flour, ½ lb. sweet almonds blanched, ½ lb. preserved orange peel
cut in thin fillets, the yellow rinds of 2 lemons grated off, 1 oz.
cinnamon, ½ oz. each cloves, mace, and cardamoms, mixed and powdered;
put the honey into a pan over the fire, with a wineglassful of water,
and make quite hot; mix other ingredients together; make a bay, pour
in the honey, and mix; let stand till next day; make into cakes, and
bake; rub a little clarified sugar until it will blow into bubbles
through a skimmer, and with a paste-brush rub over gingerbread when
baked.
_Rice Pound-cake._--Take 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. powdered loaf sugar, 12
oz. flour, ½ lb. ground rice, and 12 eggs. Mix as Italian bread, and
bake in a papered hoop. If required with fruit, put 2 lb. currants, ¾
lb. peel, 1 grated nutmeg, and a little pounded mace.
_Rout Biscuits._--Put 1 lb. powdered loaf sugar into a basin, with 3
gills milk, and let stand 2 hours, stirring occasionally; rub ½ lb.
butter into 2 lb. flour; make a hole in it, add a little sal volatile
pounded fine, and an egg, with the dissolved sugar; stir together,
and mix into smooth dough; let lie 10 minutes; cut out; place on
buttered tins; wash with milk; bake quickly.
_Rout Cake._--Pound 1 lb. sweet almonds, blanched and dried, and
1 lb. loaf sugar in a mortar; sieve; put what will not pass into
a mortar again, with 4 yolks of eggs, and the rind of a lemon;
pound very fine, put in what has passed through sieve, and mix all
together; make any shape; sprinkle lightly with a little water; sift
sugar over, and put on tins that have been rubbed with a bit of
butter, so as not to touch each other; bake in rather brisk oven till
lightly coloured over; if coloured too deep at bottom, put cold tins
under to finish baking.
(_c_) Take shape, butter it, sift sugar into it, and turn out all the
sugar that does not stick to the butter; mix ½ lb. sifted sugar, and
6 oz. sifted flour; warm pan, put in sugar, break in 4 whole eggs and
1 yolk; whisk till warm and then cold; stir in flour, turn batter
into the shape, and bake in slow oven about 1 hour; when done, turn
out bottom uppermost.
_Rusks._--Put 1 qt. warm milk into a pan, with 1 oz. German yeast, 4
oz. moist sugar, and about 6 oz. flour; mix, and put aside in warm
place to rise. Rub 6 oz. butter into 3½ lb. flour, and make into a
dough with the ferment as soon as ready; prove a little, and divide
in pieces of about 1½ lb. each; roll in long rolls about size of
rolling-pin; place on buttered tins, 3-4 in. apart; flat down a
little with the hand; prove well; bake in moderately heated oven;
when cold, cut across in slices; place on tins, and brown off on both
sides in brisk oven.
_Saffron Buns._--Made with the same mixture as hot cross buns, but
with the addition of 1 oz. caraway seeds, and colouring with saffron.
_Sally Lunns._--Take flour, a little salt and butter, 2 or 3 eggs, a
small quantity of yeast, and milk and water; make light dough; set
to rise after kneading; make dough into cakes, large enough to slice
into rounds for toasting; bake slightly and quickly in hot oven.
_Savoy Biscuits._--Powder and sift 1 lb. loaf sugar; sift 1 lb.
flour; warm a pan, and put in the sugar; break 1 lb. eggs upon it;
beat both together with a whisk till warm; beat till cold; stir
in your flour; have a bladder and pipe ready; put batter into the
bladder, and force through on sheets of paper; sift sugar over, and
bake in quick oven; when cold, turn up, and wet bottom of paper; turn
back again, and in 5 minutes they will come off easily.
_Savoy Cake._--(_a_) Hot Mixture.--Take 1 lb. powdered loaf sugar, 1
pint good eggs, and 14 oz. flour. Warm a pan, free from grease, with
the sugar in it, in the oven until you can scarcely bear your hand
against it; then take out and pour in the eggs; whisk with a birch
or wire whisk until quite light and cold, when it will be white and
thick. If it should not whisk up well, warm again and beat as before;
or it may be beat over the stove fire until it is of the warmth of
new milk. When finished, sift the flour and stir it in lightly with a
spoon, adding a few drops of essence of lemon to flavour it. Butter
some tin or copper moulds regularly, with rather less on the top than
the sides. Dust with loaf sugar sifted through a lawn sieve. Knock
out all that does not adhere, and again dust with fine flour; turn
out, and knock the mould on the board. Tie or pin a piece of buttered
paper round the mould, so as to come 2 or 3 in. above the bottom. Fix
the mould in a stand and nearly fill it. Bake in a moderate oven.
When done, the top should be firm and dry. Try it by pushing in a
small piece of stick or whisk, and if it comes out dry, it is done.
The surface of the cake should be quite smooth. There is as much art
in buttering the mould properly as in preparing the mixture.
(_b_) Cold Mixtures.--Separate the yolks from the whites when you
break the eggs. Put the yolks into a clean pan with the sugar, and
the whites in another by themselves. Let the pans be quite free from
grease. If they are rubbed round with a little flour, it will take
off any which may be left. Wipe out with a clean cloth. Beat up the
yolks and sugar by themselves, with a wooden spoon, and afterwards
whip up the whites to a very strong froth. If they should happen to
be rather weak, a bit of powdered alum may be added. When the whites
are whisked up firm, stir in the yolks and sugar. Sift the flour and
mix it lightly with the spatula, adding a little essence of lemon
to flavour. Fill the moulds and bake as before. When cakes are made
in this way, the eggs should be quite fresh and good, otherwise the
whites cannot be whipped up. When weak, pickled eggs are used. A good
method is to beat the eggs first by themselves, over a fire, until
they are warm; then add the sugar, and whip it over the fire until
again warm, or make as for hot mixtures, and heat twice.
_Scones._--Warm fresh milk almost to boiling; stir in as much flour
as will make a mass that will turn clean out of the bowl without
leaving anything adhering to the sides, roll out thin; cut into
rounds; bake lightly and quickly.
_Seed Cake._--As for pound cakes, but instead of currants and candied
lemon peel, substitute a few caraway seeds; omit sugar on top.
_Short-Bread._--Rub 1 lb. butter into 3 lb. flour; add 1½ lb.
powdered loaf sugar; wet up with ¼ pint each honey-water and milk,
and 2 eggs; break in pieces about 1½ oz. each; roll oval or round to
size of tea-saucer; pinch round edge; place 1 in. from each other on
clean tins, not buttered; cut ½ lb. candied orange or lemon peel into
pieces, and lay on top; bake in steady oven.
_Shrewsbury Cake._--Mix ¾ lb. powdered loaf sugar with 1¼ lb. flour;
rub ¾ lb. butter in with the flour and sugar; add 1 white and 3
yolks of eggs; mix together to a smooth paste; roll into thin sheets;
cut out cakes about size of half-a-crown; place on clean tins; bake
in slow oven till they begin to change colour.
_Simnel Cake._--In some counties these are called “Mothering” cakes,
it being the custom to have them on mid-Lent or Mothering Sunday. A
simnel cake is really neither more nor less than any other very rich
plum cake, the only difference being that it is first boiled and then
baked (very slowly) in a crust of flour and water, with which has
been mixed some saffron to make it look yellow. To make the cake,
beat up 1½ lb. butter with the hand till it becomes a cream, and whip
the whites of 8 fresh eggs to a froth; mix these with the creamed
butter, and afterwards add the 8 yolks well beaten; add 1 lb. castor
sugar, 2 teaspoonfuls salt, 2 lb. well cleaned and dried currants,
1½ lb. flour, ½ lb. candied lemon peel, and the same of citron,
cut very thin, ½ oz. pounded nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice, ½ lb.
blanched almonds pounded, 6 large lumps of sugar rubbed on the rinds
of 4 oranges and then pounded, beating each of the above ingredients
into the flour before adding the next; also stir in 1 wineglassful
brandy, continuing to beat the cake for more than ½ hour. Roll out
the paste, made as directed, somewhat less than ½ in. thick; put a
cloth wrung out of boiling water and floured into a large basin,
over this put the rolled-out paste, and into the paste put the cake
mixture when sufficiently beaten. Close the paste by folding it over,
and then tie it up in the cloth. Remove it from the basin, which was
merely to support the cake while tying it up, and put it on to boil
for 3 hours. Remove the cloth, and place the cake on a baking tin the
smooth side upwards. When nearly cold, brush it well over with egg,
and put it to bake in a very slow oven until the crust is as hard as
wood. The crust should be a light colour.
_Soda Scones._--To 2 lb. flour add 1 oz. butter, ½ oz. soda
bicarbonate, ¼ oz. tartaric acid, and 1 qt. milk or butter-milk; mix
and bake as scones.
_Spice Gingerbread._--Take 3 lb. flour, 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. moist
sugar, 4 oz. candied lemon or orange peel cut small, 1 oz. powdered
ginger, 2 oz. powdered allspice, ½ oz. powdered cinnamon, 1 oz.
caraway seeds, and 3 lb. treacle; rub the butter with your hand into
the flour; add the other ingredients, and mix it in the dough with
the treacle; make into nuts or cakes; bake in cool oven.
_Spice Nuts._--Take 7 lb. treacle; rub 1 lb. butter into 9 lb. flour;
mix 4 oz. each ground allspice and ground ginger, 2 oz. each caraway
and coriander seeds powdered, with butter, flour, and treacle; roll
1 lb. moist sugar, and strew over top; roll out in long rolls about
size of finger; cut in pieces size of nutmeg; place on buttered tins;
wash with water or small-beer; bake in steady oven.
_Sponge Cake._--Into ¾ lb. powdered sugar, break ¾ lb. eggs in a warm
pan; whisk till cold; stir in ½ lb. flour; have tins ready buttered
and sugared; put about ¾ tablespoonful into each; sift sugar over;
bake in moderately brisk oven.
_Sweetmeat Nuts._--Take 7 lb. treacle; mix 4 oz. ground ginger, 6 oz.
ground allspice, 8 oz. candied lemon and orange, cut small, with 9
lb. flour; wet up with treacle; beat in dough 4 lb. butter and 5 lb.
moist sugar; lay off on buttered tins, about the size of walnuts,
flat down, wash with water, and bake in slow oven.
_Sweet Rusks._--Cut a diet-bread cake into thin long slices; lay
on iron plates, and brown quickly in very hot oven; turn when of a
light-brown colour; when of same colour on other side, they are done.
_Tea Cake._--Break 8 eggs into a warm pan on 1 lb. pounded and sifted
loaf sugar; beat together till thick and whitish; stir in lightly 1
lb. sifted flour; with a bag and pipe, as for Savoy biscuits, form
mixture into drops about size of half-a-crown, 1 in. apart, on sheets
of whited brown paper; dust lightly with powdered loaf sugar; place
on tins; bake in good heat till nicely coloured; remove from paper as
Savoy biscuits.
_Thick Gingerbread._--Take 7 lb. treacle; rub ¾ lb. butter into 12
lb. flour; mix 3 oz. caraway, 2 oz. ground coriander seeds, and 2
oz. ground allspice, with flour and treacle; mould; in a week make
into cakes, on a mould or print; butter the sides, and place close
together on buttered tins; put up-sets round, wash with milk, and
bake in steady heat; when done, wash with egg and milk.
_Tops and Bottoms._--Prepare as for rusks; make into small balls
about the size of a large walnut; place on tins in straight rows just
to touch; prove well; bake in a moderate heat; when cold, draw a
sharp knife between rows; to cut balls out square turn on side, and
cut through middle, one at a time: place close on tin, with cut part
upwards; put in warm oven; done when nicely browned over.
_Twelfth Cake._--Prepare as for plum or bride cake; or, if as for
plain pound cake, take 3 lb. currants, 4 oz. candied orange and lemon
peel, to every pound of sugar; make any size; when done, ice over,
and lay on ornaments while ice is wet.
_Venice Cake._--Cut a Savoy cake in slices ½ to ¾ in. thick, in a
parallel direction from the bottom to the top; spread each slice
with raspberry or apricot jam, or some of each alternately, or any
other sort of preserve. Replace each piece in its original form: when
completed, make an icing as directed for cakes, with 4 whites of eggs
to 1 lb. sugar, which will make it rather thin. It may be coloured
with cochineal, &c.; spread it over the cake, which, being thin, will
run into the flutes and mouldings of the cake, when it will appear
of the same form as before. Let dry in the mouth of the oven, but be
careful it does not get discoloured. When dry, ornament with piping.
Savoy cakes are often done in the same manner, without being cut in
slices, to ornament them; or they may be done without icing, and
either piped, or ornamented with gum-paste borders, &c., which are
fixed on with dissolved gum arabic. Volutes or high and projecting
figures are supported with pieces of small wire.
_Vienna Bread._--Add to 1 pint new milk, 2 oz. fresh German yeast, 6
oz. each best loaf sugar and good butter, and sufficient best Vienna
flour to form a tight or stiff dough; shape into rolls, pointed at
each end; bake rich brown colour in quick oven.
_Wine Biscuits._--2 lb. flour, 1 lb. butter, 4 oz. sifted loaf sugar;
rub the sugar and butter into the flour, and make into a stiff paste
with milk; pound in a mortar; roll out thin, and cut into sizes or
shapes to fancy; lay on buttered paper or iron plates: brush tops
with milk; bake in warm oven; glaze by brushing over with a brush
dipped in egg; caraway seeds may be added.
_York Biscuits._--Prepare as for filbert biscuits; dock; bake in hot
oven, and do not wash over.
_Yorkshire Cake._--Rub 4 oz. butter into 7 lb. flour; wet up with
1 qt. warm milk, 1 pint warm water, and ½-¾ pint good yeast; prove
about 20 minutes; make into cakes, and put on warm tins; when well
proved, make a hole in the middle, size of finger; bake in hot oven;
when done, wash with a little melted butter.
_Yule Cakes._--Put 1 lb. sifted flour into a large basin, to which
add 1 saltspoonful salt; dissolve ¼ oz. German yeast in ½ pint tepid
water, and stir into the flour with a wooden spoon; cover it with a
thick cloth, and let it stand in a warm place for an hour to rise,
add ½ lb. butter beaten to a cream, ½ lb. moist sugar, ⅙ nutmeg
(grated), ¾ lb. currants, 4 oz. candied peel (chopped), and 2 beaten
eggs; mix well, and only half fill the tin into which you put it;
bake in a moderate oven for 1¾-2 hours; turn it out of the tin to get
cold.
_THE KITCHEN._
This chapter may be divided into 3 sections, dealing respectively
with (1) the Fittings, embracing the cooking range, pots, pans, &c.;
(2) the Processes of Cookery; and (3) Recipes for the preparation of
a great variety of dishes and their adjuncts, such as sauces, &c.
THE FITTINGS.
_Ranges._--There is no subject more interesting to the housekeeper,
or of more importance in the household, than the proper preparation
of our food by cooking, and good results can only be obtained by
two means, a fair knowledge of cookery, and (absolutely necessary
under any circumstances) an efficient cooking apparatus. There are
stringent laws governing our sanitary arrangements, and it is to
be regretted that equally stringent laws do not exist to govern
the efficiency of the apparatus under discussion, for it must be
acknowledged that if the latter is not fairly perfect, it interferes
with the health and comfort of a household. A vast number of badly
fixed and badly constructed ranges are in use at the present moment.
The speculative builder, not being governed by any rules or laws,
is apt to purchase and use a cheap range, provided its general
appearance is pleasing, “brick-flue” ranges being invariably adopted.
It is in the construction of these brick flues where the trouble
generally arises, as the flues in question have to be made by the
builders’ man or fixer, who is more or less experienced in range
work (commonly less), and, as everyone knows, the flues are the most
important part of the range. Their importance is so great that one
small error or want of judgment will ruin the most costly brick-flue
range made. Brick-flue ranges, wherever possible, should be fixed
by the makers, and the same remark may be applied to “iron-flue”
ranges. The difference between a brick-flue and an iron-flue range
is, that in the former all the flues are built in brickwork by the
person fixing the stove, and in the latter all the flues are made of
iron by the range manufacturer. It is acknowledged that the latter
are superior, but they are not generally adopted on account of
increase in cost (not great). The superiority consists in the greater
durability, never requiring re-setting, greater efficiency, and,
most important, it being almost impossible for even an ignorant man
to set them wrongly. Iron flues also are slower in becoming fouled
and more easily cleaned. But these flues should be of cast iron, and
not less than ¼ in. substance. Brick flues have several failings
as is known to almost everyone, for it is a very common saying
that the range does not work because it is not set well, or wants
re-setting. In the first place, a bricklayer, however skilled, cannot
know the correct size of flues for certain ranges so well as the
manufacturers, and secondly, on the first occasion that such a range
is used, expansion takes place and, in cooling, the metal and the
brickwork part company, causing leakage of draught, and so tending to
spoil efficiency; and in time the unequal expansion and contraction
make re-setting necessary, which should never arise with an iron-flue
range. It may be here mentioned that immediately air or draught leaks
into the flues from any cause whatever, the good results will be
diminished, or, in other words, it will take a greater quantity of
fuel to do a certain amount of work, apart from the inconvenience,
worry, increased labour, &c. It will be noticed that the above
remarks only apply to the comparatively modern close-fire ranges or
kitcheners.
Open-fire Ranges.--The now old fashioned open range, although very
often met with, is rapidly dying out, as its disadvantages are
very great, and it is ill adapted for modern cookery (which may be
correctly defined as hot-plate cookery). Its disadvantages may be
summed up as follows:--dirtiness, as all the cooking vessels have to
be put in contact with the fire; aptness for smoking, as under almost
the best of circumstances, a “blower” is necessary; extravagance;
intense heat radiated into the kitchen, and so necessitating the use
of a screen (or what might be more properly termed a cook protector);
and irregularity in action, as unless the cook is careful or really
skilful in attention, it cannot be relied upon one day to give the
results it gave the previous day, and the chimney requires very
frequent sweeping. It is a capital range for roasting in front, an
advantage highly appreciated by many (but in England only).
Hot Plates.--A hot-plate consists very generally of a mass of
brickwork surmounted by a strong cast-iron plate with several
apertures in it, these apertures being provided with covers; a
furnace or fire-place is situated at one end of the structure and at
the opposite end is the chimney; between the furnace and the chimney
a flue or passage for the flame and heat is provided, and this flue
is situated immediately under the iron plate, so that when the fire
is alight the plate quickly reaches a very high temperature, hence
the term “hot-plate.”
A hot-plate, as will be understood, is adapted for boiling, stewing,
&c. only, and it cannot be recommended as economical.
Baking Ovens.--These are made exactly like the ovens used by bakers
but upon a smaller scale, suited for domestic requirements. They
consist of an oven having a flue passing up each side of it, the fire
or furnace being situated at the base. The results are very good, as
the oven thus has an excess heat at bottom, which is so necessary for
the baking of bread and pastry.
Close-fire Ranges or “Kitcheners.”--This is the form of
cooking-ranges now in general favour, and under ordinary
circumstances very satisfactory results are obtained both in
efficiency and economy.
Close-fire ranges are made in various forms, the smaller and medium
sizes generally having an oven on one side and a boiler on the other,
the fire being situated between. The larger sizes are also made like
this if desired, but more generally they have one or more ovens On
each side of the fire, the boiler (either high or low pressure,
or steam) being placed at the back of the fire. This is the most
economical arrangement, as the boiler then utilises the only space
that cannot be used for anything else. The ovens of these ranges are
invariably heated by means of flues; a flue is a passage by which
the flame-heat and products of combustion pass from the fire to the
chimney, and a flue is so constructed that the heat in passing is
caused to impinge upon the under surface of the hot plate, upon the
oven, and upon any part or surface where heat is needed. Fig. 69
(in section) will acquaint the reader with the general arrangement
of a close-fire range, such as is at present in use. The oven, it
will be noticed, is heated by means of a flue passing over down the
outer side and under the oven, and an oven of this description is
known as a “Leamington” oven, as it is the arrangement that was first
introduced in what is known as the “Leamington range.”
The Leamington range was first made (in Leamington) some 30 years
ago, and with at the time such a vast improvement upon the cooking
apparatus then in use that it has remained in favour up till the
present day, and it will be noticed in the ranges that are described
farther on that very little improvement has been made upon it, except
in one or two instances. From the illustration it will be seen that
the oven must necessarily have an excess heat at top and the least
heat at bottom. This is the best arrangement for meat roasting, as
the heat is not required under the roasting-pan; but for pastry, this
arrangement is ruinous, as the oven is thus heated in precisely an
opposite manner to a baker’s oven, and this is its only objection.
Every housekeeper knows that pastry requires a bottom heat to make
it rise and be light. As the heat passes over the oven, it also
heats the hot plate which forms the upper surface of the flue. It
must now be explained why the flame, &c., passes around the oven
when its natural tendency is of course to go upwards. The up-current
of air or draught that exists in a chimney is treated and explained
under Heating (see p. 79); this draught or up-current, as it rises,
naturally causes fresh air to rush into the chimney to take the
place of that which has risen. When a range is properly set the only
opening through which this fresh supply of air can pass is through
the fire, and thence by way of the flues into the chimney, this
current is very rapid, and so carries all products from the fire with
it, thus effectually distributing the heat as desired. When these
products reach the bottom of the oven, they pass into a flue at the
back, which is carried up and terminated in the chimney as shown.
[Illustration: 69. Section of Close Range.]
It will also be noticed from the illustration (and it is known to
all who have used close ranges) that for the fire to be effectual it
must be kept up, or in other words the flue-box must be kept _full_
of fuel as _all the work is done from the top of the fire_. It cannot
be comprehended why range-makers still insist upon making such deep
fires; they average about 10-12 in. in depth (or height), whereas 5-6
in. will give as good results with decidedly less fuel, as can be
proved by anyone by using a high false bottom (this cannot be done
if a high-pressure boiler is at back of fire, as it will prevent the
heat passing under the flue). The reason is that, as before stated,
all the work is done from the top of the fire, the hot plate and the
entrance to the flues being both situated there; and it will be found
that the fire-box, however deep, will not heat the oven or hot plate
if it is only three-fourths full of fuel, as there will naturally
be a space above the fuel where the air can pass through into the
flues without being first heated, and will so tend to cool the ovens
and hot plate most effectually. The only part of a range that still
answers fairly when the fire-box is not full is the boiler at the
back, as the flue of this is always at the bottom of the fire. _It is
imperative with these ranges that all the air that passes into the
chimney should first pass through the fire._