 CHAPTER IX. ONE THIRTY-FIVE. WEET BREAD. For six common-sized loaves of bread take three pints of boiling water and mix it with five or six quarts of flour, when thoroughly mixed add three pints of cold water. Stir it till the whole of the dough is of the same temperature. When lukewarm stir in half a pint of family yeast. If brewer's yeast is used a less quantity will answer. A tablespoonful of salt knead in flour till stiff enough to mold up and free from lumps. The more the bread is kneaded the better it will be. Cover it over with a thick cloth and if the weather is cold set it near a fire. To ascertain when it has risen cut it through the middle with a knife. If full of small holes like a sponge it is sufficiently light for baking. It should be baked as soon as light. If your bread should get sour before you are ready to bake it dissolve two or more teaspoons full of salaratus according to the acidity of it in a tea cup of milk or water, strain it onto the dough, work it in well, then cut off enough for a loaf of bread. Mold it up well, slash it on both sides to prevent its cracking when baked, put it in a buttered tin pan. The bread should stand 10 or 12 minutes in the pans before baking it. If you like your bread baked a good deal let it stand in the oven an hour and a half. When the wheat is grown it makes better bread to wet the flour entirely with boiling water. It should remain till cool before working in the yeast. Some cooks have an idea that it kills the life of the flour to scald it but it is a mistaken idea. It is sweeter for it and will keep good much longer. Bread made in this way is nearly as good as that which is wet with milk. Care must be taken not to put the yeast in when the dough is hot as it will scald it and prevent its rising. Most ovens require heating an hour and a half for bread. A brisk fire should be kept up and the doors of the room should be kept shut if the weather is cold. Pine and ash mixed together or birchwood is the best for heating an oven. To ascertain if your oven is of the right temperature, when cleaned throw in a little flour. If it browns in the course of a minute it is sufficiently hot. If it turns black directly, wait several minutes before putting in the things that are to be baked. If the oven does not bake well, set in a furnace of live coals. One thirty six, sponge bread. For four loaves of bread take three quarts of wheat flour and the same quantity of boiling water. Mix them well together. Let it remain till lukewarm then add a teacup full of family or half a teacup of distillery yeast. Set it in a warm place to rise. When light, knead in flour till stiff enough to mold up then let it stand till risen again before molding it up. One thirty seven, rye bread. Wet up rye flour with lukewarm milk. Water will do to wet it with but it will not make the bread so good. Put in the same proportion of yeast as for wheat bread. For four or five loaves of bread put in a couple of teaspoons full of salt. A couple of tablespoons full of melted butter makes the crust more tender. It should not be needed as stiff as wheat bread or it will be hard when baked. When light take it out into pans without molding it up, let it remain in them about twenty minutes before baking. One thirty eight, brown bread. Brown bread is made by scalding Indian meal and stirring into it when lukewarm about the same quantity of rye flour as Indian meal. Add yeast and salt in the same proportion as for other kinds of bread. Bake it between two and three hours. One thirty nine, Indian bread. Mix Indian meal with cold water, stir it into boiling water, let it boil half an hour, stir in a little salt, take it from the fire, let it remain till lukewarm, then stir in yeast and Indian meal to render it of the consistency of unbaked rye dough. When light take it out into buttered pans, let it remain a few minutes, then bake it two hours and a half. One forty, potato bread. Roll the potatoes very soft, then peel and mash them fine. Put in salt and very little butter, then rub them with the flour, wet the flour with lukewarm water, then work in the yeast and flour till stiff to mold up. It will rise quicker than common wheat bread and should be baked as soon as risen as it turns sour very soon. The potatoes that the bread is made of should be mealy and mixed with the flour in the proportion of one third of potatoes to two thirds of flour. One forty one, rice bread. Boil a pint of rice till soft, then mix it with a couple of quarts of rice or wheat flour. When cool, add half a tea cup of yeast, a little salt, and milk to render it of the consistency of rye bread. When light, bake it in small buttered pans. One forty two, French rolls. Turn a quart of lukewarm milk onto a quart of flour. Melt a couple of ounces of butter and put to the milk and flour together with a couple of eggs and a teaspoon full of salt. When cool, stir in half a tea cup of yeast and flour to make it stiff enough to mold up. Put it in a warm place. When light, do it up into small rolls. Lay the rolls on flat buttered tins. Let them remain twenty minutes before baking. One forty three, yeast. Boil a small handful of hops and a couple of quarts of water. When the strength is obtained from them, strain the liquor, put it back on the fire, take a little of the liquor, and mix smoothly with three heaping tablespoons full of wheat flour. Stir it into the liquor when it boils. Let it boil five or six minutes, take it from the fire. When lukewarm, stir in a tea cup of yeast. Keep it in a warm place till risen. When of a frothy appearance, it is sufficiently light. Add a tablespoon full of salt, turn it into a jar, and cover it tight. Some people keep yeast in bottles, but they are apt to burst. Some use jugs, but they cannot be cleaned so easily as jars. Whenever your yeast gets sour, the jar should be thoroughly cleaned before fresh is put in. If not cleaned, it will spoil the fresh yeast. Yeast made in this manner will keep good of fortnight in warm weather, in cold weather longer. If your yeast appears to be a little changed, add a little saliratus to it before you mix it with your bread. If it does not foam well when put in, it is too stale to use. Milk yeast makes sweeter bread than any other kind of yeast, but it will not keep good long. It is very nice to make biscuit of. Take half the quantity of milk you need for your biscuit, set it in a warm place with a little flour and a teaspoon full of salt. When light, mix it with the rest of the milk, and use it directly for the biscuit. It takes a pint of this yeast for five or six loaves of bread. Another method of making yeast, which is very good, is to take about half a pound of your bread dough when risen, and roll it out thin and dry it. When you wish to make bread, put a quart of lukewarm milk to it and set it near the fire to rise. When light, scald the flour and let it be till lukewarm, then add the yeast and salt. This will raise the bread in the course of an hour. The dough will need a little fresh hoplicker put to it in the course of three or four times baking. Potato yeast makes very nice bread, but the yeast does not keep good as long as when made without them. It is made in the following manner. Peel a couple of good-sized potatoes soft, peel and rub them through a sieve. Put to it a couple of tablespoons full of wheat flour and a quart of hot hop tea. When lukewarm, stir in half a tea cup of yeast. When light, put in a couple of teaspoons full of salt, put it in your yeast jar and cover it up tight. 144. Yeast cakes. Stir into a pint of good lively yeast, a tablespoon full of salt and rye or wheat flour to make a thick batter. When risen, stir in Indian meal till of the right consistency to roll out. When risen again, roll them out very thin, cut them into cakes with a tumbler and dry them in the shade in clear windy weather. Care must be taken to keep them from the sun or they will ferment. When perfectly dry, tie them up in a bag and keep them in a cool, dry place. To raise four or five loaves of bread, take one of these cakes and put to it a little lukewarm milk or water. When dissolved, stir in a couple of tablespoons full of flour, set it near the fire. When light, use it for your dough. Yeast cakes will keep good five or six months. They are very convenient to use in summer as common yeast is so apt to ferment. 145. Butter Biscuit. Melt a tea cup of butter, mix it with two thirds of a pint of milk. If you have not any milk, water may be substituted but the biscuit will not be as nice. Put in a teaspoon full of salt, half a tea cup of yeast. Milk yeast is the best, see directions for making it. Stir in flour till it is stiff enough to mold up. A couple of eggs improve the biscuit but are not essential. Set the dough in a warm place when risen, mold the dough with the hand into small cakes, lay them on flat tins that have been buttered. Let them remain half an hour before they are baked. 146. Butter Milk Biscuit. Have a couple of teaspoons full of salaratus and a tea cup of sour milk. Mix it with a pint of butter milk and a couple of teaspoons full of salt. Stir in flour until stiff enough to mold up. Mold it up into small cakes and bake them immediately. 147. Hard Biscuit. Way out four pounds of flour and rub three pounds and a half of it with four ounces of butter, four beaten eggs and a couple of teaspoons full of salt. Moisten it with milk, pound it out thin with a rolling pin. Roll a little of the reserved flour over it lightly. Roll it up and pound it out again. Sprinkle on more of the flour. This operation continue to repeat till you get in all the reserved flour. Then roll it out thin, cut it into cakes with a tumbler, lay them on flat buttered tins, cover them with a damp cloth to prevent their drying. Bake them in a quick oven. 148. Salaratus Biscuit. Put a couple of teaspoons full of salaratus and a pint of sour milk. If you have not any sour milk, put a tablespoon full of vinegar to a pint of sweet milk, set it in a warm place. As soon as it curdles, mix it with the salaratus. Put in a couple of tablespoons full of melted butter and flour to make them sufficiently stiff to roll out. Mold them up into small biscuit and bake them immediately. 149. Potato Biscuit. Boil mealy potatoes very soft, peel and mash them. Before good-sized potatoes, put a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg, a teaspoon full of salt. When the butter is melted, put in half a pint of cold milk. If the milk cools the potatoes, put in a quarter of a pint of yeast and flour to make them of the right consistency to mold up. Set them in a warm place. When risen, mold them up with the hand. Let them remain 10 or 15 minutes before baking them. 150. Sponge Biscuit. Butter into a pint of lukewarm milk, half a tea cup of melted butter, a teaspoon full of salt, half a tea cup of family or a tablespoon full of brewers yeast, the latter is the best. Add flour till it is a very stiff batter. When light, drop this mixture by the large spoonful onto flat, buttered tins several inches apart. Let them remain a few minutes before baking. Bake them in a quick oven till they are a light brown. 151. Crackers. Pour six ounces of butter with two pounds of flour, dissolve a couple of teaspoons full of salaratus in a wine glass of milk, and strain it onto the flour. Add a teaspoon full of salt and milk enough to enable you to roll it out. Beat it with a rolling pin for half an hour, pounding it out thin. Cut it into cakes with a tumbler. Bake them about 15 minutes, then take them from the oven. When the rest of your things are baked sufficiently, take them out, set in the crackers, and let them remain till baked hard and crispy. End of Chapter 9. RECORDING by NIC NUMBER. CHAPTER X. 152. CREAM CAKES. Mix half a pint of thick cream with the same quantity of milk, four eggs, and flour to render them just stiff enough to drop on buttered tins. They should be dropped by the large spoonful several inches apart and baked in a quick oven. 153. CRUMPETS. Take three teacups of raised dough and work into it with the hand, half a teacup of melted butter, three eggs, and milk to render it a thick batter. Turn it into a buttered bake pan. Let it remain 15 minutes, then put on a bake pan heated so as to scorch flour. It will bake in half an hour. 154. RICE CAKES. Mix a pint of rice boiled soft with a pint of milk, a teaspoon full of salt, and three eggs beaten to a froth. Stir in rice or wheat flour till of the right consistency to fry. If you like them baked, add two more eggs and enough more flour to make them stiff enough to roll out and cut them into cakes. 155. RICE RUFFS. To a pint of rice flour, put boiling water or milk sufficient to make a thick batter. Beat four eggs when it is cool and put in together with a teaspoon full of salt. Drop this mixture by the large spoonful into hot fat. 156. BUCKWEET CAKES. Mix a quart of buckwheat flour with a pint of lukewarm milk, water will do but is not as good, and a tea cup of yeast, set it in a warm place to rise. When light, which will be in the course of eight or ten hours if family yeast is used, if brewers yeast is used they will rise much quicker. Add a teaspoon full of salt. If sour, the same quantity of salaritas dissolved in a little milk and strained. If they are too thick, thin them with cold milk or water. Fry them in just fat enough to prevent their sticking to the frying pan. 157. CAKES. Rust bread, or that which is old and sour, can be made into nice cakes. The bread should be cut into small pieces and soaked in cold water till very soft. Then drain off the water, mash the bread fine. To three pints of the bread pulp put a couple of beaten eggs, three or four tablespoons full of flour, and a little salt. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaritas to a tea cup of milk, strain it, then stir it into the bread. Add more milk till it is of the right consistency to fry. The batter should be rather thicker than that of buckwheat cakes and cooked in the same manner. Another way of making them, which is very good, is to mix half a pint of wheat flour with enough cold milk or water to render it a thick batter and a couple of tablespoons full of yeast. When light, mix the batter with the bread, which should be previously soaked, soft and mashed fine, add salt and a teaspoon full of salaritas dissolved in a little milk. Fry them in just fat enough to prevent their sticking to the frying pan. 158. Green Corn Cake Mix a pint of grated green corn with three tablespoons full of milk, a tea cup of flour, half a tea cup of melted butter, one egg, a teaspoon full of salt, and half a teaspoon full of pepper. Drop this mixture into hot butter by the spoonful, let the cakes fry 8 or 10 minutes. These cakes are nice served up with meat for dinner. 159. Indian Corn Cake Stir into a quart of sour or butter milk, a couple of teaspoons full of salaritas, a little salt, and sifted Indian meal to render it a thick batter. A little cream improves the cake. Bake it in deep cake pans about an hour. When sour milk cannot be procured, boil sweet milk and turn it onto the Indian meal. When cool, put in three beaten eggs to a quart of the meal, add salt to the taste. 160. Indian Slap Jacks Scald a quart of Indian meal. When lukewarm turn, stir in half a pint of flour, half a tea cup of yeast, and a little salt. When light, fry them in just fat enough to prevent their sticking to the frying pan. Another method of making them, which is very nice, is to turn boiling milk or water onto the Indian meal in the proportion of a quart of the former to a pint of the latter. Stir in three tablespoons full of flour, three eggs well beaten, and a couple of teaspoons full of salt. 161. Journey or Johnny Cakes Scald a quart of sifted Indian meal with sufficient water to make it a very thick batter. Stir in two or three teaspoons full of salt, mold it with the hand into small cakes. In order to mold them up, it will be necessary to rub a good deal of flour on the hands to prevent their sticking. Fry them in nearly fat enough to cover them. When brown on the underside, they should be turned. It takes about twenty minutes to cook them. When cooked, split and butter them. Another way of making them, which is nice, is to scald the Indian meal and put in salaratus dissolved in milk and salt in the proportion of a teaspoon full of each to a quart of meal. Add two or three tablespoons full of wheat flour and drop the batter by the large spoonful into a frying pan. The batter should be of a very thick consistency, and there should be just fat enough in the frying pan to prevent the cake sticking to it. 162. Po-cakes. Scald a quart of Indian meal with just water enough to make a thick batter. Stir in a couple of teaspoons full of salt and two tablespoons full of butter. Turn it into a buttered bake pan and bake it half an hour. 163. Muffins. Mix a quart of wheat flour smoothly with a pint and a half of lukewarm milk, half a teacup of yeast, a couple of beaten eggs, a heaping teaspoon full of salt, and a couple of tablespoons full of lukewarm melted butter. Put the batter in a warm place to rise. When light, butter your muffin cups, turn in the mixture and bake the muffins till a light brown. 164. Raised flour waffles. Stir into a quart of flour sufficient lukewarm milk to make a thick batter. The milk should be stirred in gradually so as to have it free from lumps. Put in a tablespoon full of melted butter, a couple of beaten eggs, a teaspoon full of salt, and half a teacup of yeast. When risen, fill your waffle irons with the batter, bake them on a hot bed of coals. When they have been on the fire between two and three minutes, turn the waffle irons over. When brown on both sides they are sufficiently baked. The waffle irons should be well greased with lard and very hot before each one is put in. The waffles should be buttered as soon as cooked. Serve them up with powdered white sugar and cinnamon. 165. Quick Waffles. Mix flour and cold milk together to make a thick batter. To a quart of the flour put six beaten eggs, a tablespoon full of melted butter, and a teaspoon full of salt. Some cooks add a quarter of a pound of sugar and half a nutmeg. Bake them immediately. 166. Rice Waffles. Take a teacup and a half of boiled rice, warm it with a pint of milk, mix it smooth, then take it from the fire, stirring a pint of cold milk and a teaspoon full of salt. Beat four eggs and stir them in, together with sufficient flour to make a thick batter. 167. Rice Wafers. Melt a quarter of a pound of butter and mix it with a pound of rice flour, a teaspoon full of salt, and a wine glass of wine. Beat four eggs and stir in, together with just cold milk enough to enable you to roll them out easily. They should be rolled out as thin as possible, cut with a wine glass into cakes, and baked in a moderate oven on buttered flat tins. End of Chapter 10. RECORDING by NIC NUMBER. CHAPTER XI. 168. Rules to be observed in making nice cake. Cake to be good must be made of nice materials. The butter, eggs, and flour should not be stale and the sugar should be of a light color and dry. Brown sugar answers very well for most kinds of cake, if rolled free from lumps and stirred to a cream with the butter. The flour should be sifted and, if damp, dried perfectly, otherwise it will make the cake heavy. The eggs should be beaten to a froth and the cake will be more delicate if the yolks and whites are beaten separately. Saleratus and soda should be perfectly dissolved and strained before they are stirred into the cake. Raisins for cake should have the seeds taken out. Zonti currants should be rinsed in several waters to cleanse them, rubbed in a dry cloth to get out the sticks, and then spread on platters and dried perfectly before they are put into the cake. Almonds should be blanched, which is done by turning boiling water on them and letting them remain in it till the skins will rub off easily. When blanched, dry them then pound them fine, with rose water to prevent their oiling. When the weather is cold, the materials for cake should be moderately warmed before mixing them together. All kinds of cake that are made without yeast are better for being stirred till just before they are baked. The butter and sugar should be stirred together till white, then the eggs, flour, and spice added. Saleratus and cream should not be put in till just before the cake is baked. Add the fruit last. Butter the cake pans well. The cake will be less liable to burn if the pans are lined with white buttered paper. The cake should not be moved while baking if it can be avoided, as moving it is apt to make it heavy. The quicker most kinds of cakes are baked, the lighter and better they will be, but the oven should not be of such a furious heat as to burn them. It is impossible to give any exact rules as to the time to be allowed for baking various kinds of cake, as so much depends on the heat of the oven. It should be narrowly watched while in the oven, and if it browns too fast it should be covered with a thick paper. To ascertain when rich cake is sufficiently baked, stick a clean broom splinter through the thickest part of the loaf. If none of the cake adheres to the splinter, it is sufficiently baked. When cake that is baked on flat tins moves easily on them, it is sufficiently baked. 169. Frosting for cake. Allow for the white of one egg, nine heaping teaspoons full of double refined sugar, and one of nice, Poland starch. The sugar and starch should be pounded and sifted through a very fine sieve. Beat the whites of eggs to a stiff froth so that you can turn the plate upside down without the eggs falling from it. Then stir in the sugar gradually with a wooden spoon. Stir at ten or fifteen minutes without any cessation, then add a teaspoon full of lemon juice. Vinegar will answer, but is not as nice. Put in sufficient rose water to flavor it. If you wish to color it pink, stir in a few grains of cochineal powder or rose pink. If you wish to have it of a blue tinge, add a little of what is called the powder blue. Pave the frosting on the cake with a knife soon after it is taken from the oven. Smooth it over and let it remain in a cool place till hard. To frost a common sized loaf of cake, allow the white of one egg and half of another. 170. Sponge Gingerbread. Melt a piece of butter of the size of a hen's egg. Mix it with a pint of nice molasses, a tablespoon full of ginger, and a quart of flour. Dissolve a heaping tablespoon full of salaratus and half a pint of milk. Combine and mix it with the rest of the ingredients. Add sufficient flour to enable you to roll it out easily. Roll it out about half an inch thick and bake it on flat tins in a quick oven. Gingerbread made in this manner will be light and spongy if baked quick and made of nice molasses, but it will not keep good so long as hard gingerbread. 171. Hard Molasses Gingerbread. To a pint of molasses, put half a teacup of melted butter, a tablespoon full of ginger, and a quart of flour. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and half a pint of water and stir it in together with flour sufficient to enable you to roll it out. Bake it in a moderately warm oven. 172. Soft Molasses Gingerbread. Melt a teacup of butter. Mix it with a pint of molasses, a tablespoon full of ginger, a pint of flour, and a couple of beaten eggs. Fresh lemon peel cut into small strips improves it. Dissolve a couple of teaspoons full of salaratus and half a pint of milk and stir it into the cake. Add flour to render it of the consistency of unbaked pound cake. Bake it in deep pans about half an hour. 173. Sugar Gingerbread. Mix a pound of sugar with six ounces of butter. Beat four eggs and stir them into the butter and sugar together with three teaspoons full of ginger. Stir in gradually a pound and a half of flour. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and a wine glass of milk and stir it in and bake the gingerbread immediately. 174. Ginger Snaps. Melt a quarter of a pound of butter, the same quantity of lard. Mix them with a quarter of a pound of brown sugar, a pint of molasses, a couple of tablespoons full of ginger, and a quart of flour. Dissolve a couple of teaspoons full of salaratus and a wine glass of milk and strain it into the cake. Add sufficient flour to enable you to roll it out very thin, cut it into small cakes, and bake them in a slow oven. 175. Spice Cakes. Melt a teacup of butter, mix it with a teacup of sugar and half a teacup of molasses. Stir in a teaspoon full of cinnamon, the same quantity of ginger, a grated nutmeg, and a teaspoon full each of caraway and coriander seed. Put in a teaspoon full of salaratus dissolved in half a teacup of water. Stir in flour till stiff enough to roll out thin, cut it into cakes, and bake them in a slow oven. 176. Cider Cake. Stir together a teacup of butter, three of sugar. Beat four eggs and put into the cake together with two teacups of flour and a grated nutmeg. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and half a teacup of milk, strain it and mix it with the above ingredients. Stir in a teacup of cider and four more cups of flour. 177. Bannock or Indian Meal Cakes. Stir to a cream, a pound and a quarter of brown sugar, a pound of butter. Beat six eggs and mix them with a sugar and butter. Add a teaspoon full of cinnamon or ginger. Stir in a pound and three quarters of white Indian meal and a quarter of a pound of wheat flour. The meal should be sifted. Bake it in small cups and let it remain in them till cold. 178. Rich Cookies. Rub together till white, a teacup of butter, two of sugar, then stir in a couple of beaten eggs, a little flour, grated and nutmeg. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and a teacup of milk or water, strain it onto the cake, then add flour till stiff enough to roll out easily. If you cannot roll out the cake without it sticking to the board and rolling pin, which should be previously floured, work in more flour, stamp and cut it into cakes. Bake them in a moderately warm oven. 179. Plain Teacakes. Mix thoroughly a teacup and a half of sugar, half a teacup of butter, stir in a little flour and half a nutmeg. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and a teacup of milk, strain and mix it with the cake. Add flour till stiff enough to roll out. Roll it out half an inch thick, cut it into cakes, bake them on flat buttered tins in a quick oven. If baked slow they will not be good. 180. New Year's Cookies. Way out a pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, stir them to a cream, then add three beaten eggs, a grated nutmeg, two tablespoons full of caraway seed and a pint of flour. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and a teacup of milk, strain and mix it with half a teacup of cider and stir it into the cookies. Then add flour to make them sufficiently stiff to roll out. Bake them as soon as cut into cakes in a quick oven till a light brown. 181. Shrewsbury Cake. Stir together three quarters of a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter. When white, add five beaten eggs, a teaspoon full of rose water or a nutmeg and a pound of flour. Drop it with a large spoon onto flat tins that have been buttered. Sift sugar over them. 182. Tundbridge Cake. Six ounces of butter, the same quantity of sugar, three quarters of a pound of flour, a couple of eggs and a teaspoon full of rose water. Stir to a cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs, flour and spice. Roll it out thin and cut it into small cakes. 183. Jumbles. Stir together till of a light color, a pound of sugar and half the weight of butter. Then add eight eggs beaten to a froth, essence of lemon or rose water to the taste and flour to make them sufficiently stiff to roll out. Roll them out in powdered sugar about half an inch thick. Cut it into strips about half an inch wide and four inches long. Join the ends together so as to form rings. Lay them on flat tins that have been buttered. Bake them in a quick oven. 184. Composition Cake. Five teacups of flour, three of sugar, two of butter, five eggs, a teaspoon full of salivatus, a teacup of milk, a wine glass of wine or brandy, one nutmeg, a pound of raisins. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream, then add the eggs beaten to a froth and part of the flour and the spice. Dissolve the salivatus in the milk, strain and mix it with the brandy, stir it into the cake with the rest of the flour. Add the raisins just before the cake is put into the pans. 185. Rusk. Melt half a pound of butter and mix it with two thirds of a pint of milk. Flour to make a thick batter. Add three tablespoons full of yeast and set the batter in a warm place to rise. When light, beat two eggs with half a pound of rolled sugar. Work it into the batter with the hand, add a teaspoon full of salt, a teaspoon full of cinnamon, and flour to make them sufficiently stiff to mold up. Mold them up into cakes of the size you would make biscuit, lay them on flat tins previously buttered, let them remain till of a spongy lightness before baking. They will bake in a quick oven in the course of 15 minutes. 186. Wigs. Mix half a pound of sugar with six ounces of butter, a couple of beaten eggs, a teaspoon full of cinnamon. Stir in two pounds of flour, a tea cup of yeast, and milk sufficient to make a thick batter. When light, bake them in small cups. 187. Nutcakes. Heat a pint of milk just lukewarm. Stir it into a tea cup of lard. The lard should be melted. Stir in flour till it is a thick batter, then add a small tea cup of yeast. Set it in a warm place. When light, work in two tea cups and a half of rolled sugar, four eggs beaten to a froth, two teaspoons full of cinnamon, and one of salt. Knead in flour to make it sufficiently stiff to roll out. Keep it in a warm place till risen again. When it appears of a spongy lightness, roll it out about half an inch thick, cut it into cakes with a wine glass, let them remain 15 or 20 minutes before boiling them. Boil them in a pot with about a couple of pounds of lard. The fat should be hot enough to boil up as they are put in, and a brisk fire kept under the pot. It should be shaken constantly while they are boiling. Only a few should be boiled at once. If crowded, they will not fry well. If you wish to have them look nice, dip them into powdered white sugar as soon as fried. The same lard, with a little more added, will answer to fry several batches of cakes in, if not burnt. 188. Crullers. Dissolve a teaspoonful of Salaratus and four tablespoons full of milk, or leave out one spoonful of milk and substitute one of wine. Strain it onto half a pint of flour, four tablespoons full of melted butter, or lard, and a teaspoonful of salt. Beat four eggs with six heaping tablespoons full of rolled sugar. Work them into the rest of the ingredients, together with a grated nutmeg. Add flour to make them stiff enough to roll out easily. They should be rolled out about half an inch thick, with a jagging iron or knife into strips about half an inch wide, and twisted so as to form small cakes. Heat a pound of lard in a deep pot or kettle. Some cooks use a frying pan to fry crullers in, but they are more apt to burn when fried in a pan. The fat should boil up as the cakes are laid in, and they should be constantly watched while frying. When brown on the underside, turn them. When brown on both sides, they are sufficiently cooked. 189. Molasses Dough Cake. Fold half a teacup of butter, mix it with a teacup of molasses, the juice and chopped rind of a fresh lemon, a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Work the whole with the hand into three teacups of raised dough, together with a couple of beaten eggs. Work it with the hand for 10 or 12 minutes, then put it into buttered pans. Let it remain 10 or 15 minutes before baking it. 190. Sugar Dough Cake. Dissolve a teaspoonful of salivatus in a wine glass of wine or milk, strained it onto three teacups of raised dough. Work into the dough a teacup of lukewarm melted butter, two teacups of rolled sugar, three eggs well beaten, and a couple of teaspoons full of cinnamon. Work the whole well together for a quarter of an hour, then put it into cake pans. Let it stand in a warm place 15 or 20 minutes before baking it. 191. Measure Cake. Stir to a cream a teacup of butter, two of sugar, then stir in four eggs beaten to a froth, a grated nutmeg, and a pint of flour. Stir it until just before it is baked. It is good either baked in cups or pans. 192. French Cake. One pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, a pound and a half of flour, twelve eggs, a gill each of wine, brandy, and of milk. Mix the sugar and butter together. When white add the eggs beaten to a froth, the whites and yolks should be separated, then stir in the flour, the milk and wine, and one-fourth of a grated nutmeg. Just before it is baked, add three quarters of a pound of seeded raisins, a quarter of a pound of citron, and a quarter of a pound of almonds, blanched in pounded fine. To blanch almonds, see directions in No. 168. 193. Washington Cake. Stir together till quite white, a pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter, then add four beaten eggs. Stir in gradually a pound and a half of flour. Dissolve a teaspoonful of salivatus and a teacup of milk, strain and mix it with a glass of wine, then stir it into the cake, together with a teaspoonful of rose water and half a nutmeg. Just before it is baked, add a pound of seeded raisins. 194. Cupcake. Mix three teacups of sugar with one and a half of butter. When white, beat three eggs and stir them into the butter and sugar, together with three teacups of sifted flour and rose water or essence of lemon to the taste. Dissolve a teaspoonful of salivatus and a teacup of milk, strain it into the cake, then add three more teacups of sifted flour. Bake the cake immediately, either in cups or pans. End of Chapter 11. Recording by Nick Number. Chapter 12 of The American Housewife. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Nick Number. The American Housewife. By Anonymous. Chapter 12. 195. Plain Cream Cake. Dissolve a teaspoonful of salivatus and a wine glass of milk, strain it onto a little sifted flour, beat three eggs with a teacup of rolled sugar, mix them with the above ingredients, together with half a grated nutmeg. Add a teacup of thick cream and sifted flour to render it of the consistency of unbaked pound cake. Bake it as soon as the cream and flour are well mixed in, as stirring the cream much decomposes it. 196. Rich Cream Cake. Stir together till very white, half a pound of butter, three quarters of a pound of sugar, beat the whites and yelks of seven eggs separately to a froth, stir them into the cake. Add in a wine glass of brandy, a grated nutmeg, and a pound and a half of sifted flour. Just before it is baked, add half a pint of thick cream and a pound of seeded raisins. 197. Symbols. Half a pound of sugar, a quarter of a pound of butter, a couple of eggs, half a nutmeg, a teaspoonful of salivatus, half a teacup of milk. Stir the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and a little flour, in the milk and salivatus, which should be previously strained, then add enough flour to make it stiff enough to roll out. Roll it out half an inch thick in pounded white sugar, cut it with a tumbler into cakes, and bake them on flat buttered tins. 198. Rich Loaf Cake. Stir gradually into a pint of lukewarm milk, a pound of sifted wheat flour, add a small teacup of yeast, and set it where it will rise quick. When of a spongy lightness, weigh out a pound of butter, a pound and a quarter of nice sugar. Stir them to a cream, then work them with the hand into the sponge. Beat four eggs to a froth, the whites and yelks separately. Mix the eggs with the cake, together with a wine glass of wine, one of brandy, a quarter of an ounce of mace, or one nutmeg. Cinnamon is good spice for loaf cake, but it turns it a dark color. Add another pound of flour and work it with the hand for 15 or 20 minutes. The longer it is worked, the more delicate will be the cake. Let it remain till risen again. When perfectly light, beat it a few minutes with the hand, then add a couple of pounds of seeded raisins, a quarter of a pound of citron, or almonds blanched and pounded fine. Butter three common-sized cake pans and put the cake into them. Let them remain half an hour in a warm place before setting them in the oven. Bake the cake in a quick, but not a furious oven, from an hour and 15 to 30 minutes according to the heat of the oven. If it browns too fast, cover it while baking with thick paper. One ninety-nine, plain loaf cake. Mix together a pint of lukewarm milk, two quarts of sifted flour, a small teacup of yeast. Set the batter where it will rise quick. When perfectly light, work in with the hand four beaten eggs, a teaspoon full of salt, two of cinnamon, a wine glass of brandy or wine. Stir a pound of sugar with three quarters of a pound of butter. When white, work it into the cake, add another quart of sifted flour, and beat the whole well with the hand ten or fifteen minutes, then set it where it will rise again. When of a spongy lightness, put it into buttered cake pans and let them stand fifteen or twenty minutes before baking. Add if you like a pound and a half of raisins just before putting the cake into the pans. Two hundred, shella or quick loaf cake. Melt half a pound of butter. When cool, work it into a pound and a half of raised dough. Beat four eggs with three quarters of a pound of rolled sugar, mix it with the dough together with a wine glass of wine or brandy, a teaspoon full of cinnamon, and a grated nutmeg. Dissolve a teaspoon full of salaratus and a small teacup of milk, strain it onto the dough, work the whole well together for a quarter of an hour, then add a pound of seeded raisins and put it into cake pans. Let them remain twenty minutes before setting them in the oven. Two oh one, rice cake. Mix ten ounces of ground rice, three of wheat flour, eight ounces of powdered white sugar. Sift the whole by degrees into the beaten yulks of eight eggs. Add the whites of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth and half a grated nutmeg. Bake the cake in deep pans as soon as the ingredients are well mixed in. The cake will bake sufficiently in the course of twenty minutes if the oven is hot. Two oh two, diet bread. Beat a pound of flour, mix it with a pound of rolled sugar. Beat eight eggs to a froth and stir the flour and sugar in very gradually. Season it to the taste with essence of lemon or rose water. Bake it from fifteen to twenty minutes. Two oh three, lemon cake. Stir together till very white, a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter. Then add eight eggs beaten to a froth, the whites and yulks should be beaten separately, the grated rind of two lemons and the juice of half a lemon. Stir in gradually a pound of sifted flour. Line a couple of cake pans with white buttered paper, turn the cake into them and bake it in a quick oven. Two oh four, scotch cake. Stir to a cream, a pound of sugar and three quarters of a pound of butter. Put in the juice and grated rind of a lemon, a wine glass of brandy. Separate the whites and yulks of nine eggs, beat them to a froth and stir them into the cake. Then add a pound of sifted flour and just before it is put in the cake pans, a pound of seeded raisins. Two oh five, pound cake. Mix a pound of sugar with three quarters of a pound of butter. When worked white, stir in the yulks of eight eggs beaten to a froth, then the whites. Add a pound of sifted flour and maser nutmeg to the taste. If you wish to have your cake particularly nice, stir in just before you put it into the pans a quarter of a pound of citron or almonds blanched and powdered fine in rose water. Two oh six, confectioner's pound cake. Stir together a pound and a quarter of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter. When of a light color, stir in twelve beaten eggs, a pound and a half of sifted flour and maser nutmeg to the taste. Two oh seven, queen's cake. Rub together till very white, a pound of sugar, three quarters of a pound of butter. Mix a wine glass of wine, one of brandy, one of milk, and if you wish to have the cake look dark, put in a teaspoon full of salaratus. Stir them into the butter and sugar together with a pound of flour, a teaspoon full of rose water or essence of lemon, a quarter of an ounce of mace. Beat the whites and yulks separately of six eggs. If no salaratus is used, two more eggs will be necessary. When beaten to a froth, mix them with the cake. Stir the whole well together, then add, just before baking it, half a pound of seeded raisins, the same weight of zonty currants, a quarter of a pound of citron or almonds blanched and powdered fine in rose water. The fruit should be stirred in gradually, a handful of each alternately. Line a couple of three pint tin pans with buttered white paper, put in the cake and bake it directly. If it browns too fast, cover it with paper. It takes from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half to bake it according to the heat of the oven. 208. Delicate Cake. Stir to a cream a pound of powdered white sugar, seven ounces of butter, then add the whites of sixteen eggs beaten to a stiff froth, half a nutmeg or a teaspoon full of rose water. Stir in gradually a pound of sifted flour and bake the cake immediately. The yulks of the eggs can be used for custards. 209. Jelly Cake. Rub together till white, half a pound of sugar, six ounces of butter. Beat eight eggs to a froth and stir into the butter and sugar together with a pound of sifted flour. Add the juice and grated rind of a fresh lemon and turn this mixture on to scalloped tin plates that have been well buttered. The cake should not be more than a quarter of an inch thick on each of the plates. Bake them directly in a quick oven till a light brown. Pile them on a plate with a layer of jelly or marmalade between each of the cakes and a layer on the top. 210. Strawberry Cake. Mix a quart of flour with a teaspoon full of salt, four beaten eggs and a tea cup of thick cream or melted butter. Add sufficient milk to enable you to roll it out. Roll it out thin, line a shallow cake pan with part of it, then put in a thick layer of nice ripe strawberries, strew on sufficient white sugar to sweeten the strawberries, cover them with a thin layer of the crust, then add another layer of strawberries and sugar. Stir the whole with another layer of crust and bake it in a quick oven about 25 minutes. 211. Superior Sponge Cake. Take the weight of 10 eggs and powdered loaf sugar, beat it to a froth with the yulks of 12 eggs, put in the grated rind of a fresh lemon, leaving out the white part, add half the juice. Beat the whites of 12 eggs to a stiff froth and mix them with the sugar and butter. Stir the whole without any cessation for 15 minutes, then stir in gradually the weight of 6 eggs and sifted flour. As soon as the flour is well mixed in, turn the cake into pans lined with buttered paper. Bake it immediately in a quick but not a furiously hot oven. It will bake in the course of 20 minutes. If it bakes too fast, cover it with thick paper. 212. Good Sponge Cake. Beat together the yulks of 10 eggs with a pound of powdered white sugar, beat to a stiff froth the whites of the eggs and stir them into the yulks and sugar. Beat the whole 10 or 15 minutes, then stir in gradually 3 quarters of a pound of sifted flour. Flavor it with a nutmeg or the grated rind of a lemon. Bake it as soon as the flour and spices are well mixed in. 213. Almond Cake. Beat the yulks of 12 eggs to a froth with a pound of powdered white sugar. Beat the whites of 9 eggs to a stiff froth and stir them into the yulks and sugar. When the whole has been stirred together for 10 minutes, add gradually a pound of sifted flour and half a pound of almonds, blanched and pounded fine, then stir in 3 tablespoons full of thick cream. As soon as the ingredients are well mixed in, turn the cake into buttered pans and bake it immediately. Frost the cake with the reserved whites of the eggs as soon as it is baked. 214. Fruit Cake. One pound of flour, one of sugar, 3 quarters of a pound of butter, two pounds of seeded raisins, two of currants, one of citron, a quarter of a pound of almonds, half an ounce of mace, a teaspoon full of rose water, a wine glass of brandy, one of wine, and 10 eggs. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream, then add the whites and yulks of the eggs beaten separately to a froth. Stir in the flour gradually, then the wine, brandy and spice. Add the fruit just before it is put into the pans. It takes over 2 hours to bake it if the loaves are thick. If the loaves are thin, it will bake in less time. This kind of cake is the best after it has been made three or four weeks, and it will keep good five or six months. 215. Black Cake. One pound of flour, one of sugar, 14 ounces of butter, 10 eggs, three pounds of seeded raisins, three pounds of zonty currants, and one pound of citron, a wine glass of wine, one of brandy, and one of milk, a teaspoon full of salaratus, a tablespoon full of molasses, a tablespoon full of cinnamon, a teaspoon full of cloves, a quarter of an ounce of mace, or one nutmeg. The sugar should be the brown kind and stir it a few minutes with the butter, then the eggs beaten to a froth, and stir it in. Brown the flour in a pan over a few coals. Stir it constantly to prevent its burning. It should be done before you commence making the cake so as to have it get cold. Stir it into the butter and sugar gradually, then add the molasses and spice. Dissolve the salaratus and the milk, then strain it and mix it with the brandy and wine to curdle them. Stir the whole into the cake. Just before you put it into the cake pans, stir in the fruit gradually, a handful of each alternately. When well mixed in, put it into cake pans and bake it immediately. If baked in thick loaves, it takes from two hours and a half to three hours to bake it sufficiently. The oven should not be of a furious heat. Black cake cuts the best when three or four weeks old. 216. Macaroons. Soak half a pound of sweet almonds in boiling hot water till the skins will rub off easily. Wipe them dry. When you have rubbed off the skins, pound them fine with rosewater. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, then stir in gradually half a pound of powdered white sugar, then add the almonds. When the almonds are well mixed in, drop the mixture in small parcels on buttered baking plates several inches apart. Sift sugar over them and bake them in a slow oven. 217. Coconut Cakes. Take equal weights of grated coconut and powdered white sugar. The brown part of the coconut should be cut off before grating it. Add the whites of eggs beaten to a stiff froth in the proportion of half a dozen to a pound each of coconut and sugar. There should be just eggs enough to wet up the whole, stiff. Drop the mixture onto buttered plates in parcels of the size of a scent several inches apart. Bake them immediately in a moderately warm oven. 218. Tori Wafers. Melt a teacup of butter, half a one of lard, and mix them with a quart of flour, a couple of beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of salt, a wine glass of wine. Add milk till of the right consistency to roll out. Roll it out about a third of an inch in thickness, cut it into cakes with a wine glass, lay them on buttered baking plates, and bake them a few minutes. Frost them as soon as baked and sprinkle comfits or sugar sand on the top. 219. Sugar drops. Stir to a cream three ounces of butter, six of powdered white sugar, then add three beaten eggs, half a pound of sifted flour, half of a nutmeg. Drop this mixture by the large spoonful onto buttered plates several inches apart, sprinkle small sugar plums on the top, and bake them directly. 220. Savoy cakes. Beat eight eggs to a froth, the whites and yelks should be beaten separately, then mixed together, and a pound of powdered white sugar stirred in gradually. Beat the whole well together for eight or ten minutes, then add the grated rind of a fresh lemon and half the juice, a pound of sifted flour, a couple of tablespoons full of coriander seed. Drop this mixture by the large spoonful onto buttered baking plates several inches apart, sift white sugar over them, and bake them immediately in a quick but not a furiously hot oven. 221. Almond Cheesecakes. Boil a pint of new milk. Beat three eggs and stir into the milk while boiling. When it boils up, take it from the fire, put in half a wine glass of wine, separate the curd from the whey, and put to the curd three eggs, six ounces of powdered white sugar previously beaten together. Add a teaspoon full of rose water, half a pound of sweet almonds that have been blanched and pounded fine, a quarter of a pound of melted butter. Mix the whole well together, then pour it into small pans that are lined with pastry. Ornament the top with zonty currants and almonds cut in thin slips. Bake them directly. CHAPTER XIII. 222. Flummary. Lay sponger savoy cakes in a deep dish. Pour on white wine sufficient to make them quite moist. Make a rich boiled custard using only the yelks of the eggs. Turn it over the cakes when cool. Beat the whites of the eggs to a froth and turn them over the whole. 223. Floating Island. Mix a pint and a half of sweet thick cream with a gill of wine, the juice of half a lemon, and a teaspoon full of essence of lemon or rose water. Beat in the whole with powdered loaf sugar. Turn it into a deep dish. Beat the whites of four eggs to a froth and stir in half a pound of any dark-colored preserved small fruit you may happen to have. Beat the whole to a strong froth, then turn it into the center of the cream. 224. Whip Silabub. Take good, sweet cream. To each pint put six ounces of double refined, powdered white sugar, half a tumbler of white wine, the juice and grated rind of a lemon. Beat the whole well together. Put jelly in glasses and cover them with the froth as fast as it rises. 225. Ornamental Froth for Blamange or Creams. Beat the whites of four eggs to a froth, then stir in half a pound of preserved raspberries, cranberries, or strawberries. Beat the whole well together, then turn it over the top of your creams or blamange. 226. Ice Currants. Take large bunches of ripe currants, wash and drain them dry, then dip them into the whites of eggs previously beaten to a stiff froth. Lay them on a sieve at such a distance from each other as not to touch. Sift double refined sugar over them thick and set them in a warm place to dry. 227. Apple Snow. Put a dozen good tart apples into cold water, set them over a slow fire. When soft, drain off the water, pull the skins from the apples, take out the cores, and lay the apples in a deep dish. Beat the whites of 12 eggs to a strong froth. Put half a pound of powdered white sugar on the apples, beat them to a strong froth, then add the beaten eggs. Beat the whole to a stiff snow, then turn it into a dessert dish and ornament it with myrtle or box. 228. Cumpfits. Mix a pound of white sugar with just sufficient water to make a thick syrup. When the sugar has dissolved, drop in a pound of coriander seed, then drain off the syrup and put the seeds in a sieve with two or three ounces of flour. Shake them well in it, then set them where they will dry. When dry, put them in the syrup again, repeat the above process till they are of the size you wish. 229. Isenglass Blamange. Pull an ounce of mild white isenglass into small pieces. Rinse them and put to them a quart of milk if the weather is hot and three pints if it is cold weather. Set it on a few coals, stir it constantly till the isenglass dissolves, then sweeten it to the taste with double refined loaf sugar, put in a small stick of cinnamon, a vanilla bean, or blade of mace. Set it where it will boil five or six minutes, stirring it constantly. Strain it and fill the molds with it. Let it remain in them till cold. The same bean will do to use several times. 230. Caffes feet blamange. Boil four feet in five quarts of water without any salt. When the liquor is reduced to one quart, strain and mix it with one quart of milk, several sticks of cinnamon, or a vanilla bean. Boil the whole ten minutes, sweeten it to the taste with white sugar, strain it, and fill your molds with it. 231. Rice flour blamange. Mix four tablespoons full of ground rice smoothly with half a pint of cold milk, then stir it into a quart of boiling milk. Put in the grated rind of a lemon and half the juice, a blade of mace, sweeten to the taste with white sugar. Boil the whole seven or eight minutes, stirring it frequently. Take it from the fire. When cool, put in the beaten whites of three eggs, put it back on the fire, stir it constantly till nearly boiling hot, then turn it into molds or deep cups and let it remain till cold. This is nice food for invalids. 232. Rice blamange. Boil a teacup of rice in a pint of water with a blade of mace and a teaspoon full of salt. When it swells out and becomes dry, add sufficient milk to prevent its burning. Let it boil till quite soft, stirring it constantly to keep it from burning. Sweeten it with white sugar. Dip your molds in cold water, then turn in the rice without drying the molds. Let the rice remain in the molds till it becomes quite cold. Turn it into dessert dishes, ornament it with marmalade cut in slices, and box and serve it up with cream or preserved strawberries. It should be made the day before it is to be eaten in order to have it become firm. 233. Snow cream. Beat the whites of four eggs to a stiff froth, then stir in two tablespoons full of powdered white sugar, a tablespoon full of sweet wine, a teaspoon full of rose water. Beat the whole together, then add a pint of thick cream. This is a nice accompaniment to a dessert of sweet meats. 234. Orange cream. Beat the yelks of eight eggs and the whites of two to a froth, then stir in half a pound of powdered white sugar. Add half a pint of wine and the juice of six fresh oranges and the juice of one lemon. Flavor it with orange flour water. Strain it and set it on a few coals. Stir it till it thickens, then add a piece of butter of the size of a nutmeg. When the butter is melted, take it from the fire, continue to stir it till cool, then fill your glasses with it. Beat up the whites of the eggs to a froth and lay the froth on top of the glasses of cream. 235. Lemon cream. Pair four fresh lemons very thin so as to get none of the white part. Soak the rinds twelve hours and half a pint of cold water, then add the juice of the lemons and half a pint more of cold water. Beat to a froth the whites of eight eggs and the yelks of three. Strain the lemon juice and water, mix it with the eggs. Set the whole on a few coals, sweeten it with double refined sugar, stir it till it grows thick, then take it from the fire, stir it till cold, serve it up in glasses. 236. Ice creams. Sweeten thick rich cream with powdered white sugar. It should be made very sweet as the process of freezing extracts a great deal of the saccharine matter. Essence of lemon, the juice of strawberries or pineapples are nice to flavor the cream with. The juice should be sweetened before being mixed with the cream. Where cream cannot be procured, a custard made in the following manner may be substituted. To a quart of milk, put the beaten yelks of four eggs, the rind of a lemon or a vanilla bean. Set it on a few coals, make it extremely sweet with white sugar, stir it constantly till scalding hot. Care must be taken that it does not boil. Take it from the fire, take out the bean or lemon peel. When perfectly cold, put it in an ice cream form. If one cannot be procured, a milk kettle with a tight cover may be substituted. Set the form into the center of a tub that is large enough to leave a space of five inches from the form to the outside of the tub. Fill the space round the form with alternate layers of finely cracked ice and rock salt, having a layer of ice last, and the hole should be just as high as the form. Care should be taken to keep the salt from the cream. The tub should be covered with a woolen cloth while the cream is freezing and the form should be constantly shaken. If you wish to shape the cream, turn it into molds as soon as it freezes, set them in the tub, let them remain till just before they are to be eaten, then dip them in warm water and take them out instantly and turn them into dessert-dishes. End of Chapter 13 Recording by Nick Number Chapter 14 of The American Housewife This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Ruth Golding The American Housewife by Anonymous Chapter 14 237 Pastry For a good common pie crust, allow half a pound of shortening to a pound of flour. If liked quite short, allow three-quarters of a pound of shortening to a pound of the flour. Pie crust looks the nicest made entirely of lard, but it does not taste so good as it does to have some butter used in making it. In winter, beef shortening, mixed with butter, makes good plain pie crust. Rub half of the shortening with two-thirds of the flour. To each pound of flour, put a teaspoon full of salt. When the shortening is thoroughly mixed with the flour, add just sufficient cold water to render it moist enough to roll out easily. Divide the crust into two equal portions. Lay one of them one side for the upper crust. Take the other, roll it out quite thin, flouring your rolling board and pin, so that the crust will not stick to them. And line your pie plates, which should be previously buttered. Fill your plates with your fruit, then roll out the upper crust as thin as possible, spread on the reserved shortening, sprinkle over the flour, roll it up, and cut it into as many pieces as you have pies to cover. Roll each one out about half an inch thick and cover the pies. Trim the edges off neatly with a knife and press the crust down round the edge of the plate with a jacking iron, so that the juices of the fruit may not run out while baking. Pastry, to be nice, should be baked in a quick oven. In cold weather it is necessary to warm the shortening before using it for pie crust, but it must not be melted or the crust will not be flaky. Two-three-eight, puff paced or confectioners pastry. Weigh out a pound and a quarter of sifted flour and a pound of butter. Rub about one-third of the butter with two-thirds of the flour, a teaspoon full of salt. When the butter is thoroughly mixed with the flour, add one beaten egg and cold water to moisten it sufficiently to roll out. Sprinkle part of the reserved flour on a board, cut the butter into small pieces, and roll them out as thin as possible. In order to do so, it will be necessary to rub a great deal of the flour on the molding board and rolling pin. Lay the butter as fast as rolled out onto a floured plate, each piece by itself. Roll out the pastry as thin as it can be rolled, cover it with the rolled butter, sprinkle on part of the reserved flour and roll the crust up. Continue to roll out the crust and put on the reserved butter and flour till the hole is used. Roll it out lightly about half an inch thick for the upper crust or rim to your pies. Plain pie crust should be used for the undercrust to the pies. Puff pastry, to be nice, should be baked in a quick oven till of a light brown colour. If it browns before the fruit in the pies sufficiently baked, cover it with thick paper. Two, three, nine apple pie. When apples are very small and green, they are nice, stewed whole with the skins on and strained when soft and sweetened. Pair, quarter and take out the cores of the apples when of a large size. If they are not ripe, stew them with just water enough to prevent their burning. When soft, sweeten and season them to the taste. When apples are ripe, they make better pies not to be stewed before baking. Fill your pie plates, cover them with a thick crust and bake them for half to three quarters of an hour. When baked sufficiently, cut the upper crust through the centre, remove it carefully with a broad knife, put a piece of butter of the size of a walnut into a pie, sweeten it to your taste and if the apples are not tart enough, squeeze in the juice of part of a lemon. Flavour the pie with either nutmeg, rose water or grated lemon peel. Apples cut into quarters without pairing and stewed soft in new cider and molasses make good plain pies. The apples should be strained after stewing and seasoned with cinnamon or nutmeg. If made quite sweet, it will keep good several months. Dried apples should have boiling water turned on to cover them and stewed till very soft. If they are not tart enough, turn in sour cider when they are partly stewed. A little orange peel stewed with the apples gives them a fine flavour. Season them when soft with sugar and nutmeg and strain them if you like. 240 Minced Pie The best kind of meat for minced pies is neat tongue and feet. The shank of beef makes very good pies. Boil the meat till perfectly tender. Then take it up, clear it from the bones and gristle. Chop it fine enough to strain through a sieve. Mix it with an equal weight of tart apples chopped very fine. If the meat is not fat, put in a little suet or melted butter. Moisten the hole with cider. Sweeten it to the taste with sugar and very little molasses. Add mace, cinnamon, cloves and salt to the taste. If you wish to make your pies rich, put in wine or brandy to the taste and raisins, citron and zantik currants. The grated rind and juice of lemons improve the pie. Make the pies on shallow plates with apertures in the upper crust and bake them from half to three quarters of an hour according to the heat of the oven. Meat prepared for pies in the following manner will keep good several months if kept in a cool dry place. To a pound of finely chopped meat, a quarter of a pound of suet, put half an ounce of mace, one ounce of cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, two teaspoons full of salt. Add, if you like, the following fruits, half a pound of seeded raisins, half a pound of zantik currants, a quarter of a pound of citron. Put in half a pint of French brandy or wine, three tablespoons full of molasses and sugar sufficient to make it quite sweet. Put the hole in a stone pot, cover it with a paper wet-in brandy. When you wish to use any of it for pies, put to what meat you use an equal weight of apples paired and chopped fine. If not seasoned high enough, add more spice and sugar. If the apples are not tart, put in lemon juice or sour cider. Two for one, rice pie. To a quart of boiling water, put a small teacup of rice. Boil it till very soft, then take it from the fire and add a quart of cold milk. Put in a teaspoon full of salt, a grated nutmeg, five eggs beaten to a froth. Add sugar to the taste and strain it through a sieve. Bake it in deep pie plates with an undercrust and rim of pastry. Add, if you like, a few raisins. Two for two, peach pie. Take mellow, juicy peaches. Wash and put them in a deep pie plate lined with pie crust. Sprinkle a thick layer of sugar on each layer of peaches, put in about a tablespoon full of water and sprinkle a little flour over the top. Cover it with a thick crust and bake the pie from 50 to 60 minutes. Pies made in this manner are much better than with the stones taken out as the prusic acid of the stone gives the pie a fine flavour. If the peaches are not mellow, they will require stewing before being made into a pie. Dried peaches should be stewed soft and sweetened before they are made into a pie. They do not require any spice. Two for three, tart pie. Sour apples, cranberries and peaches all make nice tarts. Stew and strain them when soft. Peach tarts require a little lemon juice without their sour. Grate in lemon peel, add brown sugar to the taste. Put in each pie one beaten egg to make it cut smooth. Bake the pies on shallow plates with an undercrust and rim of pastry. Ornament the pie with very small strips of pastry. When the crust is done, remove the pies from the oven. Two for four, rhubarb pies. Take the tender stalks of the rhubarb, strip off the skin and cut the stalks into thin slices. Line deep plates with pie crust, then put in the rhubarb with a thick layer of sugar to each layer of rhubarb, a little grated lemon peel improves the pie. Cover the pies with a thick crust, press it down tight round the edge of the plate and prick the crust with a fork so that the crust will not burst while baking and let out the juices of the pie. Rhubarb pies should be baked about an hour in a slow oven. It will not do to bake them quick. Some cooks stew the rhubarb before making it into pies, but it is not so good as when used without stewing. Two for five, tomato pie. Take green tomatoes, turn boiling water on them and let them remain in it a few minutes, then strip off the skin, cut the tomatoes in slices and put them in deep pie plates. Sprinkle sugar over each layer and a little ginger. Grated lemon peel and the juice of a lemon improve the pie. Cover the pies with a thick crust and bake them slowly for about an hour. Two for six, lemon pie. For one pie, take a couple of good-sized fresh lemons, squeeze out the juice and mix it with half a pint of molasses or sufficient sugar to make the juice sweet. Chop the peel fine, line a deep pie plate with your pastry, then sprinkle on a layer of your chopped lemon peel. Turn in part of the mixed sugar or molasses and juice. Then cover the hole with pie crust rolled very thin. Put in another layer of peel, sweetened juice and crust and so on till all the lemon is used. Cover the hole with a thick crust and bake the pie about half an hour. Two for seven, cherry and blackberry pie. Cherries and blackberries for pies should be ripe. Bake them in deep pie plates, sweeten them with sugar and put in cloves or cinnamon to the taste. Bake them about half an hour. Two for eight, grape pie. Grapes make the best pies when very tender and green. If not very small, they should be stewed and strained to get out the seeds before they're made into pies. Sweeten them to the taste when stewed. They do not require any spice. If made into a pie without stewing, put to each layer of grapes a thick layer of sugar and a tablespoon full of water. Two for nine, currant and gooseberry pie. Currants and gooseberries are the best for pies when of a full growth just before they begin to turn red. They are tolerably good when ripe. Currants mixed with ripe raspberries or mulberries make very nice pies. Green currants and gooseberries for pies are not apt to be sweet enough without the sugar is scalded in before they are baked, as the juice of the currants is apt to run out while they are baking and leave the fruit dry. Stew them on a moderate fire with a teacup of water to a couple of quarts of currants. As soon as they begin to break, add the sugar and let it scald in a few minutes. When baked without stewing, put to each layer of fruit a thick layer of sugar. There should be as much as a quarter of a pound of sugar to a pint of currants to make them sufficiently sweet. Green currant pies are good sweetened with molasses and sugar mixed. 250, prune pie. Prunes that are too dry to eat without stewing can be made into good pies. Turn enough boiling water on the prunes to cover them, set them on a few coals and let them remain till swelled out plump. If there is not water sufficient to make a nice syrup for the pies, add more and season them with cinnamon or cloves. The juice and grated peel of a lemon gives them a fine flavor. Add sugar to the taste and bake them in deep pie plates. 251, pumpkin pie. Halve the pumpkin, take out the seeds, rinse the pumpkin and cut it into small strips. Stew them over a moderate fire in just sufficient water to prevent their burning to the bottom of the pot. When stewed soft, turn off the water and let the pumpkin steam over a slow fire for 15 or 20 minutes, taking care that it does not burn. Take it from the fire and strain it when cooled through a sieve. If you wish to have the pies very rich, put to a quart of the stewed pumpkin two quarts of milk and 12 eggs. If you like them plain, put to a quart of the pumpkin one quart of milk and three eggs. The thicker the pie is of the pumpkin, the less will be the number of eggs required for them. One egg with a tablespoon full of flour will answer for a quart of the pumpkin if very little milk is used. Sweeten the pumpkin with sugar and very little molasses. The sugar and eggs should be beaten together. Ginger, the grated rind of a lemon, or nutmeg, is good spice for the pies. Pumpkin pies require a very hot oven. The rim of the pies is apt to get burnt before the inside is baked sufficiently. On this account, it is a good plan to heat the pumpkin scalding hot when prepared for pies before turning it into the pie plates. The pies should be baked as soon as the plates are filled or the under crust to the pies will be clammy. The more the number of eggs in the pies, the less time will be required to bake them. If you have pumpkins that have begun to decay or those that have frozen, they can be kept several months in cold weather by cutting the good part up, stewing it till soft, then stirring it and adding sugar and molasses to make it very sweet. Make it strong of ginger, then scald the seasoning in well. Keep it in a stone jar in a cool place. Whenever you wish to use any of it for pies, take out the quantity you wish and put milk and eggs to it. 252 carrot pie. Scrape the skin off from the carrots, boil them soft and strain them through a sieve. To a pint of the strained pulp, put three pints of milk, six beaten eggs, two tablespoons full of melted butter, the juice of half a lemon, and the grated rind of a whole one. Sweeten it to your taste and bake it in deep pie plates without an upper crust. 253 potato pie. Boil Carolina or Mealy Irish potatoes till very soft when peeled, mash and strain them. To a quarter of a pound of potatoes, put a quart of milk, three tablespoons full of melted butter, four beaten eggs, a wine glass of wine. Add sugar and nutmeg to the taste. 254 sweet Marlborough pie. Procure sweet mellow apples, pear and grate them. To a pint of the grated pulp, put a pint of milk, a couple of eggs, two tablespoons full of melted butter, the grated peel of a lemon and half a wine glass of brandy. Sweeten it to the taste with nice brown sugar. The eggs should be beaten to a froth, then the sugar stirred into them and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. A little stewed pumpkin mixed with the apples improves the pie. Bake the pie in deep plates without an upper crust. 255 Marlborough tarts. Take tart, juicy apples, quarter them and stew them till soft enough to rub through a sieve. To 12 tablespoons full of the strained apple, put 12 of sugar, the same quantity of wine, six tablespoons full of melted butter, four beaten eggs, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, half a nutmeg and half a pint of milk. Turn this when the ingredients are well mixed together into deep pie plates that are lined with pastry and a rim of puff paste round the edge. Bake the tarts about half an hour. 256 Coconut Pie. Cut off the brown part of the coconut, grate the white part and mix it with milk and set it on the fire and let it boil slowly eight or 10 minutes. To a pound of the grated coconut, allow a quart of milk, eight eggs, four tablespoons full of sifted white sugar, a glass of wine, a small cracker, a pounded fine, two tablespoons full of melted butter and half a nutmeg. The eggs and sugar should be beaten together to a froth, then the wine stirred in. Put them into the milk and coconut, which should be first allowed to get quite cool. Add the cracker and nutmeg, turn the hole into deep pie plates with a lining and rim of puff paste. Bake them as soon as turned into the plates. 257 Small Puffs. To make a dozen puffs, take a pound and a quarter of flour, a pound of butter and one egg. Put them together according to the directions for puff pastry number 238. Divide it when made into three equal portions. Roll one of them out half an inch thick, cut it into cakes with a tumbler, roll out the rest of the pastry, cut it into strips with a jagging iron, and lay the strips round those that are cut with a tumbler, so as to form a rim. Lay the puffs on buttered flat tins, bake them in a quick oven till a light brown, then fill them with any small preserved fruit you may happen to have. End of chapter 14. Chapter 15 of The American Housewife. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The American Housewife by Anonymous. Chapter 15. Custards. Section 258. A plain custard pie. Boil a quart of milk with half a dozen peach leaves or the rind of a lemon. When they have flavored the milk, strain it and set it where it will boil. Mix a tablespoonful of flour, smoothly, with a couple of tablespoonsful of milk, and stir it into the boiling milk. Let it boil a minute, stirring it constantly, take it from the fire and then cool, put in three beaten eggs, sweeten it to the taste, turn it into deep pie plates and bake the pies directly in a quick oven. Section 259. A rich baked custard. Beat seven eggs with three tablespoonsful of rolled sugar. When beaten to a froth, mix them with a quart of milk. Flavor it with nutmeg. Turn it into cups or else into deep pie plates that have a lining and rim of pastry. Bake them directly in a quick oven. To ascertain when the custards are sufficiently baked, stick a clean broom splinter into them. If none of the custard adheres to the splinter, it is sufficiently baked. Section 260. Boiled Custards. Put your milk on the fire and let it boil up, then remove it from the fire and let it cool. Beat for each quart of the milk, if liked rich, the yolks and half the whites of six eggs with three tablespoonsful of rolled sugar, stir them into the milk when it is cool. If you wish to have your custards very plain, four eggs to a quart of the milk is sufficient. Season the custard with nutmeg or rose water and set it on a few coals and stir it constantly until it thickens and becomes scalding hot. Take it from the fire before it gets to boiling and stir it a few minutes, then turn it into the cups. Beat the reserved whites of the eggs to a froth and turn them on the top of the custards just before they are to be eaten. Section 261. Mottled Custards. Stir into a quart of milk while boiling the beaten yolks of six eggs. Beat the whites of the eggs with three tablespoonsful of powdered white sugar if the custards are liked very sweet, if not a less quantity will answer. Stir in the whites of the eggs a minute after the yolks have set so as to be thick. Season the custard with essence of lemon or rose water, stir it till it becomes thick and lumpy, then turn it into cups. Section 262. Cream Custards. Sweeten a pint of cream with powdered white sugar, set it on a few coals. When hot, stir in white wine until it curdles, add rose water or essence of lemon to the taste and turn it into cups. Another way of making them, which is very nice, to mix a pint of cream with one of milk, five beaten eggs, a tablespoonful of flour and three of sugar. Add nutmeg to the taste and bake the custards in cups or pie plates in a quick oven. Section 263. Almond Custards. Blanch and pound fine with a tablespoonful of rose water, four ounces of almonds. Boil them four or five minutes in a quart of milk with sufficient white sugar to sweeten the milk. Take it from the fire and when lukewarm, stir in the beaten yolks of eight and the whites of four eggs. Set the whole on the fire and stir it constantly until it thickens. Then take it up, stir it till partly cooked and turn it into cups. If you wish to have the custards cool quick, set the cups into a pan of cold water. As fast as it gets warm, change it. Just before the custards are to be eaten, beat the reserved whites of the eggs to a froth and cover the top of the custards with them. Section 264. Apple Custards. Take half a dozen tart mellow apples, pair and quarter them and take out the cores. Put them in a pan with half a tea cup of water. Set them on a few coals. When they begin to grow soft, turn them into a pudding dish. Sprinkle sugar on them. Beat eight eggs with rolled brown sugar. Mix them with three pints of milk. Grate in half a nutmeg and turn the whole over the apples. Bake the custard between 20 and 30 minutes. End of Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Of the American Housewife This is a Librebox recording. All Librebox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librebox.org Recording by Patty Cunningham. The American Housewife by Anonymous Chapter 16 Puddings 2-6-5 Directions for making puddings A bag that is used for boiling puddings should be made of thick cotton cloth. Before the pudding is turned in, the bag should be dipped into water, rung out, and the inside of it floured. When the pudding is turned in, tie the bag tight, leaving plenty of room for the pudding to swell out in. Indian and flour puddings require a great deal of room. Put them in a pot of boiling water with an old plate at the bottom of the pot to keep the pudding bag from sticking to it. When the pudding has been in a few minutes, turn the bag over, or the pudding will settle, and be heavy. There should be water enough in the pot to cover the pudding, and it should not be allowed to stop boiling a minute. If so, the pudding will not be nice. A teakettle of boiling water should be kept on the fire to turn in as the water boils away. When the pudding is done, dip the bag in cold water for a minute. The pudding will then come out easily. When puddings are baked, the fruit should not be put in till the pudding has begun to thicken. Otherwise, they will sink to the bottom of the pudding. 2-6-6 Hasty Pudding Wet sifted Indian meal with cold water to make a thick batter. Stir it into a pot of boiling water gradually. Boil it an hour. Then stir in sifted Indian meal by the handful till it becomes quite thick, and so that the pudding stick may be made to stand up in it. It should be stirred in very gradually so that the pudding may not be lumpy. Add salt to the taste. Let it boil slowly and stir it frequently to keep it from burning on the inside of the pot. If you do not wish to fry the pudding, it will boil sufficiently in the course of an hour and a half. If it is to be fried, it will be necessary to boil it an hour longer. And a little flour stirred in just before it is taken up will make it fry better. It must get perfectly cold before it is fried. When you wish to fry it, cut it in slices half an inch thick, flour them, and fry them brown in a little lard. Two, six, seven. Corn puddings. Grate sweet green corn to three tea cups of it. When grated, put two quarts of milk, eight eggs, a couple of teaspoon full of salt, half a tea cup of melted butter, and a grated nutmeg. Bake the pudding an hour. Serve it up with sauce. Two, six, eight. Cracker pudding. Mix 10 ounces of finely pounded crackers with a wine glass of wine, a little salt, and half a nutmeg, three or four tablespoons of sugar, two of melted butter. Beat eight eggs to a froth. Mix them with three pints of milk, and turn them on to the rest of the ingredients. Let it remain till the crackers begin to soften, then bake it. Two, six, nine. Boiled Indian pudding. Stir enough sifted Indian meal into a quart of boiling milk or water to make a very stiff batter. Then stir in a couple of tablespoons full of flour, three of sugar or molasses, half a spoonful of ginger, or a couple of teaspoons full of cinnamon, and a couple of teaspoons full of salt. Two or three eggs improve the pudding but are not essential. Some people like a little chopped suet in them. The pudding will boil so as to be very good in the course of three hours, but it is better for being boiled five or six hours. Some cooks boil them eight or nine hours. When boiled so long, it is necessary to boil them several hours the day before they are to be eaten. Two, 70. Baked Indian pudding. Boil a quart of milk and turn it on to a pint of sifted Indian meal. Stir it in well so as to scald the meal. Then mix three tablespoons full of wheat flour with a pint of milk. The milk should be stirred gradually into the flour so as to have it mix free from lumps. Turn it on to the Indian meal. Mix the whole well together. When the whole is just lukewarm, beat three eggs with three tablespoons full of sugar, stir them into the pudding together with two teaspoons full of salt, two of cinnamon or a grated nutmeg, and a couple of tablespoons of melted butter or suet chopped fine. Add if you wish to have the pudding very rich, half a pound of raisins. They should not be put in until the pudding has baked five or six minutes. If raisins are put in, an additional half pint of milk will be required as they absorb a great deal of milk. A very good Indian pudding may be made without eggs. If half a pint more of meal is used and no flour. It takes three hours to bake an Indian pudding without eggs. If it has eggs in, it will bake in much less time. Two, seven, one. Minute pudding. Put a pint and a half of milk on the fire. Mix five large tablespoons full of either wheat or rye flour smoothly with half a pint of milk, a teaspoon full of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. When the milk boils, stir in the mixed flour and milk. Let the whole boil for one minute, stirring it constantly. Take it from the fire, let it get lukewarm, then add three beaten eggs. Set it back on the fire and stir it constantly until it thickens. Take it from the fire as soon as it boils. Two, seven, two. Boiled bread pudding. Take about three quarters of a pound of bread, cut it into small pieces and soak them soft in cold water. Then drain off the water, mash the bread fine, and mix with it two tablespoons full of flour, three eggs, a teaspoon full of salt, a tablespoon full of melted butter, and cold milk sufficient to make it a thick batter. Mix the whole well together, then turn it into a floured pudding bag. Tie it up so as to leave room for the pudding to swell. Boil it an hour and a half without any intermission. Serve up the pudding with rich sauce. Two, seven, three. A plain baked bread pudding. Pound rust bread fine to five heaping tablespoons full of it. Put a quart of milk, three beaten eggs, three tablespoons full of rolled sugar, a teaspoon full of salt, half a nutmeg, and three tablespoons full of melted butter. Bake it about an hour. It does not need any sauce. Two, seven, four. Rich bread pudding. Cut a pound loaf of baker's bread into thin slices. Spread butter on them as for eating. Lay them in a pudding dish, sprinkle between each layer of bread, seeded raisins and citron cut in small strips. Beat eight eggs with four tablespoons full of rolled sugar. Mix them with three pints of milk, half of a grated nutmeg. Turn the whole onto the bread and let it remain until the bread has absorbed full half of the milk. Then bake it about three quarters of an hour. Two, seven, five. Flour pudding. Into a pint and a half of sifted flour, stir gradually so that it may not be lumpy, a quart of milk. Beat seven eggs and put in together with a couple of tablespoon full of melted butter and a couple of teaspoon full of salt. Grate in half of a nutmeg. Add, if you want the pudding very rich, half a pound of raisins. They should not be put into a baked pudding till it has been cooking long enough to thicken so that the raisins will not sink to the bottom of it. A pudding made in this manner is good either baked or boiled. It takes two hours to boil and an hour and a quarter to bake it. When boiled, the bag should not be more than two thirds full, as flour puddings swell very much. It should be put into boiling water and kept boiling constantly. If the water boils away so as to leave any part of the bag uncovered, more boiling water should be added. When the pudding has boiled eight or nine minutes, the bag should be turned over, otherwise the pudding will be heavy. Flour puddings should be eaten as soon as cooked as they fall directly. Serve them up with rich sauce. Two seven six, boiled rice pudding. Put two teacups of rice into a quart of boiling water. Add a couple of teaspoonful of salt and let the rice boil till soft. Then take it from the fire, stir in a quart of cold milk, and half a pound of raisins. Or omit the raisins and substitute any other fruit that you may like. Beat a couple of eggs and put in together with half a grated nutmeg. Set the hole on the fire and let it boil till the fruit is soft. Serve it up with butter and sugar. Two seven seven, a baked rice pudding without eggs. Pick over and wash two small teacups of rice and put into two quarts of milk. Melt a small teacup of butter and put in together with two of sugar, a grated nutmeg and a couple of teaspoons full of salt and bake the pudding about two hours. This pudding does not need any sauce and is good either hot or cold. If you wish to have the pudding very rich, add when it has been baking five or six minutes, half a pound of raisins. Two seven eight, rice pudding with eggs. Boil a quarter of a pound of unground rice in a quart of milk till soft. Then stir in a quarter of a pound of butter. Take it from the fire, put in a pint of cold milk, a couple of teaspoons full of salt, and a grated nutmeg. When it is lukewarm, beat four eggs with a quarter of a pound of sugar and stir it into the pudding. Add half a pound of raisins and turn the whole into a buttered pudding dish and bake it three quarters of an hour. Two seven nine, ground rice pudding. Mix a pint and a half of ground rice smooth with a quart of milk. Stir in a glass of wine, a quarter of a pound of melted butter, a teaspoon full of salt, and spice to the taste. Beat eight eggs and stir them in. Turn the whole into a buttered pudding dish and when it has baked a few minutes, add half a pound of raisins or zante currants. Two eighty, rice snowballs. Pair small tart apples and take out the cores with a small knife. Fill the cavity with a stick of cinnamon or mace. Put each one in a small floured bag and fill the bags about half full of unground rice. Tie up the bags so as to leave a great deal of room for the rice to swell. Put them in a pot of water with a tablespoon full of salt to a couple of quarts of water. The bags of rice should be boiled in a large proportion of water as the rice absorbs it very much. Boil them about an hour and twenty minutes, then turn them out of the bags carefully into a dessert dish and garnish them with marmalade cut-in slices. Serve them up with butter and sugar. Two eighty one, cream pudding. Beat six eggs to a froth, then mix with them three tablespoons full of powdered white sugar, the grated rind of a lemon. Mix a pint of milk with a pint of flour, two teaspoons full of salt, then add the eggs and sugar. Just before it is baked, stir in a pint of thick cream. Bake it either in buttered cups or a pudding dish. Two eighty two, custard pudding. Stir a quart of milk very gradually into half a pint of flour. Mix it free from lumps and put to it seven eggs beaten with three tablespoons full of sugar, a teaspoon full of salt, and half of a grated nutmeg. Bake it three quarters of an hour. Two eighty three, rennet pudding. Put cleaned calves rennet into white wine in the proportion of a piece three inches square to a pint of wine. It will be fit for use in the course of seven or eight hours. Whenever you wish to make a pudding, put three tablespoons full of the wine to a quart of sweet milk and four tablespoons full of powdered white sugar. Flavor it with rose water or essence of lemon. Stir it twenty minutes, then dish it out and grate nutmeg over it. It should be eaten in the course of an hour after it is made as it soon curdles. Two eighty four, fruit pudding. Make a good common pie crust. Roll it out half an inch thick and strew over it any of the following kinds of fruit. Cherries, currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or cranberries. A thick layer of marmalade spread on is also very nice. Sprinkle over the fruit a little cinnamon or cloves and sugar. If the pudding is made of gooseberries, currants, or cranberries, a great deal of sugar will be necessary. Roll the crust up carefully. Join the ends so that the fruit will not drop out and lay the pudding in a thick white towel that has been previously dipped into water and floured. Based up the towel and lay it carefully in a pot of boiling water with a plate at the bottom of it. Boil it an hour and serve it up with rich liquid sauce. For a baked fruit pudding, make a batter of wheat flour or Indian meal with milk and eggs. Mix the ingredients in the proportion of a pint of flour and six eggs to a quart of milk. Put to each quart of milk a pint of fruit and sugar to the taste. 285. A quaking pudding. Slice up three quarters of a pound of baker's bread. Beat eight eggs to a froth. Stir in several large spoonfuls of sugar and mix it with a quart of milk, a grated nutmeg. Turn it on to the sliced bread. Let the whole remain till the bread has soaked up most of the milk. Then stir in a couple of tablespoonful of flour, a teaspoonful of salt, and turn it into a pudding bag and boil in an hour. Serve it up with rich sauce. 286. Lemon Pudding. Grate the rind of two fresh lemons, being careful not to grate any of the white part. Squeeze the juice out of the lemons and strain it to separate it from the seeds. Mix it with six large spoonfuls of fine white sugar. Take a quart of milk and mix it with the rind of the lemons, a couple of tablespoonsful of pounded crackers, and a tablespoonful of melted butter. Beat six eggs to a froth and stir them into the milk. Stir in the lemon juice and sugar last and then turn the whole into a pudding dish that has a lining and rim of puff paste. Bake it from 25 to 30 minutes. It should not be eaten till it is cold. 287. Almond Pudding. Turn boiling water on three quarters of a pound of sweet almonds. Let them remain in it till the skins will slip off easily. Rub the skins off with a dry cloth. When they are perfectly dry, pound them fine with a tablespoonful of rose water. Beat six eggs to a froth, then mix them with four tablespoonful of powdered sugar. Put them into a quart of milk with three tablespoonful of pounded crackers, a quarter of a pound of melted butter, four ounces of citron, and the pounded almonds. Line a pudding dish with pastry, put round it a rim of puff paste, turn in the pudding, and bake it about half an hour. The pudding should be eaten cold. 288. Tapioca Pudding. To a quart of warm milk, put eight tablespoonsful of tapioca. Let it soak till it softens, then stir it up and put to it a couple of tablespoonful of melted butter, four beaten eggs, and cinnamon or mace to the taste. Mix four tablespoonsful of white powdered sugar with a wine glass of wine, and stir it into the rest of the ingredients. Turn the whole into a pudding dish that has a lining of pastry, and bake it immediately. 289. Sago Pudding. Rinse half a pound of sago in hot water till it is thoroughly cleansed. Then drain off the water and boil the sago in a quart of milk with a stick of cinnamon or mace. Stir it constantly or it will burn. When soft, take it from the fire, take out the stick of cinnamon, and put in a quarter of a pound of butter. Mix a wine glass of wine with four large spoonful of fine white sugar, and stir it into the sago. Add when cold, five beaten eggs, and bake the pudding in a deep dish with a lining and rim of pastry. Strew over the pudding a quarter of a pound of zante currents, and bake it directly in a quick oven. It is the best when cold. 290. Orange Pudding. Stir to a cream six ounces of white powdered sugar with four of butter. Then add a wine glass of wine, the juice and chopped peel of a couple of large fresh oranges. Beat eight eggs to a froth, the whites and yolks separately. Mix them with a quart of milk, a couple of ounces of citron cut in small strips, and a couple of ounces of pounded crackers. Mix all the ingredients well together. Line a pudding dish with pastry, put a rim of puff paste round the edge of the dish, and then turn in the pudding, and bake it in a quick oven about half an hour. 291. Bird's Nest, or Transparent Pudding. Pair and have tart mellow apples. Scoop out the cores. Put a little flour and water in the hollow of each apple, so as to form a thick paste. Then stick three or four zante currents in each one. Butter and line a pudding dish with pastry, put on a rim of puff paste, and lay in the apples with the hollow side up. Have just enough apples to cover the bottom of the dish, and stick citron cut in very long narrow strips round the apples. Stir to a cream half a pound each of butter and fine white sugar. Beat the yolks and whites separately of eight eggs to a froth, and mix them with the butter and sugar. Flavor it with nutmeg and set it on a few coals. Stir it constantly till quite hot. Take it from the fire, stir till nearly cold, then turn it over the apples and bake it directly. 292. English Plum Pudding. Soak three quarters of a pound of crackers in two quarts of milk. They should be broken in small pieces. When they have soaked soft, put in a quarter of a pound of melted butter, the same weight of rolled sugar, half a pine of wheat flour, a wine glass of wine, and a grated nutmeg. Beat ten eggs to a froth, and stir them into the milk. Add half a pound of seeded raisins, the same weight of zante currants, and a quarter of a pound of citron cut in small strips. Bake or boil it a couple of hours. End of Chapter 16. Recording by Patty Cunningham. Chapter 17 of The American Housewife. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Veronica Jenkins. The American Housewife by Anonymous. Chapter 17. 293. Plain Fritters. Stir a quart of milk gradually into a quart of flour. Put in a teaspoonful of salt and seven beaten eggs. Drop them by the large spoonful into hot lard and fry them till a very light brown color. They are the lightest fried in a great deal of fat, but less greasy if fried in just fat enough to keep them from sticking to the frying pan. Serve them up with liquid pudding sauce. 294. Apple Fritters. Take four or five tart mellow apples, pear, and cut them in slices and soak them in a sweetened lemon juice. Make a batter of a quart of milk, a quart of flour, eight eggs, grate in the rind of two lemons and the juice and apples. Drop the batter by the spoonful into hot lard, taking care to have a slice of apple in each fritter. 295. Cream Fritters. Mix a pint and a half of wheat flour with a pint of milk. Beat six eggs to a froth and stir them into the flour. Grate in half a nutmeg, then add a pint of cream, a couple of teaspoons full of salt. Stir the whole just long enough to have the cream get well mixed in, then fry the mixture in small cakes. 296. Oxford Dumplings. Take eight ounces of biscuit that is pounded fine and soak in just sufficient milk to cover it. One soft, stir in three beaten eggs, a tablespoon full of flour, and a quarter of a pound of zanté currants. Grate in half a nutmeg and do up the mixture into balls of the size of an egg. Fry them till a light brown. 297. Apple Dumplings. Pair tart mellow apples. Take out the cores with a small knife and fill the holes with sugar. Make good pie crust. Roll it out about two-thirds of an inch thick. Cut it into pieces just large enough to enclose one apple. Lay the apples on them and close the crust tight over them. Tie them up in small pieces of thick cloth that has been well-flowered. Put the dumplings in a pot of boiling water and boil them an hour without any intermission. If allowed to stop boiling, they will be heavy. Serve them up with pudding sauce or butter and sugar. 298. Lemon Syrup. Pair thin the rind of fresh lemons. Squeeze out the juice and to a pint of it, when strained, put a pound and three-quarters of sugar and the rind of the lemons. Dissolve the sugar by a gentle heat. Skim it clear and let it simmer gently 8 or 10 minutes. Strain it through a flannel bag. When cool, bottle, cork, and seal it tight and keep it in a cool place. 299. Orange Syrup. Squeeze out the juice of fresh oranges and strain it. To a pint of the juice, put a pound and a half of sugar. Set it on a moderate fire. When the sugar has dissolved, put in the peel of the oranges and set the syrup where it will boil slowly for 6 or 8 minutes. Then strain it till clear through a flannel bag. The bag should not be squeezed while the syrup is passing through it or it will not be clear. Bottle, cork, and seal it tight. This syrup is very nice to flavor puddings and pies. 300. Blackberry Syrup. Procure nice high-vine blackberries that are perfectly ripe. The low-vine blackberries will not answer for syrup as they do not possess the medicinal properties of the high-vine blackberries. Set them on a moderate fire and let them simmer till they break to pieces. Then strain them through a flannel cloth. To each pint of juice, put a pound of white sugar, half an ounce of cinnamon, powdered fine, a quarter of an ounce of finely powdered mace, and a couple of teaspoons full of powdered cloves. Boil the whole together 15 minutes. Strain it and, when cool, add to each pint of syrup a wine glass of French brandy. Bottle, cork, and seal it. Keep it in a cool place. This, mixed with cold water and the proportion of a wine glass of syrup to two-thirds of a tumbler of water, is an excellent remedy for the dysentery and similar complaints. It is also a very pleasant summer beverage. 301. Elderberry Syrup. Wash and strain the berries which should be perfectly ripe. To a pint of juice, put a pint of molasses. Boil it 20 minutes, stirring it constantly, then take it from the fire. When cold, add to each quart four tablespoon fulls of French brandy. Bottle and cork it tight. This is an excellent remedy for a tight cough. 302. Molasses Syrup for preserving. Mix eight pounds of light sugarhouse or New Orleans molasses, eight pounds of water, one pound of powdered charcoal. Boil the whole together 20 minutes. Then strain it through a flannel bag. When lukewarm, put in the beaten whites of a couple of eggs and put it on the fire. As soon as it boils, take it from the fire and skim it till clear. Then put it on the fire and let it boil till it becomes a thick syrup. Strain it for use. This syrup does very well to preserve fruit in for common use. 303. To clarify syrup for sweetmeats. Put your sugar into the preserving kettle. Turn in the quantity of cold water that you think will be sufficient to cover the fruit that is to be preserved in it. Beat the whites of eggs to a froth allowing one white of an egg to three pounds of sugar. Mix the whites of the eggs with the sugar and water. Set it on a slow fire and let the sugar dissolve. Then stir the whole up well together and set it where it will boil. As soon as it boils up well, take it from the fire, let it remain for a minute, then take off the scum. Set it back on the fire and let it boil a minute. Then take it off and skim it again. This operation repeat till the syrup is clear. Put in the fruit when the syrup is cold. The fruit should not be crowded while preserving and if there is not syrup enough to cover the fruit, take it out of the syrup and put in more water and boil it with the syrup before putting back the fruit. End of Chapter 17. Recording by Veronica Jenkins, Ottawa, Illinois.