Reform Cookery Book Part 18

French Layer Cake.

1/4 lb. b.u.t.ter or fine nut b.u.t.ter. Four eggs, 1/2 lb. flour, 6 ozs. fine sugar, 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder, 1/2 teaspoonful essence vanilla, 4 ozs. grated chocolate, 2 ozs. icing sugar.

b.u.t.ter 3 sandwich tins. Dissolve 1 oz. chocolate in pan, with 1 tablespoonful milk, over the fire. Beat b.u.t.ter and sugar to a cream. Beat up eggs very light, laying aside one white for icing, and add. Sift flour and baking powder, and mix in, then flavouring. Put a third in one tin, another in pan with chocolate, and put a few drops carmine in that left in bowl. Put these into the different tins and place at once in hot oven.

They should be ready in 10 minutes. Put remaining chocolate with the icing sugar in pan with a tablespoonful water. Boil a minute with constant stirring. Turn out cakes on a towel. Put half of chocolate mixture on one, put another on the top, then the rest of chocolate, and, last, the third cake. Coat with the following

Icing.

Beat up white of 1 egg till quite stiff. Mix in 6 ozs. icing sugar. Put on very smoothly with a broad knife dipped in water. Sprinkle over with grated cocoanut, or decorate with pink icing put through a forcing-bag.

Cocoanut Icing

might be used instead. Dissolve about one fourth of a square of cocoanut cream with a little boiling water. When cool mix thoroughly with half of the above icing.

Gingerbread.

1/2-lb. flour, 1 oz. good cocoanut b.u.t.ter, 1 oz. sugar, and same of syrup or treacle--if the latter use more sugar. Two ozs. stoned raisins or sultanas, 1 teaspoonful ground ginger, and same of mixed spice. Half teaspoonful baking powder. One egg.

Mix all the dry things. Rub in b.u.t.ter, then add syrup, fruit, and egg, and make into a thick batter with milk. Bake in moderate oven half-an-hour or longer. Very good, if made with half wheatmeal, or a proportion of oatmeal or rolled oats.

Jumbles.

1/2-lb. flour, 1/4 lb. b.u.t.ter, 2 ozs. sifted sugar, 1 egg. Pinch baking powder. Beat b.u.t.ter and sugar to a cream, add egg, well beaten, then flour, &c. Knead into a stiff paste, divide into 12 or more pieces, and roll out pipe-wise with the hands, about a foot long. Curl round, or form into letters, &c. Lay on floured oven plate. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with sugar, and bake 15 minutes in hot oven.

Orange Rock Cakes.

1/2-lb. flour, 2 ozs. sugar, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 1 oz. b.u.t.ter or cocoanut cream b.u.t.ter,[Footnote: [see next footnote]] 1 egg, 1 orange.

Mix flour and sugar, rub in b.u.t.ter. Add yellow part of orange rind, grated, and juice, also the egg well beaten, to make stiff dough. Place a little apart on oven plate, with two forks, in rough pieces about the size of a walnut. Bake about 10 minutes in quick oven.

Dinner Rolls.

1/2 lb. flour, 1 oz. b.u.t.ter or nut b.u.t.ter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 1 gill milk, pinch salt. Rub the b.u.t.ter into flour, &c. Beat up egg, lay aside some for brus.h.i.+ng, and mix in lightly with barely a gill of milk. Turn on to floured board, and roll out. Divide into a dozen or more pieces. Roll round with the hands. Shape into twists, knots, "figure eights," &c. Put on floured oven plate. Brush over with egg, and bake about seven minutes in very hot oven.

Afternoon Tea Scones.

1/2 lb. flour, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 2 do. sugar, 1 do. b.u.t.ter or "Nutter." One egg. Mix dry things. Rub in b.u.t.ter, beat egg, and add with as much milk as make nice dough--about 1 gill. Roll out 1/4 in. thick.

Stamp out with small cutter or lid. Brush over with egg. Bake 10 minutes.

Cocoanut Cream Scones

are made by adding 1 oz. cocoanut cream [Footnote: NOTE.--Cocoanut or almond cream b.u.t.ter may be used instead of ordinary b.u.t.ter in most recipes for cakes or sweets, and will give variety of flavour.], dissolved in a little of the milk, to the above. Let the "cream" be cool.

Artox Scones.

Two pounds Artox wholemeal, 1/2 lb. b.u.t.ter, 5 oz. sugar, 1/2 oz. cream of tartar, pinch carbonate of soda, 2 eggs, milk. Put the salt, soda, and cream of tartar, into the wholemeal, rub in the b.u.t.ter, stir in the eggs (well beaten), and enough milk to make a stiff paste. Divide the mixture into five, roll each piece out about the size of a cheese plate, divide twice across, place on a greased tin for 10 minutes, bake in a _hot_ oven.

Artox Tea Biscuits.

One and a quarter pounds Artox wholemeal, 3 oz. b.u.t.ter, half teaspoonful baking powder, milk, pinch of salt. Put the wholemeal into a bowl, rub in the b.u.t.ter, add salt and baking powder, and enough milk to make a stiff paste. Roll out, cut into rounds, and bake in a hot oven.

German Biscuits.

1/2 lb. flour, 1/4 lb. b.u.t.ter, 1/4 lb. sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 teaspoonful ground cinnamon.

Rub in b.u.t.ter among flour and sugar. Add cinnamon. Make into a paste with the egg beaten up. Knead till smooth. Roll out thin and stamp into biscuits. Bake about 10 minutes on greased oven plate in moderate oven.

Stick two together with a little jam, and ice with 4 ozs. icing sugar mixed with a little water. Dust with pink sugar.

PUDDINGS AND SWEETS.

As a number of favourite puddings and sweets also are given in the last section, it will not be necessary to give here more than a few supplementary ones, mostly introducing specialties which are not so well known as they deserve to be. Besides, all sweet dishes are vegetarian already for the most part, so that there is but little to "reform" about them. Of course, those who wish to have them absolutely pure will subst.i.tute vegetable suet or b.u.t.ter, and vegetable gelatine for beef suet and clarified (?) glue.

Almond Custard.

Two eggs, 1/2 pint milk, 2 ozs. Mapleton's almond meal, 1-1/2 ozs. sugar.

Beat eggs with sugar, add almond meal. Almonds blanched and pounded will do, but the meal is ready for use and costs less. Add the milk and a few drops of flavouring. Bake in slow oven till set, or stir till it thickens in jug or double boiler. This is specially good with stewed fruit. It may be made into

Custard Whip Sauce

by putting in saucepan and whisking over the fire till light and frothy. It must not boil.

Banana Custard.

Five or six bananas. Jam. Custard. Peel the bananas, which must be sound and ripe; split lengthways. Spread each half with jam--apricot is very good; put halves together. Lay in gla.s.s dish and pour almond custard, or cocoanut cream custard, over.

Cocoanut Cream Custard.