The Rural cook book

Butter Cookies.— Cream together one cupful of butter and one-half cupful of light brown sugar; then add one teaspoonful of vanilla and one well-beaten egg. Slowly stir in two cupfuls of flour. Mold lightly with the hand. Take out a small portion of the dough each time ; roll as thin as a silver dollar, cut the cookies with a cutter no larger than the dollar. Bake in a moderate oven until a golden brown. This will make one pound and a quarter of rich, crisp cookies. Butternut Cake. — Beat half a cup of butter to a cream. Gradually beat in 3/4 of a cup of granulated sugar, and then one cup of butternut meats and one egg beaten without separating. Sift together two cups of entire wheat flour, one-third of a cup of pastry fiour, one-half teaspoonful soda, one-fourth teaspoonful salt, one-half teaspoonful mace, one-fourth teaspoonful cloves, and 1/2 teaspoonful cinnamon Add this to the first mixture alternately with one cup of sour milk. Beat thoroughly and turn into little tins fitted with rounds of paper on the bottoms mnd thoroughly buttered. Bake about 35 minutes. The recipe makes 18 cakes. When cold, ice with the icing made of brown sugar, and decorate with halves of butternut meats. The icing is made as follows : Boil one cup of brown sugar and one-third cup of water to 240 de- degrees Fahrenheit. Then pour in a fine stream on to the white of one egg, beaten very light. Continue the beating while the syrup is being added to the egg and for some minutes afterward. Without a thermometer, to decide the temperfiture, boil the sugar until it spins a thread about three inches in length. Chocolate Cake. — Two eggs, one-half cup butter, one-half cup cocoa, one cup milk, one cup sugar, two teaspoonfuls baking powder ; two teaspoonfuls vanilla, a good cup and one-half of flour. If it is not the proper consistency, then add a little more flour. Chocolate Cream Cake. — Use any good cake recipe and bake in a square pan. When cold cover with the following icing: To one and onehalf cupful of sugar add one-half cupful of sweet milk. Place on stove and cook, after it begins to boil, for four minutes. Do not stir it. Pour cut on a platter and beat until thick enough to spread on the cake. While making this frosting have one and one-half square of chocolate melting, and after covering the cake with the frosting spread the chocolate smoothly over it. Coffee Cake. — Cream one-quarter cup of butter with one cup of sugar, add one egg beaten, one-half cup milk, a pinch of salt and one and one-half cupfuls of sifted flour with a teaspoonful of baking powder. Spread in pan and sprinkle with seeded and cleaned raisins or currants, a little shredded citron, dot with butter and sift over sugar and cinnamon. Bake one-half hour and serve hot. Coffee Chocolate Cake. — Cream one cup of sugar and half a cup of butter; add the yolks of four eggs and half a cup of strong cold coffee. Sift in 1 1/2 cup of flour with two teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Lastly stir in 1 1/2 square of melted chocolate. Bake in a loaf and ice with while frosting. Coffee Fruit Cake. — This requires neither eggs nor milk. One-half cup butter, one and one-half cups sugar, one and one-half cups cold strong coffee, one-half cup molasses, one teaspoonful soda, one cup raisins, one teaspoonful cinnamon, one teaspoonful cloves, one-half teaspoonful nutmeg. Flour for thick batter, adding one level teaspoonful baking powder. For frosting without eggs, use one cupful of granulated sugar, five tablespoon fuls of milk ; boil four or five minutes till it threads from the spoon. Flavor as desired. Add chocolate or not Stir till right thickness for spreading. This is fine-grained, white (if chocolate is not used) and delicious.