The Book of Household Management Part 211

_Mode_.--Rub the b.u.t.ter into the flour until it is quite fine; add the caraway seeds, currants (which should be nicely washed, picked, and dried), sugar, and candied peel cut into thin slices; mix these well together, and moisten with the eggs, which should be well whisked. Boil the milk, and add to it, whilst boiling, the carbonate of soda, which must be well stirred into it, and, with the milk, mix the other ingredients. b.u.t.ter a tin, pour the cake into it, and bake it in a moderate oven from 3/4 to 1 hour.

_Time_.--1 to 14 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 8d. _Seasonable_ at any time.

CARBONATE OF SODA--Soda was called the mineral alkali, because it was originally dug up out of the ground in Africa and other countries: this state of carbonate of soda is called _natron._ But carbonate of soda is likewise procured from the combustion of marine plants, or such as grow on the sea-sh.o.r.e. Pure carbonate of soda is employed for making effervescing draughts, with lemon-juice, citric acid, or tartaric acid. The chief const.i.tuent of soda, the alkali, has been used in France from time immemorial in the manufacture of soap and gla.s.s, two chemical productions which employ and keep in circulation an immense amount of capital. A small pinch of carbonate of soda will give an extraordinary lightness to puff pastes; and, introduced into the teapot, will extract the full strength of the tea. But its qualities have a powerful effect upon delicate const.i.tutions, and it is not to be used incautiously in any preparation.

A NICE PLAIN CAKE.

1766. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 1 teaspoonful of Borwick's baking-powder, 1/4 lb. of good dripping, 1 teacupful of moist sugar, 3 eggs, 1 breakfast-cupful of milk, 1 oz. of caraway seeds, 1/2 lb. of currants.

_Mode_.--Put the flour and baking-powder into a basin; stir those together; then rub in the dripping, add the sugar, caraway seeds, and currants; whisk the eggs with the milk, and beat all together very thoroughly until the ingredients are well mixed. b.u.t.ter a tin, put in the cake, and bake it from 11/2 to 2 hours. Let the dripping be quite clean before using: to insure this, it is a good plan to clarify it.

Beef dripping is better than any other for cakes, &c., as mutton dripping frequently has a very unpleasant flavour, which would be imparted to the preparation.

_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours. _Average cost_, 1s.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

A NICE PLAIN CAKE FOR CHILDREN.

1767. INGREDIENTS.--1 quartern of dough, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar, 1/4 lb.

of b.u.t.ter or good beef dripping, 1/4 pint of warm milk, 1/2 grated nutmeg or 1/2 oz. of caraway seeds.

_Mode_.--If you are not in the habit of making bread at home, procure the dough from the baker's, and, as soon as it comes in, put it into a basin near the fire; cover the basin with a thick cloth, and let the dough remain a little while to rise. In the mean time, beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream, and make the milk warm; and when the dough has risen, mix with it thoroughly all the above ingredients, and knead the cake well for a few minutes. b.u.t.ter some cake-tins, half fill them, and stand them in a warm place, to allow the dough to rise again. When the tins are three parts full, put the cakes into a good oven, and bake them from 13/4 to 2 hours. A few currants might be subst.i.tuted for the caraway seeds when the flavour of the latter is disliked.

_Time_.--1-3/4 to 2 hours. _Average cost_, _1s. 2d._

_Seasonable_ at any time.

COMMON PLUM CAKE.

1768. INGREDIENTS.--3 lbs. of flour, 6 oz. of b.u.t.ter or good dripping, 6 oz. of moist sugar, 6 oz. of currants, 4 oz. of pounded allspice, 2 tablespoonfuls of fresh yeast, 1 pint of new milk.

_Mode_.--Rub the b.u.t.ter into the flour; add the sugar, currants, and allspice; warm the milk, stir to it the yeast, and mix the whole into a dough; knead it well, and put it into 6 b.u.t.tered tins; place them near the fire for nearly an hour for the dough to rise, then bake the cakes in a good oven from 1 to 11/4 hour. To ascertain when they are done, plunge a clean knife into the middle, and if on withdrawal it comes out clean, the cakes are done.

_Time_.--1 to 1-1/4 hour.

_Average cost_, 1s. 8d.

_Sufficient_ to make 6 small cakes.

A NICE PLUM CAKE.

1769. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 1/2 lb. of sugar, 1/2 lb. of currants, 2 oz. of candied lemon-peel, 1/2 pint of milk, 1 teaspoonful of ammonia or carbonate of soda.

_Mode_.--Put the flour into a basin with the sugar, currants, and sliced candied peel; beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream, and mix all these ingredients together with the milk. Stir the ammonia into 2 tablespoonfuls of milk and add it to the dough, and beat the whole well, until everything is thoroughly mixed. Put the dough into a b.u.t.tered tin, and bake the cake from 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours.

_Average cost_, 1s. 3d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

POUND CAKE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: POUND CAKE.]

1770. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 1-1/4 lb. of flour, 1 lb. of pounded loaf sugar, 1 lb. of currants, 9 eggs, 2 oz. of candied peel, 1/2 oz. of citron, 1/2 oz. of sweet almonds; when liked, a little pounded mace.

_Mode_.--Work the b.u.t.ter to a cream; dredge in the flour; add the sugar, currants, candied peel, which should be cut into neat slices, and the almonds, which should be blanched and chopped, and mix all these well together; whisk the eggs, and let them be thoroughly blended with the dry ingredients. Beat the cake well for 20 minutes, and put it into a round tin, lined at the bottom and sides with a strip of white b.u.t.tered paper. Bake it from 1-1/2 to 2 hours, and let the oven be well heated when the cake is first put in, as, if this is not the case, the currants will all sink to the bottom of it. To make this preparation light, the yolks and whites of the eggs should be beaten separately, and added separately to the other ingredients. A gla.s.s of wine is sometimes added to the mixture; but this is scarcely necessary, as the cake will be found quite rich enough without it.

_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours.

_Average cost_, 3s. 6d.

_Sufficient._--The above quant.i.ty divided in two will make two nice-sized cakes.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

A PAVINI CAKE.

1771. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of flour, 1/2 lb. of ground rice, 1/2 lb. of raisins stoned and cut into small pieces, 1/4 lb. of currants, 1/4 lb.

of b.u.t.ter, 2 oz. of sweet almonds, 1/4 lb. of sifted loaf sugar, 1/2 nutmeg grated, 1 pint of milk, 1 teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.

_Mode_.--Stone and cut the raisins into small pieces; wash, pick, and dry the currants; melt the b.u.t.ter to a cream, but without oiling it; blanch and chop the almonds, and grate the nutmeg. When all these ingredients are thus prepared, mix them well together; make the milk warm, stir in the soda, and with this liquid make the whole into a paste. b.u.t.ter a mould, rather more than half fill it with the dough, and bake the cake in a moderate oven from 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or less time should it be made into 2 cakes.

_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours. _Average cost_, 1s. 8d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAKE-MOULD.]

RICE CAKE.

1772. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of ground rice, 1/2 lb. of flour, 1/2 lb. of loaf sugar, 9 eggs, 20 drops of essence of lemon, or the rind of 1 lemon, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--Separate the whites from the yolks of the eggs; whisk them both well, and add to the latter the b.u.t.ter beaten to a cream. Stir in the flour, rice, and lemon (if the rind is used, it must be very finely minced), and beat the mixture well; then add the whites of the eggs, beat the cake again for some time, put it into a b.u.t.tered mould or tin, and bake it for nearly 1-1/2 hour. It may be flavoured with essence of almonds, when this is preferred.

_Time_.--Nearly 1-1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 6d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

QUEEN-CAKES.