The encyclopædia of practical cookery

Parson’s Cake. — Rub into 4 breakfast-cupfuls of flour 1 J breakfast-cupfuls of butter ; add 1 large teacupful of brown sugar, a little ginger and spice, five eggs well beaten, 3 teacupfuls of molasses, and 1 teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda dissolved in a little milk. Mix all together, put in a greased tin, and bake. Passover Cakes. — Get some of the flour used by the Jews for this ; put Jib. into a basin, and mix with it 1 teaspoonful of caster sugar and 1 pinch of salt. Beat four eggs in a teacupful of milk and a teacupful of warm water ; stir it in with the flour. When well beaten, pour the mixture in equal quantities on a baking-sheet, and bake in a very quick oven. Plain Cake. — Take J quartern of bakers’ dough and knead in Jib. of butter, Jib. of moist sugar, Jib. of chopped candied peel, lib. of currants, one grated nutmeg, a little ground ginger, and four eggs ; mix well. Set it in a warm place for one hour to rise, and then bake in a greased tin. Polish Cakes. — Boll puff paste very thin, cut into pieces 3in. square, wet the centre, turn each corner over, press the points down in the centre, and put a very small round of paste over them. Bake, and when cool, put dots of jelly on each corner. Polka Cakes. — Beat together in a basin 21b. of butter and an equal quantity of sifted crushed loaf sugar ; add twenty eggs, one at a time, and beating continuously, 2 Jib. of flour, gradually, as many well-washed and dried currants as desired, and a flavouring of lemon-peel. Turn the preparation into papered hoops, set on a baking-sheet, and bake in a moderate oven. Let them get cold before using. Parisian Cake. - — Put lib. of blanched filberts into a pan over the fire and roast them, stirring them continually with a wooden spoon. Let them get cold, put them into a mortar, and pound to a pulp, adding a little cream to prevent oiling. Turn them into a basin with 1 qt. of cream, pouring in a little at a time, and strain the whole through a fine sieve or cloth. Have ready peeled and cut into halves 6oz. of pistachio-kernels, also 4oz. of candied orange-peel, cut the same length as the nuts and about Jin. in thickness. Prepare a sponge with 12oz. of flour, ljoz. of yeast, and 1 breakfast-cupful of warm milk, and set it to rise. Cream ljlb. of butter, add Jib. of warmed butter, and mix in two at a time, ten eggs and ten more yolks, beating each lot in separately for about two minutes. Then add 18oz. of flour and 1 breakfast-cupful of the liquor from the kernels mixed up with 2 handfuls of flour, put another equal quantity of flour on the table, form a bay, mix in the sponge and 6oz. of crushed loaf sugar together, with more milk if required, and form the whole into a rather soft paste. Should the paste be too stiff, more eggs should be added. Now mix in the filberts and candied orange-peel, taking care that they are well incorporated, put the paste into a well-buttered mould, decorating the top and sides with more pistachios, put the Cake into a moderate oven, and bake. When done, turn it out, and serve either hot or cold. Park - Street Cake. — Work Jib. of butter in a warm bowl until like a cream, then add 1 breakfast-cupful of sugar gradually ; beat four yolks of eggs with 1 breakfast-cupful of sugar until very light, and add to the butter ; put in 1 teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon flavouring, J teaspoonful of