The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) Part 61

FRUIT LAYER CAKE.

This is a delicious novelty in cake-making. Take one cup of sugar, half a cup of b.u.t.ter, one cup and a half of flour, half a cup of wine, one cup of raisins, two eggs and half a teaspoonful of soda; put these ingredients together with care; just as if it were a very rich cake; bake it in three layers and put frosting between--the frosting to be made of the whites of two eggs with enough powdered sugar to make it thick. The top of the cake may be frosted if you choose.

WHIPPED CREAM CAKE.

One cup of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of soft b.u.t.ter stirred together; add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, then add four tablespoonfuls of milk, some flavoring, then the beaten whites of the eggs. Mix a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and half a teaspoon of soda in a cup of flour, sift it into the cake batter and stir lightly. Bake in a small whipping-pan. When the cake is cool, have ready half of a pint of sweet cream sweetened and whipped to a stiff froth, also flavored. Spread it over the cake while fresh. To whip the cream easily, set it on ice before whipping.

ROLLED JELLY CAKE.

Three eggs, one teacup of fine sugar, one teacup of flour; beat the yolks until light, then add the sugar, then add two tablespoonfuls of water, a pinch of salt; lastly stir in the flour, in which there should be a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. The flour added gradually. Bake in long, shallow biscuit-tins, well greased. Turn out on a damp towel on a bread-board, cover the top with jelly, and roll up while warm.

TO CUT LAYER CAKE.

When cutting Layer Cakes, it is better to first make a round hole in the cake with a knife or tin tube about an inch and a quarter in diameter. This prevents the edge of the cake from crumbling when cutting it.

When making custard filling for Layer Cake always set the dish containing the custard in another dish of boiling water over the fire; this prevents its burning, which would destroy its flavor.

LAYER JELLY CAKE.

Almost any soft cake recipe can be used for jelly cake. The following is excellent: One cup of sugar, half a cup of b.u.t.ter, three eggs, half a cup of sweet milk, two cups of flour, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder, flavoring.

For white, delicate cake the rule for "Silver Cake" is fine; care should be taken, however, that the oven is just right for this cake, as it browns very easily. To be baked in jelly-cake tins in layers, with filling put between when done.

CUSTARD OR CREAM CAKE.

Cream together two cups of sugar and half a cup of b.u.t.ter; add half a cup of sweet milk in which is dissolved half a teaspoonful of soda.

Beat the whites of six eggs to a stiff froth and add to the mixture.

Have one heaping teaspoonful of cream of tartar stirred thoroughly into three cups of sifted flour and add quickly. Bake in a moderate oven in layers like jelly cake, and, when done, spread custard between.

_For the Custard._--Take two cups of sweet milk, put it into a clean suitable dish, set it in a dish of _boiling_ water on the range or stove. When the milk comes to a boil add two tablespoonfuls of cornstarch or flour stirred into half a cup of sugar, adding the yolks of four eggs and a little cold milk. Stir this into the boiling milk and when cooked thick enough set aside to cool; afterwards add the flavoring, either vanilla or lemon. It is best to make the custard first, before making the cake part.

HICKORY NUT OR WALNUT CAKE.

Two cups of fine white sugar creamed with half a cup of b.u.t.ter, three eggs, two-thirds of a cup of sweet milk, three cups of sifted flour, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder sifted through the flour; a tablespoonful (level) of powdered mace, a coffeecup of hickory nut or walnut meats chopped a little. Fill the cake-pans with a layer of the cake, then a layer of raisins upon that, then strew over these a handful of nuts, and so on until the pan is two-thirds full. Line the tins with well-b.u.t.tered paper and bake in a steady, but not quick, oven. This is most excellent.

CHEAP CREAM CAKE.

One cup of sugar, one egg, one cup sweet milk, two cups flour, one tablespoonful b.u.t.ter, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder; flavor to taste. Divide into three parts and bake in round shallow pans.

_Cream._--Beat one egg and one-half cup sugar together, then add one-quarter cup flour, wet with a very little milk and stir this mixture into one-half pint of boiling milk, until thick; flavor to taste. Spread the cream when cool between the cakes.

SOFT GINGER CAKE.

Stir to a cream one cupful of b.u.t.ter and half a cupful of brown sugar; add to this two cupfuls of cooking mola.s.ses, a cupful of sweet milk, a tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon; beat all thoroughly together, then add three eggs, the whites and yolks beaten separately; beat into this two cups of sifted flour, then a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a spoonful of water and last, two more cupfuls of sifted flour. b.u.t.ter and paper two common square bread-pans, divide the mixture and pour half into each. Bake in a moderate oven. This cake requires long and slow baking, from forty to sixty minutes. I find that if sour milk is used the cakes are much lighter, but either sweet or sour is most excellent.

HARD GINGERBREAD.

Made the same as "Soft Gingerbread," omitting the eggs and mixing hard enough to roll out like biscuit; rolled nearly half an inch thick and cut out like small biscuits, or it can be baked in a sheet or on a biscuit-tin; cut slits a quarter of an inch deep across the top of the tin from side to side. When baked and while hot, rub over the top with mola.s.ses and let it dry on.

These two recipes are the best I have ever found among a large variety that I have tried, the ingredients giving the best proportion for flavor and excellence.

PLAIN GINGERBREAD.

One cup of _dark_ cooking mola.s.ses, one cup of sour cream, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water, a teaspoonful of salt and one heaping teaspoonful of ginger; make about as thick as cup cake. To be eaten warm.

WHITE GINGER BISCUIT.

One cup of b.u.t.ter, two cups of sugar, one cup of sour cream or milk, three eggs, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a tablespoonful of warm water, one tablespoonful of ginger, one teaspoonful of ground cinnamon and five cups of sifted flour, or enough to roll out _soft_.

Cut out rather thick like biscuits; brush over the tops, while hot, with the white of an egg, or sprinkle with sugar while hot.

The grated rind and the juice of an orange add much to the flavor of ginger cake.

GOLD AND SILVER CAKE.

This cake is baked in layers like jelly cake. Divide the silver cake batter and color it pink with a little cochineal; this gives you pink, white and yellow layers. Put together with frosting. Frost the top.

This can be put together like marble cake, first a spoonful of one kind, then another, until the dish is full.

BOSTON CREAM CAKES.

Put into a large-sized saucepan half a cup of b.u.t.ter and one cup of hot water; set it on the fire; when the mixture begins to boil, turn in a pint of sifted flour at once, beat and work it well with a vegetable masher until it is very smooth. Remove from the fire, and when cool enough add five eggs that have been well beaten, first the yolks and then the whites, also half a teaspoonful of soda and a teaspoonful of salt. Drop on b.u.t.tered tins in large spoonfuls about two inches apart. Bake in a quick oven about fifteen minutes. When done and quite cold, open them on the side with a knife or scissors and put in as much of the custard as possible.

_Cream for Filling._--Made of two eggs, three tablespoonfuls of sifted flour (or half cup of cornstarch) and one cup of sugar. Put two-thirds of a pint of milk over the fire in a double boiler; in a third of a pint of milk, stir the sugar, flour and beaten eggs. As soon as the milk looks like boiling, pour in the mixture and stir briskly for three minutes, until it thickens; then remove from the fire and add a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter; when cool, flavor with vanilla or lemon and fill your cakes.

CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS.

Make the mixture exactly like the recipe for "Boston Cream Cakes."

Spread it on b.u.t.tered pans in oblong pieces about four inches long and one and a half wide, to be laid about two inches apart; they must be baked in a rather quick oven about twenty-five minutes. As soon as baked ice with chocolate icing, and when this is cold split them on one side and fill with the same cream as "Boston Cream Cakes."

HUCKLEBERRY CAKE.

Beat a cup of b.u.t.ter and two cups of sugar together until light, then add a half cup of milk, four eggs beaten separately, the yolks to a cream and the whites to a stiff froth, one teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, the same of cinnamon and two teaspoonfuls of baking powder.

The baking powder to be rubbed into the flour. Bub one quart of huckleberries well with some flour and add them last, but do not mash them. Pour into b.u.t.tered pans, about an inch thick; dust the tops with sugar and bake. It is better the day after baking.