then stir it quickly into a quart of boiling water, and boil up a few
minutes till it is thickened: sweeten with sugar. Oatmeal, where it is
found to agree with the stomach, is much better for children, being a
mild aperient as well as cleanser; fine flour in every shape is the
reverse. Where biscuit-powder is in use, let it be made at home; this,
at all events, will prevent them getting the sweepings of the baker's
counters, boxes, and baskets, All the waste bread in the nursery, hard
ends of stale loaves, &c., ought to be dried in the oven or screen,
and reduced to powder in the mortar.
2077. Meats for Children.
Mutton and poultry are the best. Birds and the white meat of fowls
are the most delicate food of this kind that can be given. These meats
should be slowly cooked, and no gravy, if made rich with butter,
should be eaten by a young child, Never give children hard, tough,
half-cooked meats, of any kind.
2078. Vegetables for Children. Eggs, &c.
For children rice ought to be cooked in no more water than is
necessary to swell it; apples roasted, or stewed with no more water
than is necessary to steam them; vegetables so well cooked as to make
them require little butter, and less digestion; eggs boiled slowly and
soft. The boiling of milk ought to be directed by the state of the
bowels; if flatulent or bilious, a very little currie-powder may be
given with vegetables with good effect. Turmeric and the warm seeds
(not hot peppers) are also particularly useful in such cases.
2079. Potatoes and Peas.
Potatoes, particularly some kinds, are not easily digested by
children; but this may be remedied by mashing them very fine, and
seasoning them with salt and a little milk. When peas are dressed for
children, let them be seasoned with mint and salt, which will take off
the flatulency. If they are old, let them be pulped, as the skins
cannot be digested by children's stomachs. Never give them vegetables
less stewed than would pulp through a cullender.
2080. Rice Pudding With Fruit.
In a pint of new milk put two large spoonfuls of rice, well washed;
then add two apples, pared and quartered, or a few currants or rasins.
Simmer slowly till the rice is very soft, then add one egg beaten to
bind it: serve with cream and sugar.
2081. Puddings and Pancakes for Children.
Sugar and egg, browned before the fire, or dropped as fritters into a
hot frying-pan, without fat, will make a nourishing meal.
2082. To prepare Fruit for Children.
A far more wholesome way than in pies or puddings, is to put apples
sliced, or plums, currants, gooseberries, &c., into a stone jar, and
sprinkle among them as much sugar as necessary. Set the jar in the
oven, with a teacupful of water to prevent the fruit from burning, or
put the jar into a saucepan of water till its contents be perfectly
done, Slices of bread or some rice may be put in to the jar to eat
with the fruit.
[HONEST LOSS IS PREFERABLE TO SHAMEFUL GAIN.]
2083. Rice and Apples.
Core as many nice apples as will fill the dish; boil them in light
syrup; prepare a quarter of a pound of rice in milk with sugar and
salt; put some of the rice in the dish, put in the apples, and fill up
the intervals with rice; bake it in the oven till it is a fine colour.
2084. A nice Apple Cake for Children.
Grate some stale bread, and slice about double the quantity of apples;
butter a mould, and line it with sugar paste, and strew in some
crumbs, mixed with a little sugar; then lay in apples, with a few bits
of butter over them, and so continue till the dish is full; cover it
with crumbs, or prepared rice; season with cinnamon and sugar. Bake it
well.
2085. Fruits for Children.
That fruits are naturally healthy in their season, if rightly taken,
no one who believes that the Creator is a kind and beneficent Being
can doubt. And yet the use of summer fruits appears often to cause
most fatal diseases, especially in children. Why is this? Because we
do not conform to the natural laws in using this kind of diet. These
laws are very simple, and easy to understand. Let the fruit be ripe
when you eat it; and eat when you require _food_. Fruits that have
_seeds_ are much more wholesome than the _stone_ fruits. But all
fruits are better, for very young children, if baked or cooked in some
manner, and eaten with bread. The French always eat bread with raw
fruit. Apples and winter pears are very excellent food for
children,--indeed, for almost any person in health,--but best when
eaten for breakfast or dinner. If taken late in the evening, fruit
often proves injurious. The old saying, that apples are _gold in the
morning, silver at noon, and lead at night_, is pretty near the truth.
Both apples and pears are often good and nutritious when baked or
stewed, and when prepared in this way are especially suitable for
those delicate constitutions that cannot bear raw fruit. Much of the
fruit gathered when unripe might be rendered fit for food by
preserving in sugar.
2086. Ripe Currants.
Ripe Currants are excellent food for children. Mash the fruit,
sprinkle with sugar, and let them eat freely, taking some good bread
with the fruit.
2087. Blackberry Jam.
Gather the fruit in dry weather; allow half a pound of good brown
sugar to every pound of fruit; boil the whole together gently for an
hour, or till the blackberries are soft, stirring and mashing them
well. Preserve it like any other jam, and it will be found very useful
in families, particularly for children, regulating their bowels, and
enabling you to dispense with cathartics. It may be used in the
ordinary way in roll-over puddings, and for tarts, or spread on bread
instead of butter; and even when the blackberries are bought, it is
cheaper than butter. In the country every family should preserve at
least half a peck of blackberries.
2088. Blackberry Pudding or Pie.
Pudding or pie made of blackberries only, or of blackberries and
apples mixed in equal proportions is excellent. For suitable suet
crust see _par_. 1269. and for puff paste see _par_. 1257.
2089. To make Senna and Manna Palatable.
Take of senna leaves and manna a quarter of an ounce of each, and pour
over them a pint of boiling water; when the strength is abstracted,
pour the infusion over from a quarter to half a pound of prunes and
two large tablespoonfuls of West India molasses. Stew the whole slowly
until the liquid is nearly absorbed. When cold it can be eaten with
bread and butter, without detecting the senna, and is excellent for
children when costive.
2090. Discipline of Children.
Children should not be allowed to ask for the same thing twice. This
may be accomplished by parents, teacher, or whoever may happen to have
the management of them, paying attention to their little wants, if
proper, at once, when possible. Children should be instructed to
understand that when they are not answered immediately, it is because
it is not convenient. Let them learn patience by waiting.
[CARE IN SUMMER, COMFORT IN WINTER.]
2091. My Wife's Little Tea Parties.
My wife is celebrated for her little parties,--not tea parties alone,
but dinner parties, pic-nic parties, music parties, supper parties--in
fact, she is vhe life and soul of ALL PARTIES, which is more than any
leading politician of the day can boast. But her great _forte_ is her
little tea parties--praised and enjoyed by everybody. A constant
visitor at these little parties is Mrs. Hitching (spoken of
elsewhere), and before a certain epoch in her life (_See par._ 215)
she was wont to remark that she "never knew _h_any one who understood
the _h_art of bringing so many _h_elegancies together" as my wife.
Nobody makes tea like her, and how she makes it she will impart at a
future time. But for her little "nick nacks," as she calls them, which
give a variety and a charm to the tea-table without trenching too
deeply upon our own pocket, she has been kind enough to give a few
receipts upon the present occasion.
2092. Good Plum Cake.
One pound of flour, quarter of a pound of butter, quarter of a pound
of sugar, quarter of a pound of currants, three eggs, half a pint of
milk, and a small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda or baking powder.
The above is excellent. The cakes are always baked in a common earthen
_flower-pot saucer_, which is a very good plan.
2093. Gingerbread Snaps.
One pound of flour, half a pound of treacle, half a pound of sugar,
quarter of a pound of butter, half an ounce of best prepared ginger,
sixteen drops of essence of lemon, potash the size of a nut dissolved
in a tablespoonful of hot water.
2094. Drop Cakes.
One pint of flour, half a pound of butter, quarter of a pound of
pounded lump sugar, half a nutmeg grated, a handful of currants, two
eggs, and a large pinch of carbonate of soda, or a little baking
powder. To be baked in a slack oven for ten minutes or a quarter of an
hour. The above quantity will make about thirty excellent cakes.
2095. A very Nice and Cheap Cake.
Two pounds and a half of flour, three quarters of a pound of sugar,
three quarters of a pound of butter, half a pound of currants or
quarter of a pound of raisins, quarter of a pound of orange peel, two
ounces of caraway seeds, half an ounce of ground cinnamon or ginger,
four teaspoonfuls of carbonate of soda or some baking powder; mixed
well, with rather better than a pint of new milk. The butter must be
well melted previous to being mixed with the ingredients.
2096. "Jersey Wonders."
The oddity of these "wonders" consists solely in the manner of
cooking, and the shape consequent. Take two pounds of flour, six
ounces of butter, six ounces of white sugar, a little nutmeg, ground
ginger, and lemon peel; beat eight eggs, and knead them all well
together; a taste of brandy will be an improvement. Roll the paste
into a long mass about the thickness of your wrist; cut off a slice
and roll it into an oval, about four inches long and three inches
wide, not too thin; cut two slits in it, but not through either end,
there will then be three bands. Pass the left one through the aperture
to the right, and throw it into a _brass_ or _bell-metal_ skillet of
BOILING lard or beef or mutton dripping. You may cook three or four at
a time. In about two minutes turn them with a fork, and you will find
them browned, and swollen or risen in two or three minutes more.
Remove them from the pan to a dish, when they will dry and cool.
[THEY MUST HUNGER IN FROST WHO WILL NOT WORK IN HEAT.]
2097. Muffins.
Add a pint and a half of good ale yeast (from pale malt, if possible)
to a bushel of the very best white flour; let the yeast lie all night
in water, then pour off the water quite clear; heat two gallons of
water just milk-warm, and mix the water, yeast, and two ounces of salt
well together for about a quarter of an hour. Strain the whole, and
mix up your dough as light as possible, letting it lie in the trough
an hour to rise; next roll it with your hand, pulling it into little
pieces about the size of a large walnut. These must be rolled out thin
with a rolling-pin, in a good deal of flour, and if covered
immediately with a piece of flannel, they will rise to a proper
thickness; but if too large or small, dough must be added accordingly,
or taken away; meanwhile, the dough must be also covered with flannel.
Next begin baking; and when laid on the iron, watch carefully, and
when one side changes colour, turn the other, taking care that they do
not burn or become discoloured. Be careful also that the iron does not
get too hot. In order to bake muffins properly, you ought to have a
place built as if a copper were to be set; but instead of copper a
piece of iron must be put over the top, fixed in form like the bottom
of an iron pot, underneath which a coal fire is kindled when required.
Toast the muffins crisp on both sides with a fork; pull them open
_with your hand_, and they will be like a honeycomb; lay in as much
butter as you intend; then clap them together, and set by the fire:
turn them once, that both sides may be buttered alike. When quite
done, cut them across with a knife; but if you use a knife either to
spread or divide them, they will be as heavy as lead. Some kinds of
flour will soak up more water than others; when this occurs, add
water; or if too moist, add flour: for the dough must be as light as
possible.
2098. Unfermented Cakes, &c.
All cakes of this description may be made with the aid of a little
baking-powder, or egg-powder. For instructions respecting these
preparations the reader is referred to _pars._ 1011, 1012.
2099. Tea Cakes.
Take of flour one pound; sugar, one ounce; butter, one ounce;
baking-powder, three teaspoonfuls; milk, six ounces; water, six
ounces. Rub the butter and baking powder into the flour; dissolve the
sugar in the water, and then add the milk. Pour this mixture gradually
over the flour, and mix well together; divide the mass into three
portions, and bake twenty-five minutes. Flat round tins or
earthen-pans are the best to bake the cakes in. Buttermilk may be used
instead of milk and water, if preferred.
2100. Unfermented Cake.
Take of flour one pound and a half; baking powder, four teaspoonfuls;
sugar, one ounce and a half; butter, one ounce and a half; milk,
twenty ounces; currants, six ounces, more or less. Mix the baking
powder and butter into the flour by rubbing them together; next
dissolve the sugar in the milk, and add it gradually to the flour,
mixing the whole intimately, and adding fruit at discretion. Bake in a
tin or earthen pan.
2101. Luncheon Cakes.
Take of flour one pound; baking powder, three teaspoonfuls; sugar,
three ounces; butter, three ounces; currants, four ounces; milk, one
pint, or twenty ounces: bake one hour in a quick oven.
2102. Nice Plum Cake.
Take of flour one pound; baking powder, three teaspoonfuls; butter,
six ounces; loaf sugar, six ounces; currants, six ounces; three eggs;
milk, about four ounces; bake for one hour and a half in a tin or pan.
2103. Lemon Buns.
Take of flour one pound; baking powder, three teaspoonfuls; butter,
six ounces; loaf sugar, four ounces; one egg; essence of lemon, six or
eight drops: make into twenty buns, and bake in a quick oven for
fifteen minutes.
2104. Soda Cake.
Take of flour half a pound; bicarbonate of soda, two drachms; tartaric
acid, two drachms; butter, four ounces; white sugar, two ounces;
currants, four ounces; two eggs; warm milk, half a teacupful.
[AN HONEST WORD IS BETTER THAN A CARELESS OATH.]
2105. Excellent Biscuits.
Take of flour two pounds; carbonate of ammonia, three drachms, in fine
powder; white sugar, four ounces; arrowroot one ounce; butter, four
ounces; one egg: mix into a stiff paste with new milk, and beat them
well with a rolling-pin for half an hour; roll out thin, and cut them
out with a docker, and bake in a quick oven for fifteen minutes.
2106. Wine Biscuits.
Take of flour half a pound; butter, four ounces; sugar, four ounces;
two eggs; carbonate of ammonia, one drachm; white wine, enough to mix
to a proper consistence. Cut out with a glass.
2107. Ginger Cakes.
To two pounds of flour add three quarters of a pound of good moist
sugar, one ounce best Jamaica ginger well mixed in the flour; have
ready three quarters of a pound of lard, melted, and four eggs well
beaten: mix the lard and eggs together, and stir into the flour, which
will form a paste; roll out in thin cakes, and bake in a moderately
heated oven. Lemon biscuits may be made in a similar way, by
substituting essence of lemon for ginger.
2108. Sponge Cake (1).
(_Very Easy Method_.)--The following receipt is as excellent as it is
simple, it gives less trouble than any other, and has never been known
to fail:--Take five eggs and half a pound of loaf sugar, sifted; break
the eggs upon the sugar, and beat all together with a steel fork for
half an hour. Previously take the weight of two eggs and a half, in
their shells, of flour. After you have beaten the eggs and sugar the
time specified, grate in the rind of a lemon (the juice may be added
at pleasure), stir in the flour, and immediately pour it into a tin
lined with buttered paper, and let it be instantly put into rather a
cool oven.
2109. Sponge Cake (2).
Take equal weight of eggs and sugar; half their weight in sifted
flour; to twelve eggs add the grated rind of three lemons, and the
juice of two. Beat the eggs carefully, white and yolks separately,
before they are used. Stir the materials thoroughly together, and bake
in a quick oven.
2110. Almond Sponge Cake.
Almond Sponge Cake is made by adding blanched almonds to the above.
2111. Yule Cake.
Take one pound of fresh butter; one pound of sugar; one pound and a
half of flour; two pounds of currants; a glass of brandy; one pound of
sweetmeats; two ounces of sweet almonds; ten eggs; a quarter of an
ounce of allspice; and a quarter of an ounce of cinnamon. Melt the
butter to a cream, and put in the sugar. Stir it till quite light,
adding the allspice and pounded cinnamon; in a quarter of an hour,
take the yolks of the eggs, and work them two or three at a time; and
the whites of the same must by this time be beaten into a strong snow,
quite ready to work in. As the paste must not stand to chill the
butter, or it will be heavy, work in the whites gradually, then add
the orange peel, lemon, and citron, cut in fine strips, and the
currants, which must be mixed in well, with the sweet almonds; then
add the sifted flour and glass of brandy. Bake this cake in a tin
hoop, in a hot oven, for three hours, and put twelve sheets of paper
under it to keep it from burning.
2112. Cake of Mixed Fruits.
Extract the juice from red currants by simmering them very gently for
a few minutes over a slow fire; strain it through folded muslin, and
to one pound of the juice add a pound and a half of freshly gathered
cooking apples, pared, and rather deeply cored, that the fibrous part
may be avoided. Boil these quite slowly until the mixture is perfectly
smooth; then, to evaporate part of the moisture, let the boiling be
quickened. In from twenty-five to thirty minutes, draw the pan from
the fire, and throw in gradually a pound and a quarter of sugar in
fine powder; mix it well with the fruit, and when it is dissolved,
continue the boiling rapidly for twenty minutes longer, keeping the
mixture constantly stirred; put it into a mould, and store it, when
cold, for winter use, or serve it for dessert, or for the second
course; in the latter case, decorate it with spikes of almonds,
blanched, and heap solid whipped cream round it, or pour a custard
into the dish. For dessert, it may be garnished with dice of the
palest apple jelly.
[PLAIN WORDS MAKE THE MOST ORNAMENTAL SENTENCES.]
2113. Banbury Cakes.
Roll out the paste about half an inch thick, and cut it into pieces;
then roll again till each piece becomes twice the size; put some
Banbury meat in the middle of one side; fold the other over it, and
pinch it up into a somewhat oval shape; flatten it with your hand at
the top, letting the seam be quite at the bottom; rub the tops over
with the white of an egg, laid on with a brush, and dust loaf sugar
over them: bake in a moderate oven.
2114. Meat for Banbury Cakes.
The meat for Banbury cakes is made thus:--Beat up a quarter of a pound
of butter until it becomes in the state of cream; then mix with it
half a pound of candied orange and lemon peel, cut fine; one pound of
currants, a quarter of an ounce of ground cinnamon; and a quarter of
an ounce of allspice: mix all well together, and keep in a jar till
wanted for use.
2115. Bath Buns.
A quarter of a pound of flour; four yolks and three whites of eggs,
with four spoonfuls of solid fresh yeast. Beat in a bowl, and set
before the fire to rise; then rub into one pound of flour ten ounces
of butter; put in half a pound of sugar, and caraway comfits; when the
eggs and yeast are pretty light, mix by degrees all together; throw a
cloth over it, and set before the fire to rise. Make the buns, and
when on the tins, brush over with the yolk of egg and milk; strew them
with caraway comfits; bake in a quick oven. If baking powder is used
instead of yeast, use two teaspoonfuls, and proceed as directed,
omitting to set the dough before the fire to rise, which is useless as
regards all articles made with baking powder.
2116. Belvidere Cake for Breakfast or Tea.
Take a quart of flour; four eggs; a piece of butter the size of an
egg; a piece of lard the same size: mix the butter and lard well in
the flour; beat the eggs light in a pint bowl, and fill it up with
cold milk; then pour it gradually into the flour; add a teaspoonful of
salt; work it for eight or ten minutes only: cut the dough with a
knife to the size you wish it; roll them into cakes about the size of
a breakfast plate, and bake in a quick oven.
2117. To Make Gingerbread Cake.
Take one pound and a half of treacle; one and a half ounces of ground
ginger; half an ounce of caraway seeds; two ounces of allspice; four
ounces of orange peel, shred fine; half a pound of sweet butter; six
ounces of blanched almonds; one pound of honey; and one and a half
ounces of carbonate of soda; with as much fine flour as makes a dough
of moderate consistence.
_Directions for making._ Make a pit in five pounds of flour; then pour
in the treacle, and all the other ingredients, creaming the butter;
then mix them altogether into a dough; work it well; then put in three
quarters of an ounce of tartaric acid, and put the dough into a
buttered pan, and bake for two hours in a cool oven. To know when it
is ready, plunge a fork into it, and if it comes out sticky, put the
cake in the oven again; if not it is ready. This is a good and simple
test, which may be resorted to in baking bread and all kinds of cakes.
2118. Pic-Nic Biscuits.
Take two ounces of fresh butter, and well work it with a pound of
flour. Mix thoroughly with it half a saltspoonful of pure carbonate of
soda, two ounces of sugar; mingle thoroughly with the flour, make up
the paste with spoonfuls of milk; it will require scarcely a quarter
of a pint. Knead smooth, roll a quarter of an inch thick, cut in
rounds about the size of the top of a small wineglass; roll these out
thin, prick them well, lay them on lightly floured tins, and bake in a
gentle oven until crisp. When cold put into dry canisters. Thin cream
used instead of milk, in the mixture will enrich the biscuits. To
obtain variety caraway seeds or ginger can be added at pleasure.
[A DUEL IS FOLLY PLAYING AT MURDER.]
2119. Ginger Biscuits and Cakes.
Work into small crumbs three ounces of butter, two pounds of flour,
and three ounces of powdered sugar and two of ginger, in fine powder;
knead into a stiff paste, with new milk; roll thin, cut out with a
cutter: bake in a slow oven until crisp through; keep of a pale
colour. Additional sugar may be used when a sweeter biscuit is
desired. For good ginger cakes, butter six ounces, sugar eight, for
each pound of flour; wet the ingredients into a paste with eggs: a
little lemon-peel grated will give an agreeable flavour.
2120. Sugar Biscuits.
Cut the butter into the flour. Add the sugar and caraway seeds. Pour
in the brandy, and then the milk. Lastly, put in the soda. Stir all
well with a knife, and mix it thoroughly, till it becomes a lump of
dough. Flour your pasteboard, and lay the dough on it. Knead it very
well. Divide it into eight or ten pieces, and knead each piece
separately. Then put them all together, and knead them very well into
one lump. Cut the dough in half, and lay it out into sheets, about
half an inch thick. Beat the sheets of dough very hard on both sides
with the rolling pin. Cut them out into round cakes with the edge of a
tumbler. Butter tins and lay the cakes on them. Bake them of a very
pale brown. If done too much they will lose their taste. Let the oven
be hotter at the top than at the bottom. These cakes kept in a stone
jar, closely covered from the air, will continue perfectly good for
several months.
2121. Lemon Sponge.