pint milk or water, light ½ oz. soda, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1
teaspoon ground allspice, 4 eggs, flour enough to make a dough that
can be nicely rolled out, about 2 or 2¼ lbs. Dust a clean board very
lightly with flour, cut out the cakes about ¼ inch thick, and a long
shape. Set closely together on the board, beat a few yolks of eggs with
a little sweet milk or water, and with a brush dipped in this wash over
2 or 3 doz. of the cakes at a time. Throw them over on dry granulated
sugar, and set on slightly greased pans; bake in a moderate oven. If
desired, about ½ lb. flour less may be taken, using instead ½ lb. scrap
cakes.
Ginger Snaps.
One lb. brown sugar, 1 lb. butter or lard, 1 quart N. O. molasses, 1
pint water, 2 oz. soda, 4 oz. ginger. Mix and cut them out with a small
cutter, about the size of a large copper cent; or cut and roll in long
round pieces a little thicker than a broom stick, cut in small pieces
with the scraper, make them into round balls by rolling one in each
hand in the same manner as light cakes. Set on pans far enough apart so
they will not run together, and flatten each one with the palm of the
hand. If they are desired extra _hot_, put in a little cayenne pepper.
The pans should be greased lightly. Bake in a moderate oven.
Ginger S’s.
One lb. brown sugar, 1 lb. lard, 1 quart N. O. molasses, 1 oz. soda,
½ pint water, 3 oz. ginger, about 5 lbs. flour. Mix and cut in small
pieces as described for ginger snaps. Roll each small piece lengthwise
until a little thicker than a lead pencil, then form into shape
something like a letter S, put on slightly greased pans, and bake in a
moderate oven.
Crullers.
1¾ lbs. white sugar, 10 eggs, ¼ lb. butter, 1¾ pints sweet milk, good
measure, 1 teaspoonful soda, 2 teaspoonfuls cream tartar, 4¾ lbs.
flour, a little oil of lemon to flavor with. Dissolve the soda in the
milk. Have the butter soft. Mix the sugar, eggs, butter and oil of
lemon together, stir in the soda and milk, then put in the flour, and
sprinkle over it the cream of tartar. Mix and cut out in small narrow
rings, about ¼ inch thick. Spread dry cloths on boards and lay the
crullers on these, or lay them on boards that have been slightly dusted
with flour. They should be fried in hot lard as soon as possible after
being mixed and cut out. Have _plenty_ of lard to fry them in. Turn
them over with a stick. When done frying set the lard in a cool place,
and before frying again set the vessel with the lard on the stove for a
moment, and turn out the lard on a piece of paper laid on the bench or
floor. Scrape off that which is black, clean out the vessel, and put in
the lard again with more fresh lard.
Scrap Cake.
Three lbs. scrap (trimmings off jelly cakes, and various other kinds
of cakes that will not sell, but are good yet, rolled and sieved), ½
gallon N. O. molasses, 1 quart sweet milk, 1 oz. soda, ½ lb. butter,
about 1 oz. ground ginger and ½ oz. ground allspice, a few currants,
and flour sufficient to make a medium stiff dough. Mix and spread about
1½ inches thick in a pan that has been right well greased. Bake in a
cool oven, and when cool ice over with water icing.
Citron Cake.
Make a mixture for pound cakes as mentioned, and just before putting in
the flour add ½ lb. citron, cut in fine pieces, and 1 lb. currants. Mix
and bake as pound cake, in a square pan. When baked turn out on a tray,
and when cold, ice and mark in slices.
Currant Cake.
Make the same as citron cake, but instead of the citron take currants,
and bake in round moulds. When cool, ice and mark in slices.
Ginger Cakes.
One-half gallon N. O. molasses, 1 pint water, 2½ oz. soda, 4 oz.
ginger, 7¼ lbs. flour. Mix light, cut about ¼ inch thick. Put on pans
that have been slightly greased, and before putting in the oven wash
over with a thin wash made of molasses and water. Bake in a hot oven.
Sugar Cakes.
One lb. white sugar, ½ lb. butter, 2 eggs, ½ pint water, ¼ oz.
carbonate of ammonia, oil of lemon to flavor. Mix, cut out in cakes
about ¼ inch thick, and bake in a hot oven.
Macaroon Pyramid.
For this it is necessary to have a round tin mould or form of a conical
shape, wide at the bottom and narrowing to a point at the top; have
also a round flat ring cut out of a piece of tin, that can be put over
the top of the mould and slipped half way or three-quarters down; the
mould can thus be used for a large or small pyramid, as desired. If the
mould is a new one, scrub off well with hot water and soap, wipe dry,
and when cool grease with a brush dipped in lard. Don’t have the lard
too hot, just soft enough so it can be applied with a brush; grease the
mould well. A macaroon pyramid looks best if the macaroons are uniform,
about the size of a silver quarter, or a little larger. If some of them
should be larger than others use them for the bottom of the pyramid.
Pick out all the best that are wanted for the pyramid. They should be
firm on the bottom. If hollow at the bottom or cracked much on top, the
pyramid will be liable to break when lifting off the form.
Take about 3 lbs. of white sugar, the brand known as “A,” water enough
to barely cover it, then put into a small copper or brass kettle, or
a stew pan will answer; being careful to have the vessel used right
clean. When it commences to boil, cover with a clean board or sheet
of tin. Or after it commences to boil, wash down the sides of the
kettle occasionally with a clean white rag dipped in a bowl of cold
water, and wrung out a very little. Add while boiling 1 teaspoon cream
tartar. When boiled to a crack it is done and should be taken from
the fire, and set into a larger vessel that has very little water in
it, to prevent the sugar from coloring or scorching from the heat of
the kettle. Now take a macaroon in the left hand and hold it against
the bottom of the form, and take another in the right hand, dip the
edge in the sugar (being careful not to burn the fingers) and stick it
against the other macaroon. Keep on in this way until there is a row of
macaroons around the form. Dip the macaroons close to the side of the
kettle, where the sugar is the thickest. Now set more macaroons above
this row, building around the same as the first row, but dipping the
macaroon so it will stick to the row beneath as well as to the side.
When three rows are built around in this way, loosen them by lifting up
just a very little to see that it is loosened. If it is intended for
a large pyramid, take a small stick, put a little more sugar between
the rows before loosening, so it will be firm. This is only needed to
be done with the three lower rows. When about half built loosen again,
and also when about three-fourths built. Proceed in this way until
within about two inches of the top of the form, making the top row even
all round by taking pieces of macaroon or very small macaroons. Pour
enough of the sugar on a marble slab or pan that has been greased, to
make a small round cake, fasten this with some of the sugar on top
of the pyramid after the pyramid has been lifted from the form. When
lifting off be careful not to strike the top against anything. If it
will not loosen easily, light a small piece of newspaper and put under
the form. Place a hand on each side of the pyramid and raise it up.
If it does not come loose in this way, get an assistant to hold a 4
lb. weight on top of the form to hold it firm until loosened, and be
careful not to push against it when lifting. Try to have it set up as
soon as possible, as the sugar will soon harden. If it is commencing to
harden set on the edge of the stove to keep warm, or add about ½ pint
water, and boil to a crack as before. When the pyramid is set up it may
be ornamented with ornamenting icing, and composition flowers, gilt,
silvered and green leaves. Macaroon pyramids will not keep nice long
in warm or damp weather, and are therefore mostly made in the fall or
winter.
Candy Ornaments for Macaroon Pyramid.
Cut a design out of pasteboard according to your fancy. Grease a marble
slab, and with a lead pencil mark off the design on the slab. Ornament
over the lead pencil mark with ornamenting icing, using a plain coarse
tube. Run inside of this sugar that has been boiled to a crack, using
a small copper pot with a long fine spout, or make a fancy design on
the slab with the lead pencil, and run out boiled sugar with a spoon.
As soon as the designs harden loosen with a pallet knife, being careful
not to break them, or fasten to the pyramid orange slices that have
been dipped in boiling sugar, first dipping in one end, letting it
harden, and then the other. Be careful not to tear the fine skin around
any of the slices.
To Make an Egg Beater.
Take some stout brass wire, and cut into lengths of about 2 feet, or
as long as desired. Take 8 or 10 of these, and bend them in the shape
wanted. Wrap the part wanted for a handle tightly with stout cord. A
stick of wood may be used for making the handle stronger, but if stout
wire is used and wrapped well it will answer the purpose. If the beater
is wanted for beating the whites of eggs alone, thinner wire may be
used.
Almond Puffs.
The whites of 7 eggs, 1 lb. pulverized sugar, 2 oz. blanched almonds,
dried, rolled, and passed through a sieve. Let off the whites into a
clean round-bottomed copper kettle, or a tin bucket, beat with the
beater until right stiff, occasionally adding a tablespoonful of the
sugar while beating, then put in the sugar and almonds, and mix with a
thin wooden spatula. Mix light, then pass through a gum sack made in
the same manner as a lady finger sack, first slipping in a tin tube.
Squeeze through this on pans that have been well cleaned and thickly
greased. Put in a very cool oven. When they have a crust so they can be
well handled take them off the pans and put on tin trays.
Icing.
Let off the whites of 8 eggs into a clean white bowl, or let them off
into a cup one at a time and then empty into the bowl. Be careful not
to get the least particle of yellow in the whites. Add a few drops of
acetic acid to the whites of eggs, and as much ultramarine blue as will
lay on the point of a penknife; great care should be taken not to get
in too much or the icing will be blue. Stir in enough pulverized sugar
that has been passed through a fine sieve to make a thickish paste.
Beat this up by holding a spatula in each hand, having the bowl in the
lap or standing on a bench or table, beat until right white and light,
which will require brisk beating for 20 minutes. The icing should be
just thick enough so that it can be spread with a pallet knife nice
and smooth on a cake without running off the sides while the cake is
drying. Spread the icing within about half an inch of the edge of the
cake. Put in the proof oven, or dry inside the oven after the baking is
done. Be careful that the icing don’t get brown. As soon as the icing
is dry enough to bear the weight of the ornamenting that may be put
on, take the cake out. This amount of icing is sufficient to ice and
ornament a good sized cake. If the icing is wanted for ornamenting also
it should be made of “lozenge sugar,” which is fine like flour; but for
plain icing alone the common pulverized sugar will answer. Be careful
to have the bowl, paddles, &c., right clean, and see that they are not
greasy.
To ice and ornament a small cake, it is best to make plain icing, and
then give the cake one thick coating of icing, and add sufficient sugar
to make the icing stiff enough for ornamenting. But for a large cake,
as a wedding cake, give the cake a very thin coating of icing, allow
this to dry, then put on a thick coating of icing and allow that to dry
also; beat up icing in a separate bowl for ornamenting the cake. This
icing should be so that it will stand alone, and that the _border_ will
not slip off the cake after it is put on.
To become a good ornamenter requires a great deal of practice; and to
become a first-class one a knowledge of drawing is necessary, although
any one with a little practice can ornament a cake so that it will
look well. Take a piece of ornamenting paper, or writing paper will
do, wrap it around the hand or fingers so as to form it into a conical
shape, then holding in the hand so that it does not unwrap, cut off
the pointed end with a scissors, and slip in an ornamenting tube at
the top. Put in the icing, turn the paper down, and squeeze with the
ball of the thumb. Ornamenting tubes are cut in different designs.
Use a coarse tube for making a border around the cake, and a fine one
for ornamenting inside of the border. Gilt, silvered, and various
colored leaves can also be put on; also a variety of ornaments. Before
beginning to ice a cake always trim it neatly with a sharp knife, so
that it will have a nice shape, or use a large grater. Clean off the
crumbs well with a brush, and fill up the hole made by the spout of the
mould by firmly fastening a hard sugar or other cake in it. Always use
white icing and white ornaments for decorating a wedding cake.
Water Icing.
Take pulverized sugar and water, and make a rather thick paste, add a
few drops oil of lemon, spread on the cake and set the cake in a warm
place a few minutes to dry.
Substitute for Whites of Eggs in Making Icing.
Three ounces isinglass, ½ lb. white glue, 2 gallons water, boil this
together and skim well. Put in afterwards ¼ lb. burnt alum, which has
previously been dissolved in warm water. Keep in a cool place. Cakes
iced with this should not be allowed to stand over a day or two, as the
icing soon becomes very hard.
Soda Biscuit, No. 1.
Eight lbs. best flour, 1 lb. lard, ½ oz. soda scant, ½ oz. carbonate of
ammonia, ¼ lb. cream tartar, ½ gall. milk, about 1 pint water; mix. Cut
out thick and bake in a hot oven, leaving the oven door partly open;
add also a little salt to the flour, &c.
Puff Paste.
To make good puff paste, it is necessary to have the best of flour
and good fresh butter. The butter should be pretty stiff, but not
hard. If the butter is soft, put it in ice water two or three hours
previous to making the paste. Take 2 lbs. flour, and 2 lbs. butter; mix
a small piece of the butter, about ¼ lb., with the flour, by rubbing
it thoroughly between the palms of the hands until fine. Put in 1
pint ice water, or some that is right cold. Mix and work this well in
a bowl, then roll out on the bench until about half an inch thick.
Work the balance of the butter with the hands in a little cold water.
Then work out the water by taking a little of the butter in the left
hand, and slapping it with the palm of the right hand. Lay this butter
evenly over the paste to within about 1 inch or 1½ inch of the edge of
the paste. Now fold from two sides and roll slightly, then from the
opposite sides also. Lay a sheet of brown paper on a pan and put the
paste on it. The pan should be large enough for the paste to lay in
without doubling the paste. Set the pan on some broken ice, or on a
large piece of ice, and cover it with another pan, and lay a few pieces
of ice around on the top pan also. Let it remain this way half an hour,
then roll it out, fold it and roll again, being careful not to roll
too much; set on the ice again and let it remain twenty minutes, then
roll again. Set on the ice again for fifteen minutes, roll again, and
let remain on the ice for twenty minutes more, then roll out, handling
the paste as little as possible with the hands. It should always be
rolled in as cool a room as possible, and baked immediately after it is
cut out. Bake in a moderately hot oven.
Tarts.
Roll out puff paste about ¼ inch thick, cut out with a large round
cutter, and with a small cutter press gently in the middle of each one
cut out. Cut out so as to have as little scrap as possible. When baked,
press each tart down in the middle, and fill with cranberry sauce or
apple marmalade.
Pie Crust.
Two lbs. flour, 1 lb. butter, a scant 1 pint water. The butter should
be a stiff paste. Rub the butter and flour well together between the
hands until fine, then pour the water over mixture. Ice water should
be used in hot weather. Mix the water in as lightly as possible. Lard
may be used in place of butter, but is not equal to it; when lard is
used, add a pinch of salt. If the butter is too salty, wash out in
cold water. Have the pie plates greased. With the scraper cut some of
the dough into pieces large enough for bottom crusts, roll a little,
just enough to make them round. Flatten a little with the palm of the
hand. Before rolling out, dust the bench with flour. Roll out a little
crosswise, lift up the dough, dust the bench, turn the dough upside
down, and roll out lengthwise of the bench. Get it to a round flat
shape with as little rolling as possible, as rolling it much will make
it tough. Roll very little larger than the plate, so as not to have
much scrap dough. Roll out about one-half of the dough for “bottoms.”
As soon as the bottom is rolled out for one pie put on the pie plate,
lift up the pie plate about 3 inches and let fall again a couple of
times, don’t press it down with the fingers. Make the bottom crust for
pies a little thicker than the top crust. Have plain pie plates, don’t
get those with a groove pressed in them. When making some juicy fruit
pie wash the rims of the pies before putting on the top crust with
water. If the oven should be a little cold, and you wish the pies to
have a nice color, wash over with a brush dipped in the beaten yolks of
eggs and a very little water.
Apple Pie.
Pare tart apples and cut fine. Fill up the pies, add white sugar to
sweeten and a dust of ground cinnamon, or a little of the grated
_yellow_ of a lemon. Put a few tablespoonfuls water in each pie, also
about ½ oz. fresh butter. Don’t pare the apples until ready to make the
pies, as they turn black looking. If you prefer the apples stewed, put
into a stew pan with just enough water to cover them, stew until soft,
then mash, sweeten and flavor to taste.
Cranberry Pie.
Wash the berries and pick out all that are not fit. Put into a stew
pan with barely enough water to cover them, stew until soft, pour
into a crock and let them cool. Then rub through a colander or sieve
and sweeten, or sweeten while hot. The sugar should be sieved before
putting it in; white sugar is best, although any kind of common sugar
may be used. Fill the pie with the fruit, roll out the dough, cut it in
strips and lay diagonally across, previously wetting the rim of the pie
with a little water.
Mince Pie.
Mince meat procured from the groceries is generally too thick, and
should be thinned with the addition of sweet cider. The best mince meat
is made of beef, suet, apples, brown sugar, seedless raisins, currants,
the grated _yellow_ of lemons, a little citron, ground cinnamon,
cloves and allspice, good sweet cider, and enough Port Wine to impart
a good taste; the beef, apples, &c., to be chopped fine and then all
thoroughly mixed.
Lemon Pies, No. 1.
Six good sized and fresh lemons, 3 lbs. white sugar, 6 eggs, 1 pint
milk, ½ lb. corn starch, 2 oz. fresh butter, a pinch of salt, and 3
qts. water; put the sugar in a bowl, and grate on it the _yellow_ of
the lemons; don’t use the white, rind or seeds, or the pies will be
bitter. Also squeeze the juice of the lemons on the sugar. Set the
milk on the stove to boil, beat the eggs and corn starch together, and
when the milk boils put this in, stirring briskly; then add the sugar
and lemon juice. Be careful not to get it scorched. Put into a bowl to
cool, and when cool fill the pies, cover and bake; or make the custard
a little thicker, and fill the pies, not putting any crust on them.
When baked, beat up some whites of eggs, add pulverized sugar, and
spread this over the pies, and set in the oven to brown.
Lemon Pies, No. 2.
One good sized fresh lemon, 1 egg, ½ lb. white sugar, 2 heaping
tablespoonfuls of flour, and 1 pint water; grate the _yellow_ of the
lemon into a bowl, put in the flour, then the egg, add a very little
water, and beat this smooth with a spatula. Then add the sugar and
water, stir well, fill the pies pretty full, wet the rim of the pie
before putting on the top crust, and cut a good many holes in the top
crust. This makes a good pie, but it sometimes boils out considerable
while baking.
Cocoanut Custard Pie.
Grate the cocoanuts, add a little melted butter, enough sweet milk to
make a right soft batter, and sweeten to taste. Bake without a top
crust. Allow 2 eggs for each pie.
Pumpkin Custard Pie.
Pare and remove the seeds from the pumpkin, cut in small pieces, and
stew until soft; put into a colander and allow all water to run off,
then rub through the colander into a bowl. Add sugar to sweeten, some
beaten eggs, about 1 for each pie, thin with boiled milk, flavor with
ground allspice. Bake without a top crust.
FAMILY BAKING.
It seems to me there is not the interest taken by mothers to instruct
their daughters in baking and cooking that there should be. It is
often the case that a mother who has several grown-up daughters does
the baking herself, and her daughters know very little about it. Ask
her why she don’t allow her daughters to do the baking, and she will
probably tell you, “Oh, they have plenty of time yet to learn.” It may
be, and very often is, more convenient for families to buy their bread,
but if every woman knew _how to bake good bread_, it would contribute
much towards the health and happiness of all. None but those who have
experienced it, know the mortification felt when the bread is bad
after _trying their best_. There are a great number of women who can
bake good bread, and I don’t think they regret it, although it may not
be considered a _high-toned accomplishment_ by _some_. I think the
formation of Ladies’ Baking and Cooking Societies would be a good idea.
It would be profitable to all. Have a meeting, say once a month, each
member donating a specimen of her baking, bread or cake, and various
“cooked dishes,” the recipes for making them to be printed, and a copy
distributed to each member. The business of the meeting, as remarks,
essays, &c., on baking and cooking, could be concluded at an early hour
in the evening, say by 9 o’clock, after which time a few hours could
be agreeably spent in company with relatives and friends, previously
inviting them to call, and having dancing, singing, or various social
games, thus combining pleasure with profit.
The recipes herein mentioned are most of them adapted to families,
as well as hotels and bakeries. The _ferment_ mentioned as made with
_stock yeast_ is the _yeast_ generally sold to families by bakers, and
is used by the bakers themselves. Every large-sized family obliged to
do their own baking should have a brick oven built, and covered with
a shed to protect it from rain. A brick oven large enough to meet the
requirements of a large family can be built at a comparatively small
cost. It is often the case that a woman does the baking in a rickety
old stove. The reason a great many women fail to make good bread is
because they allow the sponge to fall too much or the dough to raise
too much.
Ferment for Family Baking.
Put a few potatoes on to boil, about 6 good sized ones; put sufficient
water on them, so that there will be plenty to _scald_ a handful of
flour; when they have boiled soft, put into a clean crock that has been
well _scalded out_ the handful of flour, and pour enough _scalding_
water to make a smooth paste. Take the potatoes out and mash them, and
add them also. If you want a good quantity of ferment, then add the hot
water also, but if not, only add sufficient to make the ferment about
milkwarm, or nearly cold in hot weather, and put in a gill of family
yeast, or 4 cakes of “National Dry Yeast,” made at Seneca, N. Y., or
some other equally as good. When set with dry yeast, it will require
longer for the ferment to rise and fall than with family yeast. Set
the ferment on a shelf near the ceiling, where it will keep moderately
warm, and where it will not be _disturbed_. Put it in a narrow crock.
Make this in the evening, and set the sponge the next morning, or if
it has not _fell yet_, wait until evening before setting sponge.
Setting Sponge and Making Dough.
Strain the ferment into a wooden bowl or small dough tray, add
one-fourth as much milkwarm water as ferment, stir in sufficient sieved
flour to make a rather stiff batter, let this set in a moderately warm
place until the sponge has _raised and fell_ a very little, then add
three-fourths as much milkwarm water as you set ferment and _water_
for sponge. Make into dough, and allow it to raise, which will take
generally about one hour; then make into loaves and bake. Have the room
while the sponge and dough are raising _comfortably_ warm, but not warm
enough to make you feel uncomfortable. Be careful that the sponge don’t
get disturbed while it is raising.
Family Yeast.