The new practical housekeeping

Custards. To cut warm cake take a broad, thin and very sharp knife, using a sawing motion, to avoid crushing it. In order to clean a coffee mill after using it for spices, run through it some of the sugar to be used in cake. Graters for nutmeg should be fine ; for lemon and orange peel, medium ; and for cocoanut, coarse. Lemon Juice. — Grate rind from lemon, cut in two and press through squeezer, to juice add grated rind and let stand fifty minutes ; rub with back of spoon and press through strainer. Prepare Orange Juice in same way, using an orange instead of a lemon. Rose-Water. — Add two drops Kissanlik Otto of Rose and half salt spoon of Carbonate of Magnesia Soda, pint of pure filtered soft water and pass through filter paper. For Orange Water use two drops of Oil of Neroly Bigarade instead of Rose. Vanilla Sugar. — Pound in a mortar pint and a third best pulverized sugar and an ounce of finely cut Mexican Vanilla bean to a fine powder, sift, pound what is left in sieve and sift again, repeat till all is sifted ; bottle and cork. Alpha Cake. — Cream together a cup of butter and two and a half cups sugar ; add one cup sweet milk, yolks of five eggs, half cake of Bakers Chocolate, melted by placing in a dish over boiling water, two teaspoons baking powder sifted with two heaping cups flour, the beaten whites of the eggs and flavor with vanilla ; bake in layers and put together with icing. Some add a pinch of cinnamon. Almond Cake. — Blanch and pound to a paste three ounces sweet and one ounce bitter almonds, shelled. To one pint pulverized sugar gradually add yolks of twenty-four eggs and stir until light, then add the almond pulp, the juice and grated rind one lemon, a pinch mace, and beat until it thickens. Beat whites six eggs to a firm froth, adding by pinches a tablespoon pulverized sugar and stir it in one-third at a time with the above mixture. Lastly add four ounces flour well sifted with one ounce corn starch. Mix well, pour into round pans two inches thick, if it is to be iced, or into square pans one inch thick if intended for slicing, bake in moderate oven and turn out at once. Angel Cake. — Whites twelve eggs, one and one-half tumblers sifted powdered sugar, one tumbler sifted flour, one teaspoon each vanilla and cream tartar. The tumblers for measuring should hold two and one-fourth gills. Beat eggs in a bowl to as fine a froth as possible and add one-half tumbler sifted sugar, gradually beating in two tablespoons at a time, and stir into this mixture the teaspoon vanilla ; sift the cream tartar with the flour, then sift flour and remaining tumbler sugar together four times, and put with the first mixture with as little stirring as will mix and combine them thoroughly and smoothly. The dough should be very light and feathery. Test the oven by laying in it a piece of white paper, which should brown, not char, in ten minutes. A pan made expressly foi* this purpose should be used, and can be ordered of any tinner. It should be about eight inches in diameter, three inches deep, with a funnel in the center two inches in diameter at the bottom tapering to an inch and a half at top, and be provided with legs half an incS high. May be smooth or fluted edges as preferred.