Then cover it, and let it stand near the fire for a quarter of an hour before you begin to bake it. Bake it in thin cakes on a griddle. Send them to table hot, and eat them with b.u.t.ter, and mola.s.ses or honey.
INDIAN RICE CAKES.--Take equal quant.i.ties of yellow Indian meal and well boiled rice. Mix them together in a pan, the meal and rice alternately, a little at a time of each. The boiled rice may be either hot or cold; but it will be rather best to mix it hot. Having first mixed it with a spoon, knead it well with your hands; moistening it with a little milk or water, if you find it too stiff. Have ready, over the fire, a heated griddle. Grease it with fresh b.u.t.ter tied in a clean white rag; and having made the mixture into flat round cakes, bake them well on both sides. Eat them with b.u.t.ter and sugar, or b.u.t.ter and mola.s.ses, or with b.u.t.ter alone.
PUMPKIN INDIAN CAKES.--Take equal portions of Indian meal, and stewed pumpkin that has been well mashed and drained very dry in a sieve or cullender. Put the stewed pumpkin into a pan, and stir the meal gradually into it, a spoonful at a time, adding a little b.u.t.ter as you proceed. Mix the whole thoroughly, stirring it very hard. If not thick enough to form a stiff dough, add a little more Indian meal. Make it into round, flat cakes, about the size of a m.u.f.fin, and bake them over the fire on a hot griddle greased with b.u.t.ter. Or lay them in a square iron pan, and bake them in an oven.
Send them to table hot, and eat them with b.u.t.ter.
EXCELLENT BUCKWHEAT CAKES.--A quart of buckwheat meal, sifted.--A level tea-spoonful of salt.--A small half-pint, or a large handful of Indian meal.--Two large table-spoonfuls of strong fresh brewer"s yeast, or four table-spoonfuls of home-made yeast.--Sufficient lukewarm water to make a moderate batter. Mix together the buckwheat and Indian meal, and add the salt. Make a hole in the centre of the meal, and pour in the yeast. Then stir in gradually, from a kettle, sufficient tepid or lukewarm water to make a moderately thick batter when united with the yeast. Cover the pan, set it in a warm place, and leave it to rise. It should be light in about three hours. When it has risen high and is covered with bubbles, it is fit to bake. Have ready a clean griddle well heated over the fire.
Grease it well with a bit of fresh b.u.t.ter tied in a clean white rag, and kept on a saucer near you. Then dip out a large ladle-full of the batter, and bake it on the griddle; turning it when brown, with the cake-turner, and baking it brown on the other side. Grease the griddle slightly between baking each cake; or sc.r.a.pe it smooth with a broad knife. As fast as you bake the cakes, lay them, several in a pile, on a hot plate. b.u.t.ter them, and if of large size cut them across into four pieces. Or send them to table to be b.u.t.tered there. Trim off the edges before they go in.
If your batter has been mixed over night, and is found sour in the morning, dissolve a salt-spoon of pearlash or sal-eratus in a little lukewarm water, stir it into the batter, let it stand a quarter of an hour, and then bake it. The alkali will remove the acidity, and increase the lightness of the batter. If you use soda for this purpose it will require a tea-spoonful.
If the batter is kept at night in so cold a place as to freeze, it will be unfit for use. Do not grease the griddle with meat-fat of any sort.
NICE RYE BATTER CAKES.--A quart of lukewarm milk.--Two eggs.--A large table-spoonful of fresh brewer"s yeast, or two of home-made yeast.--Sufficient sifted rye meal to make a moderate batter.--A salt-spoon of salt. Having warmed the milk, beat the eggs very light, and stir them gradually into it, alternately with the rye meal, adding the salt. Put in the meal, a handful at a time, till you have the batter about as thick as for buckwheat cakes. Then stir in the yeast, and give the batter a hard beating, seeing that it is smooth and free from lumps.
Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place to rise. When risen high, and covered with bubbles, the batter is fit to bake. Have ready over the fire a hot griddle, and bake the cakes in the manner of buckwheat. Send them to table hot, and eat them with b.u.t.ter, mola.s.ses, or honey.
Yeast powders, used according to the directions that accompany them, and put in at the last, just before baking, are an improvement to the lightness of all batter cakes, provided that real yeast or eggs are also in the mixture. But it is not well to depend on the powders exclusively, particularly when real yeast is to be had. The lightness produced by yeast powders alone, is not the right sort; and though the cakes are eatable, they are too tough and leathery to be wholesome. As _auxiliaries_ to genuine yeast, and to beaten eggs, yeast powders are excellent.
Indian batter cakes may be made as above--or rye and Indian may be mixed in equal proportions.
INDIAN LIGHT BISCUIT.--A quart of sifted Indian meal.--A pint of sifted wheat flour.--A very small tea-spoonful of salt.--Three pints of milk.--Four eggs. Sift the Indian and wheat meal into a pan, and add the salt. Mix them well. Beat the whites and the yolks of the eggs separately in two pans. The yolks must be beaten till very thick and smooth; the whites to a stiff froth that will stand alone of itself.
Then stir the yolks gradually, (a little at a time,) into the milk. Add by degrees the meal. Lastly, stir in the beaten white of egg, and give the whole a long and hard stirring. b.u.t.ter a sufficient number of cups, or small, deep tins--nearly fill them with the batter. Set them immediately into a hot oven, and bake them fast. Turn them out of the cups. Send them warm to table, pull them open, and eat them with b.u.t.ter.
They will puff up finely if, at the last, you stir in a level tea-spoonful of soda, melted in a little warm water.
INDIAN CUPCAKES.--A pint and a half of yellow Indian meal.--Half a pint of wheat flour.--A pint and a half of _sour_ milk; b.u.t.termilk is best.--A small tea-spoonful of sal-eratus or soda, dissolved in warm water.--Two eggs.--A level tea-spoonful of salt. Sift the Indian and wheat meal into a pan and mix them well, adding the salt. If you have no b.u.t.ter-milk or other sour milk at hand, turn some sweet milk sour by setting a pan of it in the sun, or stirring in a spoonful of vinegar.
Take out a small teacupful of the sour milk, and reserve it to be put in at the last. Beat the eggs very light, and then stir them, gradually, into the milk, alternately with the meal, a little at a time of each.
Lastly, dissolve the soda or sal-eratus, and stir it into the cup of sour milk that has been reserved for the purpose. It will effervesce; stir it while foaming into the mixture, which should be a thick batter.
Have ready some teacups, or little deep tins. b.u.t.ter them well; nearly fill them with the batter, and set them immediately into a rather brisk oven. The cakes must be thoroughly baked all through. When done, turn them out on large plates, and send them hot to the breakfast or tea-table. Split them into three pieces, and eat them with b.u.t.ter.
The soda will entirely remove the acidity of the milk, which will effervesce the better for being sour at first, adding therefore to the lightness of the cake. Taste the milk, and if you find that the slightest sourness remains, add a little more dissolved soda.
All the alkalies, pearlash, sal-eratus, soda, and sal-volatile, will remove acidity, and increase lightness; but if too much is used they will impart a disagreeable taste. It is useless to put lemon or orange juice into any mixture that is afterwards to have one of these alkalies, as they will entirely destroy the flavour of the fruit.
KENTUCKY SWEET CAKE.--A pint of fine yellow Indian meal, sifted.--Half a pint of wheat flour.--Half a pound of powdered white sugar.--Half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter.--Eight eggs.--A powdered nutmeg.--A large tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.--A gla.s.s of white wine.--A gla.s.s of brandy. Having powdered the spice, and mixed together the wine and brandy, put the spice to steep in the liquor. Mix well the Indian meal and the wheat flour, putting them into a broad pan. In another pan, stir together the b.u.t.ter and sugar (as for a pound cake) till they are very light and creamy. Break the eggs into a shallow earthen pan, and beat them till very thick and light. Then, by degrees, stir into the beaten b.u.t.ter and sugar, the spice and the liquor, a little at a time of each.
Afterwards, add alternately the meal and the beaten egg, also a little of each at a time. Stir the whole very hard when all the ingredients are in. b.u.t.ter a straight-sided tin pan, put the mixture into it; set it immediately into a rather brisk oven; and bake it well for three or four hours or more, in proportion to its thickness.
This is a very nice cake. It should be eaten the same day that it is baked; as when stale (even one day old) all Indian cakes become dry, hard, and rough.
It will be improved by the addition of a pound of raisins, stoned, cut in half, and well dredged with wheat flour to prevent their sinking to the bottom. Sultana or seedless raisins are best for all sorts of cakes and puddings.
CAROLINA RICE CAKES.--Having picked and washed half a pint of rice, boil it by itself till the grains lose all form and are dissolved into a thick ma.s.s, or jelly. While warm, mix into it a large lump of the best fresh b.u.t.ter, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Pour into a bowl, a moderate sized teacupful of ground rice-flour; and add to it as much milk as will make a tolerably stiff batter. Stir it till it is quite smooth, and free from lumps. Then mix it thoroughly with the boiled rice. Beat six eggs as light as possible, and stir them, gradually, into the mixture. Bake it on a griddle, in cakes about as large round as a saucer. Eat them warm with b.u.t.ter; and have on the table, in a small bowl, some powdered white sugar and nutmeg, for those who like it.
CAROLINA CORN CAKES.--Mix together in a pan, a pint and a half of sifted corn meal, and a half pint of wheat flour, adding a heaped salt-spoon of salt. Beat three eggs very light. Have ready a quart of _sour_ milk.
(You can turn sweet milk sour by stirring into it a very little vinegar.) Put into a teacup a small tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, and dissolve it in a little lukewarm water. In another teacup melt a salt-spoonful of tartaric acid. Add, alternately, to the milk, the beaten eggs and the mixed meal, a little at a time of each; stirring very hard. Then stir in the melted soda, and lastly the dissolved tartaric acid. Having stirred the whole well together, b.u.t.ter some square pans; fill them with the batter; set them immediately into a hot oven; and bake them well. Serve them up hot, and eat them with b.u.t.ter or mola.s.ses, or both. These cakes may be baked in m.u.f.fin rings. All hot cakes in the form of m.u.f.fins should be pulled open with the fingers when about to be eaten; and not split with a knife, the pressure of the knife tending to make them heavy.
MADISON CAKE.--A pint and a half of sifted yellow corn meal.--Half a pint of wheat flour.--Half a pint of sour milk.--Half a pint of powdered white sugar.--Half a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter.--Six eggs.--A gill, or two wine-gla.s.ses of brandy.--A pound of raisins of the best quality.--A large tea-spoonful of mixed spice, powdered mace, nutmeg, and cinnamon.--A large salt-spoon of sal-eratus, or a small tea-spoonful of soda. If you have no sour milk at hand, turn half a pint of rich milk sour by setting it in the sun, or stirring in a tea-spoonful of vinegar.
For this cake the milk must be sour, that the sal-eratus or soda may act more powerfully by coming in contact with an acid. The acidity will then be entirely removed by the effervescence, and the cake will be rendered very light, and perfectly sweet. Having powdered the spice, put it into the brandy, and let it infuse till wanted. Prepare the raisins by stoning them, and cutting them in half; dredging them well with flour.
They should be muscadel, or bloom raisins, or sultana; if the latter, they will require no seeding. Low-priced raisins, of inferior quality, should never be used for cooking or for any purpose, as they are unwholesome.
Sift the corn meal and the wheat flour into a pan, and mix them well. In another pan mix the b.u.t.ter and sugar, and stir them together with a hickory spaddle (which is like a short mush-stick, only broader at the flattened end) till they are light and creamy. Then add the brandy and spice. In a broad, shallow pan, beat the eggs till very thick and smooth. Then stir them gradually into the b.u.t.ter and sugar in turn with the meal. Dissolve the sal-eratus or soda in a very little lukewarm water, and stir it into the sour milk. Then, while foaming, add the milk to the rest of the mixture, and stir very hard. Lastly, throw in the raisins, a few at a time, and give the whole a hard stirring.
b.u.t.ter a deep square pan or a turban-mould. Put in the mixture. Set it _directly_ into a brisk oven, and bake it at least three hours; or four if in a turban-mould. When half done, the heat should be increased. This cake should be eaten the day it is baked.
NANTUCKET PUDDING.--Six large ears of Indian corn; full grown, but young and soft.--A pint of milk.--A quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter.--A quarter of a pound of sugar.--Four eggs.--Half a nutmeg grated, and five or six blades of mace powdered.--Having first boiled the corn for a quarter of an hour, grate the grains off the cob with a coa.r.s.e grater.
Then add the b.u.t.ter (cut into little bits) and the sugar. Having stirred them well into the corn, thin it with milk. Beat the eggs very light, and add them to the mixture, a little at a time, and finish with the spice. Stir the whole very hard. b.u.t.ter a deep white dish, put in the pudding, set it directly into the oven, and bake it two hours. Send it to table warm, and eat it with b.u.t.ter and sugar, or mola.s.ses. It is not good cold. What is left may be put into a small dish, and baked over again next day, for half an hour; or tied in a cloth, and boiled a while.
SAMP PUDDING.--A pint of samp that has been boiled, and grown cold.--A pint of milk.--Three large table-spoonfuls of fresh b.u.t.ter.--Three large table-spoonfuls of sugar, or half a pint of West India mola.s.ses.--Six eggs.--A table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, or a table-spoonful of ground ginger. Boil the milk; and just after you take it from the fire stir in the b.u.t.ter and sugar; or instead of the sugar half a pint of West India mola.s.ses. Then add the spice, and set the milk, &c., to cool. Beat the eggs till thick and smooth. Then stir them, gradually, into the mixture, a little at a time, in turn with the samp.
b.u.t.ter a deep dish; put in the mixture, and bake it well. Eat it warm, with b.u.t.ter, sugar, and nutmeg beaten together to a cream; or with mola.s.ses and b.u.t.ter.
A rice pudding may be made as above; the rice being previously boiled by itself, and well drained.
A samp pudding may be tied in a cloth and boiled.
A FARMER"S INDIAN PUDDING.--Three small pints of sifted Indian meal, the yellow sort.--A quart of rich milk.--A pint of West India mola.s.ses.--A table-spoonful of ground cinnamon, or ginger. Before you begin, set over the fire a large pot filled with water, which must boil hard by the time the pudding is mixed. Put the milk by itself, into another pot or sauce-pan, and give it a boil. When it has come to a boil, pour it into a deep pan, and stir into it a pint of the best West India mola.s.ses.
Then add, by degrees, the Indian meal, a handful at a time; and lastly, the spice. Stir the whole very hard. Have ready a square pudding-cloth; dip it in boiling water; shake it out; dredge it with flour, and spread it open in a broad pan. Then pour the pudding-batter into the cloth; and, leaving near one-third vacant, as room for it to swell, tie it firmly with tape. Make a morsel of stiff dough with flour and a little water, and with it stop closely the little aperture at the tying-place, to prevent water from getting in there. Plaster it on well. Put the pudding into the large pot of boiling water; cover it closely with the lid; and let it boil steadily for at least three hours; four will not be too long. While boiling, turn it frequently. As the water boils away, replenish it with some more water, kept boiling hard for this purpose, in a kettle. On no account pour in _cold_ water, as that will render the pudding heavy. Turn it out of the cloth immediately before it goes to table, and eat it with b.u.t.ter and mola.s.ses. It will be found excellent.
The West India mola.s.ses will make it as light as if it had eggs.
You may add with the spice, the yellow rind of a large lemon or orange, finely grated.
A VERY NICE BOILED INDIAN PUDDING.--Three pints of sifted Indian meal.--Half a pound of beef-suet, minced as fine as possible.--A quart of milk.--Half a pint of West India mola.s.ses.--Six eggs.--Three or four sticks of cinnamon, broken small.--A grated nutmeg. Having cleared the suet from the skin and strings, chop it as fine as possible, and mix it with the Indian meal. Boil the cinnamon in the milk till it is highly flavoured. Then strain the milk (boiling hot) into the pan of Indian meal and suet, and add the mola.s.ses. Stir the mixture very hard. Cover it and set it away in a cool place. Beat the eggs till quite light, and add them, gradually, to the mixture as soon as it is quite cold. Then grate in the nutmeg. Dip a thick square cloth into boiling water, shake it out, dredge it with flour, and then spread it open in a deep pan, and pour in the mixture. Leaving one-third of the s.p.a.ce vacant allowing for the pudding to swell, tie the cloth very securely, and to guard against water getting into it, plug up the little crack at the tying place by plastering on a bit of dough made of flour and water. Put the pudding into a large pot of boiling water, (having an old plate in the bottom,) and boil it six hours or more, turning it often, and replenishing the pot, when necessary, with boiling water from a kettle. If you dine early, the pudding should be mixed before breakfast. Serve it up hot.
Eat it with wine sauce, with b.u.t.ter and mola.s.ses, or with a sauce of b.u.t.ter, sugar, lemon-juice and nutmeg, beaten together to a cream. What is left of the pudding, may next day be tied in a cloth, and boiled over again for an hour.
BAKED CORN MEAL PUDDING.--A pint of sifted Indian meal.--Half a pint of West India mola.s.ses.--A quarter of a pound of fresh b.u.t.ter.--A pint of milk.--Four eggs.--The yellow rind of a large fresh orange or lemon grated.--A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon and nutmeg mixed. Boil the milk. Sift the Indian meal into an earthen pan, pour the boiling milk over it, and stir them well together. Cut up the b.u.t.ter into a small sauce-pan; pour the mola.s.ses over it; set it on the fire, and let them warm together till the b.u.t.ter is soft, but not oiled. Stir them well, and mix them with the milk and Indian meal. Set the pan in a cool place.
In a separate pan beat the eggs very light, and when the mixture has become cold, add the eggs to it, gradually. Then stir in the spice, and grated orange or lemon peel. Stir the whole very hard. Put the mixture into a b.u.t.tered white dish, and bake it well. Serve it up hot, and eat it with a sauce made of powdered white sugar, and fresh b.u.t.ter seasoned with nutmeg and lemon or orange juice, and stirred together to a cream; or with a liquid sauce of melted b.u.t.ter, wine and nutmeg.
This quant.i.ty of ingredients will make a small pudding. For a large one, allow a double portion of each article, and bake it longer.
It will be improved by gradually stirring in at the last, a pound of Zante currants or of sultana raisins, well dredged with flour.
PUMPKIN INDIAN PUDDING.--Take a pint and a half of cold stewed pumpkin, and mix into it a pint and a half of Indian meal, adding a table-spoonful of ground ginger. Boil a quart of milk, and as soon as you take it from the fire, stir into it a pint of West India mola.s.ses.