Cookery for every household

Put all the dry ingredients into a basin, and rub in the butter with the tips of the fingers until free from lumps. Beat up the egg in a small basin, add half of it to the mixture, and then enough water or milk to form all into one lump. Knead with the hands until free from cracks, and turn the dough on to a floured board. Flour a rolling-pin, and roll out the paste to rather less than £ of an inch in thickness. Stamp out in shapes with a cutter and place the biscuits on a greased tin. Re-roll the scraps, and cut out more biscuits until all the paste is used up. Bake in a moderate oven until the biscuits are nicely browned. Place them on a sieve to cool. Time to bake, about 15 minutes. Probable cost, 5 d. 2751. Orange Biscuits Make in the same way as Lemon Biscuits. See Recipe 2744. 2752. Raspberry Biscuits Take any sweet biscuits, such as Milan or Ayrshire shortbread, and place two together with a little raspberry jam between. Coat them with raspberry glace icing, and decorate them with a few chopped pistachio nuts or small pieces of preserved fruit. 2753. Ratafias Make the same mixture as for macaroons (see above), flavouring with a few drops of ratafia essence. Put the mixture into a forcing bag with a £-inch pipe and force out small drops the size of a sixpenny piece on white paper placed on a baking tin. Bake in a cool oven until a light brown colour. Should the biscuits adhere to the paper, damp the reverse side with a little water, and return the biscuits to the oven for a few minutes to dry. Time to bake, 20 to 30 minutes. £ lb. flour. 3 oz. ground rice. £ lb. castor sugar. 2754. Rice Biscuits Vanilla essence. 3 oz. butter. 1 egg. A little milk. Put the flour, sugar, and ground rice into a basin, and rub in the butter until free from lumps. Beat up the egg, add a few drops of vanilla to it, and moisten the dry ingredients with this, using also a little milk to form all into a paste. Turn out on a floured baking board, knead until free from cracks, and then roll out to £ inch in thickness. Cut into biscuits, place them on a greased tin, and bake in a hot oven until brown and crisp. Time to bake, 10 to 15 minutes. Probable cost, Id. 2755. Scotch Parkins £ lb. flour. £ lb. coarse oatmeal. 3 oz. dripping or lard. 2 table-sps. brown sugar. 2 table-sps. treacle or syrup. £ tea-sp. mixed spice. £ tea-sp. baking powder. A few sweet almonds. Put the oatmeal, flour, spice, and baking powder into a basin and mix them together. Heat the sugar, treacle, and dripping in a small saucepan until melted, and stir them into the centre of the dry ingredients. Mix well until a smooth paste is formed. Then form into small halls the size of a walnut. Place these on a greased baking tin, put one or two slit almonds on the top of each, and flatten them slightly. Then bake the parkins in a moderate oven until crisp and firm. Cool them on a sieve, and keep in an air-tight tin box. Time to bake, 15 to 20 minutes. Probable cost, 5 d. 2756. Shrewsbury Biscuits 7 oz. flour. 6 oz. castor sugar. £ lb. butter. 1 egg. £ tea-sp. ground cinnamon. Make in the same way as Cinnamon Biscuits. See Recipe 2737. Probable cost, 7 d. 2757. Tea Biscuits £ lb. flour. £ lb. butter. £ lb. castor sugar. 2 oz. ground nuts. 1 tea-sp. baking powder. i egg.