The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Part 58

Peel two large oranges, remove the seeds, chop them fine, add half a peeled lemon, one cup of sugar and the well-beaten white of an egg.

Spread between the layers of "Silver Cake" recipe.

No. 13. FIG FILLING.

Take a pound of figs, chop fine, and put into a stewpan on the stove; pour over them a teacupful of water and add a half cup of sugar. Cook all together until soft and smooth. When cold spread between layers of cake.

No. 14. FRUIT FILLING.

Four tablespoonfuls of _very finely_ chopped citron, four tablespoonfuls of finely chopped seeded raisins, half a cupful of blanched almonds chopped fine, also a quarter of a pound of finely chopped figs. Beat the whites of three eggs to a stiff froth, adding half of a cupful of sugar; then mix thoroughly into this the whole of the chopped ingredients. Put it between the layers of cake when the cake is _hot_, so that it will cook the egg a little. This will be found delicious.

BREAD OR RAISED CAKE.

Two cupfuls of raised dough; beat into it two-thirds of a cup of b.u.t.ter and two cups of sugar creamed together, three eggs, well beaten, one even teaspoonful of soda dissolved in two tablespoonfuls of milk, half a nutmeg grated, one tablespoonful of cinnamon, a teaspoonful of cloves, one cup of raisins. Mix all well together, put in the beaten whites of eggs and raisins last; beat all hard for several minutes; put in b.u.t.tered pans and let it stand half an hour to rise again before baking. Bake in a _moderate_ oven. Half a gla.s.s of brandy is an improvement, if you have it convenient.

FRUIT CAKE. (Superior.)

Three pounds dry flour, one pound sweet b.u.t.ter, one pound sugar, three pounds stoned raisins, two pounds currants, three-quarters of a pound sweet almonds blanched, one pound citron, twelve eggs, one tablespoonful allspice, one teaspoonful cloves, two tablespoonfuls cinnamon, two nutmegs, one wine-gla.s.s of wine, one wine-gla.s.s of brandy, one coffeecupful mola.s.ses with the spices in it; steep this gently twenty or thirty minutes, not boiling hot; beat the eggs very lightly; put the fruit in last, stirring it gradually, also a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of water; the fruit should be well floured; if necessary add flour after the fruit is in; b.u.t.ter a sheet of paper and lay it in the pan. Lay in some slices of citron, then a layer of the mixture, then of citron again, etc., till the pan is nearly full. Bake three or four hours, according to the thickness of the loaves, in a tolerably hot oven, and with steady heat. Let it cool in the oven gradually. Ice when cold. It improves this cake very much to add three teaspoonfuls of baking powder to the flour. A fine wedding cake recipe.

FRUIT CAKE BY MEASURE, (Excellent.)

Two scant teacupfuls of b.u.t.ter, three cupfuls of dark brown sugar, six eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, one pound of raisins, seeded, one of currants, washed and dried, and half a pound of citron cut in thin strips; also half a cupful of cooking mola.s.ses and half a cupful of sour milk. Stir the b.u.t.ter and sugar to a cream, add to that half a grated nutmeg, ope tablespoonful of ground cinnamon, one teaspoonful of cloves, one teaspoonful of mace, add the mola.s.ses and sour milk. Stir all well; then put in the beaten yolks of eggs, a wine-gla.s.s of brandy; stir again all thoroughly, and then add four cupfuls of sifted flour alternately with the beaten whites of eggs.

Now dissolve a level teaspoonful of soda and stir in thoroughly. Mix the fruit together and stir into it two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour; then stir it in the cake. b.u.t.ter two common-sized baking tins carefully, line them with letter paper well b.u.t.tered, and bake in a moderate oven two hours. After it is baked, let it cool in the pan.

Afterward put it into a tight can, or let it remain in the pans and cover tightly. Best recipe of all.

_Mrs. S. A. Camp, Grand Rapids, Mich._

WHITE FRUIT CAKE.

One cup of b.u.t.ter, two cups of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, two and one-half cups of flour, the whites of seven eggs, two even teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one pound each of seeded raisins, figs and blanched almonds, and one quarter of a pound of citron, all chopped fine. Mix all thoroughly before adding the fruit; add a teaspoonful of lemon extract. Put baking powder in the flour and mix it well before adding it to the other ingredients. Sift a little flour over the fruit before stirring it in. Bake slowly two hours and try with a splint to see when it is done. A cup of grated cocoanut is a nice addition to this cake.

MOLa.s.sES FRUIT CAKE.

One teacupful of b.u.t.ter, one teacupful of brown sugar, worked well together; next, two teacupfuls of cooking mola.s.ses, one cupful of milk with a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it, one tablespoonful of ginger, one tablespoonful of cinnamon and one teaspoonful of cloves, a little grated nutmeg. Now add four eggs well beaten and five cups of sifted flour, or enough to make a stiff batter. Flour a cup of raisins and one of currants; add last. Bake in a very _moderate_ oven one hour. If well covered will keep six months.

SPONGE CAKE.

SEPARATE the whites and yolks of six eggs. Beat the yolks to a cream, to which add two teacupfuls of powdered sugar, beating again from five to ten minutes, then add two tablespoonfuls of milk or water, a pinch of salt and flavoring. Now add part of the beaten whites; then two cups of flour in which you have sifted two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; mix gradually into the above ingredients, stirring slowly and lightly, only enough to mix them well; lastly add the remainder of the whites of the eggs. Line the tins with b.u.t.tered paper and fill two-thirds full.

WHITE SPONGE CAKE.

Whites of five eggs, one cup of flour, one cup sugar, one teaspoonful baking powder; flavor with vanilla. Bake in a quick oven.

ALMOND SPONGE CAKE.

The addition of almonds makes this cake very superior to the usual sponge cake. Sift one pint of fine flour; blanch in scalding water two ounces of sweet and two ounces of bitter almonds, renewing the hot water when expedient; when the skins are all off wash the almonds in cold water (mixing the sweet and bitter) and wipe them dry; pound them to a fine, smooth paste (one at a time), adding, as you proceed, water or white of egg to prevent their boiling. Set them in a cool place; beat ten eggs, the whites and yolks separately, till very smooth and thick, and then beat into them gradually two cups powdered sugar in turn with the pounded almonds; lastly, add the flour, stirring it round slowly and lightly on the surface of the mixture, as in common sponge cake; have ready b.u.t.tered a _deep_ square pan; put the mixture carefully into it, set into the oven and bake till thoroughly done and risen very high; when cool, cover it with plain white icing flavored with rose-water, or with almond icing. With sweet almonds always use a small portion of bitter; without them, _sweet_ almonds have little or no taste, though they add to the richness of the cake.

Use two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder in the flour.

OLD-FASHIONED SPONGE CAKE.

Two cups of sifted white sugar, two cups of flour measured before sifting, ten eggs. Stir the yolks and sugar together until perfectly light; add a pinch of salt; beat the whites of the eggs to a very stiff froth and add them with the flour, after beating together lightly; flavor with lemon. Bake in a _moderate_ oven about forty-five minutes. Baking powder is an improvement to this cake, using two large teaspoonfuls.

LEMON SPONGE CAKE.

Into one level cup of flour put a level teaspoonful of baking powder and sift it. Grate off the yellow rind of a lemon. Separate the whites from the yolks of four eggs. Measure a scant cup of white granulated sugar and beat it to a cream with the yolks, then add the grated rind and a tablespoonful of the juice of the lemon. Stir together until thick and creamy; now beat the whites to a stiff froth; then quickly and lightly mix _without beating_ a third of the flour with the yolks; then a third of the whites; then more flour and whites until all are used. The mode of mixing must be very light, rather cutting down through the cake batter than to beating it; beating the eggs makes them light, but beating the batter makes the cake tough. Bake immediately until a straw run into it can be withdrawn clean.

This recipe is especially nice for Charlotte Russe, being so light and porous.

PLAIN SPONGE CAKE.

Beat the yolks of four eggs together with two cups of fine powdered sugar. Stir in gradually one cup of sifted flour and the whites of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth, then a cup of sifted flour in which two teaspoonfuls of baking powder have been stirred, and, lastly, a scant teacupful of boiling water, stirred in a little at a time.

Flavor, add salt and, however thin the mixture may seem, do not add any more flour. Bake in shallow tins.

BRIDE'S CAKE.

Cream together one scant cup of b.u.t.ter and three cups of sugar; add one cup of milk, then the beaten whites of twelve eggs; sift three teaspoonfuls of baking powder into one cup of cornstarch mixed with three cups of sifted flour and beat in gradually with the rest; flavor to taste. Beat all thoroughly, then put in b.u.t.tered tins lined with letter paper well b.u.t.tered; bake slowly in a _moderate_ oven. A beautiful white cake. Ice the top. Double the recipe if more is required.

ENGLISH POUND CAKE.

One pound of b.u.t.ter, one and one-quarter pounds of flour, one pound of pounded loaf sugar, one pound of currants, nine eggs, two ounces of candied peel, one-half ounce of citron, one-half ounce of sweet almonds; when liked, a little pounded mace. Work the b.u.t.ter to a cream; add the sugar, then the well-beaten yolks of eggs, next the flour, 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 whites of eggs and let them be thoroughly blended with the other ingredients. Beat the cake well for twenty minutes and put it into a round tin, lined at the bottom and sides with strips of white b.u.t.tered paper. Bake it from two hours to two and a half, 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. A gla.s.s of wine is usually added to the mixture, but this is scarcely necessary, as the cake will be found quite rich enough without it.

PLAIN POUND CAKE.

This is the old-fashioned recipe that our mothers used to make, and it can be kept for weeks in an earthen jar, closely covered, first dipping letter paper in brandy and placing over the top of the cake before covering the jar.

Beat to a cream one pound of b.u.t.ter with one pound of sugar, after mixing well with the beaten yolks of twelve eggs, one grated nutmeg, one gla.s.s of wine, one gla.s.s of rose-water. Then stir in one pound of sifted flour and the well-beaten whites of the eggs. Bake a nice light brown.

COCOANUT POUND CAKE.

One-half cupful of b.u.t.ter, two cupfuls of sugar, one cupful of milk, and five eggs, beaten to a stiff froth; one teaspoonful of soda and two of cream of tartar, stirred into four cups of sifted flour. Beat the b.u.t.ter and sugar until very light; to which add the beaten yolks, then the milk, the beaten whites of eggs, then the flour by degrees.

After beating all well together, add a small cocoanut grated. Line the cake-pans with paper well b.u.t.tered, fill rather more than half full and bake in a _moderate_ oven. Spread over the top a thin frosting, sprinkled thickly with grated cocoanut.