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.