Miss Parloa's kitchen companion

Soak the cocoanut in the milk. Beat the butter to a cream ; beat the sugar into it ; add the lemon juice, and beat two minutes longer. Now add the milk and cocoanut, and beat well. Then add the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Add the flour, in which the soda and cream-of-tartar have been mixed. Beat quickly, and pour into two shallow pans. Bake for half an hour in a moderate oven. Ice-cream Cake. For the cake proper there will be required half a cupful of butter, one cupful and a half of sugar, two cupfuls of flour, half a cupful of milk, the whites of five eggs, two level teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Beat the butter to a cream, and gradually beat into it the sugar, and then the vanilla. Now add the milk, and also the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. Finally stir in the flour and baking-powder, mixed together. Pour this batter into shallow cake-pans that have been well buttered, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty-five or thirty minutes. When cool, ice. To make the icing, put two cupfuls of granulated sugar into a stew-pan with half a cupful of boiling water, and boil gently for ten minutes. Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth. When the syrup is cooked, pour it gradually upon the beaten whites. There should be only a thin stream of syrup, and the eggs should be beaten all the while the syrup is poured. Two persons can do this work better than one. Continue beating the whites for two minutes after all the syrup has been added ; then add half a teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Spread a thick layer of the icing on one sheet of the cake. Place the other sheet on top of the first, and ice the top and sides. The cake will be ready for use in an hour. It may be kept for days. Hot Tea Cake. Beat together a table-spoonful of butter and a cupful of sugar, and when they are well mixed add two wellbeaten eggs. Continue the beating for a while, and then add a cupful of sweet milk. Put two cupfuls of sifted flour into a sieve with three teaspoonfuls of bakingpowder, and after mixing the two ingredients well, sift them into the bowl containing the first mixture. Stir well, and season with a slight grating of nutmeg. Pour the mixture into two buttered shallow pans, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Blueberry Cake. For two sheets of cake take a cupful of sugar, a tablespoonful of butter, an egg, three cupf uls of blueberries, — or more, if you choose, — a cupful of milk, two cupf uls and a half of sifted flour, three teaspoonfuls of bakingpowder, and a light grating of nutmeg. Rub the butter and sugar together. Break the egg upon this mixture, and beat thoroughly; then add the milk, and next the flour, in which the nutmeg and bakingpowder have been mixed. Beat quickly and vigorously, and afterward stir in the berries very gently. Pour into buttered pans, and bake in a rather hot oven for thirtyfive minutes. Poverty Cake. Make this of one cupful of sugar, two cupfuls and a half of sifted flour, one large table-spoonful of butter (lard or drippings will do), one teaspoonful of cream-oftartar, half a teaspoonful of soda, or one teaspoonful and a half of baking-powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, and one cupful of milk.