Cookery for every household

Biscuits should also be kept in tin boxes lined with paper, and neither cakes nor scones should be packed with them, as the moisture from the two latter would destroy the crispness of the biscuits. The crispness of biscuits can sometimes be restored by reheating them in a moderate oven for a few minutes. WHAT TO DO WITH STALE CAKES AND BISCUITS Many nice puddings and sweets may be made out of the remains of stale cake and broken biscuits. Small pieces of white cake, such as sponge and Madeira cake, if too small for other purposes, can be made into crumbs by rubbing them through a wire sieve, and these can be used instead of breadcrumbs for many sweet dishes. The same can "be done with the remains of plain biscuits. These crumbs will even keep for some time if they are first dried in a slow oven and then stored in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Larger pieces of cake can be used for making trifles and various puddings. In fact they may take the place of bread in many instances. It is generally better to soak these pieces first with a little wine, fruit syrup or juice, or even milk. Fruit cake soaked in hot milk, then mashed up and one or two beaten eggs added, will make quite a nice plain plum pudding 2 steamed in a basin. Cakes made with yeast or dough cakes do not lend themselves so well for this purpose, although tea cakes and plain buns make an excellent pudding. BREAD, SCONES, AND TEA CAKES 2646. Household Bread 3J lbs. flour (| stone). 1 oz. German yeast. 1 tea-sp. sugar. 2 tea-sps. salt. About 2 pts. lukewarm water. Sieve the flour and salt into a large basin, and place it in a cool oven, or some other warm place, to get warmed through, as this will assist the rising of the bread. Put the yeast into a smaller basin with the sugar, and mix these two together until they become smooth and liquid. (This is called creaming the yeast, and may be accomplished with either salt or sugar.) Add half the water to the creamed yeast, and mix well together. Make a well in the centre of the warm flour, and strain in the yeast and water. Stir in gradually from the sides enough flour to form a thick and smooth batter, still leaving a wall of flour round the edges. Sprinkle the surface lightly with flour, cover the basin with a double cloth, and set it in a warm place out of a draught until the sponge (mixture of flour, yeast, and water) is well risen. If the yeast is good, fifteen or twenty minutes will be sufficient ; the batter should then be covered with large bubbles. Mix in the rest of the flour by degrees, adding the rest of the lukewarm water, or enough to form rather a soft dough, as it will become firmer with kneading. Dough that is to be baked in tins may be a little softer than that which is made up in special shapes without support. Turn the dough on to a floured board, and knead well for fifteen minutes, or until it ceases to cling to the hands. Then flour the basin, and put the dough back into