The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory Part 52

_Scotch short Bread._

Melt a pound of b.u.t.ter, pour it on two pounds of flour, half a tea-cupful of yest, two ounces of caraway seeds, one ounce of Scotch caraways; sweeten to your taste with lump sugar, then knead it well together and roll it out, not too thin; cut in quarters and pinch it round: p.r.i.c.k it well with a fork.

_b.u.t.tered Loaves._

Take three quarts of new milk; put in as much runnet as will turn it; whey the curds very clean; break them small with your hands; put in nine yolks of eggs and one white, a handful of grated bread, half a handful of flour, and a little salt. Mix these well together, working it well with your hands; roll it into small loaves, and bake them in a quick oven three quarters of an hour. Then take half a pound of b.u.t.ter, four spoonfuls of clear water, half a nutmeg sliced very thin, and a little sugar. Set it on a quick fire, stirring it quickly, and let it boil till thick. When the loaves are baked, cut out the top and stir up the crumb with a knife; then pour some of the b.u.t.ter into each of them, and cover them up again. Strew a little sugar on them: before you set them in the oven, beat the yolk of an egg and a little beer together, and with a feather smear them over with it.

_Egg Loaf._

Soak crumb of bread in milk for three hours; strain it through a sieve; then put in a little salt, some candied citron and lemon-peel cut small, and sugar to your taste. Put to your paste the yolks only of six or eight new-laid eggs, and beat it till the eggs are mixed. Whip the whites of the eggs till they are frothed; add to the other ingredients, and mix them well. b.u.t.ter the pan or dish in which you bake your loaf.

When baked, turn it out into your dish, sc.r.a.pe some fine sugar upon it, and glaze with a hot shovel.

_Buns._ No. 1.

Two pounds of flour, a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter; rub the b.u.t.ter in the flour like grated bread; set it to the fire to dry: put in one pound of currants and a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, with a few caraway seeds, and two spoonfuls of good yest; make the dough into small buns; set them to rise half an hour: you may put two or three eggs in if you like.

_Buns._ No. 2.

One pound of fine flour, two pounds of currants, a few caraway seeds, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a pint of new milk, and two table-spoonfuls of yest; mix all well together in a stiff paste, and let it stand half an hour to rise; then roll them out, and put them in your tins; let them stand another half hour to rise before you bake them. The above receipt answers equally well for a cake baked in a tin.

_Buns._ No. 3.

Take flour, b.u.t.ter, and sugar, of each a quarter of a pound, four eggs, and a few caraway seeds. This quant.i.ty will make two dozen. Bake them on tins.

_Bath Buns._

Take a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered, the same quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter, and nearly double of flour dried before the fire, a walnut-sh.e.l.l full of caraway-seeds just bruised, and one egg. Work all these up together into a paste, the thickness of half-a-crown, and cut it with a tea-cup, flour a tin; lay the cakes upon it; take the white of an egg well beat and frothed; lay it on them with a feather, and then grate upon them a little fine sugar.

_Another way._

Take one pound of fine flour, dry it well by the fire, sift it, and rub into it a pound of b.u.t.ter, the yolks of four eggs, the whites of two, both beaten light, three spoonfuls of cream, and the like quant.i.ty of white wine and ale yest. Let this sponge stand by the fire to rise; then beat it up extremely well and light with your hand; grate in a nutmeg; continue beating till it is ready for the oven; then add a pound of rough caraway seeds, keeping a few out to strew on the top of the cakes before they are put into the oven.

_Plain Buns._

Take three pounds of flour, six ounces of b.u.t.ter, six ounces of sugar sifted fine, six eggs, both yolks and whites. Beat your eggs till they will not slip off the spoon; melt the b.u.t.ter in a pint of new milk, with which mix half a pint of good yest; strain it into the flour, and throw in half an ounce of caraway seeds. Work the whole up very light; set it before the fire to rise; then make it up into buns of the size of a penny roll, handling them as little as possible. Twenty minutes will bake them sufficiently.

_b.u.t.ter, to make without churning._

Tie up cream in a fine napkin, and then in a coa.r.s.e cloth, as you would a pudding: bury it two feet under ground; leave it there for twelve hours, and when you take it up it will be converted into b.u.t.ter.

_Black b.u.t.ter._

To one quart of black gooseberries put one pint of red currants, picked into an earthen jar. Stop it very close, and set it in a pot of cold water over the fire to boil till the juice comes out. Then strain it, and to every pint of liquor put a pound of sugar; boil and skim it till you think it done enough: put it in flat pots, and keep it in a dry place. It will either turn out or cut in slices.

_Spanish b.u.t.ter._

Take two gallons of new milk, boil it, and, when you take it off the fire, put in a quart of cream, giving it a stir; then pour it through a sieve into an earthen pan: lay some sticks over your pan, and cover it with a cloth; if you let it stand thus two days, it will be the better.

Skim off the cream thick, and sweeten it to your taste; you may put in a little orange-flower water, and whip it well up.

_Cake._

Five pounds of flour dried, six pounds of currants, a quart of boiled cream, a pound and a half of b.u.t.ter, twenty eggs, the whites of six only, a pint of ale yest, one ounce of cinnamon finely beaten, one ounce of cloves and mace also well beaten, a quarter of a pound of sugar, a little salt, half a pound of orange and citron. Put in the cream and b.u.t.ter when it is just warm; mix all well together, and let it stand before the fire to rise. Put it into your hoop, and leave it in the oven an hour and a quarter. The oven should be as hot as for a manchet.

_An excellent Cake._

Beat half a pound of sifted sugar and the same quant.i.ty of fresh b.u.t.ter to a cream, in a basin made warm; mixing half a pound of flour well dried, six eggs, leaving out four whites, and one table-spoonful of brandy. The b.u.t.ter is to be beaten in first, then the flour, next the sugar, the eggs, and lastly, the brandy. Currants or caraways may be added at pleasure. It must be beaten an hour, and put in the oven immediately.

_A great Cake._

Take six quarts of fine flour dried in an oven, six pounds of currants, five pounds of b.u.t.ter, two pounds and a half of sugar, one pound of citron, three quarters of a pound of orange-peel, and any other sweetmeat you think proper; a pound of almonds ground very small, a few coriander seeds beat and sifted, half an ounce of mace, four nutmegs, sixteen eggs, six of the whites, half a pint of sack, and half a pint of ale yest.

_Light Cake._

One pound of the finest flour, one ounce of powdered sugar, five ounces of b.u.t.ter, three table-spoonfuls of fresh yest.

_A nice Cake._

Take nine eggs; beat the yolks and whites separately; the weight of eight eggs in sugar, and five in flour: whisk the eggs and the sugar together for half an hour; then put in the flour, just before the oven is ready to bake it. Both the sugar and the flour must be sifted and dried.

_A Plain Cake._

Take a pound of flour, well dried and sifted; add to it one pound of sugar also dried and sifted; take one pound of b.u.t.ter, and work it in your hands till it is like cream; beat very light the yolks of ten eggs and six whites. Mix all these by degrees, beating it very light, and a little sack and brandy. It must not stand to rise. If you choose fruit, add one pound of currants, washed, picked, and dried.

_A very rich Cake._

Two pounds and a half of fresh b.u.t.ter, twenty-four eggs, three-pounds of flour, one pound and a half of sugar, one ounce of mixed spice, four pounds of currants, half a jar of raisins, half of sweet almonds, a quarter of a pound of citron, three quarters of orange and lemon, one gill of brandy, and one nutmeg. First work the b.u.t.ter to a cream; then beat the sugar well in; whisk the eggs half an hour; mix them with the b.u.t.ter and sugar; put in the spice and flour; and, when the oven is ready, mix in the brandy, fruit, and sweetmeats. It will take one hour and a half beating. Let it bake three hours.

_Cake without b.u.t.ter._

Beat up eight eggs for half an hour. Have ready powdered and sifted one pound of loaf sugar; shake it in, and beat it half an hour longer. Put to it a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds beat fine with orange-flower water; grate the rind of a lemon into the almonds, and squeeze in the juice. Mix all together. Just before you put it in the oven, add a quarter of a pound of dry flour; rub the hoop or tin with b.u.t.ter. An hour and a half will bake it.