Four eggs.
Three quarters of a pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of powdered white sugar.
Two wine-glasses and a half of rich milk.
Six ounces of fresh butter.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A grated nutmeg.
A large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon.
Sift half a pound of flour into a broad pan, and sift a quarter of
a pound, separately, into a deep plate, and set it aside. Put the
milk into a soup-plate, cut up the butter, and set it on the stove
or near the fire to warm, but do not let it get too hot. When the
butter is very soft, stir it all through the milk with a knife,
and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs very light, and mix the
milk and butter with them, all at once; then pour all into the pan
of flour. Put in the spice, and the rose-water, or if you prefer
it, eight drops of essence of lemon. Add the yeast, of which an
increased quantity will be necessary, if it is not very strong and
fresh. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife. Add the sugar
gradually. If the sugar is not stirred in slowly, a little at a
time, the buns will be heavy. Then, by degrees, sprinkle in the
renaming quarter of a pound of flour. Stir all well together;
butter a square iron pan, and put in the mixture. Cover it with a
cloth, and set it near the fire to rise. It will probably not be
light in less than five hours. When it is risen very high, and is
covered with bubbles, bake it in a moderate oven, about a quarter
of an hour or more in proportion to its thickness.
When it is quite cool, cut it in squares, and grate loaf-sugar
over them. This quantity will make twelve or fifteen buns.
They are best the day they are baked.
You may, if you choose, bake them separately, in small square
tins, adding to the baiter half a pound of currants or chopped
raisins, well floured, and stirred in at the last.
In making buns, stir the yeast well before you put it in, having
first poured off the beer or thin part from the top. If your yeast
is not good, do not attempt to make buns with it, as they will
never be light.
Buns may be made in a plainer way, with the following ingredients,
mixed in the above manner.
Half a pound of flour, sifted into a pan.
A quarter of a pound of flour, sifted in a plate, and set aside to
sprinkle in at the last.
Three eggs, well beaten.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
Three wine-glasses of milk.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A quarter of a pound of butter, cut up, and warmed in the milk.