Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book Part 16

b.u.t.ter the inside of a tin pan. Put in the mixture, and bake it four hours, or more. It should be eaten fresh.

RICE BREAD.--To a pint of well-boiled rice, add half a pint of wheat-flour, mixing them well together. Take six eggs, and beat the whites and yolks separately. Having beaten the whites to a stiff froth, mix them, gradually, with a pint of rich milk, and two large table-spoonfuls of fresh b.u.t.ter, softened at the fire. Mix, by degrees, the yolks of the eggs with the rice and flour. Then add the white-of-egg mixture, a little at a time. Stir the whole very hard. Put it into a b.u.t.tered tin pan, with straight or upright sides. Set it in a moderate oven, and bake it an hour or more. Then turn it out of the pan, put it on a dish, and send it warm to the breakfast-table, and eat it with b.u.t.ter.

This cake may be baked, by setting the pan that contains it, into an iron dutch-oven, placed over hot coals. Heat the lid of the oven on the inside, by standing it up, before the fire, while the rice-bread is preparing, and, after you put it on, keep the lid covered with hot coals.

Rice-bread may be made of ground rice-flour, instead of whole rice.

RICE-FLOUR BREAD.--Sift into a pan a pint and a half of rice-flour, and a pint and a half of fine wheat-flour. Add two large table-spoonfuls of fresh b.u.t.ter, or lard; and mix in a pint and a half of milk. Beat four eggs, very light, and then stir them, gradually, into the mixture. When the whole has been well-mixed, add, at the last, a small tea-spoonful of soda, or sal-eratus, dissolved in as much warm water as will cover it.

Put the whole into a b.u.t.tered tin pan; set it, immediately, into a quick oven, and bake it well. It is best when eaten fresh. Slice and b.u.t.ter it.

RICE-FLOUR BATTER-CAKES.--Melt a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, or lard, in a quart of milk; but be careful not to let it begin to boil.

Divide the milk equally, by putting it into two pans. Beat three eggs, very light, and stir them into one half of the milk, with the addition of a large table-spoonful of wheat-flour. Stir in as much ground rice-flour as will make a thick batter. Then put in a _small_ tea-cupful of strong, fresh yeast, and thin the batter with the remainder of the milk. Cover it, and set it to rise. When it has risen high, and is covered with bubbles, bake it on a griddle, in the manner of buckwheat-cakes. Send them to table hot, and b.u.t.ter them.

Similar cakes may be made with indian-meal, instead of rice-flour.

LONG ROLLS.--Sift three quarts of flour into a large pan, and mix with it a tea-spoonful of salt. Warm half a pint of water, but do not let it become hot. Mix with it six table-spoonfuls of strong, fresh yeast. Make a deep hole in the middle of the pan of flour. Pour in the liquid, and, with a spoon, work into it the flour, round the edge of the hole; proceeding gradually till you have all the flour mixed in, so as to form a batter. Stir it well, for two or three minutes. Then strew the top all over with a handful of dry flour. Cover the dough with a thick, double cloth, and set it in a warm place, to rise. When it is quite light, and the surface cracked all over, mix in three table-spoonfuls (not more) of lard, or fresh b.u.t.ter. Knead it long and hard, and make it into long, oval-shaped rolls, making, with a knife, a cleft in the top of each.

Sprinkle some square baking-pans with flour; lay the rolls in them, at equal distances; cover them, as before; and set them in a warm place, for half an hour. In the meantime, have the oven ready; put in the rolls, and bake them brown.

Their lightness may be improved by mixing in (while kneading the dough, previous to forming it into cakes) a heaping tea-spoonful of soda, or sal-eratus, dissolved in as much warm water as will cover it.

In cold weather, you may mix these rolls with milk, instead of water; but in summer the milk may turn sour, and spoil the dough. This, however, may be corrected, by adding the soda, or sal-eratus; always a good remedy for sour dough or batter.

POTATOE ROLLS.--Take fine large potatoes. Boil, peel, and mash them.

Then rub the mashed potatoe through a sieve. To each potatoe allow a pint of sifted flour; a table-spoonful of strong fresh yeast; a jill of milk-warm water; a salt-spoon of salt; the yolk of an egg; and a bit of fresh b.u.t.ter about the size of a large hickory-nut. Mix together in a large broad pan the flour, the mashed potatoe, and the salt. Make a hole in the centre of the mixture, and pour into it the yeast mixed with the warm water. Sprinkle a little flour over the top, and mix in a little from round the sides of the hole. Cover it with a clean towel, and over that a flannel, and set it near the fire to rise. When the dough is quite light, and cracked all over the surface, knead in the b.u.t.ter and also the yolks of eggs, having previously beaten them well, and add a small tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water. Then divide the dough into equal parts, make it into long-shaped rolls, and lay them in a tin or iron pan sprinkled with flour. Cover them, and again set them to rise in a warm place. When perfectly light, (which should be in about an hour,) set the pan into the oven, and bake the rolls brown.

They are best when quite fresh. Pull them open with your fingers, and eat them with b.u.t.ter.

CAKES, ETC.

TO BEAT EGGS.--In making cakes it is of the utmost importance that the eggs should be properly and sufficiently beaten; otherwise the cakes will most certainly be deficient in the peculiar lightness characterizing those that are made by good confectioners. Home-made cakes, if good in other respects, are too frequently (even when not absolutely heavy or streaked) hard, solid and tough. This often proceeds from too large a portion of flour, and too small an allowance of b.u.t.ter and eggs. The richest cake that can be made (provided it is light and well baked) is less unwholesome than what are called plain cakes, if they are solid or leathery. Cakes cannot be crisp and light without a due proportion of the articles that are to make them so; and even then, the ingredients must be thoroughly stirred or beaten; and of course thoroughly baked afterwards.

Persons who do not know the right way, complain much of the fatigue of beating eggs, and therefore leave off too soon. There will be no fatigue, if they are beaten with the proper stroke, and with _wooden_ rods, and in a shallow, flat-bottomed _earthen_ pan. The coldness of a tin pan r.e.t.a.r.ds the lightness of the eggs. For the same reason do not use a metal egg-beater. In beating them do not move your elbow, but keep it close to your side. Move only your hand at the wrist, and let the stroke be quick, short, and horizontal; putting the egg-beater always down to the bottom of the pan, which should therefore be shallow. Do not leave off as soon as you have got the eggs into a foam; they are then only _beginning_ to be light. But persist till after the foaming has ceased, and the bubbles have all disappeared. Continue till the surface is smooth as a mirror, and the beaten egg as thick as a rich boiled custard; for till then it will not be really light. It is seldom necessary to beat the whites and yolks separately, if they are afterwards to be put together. The article will be quite as light, when cooked, if the whites and yolks are beaten together, and there will then be no danger of their going in streaks when baked. The justly-celebrated Mrs. Goodfellow, of Philadelphia, always taught her pupils to beat the whites and yolks together, even for sponge-cake; and lighter than hers no sponge-cake could possibly be.

When white of egg is to be used without any yolk, (as for lady-cake, maccaroons, meringues, icing, &c.,) it should be beaten till it stands alone on the rods; not falling when held up.

Hickory rods for egg-beating are to be had at the wooden-ware shops, or at the turner's. For stirring b.u.t.ter and sugar together, nothing is equal to a wooden spaddle. It should be about a foot long, and flattened at the end like that of a mush-stick, only broader. Spoons are very tedious and inconvenient either for beating eggs or stirring b.u.t.ter and sugar, and do not produce the proper lightness.

BOSTON CAKE.--Put a pound of powdered white sugar into a deep pan, and cut up in it a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter. Stir the b.u.t.ter and sugar together till perfectly light. Then add a powdered nutmeg, a table-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed together, and a large wine-gla.s.s of excellent brandy. If the brandy is of bad quality it will give the cake a disagreeable taste. If very good, it will highly improve the flavour, and also add to the lightness of the cake. Sift into a pan a pound of flour. In another pan beat six eggs till very thick and smooth. Stir them gradually into the b.u.t.ter and sugar, alternately with the flour, and a pint of rich milk or cream, a little of each at a time. Have ready a level tea-spoonful (not heaped) of pearlash, or sal-eratus, (or a full tea-spoonful of bi-carbonate of soda,) dissolved in as much warm water as will cover it. Add this at the last, and then give the whole a very hard stirring. b.u.t.ter a large square pan. Put in the mixture. Set it immediately into the oven, and bake it thoroughly. It requires very long baking. A thick square Boston cake will scarcely be done in less than three hours. At the end of the first hour, increase the heat of the oven, and also at the second. When cool, sift powdered sugar over it, and cut it into squares.

If properly made, and well-baked, (following exactly the above directions,) this cake will be found excellent, and will seem fresh longer than any other; the milk keeping it soft.

Milk turned sour is very good for Boston cake; as by stirring the dissolved pearlash or soda into the milk, the acidity will be entirely removed, and the alkali rendered more effective in increasing the lightness of the cake. Still great care will be necessary in baking it.

The best confectioners make this cake every day without any failure.

ALBANY CAKE.--Sift three pounds of flour into a pan. Stir together a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, and a pound of brown sugar. Mix together a pint of West India mola.s.ses, and half a pint of rich milk. Have ready a pound and a half of raisins, seeded, cut in two, and well dredged with flour to prevent their sinking. Beat five eggs very light, and mix them gradually with the milk and mola.s.ses, adding a gla.s.s of brandy, and a table-spoonful of cinnamon powdered. Add the mixture gradually to the beaten b.u.t.ter and sugar, alternately with the flour, a little at a time of each. Next stir in a small teacup-full of strong fresh yeast. Then sprinkle in the raisins. Lastly, stir in a very small tea-spoonful of bi-carbonate of soda, or a still smaller portion of sal-eratus, dissolved in as much lukewarm water as will cover it. Stir the whole mixture long and hard. Cover it, and set it in a warm place to rise.

When quite light, b.u.t.ter a deep tin pan, put in the mixture, and bake it in a loaf. It will require very long and steady baking.

Like all others that have yeast in them, this cake is best when fresh.

AUSTRIAN CAKE.--Take a thick straight-sided pound cake about the circ.u.mference of a large dinner-plate, and cut it horizontally into slices, the whole breadth of the cake, and rather more than half an inch thick. Spread each slice, thickly and smoothly, with marmalade of peach, raspberry, strawberry, or orange. The marmalade may be all the same, or of a different sort on each slice. Lay the slices, nicely, and evenly, one upon another, taking care that none of the marmalade oozes down from between the edges. Then make a thick icing of white of egg and powdered loaf-sugar, and flavour it with rose or orange-flower water. Heap a large portion of it on the centre of the cake, and with a broad knife (dipped frequently in cold water) spread it smoothly all over the top and sides. Then set it away to harden. You may ornament it by putting icing into a small syringe and pressing it out into the form of a centre-piece and border of flowers. To do this requires practice, taste, and ingenuity.

When the cake is to be eaten, cut it down into triangular pieces; each including a portion of the different layers of marmalade.

Instead of marmalade you may use for this cake, fresh strawberries, mashed smoothly and sweetened with white sugar.

MADISON CAKE.--Pick clean two pounds of sultana raisins, (those that have no seeds,) and cut them in half. If you cannot procure the sultana, use the bloom or muscatel raisins, removing all the seeds. When the raisins are cut in two, dredge them _thickly_ on all sides with flour, to prevent their sinking or clodding in the cake while baking. Sift into a pan a pound and three quarters (_not more_) of flour. Cut up a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter into a deep pan. Mix with it a pound of white lump-sugar finely powdered; and stir them together till they become a thick, white, cream. Have ready a tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg, and a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, and mix these spices, gradually, with the b.u.t.ter and sugar. Beat fourteen eggs (_not fewer_) till very light and thick. Then stir them, gradually, into the beaten b.u.t.ter and sugar, alternately with the flour and a pint of rich milk, (sour milk will be best.) Add at the last a very small tea-spoonful of pearlash, or of bi-carbonate of soda, dissolved in a large wine-gla.s.s of brandy. Give the whole a hard stirring, and then put it immediately into a deep circular tin pan, the sides and bottom of which have been first well greased with fresh b.u.t.ter. Set it directly into a well-heated oven, and let it bake from five to six hours, according to its size. It requires long and steady baking. When cool, cover it (top and sides) with a thick icing, made in the usual way of beaten white of egg and sugar, and flavoured with rose-water or lemon.

If the above directions are closely followed this will be found a very fine cake, and it will keep soft and fresh a week if the air is carefully excluded from it.

It will be still better, if in addition to the two pounds of raisins, you mix in two pounds of Zante currants, picked, washed, dried before the fire, and then well floured. Half a pound of citron cut into slips and floured, may also be added.

STRAWBERRY CAKES.--Sift a small quart of flour into a pan, and cut up among it half a pound of the best fresh b.u.t.ter; or mix in a pint of b.u.t.ter if it is soft enough to measure in that manner. Rub with your hands the b.u.t.ter into the flour, till the whole is crumbled fine. Beat three eggs very light; and then mix with them three table-spoonfuls of powdered loaf-sugar. Wet the flour and b.u.t.ter with the beaten egg and sugar, so as to form a dough. If you find it too stiff, add a very little cold water. Knead the dough till it quits your hands, and leaves them clean. Spread some flour on your paste-board, and roll out the dough into a rather thick sheet. Cut it into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler, or something similar; dipping the cutter frequently into flour to prevent its sticking. b.u.t.ter some large square iron pans or baking sheets. Lay the cakes in, not too close to each other. Set them in a brisk oven, and bake them light brown. Have ready a sufficient quant.i.ty of ripe strawberries, mashed and made very sweet with powdered white sugar. Reserve some of your finest strawberries whole. When the cakes are cool, split them, place them on flat dishes, and cover the bottom piece of each with mashed strawberry, put on _thickly_. Then lay on the top pieces, pressing them down. Have ready some icing, and spread it thickly over the top and down the sides of each cake, so as to enclose both the upper and lower pieces. Before the icing has quite dried, ornament the top of every cake with the whole strawberries, a large one in the centre, and the smaller ones placed round in a close circle.

These are delicious and beautiful cakes if properly made. The strawberries, not being cooked, will retain all their natural flavour.

Instead of strawberries you may use raspberries. The large white or buff-coloured raspberry is the finest, if to be eaten uncooked.

PEACH CAKES.--Pick clean and wash a quart of dried peaches, and let them stew all night in as much clear water as will cover them. In the morning, drain off most of the water, leaving only as much of it about the peaches as will suffice to prevent them from burning after they are set over the fire. It will be best to have them soaked in the vessel in which you intend to stew them. Keep them covered while stewing, except when you take off the lid to stir them up from the bottom. When they are all quite soft, and can be mashed into a smooth jam or marmalade, mix in half a pound of brown sugar, and set the peaches to cool. In the mean time, soften a quarter of a pound of the best fresh b.u.t.ter in half a pint of warm milk, heated on the stove, but not allowed to come to a simmer. Sift a pound of flour into a pan; pour in the warm milk and b.u.t.ter (first stirring them well together) and a wine-gla.s.s of strong, fresh yeast. Mix the whole into a dough. Cover it, and set it in a warm place to rise. When quite light and cracked all over the surface, flour your paste-board, put the dough upon it; mix in a small tea-spoonful of sub-carbonate of soda, and knead it well; set it again in a warm place for half an hour. Then divide the dough into equal portions, and make it up into round cakes about the size in circ.u.mference of the top of a tumbler. Knead each cake. Then roll them out into a thin sheet. Have ready the peach jam, mashed very smooth, and with a portion of it cover thickly the half of each cake. Fold over the other half, so as to enclose the peach jam in the form of a half-moon. Bring the two edges closely together and crimp them neatly. Lay the cakes in b.u.t.tered square pans, and bake them brown. When done grate sugar over the top. These cakes are nice for children, being very light, if properly made and baked. They are by no means rich, and are good subst.i.tutes for tarts.

Similar cakes may be made with stewed apple, flavoured with lemon and sweetened. Or with raspberries, or any other convenient fruit stewed to a jam.

SMALL LEMON CAKES.--Break up a pound of fine loaf-sugar, and on some of the lumps rub off all the yellow rind of four lemons. Then powder all the sugar. Beat to a stiff froth the whites of three eggs. Mix the sugar, gradually (a tea-spoonful at a time) with the beaten white of egg, so as to make a paste, stirring it very hard. Spread some white paper (cut exactly to fit) on the bottom of a square shallow baking-pan.

Place equal portions of the paste at regular distances on this paper, making them into round heaps, and smoothing their surfaces with the back of a spoon or a broad-bladed knife, dipped frequently in cold water. Put the cakes into a moderate oven and bake them a light brown. When cool take them off the paper.

You may make orange cakes in this manner.

Strawberry cakes may be made as above, mixing the juice of ripe strawberries with the sugar. Raspberry cakes also.

FINE HONEY CAKE.--Mix a quart of strained honey with half a pound of powdered white sugar, and half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter, and the juice of two oranges or lemons. Warm these ingredients slightly, just enough to soften the b.u.t.ter. Then stir the mixture very hard, adding a grated nutmeg. Mix in, gradually, two pounds (or less) of sifted flour. Make it into a dough, just stiff enough to roll out easily. Beat it well all over with a rolling-pin. Then roll it out into a large sheet, half an inch thick; cut it into round cakes with the top of a tumbler, (dipped frequently in flour,) lay them in shallow tin pans, (slightly b.u.t.tered,) and bake them well.

CHOCOLATE CAKE.--Sc.r.a.pe down three ounces of the best and purest chocolate, or prepared cocoa. Cut up, into a deep pan, three-quarters of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter; add to it a pound of powdered loaf-sugar; and stir the b.u.t.ter and sugar together till very light and white. Have ready fourteen ounces (two ounces _less_ than a pound) of sifted flour; a powdered nutmeg; and a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon--mixed together. Beat the whites of ten eggs till they stand alone; then the yolks till they are very thick and smooth. Then mix the yolks and whites gradually together, beating very hard when they are all mixed. Add the eggs, by degrees, to the beaten b.u.t.ter and sugar, in turn with the flour and the sc.r.a.ped chocolate,--a little at a time of each; also the spice.

Stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture into a b.u.t.tered tin pan with straight sides, and bake it at least four hours. If nothing is to be baked afterwards, let it remain in till the oven becomes cool. When cold, ice it.