The Book of Household Management Part 207

_Sufficient_ to make 18 buns.

TO MAKE GOOD PLAIN BUNS.

1730. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 6 oz. of good b.u.t.ter, 1/4 lb. of sugar, 1 egg, nearly 1/4 pint of milk, 2 small teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, a few drops of essence of lemon.

_Mode_.--Warm the b.u.t.ter, without oiling it; beat it with a wooden spoon; stir the flour in gradually with the sugar, and mix these ingredients well together. Make the milk lukewarm, beat up with it the yolk of the egg and the essence of lemon, and stir these to the flour, &c. Add the baking-powder, beat the dough well for about 10 minutes, divide it into 24 pieces, put them into b.u.t.tered tins or cups, and bake in a brisk oven from 20 to 30 minutes.

_Time_.--20 to 30 minutes. _Average cost_, 1s.

_Sufficient_ to make 12 buns. _Seasonable_ at any time.

LIGHT BUNS.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUNS.]

1731. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 teaspoonful of tartaric acid, 1/2 teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda, 1 lb. of flour, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 2 oz. of loaf sugar, 1/4 lb. of currants or raisins,--when liked, a few caraway seeds, 1/2 pint of cold new milk, 1 egg.

_Mode_.--Rub the tartaric acid, soda, and flour all together through a hair sieve; work the b.u.t.ter into the flour; add the sugar, currants, and caraway seeds, when the flavour of them latter is liked. Mix all these ingredients well together; make a hole in the middle of the flour, and pour in the milk, mixed with the egg, which should be well beaten; mix quickly, and set the dough, with a fork, on baking-tins, and bake the buns for about 20 minutes. This mixture makes a very good cake, and if put into a tin, should be baked 1-1/2 hour. The same quant.i.ty of flour, soda, and tartaric acid, with 1/2 pint of milk and a little salt, will make either bread or teacakes, if wanted quickly.

_Time_.--20 minutes for the buns; if made into a cake, 1-1/2 hour.

_Sufficient_ to make about 12 buns.

VICTORIA BUNS.

1732. INGREDIENTS.--2 oz. of pounded loaf sugar, 1 egg, 1-1/2 oz. of ground rice, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1-1/2 oz. of currants, a few thin slices of candied peel; flour.

_Mode_.--Whisk the egg, stir in the sugar, and beat these ingredients well together; beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream, stir in the ground rice, currants, and candied peel, and as much flour as will make it of such a consistency that it may be rolled into 7 or 8 b.a.l.l.s. Put these on to a b.u.t.tered tin, and bake them from 1/2 to 3/4 hour. They should be put into the oven immediately, or they will become heavy; and the oven should be tolerably brisk.

_Time_.--1/2 to 3/4 hour. _Average cost_, 6d.

_Sufficient_ to make 7 or 8 buns. _Seasonable_ at any time.

ITALIAN RUSKS.

1733. A stale Savoy or lemon cake may be converted into very good rusks in the following manner. Cut the cake into slices, divide each slice in two; put them on a baking-sheet, in a slow oven, and when they are of a nice brown and quite hard, they are done. They should be kept in a closed tin canister in a dry place, to preserve their crispness.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PANNICLED MILLET.]

PANNICLED MILLET.--This is the smallest-seeded of the corn-plants, being a true gra.s.s; but the number of the seeds in each ear makes up for their size. It grows in sandy soils that will not do for the cultivation of many other kinds of grain, and forms the chief sustenance in the arid districts of Arabia, Syria, Nubia, and parts of India. It is not cultivated in England, being princ.i.p.ally confined to the East. The nations who make use of it grind it, in the primitive manner, between two stones, and make it into a diet which, cannot be properly called bread, but rather a kind of soft thin cake half-baked. When we take into account that the Arabians are fond of lizards and locusts as articles of food, their _cuisine_, altogether, is scarcely a tempting one.

TO MAKE RUSKS.

(_Suffolk Recipe_.)

1734. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of flour allow 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 1/4 pint of milk, 2 oz. of loaf sugar, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoonful of yeast.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RUSKS.]

_Mode_.--Put the milk and b.u.t.ter into a saucepan, and keep shaking it round until the latter is melted. Put the flour into a basin with the sugar, mix these well together, and beat the eggs. Stir them with the yeast to the milk and b.u.t.ter, and with this liquid work the flour into a smooth dough. Cover a cloth over the basin, and leave the dough to rise by the side of the fire; then knead it, and divide it into 12 pieces; place them in a brisk oven, and bake for about 20 minutes. Take the rusks out, break them in half, and then set them in the oven to get crisp on the other side. When cold, they should be put into tin canisters to keep them dry; and, if intended for the cheese course, the sifted sugar should be omitted.

_Time_.--20 minutes to bake the rusks; 5 minutes to render them crisp after being divided.

_Average cost_, 8d.

_Sufficient_ to make 2 dozen rusks. _Seasonable_ at any time.

ALMOND ICING FOR CAKES.

1735. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of finely-pounded loaf sugar allow 1 lb. of sweet almonds, the whites of 4 eggs, a little rose-water.

_Mode_.--Blanch the almonds, and pound them (a few at a time) in a mortar to a paste, adding a little rose-water to facilitate the operation. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a strong froth; mix them with the pounded almonds, stir in the sugar, and beat altogether. When the cake is sufficiently baked, lay on the almond icing, and put it into the oven to dry. Before laying this preparation on the cake, great care must be taken that it is nice and smooth, which is easily accomplished by well beating the mixture.

SUGAR ICING FOR CAKES.

1736. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of loaf sugar allow the whites of 4 eggs, 1 oz. of fine starch.

_Mode_.--Beat the eggs to a strong froth, and gradually sift in the sugar, which should be reduced to the finest possible powder, and gradually add the starch, also finely powdered. Beat the mixture well until the sugar is smooth; then with a spoon or broad knife lay the icing equally over the cakes. These should then be placed in a very cool oven, and the icing allowed to dry and harden, but not to colour. The icing may be coloured with strawberry or currant-juice, or with prepared cochineal. If it be put on the cakes as soon as they are withdrawn from the oven, it will become firm and hard by the time the cakes are cold.

On very rich cakes, such as wedding, christening cakes, &c., a layer of almond icing, No. 1735, is usually spread over the top, and over that the white icing as described. All iced cakes should be kept in a very dry place.

BISCUIT POWDER, generally used for Infants' Food.

1737. This powder may be purchased in tin canisters, and may also be prepared at home. Dry the biscuits well in a slow oven; roll them and grind them with a rolling-pin on a clean board, until they are reduced to powder; sift it through a close hair sieve, and it is fit for use. It should be kept in well-covered tins, and in a dry place.

ARROWROOT BISCUITS OR DROPS.

1738. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 6 eggs, 1/2 lb. of flour, 6 oz.

of arrowroot, 1/2 lb. of pounded loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--Beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream; whisk the eggs to a strong froth, add them to the b.u.t.ter, stir in the flour a little at a time, and beat the mixture well. Break down all the lumps from the arrowroot, and add that with the sugar to the other ingredients. Mix all well together, drop the dough on a b.u.t.tered tin, in pieces the size of a s.h.i.+lling, and bake the biscuits about 1/4 hour in a slow oven.

_Time_.--1/4 hour.

_Average cost_, 2s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ to make from 3 to 4 dozen biscuits.

_Seasonable_ at any time.