WHITE POUND CAKE
Four ounces of b.u.t.ter, One and one-half cups of sugar.
Cream until light and frothy, and then add
One cupful of milk, Three and one-half cupfuls of flour, Four teaspoonfuls of baking powder, One teaspoonful of almond extract, One-half teaspoonful of mace.
Beat for five minutes to blend and then cut and fold in the stiffly beaten whites of five eggs. Bake in prepared pans for one hour in a moderate oven. Use the pans prepared the same as for the fruit cake.
Golden cake may be made from this recipe, using the yolks of seven eggs.
To use successfully you must use good shortening, pastry flour, granulated sugar and fresh eggs. Exact care in measuring with the proper methods of compounding and finally careful baking are necessary. Now for another point: do not stir the cake after its final beating.
In filling the cake pan put the mixture well into the corners and leave a slight depression in the centre. This will leave the cake perfectly smooth on top. Now, if the oven is too cool when the cakes go into it the cake will rise over the top of the pans and become coa.r.s.e-grained. While, on the other hand, if it is too hot it will brown quickly on the top before the cake has had a chance to rise; then when the dough does attempt to rise it will break through and crack the crust. Too much flour will also cause this. Now to break the old hoodoos about cake-baking! You may look at the cake after it is in the oven ten minutes if you will open and shut the oven door gently, and if necessary to remove the cake wait until it has reached its full height and is beginning to brown. Then it may be removed carefully without danger of falling. Sometimes it may be necessary to remove the cakes so that they may brown evenly. Icing the cakes greatly improves their appearance. Should the cake for any reason scorch, don"t trim it with a knife. This spoils its appearance; instead use a grater and remove the scorched part.
Turn the cakes to cool upon a sieve or wire cake-rack. Do not attempt to ice a cake until it is cool and then coat the entire cake over with a plain water icing.
A SMALL POUND CAKE
Four ounces of b.u.t.ter, One cupful of sugar.
Place in a warm bowl and cream until light and frothy; now add yolks of four eggs and beat well for ten minutes, then add
Three cupfuls of flour, Four level teaspoonfuls baking powder, One cupful of milk, One teaspoonful of nutmeg.
Beat hard for fifteen minutes and then carefully fold in the stiffly beaten white of an egg and then pour into a prepared pan and bake for sixty minutes in slow oven.
A LARGE POUND CAKE
One and one-half cupfuls of sugar, Eight ounces of shortening.
Cream together until light and fluffy and then add
Yolks of six eggs, Five cupfuls of sifted flour, Three level teaspoons of baking powder, One and one-half cupfuls of milk, One teaspoonful of mace.
Beat for twenty minutes to blend and then carefully fold in the stiffly beaten whites of the six eggs. Bake in a prepared pan for eighty minutes in a moderate oven.
COBBLER, SOUTHERN STYLE
Select the fruit desired and to one quart of stewed fruit add
One and one-half cups of fine bread crumbs, One cup of brown sugar, Three tablespoonfuls of melted shortening, One teaspoon of nutmeg or cinnamon.
Mix well and then turn into well-greased baking dish and cover with a crust of pastry. Bake in a slow oven for forty minutes. Serve with either fruit or vanilla sauce.
CHERRY ROLY-POLY
Place in a mixing bowl
Two and one-half cups of sifted flour, Two tablespoons of baking powder, One teaspoon of salt, One-half cup of sugar.
Sift to mix. Now rub in one-half cup of shortening and mix to a dough with three-quarters cup of water. Roll out one-quarter inch thick and fill with the prepared cherries. Roll as for jelly roll and then place in a well-greased and floured pan. Bake in a moderate oven for thirty-five minutes, basting every ten minutes with syrup made from
One-half cup of brown sugar, Three-quarters cup of boiling water.
To prepare the cherries: Stone two pounds of cherries and place in a saucepan and add
One cup of brown sugar, Four tablespoons of water.
Cook slowly until the cherries are soft and then add
Two tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in Three tablespoons of water.
Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes. Cool and use. This mixture must be very thick.
OATMEAL DROPS
Place in a saucepan
One cup of corn syrup, One-half cup of shortening, One cup of chopped raisins.
Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes and then add
One teaspoon of soda dissolved in Four tablespoons of cold water, Two cups of rolled oats, One-half cup of flour, One-half teaspoon of nutmeg.
Mix and then drop by the spoonful on a greased and floured baking sheet two inches apart. Bake in a hot oven for ten minutes.
CHEESE CAKE
Use level measurements. Place in a saucepan
One cupful of milk, Two tablespoonfuls cornstarch.
Dissolve the starch in the milk and then bring to a boil. Cook for five minutes. Cool and then rub one and one-half cupfuls of cottage cheese through a sieve. Add
One teaspoonful of nutmeg, Two yolks of eggs, One teaspoonful of vanilla extract, Two-thirds cup of sugar.
Beat to cream and then fill into the oblong cheese-cake pan, which has been lined with plain pastry. Bake in a slow oven for thirty minutes.
SOFT CHOCOLATE COOKIES
One-half cup of brown sugar, One-half cup of syrup, Six tablespoons of shortening, One egg.