The Rural cook book

German Cookies.— To one cup of sugar, one cup of butter, one cup of lard, one cup of molasses, the juice and grated rind of one lemon, one tablespoonful of vinegar, one teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, one and one-half teaspoonful of soda, add one egg, one cup of nuts, one tablespoonful each of candied citron and orange peel chopped fine and flour enough to make stiff. The dough must be Stiff or the cookies will not retain the shape in baking. Colonial Gingerbread. — Put a cupful of New Orleans molasses in a mixing bowl with half a cupful of butter and half a cupful of sugar. Over this pour a cupful of boiling water in which a level dessertspoonful of soda has already been dissolved. Stir well, and let the mixture cool; then add a cupful of chopped walnuts and a cupful of seeded raisins, a teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ginger, two and one-half cupfuls of flour, and, lastly, two well-beaten eggs. Bake in a shallow pan and serve while still warm from the oven Honey Gingerbread. — Warm a generous half cup of butter and beat into it two cups of strained honey. When you have a light cream beat in one tablespoon of powdered sugar, a tablespoon of ginger and onehalf teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the beaten yolks of four eggs, and alternately with the frothed whites, three even cups of flour sifted twice with one teaspoon of baking powder. Beat hard for one minute and bake in buttered shallow pans for 45 minutes. Keep covered for 30 minutes. Shiny Gingerbread. — This is very crackly and shiny on top. The secret of making it thus is to pour the shortening boiling hot on the molasses and beat the batter as little as possible. Pour a small half cupful of boiling hot shortening, lard and butter, or beef suet and butter mixed, upon one-half pint of New Orleans molasses; add two tablespoon fuls of miik, a tablespoonful of ground ginger, a teaspoonful of cinnamon; then sift in about three-quarters of a pint of flour, to which a teaspoonful of baking soda has been added ; lastly add a wellbeaten egg, then mix with a few deft turns of the spoon and bake in one large pan or two small ones in a moderate oven; serve hot, and break, net cut, at the table. Ginger Snaps. — Beat together one cupful of sugar, one egg, and one tablespoonful of ginger. . Heat one cupful of molasses to the scalding point, stir into it one teaspoonful of soda or saleratus, and, while it foams, pour it over the butter and egg, and beat together. Add a tablespoonful of vinegar, and stir in lightly enough flour to roll out and cut the dough. Half-Pound Cake. — One pound of sugar, one pound of flour, one-half pound of butter, one teacupful of milk, four eggs. Flavor to taste. Whip up the sugar and eggs, putting in one egg at a time. Then stir in the milk and flavoring, following this with the flour, which must be very thoroughly beaten into the butter. Pour into paper-lined tins and bake in a steady oven for 45 minutes. This quantity should make two loaves. The oven must be well regulated, and care taken to avoid any jar, or the cake would be apt to fall in the middle. Hardenburg . Cake. — This is an old-fashioned Dutch fruit cake. Cream together a pound and a half of butter and two pounds of granulated sugar. Add one-half pint of New Orleans molasses, the beaten yolks of 18 eggs, two ounces of mixed spices — mace, cinnamon and cloves, two grated nutmegs, one-half pound candied peel — two pounds rleansed and dried currants, fofour pounds stoned and cut raisins, one-half pint pickled fruit syrup or boiled-down cider, and flour to make the ingredients hang togetherer. If not self-raising flour, add a dessertspoonful of baking powder. About a pound and a quarter of flour will be required. Lastly, fold in the stifHy beaten whites of the eggs. Bake three or four hours in a moderate oven, taking care not to disturb.