Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches by Eliza Leslie Published: 1840

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CAKES, ETC.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Unless you are provided with proper and convenient utensils and
materials, the difficulty of preparing cakes will be great, and in
most instances a failure; involving disappointment, waste of time,
and useless expense. Accuracy in proportioning the ingredients is
indispensable; and therefore scales and weights, and a set of tin
measures (at least from a quart down to a jill) are of the utmost
importance. A large sieve for flour is also necessary; and smaller
ones for sugar and spice. There should be a marble mortar, or one
of lignum vitae, (the hardest of all wood;) those of iron (however
well, tinned) are apt to discolour the articles pounded in them.
Spice may be ground in a mill kept, exclusively for that purpose.
Every kitchen should be provided with spice-boxes. You should have
a large grater for lemon, cocoa-nut, &c., and a small one for
nutmeg. Butter and sugar cannot be stirred together conveniently
without a spaddle or spattle, which is a round stick flattened at
one end; and a deep earthen pan with sides nearly straight. For
beating eggs, you should have hickory rods or a wire whip, and
broad shallow earthen pans. Neither the eggs, nor the butter and
sugar should be beaten, in tin, as the coldness of the metal will
prevent them from becoming light.

For baking large cakes, the pans (whether of block tin or earthen)
should have straight sides; if the aides slope inward, there will
be much difficulty in icing the cake. Pans with a hollow tube
going up from the centre, are supposed to diffuse the heat more
equally through the middle of the cake. Buns and some other cakes
should be baked in square shallow pans of block tin or iron.
Little tins for queen cakes, &c. are most convenient when of a
round or oval shape. All baking pans, whether large or small,
should be well greased with butter or lard before the mixture is
put into them, and should be filled but little more than half. You
should have at least two dozen little tins, that a second supply
may be ready for the oven, the moment the first is taken out. You
will also want tin cutters for cakes that are rolled out in dough.

All the utensils should be cleaned and put away as soon as they
are done with. They should be all kept together, and, if possible,
not used for any other purposes. [Footnote: All the utensils
necessary for cake and pastry-making, (and for the other branches
of cooking,) may be purchased in Philadelphia; at Gideon Cox's
household store in Market street, No. 335, two doors below Ninth.
Every thing of the sort will be found there in great variety, of
good quality, and at reasonable prices.]

As it is always desirable that, cake-making should be commenced at
an early hour, it is well on the day previous to ascertain if all
the materials are in the house; that there may be no unnecessary
delay from sending or waiting for them in the morning.
Wastefulness is to be avoided in every thing; but it is utterly
impossible that cakes can be good (or indeed any thing else)
without a liberal allowance of good materials. Cakes are
frequently rendered hard, heavy, and uneatable by a misplaced
economy in eggs and butter; or tasteless and insipid for want of
their due seasoning of spice, lemon, &c.

Use no flour but the best superfine; if the flour is of inferior.
quality, the cakes will he heavy, ill-coloured, and unfit to eat.
Even the best flour should always be sifted. No butter that is not
fresh and good; should ever be put into cakes; for it will give
them a disagreeable taste which can never be disguised by the
other ingredients. Even when of excellent quality, the butter will
be improved by washing it in cold, water, and squeezing and
pressing it. Except for gingerbread, use only white sugar, (for
the finest cakes the best loaf,) and have it pulverized by
pounding it in a mortar, or crushing it on the paste-board with the
rolling-pin. It should then be sifted. In mixing butter and sugar,
sift the sugar into a deep pan, cut up the butter in it, set it in
a warm place to soften, and then stir it very hard with the
spaddle, till it becomes quite light, and of the consistence of
cream. In preparing eggs, break them one at a time, into a saucer,
that, in case there should be a bad one among them, it may not
spoil the others. Put them into a broad shallow pan, and beat them
with rods or with a wire whisk, not merely till they froth, but
long afterwards, till the froth subsides, and they become thick
and smooth like boiled custard. White of egg by itself may be
beaten with small rods, or with a three-pronged fork, or a broad
knife. It is a very easy process, and should be continued till the
liquid is all converted into a stiff froth so firm that it will
not drop from the rods when held up. In damp weather it is
sometimes difficult to get the froth stiff.

The first thing to be done in making cake, is to weigh or measure
all the ingredients. Next sift the flour, powder the sugar, pound
or grind the spice, and prepare the fruit; afterwards mix and stir
the butter and sugar, and lastly beat the eggs; as, if allowed to
stand any time, they will fall and become heavy. When all the
ingredients are mixed together, they should be stirred very hard
at the last; and (unless there is yeast in the cake) the sooner it
is put into the oven the better. While baking, no air should be
admitted to it, except for a moment, now and then, when it is
necessary to examine if it is baking properly, For baking; cakes,
the best guide is practice and experience; so much depending on
the state of the fire, that it is impossible to lay down any
infallible rules.

If you bake in a Dutch oven, let the lid be first heated by
standing it up before the fire; and cover the inside of the bottom
with sand or ashes, to temper the heat. For the same purpose, when
you bake in a stove, place bricks under the pans. Sheets of iron
without sides will be found very useful for baking small flat
cakes. For cakes of this description, the fire should be brisk; if
baked slowly, they will spread, lose their shape, and run into
each other. For all cakes, the heat should be regular and even; if
one part of the oven is cooler than another, the cake will bake
imperfectly, and have heavy streaks through it. Gingerbread (on
account of the molasses) is more apt to scorch and burn than any
other cake; therefore it should he baked with a moderate fire.

It is safest, when practicable, to send all large cakes to a
professional baker's; provided they can be put immediately into
the oven, as standing will spoil them. If you bake them at home,
you will find that they are generally done when they cease to make
a simmering noise; and when on probing them to the bottom with a
twig from a broom, or with the blade of the knife, it comes out
quite clean. The fire should then be withdrawn, and the cake
allowed to get cold in the oven. Small cakes should be laid to
cool on an inverted sieve. It may be recommended to novices in the
art of baking, to do every thing in little tins or in very shallow
pans; there being then less risk than with a large thick cake. In
mixing batter that is to be baked in small cakes; use less
proportion of flour.

Small cakes should be kept' closely covered in stone jars. For
large ones, you should have broad stone pans with close lids, or
else tin boxes. All cakes that are made with yeast should be eaten
quite fresh; so also should sponge cake. Some sorts may be kept a
week; black cake much longer.


BLACK CAKE.

Prepare two pounds of currants by picking them clean, washing and
draining them, through a cullender, and then spreading them out on
a large dish to dry before the fire or in the sun, placing the
dish in a slanting position. Pick and stone two pounds of the best
raisins, and cut them in half. Dredge the currants (when they are
dry) and the raisins thickly with flour to prevent them from
sinking in the cake. Grind or powder as much cinnamon as will make
a large gravy-spoonful when done; also a table-spoonful of mace
and four nutmegs; sift these spices, and mix them all together in
a cup. Mix together two large glasses of white wine, one of brandy
and one of rose water, and cut a pound of citron into large slips.
Sift a pound of flour into one pan, and a pound of powdered loaf-sugar
into another. Cut up among the sugar a pound of the best
fresh butter, and stir them to a cream. Beat twelve eggs till
perfectly thick and smooth, and stir them gradually into the
butter and sugar, alternately with the flour. Then add by degrees,
the fruit, spice and liquor, and stir the whole very hard at the
last. Then put the mixture into a well-buttered tin pan with
straight or perpendicular sides. Put it immediately into a
moderate oven, and bake it at least four hours. When done, let it
remain in the oven to get cold; it will be the better for staying
in all night. Ice it next morning; first dredging the outside all
over with flour, and then wiping it with a towel. This will make
the icing stick.


ICING.

A quarter of a pound of finely powdered loaf-sugar, of the whitest
and best quality, is the usual allowance to one white of egg. For
the cake in the preceding receipt, three quarters of a pound of
sugar and the whites of three eggs will be about the proper
quantity. Beat the white of egg by itself till it stands alone.
Have ready the powdered sugar, and then beat it hard into the
white of egg, till it becomes thick and smooth; flavouring it as
you proceed with a few drops of oil of lemon, or a little extract
of roses. Spread it evenly over the cake with a broad knife or a
feather; if you find it too thin, beat in a little more powdered
sugar. Cover with it thickly the top and sides of the cake, taking
care not to have it rough and streaky. To ice well requires skill
and practice. When the icing is about half dry, put on the
ornaments. You may flower it with coloured sugar-sand or
nonparels; but a newer and more elegant mode is to decorate it
with, devices and borders in white sugar; they can be procured at
the confectioners, and look extremely well on icing that has been
tinted with pink by the addition of a little cochineal.

You may colour icing of a pale or deep yellow, by rubbing the
lumps of loaf-sugar (before they are powdered) upon the outside of
a large lemon or orange. This will also flavour it finely.

Almond icing, for a very fine cake, is made by mixing gradually
with the white of egg and sugar, some almonds, half bitter and
half sweet, that have been pounded in a mortar with rose water to
a smooth paste. The whole must be well incorporated, and spread
over the cake near half an inch thick. It must be set in a cool
oven to dry, and then taken out and covered with a smooth plain
icing of sugar and white of egg.

Whatever icing is left, may be used to make maccaroons or kisses.


POUND CAKE.

Prepare a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a tea-spoonful of
powdered mace, and two nutmegs grated or powdered. Mix together in
a tumbler, a glass of white--wine, a glass of brandy, and a glass
of rose water. Sift a pound of the finest flour into a broad pan,
and powder a pound of loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a deep pan,
and cut up in it a pound of fresh butter. Warm them by the fire
till soft; and then stir them to a cream. When they are perfectly
light, add gradually the spice and liquor, a little at a time.
Beat ten eggs as light as possible, and stir them by degrees into
the mixture, alternately with the flour. Then add twelve drops of
oil of lemon; or more, if it is not strong. Stir the whole very
hard; put it into a deep tin pan with straight or upright sides,
and bake it in a moderate oven from two to three hours. If baked
in a Dutch oven, take off the lid when you have ascertained that
the cake is quite done, and let it remain in the oven to cool
gradually. If any part is burnt, scrape it off as soon as cold.

It may be iced either warm or cool; first dredging the cake with
flour and then wiping it off. It will be best to put on two coats
of icing; the second coat not till the first is entirely dry.
Flavour the icing with essence of lemon, or with extract of roses.

This cake will be very delicate if made with a pound of rice flour
instead of wheat.


INDIAN POUND CAKE.

Sift a pint of fine yellow Indian meal, and half a pint of wheat
flour, and mix them well together. Prepare a nutmeg beaten, and
mixed with a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Stir together
till very light, half a pound of powdered white sugar; and half a
pound of fresh butter; adding the spice, with a glass of white
wine, and a glass of brandy. Having beaten eight eggs as light as
possible, stir them into the butter and sugar, a little at a time
in turn with the meal. Give the whole a hard stirring at the last;
put it into a well-buttered tin pan, and bake it about an hour and
a half.

This cake (like every thing else in which Indian meal is an
ingredient) should be eaten quite fresh; it is then very nice.
When stale, (even a day old,) it becomes dry and rough as if made
with saw-dust.


QUEEN CAKE.

Sift fourteen ounces of the finest flour, being two ounces less
than a pound. Cakes baked in little tins, should have a smaller
proportion of flour than those that are done in large loaves.
Prepare a table-spoonful of beaten cinnamon, a tea-spoonful of
mace, and two beaten nutmegs; and mix them all together when
powdered. Mix in a tumbler, half a glass of white wine, half a
glass of brandy, and half a glass of rose water. Powder a pound of
loaf-sugar, and sift it into a deep pan; cut up in it a pound of
fresh butter; warm them by the fire, and stir them to a cream. Add
gradually the spice and the liquor. Beat ten eggs very light, and
stir them into the mixture in turn with the flour. Stir in twelve
drops of essence of lemon, and beat the whole very hard. Butter
some little tins; half fill them with the mixture; set them into a
brisk oven, and cake them about a quarter of an hour. When done,
they will shrink from the sides of the tins. After you turn them
out, spread them on an inverted sieve to cool. If you have
occasion to fill your tins a second time, scrape and wipe them
well before they are used again.

Make an icing flavoured with oil of lemon, or with extract of
roses; and spread two coats of it on the queen cakes. Set them to
dry in a warm place, but not near enough the fire to discolour the
icing and cause it to crack.

Queen cakes are best the day they are baked.


FRUIT QUEEN CAKES.

Make them in the above manner, with the addition of a pound of
currants, (picked, washed, dried, and floured,) and the juice and
grated peel of two large lemons, stirred in gradually at the last.
Instead of currants, you may put in sultana or seedless raisins,
cut in half and floured.

You may make a fruit pound cake in this manner.


LADY CAKE.

Take a quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels.
Put them into a bowl of boiling water, (renewing the
water as it cools) and let them lie in it till the skin peels off
easily; then throw them, as they, are blanched, into a bowl of
cold water, which will much improve their whiteness. Pound them,
one at a time, in a mortar; pouring in frequently a few drops of
rose water to prevent them from oiling and being heavy. Cut up
three quarters of a pound of fresh butter into a whole pound of
powdered loaf-sugar. Having warmed it, stir it to a light cream,
and then add very gradually the pounded almonds, beating them in
very hard. Sift into a separate pan half a pound and two ounces of
flour, and beat in another pan to a stiff froth, the, whites only
of seventeen eggs. Stir the flour and the white of egg alternately
into the pan of butter, sugar and almonds, a very little at a time
of each. Having beaten the whole as hard as possible, put it into
a buttered tin pan, (a square one is best,) and set it immediately
into a moderate oven. Bake it about an hour, more or less,
according to its thickness. When cool, ice it, flavouring the
icing, with oil of lemon. It is best the day after it is baked,
but it may be eaten fresh. When you put it away wrap it in a thick
cloth.

If you bake it in little tins, use two ounces less of flour.


SPANISH BUNS.

Cut up three quarters of a pound of butter into a jill and a half
or three wine glasses of rich unskimmed milk, (cream will be still
better,) and get the pan on a stove or near the fire, till the
butter becomes soft enough to stir all through the milk with a
knife; but do not let it get so hot as to boil of itself. Then set
it away in a cold place. Sift into separate pans, a half pound and
a quarter of a pound of the finest flour; and having beaten four
eggs as light as possible, mix them with the milk and butter, and
then pour the whole into the pan that contains the half pound of
flour. Having previously prepared two grated nutmegs, and a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon and mace, stir them into the
mixture; adding six drops of extract of roses, or a large table-spoonful
of rose water. Add a wine glass and a half of the best
fresh yeast from a brewery. If you cannot procure yeast of the
very best quality, an attempt to make these buns will most
probably prove a failure, as the variety of other ingredients will
prevent them from rising unless the yeast is as strong as
possible. Before you put it in, skim off the thin liquid or beer
from the top, and then stir up the bottom. After you have put in
the yeast, add the sugar; stirring it well in, a very little at a
time. If too much sugar is put in at once, the buns will be heavy.
Lastly, sprinkle in the quarter of a pound of flour that was
sifted separately; and stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture
into a square pan well buttered, and (having covered it with a
cloth) place it in a corner of the hearth to rise, which will
require, perhaps, about five hours; therefore these buns should
always be made early in the day. Do not bake it till the batter
has risen to twice its original quantity, and is covered on the
top with bubbles; then set the pan into a moderate oven, and bake
it about twenty minutes. Let it get cool in the pan; then, cut it
into squares, and either ice them, (flavouring the icing with
essence of lemon or extract of roses,) or sift grated loaf-sugar
thickly over them. These buns (like all other cakes made with
yeast) should be eaten the day they are baked; as when stale, they
fall and become hard.

In mixing them, you may stir in at the last half a pound of
raisins, stoned, chopped and floured; or half a pound of currants.
If you use fruit, put in half a wine glass more of the yeast.


BATH BUNS.

Boil a little saffron in sufficient water to cover it, till the
liquid is of a bright yellow; then strain it, and set it to cool.
Rub half a pound of fresh butter into a pound of sifted flour, and
make it into a paste with four eggs that have been well beaten,
and a large wine glass of the best and strongest yeast; adding the
infusion of saffron to colour it yellow. Put the dough into a pan,
cover it with a cloth, and set it before the fire to rise. When it
is quite light, mix into it a quarter of a pound of powdered and
sifted loaf-sugar; a grated nutmeg; and, if you choose, two or
three spoonfuls of carraway seeds. Roll out the dough into a thick
sheet, and divide it into round cakes with a cutter. Strew the top
of each bun with carraway comfits, and bake them on flat tins
buttered well. They should be eaten the day they are baked, as
they are not good unless quite fresh.


JELLY CAKE.

Sift three quarters of a pound of flour. Stir to a cream a pound
of butter and a pound of powdered white sugar, and mix in half a
tea-cup of rose water, and a grated nutmeg, with a tea-spoonful of
powdered cinnamon. Beat ten eggs very light, and add them
gradually to the mixture, alternately with the flour; stirring the
whole very hard. Put your griddle into the oven of a stove; and
when it is quite hot, grease it with fresh butter tied in a clean
rag, and set on it a tin cake-ring, (about the size of a large
dinner plate,) greased also. Dip out two large table-spoonfuls and
a half of the cake batter; put it within the tin ring, and bake it
about five minutes (or a little longer) without turning it. When
it is done, take it carefully off; place it on a large dish to
cool; wipe the griddle, grease it afresh, and put on another cake.
Proceed thus till all the batter is baked. When the cakes are
cool, spread every one thickly over with grape jelly, peach
marmalade, or any other sweetmeat that is smooth and thick;
currant jelly will be found too thin, and is liable to run off.
Lay the cakes smoothly one on another, (each having a layer of
jelly or marmalade between,) and either grate loaf-sugar over the
top one, or ice it smoothly; marking the icing with cross lines of
coloured sugar-sand, all the lines meeting at the centre so as to
divide the cake, when cut, into triangular or wedge-shaped slices.
If you ice it, add a few drops of essence of lemon to the icing.

Jelly cake should be eaten fresh. It is best the day it is baked.

You may bake small jelly cakes in muffin rings.


SPONGE CAKE.

Sift three quarters of a pound of flour, [Footnote: Sponge cake
may be made with rice flour.] and powder a pound of the best loaf-sugar.
Grate the yellow rind and squeeze into a saucer the juice
of three lemons. Beat twelve eggs; and when they are as light as
possible, beat into them gradually and very hard the sugar, adding
the lemon, and beating the whole for a long time. Then by degrees,
stir in the flour slowly and lightly; for if the flour is stirred
hard and fast into sponge cake, it will make it porous and tough.
Have ready buttered, a sufficient number of little square tins,
(the thinner they are the better,) half fill them with the
mixture; grate loaf-sugar over the top of each; put them
immediately into a quick oven, and bake them about ten minutes;
taking out one to try when you think they are done. Spread them on
an inverted sieve to cool. When baked in small square cakes, they
are generally called Naples biscuits.

If you are willing to take the trouble, they will bake much nicer
in little square paper cases, which you must make of a thick
letter paper, turning up the sides all round, and pasting together
or sewing up the corners.

If you bake the mixture in one large cake, (which is not advisable
unless you have had much practice in baking,) put it into a
buttered tin pan or mould, and set it directly into a hot Dutch
oven, as it will fall and become heavy if allowed to stand. Keep
plenty of live coals on the top, and under the bottom till the
cake has risen very high, and is of a fine colour; then diminish
the fire, and keep it moderate till the cake is done. It will take
about an hour. When cool, ice it; adding a little essence of lemon
or extract of roses to the icing. Sponge cake is best the day it
is baked.

Diet Bread is another name for Sponge Cake.


ALMOND CAKE.

Blanch, and pound in a mortar, four ounces of shelled sweet
almonds and two ounces of shelled bitter ones; adding, as you
proceed, sufficient rose-water to make them light and white. Sift
half a pound of flour, and powder a pound of loaf-sugar. Beat
thirteen eggs; and when they are as light as possible, stir into
them alternately the almonds, sugar, and flour; adding a grated
nutmeg. Butter a large square pan; put in the mixture, and bake it
in a brisk oven about half an hour, less or more, according to its
thickness. When cool, ice it. It is best when eaten fresh.


COCOA-NUT CAKE.

Cut up and wash a cocoa-nut, and grate as much of it as will weigh
a pound. Powder a pound of loaf-sugar. Beat fifteen eggs very
light; and then beat into them, gradually, the sugar. Then add by
degrees the cocoa-nut; and lastly, a handful of sifted flour. Stir
the whole very hard, and bake it either in a large tin pan, or in
little tins. The oven should be rather quick.


WASHINGTON CAKE.

Stir together a pound of butter and a pound of sugar; and sift
into another pan a pound of flour. Beat six eggs very light, and
stir them into the butter and sugar, alternately with the flour
and a pint of rich milk or cream; if the milk is sour it will be
no disadvantage. Add a glass of wine, a glass of brandy, a
powdered nutmeg, and a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Lastly, stir in a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash, or salaeratus,
that has been melted in a little vinegar; take care not to put in
too much pearl-ash, lest it give the cake an unpleasant taste.
Stir the whole very hard; put it into a buttered tin pan, (or into
little tins,) and bake it in a brisk oven. Wrapped in a thick
cloth, this cake will keep soft for a week.


CIDER CAKE.

Pick, wash, and dry a pound of currants, and sprinkle
them well with flour; and prepare two nutmegs, and a large table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon. Sift half a pound and two ounces
of flour. Stir together till very light, six ounces of fresh
butter, and half a pound of powdered white sugar; and add
gradually the spice, with two wine glasses of brandy, (or one of
brandy and one of white wine.) Beat four eggs very light, and stir
them into the mixture alternately with the flour. Add by degrees
half a pint of brisk cider; and then stir in the currants, a few
at a time. Lastly, a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash or sal-aratus
dissolved in a little warm water. Having stirred the whole very
hard, put it into a buttered tin pan, and let it stand before the
fire half an hour previous to baking. Bake it in a brisk oven an
hour or more according to its thickness. Or you may bake it as
little cakes, putting it into small tins; in which case use but
half a pound of flour in raising the batter.


ELECTION CAKE.

Make a sponge (as it is called) in the following manner:--Sift
into a pan two pounds and a half of flour; and into a deep plate
another pound. Take a second pan, and stir a large table-spoonful
of the best West India molasses into five jills or two tumblers
and a half of strong fresh yeast; adding a Jill of water, warm,
but not hot. Then stir gradually into the yeast, &c. the pound of
flour that you have sifted separately. Cover it, and let it set by
the fire three hours to rise. While it is rising, prepare the
other ingredients, by stirring in a deep pan two pounds of fresh
butter and two pounds of powdered sugar, till they are quite light
and creamy; adding to them a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon;
a tea-spoonful of powdered mace; and two powdered nutmegs. Stir in
also half a pint of rich milk. Beat fourteen eggs till very smooth
and thick, and stir them gradually into the mixture, alternately
with the two pounds and a half of flour which you sifted first.
When the sponge is quite light, mix the whole together, and bake
it in buttered tin pans in a moderate oven. It should be eaten
fresh, as no sweet cake made with yeast is so good after the first
day. If it is not probable that the whole will come into use on
the day it is baked, mix but half the above quantity.


MORAVIAN SUGAR CAKE.

Cut up a quarter of a pound of butter into a pint of rich milk,
and warm it till the butter becomes soft; then stir it about in
the milk so as to mix them well. Sift three quarters of a pound of
flour (or a pint and a half) into a deep pan, and making a hole in
the middle of it, stir in a large table-spoonful of the best
brewer's yeast in which a salt-spoonful of salt has been
dissolved; and then thin it with the milk and butter. Cover it,
and set it near the fire to rise. If the yeast is sufficiently
strong, it will most probably be light in two hours. When it is
quite light, mix with the dough a well-beaten egg and three
quarters of a pound more of sifted flour; adding a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon, and stirring it very hard. Butter a deep
square baking pan, and put the mixture into it. Set it to rise
again, as before. Mix together five ounces or a large coffee-cup
of fine brown sugar; two ounces of butter; and two table-spoonfuls
of powdered cinnamon. When the dough is thoroughly light, make
deep incisions all over it, at equal distances, and fill them with
the mixture of butter, sugar and cinnamon; pressing it hard down
into the bottom of the holes, and closing the dough a little at
the top to prevent the seasoning from running out. Strew some
sugar over the top of the cake; set it immediately into the oven,
and bake it from twenty minutes to half an hour, or more, in a
brisk oven, in proportion to its thickness. When cool, cut it into
squares. This is a very good plain cake; but do not attempt it
unless you have excellent yeast.


HUCKLEBERRY CAKE.

Spread a quart of ripe huckleberries on a large dish, and dredge
them thickly with flour. Mix together half a pint of milk; half a
pint of molasses; half a pint of powdered sugar; and half a pound
of butter. Warm them by the fire till the butter is quite soft;
then stir them all together, and set them away till cold. Prepare
a large table-spoonful of powdered cloves and cinnamon mixed. Beat
five eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the other
ingredients; adding, by degrees, sufficient gifted flour to make a
thick batter. Then stir in a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash or
dissolved sal-aratus. Lastly, add by degrees the huckleberries.
Put the mixture into a buttered pan, or into little tins and bake
it in a moderate oven. It is best the second day.


BREAD CAKE.

When you are making wheat bread, and the dough is quite light and
ready to bake, take out as much of it as would make a twelve cent
loaf, and mix with it a tea cup full of powdered sugar, and a tea-cup
full of butter that has been softened and stirred about in a
tea-cup of warm milk. Add also a beaten egg. Knead it very well,
put it into a square pan, dredged with flour, cover it, and set it
near the fire for half an hour. Then bake it in a moderate oven,
and wrap it in a thick cloth as soon as it is done. It is best
when fresh.


FEDERAL CAKES.

Sift two pounds of flour into a deep pan, and cut up in it a pound
of fresh butter; rub the butter into the flour with your hands,
adding by degrees, half a pound of powdered white sugar; a tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon; a beaten nutmeg; a glass of wine or
brandy, and two glasses of rose water. Beat four eggs very light;
and add them to the mixture with a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash
melted in a little lukewarm water. Mix all well together; add, if
necessary, sufficient cold water to make it into a dough just
stiff enough to roll out; knead it slightly, and then roll it out
into a sheet about half an inch thick. Cut it out into small cakes
with a tin cutter, or with the edge of a tumbler; dipping the
cutter frequently into flour, to prevent its sticking. Lay the
cakes in shallow pans buttered, or on flat sheets of tin, (taking
care not to let them touch, lest they should run into each other,)
and bake them of a light brown in a brisk oven. They are best the
second day.


SAVOY BISCUITS.

Take four eggs, and separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the
whites by themselves, to a stiff froth; then add gradually the
yolks, and beat them both together for a long time. Next add by
degrees half a pound of the finest loaf-sugar, powdered and
sifted, beating it in very hard; and eight drops of strong essence
of lemon. Lastly, stir in a quarter of a pound of sifted flour, a
little at a time. Stir the whole very hard, and then with a spoon
lay it on sheets of white paper, forming it into thin cakes of an
oblong or oval shape. Take care not to place them too close to
each other, lest they run. Grate loaf-sugar over the top of each,
to assist in keeping them in shape. Have the oven quite ready to
put them in immediately. It should be rather brisk. They will bake
in a few minutes, and should be but slightly coloured.


ALMOND MACCAROONS.

Take a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and a quarter of a pound of
shelled bitter almonds. Blanch them in scalding water, mix them
together, and pound them, one or two at a time, in a mortar to a
very smooth paste; adding frequently a little rose water to
prevent them from oiling and becoming heavy. Prepare a pound of
powdered loaf-sugar. Beat the whites of seven eggs, to a stiff
froth, and then beat into it gradually the powdered sugar, adding
a table-spoonful of mixed spice, (nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon.)
Then mix in the pounded almonds, (which it is best to prepare the
day before,) and stir the whole very hard. Form the mixture with a
spoon into little round or oval cakes, upon sheets of buttered
white paper, and grate white sugar over each. Lay the paper in
square shallow pans, or on iron sheets, and bake the maccaroons a
few minutes in a brisk oven, till of a pale brown. When cold, take
them off the papers.

It will be well to try two or three first, and if you find them
likely to lose their shape and run info each other, you may omit
the papers and make the mixture up into little balls with your
hands well floured; baking them in shallow tin pans slightly
buttered.

You may make maccaroons with icing that is left from a cake.


COCOA-NUT MACCAROONS.

Beat to a stiff froth the whites of six eggs, and then beat into
it very hard a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Mix with it a pound
of grated cocoa-nut, or sufficient to make a stiff paste. Then
flour your hands, and make it up into little balls. Lay them on
sheets of buttered white paper, and bake them in a brisk oven;
first grating loaf-sugar over each. They will be done in a few
minutes. Maccaroons may be made in a similar manner of pounded
cream-nuts, ground-nuts, filberts, or English walnuts.


WHITE COCOA-NUT CAKES.

Break up a cocoa-nut; peel and wash the pieces in cold water, and
grate them. Mix in the milk of the nut and some powdered loaf-sugar
and then form the grated cocoa-nut into little balls upon
sheets of white paper. Make them all of a regular and handsome
form, and touch the top of each with a spot of red sugar-sand. Do
not bake them, but place them to dry for twenty-four hours, in a
warm room where nothing is likely to disturb the them.


COCOA-NUT JUMBLES.

Grate a large cocoa-nut. Rub half a pound of butter into a pound
of sifted flour, and wet it with, three beaten eggs, and a little
rose water. Add by degrees the cocoa-nut, so as to form a stiff
dough. Flour your hands and your paste-hoard, and dividing the
dough into equal portions, make the jumbles with your hands into
long rolls, and then curl them round and join the ends so as to
form rings. Grate loaf-sugar over them, lay them in buttered
pans, (not so near as to run into each other,) and bake them in a
quick oven from five to ten minutes.


COMMON JUMBLES.

Sift a pound of flour into a large pan. Cut up a pound of butter
into a pound of powdered white sugar, and stir them to a cream.
Beat six eggs till very light, and then pour them all at once into
the pan of flour; next add the butter and sugar, with a large
table-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon, two grated nutmegs, and
a tea-spoonful of essence of lemon or a wine glass of rose water.
When all the ingredients are in, stir the mixture very hard with a
broad knife. Having floured your hands and spread some flour on
the paste-board, make the dough into long rolls, (all of equal
size,) and form them into rings by joining the two ends very
nicely. Lay them on buttered tins, and bake them in a quick oven
from five to ten minutes. Grate sugar over them when cool.


APEES.

Rub a pound of fresh butter into two pounds of sifted flour, and
mix in a pound of powdered white sugar, a grated nutmeg, a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon, and four large table-spoonfuls of
carraway seeds. Add a wine glass of rose water, and mix the whole
with sufficient cold water to make it a stiff dough. Roll it out
into a large sheet about a third of an inch in thickness, and cut
it into round cakes with a tin cutter or with the edge of a
tumbler. Lay them in buttered pans, and bake them in a quick oven,
(rather hotter at the bottom than at the top,) till they are of a
very pale brown.


WHITE CUP CAKE.

Measure one large coffee cup of cream or rich milk, (which, for
this cake, is best when sour,) one cup of fresh butter; two cups
of powdered white sugar; and four cups of sifted flour. Stir the
butter and sugar together till quite light; then by degrees add
the cream, alternately with half the flour. Beat five eggs as
light as possible, and stir them into the mixture, alternately
with the remainder of the flour. Add a grated nutmeg and a large
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, with eight drops of oil of
lemon. Lastly, stir in a very small tea-spoonful of sal-aratus or
pearl-ash, melted in a little vinegar or lukewarm water. Having
stirred the whole very hard, put it into little tins; set them in
a moderate oven, and bake them about twenty minutes.


KISSES.

Powder a pound of the best loaf-sugar. Beat to a strong froth the
whites of eight eggs, and when it is stiff enough to stand alone,
beat into it the powdered sugar, (a tea spoonful at a time,)
adding the juice of two lemons, or ten drops of essence of lemon.
Having beaten the whole very hard, drop it in oval or egg-shaped
heaps upon sheets of white paper, smoothing them with the spoon
and making them of a handsome and regular form. Place them in a
moderate oven, (if it is too cool they will not rise, but will
flatten and run into each other,) and bake them till coloured of a
very pale brown. Then take them off the papers very carefully,
place two bottoms (or flat sides) together, so as to unite them in
an oval ball, and lay them on their sides to cool. To manage them
properly, requires so much practice and dexterity, that it is
best, when practicable, to procure kisses from a confectioner's
shop.


MARMALADE CAKE.

Make a batter as for queen-cake, and bake it in small tin rings on
a griddle. Beat white of egg, and powdered loaf-sugar according to
the preceding receipt, flavouring it with lemon. When the batter
is baked into cakes, and they are quite cool, spread over each a
thick layer of marmalade, and then heap on with a spoon tire icing
or white of egg and sugar. Pile it high, and set the cakes in a
moderate oven till the icing is coloured of a very pale brown.

Instead of small ones you may bake the whole in one large cake.


SECRETS.

Take glazed paper of different colours, and cut it into squares of
equal size, fringing two sides of each. Have ready, burnt almonds,
chocolate nuts, and bonbons or sugar-plums of various sorts; and
put one in each paper with a folded slip containing two lines of
verse; or what will be much more amusing, a conundrum with the
answer. Twist the coloured paper so as entirely to conceal their
contents, leaving the fringe at each end. This is the most easy,
but there are various ways of cutting and ornamenting these
envelopes.


SCOTCH CAKE.

Rub three quarters of a pound of butter into a pound of sifted
flour; mix in a pound of powdered sugar, and a large table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon. Mix it into a dough with three well
beaten eggs. Roll it out into a sheet; cut it into round cakes,
and bake them in a quick oven; they will require but a few
minutes.


SCOTCH QUEEN CAKE.

Melt a pound of butter by putting it into a skillet on hot coals.
Then set it away to cool. Sift a quarter of a peck of flour into a
deep pan, and mix with it a pound of powdered sugar and a table-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon and mace. Make a hole in the middle,
put in the melted butter, and mix it with a knife till you have
formed of the whole a lump of dough. If it is too stiff, moisten
it with a little rose water. Do not knead it; but roll it out into
a large oval sheet, an inch thick. Cut it down the middle, and
then across, so as to divide it into four cakes. Prick them with a
fork, and crimp or scollop the edges neatly. Lay them in shallow
pans; set them, in a quick oven and bake them of a light brown.
This cake will keep a week or two.

You may mix in with the dough half a pound of currants, picked,
washed, and dried.


HONEY CAKES.

Take a quart of strained honey, half a pound of fresh butter, and
a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a wine glass of
water. Add by degrees as much sifted flour as will make a stiff
paste. Work the whole well together. Roll it out about half an
inch thick. Cut it into cakes with the edge of a tumbler or with a
tin-cake cutter. Lay them on buttered tins and bake them with
rather a brisk fire, but see that they do not burn.


WAFER CAKES.

Mix together half a pound of powdered sugar, and a quarter of a
pound of butter; and add to them six beaten eggs. Then beat the
whole very light; stirring into it as much sifted flour as will
make a stiff batter; a powdered nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful of
cinnamon; and eight drops of oil of lemon, or a table-spoonful of
rose water. The batter must be very smooth when it is done, and
without a single lump. Heat your wafer iron on both sides by
turning it in the fire; but do not allow it to get too hot. Grease
the inside with butter tied in a rag, (this must be repeated
previous to the baking of every cake,) and put in the batter,
allowing to each wafer two large table-spoonfuls, taking care not
to stir up the batter. Close the iron, and when one side is baked,
turn it on the other; open it occasionally to see if the wafer is
doing well. They should be coloured of a light brown. Take them
out carefully with a knife. Strew them with powdered sugar, and
roll them up while warm, round a smooth stick, withdrawing it when
they grow cold. They are best the day after they are baked.

If you are preparing for company, fill up the hollow of the wafers
with whipt cream, and stop up the two ends with preserved
strawberries, or with any other small sweetmeat.


WONDERS, OR CRULLERS.

Rub half a pound of butter into two pounds of sifted flour, mixing
in three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar. Add a tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon, and a grated nutmeg, with a large
table-spoonful of rose water. Beat six eggs very light, and stir
them into the mixture. Mix it with a knife into a soft paste. Then
put it on the paste-board, and roll it out into a sheet an inch
thick. If you find it too soft, knead in a little more flour, and
roll it out over again. Cut it into long slips with a jagging
iron, or with a sharp knife, and twist them into various fantastic
shapes. Have ready on hot coals, a skillet of boiling lard; put in
the crullers and fry them of a light brown, turning them
occasionally by means of a knife and fork. Take them out one by
one on a perforated skimmer, that the lard may drain off through
the holes. Spread them out on a large dish, and when cold grate
white sugar over them.

They will keep a week or more.


DOUGH NUTS.

Take two deep dishes, and sift three quarters of a pound of flour
into each. Make a hole in the centre of one of them, and pour in a
wine glass of the best brewer's yeast; mix the flour gradually
into it, wetting it with lukewarm milk; cover it, and set it by
the fire to rise for about two hours. This is setting a sponge. In
the mean time, cut up five ounces of butter into the other dish of
flour, and rub it fine with your hands; add half a pound of
powdered sugar, a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a grated
nutmeg, a table-spoonful of rose water, and a half pint of milk.
Beat three eggs very light, and stir them hard into the mixture.
Then when, the sponge is perfectly light, add it to the other
ingredients, mixing them all thoroughly with a knife. Cover it,
and set it again by the fire for another hour. When, it is quite
light, flour your paste-board, turn out the lump of dough, and cut
it into thick diamond shaped cakes with a jagging iron. If you
find the dough so soft as to be unmanageable, mix in a little more
flour; but not else. Have ready a skillet of boiling lard; put the
dough-nuts into it, and fry them brown; and when cool grate loaf-sugar
over them. They should be eaten quite fresh, as next day
they will be tough and heavy; therefore it is best to make no more
than you want for immediate use. The New York Oley Koeks are
dough-nuts with currants and raisins in them.


WAFFLES.

Put two pints of rich milk into separate pans. Cut up and melt in
one of them a quarter of a pound of butter, warming it slightly;
then, when it is melted, stir it about, and set it away to cool.
Beat eight eggs till very light, and mix them gradually into the
other pan of milk, alternately with half a pound of flour. Then
mix in by degrees the milk that has the butter in it. Lastly, stir
in a large table-spoonful of strong fresh yeast. Cover the pan,
and set it near the fire to rise. When the batter is quite light,
heat your waffle-iron, by putting it among the coals of a clear
bright fire; grease the inside with butter tied in a rag, and then
put in some batter. Shut the iron closely, and when the waffle is
done on one side, turn the iron on the other. Take the cake out by
slipping a knife underneath; and then heat and grease the iron for
another waffle. Send them to table quite hot, four or six on a
plate; having buttered them and strewed over each a mixture of
powdered cinnamon, and white sugar. Or you may send the sugar and
cinnamon in a little glass bowl.

In buying waffle-irons, do not choose those broad shallow ones
that are to hold four at a time; as the waffles baked in them are
too small, too thin, and are never of a good shape. The common
sort that bake but two at once are much the best.


NEW YORK COOKIES.

Take a half-pint or a tumbler full of cold water, and mix it with
half a pound of powdered white sugar. Sift three pounds of flour
into a large pan and cut up in it a pound of butter; rub the
butter very fine into the flour. Add a grated nutmeg, and a tea-spoonful
of powdered cinnamon, with a wine glass of rose water.
Work in the sugar, and make the whole into a stiff dough, adding,
if necessary, a little cold water. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of
pearl-ash in just enough of warm water to cover it, and mix it in
at the last. Take the lump of dough out of the pan, and knead it
on the paste-board till it becomes quite light. Then roll it out
rather more than half an inch thick, and cut it into square cakes
with a jagging iron or with a sharp knife. Stamp the surface of
each with a cake print. Lay them in buttered pans, and bake them
of a light brown in a brisk oven.

They are similar to what are called New Year's cakes, and will
keep two or three weeks.

In mixing the dough, you may add three table-spoonfuls of carraway
seeds.


SUGAR BISCUIT.

Wet a pound of sugar with two large tea-cups full of milk; and rub
a pound of butter into two pounds of flour; adding a table-spoonful
of cinnamon, and a handful of carraway seeds. Mix in the
sugar, add a tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved, and make the
whole into a stiff dough. Knead it, and then roll it out into a
sheet about half an inch thick. Beat it on both sides with the
rolling-pin, and then cut it out with the edge of a tumbler into
round cakes. Prick them with a fork, lay them in buttered pans,
and bake them light brown in a quick oven. You may colour them
yellow by mixing in with the other ingredients a little of the
infusion of saffron.


RUSKS.

Sift three pounds of flour into a large pan, and rub into it half
a pound of butter, and half a pound of sugar. Beat two eggs very
light, and stir them into a pint and a half of milk, adding two
table-spoonfuls of rose water, and three table-spoonfuls of the
best and strongest yeast. Make a hole in the middle of the flour,
pour in the liquid, and gradually mix the flour into it till you
have a thick batter. Cover it, and set it by the fire to rise.
When it is quite light, put it on your paste-board and knead it
well. Then divide it into small round cakes and knead each
separately. Lay them very near each other in shallow iron pans
that have been sprinkled with flour. Prick the top of each rusk
with a fork, and set them by the fire to rise again for half an
hour or more. When they are perfectly light, bake them in a
moderate oven. They are best when fresh.

You can convert them into what are called Hard Rusks, or Tops and
Bottoms, by splitting them in half, and putting them again into
the oven to harden and crisp.


MILK BISCUIT.

Cut up three quarters of a pound of butter in a quart of milk, and
set it near the fire to warm, till the butter becomes soft; then
with a knife, mix it thoroughly with the milk, and set it away to
cool. Afterwards stir in two wine glasses of strong fresh yeast,
and add by degrees as much sifted flour as will make a dough just
stiff enough to roll out. As soon as it is mixed, roll it into a
thick sheet, and cut it out into round cakes with the edge of a
tumbler or a wine glass. Sprinkle a large iron pan with flour; lay
the biscuits in it, cover it and set it to rise near the fire.
When the biscuits are quite light, knead each one separately;
prick them with a fork, and set them again in a warm place for
about half an hour. When they are light again, bake them in a
moderate oven. They should be eaten fresh, and pulled open with
the fingers, as splitting them with a knife will make them heavy.


WHITE GINGERBREAD.

Sift two pounds of flour into a deep pan, and rub into it three
quarters of a pound of butter; then mix in a pound of common white
sugar powdered; and three table-spoonfuls of the best white
ginger. Having beaten four eggs very light, mix them gradually
with the other ingredients in the pan, and add a small tea-spoonful
of pearl-ash melted in a wine glass of warm milk. Stir
the whole as hard as possible. Flour your paste-board; lay the
lump of dough upon it, and roll it out into a sheet an inch thick;
adding more flour if necessary. Butter a large shallow square pan.
Lay the dough into it, and bake it in a moderate oven. When cold,
cut it into squares. Or you may cut it out into separate cakes
with a jagging iron, previous to baking. You must be careful not
to lay them too close together in the pan, lest they run into each
other.


COMMON GINGERBREAD.

Cut up a pound of butter in a quart of West India molasses, which
must be perfectly sweet; if it is in the least sour, use sugar
house molasses instead. Warm it slightly, just enough to melt the
butter. Crush with the rolling-pin, on the paste-board, half a
pound of brown sugar, and add it by degrees to the molasses and
butter; then stir in a tea-cup full of powdered ginger, a large
tea-spoonful of powdered cloves, and a table-spoonful of powdered
cinnamon. Add gradually sufficient flour to make a dough stiff
enough to roll out easily; and lastly, a small tea-spoonful of
pearl-ash melted in a little warm water. Mix and stir the dough
very hard with a spaddle, or a wooden spoon; but do not knead it.
Then divide it with a knife into equal portions; and, having
floured your hands, roll it out on the paste-board into long even
strips. Place them in shallow tin pans, that have been buttered;
either laying the strips side by side in straight round sticks,
(uniting them at both ends,) or coil them into rings one within
another, as you see them at the cake shops. Bake them in a brisk
oven, taking care that they do not burn; gingerbread scorching
sooner than any other cake.

To save time and trouble, you may roll out the dough into a sheet
near an inch thick, and cut it into round flat cakes with a tin
cutter, or with the edge of a tumbler.

Ground ginger loses much of its strength by keeping. Therefore it
will be frequently found necessary to put in more than the
quantity given in the receipt.


GINGERBREAD NUTS.

Rub half a pound of butter into a pound and a half of sifted
flour; and mix in half a pound of brown sugar, crushed fine with
the rolling-pin. Add two large table-spoonfuls of ginger, a tea-spoonful
of powdered cloves, and a tea-spoonful of powdered
cinnamon. Stir in a pint of molasses, and the grated peel of a
large lemon, but not the juice, as you must add at the last, a
very small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a little
lukewarm water, and pearl-ash entirely destroys the taste of
lemon-juice and of every other acid. Stir the whole mixture very
hard with a spaddle or with a wooden spoon, and make it into a
lump of dough just stiff enough to roll out into a sheet about
half an inch thick. Cut it out into small cakes about the size of
a quarter dollar; or make it up, with your hands well floured,
into little round balls, flattening them on the top. Lay them in
buttered pans, and bake them in a moderate oven. They will keep
several weeks.


FRANKLIN CAKE.

Mix together a pint of molasses, and half a pint of milk, and cut
up in it half a pound of butter. Warm them just enough to melt the
butter, and then stir in six ounces of brown sugar; adding three
table-spoonfuls of ginger, a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon,
a tea-spoonful of powdered cloves, and a grated nutmeg. Beat seven
eggs very light, and stir them gradually into the mixture, in turn
with a pound and two ounces of flour. Add, at the last, the grated
peel and juice of two large lemons or oranges; or twelve drops of
essence of lemon, there being no pearl-ash in this gingerbread.
Stir the mixture very hard; put it into little queen cake tins,
well buttered; and bake it in a moderate oven. It is best the
second day, and will keep soft a week.


GINGER PLUM CAKE.

Stone a pound and a half of raisins, and cut them in two. Wash and
dry half a pound of currants. Sift into a pan two pounds of flour.
Put into another pan a pound of brown sugar, (rolled fine,) and
cut up in it a pound of fresh butter. Stir the butter and sugar to
a cream, and add to it two table-spoonfuls of the best ginger; one
table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon; and one of powdered cloves.
Then beat six eggs very light, and add them gradually to the
butter and sugar, in turn with the flour and a quart of molasses.
Lastly, stir in a tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in a little
vinegar, and add by degrees the fruit, which must be well dredged
with flour. Stir all very hard; put the mixture into a buttered
pan, and bake it in a moderate oven. Take care not to let it burn.


MOLASSES CANDY.

Mix a pound of the best brown sugar with two quarts of West India
molasses, (which must be perfectly sweet,) and boil it in a
preserving kettle over a moderate fire for three hours, skimming
it well, and stirring it frequently after the scum has ceased to
rise; taking care that it does not burn. Have ready the grated
rind and the juice of three lemons, and stir them into the
molasses after it has boiled about two hours and a half; or you
may substitute a large tea-spoonful of strong essence of lemon.
The flavour of the lemon will all be boiled out if it is put in
too soon. The mixture should boil at least three hours, that it
may be crisp and brittle when cold. If it is taken off the fire
too soon, or before it has boiled sufficiently, it will not
congeal, but will be tough and ropy, and must be boiled over
again. It will cease boiling of itself when it is thoroughly done.
Then take it off the fire; have ready a square tin pan; put the
mixture into it, and set it away to cool.

You may make molasses candy with almonds blanched and slit into
pieces; stir them in by degrees after the mixture has boiled two
hours and a half. Or you may blanch a quart of ground-nuts and put
them in instead of the almonds.


NOUGAT.

Blanch a pound of shelled sweet almonds; and with an almond
cutter, or a sharp penknife, split each almond into five slips.
Spread them over a large dish, and place them in a gentle oven.
Powder a pound of the finest loaf-sugar, and put it into a
preserving pan without a drop of water. Set it on a chafing-dish
over a slow fire, or on a hot stove, and stir it with a wooden
spoon till the boat has entirely dissolved it. Then take the
almonds out of the oven, and mix with them the juice of two or
three lemons. Put them into the sugar a few at a time, and let
them simmer till it becomes a thick stiff paste, stirring it hard
all the while. Have ready a mould, or a square tin pan, greased
all over the inside with sweet oil; put the mixture into it;
smooth it evenly, and set it in a cold place to harden.


LEMON DROPS.

Squeeze some lemon-juice into a pan. Pound in a mortar some of the
best loaf-sugar, and then sift it through a very fine sieve. Mix
it with the lemon-juice, making it so thick that you can scarcely
stir it. Put it into a porcelain sauce-pan, set it on hot coals,
and stir it with a wooden spoon five minutes or more. Then take
off the pan, and with the point of a knife drop the liquid on
writing paper. When cold, the drops will easily come off.

Peppermint drops may be made as above, substituting for the lemon-juice
essence of peppermint.


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