Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches Part 50

Grease the griddle anew, between baking each cake.

If your batter has been mixed over night and is found to be sour in the morning, melt in warm water a piece of pearl-ash the size of a grain of corn, or a little larger; stir it into the batter; let it set half an hour, and then bake it. The pearl-ash will remove the sour taste, and increase the lightness of the cakes.

FLANNEL CAKES.

Put a table-spoonful of b.u.t.ter into a quart of milk, and warm them together till the b.u.t.ter has melted; then stir it well, and set it away to cool. Beat five eggs as light as possible, and stir them into the milk in turn with three pints of sifted flour; add a small tea-spoonful of salt, and a large table-spoonful and a half of the best fresh yeast. Set the pan of batter near the fire to rise; and if the yeast is good, it will be light in three hours.

Then bake it on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes. Send them to table hot, and cut across into four pieces. This batter may be baked in waffle-irons. If so, send to table with the cakes powdered white sugar and cinnamon.

INDIAN BATTER CAKES.

Mix together a quart of sifted Indian meal, (the yellow meal is best for all purposes,) and a handful of wheat flour. Warm a quart of milk, and stir into it a small tea-spoonful of salt, and two large table-spoonfuls of the best fresh yeast. Beat three eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk in turn with the meal. Cover it, and set it to rise for three or four hours. When quite light, bake it on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes. b.u.t.ter them, cut them across, and send them to table hot, with mola.s.ses in a sauce-boat.

If the batter should chance to become sour before it is baked, stir in about a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a little lukewarm water; and let it set half an hour longer before it is baked.

INDIAN MUSH CAKES.

Pour into a pan three pints of cold water, and stir gradually into it a quart of sifted Indian meal which has been mixed with half a pint of wheat flour, and a small tea-spoonful of salt. Give it a hard stirring at the last. Have ready a hot griddle, and bake the batter immediately, in cakes about the size of a saucer. Send them to table piled evenly, but not cut. Eat them with b.u.t.ter or mola.s.ses.

This is the most economical and expeditious way of making soft Indian cakes; but it cannot be recommended as the best. It will be some improvement to mix the meal with milk rather than water.

JOHNNY CAKE.

Sift a quart of Indian meal into a pan; make a hole in the middle, and pour in a pint of warm water. Mix the meal and water gradually into a batter, adding a small tea-spoonful of salt. Beat it very hard, and for a long time, till it becomes quite light. Then spread it thick and even on a stout piece of smooth board. Place it upright on the hearth before a clear fire, with a flat iron or something of the sort to support the board behind, and bake it well. Cut it into squares, and split and b.u.t.ter them hot.

INDIAN FLAPPERS.

Have ready a pint of sifted Indian meal, mixed with a handful of wheat flour, and a small tea-spoonful of salt. Beat four eggs very light, and stir them by degrees into a quart of milk, in turn with the meal. They can be made in a very short time, and should be baked as soon as mixed, on a hot griddle; allow a large ladle full of batter to each cake, and make them all of the same size. Send them to table hot, b.u.t.tered and cut in half.

INDIAN m.u.f.fINS.

Sift and mix together a pint and a half of yellow Indian meal, and a handful of wheat flour. Melt a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter in a quart of milk. Beat four eggs very light, and stir into them alternately (a little at a time of each) the milk when it is quite cold, and the meal; adding a small tea-spoonful of salt. The whole must be beaten long and hard. Then b.u.t.ter some m.u.f.fin rings; set them on a hot griddle, and pour some of the batter into each.

Send the m.u.f.fins to table hot, and split them by pulling them open with your fingers, as a knife will make them heavy. Eat them with b.u.t.ter, mola.s.ses or honey.

WATER m.u.f.fINS.

Put four table-spoonfuls of fresh strong yeast into a pint of lukewarm water. Add a little salt; about a small tea-spoonful; then stir in gradually as much sifted flour as will make a thick batter. Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place to rise. When it is quite light, and your griddle is hot, grease and set your m.u.f.fin rings on it; having first b.u.t.tered them round the inside.

Dip out a ladle full of the batter for each ring, and bake them over a quick fire. Send them to table hot, and split them by pulling open with your hands.

COMMON m.u.f.fINS.

Having melted three table-spoonfuls of fresh b.u.t.ter in three pints of warm milk, set it away to cool. Then beat three eggs as light as possible, and stir them gradually into the milk when it is quite cold; adding a tea-spoonful of salt. Stir in by degrees enough of sifted flour to make a batter as thick as you can conveniently beat it; and lastly, add two table-spoonfuls of strong fresh yeast from the brewery. Cover the batter and set it in a warm place to rise. It should be light in about three hours.

Having heated your griddle, grease it with some b.u.t.ter tied in a rag; grease your m.u.f.fin rings round the inside, and set them on the griddle. Take some batter out of the pan with a ladle or a large spoon, pour it lightly into the rings, and bake the m.u.f.fins of a light brown. When done, break or split them open with your fingers; b.u.t.ter them and send them to table hot.

SODA BISCUITS.

Melt half a pound of b.u.t.ter in a pint of warm milk, adding a tea-spoonful of soda; and stir in by degrees half a pound of sugar.

Then sift into a pan two pounds of flour; make a hole in the middle; pour in the milk, &c., and mix it with the flour into a dough. Put it on your paste-board, and knead it long and hard till it becomes very light. Roll it out into a sheet half an inch thick. Cut it into little round cakes with the top of a wine gla.s.s, or with a tin cutter of that size; p.r.i.c.k the tops; lay them on tins sprinkled with flour, or in shallow iron pans; and bake them of a light brown in a quick oven; they will be done in a few minutes. These biscuits keep very well.

A SALLY LUNN.

This cake is called after the inventress. Sift into a pan a pound and a half of flour. Make a hole in the middle, and put in two ounces of b.u.t.ter warmed in a pint of milk, a salt-spoonful of salt, three well-beaten eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of the best fresh yeast. Mix the flour well into the other ingredients, and put the whole into a square tin pan that has been greased with b.u.t.ter. Cover it, set it in a warm place, and when it is quite light, bake it in a moderate oven. Send it to table hot, and eat it with b.u.t.ter.

Or, you may bake it on a griddle, in small m.u.f.fin rings, pulling the cakes open and b.u.t.tering them when brought to table.

SHORT CAKES.

Rub three quarters of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter into a pound and a half of sifted flour; and make it into a dough with a little cold water. Roll it out into a sheet half an inch thick, and cut it into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler. p.r.i.c.k them with a fork; lay them in a shallow iron pan sprinkled with flour, and bake them in a moderate oven till they are brown. Send them to table hot; split and b.u.t.ter them.

TEA BISCUIT.

Melt a quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter in a quart of warm milk, and add a salt-spoonful of salt. Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, make a hole in the centre, and put in three table-spoonfuls of the best brewer's yeast. Add the milk and b.u.t.ter and mix it into a stiff paste. Cover it and set it by the fire to rise. When quite light, knead it well, roll it out an inch thick, and cut it into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler. p.r.i.c.k the top of each with a fork; lay them in b.u.t.tered pans and bake them light brown. Send them to table warm, and split and b.u.t.ter them.

RICE CAKES.

Pick and wash half a pint of rice, and boil it very soft. Then drain it, and let it get cold. Sift a pint and a half of flour over the pan of rice, and mix in a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter that has been warmed by the fire, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Beat five eggs very light, and stir them gradually into a quart of milk.

Beat the whole very hard, and bake it in m.u.f.fin rings, or in waffle-irons. Send them to table hot, and eat them with b.u.t.ter, honey, or mola.s.ses. You may make these cakes of rice flour instead of mixing together whole rice and wheat flour.

CREAM CAKES.

Having beaten three eggs very light, stir them into a quart of cream alternately with a quart of sifted flour; and add one wine gla.s.s of strong yeast, and a salt-spoon of salt. Cover the batter, and set it near the fire to rise. When it is quite light, stir in a large table-spoonful of b.u.t.ter that has been warmed by the fire.

Bake the cakes in m.u.f.fin rings, and send them to table hot, split with your fingers, and b.u.t.tered.

FRENCH ROLLS.

Sift a pound of flour into a pan, and rub into it two ounces of b.u.t.ter; mix in the whites only of three eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, and a table-spoonful of strong yeast; add sufficient milk to make a stiff dough, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Cover it and set it before the fire to rise. It should be light in an hour. Then put it on a paste-board, divide it into rolls, or round cakes; lay them in a floured square pan, and bake them about ten minutes in a quick oven.

COMMON ROLLS.

Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, and mix with it a tea-spoonful of salt. Warm together a jill of water and a jill of milk. Make a hole in the middle of the pan of flour; mix with the milk and water a jill of the best yeast, and pour it into the hole. Mix into the liquid enough of the surrounding flour to make a thin batter, which you must stir till quite smooth and free from lumps. Then strew a handful of flour over the top, and set it in a warm, place to rise for two hours or more. When it is quite light, and has cracked on the top, make it into a dough with some more milk and water. Knead it well for ten minutes. Cover it, and set it again to rise for twenty minutes. Then make the dough into rolls or round b.a.l.l.s. Bake them in a square pan, and send them to table hot, cut in three, b.u.t.tered and put together again.

BREAD.