Sift two pounds of flour into a deep pan, and rub into it three
quarters of a pound of butter; then mix in a pound of common white
sugar powdered; and three table-spoonfuls of the best white
ginger. Having beaten four eggs very light, mix them gradually
with the other ingredients in the pan, and add a small tea-spoonful
of pearl-ash melted in a wine glass of warm milk. Stir
the whole as hard as possible. Flour your paste-board; lay the
lump of dough upon it, and roll it out into a sheet an inch thick;
adding more flour if necessary. Butter a large shallow square pan.
Lay the dough into it, and bake it in a moderate oven. When cold,
cut it into squares. Or you may cut it out into separate cakes
with a jagging iron, previous to baking. You must be careful not
to lay them too close together in the pan, lest they run into each
other.