CHAPTER XXVI.

=Cakes.= [Illustration: Modern Cake Mould. ] GENERAL REMARKS ON CAKES. [Illustration: Mould for Buns. ] WE have inserted here but a comparatively limited number of receipts for these “_sweet poisons_,” as they have been emphatically called, and we would willingly have diminished still further even the space which has been allotted to them, that we might have had room in their stead for others of a more really useful character; but we have felt reluctant to withdraw such a portion of any of the chapters as might materially alter the original character of the work, or cause dissatisfaction to any of our kind readers; we will therefore content ourselves with remarking, that more illness is caused by habitual indulgence in the richer and heavier kinds of cakes than would easily be credited by persons who have given no attention to the subject. Amongst those which have the worst effects are almond, and plum _pound_ cakes, as they are called; all varieties of the _brioche_; and such others as contain a large quantity of butter and eggs. The least objectionable are simple buns, biscuits, yeast and sponge cakes, and _meringues_; these last being extremely light and delicate, and made of white of egg and sugar only, are really not unwholesome. The ingredients for cakes, as well as for puddings, should all be fresh and good, as well as free from damp; the lightness of many kinds depends entirely on that given to the eggs by whisking, and by the manner in which the whole is mixed. A _small_ portion of carbonate of soda, which will not be in the slightest degree perceptible to the taste after the cake is baked, if thrown in just before the mixture is put into the oven, will ensure its rising well. To guard against the bitterness so often imparted by yeast when it is used for cakes or biscuits, it should be _sparingly_ added, and the sponge should be left twice the usual time to rise. This method will be found to answer equally with bread. For example: should a couple of spoonsful of yeast be ordered in a receipt, when it is bitter, use but one, and let it stand two hours instead of half the time: the fermentation, though slow, will be quite as perfect as if it were more quickly effected, and the cake or loaf thus made will not become dry by any means as soon as if a larger portion of yeast were mixed with it. The German yeast when fresh is preferable to any other for all light cakes, being made without hops and therefore never bitter. All light cakes require a rather brisk oven to raise and set them; very large rich ones a well-sustained degree of heat sufficient to bake them through; and small sugar-cakes a slow oven, to prevent their taking a deep colour before they are half done: gingerbread, too, should be gently baked, unless it be of the light thick kind. Meringues, macaroons, and ratafias, will bear a slight degree more of heat than these. For sponge and savoy cakes the moulds should be thickly and evenly buttered, and fine sugar shaken in them until they are equally covered with it: the loose sugar must be turned out before they are used. To ascertain whether a cake be done, thrust a larding needle or bright skewer into the centre, and should this come out clean, draw it from the oven directly; but should the paste adhere to it, continue the baking. Several sheets of paper are placed usually under large plum-cakes. Cakes are rendered heavy by moving or shaking them after they have risen in the oven, and before they have become firm. They should be gently loosened and turned from the moulds when sufficiently baked and set for a short time just at the mouth of the oven to dry the surface, then laid upon their sides on a sieve until cold. TO BLANCH AND TO POUND ALMONDS. Put them into a saucepan with plenty of cold water, and heat it slowly; when it is just scalding turn the almonds into a basin, peel, and throw them into cold water as they are done: dry them well in a soft cloth before they are used. If the water be too hot it will turn them yellow. Almonds are more easily pounded, and less liable to become oily, if dried a little in a very gentle degree of heat after they are blanched; left, for example, in a warm room for two or three days, lightly spread on a large dish or tin. They should be sprinkled during the beating with a few drops of cold water, or white of egg, or lemon-juice, and pounded to a smooth paste: this is more easily done, we believe, when they are first roughly chopped, but we prefer to have them thrown at once into the mortar. TO REDUCE ALMONDS TO A PASTE. (_The quickest and easiest way._) Chop them a little on a large and very clean trencher, then with a paste roller (rolling-pin), which ought to be thicker in the middle than at the ends, roll them well until no small bits are perceptible amongst them. We have found this method answer admirably; but as some of the oil is expressed from the almonds by it, and absorbed by the board, we would recommend a marble slab for them in preference, when it is at hand; and should they be intended for a sweet dish, that some pounded sugar should be strewed under them. When a board or strong trencher is used, it should be rather higher in the middle than at the sides. TO COLOUR ALMONDS OR SUGAR-GRAINS, OR SUGAR-CANDY, FOR CAKES, OR PASTRY. Blanch, dry, and chop them rather coarsely; pour a little prepared cochineal into the hands, and roll the almonds between them until they are equally coloured; then spread them on a sheet of paper, and place them in a _very_ gentle degree of heat to dry. Use spinach-juice (see page 455), to colour them green, and a strong infusion of saffron to give them a yellow tint. They have a pretty effect when strewed over the icing of tarts or cakes, especially the rose-coloured ones, which should be rather pale. The sugar is prepared in the same way, after being first broken into lumps, and then, with the end of a paste-roller, into grains about the size of a pea; but unless it be dry and hard, and carefully done, it will absorb too much of the cochineal: when but slightly coloured it is very ornamental dropped on the borders of creamed _tourtes_, or on other varieties of fine pastry. White sugar-candy broken into large grains or crystals and coloured in the same manner has a yet better effect. TO PREPARE BUTTER FOR RICH CAKES. For all large and very rich cakes the usual directions are, _to beat the butter to a cream_; but we find that they are quite as light when it is cut small and gently melted with just so much heat as will dissolve it, and no more. If it be shaken round in a saucepan previously warmed, and held near the fire for a short time, it will soon be liquefied, which is all that is required: it must on no account be _hot_ when it is added to the other ingredients, to which it must be poured in small portions after they are all mixed, in the way which we have minutely described in the receipt for a Madeira cake, and that of the Sutherland puddings (Chapter XXI.) To _cream_ it, drain the water well from it after it is cut, soften it a little before the fire should it be very hard, and then with the back of a large strong wooden spoon beat it until it resembles thick cream. When prepared thus, the sugar is added to it first, and then the other ingredients in succession. For plum-cakes it is better creamed than liquefied, as the fruit requires a paste of some consistence to prevent its sinking to the bottom of the mould in which it is baked. For plain seed-cakes the more simple plan answers perfectly. TO WHISK EGGS FOR LIGHT RICH CAKES. Break them one by one, and separate the yolks from the whites: this is done easily by pouring the yolk from one half of the shell to the other, and letting the white drop from it into a basin beneath. With a small three-pronged fork take out the specks from each egg as it is broken, that none may accidentally escape notice. Whisk the yolks until they appear light, and the whites until they are a quite solid froth; while any liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl they are not sufficiently beaten: when a portion of them, taken up with the whisk, and dropped from it, remains standing in points, they are in the proper state for use, and should be mixed with the cake directly. SUGAR GLAZINGS AND ICINGS. (_For Fine Pastry and Cakes._) The clear glaze which resembles barley sugar, and which requires to be as carefully guarded from damp, is given by just dipping the surface of the pastry into liquid _caramel_ (see Chapter XXVII.); or by sifting sugar thickly over it directly it is drawn from the oven, and melting it down with a salamander, or red-hot shovel held closely over it; or by setting it again into an oven sufficiently heated to dissolve the sugar: though this latter method is not so well, as there is danger from it of the paste being scorched. To make a fine white or coloured icing, whisk, as directed above, the whites of four fresh eggs to a perfectly solid froth, then, with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix gradually with them one pound of the best sugar, which has been dried, and sifted through a fine sieve: work them together for a minute or two, and add less than a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice; spread it even over the cake or pastry, and dry it _very gently indeed_, either in a quite cool oven, or in a meat screen placed before the fire. From the difference in the size of eggs, a little more or less of sugar may be required for this icing. It may be coloured with a very few drops of prepared cochineal to give it a rose tint. Whites of eggs beaten to snow, 4; sugar, 1 lb.; lemon-juice, small dessertspoonful. ORANGE-FLOWER MACAROONS. (DELICIOUS.) Have ready two pounds of very dry white sifted sugar. Weigh two ounces of the petals of freshly gathered orange-blossoms after they have been picked from the stems; and cut them very small with a pair of scissors _into_ the sugar, as they will become discoloured if not mixed with it quickly after they are cut. When all are done, add the whites of seven eggs, and whisk the whole well together until it looks like snow; then drop the mixture on paper without delay, and send the cakes to a very cool oven. Pounded sugar, 2 lbs.; orange-blossoms, 2 oz.; whites of eggs, 7:20 minutes or more. _Obs._—It is almost impossible to state with accuracy the precise time required for these cakes, so much depends on the oven: they should be very delicately coloured, and yet dried through. ALMOND MACAROONS. Blanch a pound of fresh Jordan almonds, wipe them dry, and set them into a very cool oven to render them perfectly so; pound them to an exceedingly smooth paste, with a little white of egg, then whisk to a firm solid froth the white of seven eggs, or of eight, should they be small; mix with them a pound and a half of the finest sugar; add these by degrees to the almonds, whisk the whole up well together, and drop the mixture upon wafer-paper, which may be procured at the confectioner’s: bake the cakes in a moderate oven a very pale brown. It is an improvement to their flavour to substitute an ounce of bitter almonds for one of the sweet. They are sometimes made with an equal weight of each; and another variety of them is obtained by gently browning the almonds in a slow oven before they are pounded. Jordan almonds blanched, 1 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; whites of 7 or 8 eggs: 15 to 20 minutes. VERY FINE COCOA-NUT MACAROONS. Rasp a fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish or tin, and let it dry gradually for a couple of days, if it can be done conveniently; add to it double its weight of fine sifted sugar, and the whites of eight eggs beaten to a solid froth (see page 543), to the pound. Roll the mixture into small balls, place them on a buttered tin, and bake them in a very gentle oven about twenty minutes. Move them from the tin while they are warm, and store them in a very dry canister as soon as they are cold. Cocoa-nut, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; whites of eggs, 8: very gentle oven, 20 minutes. IMPERIALS. (NOT VERY RICH.) Work into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and mix well with them half a pound of sifted sugar, six ounces of currants, two ounces of candied orange-peel, the grated rind of a lemon, and four well-beaten eggs. Flour a tin lightly, and with a couple of forks place the paste upon it in small rough heaps quite two inches apart. Bake them in a _very_ gentle oven, from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes, or until they are equally coloured to a pale brown. Flour 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 8 oz.; currants, 6 oz.; candied peel, 2 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; eggs, 4: 15 to 20 minutes. FINE ALMOND CAKE. Blanch, dry, and pound to the finest possible paste, eight ounces of fresh Jordan almonds, and one ounce of bitter; moisten them with a few drops of cold water or white of egg, to prevent their oiling; then mix with them _very_ gradually twelve fresh eggs which have been whisked until they are _exceedingly_ light; throw in by degrees one pound of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and _keep_ the mixture light by constant beating, with a large wooden spoon, as the separate ingredients are added. Mix in by degrees three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted flour of the best quality; then pour gently from the sediment a pound of butter which has been just melted, but not allowed to become hot, and beat it very gradually, but very thoroughly, into the cake, letting one portion entirely disappear before another is thrown in; add the rasped or finely-grated rinds of two sound fresh lemons, fill a thickly-buttered mould rather more than half full with the mixture, and bake the cake from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated oven. Lay paper over the top when it is sufficiently coloured, and guard carefully against its being burned. Jordan almonds, 1/2 lb.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; eggs, 12; sugar, 1 lb.; flour, 3/4 lb.; butter, 1 lb.; rinds lemons, 2: 1-1/2 to 2 hours. _Obs._—Three-quarters of a pound of almonds may be mixed with this cake when so large a portion of them is liked, but an additional ounce or two of sugar, and one egg or more, will then be required. PLAIN POUND OR CURRANT CAKE. (_Or rich Brawn Brack, or Borrow Brack._) Mix, as directed in the foregoing receipt, ten eggs (some cooks take a pound in weight of these), one pound of sugar, one of flour, and as much of butter. For a plum-cake, let the butter be worked to a cream; add the sugar to it first, then the yolks of the eggs, next stir lightly in the whites, after which, add one pound of currants and the candied peel, and, last of all, the flour by degrees, and a glass of brandy when it is liked. Nearly or quite two hours’ baking will be required for this, and one hour for half the quantity. To convert the above into the popular Irish “speckled bread,” or _Brawn Brack_ of the richer kind, add to it three ounces of carraway-seeds: these are sometimes used in combination with the currants, but more commonly without. To ice a cake see the receipt for Sugar Glazings at the commencement of this Chapter, page 543. A rose-tint may be given to the icing with a little prepared cochineal, as we have said there. RICE CAKE. Take six eggs, with their weight in fine sugar, and in butter also, and half their weight of flour of rice, and half of wheaten flour; make the cake as directed for the Madeira or almond cake, but throw in the rice after the flour; then add the butter in the usual way, and bake the cake about an hour and ten minutes. Give any flavour that is liked. The butter may be altogether omitted. This is a moderate-sized cake. Eggs, in the shell, 6; their weight in butter and in sugar; half as much flour of rice, and the same of wheaten flour: 1 hour, 10 minutes. WHITE CAKE. Beat half a pound of fresh butter to a cream, add to it an equal weight of dried and sifted sugar, the yolks and whites of eight eggs, separately whisked, two ounces of candied orange-peel, half a teaspoonful of mace, a glass of brandy, one pound of flour strewed in by degrees, and last of all a pound and a quarter of currants. Directly it is mixed send the cake to a well-heated oven, and bake it for two hours. Four ounces of pounded almonds are sometimes added to it. Butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 8; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; brandy, 1 wineglassful; flour, 1 lb.; candied-peel, 2 oz.; currants, 1-1/2 lb.: 2 hours. A GOOD SPONGE CAKE. Rasp on some lumps of well-refined sugar the rind of a fine sound lemon, and scrape off the part which has imbibed the essence, or crush the lumps to powder, and add them to as much more as will make up the weight of eight or ten fresh eggs in the shell; break these one by one, and separate the whites from the yolks; beat the latter in a large bowl for ten minutes, then strew in the sugar gradually, and beat them well together. In the mean time let the whites be whisked to a quite solid froth, add them to the yolks, and when they are well blended sift and _stir_ the flour gently to them, but do not beat it into the mixture; pour the cake into a well-buttered mould, and bake it an hour and a quarter in a moderate oven. Rasped rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 8 or 10; their weight of dry, sifted sugar; and half their weight of flour: baked, 1-1/4 hour, moderate oven. A SMALLER SPONGE CAKE. (_Very good._) Five full-sized eggs, the weight of four in sugar, and of nearly three in flour, will make an exceedingly good cake: it may be flavoured, like the preceding one, with lemon-rind, or with bitter almonds, vanilla, or confected orange-blossoms reduced to powder. An hour will bake it thoroughly. All the ingredients for sponge cakes should be of good quality, and the sugar and flour should be dry; they should also be passed through a fine sieve kept expressly for such purposes. The excellence of the whole depends much on the manner in which the eggs are whisked: this should be done as lightly as possible, but it is a mistake to suppose that they cannot be too long beaten, as after they are brought to a state of perfect firmness they are injured by a continuation of the whisking, and will at times curdle, and render a cake heavy from this cause. FINE VENETIAN CAKE OR CAKES. Take of sound Jordan almonds, blanched and well dried at the mouth of a cool oven or in a sunny window, seven ounces, full weight, and one of bitter almonds with them; pound the whole to a perfect paste with a few drops of white of egg or orange-flower water; then mix them thoroughly with one pound of flour and eight ounces of butter (which should be cool and firm, or it will render the paste too soft), and break this down quite small; then add eight ounces of pounded sugar, on part of which the rind of a fine lemon has been rasped previously to its being crushed to powder. Make these into a paste with the yolks of four eggs, or with rather less should they be large, for if too moist, it will adhere to the board and roller. To make a Venetian cake of moderate size, roll the paste less than a quarter of an inch thick, and cut with the larger fluted cutter, shown at page 376, six or seven portions of equal size; lay them on lightly floured or buttered tins, and bake them in a slow oven until they are firm and crisp, and equally coloured of a pale brown. Should they seem to require it, lay them one on the other, while they are still warm, and place a baking-tin, with a slight weight upon them to render them quite level. When they are cold, spread upon each a different kind of choice preserve, and pile the whole evenly into the form of an entire cake. The top may be iced, and decorated with pistachio-nuts, or grains of coloured sugar, or with a wreath of almond-paste leaves. There are many varieties of this dish, which is known by different names in different countries. It is sometimes called a Neapolitan Cake, sometimes a Thousand Leaf Cake _à la Française_. It is occasionally made entirely of almond-paste, and highly decorated; it may be formed also of many layers of puff or fine short crust cut of uniform size, or gradually less, so as to leave round each a clear border of an inch wide, which may be covered with coloured icing, or ornamented with preserved fruit, tinted almonds, grains of white or pink sugar candy, or aught else that the fancy may direct. To make the small Venetian cakes, roll the paste directed for the large one at the commencement of this receipt, into balls, flatten them with the hand to about the third of an inch thick, brush them with beaten egg, and cover them plentifully with white sugar-candy crushed about half the size of a pea: bake them in a slow oven. Almonds, 8 oz.; flour, 1 lb.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; rind of 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 3 to 4; preserve as needed. A GOOD MADEIRA CAKE. Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then, continuing still to whisk them, throw in by _slow_ degrees the following ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry, pounded, and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded, beat well in the third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake it an hour in a moderate oven. In this, as in all compositions of the same nature, observe particularly that each portion of butter must be beaten into the mixture until no appearance of it remains before the next is added; and if this be done, and the preparation be kept light by constant and light whisking, the cake will be as good, if not better, than if the butter were creamed. Candied citron can be added to the paste, but it is not needed. Eggs, 4; sugar, 6 oz.; flour, 6 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; carbonate of soda, 1/3 of teaspoonful: 1 hour, moderate oven. A SOLIMEMNE. _A rich French breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn._ From three-quarters of a pound of flour take three ounces for the leaven, and make it into a lithe paste with half an ounce of solid, well-washed yeast (see Chapter XXXI.), mixed with two or three tablespoonsful of just warm cream, or new milk; throw a cloth over and leave it near the fire to rise for about half an hour, or until it is twice its original size. In the interim make a hollow in the centre of the remainder of the flour, and put into it a quarter of an ounce of fine salt, one ounce of pounded sugar, the yolks of four fresh eggs, four ounces of lukewarm butter, and a couple of tablespoonsful of cream, also warm. Mix the whole gently and carefully into a perfectly smooth paste, flatten it with the hand upon the dresser, spread the leaven over it, and blend them thoroughly with light kneading, as directed for _brioche_ paste, page 349. The whole should be of the same colour throughout. Next, put it into a small, well-buttered copper stewpan, or plain cake-mould, and let it remain in a moderately warm place until it has risen, like the leaven, to double its original size; then with a paste-brush or feather wash the top with beaten egg, and without disturbing it, set it into a tolerably quick oven, and bake it nearly or quite an hour; but do not allow it to be too deeply coloured. Turn it from the mould, cut it once or twice asunder, and pour over the slices plenty of good butter, just dissolved in a small saucepan; put the cake together again, and serve it immediately. It may be converted into an excellent _entremets_ by spreading currant, or other fine jelly, or preserve, quickly upon it when it is cut, and sifting sugar thickly on the top after it is restored to its proper form: it is then called a Dresden cake. We think that when left until cold and toasted, the solimemne is even better than when served hot. It will be many hours rising; sometimes as many as six or eight. If wanted for breakfast it should be made over night. Flour 3/4 lb.; yeast, 1/2 oz.; little cream; salt, 1/4 oz.; sugar, 1 oz.; yolks of eggs, 4; butter, 4 oz.: to rise from 6 to 8 hours. Baked 1 hour. BANBURY CAKES. First, mix well together a pound of currants, cleaned with great nicety and dried, a quarter-pound of beef suet, finely minced, three ounces each of candied orange and lemon-rind, shred small, a few grains of salt, a full quarter-ounce of pounded cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, and four ounces of macaroons or ratafias rolled to powder. Next, make a light paste with fourteen ounces of butter to the pound of flour; give it an extra turn or two to prevent its rising too much in the oven; roll out one half in a very thin square, and spread the mixed fruit and spice equally upon it; moisten the edges, lay on the remaining half of the paste, rolled equally thin, press the edges securely together, mark the whole with the back of a knife in regular divisions of two inches wide and three in length, bake the pastry in a well-heated oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, and divide it into cakes while it is still warm. They may be served as a second course dish either hot or cold, and may be glazed at pleasure. Currants, 1 lb.; beef-suet, 4 oz.; candied orange and lemon-rind each, 3 oz.; salt, small pinch; mixed spices, 1/4 oz.; macaroons or ratafias, 4 oz.: baked 25 to 30 minutes. MERINGUES. [Illustration] Whisk, to the firmest possible froth, the whites of six very fresh eggs, taking every precaution against a particle of the yolk falling in amongst them. Lay some squares or long strips of writing-paper closely upon a board or upon very clean trenchers, which ought to be nearly or quite an inch thick, to prevent the _meringues_ from receiving any colour from the bottom of the oven. When all is ready, mix with the eggs three-quarters of a pound of the finest sugar, well dried, and sifted; stir them together for half a minute, then with a table or dessertspoon lay the mixture quickly on the papers in the form of a half-egg, sift sugar over them without delay, blow off with the bellows all that does not adhere, and set the _meringues_ into a gentle oven. The process must be expeditious, or the sugar melting will cause the cakes to spread, instead of retaining the shape of the spoon, as they ought. The whole art of making them, indeed, appears to us to consist in preserving their proper form, and the larger the proportion of sugar worked into the eggs, the more easily this will be done. When they are coloured to a light brown, and are firm to the touch, draw them out, turn the papers gently over, separating the _meringues_ from them, and with a teaspoon scoop out sufficient of the insides to form a space for some whipped cream or preserve, and put them again into the oven upon clean sheets of paper, with the moist sides uppermost, to dry: when they are crisp through they are done. Let them become cold; fill, and then join them together with a little white of egg so as to give them the appearance shown in the plate. Spikes of pistachio nuts, or almonds, can be stuck over them, as represented there, at pleasure. They afford always, if well made, a second course dish of elegant appearance, and they are equally ornamental to breakfasts or suppers of ceremony. They are made in perfection by the pastry-cooks in France, being equally light, delicate, and delicious. Much of their excellence, it must be observed, depends at all times on the attention they receive in the baking, as well as in the previous preparation. They must, of course, be _quite_ cold before the preserve or cream is laid into them. From four to six ounces of almonds, finely powdered, may be smoothly mixed with the other ingredients for them; and they may be flavoured with citron, lemon, or orange-rind by rasping the skins of the fruit with part of the sugar with which they are to be made; then drying, and reducing it to powder. Whites of very fresh eggs, 6; sugar, 3/4 lb.: gentle oven, 20 to 30 minutes. ITALIAN MERINGUES. Take for these the proportion of whites of eggs and sugar already indicated in the receipt for Nesselrôde pudding, page 491, that is to say, six to the pound, or half that quantity for a small number of _meringues_. Boil the sugar with a pint of water until it whitens, and begins to fall in flakes from the skimmer; have the eggs whisked to a perfectly solid froth quite ready at the proper moment, and when the sugar has stood for two or three minutes, and been worked well from the sides of the pan, mingle them gradually, but very quickly, with it, that the mass may be quite smooth; continue to stir them until they become firm enough to retain their shape perfectly when moulded with a teaspoon; lay out the cakes on paper, and place them in an oven so slow as to harden without giving them colour. As they are not to be filled, but merely fastened together, they may be baked on tins. Part of them may be varied by the addition of three or four ounces of pounded almonds mixed thoroughly with the remainder of the eggs and sugar, when a portion of the _meringues_ have been moulded: these, however, will require to be much longer baked than the others; but they will be excellent. They should be lightly browned, and crisp quite through. Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1 pint; whites of eggs, 6: _very_ slow oven, 20 to 30 minutes, or longer. THICK, LIGHT GINGERBREAD. Crumble down very small, eight ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, then add to, and mix thoroughly with them, half a pound of good brown sugar, two ounces of powdered ginger, and half an ounce of ground carraway-seeds; beat gradually to these, first two pounds of treacle, next three well-whisked eggs, and last of all half an ounce of carbonate of soda,[174] dissolved in a very small cupful of warm water; stir the whole briskly together, pour the mixture into very shallow tins, put it immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it for an hour and a half. The gingerbread made thus will be remarkably light and good. For children part of the spice and butter may be omitted. Footnote 174: This should always be of the very best quality when used for cakes. Carbonate of ammonia is recommended in preference to it by some writers. Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; powdered ginger, 2 oz.; eggs, 3; carbonate of soda, 1/2 oz.; water, _very small_ cupful: baked 1-1/2 hour. _Obs._—We think that something less than the half ounce of soda would be sufficient for this gingerbread, for with the whole quantity it rises in the oven to three times its height, and is apt to run over the tops of the tins, even when they are but half filled with it at first; or if it were well beaten into the mass without any water, after being carefully freed from lumps and mixed with a little sugar, the cake would still be quite light. ACTON GINGERBREAD. Whisk four strained or well-cleared eggs to the lightest possible froth (French eggs, if really sweet, will answer for the purpose), and pour to them, by degrees, a pound and a quarter of treacle, still beating them lightly. Add, in the same manner, six ounces of pale brown sugar free from lumps, one pound of sifted flour, and six ounces of good butter, _just_ sufficiently warmed to be liquid, and no more, for if hot, it would render the cake heavy; it should be poured in small portions to the mixture, which should be well beaten up with the back of a wooden spoon as each portion is thrown in: the success of the cake depends almost entirely on this part of the process. When properly mingled with the mass, the butter will not be perceptible on the surface; and if the cake be kept light by constant whisking, large bubbles will appear in it to the last. When it is so far ready, add to it one ounce of Jamaica ginger and a large teaspoonful of cloves in fine powder, with the lightly grated rinds of two fresh full-sized lemons. Butter thickly, in every part, a shallow square tin pan, and bake the gingerbread slowly for nearly or quite an hour in a gentle oven. Let it cool a little before it is turned out, and set it on its edge until cold, supporting it, if needful, against a large jar or bowl. We have usually had it baked in an American oven, in a tin less than two inches deep; and it has been excellent. We retain the name given to it originally in our own circle. CHEAP AND VERY GOOD GINGER OVEN-CAKE OR CAKES. Four French eggs (which must be perfectly sweet, or small English ones), six ounces of brown sugar of good quality rolled smooth and fine, six ounces of flour, three of butter, a grain or two of salt, some grated lemon-rind or candied peel sliced very thin, and half an ounce _or more_ of ginger in fine powder. Prepare and mix these ingredients in the order in which they are written, by the directions for “Acton Gingerbread.” Bake the cake nearly the same time. An American oven will answer for it perfectly, and it will resemble a really rich cake, though so cheap. A _small_ quantity of carbonate of soda may be added quite at last by inexpert cake-makers, to insure its being light. The same mixture may be baked in small cups or tins in an iron oven. For a cake of tolerable size half as much again of the ingredients must be taken, and the whole poured into a round or square cake-mould. GOOD COMMON GINGERBREAD. Work very smoothly six ounces of fresh butter (or some that has been well washed from the salt, and wrung dry in a cloth) into one pound of flour, and mix with them thoroughly an ounce of ginger in fine powder, four ounces of brown sugar, and half a teaspoonful of beaten cloves and mace. Wet these with three-quarters of a pound of cold treacle, or rather more, if needful; roll out the paste, cut the cakes with a round tin cutter, lay them on a floured or buttered baking tin, and put them into a very slow oven. Lemon-grate or candied peel can be added, when it is liked. Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; ginger, 1 oz.; cloves and mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; treacle, 3/4 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour. RICHER GINGERBREAD. Melt together three-quarters of a pound of treacle and half a pound of fresh butter, and pour them hot on a pound of flour mixed with half a pound of sugar and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger. When the paste is quite cold, roll it out with as much more flour as will prevent its adhering to the board: bake the cakes in a very gentle oven. COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD. (_Original Receipts._) Mix well together ten ounces of fine wheaten flour, and six of flour of rice (or rice ground to powder), the grated rind of a lemon, and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger: pour nearly boiling upon these a pound of treacle, five ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar, melted together in a saucepan; beat the mixture, which will be almost a batter, with a wooden spoon, and when quite smooth leave it until it is perfectly cold, then add to it five ounces of grated cocoa-nut, and when it is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients, lay the paste in small heaps upon a buttered tin, and bake them in very slow oven from half to three-quarters of an hour. Flour, 10 oz.; ground rice, 6 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; ginger, 3/4 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; butter, 5 oz.; cocoa-nut, 5 oz.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Or: Flour, 1/2 lb.; ground rice, 1/2 lb.; ginger, 3/4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; butter, 5 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; cocoa-nut, 6-1/2 oz. _Obs._—The cakes made by them are excellent. A DELICIOUS CREAM-CAKE AND SWEET RUSKS. When in very sultry weather cream becomes acid from being sent to a distance, or from other causes, it may still be made available for delicate pastry-crust, and superlative cakes, biscuits, and bread; but if ever so slightly _putrid_ it will be fit only to be thrown away. The following receipt is given exactly as it was used with perfect success on the thought of the moment, when we first had it tried. Crumble down five ounces of good butter into a pound of fine flour, then mix thoroughly with them half a pound of sifted sugar, a few grains of salt, and two ounces of candied citron or orange-rind sliced thin; add something more than half a pint of thick and rather sour cream mixed with two well whisked eggs, and just before the paste is put into the moulds, which should be buttered in every part and only two-thirds filled, beat thoroughly into it half a teaspoonful of the very best carbonate of soda, which has been perfectly blended with twice the quantity of sugar and of flour, and rubbed through a fine sieve, or worked to the smoothest powder in a mortar, or in any other way. For the convenience of having it baked in a small iron oven, this quantity was divided into two cakes, one of which was gently pulled apart with a couple of forks while still hot, and then set again into the oven and crisped with a gentle heat quite through: it was thus converted into the very nicest sweet rusks. Sufficient cream should be used for the cakes to convert the ingredients into a very lithe paste or _thick_ batter, which can be properly worked or mixed with a wooden spoon, with the back of which it should be very lightly beaten up before it is moulded. About three-quarters of an hour will bake it in a moderate oven. It should be firm on the surface—as all light cakes should be—that it may not sink and become heavy after it is drawn out. Turn it from the mould, and lay it on its _side_ upon a sieve reversed, to cool. A GOOD LIGHT LUNCHEON-CAKE AND BROWN BRACK. Break down four ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, and work it quite into crumbs, but handle it very lightly; mix in a pinch of salt and four ounces of pounded sugar; hollow the centre, and stir into it a large tablespoonful of solid well-washed yeast (or an ounce of German yeast which will ferment more quickly), diluted with three-quarters of a pint of warm new milk; when sufficient of the surrounding flour is mixed with it to form a thick batter strew more flour on the top, lay a cloth once or twice folded together over the pan, and let it remain until the leaven has become very light: this it will generally be in an hour and a quarter, or, at the utmost, in an hour and a half. The fermentation may be quickened by increasing the proportion of yeast, but this is better avoided, as it may chance to render the cake bitter; additional time, however, must always be allowed for it to rise when but a small quantity is used. When the leaven is at the proper height, add to a couple of well whisked eggs, sufficient nearly-boiling milk to warm them, and mix them with the other ingredients; then beat well into the cake by degrees, eight ounces more of pounded sugar, and half a grated nutmeg; cut from two to three ounces of candied citron thin, and strew over it; leave it again to rise, as before, for about three-quarters of an hour; mix the citron equally with it, put it into a thickly buttered tin or earthen pan, and bake it in a quick oven for an hour and ten minutes at the least, and after it is placed in it let it not be moved until it is quite set, or it will possibly be heavy at the top. The grated rinds of a couple of lemons will improve its flavour. Fine Lisbon sugar can be used to sweeten it instead of pounded, but the difference of expense would be very slight, and the cake would not be so good; the quantity can, of course, be diminished when it is considered too much. Three-quarters of a pound of currants can, at choice, be substituted for the citron. Three ounces of carraway seeds will convert it into common _brown brack_, or Irish seed-cake. For the manner of purifying yeast, see Chapter XXXI. A VERY CHEAP LUNCHEON BISCUIT, OR NURSERY CAKE. Two or three pounds of white bread dough taken when ready for the oven, will make a good light biscuit if well managed, with the addition of from half to three-quarters of a pound of sugar, a very small quantity of butter, and a few currants, or carraway-seeds, or a teaspoonful of mixed spices. The dough should be rather firm; the butter should first be well kneaded into it in small portions, then the sugar added in the same way, and next the currants or spice. The whole should be perfectly and equally mingled, flour being slightly dredged upon it as it is worked, if needful. It must then be allowed to rise until it is very light, when it should again be kneaded down, but not heavily; and when it has once more risen, it should be sent without delay to the oven. An ounce of butter to the pound of dough will be sufficient for it. Much richer cakes can be made thus, and they will be extremely good if care be taken to let them rise sufficiently before they are baked. We regret that we cannot multiply our receipts for them. Sultana raisins are an excellent substitute for currants in these and other common cakes. ISLE OF WIGHT DOUGH-NUTS. Work smoothly together with the fingers four ounces of good lard, and four pounds of flour; add half a pound of fine brown sugar, two tablespoonsful of allspice, one drachm of pounded cinnamon, half as much of cloves, two large blades of mace, beaten to powder, two tablespoonsful of fresh yeast which has been watered for one night, and which should be solid, and as much new milk as will make the whole into a rather firm dough; let this stand from an hour to an hour and a half near the fire, then knead it well, and make it into balls about the size of a small apple; hollow them with the thumb, and enclose a few currants in the middle; gather the paste well over them, and throw the dough-nuts into a saucepan half filled with boiling lard; when they are equally coloured to a fine brown, lift them out and dry them before the fire on the back of a sieve. When they are made in large quantities, as they are at certain seasons in the island, they are drained upon very clean straw. The lard should boil only just before they are dropped into it, or the outsides will be scorched before the insides are sufficiently done. Flour, 4 lbs.; lard, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; allspice, 2 tablespoonsful; pounded cinnamon, 1 drachm; cloves and mace, each 1/2 drachm; yeast (solid), two large tablespoonsful: to rise, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Currants, at choice: dough-nuts boiled in lard, 5 to 7 minutes. QUEEN CAKES. To make these, proceed exactly as for the pound currant-cake of page 546, but bake the mixture in small well-buttered tin pans (heart-shaped ones are usual), in a somewhat brisk oven, for about twenty minutes. JUMBLES. Rasp on some good sugar the rinds of two lemons; dry, reduce it to powder, and sift it with as much more as will make up a pound in weight; mix with it one pound of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and six ounces of warm butter: drop the mixture on buttered tins, and bake the jumbles in a _very_ slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes. They should be pale, but perfectly crisp. A GOOD SODA CAKE. Break down half a pound[175] of fresh butter into a pound of fine dry flour, and work it into very small crumbs; mix well with these half a pound of sifted sugar, and pour to them first, a quarter of a pint of boiling milk, and next, three well-whisked eggs; add some grated nutmeg, or fresh lemon-rind, and eight ounces of currants, cleaned and dried; beat the whole well and lightly together, then strew in a very small teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda in the finest powder, which has been rubbed through a sieve and well mixed with a little sugar, and again beat the cake well and lightly for three or four minutes; put it into a buttered mould, and bake it from an hour to an hour and a quarter; or divide it in two, when three-quarters of an hour will be sufficient for each part. Footnote 175: Six ounces would to many tastes be quite sufficient, and the less butter the cake contains the better. Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; boiling milk, full 1/4 pint; eggs, 3; currants, 1/2 lb.; good carbonate of soda, 1 very small teaspoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Or: divided in two, 1/2 to 3/4 hour. _Obs._—This, if carefully made, resembles a pound cake, but is much less expensive, and far more wholesome, while it has the advantage of being very expeditiously prepared. Great care, however, must be taken to avoid mixing with it too large a proportion, or a coarse quality of soda; as either will impart to it a far from agreeable flavour. GOOD SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD. With one pound of flour mix well two ounces of sifted sugar, and one of candied orange-rind or citron, sliced small; make these into a paste with from eight to nine ounces of good butter, made sufficiently warm to be liquid; press the paste together with the hands, and mould it upon tins into large cakes nearly an inch thick, pinch the edges, and bake the shortbread in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, or longer, should it not be quite crisp, but do not allow it to become deeply coloured. Flour, 1 lb.; sugar, 2 oz.; candied orange or citron, 1 oz.; butter, 8 to 9 oz.: 20 minutes or more. _Obs._—This, to many persons, is a very indigestible compound, though agreeable to the taste. A GALETTE. The galette is a favourite cake in France, and may be made rich and comparatively delicate, or quite common, by using more or less butter for it, and by augmenting or diminishing the size. Work lightly three-quarters of a pound of good butter into a pound of flour, add a large saltspoonful of salt, and make these into a paste with the yolks of a couple of eggs mixed with a small cupful of good cream, or simply with water; roll this into a complete round, three-quarters of an inch thick; score it in small diamonds, brush yolk of egg over the top, and bake the galette for about half an hour in a tolerably quick oven: it is usually eaten hot, but is served cold also. An ounce of sifted sugar is sometimes added to it. A good galette: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 3/4 lb.; salt, 1 saltspoonful; yolks of eggs, 2; cream, small cupful: baked 1/2 hour. Common galette: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3/4 to 1 lb.; no eggs. SMALL SUGAR CAKES OF VARIOUS KINDS. To make very sweet rich sugar cakes mingle, first working it very small with the fingers, half a pound of butter with each pound of flour: if more than this proportion be used the paste will be too soft to permit the addition of the proper number of eggs. Next, blend thoroughly with these three-quarters of a pound of dry sifted sugar, and the grated rinds of two small fresh lemons (for _lemon_-cakes the strained juice of one is generally added), or a dessertspoonful of cinnamon freshly pounded; or from one ounce to two ounces of carraway-seeds; or a similar proportion of the finest powdered ginger; or three-quarters of a pound of very dry well cleaned currants. A _slight_ pinch of salt should be thrown in with the sugar. If to be made into flat cakes proceed to moisten these ingredients gradually with from two eggs to four slightly whisked, and when they form a _firm_ paste, proceed quickly to roll and to stamp them out with a cake tin; for as the sugar dissolves with the moisture of the eggs, the paste will otherwise become so lithe as to adhere to the board and roller. When it is to be merely dropped on the baking-sheets, it will require an additional egg or more. The cakes should then be placed quite two inches apart, as they will spread in the baking. Five ounces of butter with six of sugar to the pound of flour, two large eggs, and a small quantity of milk, will be sufficient for quite cheap sugar cakes: any flavour can be given to them as to those which precede, and they can be rendered more or less sweet to the taste by altering the proportion of sugar: this should always be sifted, or at least reduced quite to powder, before it is used for them. One ounce more of butter will render them very good. They should be rolled a quarter of an inch thick. Rich: to each lb. of flour, butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; eggs, 2 to