Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Banbury Cakes. — These rich well-known cakes are prepared from a mince called Banbuiy meat, made with the following ingredients : half a pound of butter beaten to a cream, half a pound of lemon and orange-peel cut up finee, one pound of currants, half an ounce of cinnamon, two and a half ounces of allspice. Mix all thoroughly, and keep it in a covered jar for use. The paste for these buns should be tolerably rich, rolled out thin, and cut into rounds or squares. To a layer of the mince, put on one round, cover over with another. Flatten with the hand, and moisten the edges with white of egg to make them adhere. Before putting into the oven brush the cakes over with the froth of eggs and sugar. They will take fifteen minutes to bake, and may be eaten hot or cold. Barbel. — This fish deserves very little notice. When cooked it is poor and woolly. The best method is to score and soak it in oil for half an horn-, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and broil each side from eight to ten minutes over a moderate fire. Serve on a hot dish with Maitre d'Hôtel butter. Barberries, To Candy. — Take some preserved barberries, wash them in warm water to cleanse them from the syrup, and cover with dry finely-powdered sugar. Put them quickly into a moderately-heated oven, keeping them well sprinkled with sugar, and turning frequently. Barberries, To Dry, in Bunches.— Take fine bunches and hang them for a quarter of an hour in a vessel of boiling water ; remove them carefully without bruising, and simmer ten minutes in a boiling syrup made with two pounds of sugar and a pint of water ; then draw the syrup from the fire, and let the bunches stay in it for several hours. Then hang them up to drain and dry. Remove when sufficiently dry and put away with care. Barberries may be had without stones, but should there be any they must be removed before commencing to dry them. Cost of berries, 4d. to 5d. per pint. Barberries, To Pickle, for Garnishing.— Gather the clusters before they are fully ripe ; carefully pick off any unsound or very ripe berries, and lay the remainder in bottles. Cover them with a strong brine, made by boiling a quarter of a pound of salt with each pint of water, and add a small nut of alum to the whole. The brine must not be put over the fruit until it is quite cold. Store the bottle in a cool, diy place, and examine them occasionally. If at any time a scum should be observed on the surface, pour off the liquid, and put freshly-boiled brine in its place, made not quite so salt. Keep the jars closely covered. Time to boil the brine, ten minutes. Probable cost of barberries, 4d. to od. per pint. ' Barberries, To Preserve.— To every two pounds of fruit take four- and a half poimds of powdered loaf sugar, throw some of it over the barberries to be preserved, and with the remainder make a strong syrup in the proportion of a pint of water to a pound of sugar. Put the barberries into it, and make them boil as quickly as possible, that they may not lose colour ; then fill the jars for use. Probable cost, 4d. to 5d. per pint.