Title: Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes and Sweetmeats, by Miss Leslie
Author: Eliza Leslie
Release date: October 1, 2004 [eBook #6677]
Most recently updated: December 29, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from images generously made available by the Digital & Multimedia Center, Michigan State University Libraries
Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
This file was produced from images generously made available by the
Digital & Multimedia Center, Michigan State University Libraries.
1832
The following Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats, are original, and have been used by the author and many of her friends with uniform success. They are drawn up in a style so plain and minute, as to be perfectly intelligible to servants, and persons of the most moderate capacity. All the ingredients, with their proper quantities, are enumerated in a list at the head of each receipt, a plan which will greatly facilitate the business of procuring and preparing the requisite articles.
There is frequently much difficulty in following directions in English and French Cookery Books, not only from their want of explicitness, but from the difference in the fuel, fire-places, and cooking utensils, generally used in Europe and America; and many of the European receipts are, so complicated and laborious, that our female cooks are afraid to undertake the arduous task of making any thing from them.
The receipts in this little book are, in every sense of the word, American; but the writer flatters herself that (if exactly followed) the articles produced from them will not be found inferior to any of a similar description made in the European manner. Experience has proved, that pastry, cakes, &c. prepared precisely according to these directions will not fail to be excellent: but where economy is expedient, a portion of the seasoning, that is, the spice, wine, brandy, rosewater, essence of lemon, &c. may be omitted without any essential deviation of flavour, or difference of appearance; retaining, however, the given proportions of eggs, butter, sugar, and flour.
But if done at home, and by a person that can be trusted, it will be proved, on trial, that any of these articles may be made in the best and most liberal manner at one half of the cost of the same articles supplied by a confectioner. And they will be found particularly useful to families that live in the country or in small towns, where nothing of the kind is to be purchased.
Preliminary Remarks
Puff Paste
Common Paste
Mince Pies
Plum Pudding
Lemon Pudding
Orange Pudding
Cocoa Nut Pudding
Almond Pudding
A Cheesecake
Sweet Potato Pudding
Pumpkin Pudding
Gooseberry Pudding
Baked Apple Pudding
Fruit Pies
Oyster Pie
Beef Steak Pie
Indian Pudding
Batter Pudding
Bread Pudding
Rice Pudding
Boston Pudding
Fritters
Fine Custards
Plain Custards
Rice Custard
Cold Custards
Curds and Whey
A Trifle
Whipt Cream
Floating Island
Ice Cream
Calf's Feet Jelly
Blanc-mange
General directions
Queen Cake
Pound Cake
Black Cake, or Plum Cake
Sponge Cake
Almond Cake
French Almond Cake
Maccaroons
Apees
Jumbles
Kisses
Spanish Buns
Rusk
Indian Pound Cake
Cup Cake
Loaf Cake
Sugar Biscuits
Milk Biscuits
Butter Biscuits
Gingerbread Nuts
Common Gingerbread
La Fayette Gingerbread
A Dover Cake
Crullers
Dough Nuts
Waffles
Soft Muffins
Indian Batter Cakes
Flannel Cakes
Rolls
General directions
Apple Jelly
Red Currant Jelly
Black Currant Jelly
Gooseberry Jelly
Grape Jelly
Peach Jelly
Preserved Quinces
Preserved Pippins
Preserved Peaches
Preserved Crab-Apples
Preserved Plums
Preserved Strawberries
Preserved Cranberries
Preserved Pumpkin
Preserved Pine-Apple
Raspberry Jam
Miscellaneous Receipts
As all families are not provided with scales and weights, referring to the ingredients generally used in cakes and pastry, we subjoin a list of weights and measures.
Wheat flour one pound is one quart.
Indian meal one pound, two ounces, is one quart.
Butter—when soft one pound is one quart.
Loaf-sugar, broken one pound is one quart.
White sugar, powdered one pound, one ounce, is one quart.
Eggs ten eggs are one pound.
Sixteen large table-spoonfuls are half a pint.
Eight large table-spoonfuls are one gill.
Four large table-spoonfuls are half a gill.
A common-sized tumbler holds half a pint.
A common-sized wine-glass half a gill.
Allowing for accidental differences in the quality, freshness, dryness, and moisture of the articles, we believe this comparison between weight and measure, to be nearly correct as possible.
The eggs should not be beaten till after all the other ingredients are ready, as they will fail very soon. If the whites and yolks are to be beaten separately, do the whites first, as they will stand longer.
Eggs should be beaten in a broad shallow pan, spreading wide at the top. Butter and sugar should be stirred in a deep pan with straight sides.
Break every egg by itself, in a saucer, before you put it into the pan, that in case there should be any bad ones, they may not spoil the others.
Eggs are beaten most expeditiously with rods. A small quantity of white of egg may be beaten with a knife, or a three-pronged fork.
There can be no positive rules as to the exact time of baking each article. Skill in baking is the result of practice, attention, and experience. Much, of course, depends on the state of the fire, and on the size of the things to be baked, and something on the thickness of the pans or dishes.
If you bake in a stove, put some bricks in the oven part to set the pans or plates on, and to temper the heat at the bottom. Large sheets of iron, without sides, will be found very useful for small cakes, and to put under the pans or plates.
Half a pound and two ounces of sifted flour.
Half a pound of the best fresh butter—washed.
A little cold water.
This will make puff-paste for two Puddings, or for one soup-plate Pie, or for four small Shells.
Weigh half a pound and two ounces of flour, and sift it through a hair-sieve into a large deep dish. Take out about one fourth of the flour, and lay it aside on one corner of your pasteboard, to roll and sprinkle with.
Wash, in cold water, half a pound of the best fresh butter.
Squeeze it hard with your hands and make it up into a round lump.
Divide it in four equal parts; lay them on one side of your
paste-board, and have ready a glass of cold water.
Cut one of the four pieces of butter into the pan of flour. Cut it as small as possible. Wet it gradually with a very little water (too much water will make it tough) and mix it well with the point of a large case-knife. Do not touch it with your hands. When the dough gets into a lump, sprinkle on the middle of the board some of the flour that you laid aside, and lay the dough upon it, turning it out of the pan with the knife.
Rub the rolling-pin with flour, and sprinkle a little on the lump of paste. Roll it out thin, quickly, and evenly, pressing on the rolling-pin very lightly. Then take the second of the four pieces of butter, and, with the point of your knife, stick it in little bits at equal distances all over the sheet of paste. Sprinkle on some flour, and fold up the dough. Flour the paste-board and rolling-pin again; throw a little flour on the paste and roll it out a second time. Stick the third piece of butter all over it in little bits. Throw on some flour, fold up the paste, sprinkle a little more flour on the dough, and on the rolling-pin, and roll it out a third time, always pressing on it lightly. Stick it over with the fourth and last piece of butter. Throw on a little more flour, fold up the paste and then roll it out in a large round sheet. Cut off the sides, so as to make the sheet of a square form, and lay the slips of dough upon the square sheet. Fold it up with the small pieces of trimmings, in the inside. Score or notch it a little with the knife; lay it on a plate and set it away in a cool place, but not where it can freeze, as that will make it heavy.
Having made the paste, prepare and mix your pudding or pie. When the mixture is finished, bring out your paste, flour the board and rolling-pin, and roll it out with a short quick stroke, and pressing the rolling-pin rather harder than while you were putting the butter in. If the paste rises in blisters, it will be light, unless spoiled in baking.
Then cut the sheet in half, fold up each piece and roll them out once more, separately, in round sheets the size of your plate. Press on rather harder, but not too hard. Roll the sheets thinnest in the middle and thickest at the edges. If intended for puddings, lay them in buttered soup-plates, and trim them evenly round the edges. If the edges do not appear thick enough, you may take the trimmings, put them all together, roll them out, and having cut them in slips the breadth of the rim of the plate, lay them all round to make the paste thicker at the edges, joining them nicely and evenly, as every patch or crack will appear distinctly when baked. Notch the rim handsomely with a very sharp knife. Fill the dish with the mixture of the pudding, and bake it in a moderate oven. The paste should be of a light brown colour. If the oven is too slow, it will be soft and clammy; if too quick, it will not have time to rise as high as it ought to do.
In making the best puff-paste, try to avoid using more flour to sprinkle and roll with, than the small portion which you have laid aside for that purpose at the beginning. If you make the dough too soft at first, by using too much water, it will be sticky, and require more flour, and will eventually be tough when baked. Do not put your hands to it, as their warmth will injure it. Use the knife instead. Always roll from you rather than to you, and press lightly on the rolling-pin, except at the last.
It is difficult to make puff-paste in the summer, unless in a cellar, or very cool room, and on a marble table. The butter should, if possible, be washed the night before, and kept covered with ice till you use it next day. The water should have ice in it, and the butter should be iced as it sets on the paste-board. After the paste is mixed, it should be put in a covered dish, and set in cold water till you are ready to give it the last rolling.
With all these precautions to prevent its being heavy, it will not rise as well, or be in any respect as good as in cold weather.
The handsomest way of ornamenting the edge of a pie or pudding is to cut the rim in large square notches, and then fold over triangularly one corner of every notch.
A pound and a half of sifted flour.
Three quarters of a pound of butter—washed.
This will make one large pie or two small ones.
Sift the flour into a pan. Cut the butter into two equal parts. Cut one half of the butter into the flour, and cut it up as small as possible. Mix it well with the flour, wetting it gradually with a little cold water.
Spread some flour on your paste-board, take the lump of paste out of the pan, flour your rolling-pin, and roll out the paste into a large sheet. Then stick it over with the remaining half of the butter in small pieces, and laid at equal distances. Throw on a little flour, fold up the sheet of paste, flour it slightly, and roll it out again. Then fold it up, and cut it in half or in four, according to the size of your pies. Roll it out into round sheets the size of your pie-plates, pressing rather harder on the rolling-pin.
Butter your pie-plates, lay on your under crust, and trim the edge. Fill the dish with the ingredients of which the pie is composed, and lay on the lid, in which you must prick some holes, or cut a small slit in the top. Crimp the edges with a sharp knife.
Heap up the ingredients so that the pie will be highest in the middle.
Some think it makes common paste more crisp and light, to beat it hard on both sides with the rolling-pin, after you give it the first rolling, when all the butter is in.
If the butter is very fresh, you may mix with the flour a salt-spoonful of salt.
One pound and a half of boiled beef's heart, or fresh
tongue—chopped when cold.
Two pounds of beef suet, chopped fine.
Four pounds of pippin apples, chopped.
Two pounds of raisins, stoned and chopped.
Two pounds of currants, picked, washed, and dried.
Two pounds of powdered sugar.
One quart of white wine.
One quart of brandy.
One wine-glass of rose-water.
Two grated nutmegs.
Half an ounce of powdered cinnamon
A quarter of an ounce of powdered cloves
A quarter of an ounce of powdered mace
A teaspoon of salt.
Two large oranges.
Half a pound of citron, cut in slips.
Parboil a beef's heart, or a fresh tongue. After you have taken off the skin and fat, weigh a pound and a half. When it is cold, chop it very fine. Take the inside of the suet; weigh two pounds, and chop it as fine as possible. Mix the meat and suet together, adding the salt. Pare, core, and chop the apples, and then stone and chop the raisins. Having prepared the currants, add them to the other fruit, and mix the fruit with the meat and suet. Put in the sugar and spice, and the grated peel and juice of the oranges. Wet the whole with the rose water and liquor, and mix all well together.
Make the paste, allowing for each pie, half a pound of butter and three quarters of a pound of sifted flour. Make it in the same manner as puff-paste, but it will not be quite so rich. Lay a sheet of paste all over a soup-plate. Fill it with mince-meat, laying slips of citron on the top. Roll out a sheet of paste, for the lid of the pie. Put it on, and crimp the edges with a knife. Prick holes in the lid.
Bake the pies half an hour in a brisk oven.
Keep your mince meat in a jar tightly covered. Set it in a dry, cool place, and occasionally add more brandy to it.
Instead of the heart or tongue, you may, if you choose, use part of a round of fresh beef.
One pound of raisins, stoned and cut in half.
One pound of currants, picked, washed and dried.
One pound of beef suet chopped fine.
One pound of grated stale bread, or, half a pound of flour and
half a pound of bread.
Eight eggs.
A quarter of a pound of sugar.
A glass of brandy.
A pint of milk.
A glass of wine.
Two nutmegs, grated.
A table-spoonful of mixed cinnamon and mace.
A salt-spoonful of salt.
You must prepare all your ingredients the day before (except beating the eggs) that in the morning you may have nothing to do but to mix them, as the pudding will require six hours to boil.
Beat the eggs very light, then put to them half the milk and beat both together. Stir in gradually the flour and grated bread. Next add the sugar by degrees. Then the suet and fruit alternately. The fruit must be well sprinkled with flour, lest it sink to the bottom. Stir very hard. Then add the spice and liquor, and lastly the remainder of the milk. Stir the whole mixture very well together. If it is not thick enough, add a little more grated bread or flour. If there is too much bread or flour, the pudding will be hard and heavy.
Dip your pudding-cloth, in boiling water, shake it out and sprinkle it slightly with flour. Lay it in a pan and pour the mixture into the cloth. Tie it up carefully, allowing room for the pudding to swell.
Boil it six hours, and turn it carefully out of the cloth.
Before you send it to table, have ready some blanched sweet almonds cut in slips, or some slips of citron, or both. Stick them all over the outside of the pudding.
Eat it with wine, or with a sauce made of drawn butter, wine and nutmeg.
The pudding will be improved if you add to the other ingredients, the grated rind of a large lemon or orange.
One small lemon, with a smooth thin rind.
Three eggs.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
A quarter of a pound of fresh butter—washed.
A table-spoonful of white wine and brandy, mixed.
A tea-spoonful of rose-water.
Five ounces of sifted flour, and a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter for the paste.
Grate the yellow part of the rind of a small lemon. Then cut the lemon in half, and squeeze the juice into the plate that contains the grated rind, carefully taking out all the seeds. Mix the juice and rind together.
Put a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar into a deep earthen pan, and cut up in it a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter. If the weather is very cold, set the pan near the fire, for a few minutes, to soften the butter, but do not allow it to melt or it will be heavy. Stir the butter and sugar together, with a stick or wooden spoon, till it is perfectly light and of the consistence of cream.
Put the eggs in a shallow broad pan, and beat them with an egg-beater or rods, till they are quite smooth, and as thick as a boiled custard. Then stir the eggs, gradually, into the pan of butter and sugar. Add the liquor and rose water by degrees, and then stir in, gradually, the juice and grated rind of the lemon. Stir the whole very hard, after all the ingredients are in.
Have ready a puff-paste made of five ounces of sifted flour, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. The paste must be made with as little water as possible. Roll it out in a circular sheet, thin in the centre, and thicker towards the edges, and just large enough to cover the bottom, sides, and edges of a soup-plate. Butter the soup-plate very well, and lay the paste in it, making it neat and even round the broad edge of the plate. With a sharp knife, trim off the superfluous dough, and notch the edges. Put in the mixture with a spoon, and bake the pudding about half an hour, in a moderate oven. It should be baked of a very light brown. If the oven is too hot, the paste will not have time to rise well. If too cold, it will be clammy. When the pudding is cool, grate loaf-sugar over it.
Before using lemons for any purpose, always roll them awhile with your hand on a table. This will cause them to yield a larger quantity of juice.
One large orange, of a deep colour, and smooth thin rind.
One lime.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.
Three eggs.
A table-spoonful of mixed wine and brandy.
A tea-spoonful of rose-water.
Grate the yellow rind of the orange and lime, and squeeze the juice into a saucer or soup-plate, taking out all the seeds.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream.
Beat the eggs as light as possible, and then stir them by degrees into the pan of butter and sugar. Add, gradually, the liquor and rose-water, and then by degrees, the orange and lime. Stir all well together.
Have ready a sheet of puff-paste made of five ounces of sifted flour, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Lay the paste in a buttered soup-plate. Trim and notch the edges, and then put in the mixture. Bake it about half an hour, in a moderate oven. Grate loaf-sugar over it, before you send it to table.
A quarter of a pound of cocoa-nut, grated.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
Three ounces and a half of fresh butter.
The whites only of six eggs.
A table-spoonful of wine and brandy mixed.
Half a tea-spoonful of rose-water.
Break up a cocoa-nut, and take the thin brown skin carefully off, with a knife. Wash all the pieces in cold water, and then wipe them dry, with a clean towel. Weigh a quarter of a pound of cocoa-nut, and grate it very fine, into a soup-plate.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, and add the liquor and rose-water gradually to them.
Beat the whites only, of six eggs, till they stand alone on the rods; and then stir the beaten white of egg, gradually, into the butter and sugar. Afterwards, sprinkle in, by degrees, the grated cocoa-nut, stirring hard all the time. Then stir all very well at the last.
Have ready a puff-paste, sufficient to cover the bottom, sides, and edges of a soup-plate. Put in the mixture, and bake it in a moderate oven, about half an hour.
Grate loaf-sugar over it, when cool.
Half a pound of sweet almonds, which will be reduced to a quarter
of a pound, when shelled and blanched.
An ounce of blanched bitter almonds or peach-kernels.
The whites only, of six eggs.
A quarter of a pound of butter.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
A table-spoonful of mixed brandy, wine, and rose-water.
Shell half a pound of sweet almonds, and pour scalding water over them, which will make the skins peal off. As they get cool, pour more boiling water, till the almonds are all blanched. Blanch also the bitter almonds. As you blanch the almonds, throw them into a bowl of cold water. Then take them out, one by one, wipe them dry in a clean towel, and lay them on a plate. Pound them one at a time to a fine paste, in a marble mortar, adding, as you pound them, a few drops of rose-water to prevent their oiling. Pound the bitter and sweet almonds alternately, that they may be well mixed. They must be made perfectly fine and smooth, and are the better for being prepared the day before they are wanted for the pudding.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, and add to it, gradually, the liquor.
Beat the whites of six eggs till they stand alone. Stir the almonds and white of eggs, alternately, into the butter and sugar; and then stir the whole well together.
Have ready a puff-paste sufficient for a soup-plate. Butter the plate, lay on the paste, trim and notch it. Then put in the mixture.
Bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven.
Grate loaf-sugar over it.
Four eggs.
A gill of milk.
A quarter of a pound of butter.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
Two ounces of grated bread.
A table-spoonful of mixed brandy and wine.
A tea-spoonful of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of mace, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mixed.
A quarter of a pound of currants.
Pick the currants very clean. Wash them through a colander, wipe them in a towel, and then dry them on a dish before the fire.
When dry take out a few to scatter over the top of the cheesecake, lay them aside, and sprinkle the remainder of the currants with the flour.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream. Grate the bread, and prepare the spice. Beat the eggs very light.
Boil the milk. When it comes to a boil, add to it half the beaten egg, and boil both together till it becomes a curd, stirring it frequently with a knife. Then throw the grated bread on the curd, and stir all together. Then take the milk, egg, and bread off the fire and stir it, gradually, into the butter and sugar. Next, stir in the remaining half of the egg.
Add, by degrees, the liquor and spice.
Lastly, stir in, gradually, the currants.
Have ready a puff-paste, which should be made before you prepare the cheesecake, as the mixture will become heavy by standing. Before you put it into the oven, scatter the remainder of the currants over the top.
Bake it half an hour in rather a quick oven.
Do not sugar the top.
You may bake it either in a soup-plate, or in two small tin patty-pans, which, for cheesecakes, should be of a square shape. If baked in square patty-pans, leave at each side a flap of paste in the shape of a half-circle. Cut long slits in these flaps and turn them over, so that they will rest on the top of the mixture.
You can, if you choose, add to the currants a few raisins stoned, and cut in half.
A quarter of a pound of boiled sweet potato.
Three eggs.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.
A glass of mixed wine and brandy.
A half-glass of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.
Pound the spice, allowing a smaller proportion of mace than of nutmeg and cinnamon.
Boil and peal some sweet potatoes, and when they are cold, weigh a quarter of a pound. Mash the sweet potato very smooth, and rub it through a sieve. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream.
Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately with the sweet potato. Add by degrees the liquor, rose-water and spice. Stir all very hard together.
Spread puff-paste on a soup-plate. Put in the mixture, and bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven.
Grate sugar over it.
Half a pound of stewed pumpkin.
Three eggs.
A quarter of a pound of fresh butter, or a pint of cream.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
Half a glass of wine and brandy mixed.
Half a glass of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.
Stew some pumpkin with as little water as possible. Drain it in a colander, and press it till dry. When cold, weigh half a pound, and pass it through a sieve. Prepare the spice. Stir together the sugar, and butter, to cream, till they are perfectly light. Add to them, gradually, the spice and liquor.
Beat three eggs very light, and stir them into the butter and sugar alternately with the pumpkin.
Cover a soup-plate with puff-paste, and put in the mixture. Bake it in a moderate oven about half an hour.
Grate sugar over it when cool.
Instead of the butter, you may boil a pint of milk or cream, and when cold, stir into it in turn the sugar, eggs, and pumpkin.
A pint of stewed gooseberries, with all their juice.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
Two ounces of fresh butter.
Two ounces of grated bread.
Three eggs.
Stew the gooseberries till quite soft. When they are cold, mash them fine with the back of a spoon, and stir into them two ounces of sugar. Take two ounces more of sugar, and stir it to a cream with two ounces of butter.
Grate very fine as much stale bread as will weigh two ounces.
Beat three eggs, and stir them into the butter and sugar, in turn with the gooseberries and bread.
Lay puff-paste in a soup plate. Put in the mixture, and bake it half an hour.
Do not grate sugar over it.
A pint of stewed apples.
Half a pint of cream, or two ounces of butter.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
A nutmeg grated.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of grated lemon-peel.
Stew your apple in as little water as possible, and not long enough for the pieces to break and lose their shape. Put them in a colander to drain, and mash them with the back of a spoon. If stewed too long, and in too much water, they will lose their flavour. When cold, mix with them the nutmeg, rose-water, and lemon-peel, and two ounces of sugar. Stir the other two ounces of sugar, with the butter or cream, and then mix it gradually with the apple.
Bake, it in puff-paste, in a soup-dish, about half an hour in a moderate oven.
Do not sugar the top.
Fruit pies for family use, are generally made with common paste, allowing three quarters of a pound of butter to a pound and a half of flour.
Peaches and plums for pies, should be cut in half, and the stones taken out. Cherries also should be stoned, and red cherries only should be used for pies.
Apples should be cut into very thin slices, and are much improved by a little lemon peel. Sweet apples are not good for pies, as they are very insipid when baked, and seldom get thoroughly done. If green apples are used, they should first be stewed in as little water as possible; and made very sweet.
Apples, stewed previous to baking, should not be done till they break, but only till they are tender. They should then be drained in a colander, and chopped fine with a knife or the edge of a spoon.
In making pies of juicy fruit, it is a good way to set a small tea-cup on the bottom crust, and lay the fruit all round it. The juice will collect under the cup, and not run out at the edges or top of the pie. The fruit should be mixed with a sufficient quantity of sugar, and piled up in the middle, so as to make the pie highest in the centre. The upper crust should be pricked with a fork, or have a slit cut in the middle. The edges should be nicely crimped with a knife.
Dried peaches, dried apples, and cranberries should be stewed with a very little water, and allowed to get quite cold before they are put into the pie. If stewed fruit is put in warm, it will make the paste heavy.
If your pies are made in the form of shells, or without lids, the fruit should always be stewed first, or it will not be sufficiently done, as the shells (which should be of puff paste) must not bake so long as covered pies.
Shells intended for sweetmeats, must be baked empty, and the fruit put into them before they go to table.
Fruit pies with lids, should have loaf-sugar grated over them. If they have been baked the day before, they should be warmed in the stove, or near the fire, before they are sent to table, to soften the crust, and make them taste fresh.
Raspberry and apple-pies are much improved by taking off the lid, and pouring in a little cream just before they go to table. Replace the lid very carefully.
A hundred large fresh oysters, or more if small.
The yolks of six eggs boiled hard.
A large slice of stale-bread, grated.
A tea-spoonful of salt.
A table-spoonful of pepper.
A table-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.
Take a large round dish, butter it and spread a rich paste over the sides, and round the edge, but not at the bottom.
Salt oysters will not do for pies. They should be fresh, and as large and fine as possible.
Drain off part of the liquor from the oysters. Put them into a pan, and season them with pepper, salt and spice. Stir them well with the seasoning. Have ready the yolks of eggs, chopped fine, and the grated bread. Pour the oysters (with as much of their liquor as you please) into the dish that has the paste in it. Strew over them the chopped egg and grated bread.
Roll out the lid of the pie, and put it on, crimping the edges handsomely.
Take a small sheet of paste, cut it into a square and roll it up.
Cut it with a sharp knife into the form of a double tulip.
Make a slit in the centre of the upper crust, and stick the tulip in it.
Cut out eight large leaves of paste, and lay them on the lid.
Bake the pie in a quick oven.
If you think the oysters will be too much done by baking them in the crust, you can substitute for them pieces of bread, to keep up the lid of the pie.
Put the oysters with their liquor and the seasoning, chopped egg, grated bread, &c. into a pan. Cover them closely, and let them just come to a boil, taking them off the fire, and stirring them frequently.
When the crust is baked, take the lid neatly off (loosening it round the edge with a knife) take out the pieces of bread, and put in the oysters. Lay the lid on again very carefully.
For oyster patties, the oysters are prepared in the same manner.
They may be chopped if you choose. They must be put in small shells of puff-paste.
Butter a deep dish, and spread a sheet of paste all over the bottom, sides, and edge.
Cut away from your beef-steak all the bone, fat, gristle, and skin. Cut the lean in small thin pieces, about as large, generally, as the palm of your hand. Beat the meat well with the rolling-pin, to make it juicy and tender. If you put in the fat, it will make the gravy too greasy and strong, as it cannot be skimmed.
Put a layer of meat over the bottom-crust of your dish, and season it to your taste, with pepper, salt, and, if you choose, a little nutmeg. A small quantity of mushroom ketchup is an improvement; so, also, is a little minced onion.
Have ready some cold boiled potatoes sliced thin. Spread over the meat, a layer of potatoes, and a small piece of butter; then another layer of meat, seasoned, and then a layer of potatoes, and so on till the dish is full and heaped up in the middle, having a layer of meat on the top. Pour in a little water.
Cover the pie with a sheet of paste, and trim the edges. Notch it handsomely with a knife; and, if you choose, make a tulip of paste, and stick it in the middle of the lid, and lay leaves of paste round it.
Fresh oysters will greatly improve a beef-steak pie. So also will mushrooms.
Any meat pie may be made in a similar manner.
A pound of beef-suet, chopped very fine.
A pint of molasses.
A pint of rich milk.
Four eggs.
A large tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and cinnamon.
A little grated or chipped lemon-peel.
Indian meal sufficient to make a thick batter.
Warm the milk and molasses, and stir them together. Beat the eggs, and stir them gradually into the milk and molasses, in turn with the suet and indian meal. Add the spice and lemon-peel and stir all very hard together. Take care not to put too much indian meal, or the pudding will be heavy and solid.
Dip the cloth in boiling water. Shake it out, and flour it slightly. Pour the mixture into it, and tie it up, leaving room for the pudding to swell.
Boil it three hours. Serve it up hot, and eat it with sauce made of drawn butter, wine and nutmeg.
When cold, it is good cut in slices and fried.
Six eggs.
Eight table-spoonfuls of sifted flour.
One quart of milk.
A salt-spoonful of salt.
Stir the flour, gradually, into the milk, carefully dissolving all the lumps. Beat the eggs very light, and add them by degrees to the milk and flour. Put in the salt, and stir the whole well together.
Take a very thick pudding-cloth. Dip it in boiling water, and flour it. Pour into it the mixture and tie it up, leaving room for it to swell. Boil it hard, one hour, and keep it in the pot, till it is time to send it to table. Serve it up with wine-sauce.
A square cloth, which when tied up will make the pudding of a round form, is better than a bag.
Apple Batter Pudding is made by pouring the batter over a dish of pippins, pared, cored, and sweetened, either whole or cut in pieces. Bake it, and eat it with butter and sugar.
A quarter of a pound of grated stale bread.
A quart of milk, boiled with two or three sticks of cinnamon,
slightly broken.
Eight eggs.
A quarter of a pound of sugar.
A little grated lemon-peel.
Boil the milk with the cinnamon, strain it, and set it away till quite cold.
Grate as much crumb of stale bread as will weigh a quarter of a pound. Beat the eggs, and when the milk is cold, stir them into it in turn with the bread and sugar. Add the lemon-peel, and if you choose, a table spoonful of rosewater.
Bake it in a buttered dish, and grate nutmeg over it when done. Do not send it to table hot. Baked puddings should never be eaten till they have become cold, or at least cool.
A quarter of a pound of rice.
A quarter of a pound of butter.
A quarter of a pound of sugar.
A pint and a half of milk, or cream and milk.
Six eggs.
A tea-spoonful of mixed spice, mace, nutmeg and cinnamon.
A half wine-glass of rose-water.
Wash the rice. Boil it till very soft. Drain it and set it away to get cold. Put the butter and sugar together in a pan, and stir them till very light. Add to them the spice and rose-water. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them, gradually, into the milk. Then stir the eggs and the milk into the butter and sugar, alternately with the rice.
Bake it and grate nutmeg over the top.
Currants or raisins, floured, and stirred in at the last, will greatly improve it.
It should be eaten cold, or quite cool.
Make a good common paste with a pound and a half of flour, and three quarters of a pound of butter. [Footnote: Or three quarters of a pound of beef suet, chopped very fine. Mix the suet at once with the flour, knead it with cold water into a stiff dough, and then roll it out into a large thin sheet. Fold it up and roll it again.] When you roll it out the last time, cut off the edges, till you get the sheet of paste of an even square shape.
Have ready some fruit sweetened to your taste. If cranberries, gooseberries, dried peaches, or damsons, they should be stewed, and made very sweet. If apples, they should be stewed in a very little water, drained, and seasoned with nutmeg, rosewater and lemon. If currants, raspberries, or blackberries, they should be mashed with sugar, and put into the pudding raw.
Spread the fruit very thick, all over the sheet of paste, (which must not be rolled out too thin.) When it is covered all over with the fruit, roll it up, and close the dough at both ends, and down the last side. Tie the pudding in a cloth and boil it.
Eat it with sugar. It must not be taken out of the pot till just before it is brought to table.
Seven eggs.
Half a pint of milk.
A salt-spoonful of salt.
Sufficient flour to make a thick batter.
Beat the eggs well and stir them gradually into the milk. Add the salt, and stir in flour enough to make a thick batter.
Fry them in lard, and serve them up hot.
Eat them with wine and sugar.
They are improved by stirring in a table-spoonful of yeast.
These are excellent with the addition of cold stewed apple, stirred into the mixtures in which case use less flour.
A quart of milk or cream.
The yoke only, of sixteen eggs.
Six ounces of powdered white sugar.
A large handful of peach-leaves or half an ounce of peach kernels
or bitter almonds, broken in pieces.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A nutmeg.
Boil in the milk the cinnamon, and the peach-leaves, or peach-kernels. When it has boiled, set it away to get cold. As soon as it is cold, strain it through a sieve, to clear it from the cinnamon, peach-leaves, &c. and stir into it gradually, the sugar, spice, and rose-water.
Beat the yolks of sixteen eggs very light, and stir them by degrees into the milk, which must be quite cold or the eggs will make it curdle. Put the custards into cups, and set them in a baking pan, half filled with water. When baked, grate some nutmeg over each and ice them. Make the icing of the whites of eight eggs, a large tea-spoonful of powdered loaf sugar, and six drops of essence of lemon, beaten all together till it stands alone. Pile up some of the icing on the top of each custard, heaping it high. Put a spot of red nonpareils on the middle of the pile of icing.
If the weather be damp, or the eggs not new-laid, more than eight whites will be required for the icing.
A quart of rich milk.
Eight eggs.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
A handful of peach-leaves, or half an ounce of peach-kernels,
broken in pieces.
A nutmeg.
Boil the peach-leaves or kernels in the milk, and set it away to cool. When cold, strain out the leaves or kernels, and stir in the sugar. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the milk when it is quite cold. Bake it in cups, or in a large white dish.
When cool, grate nutmeg over the top.
Half a pound of rice.
Half a pound of raisins or currants.
Eight yolks of eggs or six whole eggs.
Six ounces of powdered sugar.
A quart of rich milk.
A handful of peach-leaves, or half an ounce of peach-kernels,
broken in pieces.
Half an ounce of cinnamon, broken in pieces.
Boil the rice with the raisins or currants, which must first be floured. Butter some cups or a mould, and when the rice is quite soft, drain it, and put it into them. Set it away to get cold.
Beat the eggs well. Boil the milk with the cinnamon and peach-leaves, or kernels. As soon as it has come to a boil, take it off and strain it through a sieve. Then set it again on the fire, stir into it alternately, the egg and sugar, taking it off frequently and stirring it hard, lest it become a curd. Take care not to boil it too long, or it will be lumpy and lose its flavour. When done, set it away to cool. Turn out the rice from the cups or mould, into a deep dish. Pour some of the boiled custard over it, and send up the remainder of the custard in a sauce-boat.
You may, if you choose, ornament the lumps of rice, (after the custard is poured round them) by making a stiff froth of white of egg (beaten till it stands alone) and a few drops of essence of lemon, with a very little powdered loaf-sugar. Heap the froth on the top of each lump of rice.
A quart of new milk, and a half a pint of cream, mixed.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
A large glass of white wine, in which an inch of washed rennet has
been soaked.
A nutmeg.
Mix together the milk, cream, and sugar. Stir the wine into it, and pour the mixture into your custard-cups. Set them in a warm place near the fire, till they become a firm curd. Then set them on ice, or in a very cold place. Grate nutmeg over them.
Take a small piece of rennet about two inches square. Wash it very clean in cold water, to get all the salt off, and wipe it dry. Put it in a tea-cup, and pour on it just enough of lukewarm water to cover it. Let it set all night, or, for several hours. Then take out the rennet, and stir the water in which it was soaked, into a quart of milk, which should be in a broad dish.
Set the milk in a warm place, till it becomes a firm curd. As soon as the curd is completely made, set it in a cool place, or on ice (if in summer) for two or three hours before you want to use it.
Eat it with wine, sugar, and nutmeg.
The whey, drained from the curd, is an excellent drink for invalids.
A quart of cream.
A quarter of a pound of loaf sugar, powdered.
Half a pint of white wine and Half a gill of brandy mixed.
Eight maccaroons, or more if you choose.
Four small sponge-cakes or Naples biscuit.
Two ounces of blanched sweet almonds, pounded in a mortar.
One ounce of blanched bitter almonds or peach-kernels.
The juice and grated peel of two lemons.
A nutmeg, grated.
A glass of noyau.
A pint of rich baked custard, made of the yolks of eggs.
Pound the sweet and bitter almonds to a smooth paste, adding a little rose-water as you pound them.
Grate the yellow peels of the lemons, and squeeze the juice into a saucer.
Break the sponge cake and maccaroons into small pieces, mix them with the almonds, and lay them in the bottom of a large glass bowl. Grate a nutmeg over them, and the juice and peel of the lemons. Add the wine and brandy, and let the mixture remain untouched, till the cakes are dissolved in the liquor. Then stir it a little.
Mix the cream and sugar with a glass of noyau, and beat it with a whisk or rods, till it stands alone.
As the froth rises, take it off with a spoon, and lay it on a sieve (with a large dish under it) to drain. The cream, that drains into the dish, must be poured back into the pan with the rest, and beaten over again. When the cream is finished, set it in a cool place.
When the custard is cold, poor it into the glass bowl upon the dissolved cakes, &c. and when the cream is ready, fill up the bowl with it, heaping it high in the middle. You may ornament it with nonpareils.
If you choose, you can put in, between the custard and the frothed cream, a layer of fruit jelly, or small fruit preserved.
A quart of cream.
The whites of four eggs.
Half a pint of white wine.
A quarter of a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
Tea drops of strong essence of lemon, or two lemons cut in thin
slices, or the juice of a large lemon.
Mix together, in a broad pan, all the ingredients, unless you use slices of lemon, and then they must be laid at intervals among the froth, as you heap it in the bowl.
With a whisk or rods, beat the cream to a strong froth. Have beside your pan a sieve (bottom upwards) with a large dish under it. As the froth rises, take it lightly off with a spoon, and lay it on the sieve to drain. When the top of the sieve is full, transfer the froth to a large glass or china bowl. Continue to do this till the bowl is full.
The cream which has dropped through the sieve into the dish, must be poured into the pan, and beaten over again. When all the cream is converted into froth, pile it up in the bowl, making it highest in the middle.
If you choose, you may ornament it with red and green nonpareils.
If you put it in glasses, lay a little jelly in the bottom of each glass, and pile the cream on it.
Keep it in a cool place till you want to use it.
Six whites of eggs.
Six large table-spoonfuls of jelly.
A pint of cream.
Put the jelly and white of egg into a pan, and beat it together with a whisk, till it becomes a stiff froth and stands alone.
Have ready the cream, in a broad shallow dish. Just before you send it to table, pile up the froth in the centre of the cream.
A quart of rich cream.
Half a pound of powdered loaf sugar.
The juice of two large lemons, or a pint of strawberries or
raspberries.
Put the cream into a broad pan. Then stir in the sugar by degrees, and when all is well mixed, strain it through a sieve.
Put it into a tin that has a close cover, and set it in a tub. Fill the tub with ice broken into very small pieces, and strew among the ice a large quantity of salt, taking care that none of the salt gets into the cream. Scrape the cream down with a spoon as it freezes round the edges of the tin. While the cream is freezing, stir in gradually the lemon-juice, or the juice of a pint of mashed strawberries or raspberries. When it is all frozen, dip the tin in lukewarm water; take out the cream, and fill your glasses; but not till a few minutes before you want to use it, as it will very soon melt.
You may heighten the colour of the red fruit, by a little cochineal.
If you wish to have it in moulds, put the cream into them as soon as it has frozen in the tin. Set the moulds in a tub of ice and salt. Just before you want to use the cream, take the moulds out of the tub, wipe or wash the salt carefully from the outside, dip the moulds in lukewarm water, and turn out the cream.
You may flavour a quart of ice-cream with two ounces of sweet almonds and one ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and beaten in a mortar with a little rose-water to a smooth paste. Stir in the almonds gradually while the cream is freezing.
A pint and a half of rich cream.
A quart and a half-pint of morning's milk.
One pound of loaf sugar.
Two eggs.
One table-spoonful of flour.
Two lemons.
Or half a Vanilla bean, split into small pieces.
Or two ounces of sweet almonds and once ounce of bitter almonds,
blanched and split into pieces.
Take half of the milk and put in the ingredient that is to flavour it, either the vanilla, the almonds, or the grated rind of the lemons. Boil it, stirring in gradually the sugar.
Having beaten the eggs well, add to them two table-spoonfuls of cold milk, and pour them into the boiling milk. Let them simmer two or three minutes, stirring them all the time. Then take the mixture off the fire and strain it through book-muslin into a pan. Add the cream and the remainder of the milk, and put the whole into the tin freezer, which must be set in a tub filled with ice, among which must be scattered a great deal of salt.
Squeeze the juice from the two lemons and stir it into the cream, by degrees, while it is freezing.
When it is all frozen, turn it out, first dipping the tin for a moment in warm water.
If you wish to flavour it with strawberry or raspberry juice, that, like the lemon-juice, must be stirred gradually in while the cream is freezing.
In places where cream is not abundant, this receipt (though inferior in richness) will be found more economical than the preceding one. It is, however, less easy and expeditious.
Eight calf's feet.
Three quarts of water.
A pint of white wine.
Three lemons.
The whites of six eggs.
Half an ounce of cinnamon.
Half a pound of loaf-sugar, broken into lumps.
Endeavour to procure calf's-feet, that have been nicely singed, but not skinned, as the skin being left on, makes the jelly much firmer.
The day before you want to use the jelly, boil the eight calf's-feet in three quarts of water, till the meat drops from the bone. When sufficiently done, put it into a collender or sieve, and let the liquid drain from the meat, into a broad pan or dish. Skim off the fat. Let the jelly stand till next day, and then carefully scrape off the sediment from the bottom. It will be a firm jelly, if too much water has not been used, and if it has bolted long enough. If it is not firm at first, it will not become so afterwards when boiled with the other ingredients. There should on no account be more than three quarts of water.
Early next morning, put the jelly into a tin kettle, or covered tin pan; set it on the fire, and melt it a little. Take it off, and season it with the cinnamon slightly broken, a pint of madeira wine, three lemons cut in thin slices, and half a pound of loaf-sugar, broken up.
If you wish it high-coloured, add two table-spoonfuls of French brandy. Mix all well together. Beat, slightly, the whites of six eggs (saving the egg-shell) and stir the whites into the jelly. Break up the egg-shells into very small pieces, and throw them in also. Stir the whole very well together.
Set it on the fire, and boil it hard five minutes, but do not stir it, as that will prevent its clearing. Have ready a large white flannel bag, the top wide, and the bottom tapering to a point.
Tie the bag to the backs of two chairs, or to the legs of a table, and set a while dish or a mould under it.
After the jelly has boiled five minutes, pour it hot into the bag, and let it drip through into the dish. Do not squeeze the bag, as that will make the jelly dull and cloudy.
If it is not clear the first time it passes through the bag, empty out all the ingredients, wash the bag, suspend it again, put another white dish under-it, pour the jelly back into the bag, and let it drip through again. Repeat this six or eight times, or till it is clear, putting a clean dish under it every time. If it does not drip freely, move the bag into a warmer place.
When the jelly has all dripped through the bag, and is clear, set it in a cool place to congeal. It will sometimes congeal immediately, and sometimes not for several hours, particularly if the weather is warm and damp. If the weather is very cold you must take care not to let it freeze. When it is quite firm, which perhaps it will not be till evening, fill your glasses with it, piling it up very high. If you make it in a mould, you must either set the mould under the bag while it is dripping, or pour it from the dish into the mould while it is liquid. When it is perfectly congealed, dip the mould for an instant in boiling water to loosen the jelly. Turn it out on a glass dish.
This quantity of ingredients will make a quart of jelly when finished. In cool weather it may be made a day or two before it is wanted.
You may increase the seasoning, (that is, the wine, lemon, and cinnamon,) according to your taste, but less than the above proportion will not be sufficient to flavour the jelly.
Ice jelly is made in the same manner, only not so stiff. Four calves-feet will be sufficient. Freeze it as you would ice-cream, and serve it up in glasses.
Four calf's-feet
A pint and a half of thick cream.
Half a pound of loaf-sugar, broken up.
A glass of wine.
Half a glass of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of mace, beaten and sifted.
Get four calf's-feet; if possible some that have been singed, and not skinned. Scrape, and clean them well, and boil them in three quarts of water till all the meat drops off the bone. Drain the liquid through a colander or sieve, and skim it well. Let it stand till next morning to congeal. Then clean it well from the sediment, and put it into a tin or bell-metal kettle. Stir into it, the cream, sugar, and mace. Boil it hard for five minutes, stirring it several times. Then strain it through a linen cloth or napkin into a large bowl, and add the wine and rose-water.
Set it in a cool place for three or four hours, stirring it very frequently with a spoon, to, prevent the cream from separating from the jelly. The more it is stirred the better. Stir it till it is cool.
Wash your moulds, wipe them dry, and then wet them with cold water. When the blancmange becomes very thick, (that is, in three or four hours, if the weather is not too damp) put it into your moulds.
When it has set in them till it is quite firm, loosen it carefully all round with a knife, and turn it out on glass or china plates.
If you wish to make it with almonds, take an ounce of blanched bitter almonds, and two ounces of sweet. Beat them in a mortar to a fine paste, pouring in occasionally a little rose-water. When the mixture is ready to boil, add the almonds to it gradually, stirring them well in. Or you may stir them in, while it is cooling in the bowl.
If it inclines to stick to the moulds, set them an instant in hot water. It will then turn out easily.
If you choose to make it without calf's feet, you can substitute an ounce of the best and dearest isinglass (or, if in summer, an ounce and a quarter) boiled with the other ingredients. If made with isinglass, you must use two ounces of sweet, and an ounce of bitter almonds, with the addition of the grated rind of a large lemon, and a large stick of cinnamon, broken up, a glass of wine, and half a glass of rose-water. Those ingredients must be all mixed together, with a quart of cream, and boiled hard for five minutes. The mixture must then be strained through a napkin, into a large bowl. Set it in a cool place, and stir it frequently till nearly cold. It must then be put into the moulds.
You may substitute for the almonds, half a gill of noyau, in which case, omit the wine.
In making cakes it is particularly necessary that the eggs should be well beaten. They are not sufficiently light till the surface looks smooth and level, and till they get so thick as to be of the consistence of boiled custard.
White of egg should always be beaten till it becomes a heap of stiff froth, without any liquid at the bottom; and till it hangs from the rods or fork without dropping.
Eggs, become light soonest when new-laid, and when beaten near the fire or in warm dry weather.
Butter and sugar should be stirred till it looks like thick cream, and till it stands up in the pan.
It should be kept cool. If too warm, it will make the cakes heavy.
Large cakes should be baked in tin or earthen pans with straight sides, that are as nearly perpendicular as possible. They cut into handsomer slices, and if they are to be iced, it will be found very inconvenient to put on the icing, if the cake slopes in towards the bottom.
Before you ice a cake dredge it all over with flour, and then wipe the flour off. This will enable you to spread on the icing more evenly.
Before you cut an ice cake, cut the icing by itself with a small sharp penknife. The large knife with which you divide the cake, will crack and break the icing.
Large Gingerbread, as it burns very easily, may be baked in an earthen pan. So also may Black Cake or Pound Cake. Tin pans or moulds, with a hollow tube in the middle, are best for cakes.
If large cakes are baked in tin pans, the bottom and sides should be covered with sheets of paper, before the mixture is put in. The paper must be well buttered.
Sponge cakes, and Almond cakes should be baked in pans that are as thin as possible.
If the cakes should get burnt, scrape them with a knife or grater, as soon as they are cool.
Always be careful to butter your pans well. Should the cakes stick, they cannot be got out without breaking.
For queen-cakes, &c. the small tins of a round or oval shape are most convenient. Fill them but little more than half.
After the mixture is completed, set it in a cool place till all the cakes are baked,
In rolling out cakes made of dough, use as little flour as possible. When you lay them in the pans, do not place them too close together, lest they run into each other.
When you are cutting them out, dip the cutter frequently in flour, to prevent its slicking.
One pound of powdered white sugar.
One pound of fresh butter—washed.
Fourteen ounces of sifted flour.
Ten eggs.
One wine-glass of wine and brandy, mixed.
Half a glass of rose-water, or twelve drops of essence of lemon.
One tea-spoonful of mace and cinnamon, mixed.
One nutmeg, beaten or grated.
Pound the spice to a fine powder, in a marble mortar, and sift it well.
Put the sugar into a deep earthen pan, and cut the butter into it.
Stir them together, till very light.
Beat the eggs in a broad shallow pan, till they are perfectly smooth and thick.
Stir into the butter and sugar a little of the beaten egg, and then a little flour, and so on alternately, a little egg and a little flour, till the whole is in; continuing all the time to beat the eggs, and stirring the mixture very hard. Add by degrees, the spice, and then the liquor, a little at a time. Finally, put in the rose-water, or essence of lemon. [Footnote: In buying essence or oil of lemon, endeavour to get that which is white, it being much the strongest and best. When it looks greenish, it is generally very weak, so that when used, a double or treble quantity is necessary.] Stir the whole very hard at the last.
Take about two dozen little tins, or more, if you have room for them in the oven. Rub them very well with fresh butter. With a spoon, put some of the mixture in each tin, but do not fill them to the top as the cakes will rise high in baking. Bake them in a quick oven, about a quarter of an hour. When they are done, they will shrink a little from the sides of the tins.
Before you fill your tins again, scrape them well with a knife, and wash or wipe them clean.
If the cakes are scorched by too hot a fire, do not scrape off the burnt parts till they have grown cold.
Make an icing with the whites of three eggs, beaten till it stands alone, and twenty-four tea-spoonfuls of the best loaf-sugar, powdered, and beaten gradually into the white of egg. Flavour it with a tea-spoonful of rose-water or eight drops of essence of lemon, stirred in at the last. Spread it evenly with a broad knife, over the top of each queen-cake, ornamenting them, (while the icing is quite wet) with red and green nonpareils, or fine sugar-sand, dropped on, carefully, with the thumb and finger.
When the cakes are iced, set them in a warm place to dry; but not too near the fire, as that will cause the icing to crack. [Footnote: You may colour icing of a fine pink, by mixing with it a few drops of liquid cochineal; which is prepared by boiling very slowly in an earthen or china vessel twenty grains of cochineal powder, twenty grains of cream of tartar, and twenty grains of powdered alum, all dissolved in a gill of soft water, and boiled till reduced to one half. Strain it and cork it up in a small phial. Pink icing should be ornamented with white nonpareils.]
One pound of flour, sifted.
One pound of white sugar, powdered and sifted.
One pound of fresh butter.
Ten eggs.
Half a glass of wine \
Half a glass of brandy }mixed.
Half a glass of rose-water /
Twelve drops of essence of lemon.
A table-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon.
A nutmeg, powdered.
Pound the spice and sift it. There should be twice as much cinnamon as mace. Mix the cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg together.
Sift the flour in a broad pan, or wooden bowl. Sift the powdered sugar into a large deep pan, and cut the butter into it, in small pieces. If the weather is very cold, and the butter hard, set the pan near the fire for a few minutes; but if the butter is too warm, the cake will be heavy. Stir the butter and sugar together, with a wooden stick, till they are very light, and white, and look like cream.
Beat the eggs in a broad shallow pan with a wood egg-beater or whisk. They must be beaten till they are thick and smooth, and of the consistence of boiled custard.
Pour the liquor and rose-water, gradually, into the butter and sugar, stirring all the time. Add, by degrees, the essence of lemon and spice.
Stir the egg and flour alternately into the butter and sugar, a handful of flour, and about two spoonfuls of the egg (which you must continue to beat all the time,) and when all is in, stir the whole mixture very hard, for near ten minutes.
Butter a large tin pan, or a cake mould with an open tube rising from the middle. Put the mixture into it as evenly as possible. Bake it in a moderate oven, for two, or three, or four hours, in proportion to its thickness, and to the heat of the fire.
When you think it is nearly done, thrust a twig or wooden skewer into it, down to the bottom. If the stick come out clean and dry, the cake is almost baked. When quite done, it will shrink from she sides of the pan, and cease making a noise. Then withdraw the coals (if baked in a dutch oven), take off the lid, and let the cake remain in the oven to cool gradually.
You may ice it either warm or cold. Before you put the icing on a large cake, dredge the cake all over with flour, and then wipe the flour off; this will make the icing stick on better—If you have sufficient time, the appearance of the cake will be much improved by icing it twice. Put on the first icing soon after the cake is taken out of the oven, and the second the next day when the first is perfectly dry. While the last icing is wet, ornament it with coloured sugar-sand or nonpareils.
One pound of flour sifted.
One pound of fresh butter.
One pound of powdered white sugar.
Twelve eggs.
Two pounds of the best raisins.
Two pounds of currants.
Two table-spoonfuls of mixed spice, mace and cinnamon.
Two nutmegs powdered.
A large glass of wine \
A large glass of brandy }mixed together.
Half a glass of rose-water /
A pound of citron.
Pick the currants very clean, and wash them, draining them through a colander. Wipe them in a towel. Spread them out on a large dish, and set them near the fire, or in the hot sun, to dry, placing the dish in a slanting position. Having stoned the raisins, cut them in half, and, when all are done, sprinkle them well with sifted flour, to prevent their sinking to the bottom of the cake. When the currants are dry, sprinkle them also with flour.
Pound the spice, allowing twice as much cinnamon as mace. Sift it, and mix the mace, nutmeg, cinnamon together. Mix also the liquor and rose-water in a tumbler or cup. Cut the citron in slips. Sift the flour into a broad dish. Sift the sugar into a deep earthen pan, and cut the butter into it. Warm it near the fire, if the weather is too cold for it to mix easily. Stir the butter and sugar to a cream.
Beat the eggs as light as possible. Stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately with the flour. Stir very hard. Add gradually the spice and liquor. Stir the raisins and currants alternately into the mixture, taking care that they are well floured. Stir the whole as hard as possible, for ten minutes after the ingredients are in.
Cover the bottom and sides of a large tin or earthen pan, with sheets of white paper well buttered, and put into it some of the mixture. Then spread on it some of the citron, which must not be cut too small. Next put a layer of the mixture, and then a layer of citron, and so on till it is all in, having a layer of the mixture at the top.
This cake is always best baked in a baker's oven, and will require four or five hours, in proportion to its thickness. [Footnote: After this cake is done, it will be the better for withdrawing the fire (if baked in an iron oven) and letting it stay in the oven all night, or till it gets quite cold.] Ice it the next day.
Twelve eggs.
Ten ounces of sifted flour, dried near the fire.
A pound of loaf sugar, powdered and sifted.
Twelve drops of essence of lemon.
A grated nutmeg.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon and mace, mixed.
Beat the eggs as light as possible. Eggs for sponge or almond cakes require more beating than for any other purpose. Beat the sugar, by degrees, into the eggs. Beat very hard, and continue to beat some time after the sugar is all in.
No sort of sugar but loaf will make light sponge-cake. Stir in, gradually, the spice and essence of lemon. Then, by degrees, put in the flour, a little at a time, stirring round the mixture very slowly with a knife. If the flour is stirred in too hard, the cake will be tough. It must be done lightly and gently, so that the top of the mixture will be covered with bubbles. As soon as the flour is all in, begin to bake it, as setting will injure it.
Put it in small tins, well buttered, or in one large tin pan. The thinner the pans, the better for sponge-cake. Fill the small tins about half full. Grate loaf-sugar over the top of each, before you set them in the oven.
Sponge-cake requires a very quick oven, particularly at the bottom. It should be baked as fast as possible, or it will be tough and heavy, however light it may have been before it went into the oven. It is of all cakes the most liable to be spoiled in baking. When taken out of the tins, the cakes should be spread on a sieve to cool. If baked in one large cake, it should be iced.
A large cake of twelve eggs, should be baked at least an hour in a quick oven.
For small cakes, ten minutes is generally sufficient. If they get very much out of shape in baking, it is a sign that the oven is too slow.
Some think that sponge-cakes and almond cakes are lighter, when the yolks and whites of the eggs are beaten in separate pans, and mixed gently together before the sugar is beaten into them.
If done separately from the yolks, the whites should be beaten till they stand alone.
Two ounces of blanched bitter almonds, pounded very fine.
Seven ounces of flour, sifted and dried.
Ten eggs.
One pound of loaf sugar, powdered and sifted.
Two table-spoonfuls of rose-water.
Take two ounces of shelled bitter almonds or peach-kernels. Scald them in hot water, and as you peel them, throw them into a bowl of cold water, then wipe them dry, and pound them one by one in a mortar, till they are quite fine and smooth.
Break ten eggs, putting the yolks in one pan and the whites in another. Beat them separately as light as possible, the whites first, and then the yolks.
Add the sugar, gradually, to the yolks, beating it in very hard.
Then by degrees, Beat in the almonds, and then add the rose-water.
Stir-half the whites of the eggs into the yolks and sugar. Divide the flour into two equal parts, and stir in one half, slowly and lightly, till it bubbles on the top. Then the other half of the white of egg, and then the remainder of the flour very lightly.
Butter a large square tin pan, or one made of paste-board which will be better. Put in the mixture, and set immediately in a quick oven, which must be rather hotter at the bottom than at the top. Bake it according to the thickness. If you allow the oven to get slack, the cake will be spoiled.
Make an icing with the whites of three eggs, twenty-four tea-spoonfuls of loaf-sugar, and eight drops of essence of lemon.
When the cake is cool, mark it in small squares with a knife. Cover it with icing, and ornament it while wet, with nonpareils dropped on in borders, round each square of the cake. When the icing is dry, cut the cake in squares, cutting through the icing very carefully with a penknife. Or you may cat it in squares first, and then ice and ornament each square separately.
Six ounces of shelled sweet almonds.
Three ounces of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels.
Three ounces of sifted flour, dried near the fire.
Fourteen eggs.
One pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
Twelve drops of essence of lemon.
Blanch the almonds, by scalding them in hot water. Put them in a bowl of cold water, and wipe them dry, when you take them out. Pound them, one at a time, in a mortar, till they are perfectly smooth. Mix the sweet and bitter almonds together. Prepare them, if possible the day before the cake is made. [Footnote: While pounding the almonds, pour in occasionally a little rose-water. It makes them much lighter.]
Put the whites and yolks of the eggs, into separate pans. Beat the whites till they stand alone, and then the yolks till they are very thick.
Put the sugar, gradually, to the yolks, beating it in very hard. Add, by degrees, the almonds, still beating very hard. Then put in the essence of lemon. Next, beat in, gradually, the whites of the eggs, continuing to beat for some time after they are all in. Lastly, stir in the flour, as slowly and lightly, as possible.
Butter a large tin mould or pan. Put the cake in and bake it in a very quick oven, an hour or more according to its thickness.
The oven must on no account be hotter at the top, than at the bottom.
When done, set it on a sieve to cool.
Ice it, and ornament it with nonpareils.
These almond cakes are generally baked in a turban-shaped mould, and the nonpareils put on, in spots or sprigs.
A pound of almonds in the shells (if the shells are soft and thin,) will generally yield half a pound when shelled. Hard, thick-shelled almonds, seldom yield much more than a quarter of a pound, and should therefore never be bought for cakes or puddings.
Bitter almonds and peach-kernels can always be purchased with the shells off.
Families should always save their peach-kernels, as they can be used in cakes, puddings and custards.
Half a pound of shelled sweet almonds.
A quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds.
The whites of three eggs.
Twenty-four large tea-spoonfuls of powdered loaf-sugar.
A tea-spoonful of rose-water.
A large tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.
Blanch and pound your almonds, beat them very smooth, and mix the sweet and bitter together; do them, if you can, the day before you make the maccaroons. Pound and sift your spice. Beat the whites of three eggs till they stand alone; add to them, very gradually, the powdered sugar, a spoonful at a time, beat it in very hard, and put in, by degrees, the rose-water and spice. Then stir in, gradually, the almonds. The mixture must be like a soft dough; if too thick, it will be heavy; if too thin, it will run out of shape. If you find your almonds not sufficient, prepare a few more, and stir them in. When it is all well mixed and stirred, put some flour in the palm of your hand, and taking up a lump of the mixture with a knife, roll it on your hand with the flour into a small round ball; have ready an iron or tin pan, buttered, and lay the maccaroons in it, as you make them up. Place them about two inches apart, in case of their spreading. Bake them about eight or ten minutes in a moderate oven; they should be baked of a pale brown colour. If too much baked, they will lose their flavour; if too little, they will be heavy. They should rise high in the middle, and crack on the surface. You may, if you choose, put a larger proportion of spice. [Footnote: Cocoa-nut cakes may be made in a similar manner, substituting for the pounded almonds half a pound of finely-grated cocoa-nut. They mast be made into small round balls with a little flour laid on the palm of the hand, and baked a few minutes. They are very fine.]
A pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Half a glass of wine, and a table-spoon of rose-water mixed.
Half a pound of powdered white sugar.
A nutmeg, grated.
A tea-spoonful of beaten cinnamon and mace.
Three table-spoonfuls of carraway seeds.
Sift the flour into a broad pan, and cut up the butter in it. Add the carraways, sugar, and spice, and pour in the liquor by degrees, mixing it well with a knife; add enough of cold water to make it a stiff dough. Spread some flour on your pasteboard, take out the dough, and knead it very well with your hands. Cut it into small pieces, and knead each separately, then put them all together, and knead the whole in one lump. Roll it out in a sheet about a quarter of an inch thick. Cut it out in round cakes, with the edge of a tumbler, or a tin of that size. Butter an iron pan, and lay the cakes in it, not too close together. Bake them a few minutes in a moderate oven, till they are very slightly coloured, but not brown. If too much baked, they will entirely lose their flavour. Do not roll them out too thin.
Three eggs.
Half a pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A nutmeg grated.
A tea-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon.
Stir the sugar and butter to a cream. Beat the eggs very light. Throw them, all at once, into the pan of flour. Put in, at once, the butter and sugar, and then add the spice and rose-water. If you have no rose-water, substitute six or seven drops of strong essence of lemon, or more if the essence is weak. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife.
Spread some flour on your paste-board, and flour your hands well. Take up with your knife, a portion of the dough, and lay it on the board. Roll it lightly with your hands, into long shin rolls, which must be cut into equal lengths, curled up into rings, and laid gently into an iron or tin pan, buttered, not too close to each other, as they spread in baking. Bake them in a quick oven about five minutes, and grate loaf-sugar over them when cool.
One pound of the best loaf sugar, powdered and sifted.
The whites of four eggs.
Twelve drops of essence of lemon.
A tea-cup of currant jelly.
Beat the whites of four eggs till they stand alone. Then heat in, gradually, the sugar, a tea-spoonful at a time. Add the essence of lemon, and beat the whole very hard.
Lay a wet sheet of paper on the bottom of a square tin pan. Drop on it, at equal distances, a small tea-spoonful of stiff currant jelly. [Footnote: It is better to put a little of the beaten white of egg and sugar at first under the currant jelly.] With a large spoon, pile some of the beaten white of egg and sugar, on each lump of jelly, so as to cover it entirely. Drop on the mixture as evenly as possible, so as to make the kisses of a round smooth shape.
Set them in a cool open, and as soon as they are coloured, they are done. Then take them out and place them two bottoms together. Lay them lightly on sieve, and dry them in a cool oven, till the two bottoms stick fast together, so as to form one ball or oval.
Four eggs.
Three quarters of a pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of powdered white sugar.
Two wine-glasses and a half of rich milk.
Six ounces of fresh butter.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A grated nutmeg.
A large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon.
Sift half a pound of flour into a broad pan, and sift a quarter of a pound, separately, into a deep plate, and set it aside. Put the milk into a soup-plate, cut up the butter, and set it on the stove or near the fire to warm, but do not let it get too hot. When the butter is very soft, stir it all through the milk with a knife, and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs very light, and mix the milk and butter with them, all at once; then pour all into the pan of flour. Put in the spice, and the rose-water, or if you prefer it, eight drops of essence of lemon. Add the yeast, of which an increased quantity will be necessary, if it is not very strong and fresh. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife. Add the sugar gradually. If the sugar is not stirred in slowly, a little at a time, the buns will be heavy. Then, by degrees, sprinkle in the renaming quarter of a pound of flour. Stir all well together; butter a square iron pan, and put in the mixture. Cover it with a cloth, and set it near the fire to rise. It will probably not be light in less than five hours. When it is risen very high, and is covered with bubbles, bake it in a moderate oven, about a quarter of an hour or more in proportion to its thickness.
When it is quite cool, cut it in squares, and grate loaf-sugar over them. This quantity will make twelve or fifteen buns.
They are best the day they are baked.
You may, if you choose, bake them separately, in small square tins, adding to the baiter half a pound of currants or chopped raisins, well floured, and stirred in at the last.
In making buns, stir the yeast well before you put it in, having first poured off the beer or thin part from the top. If your yeast is not good, do not attempt to make buns with it, as they will never be light.
Buns may be made in a plainer way, with the following ingredients, mixed in the above manner.
Half a pound of flour, sifted into a pan.
A quarter of a pound of flour, sifted in a plate, and set aside to
sprinkle in at the last.
Three eggs, well beaten.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
Three wine-glasses of milk.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A quarter of a pound of butter, cut up, and warmed in the milk.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.
One pound of flour sifted.
One egg.
Three wine-glasses of milk.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Sift your flour into a pan. Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm them a little, so as to soften the butter, but not to melt it entirely. Beat your egg; pour the milk and butter into your pan of flour, then the egg, then the rose-water and spice, and lastly the yeast. Stir all well together with a knife.
Spread some flour on your paste-board: lay the dough on it, and knead it well. Then divide it into small pieces of an equal size, and knead each piece into a little thick round cake. Butter an iron pan, lay the cakes in it, and set them in a warm place to rise. Prick the tops with a fork. When they are quite light, bake them in a moderate oven.
Eight eggs.
One pint of powdered sugar.
One pint of Indian meal, sifted, and half a pint of wheat-flour.
Half a pound of butter.
One nutmeg, grated,—and a tea-spoonful of cinnamon.
Half a glass of mixed wine and brandy.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream. Beat the eggs very light.
Stir the meal and eggs, alternately, into the butter and sugar.
Add the spice and liquor. Stir all well. Butter a tin pan, put in
the mixture, and bake it in a moderate oven.
This cake should be eaten while fresh.
Five eggs.
Two large tea-cups full of molasses.
The same of brown sugar rolled fine.
The same of fresh butter.
One cup of rich milk.
Five cups of flour sifted.
Half a cup of powdered allspice and cloves.
Half a cup of ginger.
Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm them slightly. Warm also the molasses, and stir it into the milk and butter: then stir in, gradually, the sugar, and set it away to get cool.
Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the mixture alternately with the flour. Add the ginger and other spice, and stir the whole very hard.
Butter small tins, nearly fill them with the mixture, and bake the cakes in a moderate oven.
Two pounds of sifted flour, setting aside half a pound to
sprinkle in at the last.
One pound of fresh butter.
One pound of powdered sugar.
Four eggs.
One pound of raisins, stoned, and cut in half.
One pound of currants, washed and dried.
Half a pint of milk.
Half a glass of wine.
Half a glass of brandy.
A tablespoon of mixed spice, mace, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
Half a pint of the best brewer's yeast; or more, if the
yeast is not very strong.
Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm it till the butter is quite soft; then stir it together, and set it away to cool. It must not be made too warm. After you have beaten the eggs, mix them with the butter and milk, and stir the whole into the pan of flour. Add the spice and liquor, and stir in the sugar gradually. Having poured off the thin part from the top, stir the yeast, and pour it into the mixture. Then sprinkle in the remainder of the flour.
Have ready the fruit, which must be well floured, stir it gradually into the mixture. Butter a large tin pan, and put the cake into it. Cover it, and set in a warm place for five or six hours to rise. When quite light, bake it in a moderate oven.
Three pounds of flour, sifted.
One pound of butter.
A pound and a half of powdered sugar.
Half a pint of milk.
Two table-spoonfuls of brandy.
A small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in water.
Four table-spoonfuls of carraway seeds.
Cut the butter into the flour. Add the sugar and carraway seeds. Pour in the brandy, and then the milk. Lastly, put in the pearl-ash. Stir all well with a knife, and mix it thoroughly, till it becomes a lump of dough.
Flour your paste-board, and lay the dough on it. Knead it very well. Divide it into eight or ten pieces, and knead each piece separately. Then put them all together, and knead them very well in one lump.
Cut the dough in half, and roll it out into sheets, about half an inch thick. Beat the sheets of dough very hard, on both sides, with the rolling-pin. Cut them out into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler. Butter iron pans, and lay the cakes in them. Bake them a very pale brown. If done too much, they will lose their taste.
These cakes kept in a stone jar, closely covered from the air, will continue perfectly good for several months.
Two pounds of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Two eggs.
Six wine-glasses of milk.
Two wine-glasses of the best brewer's yeast, or three
of good home-made yeast.
Cut the butter into the milk, and warm it slightly on the top of the stove, or near the fire. Sift the flour into a pan, and pour the milk and butter into it. Beat the eggs, and pour them in also. Lastly the yeast. Mix all well together with a knife.
Flour your paste-board, put the lump of dough on it, and knead it very hard. Then cut the dough in small pieces, and knead them into round balls. Stick the tops of them with a fork.
Lay them in buttered pans and set them to rise. They will probably be light in an hour. When they are quite light, put them in a moderate oven and bake them.
They are best when quite fresh.
Half a pound of butter.
Two pounds of flour, sifted
Half a pint of milk, or cold water.
A salt-spoonful of salt.
Cut up the butter in the flour, and put the salt to it. Wet it to a stiff dough with the milk or water. Mix it well with a knife.
Throw some flour on the paste-board, take the dough out of the pan, and knead it very well.
Roll it out into a large thick sheet, and beat it very hard on both sides with the rolling-pin. Beat it a long time.
Cut it out with a tin, or cup, into small round thick cakes. Beat each cake on both sides, with the rolling-pin. Prick them, with a fork. Put them in buttered pans, and bake them of a light brown in a slow oven.
Two pounds of flour, sifted.
One pound of fresh butter.
One quart of sugar-house molasses.
Two ounces of ginger, or more, if it is not very strong.
Twelve dozen grains of allspice, powdered and sifted
Six dozen cloves, powdered and sifted.
Half an ounce of cinnamon, powdered and sifted.
A half tea-spoonful of pearl-ash or salaeratus, dissolved in a
little vinegar.
Cut up the butter in the flour, and mix it with the ginger and other spice. Wet the whole with the molasses, and stir all well together with a knife. Then add the dissolved pearl-ash or salaeratus.
Throw some flour on your paste-board, take the dough (a large handful at a time) and knead it in separate cakes. Then put all together, and knead It very hard for a long time, in one large lump. Cut the lump in half, roll it out in two even sheets, about half an inch thick, and cut it out in little cakes, with a very small tin, about the size of a cent. Lay them in buttered pans, and bake them in a moderate oven, taking care they do not scorch, as gingerbread is more liable to burn than any other cake,
You may, if you choose, shape the gingerbread nuts, by putting flour in your hand, taking a very small piece of the dough, and rolling it into a little round ball.
A pint of molasses.
One pound of fresh butter.
Two pounds and a half of flour, sifted.
A pint of milk,
A small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash, or less if it is strong.
A tea-cup full of ginger.
Cut the butter into the flour. Add the ginger. Having dissolved the pearl-ash in a little vinegar, stir it with the milk and molasses alternately into the other ingredients. Stir it very hard for a long lime, till it is quite light.
Put some flour on your paste-board, take out small portions of the dough, and make it with your hand into long rolls. Then curl up the rolls into round cakes, or twist two rolls together, or lay them in straight lengths or sticks side by side, and touching each other. Put them carefully in buttered pans, and bake them in a moderate oven, not hot enough to burn them. If they should get scorched, scrape off with a knife, or grater, all the burnt parts, before you put the cakes away.
You can, if you choose, cut out the dough with tins, in the shape of hearts, circles, ovals, &c. or you may bake it all in one, and cut it in squares when cold.
If the mixture appears to be too thin, add, gradually, a little more sifted flour.
Five eggs.
Half a pound of brown sugar.
Half a pound of fresh butter.
A pint of sugar-house molasses
A pound and a half of flour.
Four table-spoonfuls of ginger.
Two large sticks of cinnamon, powered and sifted.
Three dozen grains of allspice, powdered and sifted.
Three dozen of cloves, powdered and sifted.
The juice and grated peel of two large lemons.
A little pearl-ash or salaeratus.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream. Beat the eggs very well. Pour the molasses, at once, into the butter and sugar. Add the ginger and other spice, and stir all well together.
Put in the egg and flour alternately, stirring all the time. Stir the whole very hard, and put in the lemon at the last. When the whole is mixed, stir it till very light.
Butter an earthen pan, or a thick tin or iron one, and put the gingerbread in it. Bake it in a moderate oven, an hour or more, according to its thickness. Take care that it do not burn.
Or you may bake it in small cakes, or little tins.
Its lightness will be much improved by a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a tea-spoonful of vinegar, and stirred lightly in at the last. [Footnote: If the pearl-ash is strong, half a tea-spoonful will be sufficient, or less even will do. It is better stir the pearl-ash in, a little at a time, and you can tell by the taste of the mixture, when there is enough.] Too much pearl-ash, will give it an unpleasant taste.
If you use pearl-ash, you must omit the lemon, as its taste will be entirely destroyed by the pearl-ash. You may substitute for the lemon, some raisins and currants, well floured to prevent their sinking.
This is the finest of all gingerbread, but should not be kept long, as in a few days it becomes very hard and stale.
Half a pint of milk.
A half tea-spoonful of pearl-ash, dissolved in a little vinegar.
One pound of sifted flour.
One pound of powdered white sugar.
Half a pound of butter.
Six eggs.
One glass of brandy.
Half a glass of rose-water.
One grated nutmeg.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Dissolve the pearl-ash in vinegar. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream, and add to it gradually, the spice and liquor. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately, with the flour. Add, gradually, the milk, and stir the whole very hard.
Butter a large tin pan, and put in the mixture. Bake it two hours or more, in a moderate oven. If not thick, an hour or an hour and a half will be sufficient.
Wrap it in a thick cloth, and keep it from the air, and it will continue moist and fresh for two weeks. The pearl-ash will give it a dark colour.
It will be much improved by a pound of raisins, stoned and cut in half, and a pound of currants, well washed and dried.
Flour the fruit well, and stir it in at the last.
Half a pound of butter.
Three quarters of a pound of powdered white sugar.
Six eggs, or seven if they are small.
Two pounds of flour, sifted.
A grated nutmeg.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
Cut the butter into the flour, add the sugar and spice, and mix them well together.
Beat the eggs and pour them into the pan of flour, &c. Add the rose water, and mix the whole into a dough. If the eggs and rose-water are not found sufficient to wet it, add a very little cold water. Mix the dough very well with a knife.
Spread some flour on your paste-board, take the dough out of the pan, and knead it very well. Cut it into small pieces, and knead each separately. Put all the pieces together, and knead the whole in one lump. Roll it out into a large square sheet, about half an inch thick. Take a jagging-iron, or, If you have not one, a sharp knife; run it along the sheet, and cut the dough into long narrow slips. Twist them up in various forms. Have ready an iron pan with melted lard. Lay the crullers lightly in it, and fry them of a light brown, turning them with a knife and fork, so as not to break them, and taking care that both sides are equally done.
When sufficiently fried, spread them on a large dish to cool, and grate loaf-sugar over them.
Crullers may be made in a plainer way, with the best brown sugar, (rolled very fine.) and without spice or rose-water.
They can be fried, or rather boiled, in a deep iron pot. They should be done in a large quantity of lard, and taken out with a skimmer that has holes in it, and held on the skimmer till the lard drains from them. If for family use, they can be made an inch thick.
Three pounds of sifted flour.
A pound of powdered sugar.
Three quarters of a pound of butter.
Four eggs.
Half a large tea-cup full of best brewer's yeast.
A pint and a half of milk.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
A grated nutmeg.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
Cut up the butter in the flour. Add the sugar, spice, and rose-water. Beat the eggs very light, and pour them into the mixture. Add the yeast, (half a tea-cup or two wine-glasses full,) and then stir in the milk by degrees, so as to make it a soft dough. Cover it, and set it to rise.
When quite light, cut it in diamonds with a jagging-iron or a sharp knife, and fry them in lard. Grate loaf sugar over them when done.
Six eggs.
A pint of milk.
A quarter of a pound of butter.
A quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
A pound and a half of flour, sifted.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Warm the milk slightly. Cut up the butter in it and stir it a little. Beat the eggs well, and pour them into the butter and milk. Sprinkle in half the flour, gradually. Stir in the sugar, by degrees, and add the spice. Stir in, gradually, the remainder of the flour, so that it becomes a thick batter. Heat your waffle-iron; then grease it well, and pour in some of the butter. Shut the iron tight, and bake the waffle on both sides, by turning the iron.
As the waffles are baked, spread them out separately on a clean napkin. When enough are done for a plate-full, lay them on a plate in two piles, buttering them, and sprinkling each with beaten cinnamon.
Five eggs.
A quart of milk.
Two ounces of butter.
A tea-spoonful of salt.
Two large table-spoonfuls of brewer's yeast or four made of
home-made yeast.
Enough of sifted flour to make a stiff batter.
Warm the milk and butter together, and add to them the salt. Beat the eggs very light and stir them into the milk and butter. Then stir in the yeast, and lastly, sufficient flour to make a thick batter.
Cover the mixture, and set it to rise, in a warm place, about three hours.
When it is quite light, grease your baking-iron, and your muffin rings. Set the rings on the iron, and pour the batter into them. Bake them a light brown. When you split them to put on the butter, do not cut them with a knife, but pull them open With your hands. Cutting them while hot will make them heavy.
A quart of sifted indian meal. \
A handful of wheat flour sifted. }mixed.
Three eggs, well beaten. /
Two table-spoonfuls of fresh brewer's yeast, or four of home-made
yeast.
A tea-spoonful of salt.
A quart of milk.
Make the milk quite warm, and then put into it the yeast and salt, stirring them well. Beat the eggs, and stir them into the mixture. Then, gradually stir in the flour and indian meal.
Cover the batter, and set it to rise four or five hours. Or if the weather is cold, and you want the cakes for breakfast, you may mix the batter late the night before.
Should you find it sour in the morning, dissolve a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash in as much water as will cover it, and stir it into the batter, letting it set afterwards at least half an hour. This will take off the acid.
Grease your baking-iron, and pour on it a ladle-full of the batter. When brown on one side, turn the cake on the other. [Footnote: Indian batter cakes may be made in a plain and expeditious way, by putting three pints of cold water or cold milk into a pan, and gradually sifting into it (stirring all the time) a quart of indian meal mixed with half a pint of wheat-flour, and a small spoonful of salt. Stir it very hard, and it may be baked immediately, as it is not necessary to set it to rise.]
Two pounds of flour, sifted.
Four eggs.
Three table-spoonfuls of the best brewer's yeast, or four and a
half of home-made yeast.
A pint of milk.
Mix a tea-spoonful of salt with the flour, and set the pan before the fire. Then warm the milk, and stir into it the flour so as to make a stiff batter. Beat the eggs very light, and stir them into the yeast. Add the eggs and yeast to the batter, and beat all well together. If it is too stiff, add a little more warm milk.
Cover the pan closely and set it to rise near the fire. Bake it, when quite light.
Have your baking-iron hot. Grease it, and pour on a ladle-full of batter. Let it bake slowly, and when done on one side, turn it on the other.
Butter the cakes, cut them across, and send them to table hot.
Three pints of flour, sifted.
Two tea-spoonfuls of salt.
Four table-spoonfuls of the best brewer's yeast, or six of
home-made yeast.
Half a pint more of warm water, and a little more flour to mix in
before the kneading.
Mix the salt with the flour, and make a deep hole in the middle. Stir the warm water into the yeast, and pour it into the hole in the flour. Stir it with a spoon just enough to make a thin batter, and sprinkle some flour over the top. Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place for several hours.
When it is light, add half a pint more of lukewarm water; and make its with a little more flour, into a dough. Knead it very well for ten minutes. Then divide it into small pieces, and knead each separately. Make them into round cakes or rolls. Cover them, and set them to rise about an hour and a half.
Bake them, and when done, let them remain in the oven, without the lid, for about ten minutes.
In preparing sugar for sweetmeats, let it be entirely dissolved, before you put it on the fire. If you dissolve it in water, allow about half a pint of water to a pound of sugar.
If you boil the sugar before you add the fruit to it, it will be improved in clearness by passing it through a flannel bag. Skim off the brown scum, all the time it is boiling.
If sweetmeats are boiled too long, they lose their flavour and become of a dark colour.
If boiled too short a time, they will not keep well.
You may ascertain when jelly is done, by dropping a small spoonful into a glass of water.
If it spreads and mixes with the water, it requires more boiling.
If it sticks in a lump to the bottom, it is sufficiently done.
This trial must be made after the jelly is cold.
Raspberry jelly requires more boiling than any other sort. Black currant jelly less.
Take the best pippin, or bell-flower apples. No others will make good jelly. Pare, core, and quarter them. Lay them in a preserving kettle, and put to them as much water only, as will cover them, and as much lemon-peel as you choose. Boil them till they are soft, but not till they break. Drain off the water through a colander, and mash the apples with the hack of a spoon. Put them into a jelly bag, set a deep dish or pan under it, and squeeze out the juice.
To every pint of juice, allow a pound of loaf-sugar, broken up, and the juice of two lemons. Put the apple-juice, the sugar, and the lemon-juice into the preserving kettle. Boil it twenty minutes, skimming it well. Take it immediately from the kettle, and pour it warm into your glasses, but not so hot as to break them. When cold, cover each glass with white paper dipped in brandy, and tie it down tight with another paper. Keep them in a cool place.
Quince Jelly is made in the same manner, but do not pare the quinces. Quarter them only.
Wash your currants, drain them, and pick them from the stalks. Mash them with the back of a spoon. Put them in a jelly-bag, and squeeze it till all the juice is pressed out.
To every pint of juice, allow a pound of the best loaf-sugar. Put the juice and the sugar into your kettle, and boil them twenty minutes, skimming all the while. Pour it warm into your glasses, and when cold, tie it up with brandy paper. Jellies should never be allowed to get cold in the kettle. If boiled too long, they will lose their flavour, and become of a dark colour.
Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, and grape jelly may be made in the same manner, and with the same proportion of loaf-sugar.
Red currant jelly may also be made in a very simple manner, by putting the currants whole into the kettle, with the sugar; allowing a pound of sugar to a pound of currants. Boil them together twenty minutes, skimming carefully. Then pour them into a sieve, with a pan under it. Let them drain through the sieve into the pan, pressing them down with the back of a spoon.
Take the jelly, while warm, out of the pan, and put it into your glasses. Tie it up with brandy paper when cold.
Pick the currants from the stalks, wash and drain them. Mash them soft with a spoon, put them in a bag, and squeeze out the juice. To each pint of juice, allow three quarters of a pound of loaf-sugar, Put the juice and sugar into a preserving kettle, and boil them about ten minutes, skimming them well. Take it immediately out of the kettle. Put it warm into your glasses. Tie it up with brandy paper.
The juice of black currants is so very thick, that it requires less sugar and less boiling than any other jelly.
Cut the gooseberries in half, (they must be green) and put them in a jar closely covered. Set the jar in an oven, or pot filled with boiling water. Keep the water boiling round the jar till the gooseberries are soft, take them out, mash them with a spoon, and put them into a jelly bag to drain. When all the juice is squeezed out, measure it, and to a pint of juice, allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the juice and sugar into the preserving kettle, and boil them twenty minutes, skimming carefully. Put the jelly warm into your glasses. Tie them up with brandy paper.
Cranberry jelly is made in the same manner.
Pick the grapes from the stems, wash and drain them. Mash them with a spoon. Put them in the preserving kettle, and cover them closely with a large plate. Boil them ten minutes. Then pour them into your jelly bag, and squeeze out the juice.
Allow a pint of juice to a pound of sugar. Put the sugar and juice into your kettle, and boil them twenty minutes, skimming them well.
Fill your glasses while the jelly is warm, and tie them up with brandy papers.
Wipe the wool off your peaches, (which should be free-stones and not too ripe) and cut them in quarters, Crack the stones, and break the kernels small.
Put the peaches and the kernels into a covered jar, set them in boiling water, and let them boil till they are soft.
Strain them through a jelly-bag, till all the juice is squeezed out. Allow a pound of loaf-sugar to a pint of juice. Put the sugar and juice into a preserving kettle, and boil them twenty minutes, skimming carefully.
Put the jelly warm into your glasses, and when cold, tie them up with brandy paper.
Plum, and green-gage jelly may be made in the same manner, with the kernels, which greatly improve the flavour.
Pare and core your quinces, carefully taking out the parts that are knotty and defective. Cut them into quarters, or into round slices. Put them into a preserving kettle and cover them with the parings and a very little water. Lay a large plate over them to keep in the steam, and boil them till they are tender.
Take out the quinces, and strain the liquor through a bag. To every pint of liquor, allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Boil the juice and sugar together, about ten minutes, skimming it well. Then put in the quinces, and boil them gently twenty minutes. When the sugar seems to have completely penetrated them, take them out, put them in a glass jar, and pour the juice over them warm. Tie them up, when cold, with brandy paper.
In preserving fruit that is boiled first without the sugar, it is generally better (after the first boiling) to let it stand till next day before you put the sugar to it.
Pare and core some of the largest and finest pippins. Put them in your preserving kettle, [Footnote: The use of brass or bell-metal kettles is now most entirely superseded by the enamelled kettles of iron lined with china, called preserving kettles; brass and bell-metal having always been objectionable on account of the verdigris which collects in them.] with some lemon-peel, and all the apple-parings. Add a very little water, and cover them closely. Boil them till they are tender, taking care they do not burn. Take out the apples, and spread them on a large dish to cool. Poor the liquor into a bag, and strain it well. Put it into your kettle with a pound of loaf-sugar to each pint of juice, and add lemon juice to your taste. Boil it five minutes, skimming it well. Then put in the whole apples, and boil them slowly half an hour, or till they are quite soft and clear. Put them with the juice, into your jars, and when quite cold, tie them up with brandy paper.
Preserved apples are only intended for present use, as they will not keep long.
Pears may be done in the same way, either whole or cut in half. They may be flavoured either with lemon or cinnamon, or both. The pears for preserving should be green.
Take the largest and finest free-stone peaches, before they are too ripe. Pare them, and cut them in halves or in quarters. Crack the stones, and take out the kernels, and break them in pieces. Put the peaches, with the parings and kernels, into your preserving kettle, with a very little water. Boil them till they are tender. Take out the peaches and spread them on a large dish to cool. Strain the liquor through a bag or sieve. Next day, measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the juice and sugar into the kettle with the peaches, and boil them slowly half an hour, or till they are quite soft, skimming all the time. Take the peaches out, put them into your jars, and pour the warm liquor over them. When cold, tie them up with brandy paper.
If boiled too long, they will look dull, and be of a dark colour. [Footnote: To preserve peaches whole, pare them and thrust out the stones with a skewer. Then proceed as above, only blanch the kernels and keep them whole. When the peaches are done, stick a kernel into the hole of every peach, before you put them into the jars. Large fruit will keep best in broad shallow stone pots.]
If you do not wish the juice to be very thick, do not put it on to boil with the sugar, but first boil the sugar alone, with only as much water as will dissolve it, and skim it well. Let the sugar, in all cases, be entirely melted before it goes on the fire. Having boiled the sugar and water, and skimmed it to a clear syrup, then put in your juice and fruit together, and boil them till completely penetrated with the sugar.
Wash your fruit. Cover the bottom of your preserving kettle with grape leaves. Put in the apples. Hang them over the fire, with a very little water, and cover them closely. Do not allow them to boil, but let them simmer gently till they are yellow. Take them out, and spread them on a large dish to cool. Pare and core them. Put them again into the kettle, with fresh vine-leaves under and over them, and a very little water. Hang them over the fire till they are green. Do not let them boil.
Take them out, weigh them, and allow a pound of loaf-sugar to a pound of crab-apples. Put to the sugar just water enough to dissolve it. When it is all melted, put it on the fire, and boil and skim it. Then put in your fruit, and boil the apples till they are quite clear and soft. Put them in jars, and pour the warm liquor over them. When cold, tie them up with brandy paper.
Cut your plums in half, (they must not be quite ripe,) and take am the stones. Weigh the plums and allow a pound of loaf-sugar to a pound of fruit.
Crack the stones, take out the kernels and break them in pieces. Boil the plums and kernels very slowly for about fifteen minutes, in as little water as possible. Then spread them on a large dish to cool, and strain the liquor.
Next day make your syrup. Melt the sugar in as little water as will suffice to dissolve it, (about half a pint of water to a pound of sugar) and boil it a few minutes, skimming it till quite clear. Then put in your plums with the liquor, and boil them fifteen minutes. Put them in jars, pour the juice over them warm, and tie them up, when cold, with brandy paper. [Footnote: Plums for common use, are very good done in molasses. Put your plums into an earthen vessel that holds a gallon, having first slit each plum with a knife. To three quarts of plums put a pint of molasses. Cover them and set them on hot coals in the chimney corner. Let them stew for twelve hours or more, occasionally stirring them, and renewing the coals. Next day put them up in jars. Done in this manner they will keep till the next spring.]
Syrups may be improved in clearness, by adding to the dissolved sugar and water, some white of egg very well beaten, allowing the white of one egg to each pound of sugar. Boil it very hard, and skim it well, that it may be quite clear before you put in your fruit.
Weigh the strawberries after you have picked off the stems. To each pound of fruit allow a pound of loaf-sugar, which must be powdered. Strew half of the sugar over the strawberries, and let them stand in a cold place two or three hours. Then put them in a preserving kettle over a slow fire, and by degrees strew on the rest of the sugar. Boil them fifteen or twenty minutes, and skim them well.
Put them in wide-mouthed bottles, and when cold, seal the corks.
If you wish to do them whole, take them carefully out of the syrup, (one at a time) while boiling. Spread them to cool on large dishes, not letting the strawberries touch each other, and when cool, return them to the syrup, and boil them a little longer. Repeat this several times.
Keep the bottles in dry sand, in a place that is cool and not damp.
Gooseberries, currants, raspberries, cherries and grapes may be done in the same manner. The stones must be taken from the cherries (which should be morellas, or the largest and best red cherries;) and the seeds should be extracted from the grapes with the sharp point of a penknife. Gooseberries, grapes, and cherries, require longer boiling than strawberries, raspberries or currants.
Wash your cranberries, weigh them, and to each pound allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in a very little water, (about half a pint of water to a pound of sugar) and set it on the fire in a preserving kettle. Boil it nearly ten minutes, skimming it well. Then put in your cranberries, and boil them slowly, till they are quite soft, and of a fine colour.
Put them warm into your jars or glasses, and tie them up with brandy paper, when cold.
All sorts of sweetmeats keep better in glasses, than in stone of earthen jars. When opened for use, they should be tied up again immediately, as exposure to the air spoils them.
Common glass tumblers are very convenient for jellies, and preserved small fruit. White jars are better than stone or earthen, for large fruit.
Cut slices from a fine high-coloured pumpkin, and cut the slices into chips about the thickness of a dollar. The chips should be of an equal size, six inches in length and an inch broad. Weigh them and allow to each pound of pumpkin chips, a pound of loaf-sugar. Have ready a sufficient number of fine lemons, pare off the yellow rind, and lay it aside. Cut the lemons in half, and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Allow a gill of juice to each pound of pumpkin.
Put the pumpkin into a broad pan laying the sugar among it. Pour the lemon-juice over it, Cover the pan, and let the pumpkin chips, sugar and lemon-juice, set all night.
Early in the morning put the whole into a preserving pan, and boil all together (skimming it well) till the pumpkin becomes clear and crisp, but not till it breaks. It should have the appearance of lemon-candy. You may if you choose, put some lemon-peel with it, cut in very small pieces.
Half an hour's boiling (or a little more) is generally sufficient.
When it is done, take out the pumpkin, spread it On a large dish, and strain the syrup through a bag. Put the pumpkin into your jars or glasses, pour the syrup over it, and tie it up with brandy paper.
If properly done, this is a very fine sweetmeat. The taste of the pumpkin will be lost in that of the lemon and sugar, and the syrup is particularly pleasant. It is eaten without cream, like preserved ginger. It may be laid on puff-paste shells, after they are baked.
Pare your pine-apples, and cut them in thick slices. Weigh the slices and to each pound allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in a very small quantity of water, stir it, and set it over the fire in a preserving-kettle. Boil it ten minutes, skimming it well. Then put in it the pine-apple slices, and boil them till they are clear and soft, but not till they break. About half an hour (or perhaps less time) will suffice. Let them cool in a large dish or pan, before you put them into your jars, which you must do carefully, lest they break. Pour the syrup over them. Tie them up with brandy paper.
Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Mash the raspberries and put them with the sugar into your preserving kettle. Boll it slowly for an hour skimming it well. Tie it up with brandy paper.
All jams are made in the same manner.
A-la-mode Beef
Chicken Pudding
A boned Turkey
Collared Pork
Spiced Oysters
Stewed Oysters
Oyster Soup
Fried Oysters
Baked Oysters
Oyster Patties
Oyster Sauce
Pickled Oysters
Chicken Salad
Lobster Salad
Stewed Mushrooms
Peach Cordial
Cherry Bounce
Raspberry Cordial
Blackberry Cordial
Ginger Beer
Jelly Cake
Rice Cakes for Breakfast
Ground Rice Pudding
Tomata Ketchup
Yeast
A pound of fresh beef weighing from eighteen to twenty pounds.
A pound of the fat of bacon or corned pork.
The marrow from the bone of the beef, \ chopped together
A quarter of a pound of beef-suet, /
Two bundles of pot herbs, parsley, thyme, small onions, &c.
chopped fine.
Two large bunches of sweet marjoram,\sufficient when powdered to make
Two bunches of sweet basil, /make four table-spoonfuls of each.
Two large nutmegs, \
Half an ounce of cloves } beaten to a powder.
Half an ounce of mace, /
One table-spoonful of salt.
One table-spoonful of pepper.
Two glasses of madeira wine.
If your a-la-mode beef is to be eaten cold, prepare it three days before it is wanted.
Take out the bone. Fasten up the opening with skewers, and tie the meat all round with tape. Rub it all over on both sides with salt. A large round of beef will be more tender than a small one.
Chop the marrow and suet together. Pound the spice. Chop the pot-herbs very fine. Pick the sweet-marjoram and sweet-basil clean from the stalks, and rub the leaves to a powder. You must have at least four table-spoonfuls of each. Add the pepper and salt, and mix well together all the ingredients that compose the seasoning.
Cut the fat of the bacon or pork into pieces about a quarter of an inch thick and two inches long. With a sharp knife make deep incisions all over the round of beef and very near each other. Put first a little of the seasoning into each hole, then a slip of the bacon pressed down hard and covered with more seasoning. Pour a little wine into each hole.
When you have thus stuffed the upper side of the beef, turn it over and stuff in the same manner the under side. If the round is very large, you will require a larger quantity of seasoning.
Put it in a deep baking dish, pour over it some wine, cover it, and let it set till next morning. It will be much the better for lying all night in the seasoning.
Next day put a little water in the dish, set it in a covered oven, and bake or stew it gently for twelve hours at least, or more if it is a large round. It will be much improved by stewing it in lard. Let it remain all night in the oven.
If it is to be eaten hot at dinner, put it in to stew the evening before, and let it cook till dinner-time next day. Stir some wine and a beaten egg into the gravy.
If brought to table cold, cover it all over with green parsley, and stick a large bunch of something green in the centre.
What is left will make an excellent hash the next day.
Cut up a pair of young chickens, and season them with pepper and salt and a little mace and nutmeg. Put them into a pot with two large spoonfuls of butter, and water enough to cover them. Stew them gently; and when about half cooked, take them out and set them away to cool. Pour off the gravy, and reserve it to be served up separately.
In the mean time, make a batter as if for a pudding, of eight table-spoonfuls of sifted flour stirred gradually into a quart of milk, six eggs well beaten and added by degrees to the mixture, and a very little salt. Put a layer of chicken in the bottom of a deep dish, and pour over it some of the batter; then another layer of chicken, and then some more batter; and so on till the dish is full, having a cover of batter at the top. Bake it till it is brown. Then break an egg into the gravy which you have set away, give it a boil, and send it to table in a sauce-boat to eat with the pudding.
A large turkey.
Three sixpenny loaves of stale bread.
One pound of fresh butter.
Four eggs.
One bunch of pot-herbs, parsley, thyme, and little onions.
Two bunches of sweet marjoram.
Two bunches of sweet basil.
Two nutmegs. \
Half an ounce of cloves. } pounded fine.
A quarter of an ounce of mace. /
A table-spoonful of salt.
A table-spoonful of pepper.
Skewers, tape, needle, and coarse thread will be wanted.
Grate the bread, and put the crusts in water to soften. Then break them up small into the pan of crumbled bread. Cut up a pound of butter in the pan of bread. Rub the herbs to powder, and have two table-spoonfuls of sweet-marjoram and two of sweet basil, or more of each if the turkey is very large. Chop the pot-herbs, and pound the spice. Then add the salt and pepper, and mix all the ingredients well together. Beat slightly four eggs, and mix them with the seasoning and bread crumbs.
After the turkey is drawn, take a sharp knife and, beginning at the wings, carefully separate the flesh from the bone, scraping it down as you go; and avoid tearing or breaking the skin. Next, loosen the flesh from the breast and back, and then from the thighs. It requires great care and patience to do it nicely. When all the flesh is thus loosened, take the turkey by the neck, give it a pull, and the skeleton will come out entire from the flesh, as easily as you draw your hand out of a glove. The flesh will then be a shapeless mass. With a needle and thread mend or sew up any holes that may be found in the skin.
Take up a handful of the seasoning, squeeze it hard and proceed to stuff the turkey with it, beginning at the wings, next to the body, and then the thighs.
If you stuff it properly, it will again assume its natural shape. Stuff it very hard. When all the stuffing is in, sew up the breast, and skewer the turkey into its proper form, so that it will look as if it had not been boned.
Tie it round with tape and bake it three hours or more. Make a gravy of the giblets chopped, and enrich it with some wine and an egg.
If the turkey is to be eaten cold, drop spoonfuls of red currant jelly all over it, and in the dish round it.
A large fowl may be boned and stuffed in the same manner.
A leg of fresh pork, not large.
Two table-spoonfuls of powdered sage.
Two table-spoonfuls of sweet marjoram, \ powdered.
One table-spoonful of sweet basil, /
A quarter of an ounce of mace, \
Half an ounce of cloves, } powdered.
Two nutmegs, /
A bunch of pot-herbs, chopped small.
A sixpenny loaf of stale bread, grated.
Half a pound of butter, cut into the bread.
Two eggs.
A table-spoonful of salt.
A table-spoonful of black pepper.
Grate the bread, and having softened the crust in water, mix it with the crumbs. Prepare all the other ingredients, and mix them well with the grated bread and egg,
Take the bone out of a leg of pork, and rub the meat well on both sides with salt. Spread the seasoning thick all over the meat. Then roll it up very tightly and tie it round with tape.
Put it into a deep dish with a little water, and bake it two hours. If eaten hot, put an egg and some wine into the gravy. When cold, cut it down into round slices.
Two hundred large fresh oysters.
Four table-spoonfuls of strong vinegar.
A nutmeg, grated.
Three dozen of cloves, whole.
Eight blades of mace, whole.
Two tea-spoonfuls of salt if the oysters are fresh.
Two tea-spoonfuls of whole allspice.
As much cayenne pepper as will lie on the point of a knife.
Put the oysters, with their liquor, into a large earthen pitcher. Add to them the vinegar and all the other ingredients. Stir all well together. Set them in the stove, or over a slow fire, keeping them covered. Take them off the fire several times, and stir them to the bottom. As soon as they boil completely they are sufficiently done; if they boil too long they will be hard.
Pour them directly out of the pitcher into a pan, and set them away to cool. They must not be eaten till quite cold, or indeed till next day.
If you wish to keep them a week, put a smaller quantity of spice, or they will taste too much of it by setting so long. Let them be well covered.
Oysters in the shell may be kept all winter by laying them in a heap in the cellar, with the concave side upwards to hold in the liquor. Sprinkle them every day with strong salt and water, and then with Indian meal. Cover them with matting or an old carpet.
Open the oysters and strain the liquor. Put to the liquor some grated stale bread, and a little pepper and nutmeg, adding a glass of white wine. Boil the liquor with these ingredients, and then pour it scalding hot over the dish of raw oysters. This will cook them sufficiently.
Have ready some slices of buttered toast with the crust cut off. When the oysters are done, dip the toast in the liquor, and lay the pieces round the sides and in the bottom of a deep dish. Pour the oysters and liquor upon the toast, and send them to table hot.
Three pints of large fresh oysters.
Two table-spoonfuls of butter, rolled in flour.
A bunch of sweet herbs.
A saucer full of chopped celery.
A quart of rich milk.
Pepper to your taste.
Take the liquor of three pints of oysters. Strain it, and set it on the fire. Put into it, pepper to your taste, two table-spoonfuls of butter rolled in flour, and a bunch of sweet marjoram and other pot-herbs, with a saucer full of chopped celery. When it boils, add a quart of rich milk-and as soon as it boils again, take out the herbs, and put in the oysters just before you send it to table. Boiling them in the soup will shrivel them and destroy their taste.
For frying, choose the largest and finest oysters. Beat some yolks of eggs and mix with them grated bread, and a small quantity of beaten nutmeg and mace and a little salt. Having stirred this batter well, dip your oysters into it, and fry them in lard, till they are of a light brown colour. Take care not to do them too much. Serve them up hot.
For grated bread, some substitute crackers pounded to a powder, and mixed with yolk of egg and spice.
Grate a small loaf of stale-bread. Butter a deep dish well, and cover the sides and bottom with bread crumbs. Put in half the oysters with a little mace and pepper. Cover them with crumbs and small bits of butter strewed over them. Then put in the remainder of the oysters. Season them. Cover them as before with crumbs and butter. If the oysters are fresh, pour in a little of the liquor. If they are salt, substitute a little water. Bake them a very short time. You may cook them in the small scolloped dishes made for the purpose.
Make some rich puff-paste, and bake it in very small tin patty pans. When cool, turn them out upon a large dish.
Stew some large fresh oysters with a few cloves, a little mace and nutmeg, some yolk of egg boiled hard and grated, a little butter, and as much of the oyster liquor as will cover them. When they have stewed a little while, take them out of the pan, and set them away to cool. When quite cold, lay two or three oysters in each shell of puff-paste.
When your oysters are opened, take care of all the liquor, and give them one boil in it. Then take the oysters out, and put to the liquor three or four blades of mace. Add to it some melted butter, and some thick cream or rich milk. Put in your oysters and give them a boil. As soon as they come to a boil, take them of the fire.
Four hundred large fresh oysters.
A pint of vinegar.
Eight spoonfuls of salt.
A pint of white wine.
Six table-spoonfuls of whole black pepper.
Eight blades of mace.
Strain the liquor of the oysters and boil it. Then pour it hot over the oysters, and let them lie in it about ten minutes. Then take them out, and cover them. Boil the liquor with the salt, pepper, mace, vinegar and wine. When cold, put the oysters in a close jar, and pour the liquor over them. Cover the jar very tight, and the oysters will keep a long time.
If the oysters are salt, put no salt to the liquor.
Two large cold fowls, either boiled or roasted.
The yolks of nine hard-boiled eggs.
Half a pint of sweet oil.
Half a pint of vinegar.
A gill of mixed mustard.
A small tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper.
A small tea-spoonful of salt.
Two large heads, or four small ones, of fine celery.
Cut the meat of the fowls from the bones, in pieces not exceeding an inch in size.
Cut the white part of the celery into pieces about an inch long. Mix the chicken and celery well together. Cover them and set them away.
With the back of a wooden spoon, mash the yolks of eggs till they are a perfectly smooth paste. Mix them with the oil, vinegar, mustard, cayenne, and salt. Stir them for a long time, till they are thoroughly mixed and quite smooth. The longer they are stirred the better. When this dressing is sufficiently mixed, cover it, and set it away.
Five minutes before the salad is to be eaten pour the dressing over the chicken and celery, and mix all well together. If the dressing is put on long before it is wanted, the salad will be tough and hard.
This salad is very excellent made of cold turkey instead of chicken.
Take two large boiled lobsters. Extract all the meat from the shell, and cut it up into very small pieces.
For lobster salad, you must have lettuce instead of celery. Cut up the lettuce as small as possible.
Make a dressing as for a chicken-salad, with the yolks of nine hard-boiled eggs, half a pint of sweet oil, half a pint of vinegar, a gill of mustard, a tea-spoonful of cayenne, and a tea-spoonful of salt. Mix all well together with a wooden spoon.
A few minutes before it is to be eaten, pour the dressing over the lobster and lettuce and mix it very well.
Take a quart of fresh mushrooms. Peel them and cut off the stems. Season them with pepper and salt. Put them in a sauce-pan or skillet, with a lump of fresh butter the size of an egg, and sufficient cream or rich milk to cover them. Put on the lid of the pan, and stew the mushrooms about a quarter of an hour, keeping them well covered or the flavour will evaporate.
When you take them off the fire, have ready one or two beaten eggs. Stir the eggs gradually into the stew, and send it to table in a covered dish.
Take a peck of cling-stone peaches; such as come late in the season, and are very juicy. Pare them, and cut them from the stones. Crack about half the stones and save the kernels. Leave the remainder of the stones whole, and mix them with the cut peaches; add also the kernels. Put the whole into a wide-mouthed demi-john, and pour on them two gallons of double-rectified whiskey. Add three pounds of rock-sugar candy. Cork it tightly, and set It away for three months: then bottle it, and it will be fit for use. This cordial is as clear as water, and nearly equal to noyau.
Take a peck of morella cherries, and a peck of black hearts. Stone the morellas and crack the stones. Put all the cherries and the cracked stones into a demi-john, with three pounds of loaf-sugar slightly pounded or beaten. Pour in two gallons of double-rectified whiskey. Cork the demi-john, and in six months the cherry-bounce will be fit to pour off and bottle for use; but the older it is, the better.
To each quart of raspberries allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Mash the raspberries and strew the sugar over them, having first pounded it slightly, or cracked it with the rolling-pin. Let the raspberries and sugar set till next day, keeping them well covered, then put them in a thin linen bag and squeeze out the juice with your hands. To every pint of juice allow a quart of double-rectified whiskey. Cork it well, and set it away for use. It will be ready in a few days.
Raspberry Vinegar (which, mixed with water, is a pleasant and cooling beverage in warm weather) is made exactly in the same manner as the cordial, only substituting the best white vinegar for the whiskey.
Take the ripest blackberries. Mash them, put them in a linen bag and squeeze out the juice. To every quart of juice allow a pound of beaten loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a large preserving kettle, and pour the juice on it. When it is all melted, set it on the fire, and boil it to a thin jelly. When cold, to every quart of juice allow a quart of brandy. Stir them well together, and bottle it for use. It will be ready at once.
Put into a kettle, two ounces of powdered ginger,(or more if it is not very strong,) half an ounce of cream of tartar, two large lemons cut in slices, two pounds of broken loaf-sugar, and one gallon of soft water. Simmer them over a slow fire for half an hour. When the liquor is nearly cold, stir into it a large table-spoonful of the best yeast. After it has fermented, bottle for use.
Stir together till very light, half a pound of fresh butter and half a pound of powdered white sugar. Beat twelve eggs very light, and stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately with a pound of sifted flour. Add a beaten nutmeg, and half a wine-glass of rose-water. Have ready a flat circular plate of tin, which must be laid on your griddle, or in the oven of your stove, and well greased with butter. Pour on it a large ladle-full of the batter, and bake it as you would a buck-wheat cake, taking care to have it of a good shape. It will not require turning. Bake as many of these cakes as you want, laying each on a separate plate. Then spread jelly or marmalade all over the top of each cake, and lay another upon it. Spread that also with jelly, and so on till you have a pile of five or six, looking like one large thick cake. Trim the edge nicely with a penknife, and cover the top with powdered sugar. Or you may ice it; putting on the nonpareils or sugar-sand in such a manner as to mark out the cake in triangular divisions. When it is to be eaten, cut it in three-cornered slices as you would a pie.
COLOURING FOR ICING, &c.
To make a red colouring for icing. Take twenty grains of cochineal powder, twenty grains of cream of tartar, and twenty grains of powdered alum. Put them into gill of cold soft water, and boil it very slowly till reduced to one half. Strain it through thin muslin, and cork it up for use. A very small quantity of this mixture will colour icing of a beautiful pink. With pink icing, white nonpareils should be used.
Put half a pound of rice in soak over night. Early in the morning boil it very soft, drain it from the water, mix with it a quarter of a pound of butter, and set it away to cool. When it is cold, stir it into a quart of milk, and add a very little salt. Beat six eggs, and sift half a pint of flour. Stir the egg and flour alternately into the rice and milk. Having beaten the whole very well, bake it on the griddle in cakes about the size of a small dessert-plate. Butter them, and send them to table hot.
Take five table-spoonfuls of ground rice and boil it in a quart of new milk, with a grated nutmeg or a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, stirring it all the time. When it has boiled, pour it into a pan and stir in a quarter of a pound of butter, and a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, a nutmeg and half a pint of cream. Set it away to get cold. Then heat eight eggs, omitting the whites of four. Have ready a pound of dried currants well cleaned, and sprinkled with flour; stir them into the mixture alternately with the beaten egg. Add half a glass of rose-water, or half a glass of mixed wine and brandy. Butter a deep dish, put in the mixture, and hake it of a pale brown. Or you may bake it in saucers.
Slice the tomatas. Put them in layers into a deep earthen pan, and sprinkle every layer with salt. Let them stand in this state for twelve hours. Then put them over the fire in a preserving kettle, and simmer them till they are quite soft. Pour them into a linen bag, and squeeze the juice from them. Season the liquor to your taste, with grated horse-radish, a little garlic, some mace, and a few cloves. Boil it well with these ingredients—and, when cold, bottle it for use.
Have ready two quarts of boiling water; put into it a large handful of hops, and let them boil twenty minutes. Sift into a pan a pound and a half of flour. Strain the liquor from the hops, and pour half of it over the flour. Let the other half of the liquid stand till it is cool, and then pour it gradually into the pan of flour, mixing it well. Stir into it a large tea-cup full of good yeast,(brewer's yeast if you can get it.) Put it immediately into bottles, and cork it tightly. It will be fit for use in an hour. It will be much improved and keep longer, by putting into each bottle a tea-spoonful of pearl-ash.