The Book of Household Management Part 212

1773. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of flour, 1/2 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 1/2 lb. of pounded loaf sugar, 3 eggs, 1 teacupful of cream, 1/2 lb. of currants, 1 teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, essence of lemon, or almonds to taste.

_Mode_.--Work the b.u.t.ter to a cream; dredge in the flour, add the sugar and currants, and mix the ingredients well together. Whisk the eggs, mix them with the cream and flavouring, and stir these to the flour; add the carbonate of soda, beat the paste well for 10 minutes, put it into small b.u.t.tered pans, and bake the cake from 1/4 to 1/2 hour.

Grated lemon-rind may be subst.i.tuted for the lemon and almond flavouring, which will make the cakes equally nice.

_Time_. 1/4 to 1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, 1s. 9d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

SAUCER-CAKE FOR TEA.

1774. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of flour, 1/4 lb. of _tous-les-mois_, 1/4 lb. of pounded white sugar, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 2 eggs, 1 oz. of candied orange or lemon-peel.

_Mode_.--Mix the flour and _tous-les-mois_ together; add the sugar, the candied peel cut into thin slices, the b.u.t.ter beaten to a cream, and the eggs well whisked. Beat the mixture for 10 minutes, put it into a b.u.t.tered cake-tin or mould, or, if this is not obtainable, a soup-plate answers the purpose, lined with a piece of b.u.t.tered paper. Bake the cake in a moderate oven from 1 to 1-1/4 hour, and when cold, put it away in a covered canister. It will remain good some weeks, even if it be cut into slices.

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

_Average cost_, 1s.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

COMMON SEED-CAKE.

1775. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 quartern of dough, 1/4 lb. of good dripping, 6 oz. of moist sugar, 1/2 oz. of caraway seeds, 1 egg.

_Mode_.--If the dough is sent in from the baker's, put it in a basin covered with a cloth, and set it in a warm place to rise. Then with a wooden spoon beat the dripping to a liquid; add it, with the other ingredients, to the dough, and beat it until everything is very thoroughly mixed. Put it into a b.u.t.tered tin, and bake the cake for rather more than 2 hours.

_Time_.--Rather more than 2 hours.

_Average cost_, 8d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

A VERY GOOD SEED-CAKE.

1776. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 6 eggs, 3/4 lb. of sifted sugar, pounded mace and grated nutmeg to taste, 1 lb. of flour, 3/4 oz. of caraway seeds, 1 winegla.s.sful of brandy.

_Mode_.--Beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream; dredge in the flour; add the sugar, mace, nutmeg, and caraway seeds, and mix these ingredients well together. Whisk the eggs, stir to them the brandy, and beat the cake again for 10 minutes. Put it into a tin lined with b.u.t.tered paper, and bake it from 1-1/2 to 2 hours. This cake would be equally nice made with currants, and omitting the caraway seeds.

_Time_.--1-1/2 to 2 hours. _Average cost_, 2s. 6d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

BREAD-MAKING IN SPAIN.--The bread in the south of Spain is delicious: it is white as snow, close as cake, and yet very light; the flavour is most admirable, for the wheat is good and pure, and the bread well kneaded. The way they make this bread is as follows:--From large round panniers filled with wheat they take out a handful at a time, sorting it most carefully and expeditiously, and throwing every defective grain into another basket. This done, the wheat is ground between two circular stones, as it was ground in Egypt 2,000 years ago (see No. 117), the requisite rotary motion being given by a blindfolded mule, which paces round and round with untiring patience, a bell being attached to his neck, which, as long as he is in movement, tinkles on; and when it stops, he is urged to his duty by the shout of "_Arre, mula_," from some one within hearing. When ground, the wheat is sifted through three sieves, the last of these being so fine that only the pure flour can pa.s.s through it: this is of a pale apricot-colour. The bread is made in the evening. It is mixed with only sufficient water, with a little salt in it, to make it into dough: a very small quant.i.ty of leaven, or fermenting mixture is added. The Scripture says, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump;" but in England, to avoid the trouble of kneading, many put as much leaven or yeast in one batch of household bread as in Spain would last them a week for the six or eight donkey-loads of bread they send every night from their oven. The dough made, it is put into sacks, and carried on the donkeys' backs to the oven in the centre of the village, so as to bake it immediately it is kneaded. On arriving there, the dough is divided into portions weighing 3 lbs. each.

Two long narrow wooden tables on trestles are then placed down the room; and now a curious sight may be seen. About twenty men (bakers) come in and range themselves on one side of the tables.

A lump of dough is handed to the nearest, which he commences kneading and knocking about with all his might for about 3 or 4 minutes, and then pa.s.ses it on to his neighbour, who does the same; and so on successively until all have kneaded it, when it becomes as soft as new putty, and ready for the oven. Of course, as soon as the first baker has handed the first lump to his neighbour, another is given to him, and so on till the whole quant.i.ty of dough is successively kneaded by them all. The bakers' wives and daughters shape the loaves for the oven, and some of them are very small, and they are baked immediately. The ovens are very large, and not heated by fires _under_ them; but a quant.i.ty of twigs of the herbs of sweet marjoram and thyme, which cover the hills in great profusion, are put in the oven and ignited. They heat the oven to any extent required; and, as the bread gets baked, the oven gets gradually colder; so the bread is never burned. They knead the bread in Spain with such force, that the palm of the hand and the second joints of the fingers of the bakers are covered with corns; and it so affects the chest, that they cannot work more than two hours at a time.

SNOW-CAKE.

1777. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of _tous-les-mois_, 1/4 lb. of white pounded sugar, 1/4 lb. of fresh or washed salt b.u.t.ter, 1 egg, the juice of 1 lemon.

_Mode_.--Beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream; then add the egg, previously well beaten, and then the other ingredients; if the mixture is not light, add another egg, and beat for 1/4 hour, until it turns white and light. Line a flat tin, with raised edges, with a sheet of b.u.t.tered paper; pour in the cake, and put it into the oven. It must be rather slow, and the cake not allowed to brown at all. If the oven is properly heated, 1 to 1-1/4 hour will be found long enough to bake it. Let it cool a few minutes, then with a clean sharp knife cut it into small square pieces, which should be gently removed to a large flat dish to cool before putting away. This will keep for several weeks.

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

_Seasonable_ at any time.

SNOW-CAKE.

(_A genuine Scotch Recipe_.)

1778. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of arrowroot, 1/2 lb. of pounded white sugar, 1/2 lb. of b.u.t.ter, the whites of 6 eggs; flavouring to taste, of essence of almonds, or vanilla, or lemon.

_Mode_.--Beat the b.u.t.ter to a cream; stir in the sugar and arrowroot gradually, at the same time beating the mixture. Whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, add them to the other ingredients, and beat well for 20 minutes. Put in whichever of the above flavourings may be preferred; pour the cake into a b.u.t.tered mould or tin and bake it in a moderate oven from 1 to 1-1/2 hour.

_Time_.--1 to 1-1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, with the best Bermuda arrowroot, 4s. 6d.; with St.

Vincent ditto, 2s. 9d.

_Sufficient_ to make a moderate-sized cake. _Seasonable_ at any time.

Sc.r.a.p-CAKES.

1779. INGREDIENTS.--2 lbs. of leaf, or the inside fat of a pig; 1-1/2 lb. of flour, 1/4 lb. of moist sugar, 1/2 lb. of currants, 1 oz. of candied lemon-peel, ground allspice to taste.

_Mode_.--Cut the leaf, or flead, as it is sometimes called, into small pieces; put it into a large dish, which place in a quick oven; be careful that it does not burn, and in a short time it will be reduced to oil, with the small pieces of leaf floating on the surface; and it is of these that the cakes should be made. Gather all the sc.r.a.ps together, put them into a basin with the flour, and rub them well together. Add the currants, sugar, candied peel, cut into thin slices, and the ground allspice. When all these ingredients are well mixed, moisten with sufficient cold water to make the whole into a nice paste; roll it out thin, cut it into shapes, and bake the cakes in a quick oven from 15 to 20 minutes. These are very economical and wholesome cakes for children, and the lard, melted at home, produced from the flead, is generally better than that you purchase. To prevent the lard from burning, and to insure its being a good colour, it is better to melt it in a jar placed in a saucepan of boiling water; by doing it in this manner, there will be no chance of its discolouring.

_Time_.--15 to 20 minutes.

_Sufficient_ to make 3 or 4 dozen cakes.

_Seasonable_ from September to March.

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

Wheat is liable to several diseases, which affect the flour made from it, and render it unfit for good bread. The princ.i.p.al of these are the blight, mildew, and s.m.u.t, which are occasioned by microscopic fungi, which sow themselves and grow upon the stems and ears, destroying the nutritive principles, and introducing matter of a deleterious kind. The farmer is at the utmost pains to keep away these intruders. Wheat, as well as all kinds of corn, is also very liable to be injured by being stacked before it is quite dry; in which case it will heat, and become musty in the ricks. In wet harvests it is sometimes impossible to get it sufficiently dried, and a great deal of corn is thus often spoiled. It is generally reckoned that the sweetest bread is made from wheat threshed out before it is stacked; which shows the importance of studying the best modes of preserving it.

The erudite are not agreed as to the aboriginal country of corn: some say it is Egypt, others Tartary; and the learned Bailly, as well as the traveller Pallas, affirms that it grows spontaneously in Siberia. Be that as it may, the Phocians brought it to Ma.r.s.eilles before the Romans had penetrated into Gaul. The Gauls ate the corn cooked or bruised in a mortar: they did not know, for a long time, how to make fermented bread.

SCOTCH SHORTBREAD.