Have plenty of nice sweet lard in which to fry fritters, and test the
heat by dropping in a teaspoonful before you risk more. If right, the
batter will rise quickly to the surface in a puff-ball, spluttering
and dancing, and will speedily assume a rich golden-brown. Take up, as
soon as done, with a skimmer, shaking it to dislodge any drops of lard
that may adhere; pile in a hot dish, sift sugar over them, and send
instantly to the table. Fry as many at a time as the kettle will hold,
and send in hot fresh ones while the batter lasts. A round-bottomed
saucepan or kettle, rather wide at top, is best for frying them.
Use a frying-pan for pancakes; heat it; put in a teaspoonful or two of
lard and run it quickly over the bottom; then pour in a large ladleful
of batter—enough to cover the bottom of the pan with a thin sheet. Turn
with a tin spatula, very carefully, to avoid tearing it. The frying-pan
should be a small one. Have ready a hot dish; turn out the pancake upon
it, cover with powdered sugar, and roll up dexterously like a sheet of
paper. Send half a dozen to table at once, keeping them hot by setting
the dish in the oven until enough are baked.
I am thus explicit in these general instructions to save myself the
trouble, and the reader the tedium, of a repetition under each receipt.
In olden times it was a boast of notable cooks that they could toss
a pancake from the pan out of the top of the chimney with such
accuracy of calculation, that it would turn itself on the way back,
and settle in its place, ready, like St. Lawrence, to have the other
side fried. _I_ never saw a pancake tossed, although in my childish
days I saw hundreds fried by the honorable tribe—now so fast passing
away—of Old Virginia cooks. I do not advise this acrobatic system of
culinary exploit, especially for beginners. Indeed, I doubt if the
pancakes would be found equal to the journey in these days of tight
chimney-throats and cooking stoves. They must be out of practice as
well as their manufacturers. Be careful not to have too much grease in
the pan.