Mix thoroughly the baking-powder and salt with the flour. Stir the milk and yolks together; add the b.u.t.ter, melted; then the flour, and lastly fold in the whipped whites. Turn into hot gem-pans, and bake at once in a very hot oven for fifteen to twenty minutes. Serve immediately.
=RAISED m.u.f.fINS=
1 pint of milk, scalded.
1/2 compressed yeast-cake.
2 tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
1 teaspoonful of salt.
About 2-1/2 cupfuls of flour.
Scald the milk, and add the b.u.t.ter, sugar and salt. When it has become lukewarm, add the yeast dissolved in a quarter cupful of lukewarm water.
Stir in enough flour to make a drop batter, cover it well, place it in a warm place free from draughts, and let rise over night. In the morning stir it down, grease some m.u.f.fin-rings, place them on a hot greased griddle, fill the rings half full of batter. It will rise to the top.
Turn the m.u.f.fins with a pancake turner and bake them on both sides until a thin brown crust is formed. Two eggs may be added to the batter in the morning if desired. If so, beat the yolks and whites separately and add the whites last.
=ENGLISH m.u.f.fINS OR CRUMPETS=
Use the receipt for raised m.u.f.fins, omitting the sugar and eggs. Do not bake them so much. Turn them before the crust becomes brown. When cold, pull them apart and toast them.
=SALLY LUNN=
This is the same as the receipt for m.u.f.fins No. 1, using three eggs instead of two, and baking it in a cake-tin instead of gem-pans. In this form it is served for luncheon or for tea.
=WAFFLES=
2 cupfuls of flour.
1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
1-1/4 cupfuls of milk.
1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, or lard, or cottolene.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
3 eggs beaten separately.
Mix the flour, baking-powder, and salt thoroughly together. Mix the yolks with the milk; then the melted b.u.t.ter, the flour, and lastly the beaten whites. Have the waffle-iron very clean; let it be thoroughly heated on both sides. Rub it over with a piece of salt pork, or with a piece of b.u.t.ter tied in a clean rag. Close the iron, and turn it so the grease will cover every part. Put enough batter into each section of the iron to fill it two-thirds full. Shut the iron, and cook the waffles a minute or longer on each side. Serve the waffles hot, using with them syrup or powdered sugar mixed with ground cinnamon.
=HOMINY CAKE=
Stir into one cupful of boiled hominy while it is still hot a teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter, one saltspoonful of salt, and the yolks of two eggs well beaten; add slowly a cupful of milk, and then a half cupful of fine cornmeal; lastly, fold in the whipped whites of two eggs. Bake in a flat tin in a hot oven for twenty to thirty minutes. Cold boiled hominy left over can be used for this dish by heating it with enough water to moisten it.
=OAT CAKE=
Mix oatmeal, which is ground fine, with a little salt and enough water to make a stiff dough. Roll it on a floured board to one eighth inch thickness, and bake it in one sheet in a slow oven without browning, until dry and hard. It should be gray in color. When done, break it into irregular pieces. This is a Scotch dish, and in Scotland is made with a fine oat flour, which is difficult to obtain in this country.
=BRAN BISCUITS=
1 pint of bran.
1/2 pint of flour.
1/2 pint of milk.
6 tablespoonfuls of mola.s.ses.
1 even teaspoonful of baking soda.
Mix the bran, flour, and soda together, mix the mola.s.ses and milk together, and add the flour mixture. Bake in gem-pans. Two of these biscuits eaten at each meal act as a laxative and cure for constipation.
The receipt is furnished by a physician.
=BREAD STICKS=
Any bread-dough may be used, though that with shortening is preferred.
After it is kneaded enough to be elastic, cut it into pieces half the size of an egg, roll it on the board into a stick the size of a pencil and a foot long. Lay the strips on a floured baking-tin or sheet. Let them rise a very little, and bake in a moderate oven, so they will dry without browning. Serve them with bouillon or soups, or with tea.
=RUSKS=
1 cupful of milk scalded.
2 tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter.
3 tablespoonfuls of sugar.
2 eggs.
1/2 cake of compressed yeast.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
Flour.
Make a sponge (see directions at head of chapter), using the milk, salt, and yeast. When it is full of bubbles, add the b.u.t.ter, sugar, and well-beaten eggs. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead it for twenty minutes. Let it rise to double its bulk; then mold it into b.a.l.l.s the size of half an egg. Place them rather close together in a baking-tin, and let them rise until very light. When they are ready to go into the oven, brush over the tops with sugar dissolved in milk, and sprinkle the tops with dry sugar. Bake in a hot oven about half an hour.
Rusks must be well kneaded and be very light before being baked. A part of the dough set for bread may be made into rusks by adding to it an egg, sugar, and b.u.t.ter.
=DRIED RUSKS=
Cut rusks that are a day old into slices one half inch thick, and dry them in a slow oven until a fine golden color.
=BATH BUNS=
4 cupfuls of flour.
1 cupful of milk.
1/2 cupful of sugar.
1/4 cupful of b.u.t.ter.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1/2 nutmeg grated.
1/2 compressed yeast-cake.
3 eggs.
Mix the salt, sugar, and grated nutmeg with the flour. Scald the milk and melt the b.u.t.ter in it. Dissolve the yeast in a quarter cupful of lukewarm water. When the scalded milk has become lukewarm, add to it the dissolved yeast and the eggs, which have been well beaten, the yolks and whites separately; then add the flour. Use more flour than given in the receipt, if necessary, but keep the dough as soft as possible. Knead it on a board for twenty minutes. Let it rise over night in a warm place, well covered. In the morning turn it on to the molding-board, roll it and rub it lightly with b.u.t.ter, then fold it several times, cut it into pieces the size of a large egg, and mold it into b.a.l.l.s. The folding is to make it peel off in layers when baked, but may be omitted if desired.
Press into the side of each bun, after it is molded, a piece of citron and lump of sugar wet with lemon-juice. Place the buns in a baking-tin and let them rise to more than double their size. Brush the tops with egg diluted with water to give a brown crust. Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour. When baked, brush over the tops with sugar dissolved in milk, and return to the oven for a few minutes to glaze. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the tops as soon as they are removed from the oven.