Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Sunshine Cake and Cream. — "Mix one-half cupful of flour and one teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and sift five times ; sift three-quarters of a cupful of granulated sugar three times ; beat the whites of six eggs very stiff, and slowly beat the sugar in, using a long, not a Dover, egg-beater; have the yolks of two eggs beaten by some one else, that they may be put in at once after the sugar, and then add the flour last, with one-half teaspoonful of vanilla flavoring, beating all the time. Bake in a large, round tin with a tube in the* middle, and when cold turn over and cut off the bottom of the cake and take out the inside with a fork ; fill this shell solidly full of rich, French vanilla ice - cream, put the cover on again and cover with powdered sugar. Cut wedge - shaped pieces directly through the whole. If a large company is to be served, the quantities may be doubled. Sweet Cakes. — Three eggs, one teacupful of butter or lard, two cupfuls of sifted flour, one grated nutmeg, two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder sifted with the flour, two cupfuls of sugar. Cream the butter with one cupful of the sugar. Beat the eggs, whites and yolks separately, and put into the yolks the remaining cupful of sugar. Add this to the butter, and put in the whites and flour last. Roll the dough out thin, cut into shapes, and bake quickly. Tea Cakes. — Two pounds of flour, % lb. of butter, mixed as for pastry, a little more than a pint of milk, and two table-spoonfuls of liquid yeast, or half a yeast cake. Mix the flour and butter, pour in the milk and yeast, and let it rise for an hour and a quarter ; then add a little more milk, knead well, and let it rise again for an hour and a half. This will make eight cakes the size of the inside of a breakfast plate. Let them stand to rise for a few minutes before the fire, and then bake until thoroughly brown. Then take them from the oven and rub a little butter over them to give them a nice glaze, and return them to the oven until thoroughly done. Good the first night split open and buttered. The second day toast them and butter them. Velvet Cakes. — Make a batter of a quart of flour, three eggs, a quart of milk, half a cupful of yeast. When well mixed stir in a large spoonful of melted butter, and bake in muffinrings, after they have had time to rise. Wafers. — There are many ways of making wafers, but, however made, they must be baked in the same way — that is, in irons made for the purpose, and called wafer-irons. These irons should be used as follows : Heat an iron on both sides over a moderate fire. Rub it inside with a little butter, put a teaspoonful of the wafer batter into it, close the iron upon this almost immediately, and put it on the fire. When cooked upon one side, turn it upon the other. Cut away the superfluous paste round the edges, and roll the wafer on a stick while it is still warm. Put in another piece of batter, and repeat until all the batter is used. Keep the wafers in a tin box in a dry place till wanted. Wafers, Almond. — Mix thoroughly equal quantities of dry flour and sifted sugar. With every four table-spoonfuls of this mixture that it is intended to use work in two well-beaten eggs, Wafers, Fruit Washington Cake