Science in the Kitchen Part 38

BREAD PIE.--Soak a slice of very light bread in a pint of rich milk. When it is quite soft, rub through a colander and afterward beat well through the milk. Add one well-beaten egg, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and a little grated lemon rind for flavor. Bake with under crust only, till the custard is set. This is sufficient for one pie.

CARROT PIE.--Boil, drain, and rub the carrots through a colander.

For each pie required, use two large tablespoonfuls of carrot thus prepared, two eggs, two cups of milk, a little salt if desired, four tablespoonfuls of sugar, and lemon or vanilla for flavoring. Bake with under crust only.

COCOANUT PIE.--Flavor a pint of milk with two tablespoonfuls of desiccated, or finely grated fresh cocoanut according to directions on page 298; strain, and add enough fresh milk to make a pint in all. Add three tablespoonfuls of sugar, heat, and as the milk comes to a boil, add a tablespoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.

Boil for a minute or two till the cornstarch thickens the milk; then remove from the stove. Allow it to get cold, and then stir in one well-beaten egg; bake in an under crust. Tie a tablespoonful of desiccated cocoanut in a clean cloth, and pound it as fine as flour; mix it with a tablespoonful of sugar and the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth. When the pie is done, spread this over the top, and brown in the oven for a moment only.

COCOANUT PIE NO. 2.--Steep one half cup of cocoanut in a pint of milk for one half hour. Strain out the cocoanut and add sufficient fresh milk to make a pint. Allow it to become cold, then add a quarter of a cup of sugar and two well-beaten eggs. Bake with an under crust only.

When done, the top may be covered with a meringue the same as in the preceding recipe.

CREAM PIE.--For one pie beat together one egg, one half cup of sugar, one tablespoonful of flour, and two cups of rich milk. Bake in one crust.

CRANBERRY PIE.--Stew a quart of cranberries until broken in a pint of boiling water. Rub through a colander to remove the skins, add two cups of sugar and one half cup of sifted flour. Bake with under crust only.

DRIED APPLE PIE.--Stew good dried apples till perfectly tender in as small a quant.i.ty of water as possible. When done, rub through a colander; they should be about the consistency of fruit jam; if not, a little flour may be added. Sweeten to taste, fill under crusts with the mixture, and bake. If lemon flavor is liked, a few pieces of the yellow rind may be added to the apples a little while before they are tender.

If the apples are especially tasteless, lemon juice or some sour apple jelly should be added after rubbing through the colander. The crusts may first be baked, and filled with the mixture when needed; in which case the sauce should be simmered lightly till of the desired consistency.

The top may be ornamented with strips or rings of crust, if desired.

DRIED APPLE PIE WITH RAISINS.--Rub a quart of well-stewed dried apples through a colander, add a cupful of steamed raisins, sugar to sweeten, and bake with two crusts. This is sufficient for two pies.

DRIED APRICOT PIE.--Stew together one third dried apricots and two thirds dried apples or peaches. When soft, rub through a colander, add sugar to sweeten, and if very juicy, stew again until the juice is mostly evaporated; then beat until light and bake in a granola crust.

FARINA PIE.--Cook one fourth cup of farina in a double boiler for an hour in three cups of rich milk. Allow it to become cool, then add one half cup of sugar, the yolks of two eggs, and a little grated lemon rind. Bake with under crust only. Meringue the top with the white of the egg beaten to a stiff froth with one tablespoonful of sugar and a little grated lemon rind for flavoring. The quant.i.ty given is sufficient for two small pies.

FRUIT PIES.--Apples, peaches, and all small fruits and berries may be made into palatable pies without rich crusts or an excess of sugar, or the addition of unwholesome spices and flavorings. Bake the crust separately, and fill when needed with prepared fruit; or, fill with the fruit, using only sufficient sugar to sweeten; add no spices, and bake quickly. Prepare apples for pies by paring, coring, and dividing in eighths. Peaches are best prepared in a similar manner. Fill crusts in which the fruit is to be baked quite full and slightly heaping in the center. If flavoring is desired, let it be that of some other fruit. For apple pies, a teaspoonful or two of pineapple juice, a little grated lemon or orange peel, or a little strawberry or quince syrup, may be used for flavoring. For pies made of apples, peaches, and fruits which are not very juicy, add a tablespoonful or so of water or fruit juice; but for very juicy fruits and berries, dredge the under crust with a tablespoonful of sugar and a little flour mixed together before filling, or stir a spoonful of flour into the fruit so that each berry or piece may be separately floured.

GRAPE JELLY PIE.--Cook perfectly ripe, purple grapes; rub them through a colander to remove the seeds and skins. Return the pulp to the fire and thicken with rice flour or cornstarch, to the consistency of thick cream or jelly, and sweeten to taste. Fill an under crust with the mixture, and bake. The top may be ornamented with pastry cut in fancy shapes if desired.

JELLY CUSTARD PIE.--Dissolve three tablespoonfuls of nice, pure fruit jelly in very little warm water, add one and one half cups of milk and two well-beaten eggs, stirring the whites in last. Bake with under crust only. Jellies are usually so sweet that no sugar is needed. Apple, raspberry, currant, strawberry, and quince jellies all make nice pies, prepared in this way.

LEMON PIE.--Take four tablespoonfuls of lemon juice (one large lemon or two small ones will yield about this quant.i.ty), the grated yellow portion only of the rind of half a lemon, and two thirds of a cup of sugar. Beat the lemon juice and sugar together. Braid a slightly heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch with as little water as possible, and pour over it, stirring constantly, one half pint of boiling water, to thicken the starch. Add the lemon and sugar to the starch, and let it cool; then stir in the yolks of two eggs and half the white of one, well beaten together. Beat thoroughly, pour into a deep crust, and bake. When done, cover with the remaining whites of the eggs, beaten with one and a half tablespoonfuls of sugar, and brown lightly in the oven.

LEMON MERINGUE CUSTARD.--Heat two cups of milk to boiling, add a tablespoonful of cornstarch well braided with a little cold milk; let the whole simmer till thickened, stirring constantly. Allow it to cool, add one third of a cup of sugar and the beaten yolks of two eggs. Bake in an under crust, and cover with a meringue made of the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth with two tablespoonfuls of sugar mixed with grated lemon peel. If liked, a spoonful of lemon juice may be added, a few drops at a time, during the beating of the meringue.

ONE-CRUST PEACH PIE.--Pare and remove the stones from ripe, nice flavored peaches; stew till soft in the smallest quant.i.ty of water possible without burning. Rub through a colander, or beat smooth with a large spoon. Add sugar as required. Bake with one crust. If the peach sauce is evaporated until quite dry, it is very nice baked in a granola crust. When done, meringue with the whites of two eggs whipped stiff with two tablespoonfuls of sugar. The flavor is improved by adding by degrees to the egg while whipping, a tablespoonful of lemon juice.

Return to the oven and brown lightly. Serve cold.

Canned peaches or stewed dried peaches may be used in place of the fresh ones. In using the dried peaches, carefully examine and wash; soak them over night in cold water, and stew them in the same water until soft enough to rub through the colander. For each pie, add two tablespoonfuls of sweet cream, and sufficient sugar to sweeten; too much, sugar destroys the flavor of the fruit. Evaporated peaches, soaked over night and stewed carefully until tender, then removed from the syrup, which may be sweetened and boiled until thick and rich and afterward turned over the peaches, makes a delicious pie. Bake in one crust, with or without a meringue.

ORANGE PIE.--Rub smooth a heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch in three tablespoonfuls of water; pour over it a cup of boiling water, and cook until clear, stirring frequently that no lumps form. Add one cupful of sour orange juice, a little grated rind, and the juice of one lemon, with two eggs. Bake with under crust only. Meringue the top when baked, with the whites of the eggs well beaten with a tablespoonful of sugar, and a very little grated orange peel sprinkled over it.

PEACH CUSTARD PIE.--Cover a pie plate with an under crust. Take fresh peaches, pare, halve, and stone them, and place a layer, hollow side up, in the pie. Prepare a custard with one egg, one cup of milk, and three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Pour the custard over the peaches, and bake. If the quant.i.ty given will not entirely cover the peaches, a little more must be prepared. Canned peaches which are not broken can be used instead of fresh ones. The pieces should be drained free from juice, and less sugar used.

PRUNE PIE.--Prepare and cook sweet California prunes as directed for Prune Marmalade. Fill an under crust and bake. The top may be ornamented with strips of crust or pastry leaves; or if desired, may be meringued with the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth with two tablespoonfuls of sugar and a little grated lemon peel. This pie is excellent baked in a granola crust.

PUMPKIN PIE.--To prepare the pumpkin, cut into halves, remove the seeds, divide into moderately small pieces, and bake in the oven until thoroughly done. Then sc.r.a.pe from the sh.e.l.l, rub through a colander, and proceed as follows: For one and one third pints of the cooked pumpkin use one quart of hot, rich, sweet milk. Add one half cup of sugar and the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, beat well together, add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and beat thoroughly. Line the tins with a stiff cream paste, fill, and bake in a moderate oven till the pies are barely firm in the center, or till the custard is well set.

PUMPKIN PIE NO. 2.--For each pie desired, take one half pint of baked pumpkin, a pint of rich milk, one third of a cup of sugar, and two eggs. Mix the sugar and eggs, add the pumpkin, and lastly the milk, which should be hot, and beat all together with an egg beater until very light. Fill the crust, and bake slowly.

PUMPKIN PIE WITHOUT EGGS.--Prepare the pumpkin as previously directed. For two medium-sized pies, heat a pint and a half of milk in a farina kettle, and when scalding, stir into it two scant tablespoonfuls of white flour rubbed smooth in a little cold milk. Cook, stirring often, until it thickens. Add half a cup of sugar, or a little less of syrup, to a pint and a half of the sifted pumpkin, and after beating well together, stir this into the hot milk. Bake in an under crust; or, for three pies, take one quart and a cupful of pumpkin, three fourths of a cup of sugar, two thirds of a cup of best New Orleans mola.s.ses, and three pints of hot milk. Beat all together thoroughly. Line deep plates with a cream crust, and bake an hour and a half in a moderate oven.

SIMPLE CUSTARD PIE.--For one pie, take one pint of milk, two well-beaten eggs, one third of a cup of sugar, and a little grated lemon rind for flavor. Bake in an under crust. If eggs are scarce, a very good pie can be made by using only one egg, and a tablespoonful of cornstarch, with the above proportions of milk and sugar; in which case, heat the milk to scalding, stir in the cornstarch, and cook till thickened; cool, and then add the well-beaten egg. If preferred, the crust may be baked before filling, and the custard steamed, meanwhile.

SQUASH PIE.--Squash prepared as directed for pumpkin, and flavored with rose water, makes an excellent pie. Or, for each pie desired, take one pint of rich milk (part cream if it can be afforded), add one cup of nicely baked mealy squash which has been rubbed through a colander, one third of a cup of sugar, and two well-beaten eggs. Beat all together thoroughly. Bake in a deep pan slowly and carefully until firm.

SQUASH PIE WITHOUT EGGS.--Bake the squash in the sh.e.l.l; when done, remove with a spoon and mash through a colander. For one pie, take eight tablespoonfuls of the squash, half a cup of sugar, and one and one third cups of boiling milk. Pour the milk slowly over the squash, beating rapidly meanwhile to make the mixture light. Bake in one crust.

SWEET-APPLE CUSTARD PIE.--Into one pint of new milk, grate three ripe sweet apples (Golden Sweets are excellent); add two well-beaten eggs, and sugar to taste. Bake with under crust only.

SWEET POTATO PIE.--Bake sufficient sweet potatoes to make a pint of pulp when rubbed through a colander; add a pint of rich milk, a scant cup of sugar, salt if desired, the yolks of two eggs, and a little grated lemon rind for flavor. Bake with under crust. When done, meringue with the whites of the eggs beaten up with a tablespoonful of sugar.

CAKE.

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS.--Always sift the flour for cake before measuring out the amount required. Use the best granulated white sugar.

Eggs for use in cake are better to have the yolks and whites beaten separately. Beat the former until they cease to froth and begin to thicken as if mixed with flour. Beat the whites until stiff enough to remain in the bowl if inverted. Have the eggs and dishes cool, and if practicable, beat in a cool room. Use earthen or china bowls to beat eggs in.

If fruit is to be used, it should be washed and dried according to directions given on page 298, and then dusted with flour, a dessertspoonful to the pound of fruit. For use in cup cake or any other cake which requires a quick baking, raisins should be first steamed. If you have no patent steamer, place them in a close covered dish within an ordinary steamer, and cook for an hour over a kettle of boiling water.

This should be done the day before they are to be used.

Use an earthen or granite-ware basin for mixing cake. Be very accurate in measuring the materials, and have them all at hand and all utensils ready before beginning to put the cake together. If it is to be baked at once, see that the oven also is at just the right temperature. It should be less hot for cake than for bread. Thin cakes require a hotter oven than those baked in loaves. They require from fifteen to twenty minutes to bake; thicker loaves, from thirty to sixty minutes. For loaf cakes the oven should be at such a temperature that during the first half of the time the cake will have risen to its full height and just begun to brown.

The recipes given require neither baking powder, soda, nor saleratus.

Yeast and air can be made to supply the necessary lightness, and their use admits of as great a variety in cakes as will be needed on a hygienic bill of fare.

In making cake with yeast, do not use very thick cream, as a rich, oily batter r.e.t.a.r.ds fermentation and makes the cake slow in rising. If the cake browns too quickly, protect it by a covering of paper. If necessary to move a cake in the oven, do it very gently. Do not slam the oven door or in any way jar a cake while baking, lest it fall. Line cake tins with paper to prevent burning the bottom and edges. Oil the paper, not the tins, very lightly. Cake is done when it shrinks from the pan and stops hissing, or when a clean straw run into the thickest part comes up clean.

As soon as possible after baking, remove from the pan, as, if allowed to remain in the pan, it is apt to become too moist.

_RECIPES._

APPLE CAKE.--Scald a cup of thin cream and cool to blood heat, add one and a half cups of sifted white flour, one fourth of a cup of sugar, and a gill of liquid yeast or one half cake of compressed yeast dissolved in a gill of thin cream. Beat well together, set in a warm place, and let it rise till perfectly light. When well risen, add one half cup of sugar mixed with one half cup of warm flour. Beat well and set in a warm place to rise again. When risen a second time, add two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, and about one tablespoonful of flour. Turn the whole into three round shallow baking tins, which have been previously oiled and warmed, and place where it will rise again for an hour, or until it is all of a foam. Bake quickly in a moderately hot oven. Make this the day before it is needed, and when ready to use prepare a filling as follows: Beat together the whites of two eggs, one half cup of sugar, the juice of one lemon, and two large tart apples well grated. Heat in a farina kettle until all are hot; cool, and spread between the layers of cake. This should be eaten the day the filling is prepared.

COCOANUT CUSTARD CAKE.--Make the cake as directed in the preceding recipe. For the filling, prepare a soft custard by heating just to the boiling point one pint of rich milk previously flavored with cocoanut; into which stir A tablespoonful of cornstarch braided with a little milk, and let it boil until thickened. Beat together an egg and one third of a cup of sugar, and turn the hot mixture slowly over it, stirring constantly till the custard thickens. When cold, spread between the layers of raised cake.

CREAM CAKE.--Prepare the cake as above. Spread between the layers when cold a cream made as follows: Stir into one half pint of boiling milk two teaspoonfuls of cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little cold milk.

Take with two tablespoonfuls of sugar; return to the rest of the custard and cook, stirring constantly until quite thick. Cool and flavor with a teaspoonful of vanilla or rose water.

DELICATE CUP CAKE.--This cake contains no soda or baking powder, and to make it light requires the incorporation of as much air as possible. In order to accomplish this, it should be put together in the same manner as directed for Batter Breads (page 154). Have all material measured and everything in readiness before beginning to put the cake together, then beat together the yolk of one egg, one cup of sugar, and one cup of very cold sweet cream, until all of a foam; add a little grated lemon rind for flavoring; stir in slowly, beating briskly all the time, two cups of granular white flour (sometimes termed gluten flour) or Graham meal. When all the flour is added, add lastly the beaten whites of two eggs, stirring just enough to mix them well throughout the whole; turn at once into slightly heated gem irons which have been previously oiled, and bake in a moderately quick oven. If made according to directions, this cake will be very light and delicate. It will not puff up much above its first proportions, but will be light throughout.

A nice cake may be prepared in the same manner with Graham meal or even white flour, by the addition of a heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch sifted into the flour, in the way in which baking powder is ordinarily mixed with flour before using.

FIG LAYER CAKE.--Prepare the cake as directed for Apple Cake. Chop one half pound of figs very fine, add one half cup of sugar, one cup of water and boil in a farina kettle until soft and h.o.m.ogeneous. Cool, and spread between the cakes. Or chop steamed figs very fine, mix with an equal quant.i.ty of almondine, and use.

FRUIT JELLY CAKE.--Prepare the cake as in the foregoing, using fruit jelly between the layers.

GOLD AND SILVER CAKE.--Prepare the cake as for Apple Cake. When it has risen the second time, measure out one third of it, and add the yolks of the eggs to that portion with a little grated lemon rind for flavoring; add the whites with some very finely pulverized desiccated cocoanut to the other two thirds. Make two sheets of the white and one of the yellow. Allow them to become perfectly light before baking. When baked, place the yellow portion between the two white sheets, binding them together with a little frosting or white currant jelly.