The old-fashioned fruit short cakes were generally made with flour,
soda, sour milk, and shortening, and were restricted to the strawberry
season. We now use Royal Baking Powder for lightening them, employ all
the fruits of the various seasons, and thus feast ourselves upon the
delicate confections almost the whole year through. The short cake
made with Royal Baking Powder and sweet milk is incomparably better,
surer, and more healthful than the old-fashioned concoction. Too much
skill was required in combining soda and sour milk. The milk had to be
at just the right stage of sourness; not a grain more of soda could be
used than was sufficient to neutralize the acid in the milk, or the
cake would be yellow, with a disagreeable odor and soapy taste; if
too little, the cake was heavy. But even the young or inexperienced
housekeeper will find that with Royal Baking Powder a perfect short
cake is an easy and agreeable task. The baking powder only needs to be
thoroughly sifted with the flour, so that it may evenly lighten the
cake. Use sweet milk always. For the old-fashioned short cake no eggs
are needed, the dough being put together in the same way as for baking
powder biscuit.
Throughout the summer fresh fruit of all kinds can be used. With cold
weather substitutes are found in tropical fruits such as bananas and
oranges, stewed fruits such as prunes, dried, and all varieties of
canned fruits; but it is better to keep the fruit short cake for those
seasons when ripe, fresh fruits are obtainable.
The cake part for a fruit short cake may be made from any one of the
following receipts:
=Short Cake.=—1 quart flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 heaping teaspoons
Royal Baking Powder, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 pint milk. Sift the
flour, salt, and powder together, rub in the butter cold; add the
milk and mix into a smooth dough, just soft enough to handle; divide
in half, and roll out to the size of breakfast-plates; lay on a
greased baking-tin (fig. XIV), and bake in hot oven 20 minutes;
separate the cakes without cutting, as cutting makes them heavy.
=Short Cake, 2.=—1 quart flour, ½ cup butter, ½ teaspoon salt, 1
tablespoon sugar, 2 heaping teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, milk to
make soft dough. Mix as in first receipt, and bake.
=Short Cake, 3.=—1 pint flour, 3 tablespoons butter, ½ teaspoon salt,
2 teaspoons sugar, 2 scant teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, milk to mix
to stiff batter. Sift dry ingredients; add milk to make very thick
batter in which spoon will stand upright. Turn into shallow greased
pan (fig. XIII), and steam 30 minutes; place in hot oven 10 minutes.
When cold split in 2 or 3 thicknesses.
=Short Cake, 4.=—Cream ½ cup butter and 1 cup sugar. Add 2 well-beaten
eggs, ½ teaspoon salt; then, alternately, ½ cup milk and 2 cups flour
in which is sifted 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder. Bake in layer-cake
tins and use when cold.
=Apple Short Cake.=—Pare, core, and cut 8 sour apples into eighths.
Put in earthen dish with 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon lemon
juice, ½ cup sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg. Cover and bake
in moderate oven till dark red and tender. When cold spread between
layers of short cake and serve with plain or whipped cream or a cold
boiled custard.
=Blackberry Short Cake.=—Wash and drain 1 quart berries. Sweeten,
spread between layers of short cake, and serve with cream or a cold
custard.
=Strawberry Short Cake.=—Pick, hull, wash, and drain berries. Sweeten,
spread between bottom layers of short cake. Garnish top layer with
large whole berries, dust with sugar, and serve with cream or custard.
=Raspberry Short Cake.=—Prepare as for strawberry short cake.
=Cherry Short Cake.=—Make as for strawberry short cake, using pitted
sweet or tart cherries.
=Peach Short Cake.=—Pare and slice peaches. Finish as for strawberry
short cake.
=Banana Short Cake.=—Peel and slice bananas. Finish as for strawberry
short cake.
=Canned Fruit Short Cake.=—Any canned fruit, drained from syrup, may
be used in place of fresh fruit, finishing as for other short cakes.
=Huckleberry Short Cake.=—2 cups sugar, ½ cup butter, 1 teaspoon salt,
1 pint milk, 2 heaping teaspoons Royal Baking Powder sifted into 3
cups flour, 1 quart washed and well-drained huckleberries, more flour
to make a very thick batter. Bake in greased dripping-pan, break in
squares, serve hot with butter.
=Individual Short Cakes.=—Make short cake, 2. Roll out ½ inch thick,
cut in rounds size of small saucer. Bake and finish as for other short
cakes.