place it on a large dish to
cool; wipe the griddle, grease it afresh, and put on another cake.
Proceed thus till all the batter is baked. When the cakes are
cool, spread every one thickly over with grape jelly, peach
marmalade, or any other sweetmeat that is smooth and thick;
currant jelly will be found too thin, and is liable to run off.
Lay the cakes smoothly one on another, (each having a layer of
jelly or marmalade between,) and either grate loaf-sugar over the
top one, or ice it smoothly; marking the icing with cross lines of
coloured sugar-sand, all the lines meeting at the centre so as to
divide the cake, when cut, into triangular or wedge-shaped slices.
If you ice it, add a few drops of essence of lemon to the icing.
Jelly cake should be eaten fresh. It is best the day it is baked.
You may bake small jelly cakes in muffin rings.
SPONGE CAKE.
Sift three quarters of a pound of flour, [Footnote: Sponge cake
may be made with rice flour.] and powder a pound of the best loaf-sugar.
Grate the yellow rind and squeeze into a saucer the juice
of three lemons. Beat twelve eggs; and when they are as light as
possible, beat into them gradually and very hard the sugar, adding
the lemon, and beating the whole for a long time. Then by degrees,
stir in the flour slowly and lightly; for if the flour is stirred
hard and fast into sponge cake, it will make it porous and tough.
Have ready buttered, a sufficient number of little square tins,
(the thinner they are the better,) half fill them with the
mixture; grate loaf-sugar over the top of each; put them
immediately into a quick oven, and bake them about ten minutes;
taking out one to try when you think they are done. Spread them on
an inverted sieve to cool. When baked in small square cakes, they
are generally called Naples biscuits.
If you are willing to take the trouble, they will bake much nicer
in little square paper cases, which you must make of a thick
letter paper, turning up the sides all round, and pasting together
or sewing up the corners.
If you bake the mixture in one large cake, (which is not advisable
unless you have had much practice in baking,) put it into a
buttered tin pan or mould, and set it directly into a hot Dutch
oven, as it will fall and become heavy if allowed to stand. Keep
plenty of live coals on the top, and under the bottom till the
cake has risen very high, and is of a fine colour; then diminish
the fire, and keep it moderate till the cake is done. It will take
about an hour. When cool, ice it; adding a little essence of lemon
or extract of roses to the icing. Sponge cake is best the day it
is baked.
Diet Bread is another name for Sponge Cake.
ALMOND CAKE.
Blanch, and pound in a mortar, four ounces of shelled sweet
almonds and two ounces of shelled bitter ones; adding, as you
proceed, sufficient rose-water to make them light and white. Sift
half a pound of flour, and powder a pound of loaf-sugar. Beat
thirteen eggs; and when they are as light as possible, stir into
them alternately the almonds, sugar, and flour; adding a grated
nutmeg. Butter a large square pan; put in the mixture, and bake it
in a brisk oven about half an hour, less or more, according to its
thickness. When cool, ice it. It is best when eaten fresh.
COCOA-NUT CAKE.
Cut up and wash a cocoa-nut, and grate as much of it as will weigh
a pound. Powder a pound of loaf-sugar. Beat fifteen eggs very
light; and then beat into them, gradually, the sugar. Then add by
degrees the cocoa-nut; and lastly, a handful of sifted flour. Stir
the whole very hard, and bake it either in a large tin pan, or in
little tins. The oven should be rather quick.
WASHINGTON CAKE.
Stir together a pound of butter and a pound of sugar; and sift
into another pan a pound of flour. Beat six eggs very light, and
stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately with the flour
and a pint of rich milk or cream; if the milk is sour it will be
no disadvantage. Add a glass of wine, a glass of brandy, a
powdered nutmeg, and a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Lastly, stir in a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash, or salaeratus,
that has been melted in a little vinegar; take care not to put in
too much pearl-ash, lest it give the cake an unpleasant taste.
Stir the whole very hard; put it into a buttered tin pan, (or into
little tins,) and bake it in a brisk oven. Wrapped in a thick
cloth, this cake will keep soft for a week.
CIDER CAKE.
Pick, wash, and dry a pound of currants, and sprinkle
them well with flour; and prepare two nutmegs, and a large table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon. Sift half a pound and two ounces
of flour. Stir together till very light, six ounces of fresh
butter, and half a pound of powdered white sugar; and add
gradually the spice, with two wine glasses of brandy, (or one of
brandy and one of white wine.) Beat four eggs very light, and stir
them into the mixture alternately with the flour. Add by degrees
half a pint of brisk cider; and then stir in the currants, a few
at a time. Lastly, a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash or sal-aratus
dissolved in a little warm water. Having stirred the whole very
hard, put it into a buttered tin pan, and let it stand before the
fire half an hour previous to baking. Bake it in a brisk oven an
hour or more according to its thickness. Or you may bake it as
little cakes, putting it into small tins; in which case use but
half a pound of flour in raising the batter.
ELECTION CAKE.
Make a sponge (as it is called) in the following manner:--Sift
into a pan two pounds and a half of flour; and into a deep plate
another pound. Take a second pan, and stir a large table-spoonful
of the best West India molasses into five jills or two tumblers
and a half of strong fresh yeast; adding a Jill of water, warm,
but not hot. Then stir gradually into the yeast, &c. the pound of
flour that you have sifted separately. Cover it, and let it set by
the fire three hours to rise. While it is rising, prepare the
other ingredients, by stirring in a deep pan two pounds of fresh
butter and two pounds of powdered sugar, till they are quite light
and creamy; adding to them a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon;
a tea-spoonful of powdered mace; and two powdered nutmegs. Stir in
also half a pint of rich milk. Beat fourteen eggs till very smooth
and thick, and stir them gradually into the mixture, alternately
with the two pounds and a half of flour which you sifted first.
When the sponge is quite light, mix the whole together, and bake
it in buttered tin pans in a moderate oven. It should be eaten
fresh, as no sweet cake made with yeast is so good after the first
day. If it is not probable that the whole will come into use on
the day it is baked, mix but half the above quantity.
MORAVIAN SUGAR CAKE.
Cut up a quarter of a pound of butter into a pint of rich milk,
and warm it till the butter becomes soft; then stir it about in
the milk so as to mix them well. Sift three quarters of a pound of
flour (or a pint and a half) into a deep pan, and making a hole in
the middle of it, stir in a large table-spoonful of the best
brewer's yeast in which a salt-spoonful of salt has been
dissolved; and then thin it with the milk and butter. Cover it,
and set it near the fire to rise. If the yeast is sufficiently
strong, it will most probably be light in two hours. When it is
quite light, mix with the dough a well-beaten egg and three
quarters of a pound more of sifted flour; adding a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon, and stirring it very hard. Butter a deep
square baking pan, and put the mixture into it. Set it to rise
again, as before. Mix together five ounces or a large coffee-cup
of fine brown sugar; two ounces of butter; and two table-spoonfuls
of powdered cinnamon. When the dough is thoroughly light, make
deep incisions all over it, at equal distances, and fill them with
the mixture of butter, sugar and cinnamon; pressing it hard down
into the bottom of the holes, and closing the dough a little at
the top to prevent the seasoning from running out. Strew some
sugar over the top of the cake; set it immediately into the oven,
and bake it from twenty minutes to half an hour, or more, in a
brisk oven, in proportion to its thickness. When cool, cut it into
squares. This is a very good plain cake; but do not attempt it
unless you have excellent yeast.
HUCKLEBERRY CAKE.
Spread a quart of ripe huckleberries on a large dish, and dredge
them thickly with flour. Mix together half a pint of milk; half a
pint of molasses; half a pint of powdered sugar; and half a pound
of butter. Warm them by the fire till the butter is quite soft;
then stir them all together, and set them away till cold. Prepare
a large table-spoonful of powdered cloves and cinnamon mixed. Beat
five eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the other
ingredients; adding, by degrees, sufficient gifted flour to make a
thick batter. Then stir in a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash or
dissolved sal-aratus. Lastly, add by degrees the huckleberries.
Put the mixture into a buttered pan, or into little tins and bake
it in a moderate oven. It is best the second day.
BREAD CAKE.
When you are making wheat bread, and the dough is quite light and
ready to bake, take out as much of it as would make a twelve cent
loaf, and mix with it a tea cup full of powdered sugar, and a tea-cup
full of butter that has been softened and stirred about in a
tea-cup of warm milk. Add also a beaten egg. Knead it very well,
put it into a square pan, dredged with flour, cover it, and set it
near the fire for half an hour. Then bake it in a moderate oven,
and wrap it in a thick cloth as soon as it is done. It is best
when fresh.
FEDERAL CAKES.
Sift two pounds of flour into a deep pan, and cut up in it a pound
of fresh butter; rub the butter into the flour with your hands,
adding by degrees, half a pound of powdered white sugar; a tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon; a beaten nutmeg; a glass of wine or
brandy, and two glasses of rose water. Beat four eggs very light;
and add them to the mixture with a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash
melted in a little lukewarm water. Mix all well together; add, if
necessary, sufficient cold water to make it into a dough just
stiff enough to roll out; knead it slightly, and then roll it out
into a sheet about half an inch thick. Cut it out into small cakes
with a tin cutter, or with the edge of a tumbler; dipping the
cutter frequently into flour, to prevent its sticking. Lay the
cakes in shallow pans buttered, or on flat sheets of tin, (taking
care not to let them touch, lest they should run into each other,)
and bake them of a light brown in a brisk oven. They are best the
second day.
SAVOY BISCUITS.
Take four eggs, and separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the
whites by themselves, to a stiff froth; then add gradually the
yolks, and beat them both together for a long time. Next add by
degrees half a pound of the finest loaf-sugar, powdered and
sifted, beating it in very hard; and eight drops of strong essence
of lemon. Lastly, stir in a quarter of a pound of sifted flour, a
little at a time. Stir the whole very hard, and then with a spoon
lay it on sheets of white paper, forming it into thin cakes of an
oblong or oval shape. Take care not to place them too close to
each other, lest they run. Grate loaf-sugar over the top of each,
to assist in keeping them in shape. Have the oven quite ready to
put them in immediately. It should be rather brisk. They will bake
in a few minutes, and should be but slightly coloured.
ALMOND MACCAROONS.
Take a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and a quarter of a pound of
shelled bitter almonds. Blanch them in scalding water, mix them
together, and pound them, one or two at a time, in a mortar to a
very smooth paste; adding frequently a little rose water to
prevent them from oiling and becoming heavy. Prepare a pound of
powdered loaf-sugar. Beat the whites of seven eggs, to a stiff
froth, and then beat into it gradually the powdered sugar, adding
a table-spoonful of mixed spice, (nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon.)
Then mix in the pounded almonds, (which it is best to prepare the
day before,) and stir the whole very hard. Form the mixture with a
spoon into little round or oval cakes, upon sheets of buttered
white paper, and grate white sugar over each. Lay the paper in
square shallow pans, or on iron sheets, and bake the maccaroons a
few minutes in a brisk oven, till of a pale brown. When cold, take
them off the papers.
It will be well to try two or three first, and if you find them
likely to lose their shape and run info each other, you may omit
the papers and make the mixture up into little balls with your
hands well floured; baking them in shallow tin pans slightly
buttered.
You may make maccaroons with icing that is left from a cake.
COCOA-NUT MACCAROONS.
Beat to a stiff froth the whites of six eggs, and then beat into
it very hard a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Mix with it a pound
of grated cocoa-nut, or sufficient to make a stiff paste. Then
flour your hands, and make it up into little balls. Lay them on
sheets of buttered white paper, and bake them in a brisk oven;
first grating loaf-sugar over each. They will be done in a few
minutes. Maccaroons may be made in a similar manner of pounded
cream-nuts, ground-nuts, filberts, or English walnuts.
WHITE COCOA-NUT CAKES.
Break up a cocoa-nut; peel and wash the pieces in cold water, and
grate them. Mix in the milk of the nut and some powdered loaf-sugar
and then form the grated cocoa-nut into little balls upon
sheets of white paper. Make them all of a regular and handsome
form, and touch the top of each with a spot of red sugar-sand. Do
not bake them, but place them to dry for twenty-four hours, in a
warm room where nothing is likely to disturb the them.
COCOA-NUT JUMBLES.
Grate a large cocoa-nut. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound
of sifted flour, and wet it with, three beaten eggs, and a little
rose water. Add by degrees the cocoa-nut, so as to form a stiff
dough. Flour your hands and your paste-hoard, and dividing the
dough into equal portions, make the jumbles with your hands into
long rolls, and then curl them round and join the ends so as to
form rings. Grate loaf-sugar over them, lay them in buttered
pans, (not so near as to run into each other,) and bake them in a
quick oven from five to ten minutes.
COMMON JUMBLES.
Sift a pound of flour into a large pan. Cut up a pound of butter
into a pound of powdered white sugar, and stir them to a cream.
Beat six eggs till very light, and then pour them all at once into
the pan of flour; next add the butter and sugar, with a large
table-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon, two grated nutmegs, and
a tea-spoonful of essence of lemon or a wine glass of rose water.
When all the ingredients are in, stir the mixture very hard with a
broad knife. Having floured your hands and spread some flour on
the paste-board, make the dough into long rolls, (all of equal
size,) and form them into rings by joining the two ends very
nicely. Lay them on buttered tins, and bake them in a quick oven
from five to ten minutes. Grate sugar over them when cool.
APEES.
Rub a pound of fresh butter into two pounds of sifted flour, and
mix in a pound of powdered white sugar, a grated nutmeg, a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon, and four large table-spoonfuls of
carraway seeds. Add a wine glass of rose water, and mix the whole
with sufficient cold water to make it a stiff dough. Roll it out
into a large sheet about a third of an inch in thickness, and cut
it into round cakes with a tin cutter or with the edge of a
tumbler. Lay them in buttered pans, and bake them in a quick oven,
(rather hotter at the bottom than at the top,) till they are of a
very pale brown.
WHITE CUP CAKE.
Measure one large coffee cup of cream or rich milk, (which, for
this cake, is best when sour,) one cup of fresh butter; two cups
of powdered white sugar; and four cups of sifted flour. Stir the
butter and sugar together till quite light; then by degrees add
the cream, alternately with half the flour. Beat five eggs as
light as possible, and stir them into the mixture, alternately
with the remainder of the flour. Add a grated nutmeg and a large
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, with eight drops of oil of
lemon. Lastly, stir in a very small tea-spoonful of sal-aratus or
pearl-ash, melted in a little vinegar or lukewarm water. Having
stirred the whole very hard, put it into little tins; set them in
a moderate oven, and bake them about twenty minutes.
KISSES.
Powder a pound of the best loaf-sugar. Beat to a strong froth the
whites of eight eggs, and when it is stiff enough to stand alone,
beat into it the powdered sugar, (a tea spoonful at a time,)
adding the juice of two lemons, or ten drops of essence of lemon.
Having beaten the whole very hard, drop it in oval or egg-shaped
heaps upon sheets of white paper, smoothing them with the spoon
and making them of a handsome and regular form. Place them in a
moderate oven, (if it is too cool they will not rise, but will
flatten and run into each other,) and bake them till coloured of a
very pale brown. Then take them off the papers very carefully,
place two bottoms (or flat sides) together, so as to unite them in
an oval ball, and lay them on their sides to cool. To manage them
properly, requires so much practice and dexterity, that it is
best, when practicable, to procure kisses from a confectioner's
shop.
MARMALADE CAKE.
Make a batter as for queen-cake, and bake it in small tin rings on
a griddle. Beat white of egg, and powdered loaf-sugar according to
the preceding receipt, flavouring it with lemon. When the batter
is baked into cakes, and they are quite cool, spread over each a
thick layer of marmalade, and then heap on with a spoon tire icing
or white of egg and sugar. Pile it high, and set the cakes in a
moderate oven till the icing is coloured of a very pale brown.
Instead of small ones you may bake the whole in one large cake.
SECRETS.
Take glazed paper of different colours, and cut it into squares of
equal size, fringing two sides of each. Have ready, burnt almonds,
chocolate nuts, and bonbons or sugar-plums of various sorts; and
put one in each paper with a folded slip containing two lines of
verse; or what will be much more amusing, a conundrum with the
answer. Twist the coloured paper so as entirely to conceal their
contents, leaving the fringe at each end. This is the most easy,
but there are various ways of cutting and ornamenting these
envelopes.
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