chickens, dividing the breasts lengthwise, and cutting drumsticks from
thighs. Season well with salt and pepper. Melt in a frying pan two large
tablespoonfuls butter, add the chicken, and let it brown slowly for
five minutes. Have three large onions sliced thin--add them and let
brown but take care not to scorch in the least. Dredge in two
tablespoonfuls flour, and let it brown. Then put in half a dozen large
tomatoes peeled and sliced, let them brown but cook slowly, letting the
pan barely simmer. Add chopped parsley, thyme and bay leaf, also two
cloves of garlic finely minced, and if you have them, half a dozen sweet
green peppers, freed of seed and cut in shreds. Stir well, cover and let
smother for twenty minutes, stirring now and then, but keeping the pan
covered. Add a cup of consommé if in hand, otherwise a cup of boiling
water, cook very slowly a full half hour, seasoning to taste. After
seasoning, cook ten minutes longer. Serve very hot.
_Roasted Quail_: Take six quail, fat, fresh and tender, pick, draw,
singe, and wipe with a damp cloth inside and out. Butter inside, and
sprinkle with salt and pepper lightly. Butter all over the outside,
truss, and bind around with a thin slice of fat bacon. Put a
tablespoonful of butter in the roasting pan, fit in the quail, and
roast in a hot oven twenty to thirty minutes, according to size. Put six
slices of hot buttered toast in a hot dish, and lay a quail on each. Add
half a spoonful of butter, a little boiling water, and the juice of a
lemon to the gravy in the pan, cook three to four minutes, stirring
well, strain, set back on stove to cook two minutes longer, then pour
evenly upon the breasts of the birds so it will soak in the toast.
Garnish with sliced lemon and watercress, and serve with green grape
jelly. If grape leaves are to be had, wrap the birds in them instead of
bacon, after preparing as directed, roast, take up on toast, garnish
with fresh young grape leaves, and serve with either spiced grapes or
grape jelly.
_Creole French Dressing_: Put three tablespoonfuls of olive oil in a
deep, small bowl, add to it a saltspoon salt and half one of
pepper--more if taste approves. Add alternately drop by drop, a
teaspoonful of made mustard, and a tablespoonful vinegar. When well
mixed, add the yolk of a hard-boiled egg, mashed very smooth, and stir
until blended. Serve with lettuce, celery or potato salad.
_Mayonnaise Dressing_: Chill a small bowl, also a fresh egg, and your
salad oil. Put the yolk of the egg in the bowl--which if it is summer,
should sit in cracked ice. Add drop by drop chilled oil, working it in
as you drop it. When you have added a spoonful begin dropping in lemon
juice, working it likewise into the yolk. It will harden the egg--stir
till very hard, then add more oil, drop by drop, working it in with a
fork. Repeat, until you have used the juice of half a lemon, and two
gills of oil. When the egg begins to curdle add salt and pepper to
taste--but do not put them in until the last. Keep and serve very cold.
_Remoulade Dressing_: Put three hard boiled egg-yolks into a bowl, mash
smooth, add to them half a teaspoonful made mustard, one tablespoonful
Tarragon vinegar, with salt and Cayenne to taste. Next add, drop by
drop, three tablespoonfuls olive oil, after which put in the yolk of a
raw egg, and stir until light. Finish with the juice of half a lemon,
added very gradually. Much depends on the mixing--if hurried or
carelessly done, the sauce will curdle. This is standard for cold meat
of every sort, also heavy salads, and fish.
_Drip Coffee_: Two things are essential--an absolutely clean urn, and
sound coffee, freshly parched, and ground neither too fine nor too
coarse. The water must be freshly boiled. Put a cup of ground coffee in
the strainer, pour upon it about two tablespoonfuls of boiling water,
let it stand until the water drips through and there is no more
bubbling, then pour on more water, but not too much, let it drip,
keeping both the strainer and the spout covered to prevent the loss of
aroma. Repeat until you have used almost five cups of water--this for
four cups of strained coffee, as the grounds hold part of the water.
Keep the pot hot while the dripping goes on, but never where the coffee
will boil. If it dyes the cups it is too strong, but beware of making
too weak.
_Bruleau_: Put into the special bruleau bowl, which has its own brandy
ladle, three ladlefuls of brandy, along with the yellow peel of half an
orange, a dozen cloves, a stick of cinnamon, a few grains of alspice and
six lumps of sugar. Let stand several hours to extract the essential
oils. At serving time put in an extra ladleful of brandy for every
person to be served, and two lumps of domino sugar. Pour alcohol in the
tray underneath the bowl, light it, and stir the brandy back and forth
until it also catches from the flame below. Let burn two or three
minutes--if the lights have been extinguished as they should be, the
effect is beautifully spectral. After the three minutes pour in strong,
hot, clear, black coffee, a small cupful for each person, keep stirring
until the flame dies out, then serve literally blazing hot. This "burnt
water" known in more sophisticated regions as _Café Diabolique_,
originated in New Orleans, and is the consummate flowering of Creole
cookery.
[Illustration: _Cakes, Great and Small_]
The very queen among cake makers sums her secret of success in a
sentence: "The best of everything." Cake will never be better than the
things whereof it is made, no matter how skilled the maker. But it can
be, and too often is, dismally worse, thus involving a waste of heaven's
good gifts of sugar, butter, eggs, flour and flavors. Having the best at
hand, use it well. Isaac Walton's direction for the bait, "Use them as
though you loved them," applies here as many otherwheres. Unless you
love cake-making, not perhaps the work, but the results, you will never
excell greatly in the fine art. Better buy your cake, or hire the making
thereof, else swap work with some other person better gifted in this
special branch.
Here are a few cardinal helps. Have the eggs very cold, butter soft but
not oily, flour dry and light--sun or oven-dry it in muggy weather. Sift
it three times for ordinary cakes, twice for tea cakes, and so on, four
to five times for very light things, sponge cake, angel's food, and
measure it before sifting, and don't forget the needed amount--then you
will be in no danger of putting in too much or too little. Always put a
pinch of fine salt in the bottom of the mixing bowl, which ought to be
freshly scalded and wiped very dry. A damp bowl clogs with either sugar
or flour, making the stirring much harder. Unless specifically directed
otherwise, separate the eggs, set the whites on ice till time to whip
them, beat the yolks very, very light--to a pale, frothy yellow, add the
sugar, free of lumps, a cupful at a time, then the butter washed and
beaten to a creamy froth, beat hard together for five minutes, then add
alternately the flour and the egg-whites beaten to the stiffest possible
froth. Add a pinch of salt as beating begins, and if the egg supply is
scant, a teaspoonful of cold water to each white. This will increase the
quantity, and help to make the cake lighter, as it is the air-bubbles
imprisoned in the froth which give it its raising virtue. Add fruit and
flavoring last thing. Fruit should be well floured but never clotted. If
batter appears to be too stiff a little whiskey thins it excellently,
and helps to make it lighter. Put in two tablespoonfuls to six eggs,
using more in proportion. Rose water or a liqueur have the same effect
but give their own flavor--which whiskey does not.
If strong butter needs must be used, it can be mitigated to a degree, by
washing and kneading well in cold water barely dashed with chloride of
lime solution, then rinsing well in cold water, and afterward in sweet
milk. The milk may be half water. Rinse it out clean. Let the butter
soften well before undertaking to cream it. A stout, blunt wooden spoon
is the best for creaming, along with a deep bowl very narrow at the
bottom. Grease deep cake tins plentifully, with either lard or
butter--using only the best. For heavy cakes such as fruit, spice and
marble cake, line them with double thicknesses of buttered paper and
either set shallow pans of water in the oven while baking or stand the
pans themselves in other pans with a quarter inch of water in the
bottoms. If cakes brown too fast, open the oven door, a trifle, and lay
over the pan a thick, well buttered paper until the oven cools. Never
jar the oven while cake is baking in it--neither by banging the doors,
nor dumping heavy vessels on top of it. Beware likewise slamming kitchen
doors, or bumping things about in the room. Fine cake demands as many
virtues of omission as of commission. Indeed the don'ts are as essential
as the doings.
Layer cakes need to be mixed thinner than deep ones. The batter must run
freely. Half fill the tins and set in a hot oven, taking care not to
scorch before rising is finished. Butter tins very freely--it is
economy in the end. Be sure the tins sit level in the oven--thus you
escape an ungainly final loaf. Get filling ready as baking goes forward
so as to put your layers together while still warm and pliable. Let cool
before frosting, so as to trim sides smooth. Take care fillings are not
too watery, also that they are mixed smooth. Spread evenly, and press
down a layer firmly all over, before putting filling on top. Layers
simplify greatly the problem of baking, but to my mind, no layer cake,
not even the famous Lady Baltimore, is equal to a fine deep loaf, well
frosted, and meltingly rich throughout.
_Pound Cake_: (Aunt Polly Rives) Take ten fresh eggs, their weight in
fresh butter, white sugar, and thrice sifted flour. Separate the eggs,
beat yolks to a cream-yellow, add the sugar, cupful at a time, beat
hard, then the butter creamed to a froth, then half the flour, then two
wineglasses of whiskey or brandy or good sherry or rose water, beat hard
five minutes, then add the rest of the flour, taking care not to pack
it in the handling. Beat fifteen minutes longer, then fold in with long
strokes, the egg-whites beaten with a good pinch of salt until they
stick to the dish. Barely mix them through the batter, then pour it into
deep pans, or ovens, lined with double greased papers. The vessels also
must be well buttered. Bake with quick heat, letting the cake rise well
before browning. Slack heat when it is a very light brown, and cook
until a straw thrust to the bottom comes out clean. Turn out upon a
thick, folded cloth, cover with another thinner cloth, and let cool.
Frost when cool, either with the boiled frosting directed for
cheesecakes (See Chapter on Paste, Pies and Puddings) or with plain
frosting made thus. Beat three egg-whites well chilled to the stiffest
possible froth with a pinch of salt, and a very little cold water. Add
to them gradually when thus beaten a pound of sugar sifted with a
teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Mix very smooth, and apply with a
broad-bladed knife, dipping it now and then in cold water to keep the
frosting smooth. It should dry a quarter-inch thick and be delicious
eating. Frosted cake keeps fresh three times as long as that left naked.
_Spice Cake_: Cream a coffee cup of well washed butter, with two cups
yellow sugar and one cup black molasses. Add to it one after the other,
seven egg-yolks, beating hard between. When all are in, add one
tablespoonful whiskey, or brandy, one teaspoonful grated chocolate,
teaspoonful each of powdered cloves, allspice, ginger, mace, and
cinnamon, a grated nutmeg, and half a saltspoonful of powdered black
pepper. Add also a pinch of salt, and the barest dusting of paprika. If
whiskey is for any reason disapproved, use strong, clear coffee instead,
putting in two spoonfuls, and leaving out the chocolate. Beat all
together hard for ten minutes, then add four scant cups flour browned in
the oven but not burned. Sift after browning, adding to it two
teaspoonfuls baking powder. Beat hard five minutes after the flour is
all in, then pour in a deep, well greased pan, lined with buttered
paper, let rise ten minutes with the oven door open, then bake in quick
heat until done through.
_Marble Cake_: Make up egg-yolks into spice cake, beat the whites very
light, and add them to three cups of sifted sugar, beaten smooth in a
large cup of creamed butter. Put in a wineglass of whiskey or brandy,
then add three cups and a half flour sifted three times with a heaping
teaspoonful baking powder. Put the light and dark batter by alternate
spoonfuls in pans well buttered and papered, let rise and bake the same
as spice cake. Else bake the light and dark batter in layers, put
together with any good filling, and frost with caramel frosting.
_Real Gold Cake_: Beat very light the yolks of sixteen eggs, with a full
pound of yellow sugar, and a scant pound of creamed butter. Add a cup of
rich sour cream with a teaspoonful soda dissolved in it. Or if you like
better put in the cream _solus_, and add the soda dissolved in a
teaspoonful of boiling water at the very last. This makes lighter cake
so is worth the extra trouble. Flavor to taste--grated lemon rind is
good. Add gradually four cups flour sifted three times at least. Beat
hard for ten minutes, then bake in well-greased pans, lined with
buttered paper, until well done, let cool partly in the pans, then turn
out, dust lightly with flour or corn starch and frost.
_Real Silver Cake_: Wash and cream to a froth a pound of fresh butter,
work into it a pound of sifted sugar, and a pound of flour, sifted
thrice with a teaspoonful of baking powder. Add flavoring--vanilla,
lemon or rose water, following it with a wineglass of whiskey. Then fold
in the whites of sixteen eggs beaten with a pinch of salt to the
stiffest possible froth. If the batter looks too thick add half a cup
sweet cream--this will depend on the size of the eggs and the dryness of
the flour. Bake in deep pans, else in layers. By baking gold and silver
batter in layers, and alternating them you can have a fine marble cake.
Or by coloring half the white batter pink with vegetable color to be had
from any confectioner, you can have rose-marble cake. This should be
iced with pink frosting else with plain white, then dotted over with
pink. Very decorative for birthday parties or afternoon teas.
_Christmas Cake_: Prepare fruit first. Cut small half a pound of
homemade citron drained from syrup, wash and seed one pound raisins,
pick, wash and dry one pound currants, mince a teacup of any firm
preserve--quince, peach or pear, or use a cupful of preserved cherries
whole. Shred fine four ounces of homemade candied peel, also four ounces
of preserved ginger, add a cupful of nutmeats--pecans or English
walnuts, or even scalybarks, cutting them in bits, mix all well
together, then pour upon them the strained juice of three oranges, and
three lemons, also add the grated yellow peel. Next pour on half a pint
of whiskey, a gill of rum, and a tumbler of cordial--peach or
blackberry, and homemade if possible. Let stand overnight, in a warm
place--the fruit should take up the most part of the liquor. A glass of
tart jelly is held an improvement by some. I do not put it in--the
preserves suit my palate better. Cream a full pound of butter with four
cups sifted sugar, beat into it one at a time, ten large fresh eggs.
After them put in four cups dried and sifted flour, mix smooth, then put
in the fruit, drained from the liquor and lightly dredged with hot,
sifted flour. Mix well, then add the liquor drained from the fruit,
along with a tablespoonful of lemon essence, and as much vanilla or rose
water. If the batter is too stiff to stir well, thin with either a
little sweet cream or boiling water, or cordial. Pour into pans buttered
and lined with five thicknesses of buttered paper, set the pans in other
pans of hot water inside a warm but not brisk oven, shield the tops with
double paper, and let rise half an hour. Increase heat then, but the
baking must be slow. Four to five hours is required, according to the
size of pans. Keep covered until the last half hour--then the heat may
be sensibly increased. Test with straws--when they come out clean, take
up, set pans on racks, cover with thick cloth and let cool thoroughly.
Frost next day, with either plain or boiled frosting. By baking the
cake in rather small square molds, set close in a larger pan, the
squares can be cut without waste and frosted to make individual cakes.
_White Layer Cake_: (Mrs. George H. Patch.) Sift two teaspoonfuls baking
powder through three and a half cups flour, measured before sifting.
Cream a cup of butter with two and one half cups sugar, add a cup of
rich milk, beat hard, then add gradually the flour, following it with
the whites of seven eggs beaten very stiff with a small pinch of salt.
Fold in lightly, and bake in three layers. Put together with orange
filling, or frosting made thick with nuts and minced figs.
_German Coffee Cake_: (Mrs. T. G. Petre.) Beat six fresh eggs very light
with one pound of sugar, and one pound flour. Add the peel of a lemon
grated, and one yeast cake dissolved in a little hot milk or water. Let
stand till very light, then roll into sheets one inch thick, spread them
thickly with melted butter--half a pound will be required, sprinkle with
two ounces bitter almonds blanched and shredded fine, mixed with four
ounces sugar, and a teaspoonful powdered cinnamon. Let rise again, and
bake in a moderate oven. Good hot or cold.
_Cream Cake_: (Betsy Vaughn.) Cream together very light two cups butter,
three cups sugar, one cup sweet cream. Add gradually four cups flour
sifted with one teaspoonful baking powder, then fold in the whites of
fourteen eggs beaten very stiff with a pinch of salt. Flavor with bitter
almonds, bake in loaves or layers, and frost with pink icing, flavored
with rose water.
_Sponge Cake_: Beat very light the yolks of seven eggs with three cups
sifted sugar, and a pinch of salt. Add to them gradually a cup of hot
water, then three scant cups flour sifted thrice with two teaspoonfuls
baking powder. Fold in last the stiffly beaten white of the eggs, pour
into greased pans, and bake in a quick oven. The batter must not be too
thin. If the eggs are large only half a cup of water may be requisite.
Flavor with vanilla, putting orange or lemon in the frosting.
_White Sponge Cake_: Beat very stiff six egg-whites, add to them
gradually a cup of sugar, and a cup of flour sifted twice with a
teaspoonful of baking powder. Do not forget a tiny pinch of salt in the
eggs.
_Angel's Food_: Beat to a stiff froth with a pinch of salt, the whites
of eleven eggs. Mix in gradually a cup and a half of powdered sugar,
then add a cup of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful cream of tartar.
Mix smooth, add the strained juice of half a lemon, pour into a smooth,
ungreased pan, bake in a moderate oven half an hour, take up, turn pan
upside down on a cloth and let stand till the cake falls out.
_Chocolate Cake_: Sift together two cups flour, one cup corn starch, and
two teaspoonfuls baking powder, add to a cup of butter, creamed light
with two cups sugar and one cup sweet cream. Add the stiffly beaten
whites of seven eggs, flavor with vanilla, and bake in layers. For the
filling boil together to a thick syrup, three cups sugar, one cup water,
and half a cake of grated chocolate. Pour upon three egg-whites beaten
very stiff, flavor with vanilla or bitter almond, and spread between
layers.
_Orange Cake_: Cream a cup of butter with two cups sugar, beat into it a
cup of cold water, then add four cups flour thrice sifted with two
teaspoonfuls baking powder, alternate the flour with three well-beaten
eggs. Flavor to taste, bake in layers, and put together with orange
frosting made thus. Cook together till it threads the strained juice,
and grated yellow peel of a large sweet orange with one cup sugar, then
beat the hot syrup into two egg-whites whipped as stiff as possible.
Beat smooth and spread while hot.
_Dream Cakes_: Cream well half a cup butter, add a cup and a half of
sugar, half a cup cold water, two cups flour sifted twice with two
teaspoonfuls baking powder, a teaspoonful lemon extract, and the stiffly
beaten whites of six eggs. Bake in small shapes, frost, with boiled
frosting, and ornament with tiny pink candies.
_Shrewsbury Cakes_: This receipt with two that follow, comes down from:
"The spacious days of great Elizabeth." They are given verbatim, from
the original version, as it seems to me the flavor of the language must
add to the flavor of the cakes. "Mix half a pound of butter, well beat
like cream, with the same weight of flour, one egg, six ounces of beaten
and sifted loaf sugar, and half an ounce of caraway seed. Form these
into a paste, roll them thin, and lay them in sheets of tin, then bake
them in a slow oven."
_Queen Cakes_: "Take a pound of sugar, beat and sift it, a pound of well
dried flour, a pound of butter, eight eggs, and half a pound of
currants, washed and picked; grate a nutmeg and an equal quantity of
mace and cinnamon, work the butter to a cream, put in the sugar, beat
the whites of the eggs twenty minutes and mix them with the butter and
sugar. Then beat the yolks for half an hour, and put them to the butter.
Beat the whole together and when it is ready for the oven, put in the
flour, spices and currants, sift a little sugar over them, and bake them
in tins."
_Banbury Cakes_: "Take a pound of dough, made for white bread, roll it
out and put bits of butter upon the same as for puff paste, till a pound
of the same has been worked in; roll it out very thin, then cut it into
bits of an oval size, according as the cakes are wanted. Mix some good
moist sugar with a little brandy, sufficient to wet it, then mix some
clean-washed currants with the former, put a little upon each bit of
paste, close them up, and put the side that is closed next the tin they
are to be baked upon. Lay them separate, and bake them moderately, and
afterward, when taken out, sift sugar over them. Some candied peel may
be added, or a few drops essence of lemon."
_Oatmeal Cookies_: (Mrs. T. G. Petre.) Beat together until creamy, one
egg, half cup sugar, third cup butter, third teaspoonful soda mixed with
one cup sifted pastry flour, half teaspoonful each of salt and cinnamon,
then add one cup rolled oatmeal, half cup each of shredded nuts and
raisins. Mix well, drop on greased tin, and bake in a slow oven. Do not
let the stiffness of the dough induce you to add milk or water.
_Tea Cakes_: (Betsy Vaughn.) Cream together a cup and a half of butter,
and two cups and a half of sugar, add to five eggs beaten very light,
mix well, then add a cup and a half of buttermilk with a small
teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it. Pour upon flour enough to make a
soft dough, flavor with nutmeg, roll out a quarter-inch thick, cut with
a small, round cutter, and bake in a quick but not scorching oven.
_Tea Cakes_: (M. L. Williams.) Beat five eggs very light, with five cups
of sugar, a heaping cup of lard, well creamed, and two cupfuls of sour
milk, with a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it. Mix through enough
flour to make a soft dough, roll half an inch thick, cut out and bake in
a quick oven.
_Plain Soft Gingerbread_: Dissolve a desert spoonful of soda in a cup of
boiling water, add to it a cup of rich molasses, along with three
tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Mix well through two and and one half
cups sifted flour, add ground ginger and alspice to taste, and bake in a
moderate oven.
_Mammy's Ginger Cakes_: Beat four eggs very light with a good pinch of
salt and a cup of coffee sugar. Add three cups of rich molasses, and a
cup of boiling water with two teaspoonfuls soda dissolved in it. Mix
well in two tablespoonfuls pounded ginger. Sift five pints of flour with
a teaspoonful of salt, rub into it lightly two cups sweet lard, then add
the molasses mixture and knead to a firm dough, adding more flour if
needed or, if too stiff, a little sweet milk. Roll out half an inch
thick, cut into big squares, bake in a quick oven, and brush over the
tops while blazing hot a little butter, molasses and boiling water. Let
stand in a warm place until dry. These might properly be called First
Monday Ginger Cakes, since our Mammy made them to sell upon that day to
the crowds which came to court, thereby turning many an honest fip or
picayune.
_Family Gingerbread_: Cup and a half dark molasses, half cup sugar,
small cup melted lard, cup boiling water with teaspoonful soda dissolved
in it, pinch of salt, sifted flour enough to make rather stiffer than
pound cake batter. Spices to taste--ginger, allspice, nutmeg, all in
powder, is a good mixture. Bake rather quickly.