Mix together half a pound of powdered sugar, and a quarter of a pound
of butter; and add to them six beaten eggs. Then beat the whole very
light; stirring into it as much sifted flour as will make a stiff
batter; a powdered nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of cinnamon; and the
juice of a lemon, or a table-spoonful of rose water. The batter must be
very smooth when it is done, and without a single lump. Heat your wafer
iron on both sides by turning it in the fire; but do not allow it to
get too hot. Grease the inside with butter tied in a rag, (this must be
repeated previous to the baking of every cake,) and put in the batter,
allowing to each wafer two large table-spoonfuls, taking care not to
stir up the batter. Close the iron, and when one side is baked, turn it
on the other; open it occasionally to see if the wafer is doing well.
They should be coloured of a light brown. Take them out carefully with
a knife. Strew them with powdered sugar, and roll them up while warm,
round a smooth stick, withdrawing it when they grow cold. They are best
the day after they are baked.
If you are preparing for company, fill up the hollow of the wafers with
whipt cream, and stop up the two ends with preserved strawberries, or
with any other small sweetmeat.
WONDERS, OR CRULLERS.--Rub half a pound of butter into two pounds of
sifted flour, mixing in three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar.
Add a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, and a grated nutmeg, with a
large table-spoonful of rose water. Beat six eggs very light, and stir
them into the mixture. Mix it with a knife into a soft paste. Then put
it on the paste-board, and roll it out into a sheet an inch thick. If
you find it too soft, knead in a little more flour, and roll it out
over again. Cut it into long slips with a jagging iron, or with a sharp
knife, and twist them into various fantastic shapes. Have ready on hot
coals, a skillet of boiling lard; put in the crullers and fry them of
a light brown, turning them occasionally by means of a knife and fork.
Take them out one by one on a perforated skimmer, that the lard may
drain off through the holes. Spread them out on a large dish, and when
cold grate white sugar over them.
They will keep a week or more.
DOUGH NUTS.--Take two deep dishes, and sift three quarters of a pound
of flour into each. Make a hole in the centre of one of them, and pour
in a wine glass of the best brewer's yeast; mix the flour gradually
into it, wetting it with lukewarm milk; cover it, and set it by the
fire to rise for about two hours. This is setting a sponge. In the
mean time, cut up five ounces of butter into the other dish of flour,
and rub it fine with your hands; add half a pound of powdered sugar, a
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a grated nutmeg, a table-spoonful
of rose water, and a half pint of milk. Beat three eggs very light,
and stir them hard into the mixture. Then when the sponge is perfectly
light, add it to the other ingredients, mixing them all thoroughly
with a knife. Cover it, and set it again by the fire for another hour.
When it is quite light, flour your paste-board, turn out the lump of
dough, and cut it into thick diamond shaped cakes with a jagging iron.
If you find the dough so soft as to be unmanageable, mix in a little
more flour; but not else. Have ready a skillet of boiling lard; put the
dough-nuts into it, and fry them brown; and when cool grate loaf-sugar
over them. They should be eaten quite fresh, as next day they will be
tough and heavy; therefore it is best to make no more than you want for
immediate use. The New York Oley Koeks are dough-nuts with currants and
raisins in them.
WAFFLES.--Put two pints of rich milk into separate pans. Cut up
and melt in one of them a quarter of a pound of butter, warming it
slightly; then, when it is melted, stir it about, and set it away to
cool. Beat eight eggs till very light, and mix them gradually into
the other pan of milk, alternately with half a pound of flour. Then
mix in by degrees the milk that has the butter in it. Lastly, stir in
a large table-spoonful of strong fresh yeast. Cover the pan, and set
it near the fire to rise. When the batter is quite light, heat your
waffle-iron, by putting it among the coals of a clear bright fire;
grease the inside with butter tied in a rag, and then put in some
batter. Shut the iron closely, and when the waffle is done on one side,
turn the iron on the other. Take the cake out by slipping a knife
underneath; and then heat and grease the iron for another waffle. Send
them to table quite hot, four or six on a plate; having buttered them
and strewed over each a mixture of powdered cinnamon, and white sugar.
Or you may send the sugar and cinnamon in a little glass bowl.
In buying waffle-irons, do not choose those broad shallow ones that are
to hold four at a time; as the waffles baked in them are too small, too
thin, and are never of a good shape. The common sort that bake but two
at once are much the best. They should be of a deep well-cut pattern.
NEW YORK COOKIES.--Take a half-pint or a tumbler full of cold water,
and mix it with half a pound of powdered white sugar. Sift three
pounds of flour into a large pan, and cut up in it a pound of butter;
rub the butter very fine into the flour. Add a grated nutmeg, and a
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, with a wine glass of rose water.
Work in the sugar, and make the whole into a stiff dough, adding, if
necessary, a little cold water. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of soda in just
enough tepid water to cover it; and mix it in at the last. Take the
lump of dough out of the pan, and knead it on the paste-board till it
becomes quite light. Then roll it out rather more than half an inch
thick, and cut it into square cakes with a jagging iron or with a
sharp knife. Stamp the surface of each with a cake print. Lay them in
buttered pans, and bake them of a light brown in a brisk oven.
They are similar to what are called New Year's cakes, and will keep two
or three weeks.
In mixing the dough, you may add three table-spoonfuls of carraway
seeds.
SUGAR BISCUIT.--Wet a pound of sugar with two large tea-cups full of
milk; and rub a pound of butter into two pounds of flour; adding a
table-spoonful of cinnamon, or a handful of carraway seeds. Mix in the
sugar, add a tea-spoonful of soda dissolved, and make the whole into
a stiff dough. Knead it, and then roll it out into a sheet about half
an inch thick. Beat it on both sides with the rolling-pin, and then
cut it out with the edge of a tumbler into round cakes. Prick them
with a fork, lay them in buttered pans, and bake them light brown in
a quick oven. You may colour them yellow by mixing in with the other
ingredients a little of the infusion of saffron. These are the hard
sugar-biscuits.
RUSKS.--Sift three pounds of flour into a large pan, and rub into
it half a pound of butter, and half a pound of sugar. Beat two eggs
very light, and stir them into a pint and a half of milk, adding two
table-spoonfuls of rose water, and three table-spoonfuls of the best
and strongest yeast. Make a hole in the middle of the flour, pour in
the liquid, and gradually mix the flour into it till you have a thick
batter. Cover it, and set it by the fire to rise. When it is quite
light, put it on your paste-board and knead it well. Then divide
it into small round cakes and knead each separately. Lay them very
near each other in shallow iron pans that have been sprinkled with
flour. Prick the top of each rusk with a fork, and set them by the
fire to rise again for half an hour or more. When they are perfectly
light, bake them in a moderate oven. They are best when fresh. Soft
sugar-biscuits are made the same way.
You can convert them into what are called Hard Rusks, or Tops and
Bottoms, by splitting them in half, and putting them again into the
oven to harden and crisp.
MILK BISCUIT.--Cut up three quarters of a pound of butter in a quart of
milk, and set it near the fire to warm, till the butter becomes soft;
then with a knife, mix it thoroughly with the milk, and set it away to
cool. Afterwards stir in two wine glasses of strong fresh yeast, and
add by degrees as much sifted flour as will make a dough just stiff
enough to roll out. As soon as it is mixed, roll it into a thick sheet,
and cut it out into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler or a wine
glass. Sprinkle a large iron pan with flour; lay the biscuits in it,
cover it and set it to rise near the fire. When the biscuits are quite
light, knead each one separately; prick them with a fork, and set them
again in a warm place for about half an hour. When they are light
again, bake them in a moderate oven. They should be eaten fresh, and
pulled open with the fingers, as splitting them with a knife will make
them heavy.