Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume IV Part 26

FRUIT DROP CAKES (Sufficient for 2 Dozen Cakes)

1/3 c. shortening 2/3 c. sugar 1 egg 1/4 c. milk 1-3/4 c. flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. cloves 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 1/2 c. raisins

Cream the shortening and add the sugar, egg, and milk. Sift the flour, baking powder, and spices together. Sift these dry ingredients into the mixture and add the raisins. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased and floured cake sheet and bake in a hot oven until light brown.

OAT-FLAKE DROP CAKES (Sufficient for 2 Dozen Cakes)

1/2 c. shortening 1 c. sugar 1 egg 2 c. oat flakes 1 tsp. vanilla 2 c. flour 1/2 tsp. salt 3 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 c. milk

Cream the shortening and add the sugar. Beat the egg and add to the mixture. Add the oat flakes and vanilla. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon together and add alternately with the milk. Drop on greased pans to bake.

GINGER DROP CAKES (Sufficient for 2 Dozen Cakes)

1/2 c. shortening 1/2 c. brown sugar 1 egg 2-1/2 c. flour 1/2 tsp. soda 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 Tb. ginger 1/2 c. sour milk 1/2 c. mola.s.ses

Cream the shortening, add the sugar, and mix well. Beat the egg and add it. Sift the dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk and mola.s.ses. Drop on greased sheets and bake in a moderate oven for about 15 or 20 minutes.

8. APPLYING ORNAMENTAL ICING TO CUP CAKES.--Sometimes it is desired to put icing on cup cakes in an ornamental way. In such an event, an uncooked icing is used and it is usually applied by means of a pastry tube, although certain simple designs can be made with a small paper cornucopia. When icing is to be used for this purpose, it should be of the consistency shown in Fig. 4; that is, it should be so heavy that a large quant.i.ty of it will cling to the spoon, and when it drops it will fall in a ma.s.s rather than run off.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 4]

Have the pastry bag clean and dry, and make it ready for use by slipping the pastry tube inside of the bag, as shown in Fig. 5. The point of the tube should protrude from the narrow end of the bag, which is too small to allow the top of the tube to be pushed through. The cakes to be decorated with the aid of a pastry tube are usually prepared, as the cake in the ill.u.s.tration shows, by covering it with a perfectly smooth coating of uncooked icing of some kind.

With the tube inserted and the cake coated, the work of decorating may be taken up. Roll the top of the bag down, as shown in Fig. 6, and into it put as much of the icing as is desired. See that the icing is pushed as far down into the end of the bag as possible. Then, as in Fig. 7, hold the top of the bag shut with one hand and with the other grasp it at the place where the contents end. When the hands have been so placed, press down on the bag so that the icing will be forced from the point of the tube. To make the decorations most satisfactorily, have the point of the tube pressed tightly against the surface of the cake and raise it very slowly as the icing comes out. Otherwise the shape of the design will not be good, as a little experimenting will prove. The rosette tube is used to make the decorations here shown, but if a different form of decoration is desired, one of the other tubes may be selected.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 5]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 6]

9. With cakes of this kind, it is often desired to have a simple decoration without first applying the foundation icing. This can be done, as shown in Fig. 8, by pressing icing through a pastry bag containing the rosette tube and placing the decoration merely on the center of each cake. This is suggested as an economical use of icing and a decoration a little out of the ordinary. The points of the pastry tube should be bent toward the center in order to produce the rosettes in the manner here shown. In fact, the shape of a rosette can often be changed to some extent by opening or closing these points a trifle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 7]

COOKIES

10. CLa.s.sES OF COOKIES.--Cookies are of two general cla.s.ses: those which are made thick and are expected to be soft when they are served and those which are made thin and are intended to be crisp and brittle when eaten. Thin, crisp cookies are usually known as _wafers_ or _snaps_.

Soft cookies are made from a dough that contains a little more liquid than that used for brittle cookies. The dough of which both varieties are made should be thick enough to remove from the mixing bowl in a lump and roll out on a board. After being rolled until it is the desired thickness, it is cut into pieces of any desired size and shape and baked in the oven on large flat pans.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8]

11. INGREDIENTS IN COOKIES.--The ingredients used in the making of cookies are similar to those used for drop cakes, with the exception of the amount of flour. In fact, any cooky mixture that is made a little more moist by omitting some of the flour may be used for drop cakes.

More flour is needed in cooky mixtures because they must be of a certain thickness in order to be rolled out successfully. The amount of flour needed varies with the kind that is used, more of some varieties of this ingredient being required than of others. It is usually advisable to add the last cup of flour with caution. If the mixture seems to be getting stiff before all the flour is added, what is not needed should be omitted; but if it does not become stiff enough to handle, more should be added.

12. Considerable variety exists in the shortening that may be used in cooky mixtures. If desired, b.u.t.ter may be used, but for most cookies it is not at all necessary that the shortening consist entirely of b.u.t.ter, and for some no b.u.t.ter at all is required. Other fats and oils, such as lard, Crisco, lard compound, Mazola, cottoline, b.u.t.terine, and any other tasteless shortening, may be subst.i.tuted for all or part of the b.u.t.ter.

Any of the following cooky recipes that contain b.u.t.ter do so because that particular cooky or cake is better when made with b.u.t.ter, but, if desired, some other fat may be used for a part or all of it. In case merely shortening is mentioned, any fat or mixture of fats preferred may be used.

13. PROCEDURE IN MAKING COOKIES.--The combining of the ingredients in cooky mixtures need give the housewife very little concern, for it is accomplished in much the same way as for cup and drop cakes. When all of them have been combined, a dough that is stiff enough to handle and still not so stiff that it is tough should be formed. The chief precaution to be taken in the making of all kinds of cookies is to avoid getting too much flour into the mixture. To produce the best results, the mixture should be so soft that it is difficult to handle. A good plan is to allow it to become very cold, for then it will be much stiffer and may be handled more easily. Therefore, after the dough has been mixed, it is well to set it in a refrigerator or some other cool place and let it stand for several hours before attempting to roll it.

In fact, a cooky mixture may be made in the evening and allowed to stand until the next morning before being rolled out and baked. As can readily be understood, such procedure is possible with a stiff mixture like that for cookies, while it would not be practicable with a thin mixture, such as cake batter, because the gas that is formed by the leavening agent would escape from a mixture that is not thick and the cake, after being baked, would have no lightness.

14. With the dough ready to be rolled, divide it into amounts of a size that can be handled conveniently at one time. Take one of these from the mixing bowl and place it on a well-floured board. Work it with the fingers into a flat, round piece, using a little flour on the fingers during this process. Dust the top lightly with flour and, by means of a rolling pin, roll the dough into a flat piece that is as nearly round as possible. Continue rolling with a short, light stroke until the dough is as thin as desired. Remember that light, careful handling is always necessary when any kind of dough mixture is rolled on the board, and that as little handling as possible is advisable. Skill in this respect will come with practice, so the housewife need not be discouraged if she has difficulty at first. For cookies, 1/4 inch is the usual thickness of the dough after it is rolled; but for snaps or wafers the dough should be rolled as thin as possible. If the dough is as moist as it should be, it may be necessary, from time to time, to dust the top with flour as the rolling continues. However, no more flour should be used than is needed to keep the rolling pin from sticking; otherwise, the dough will become too thick and the cookies will be tough and dry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9]

15. When the dough has been rolled until it is of the right thickness, cut it in the manner shown in Fig. 9, using cooky cutters of any desired size and shape. The four cutters shown, which are heart, round, diamond, and star shapes, are the ones that are most commonly used. They are merely strips of tin bent into a particular shape and attached to a handle for convenience in using. In cutting the dough, try to cut it to the best possible advantage, leaving as little s.p.a.ce between the cookies as possible. Very often, as, for instance, when diamond-shaped cookies are being cut, the line of one may be the exact line of the one next to it and thus no dough need be left between the cookies.

16. However, as Fig. 9 shows, a certain amount of dough necessarily remains after all the cookies that can be made out of a piece of rolled dough have been cut. Put these sc.r.a.ps together and set them aside until all the fresh dough has been rolled. Then put them together carefully, roll them out again, and cut the piece thus formed into cookies just as the others were cut. Some persons are in the habit of working these sc.r.a.ps in with the next piece of dough that is rolled out, but this is not good practice, for by the time they are rolled on the board a second time, more flour will be worked into them than into the dough with which they were put and the texture will not be the same.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10]

17. BAKING COOKIES.--Have a cooky sheet or other large shallow pan greased and floured, and as soon as all the cookies are cut from a piece of dough, pick them up with the aid of a spatula, as in Fig. 9, and arrange them on the pan. Do not place them too close together, or upon baking they will stick to one another and lose their shape. As soon as a pan is filled, set it in the oven, either directly on the bottom or on a low rack. If the temperature of the oven is correct, the cookies should begin to rise within 2 or 3 minutes after they are put into the oven. After they have baked on the bottom and have risen as much as they will, they will appear as shown in Fig. 10. At this point, set them on a higher rack to brown on top. In this browning, they will shrink to some extent, so that the finished cookies will not have so smooth an appearance as when they are placed on the top rack. When done, they should be slightly brown, and if it is found that they are too brown on top, it may be known that the oven temperature was a little too high or perhaps that they should have had a little less time on this rack.

Mola.s.ses cookies require special care to prevent them from burning, for, as is explained in _Hot Breads_, any food containing mola.s.ses burns readily. A comparatively short time is necessary for the baking of cookies, but they should be left in the oven long enough to be thoroughly baked when removed. When ready to serve, properly baked cookies should appear as in Fig. 11.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11]

18. RECIPES FOR COOKIES.--With the principles of cooky making well understood, the housewife is fully qualified to try any of the recipes that follow. As will be noted, a number of recipes are here given and so a pleasing variety may be had. Some of them are suitable for certain occasions and some for others. For instance, barley-mola.s.ses cookies are very good with coffee for breakfast, while filled cookies make an excellent cake for picnic lunches. Cream cookies or vanilla wafers could be served at an afternoon tea, while sand tarts make a very good accompaniment for ice cream or some other dainty dessert. The nature of the cooky will enable the housewife to determine when it should be served.

GINGER SNAPS (Sufficient for 4 Dozen Snaps)

1 c. mola.s.ses 1/3 c. lard or other shortening 1/4 c. b.u.t.ter 3-1/4 c. flour 1/2 tsp. soda 1 Tb. ginger 1 tsp. salt

Heat the mola.s.ses to boiling and pour over the shortening. Sift the dry ingredients together and add these. Cool the mixture until it is stiff and cold, roll as thin as possible, cut with a small round cutter, and bake in a quick oven, being careful not to burn.

CREAM COOKIES (Sufficient for 3 Dozen Cookies)

1/3 c. b.u.t.ter 1 c. sugar 2 eggs 1/2 c. thin cream 1 tsp. vanilla 4 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. mace 3 c. flour

Cream the b.u.t.ter, add the sugar, eggs, the cream, and vanilla. Sift the baking powder, salt, mace, and flour together and add these to the mixture. Roll about 1/4 inch thick and cut. Bake in a hot oven.

VANILLA WAFERS (Sufficient for 6 Dozen Wafers)

1/3 c. shortening 1 c. sugar 1 egg 1/4 c. milk 2 tsp. vanilla 2 c. flour 3 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt

Cream the shortening, add the sugar and egg, and continue beating. Pour in the milk and add the vanilla. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into the mixture. Roll out as thin as possible, cut with a small round cutter, and bake in a hot oven. These wafers should be crisp and thin when finished.

BARLEY-MOLa.s.sES COOKIES (Sufficient for 3 Dozen Cookies)

1 c. mola.s.ses 1/2 c. shortening 1/4 c. milk 2 c. wheat flour 1 c. barley flour 2 tsp. ginger 1 tsp. soda 1/2 tsp. salt

Heat the mola.s.ses, pour it over the shortening, and add the milk. Sift the dry ingredients together, and add to the mixture. Cool, roll about 1/4 inch thick, cut, and bake in a quick oven, being careful not to burn.

OATMEAL COOKIES (Sufficient for 3-1/2 Dozen Cookies)

1 egg 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 c. thin cream 1/4 c. milk 1/2 c. oatmeal 2 c. flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 4 Tb. melted b.u.t.ter

Beat the egg and add the sugar, cream, and milk. Run the oatmeal through a food chopper, and mix with the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir all into the mixture, add the melted b.u.t.ter, and mix thoroughly. Roll thin, cut, and bake in a quick oven.

SAND TARTS (Sufficient for 6 Dozen Tarts)