=GINGER SNAPS=
Put a half cupful of b.u.t.ter and a cupful of mola.s.ses on the fire; as soon as the b.u.t.ter is softened remove them, and add a half cupful of brown sugar, a teaspoonful of ginger, and a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water; then mix in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Roll it very thin, and stamp it into circles.
=CRULLERS=
Beat three eggs together; add four tablespoonfuls of sugar and four tablespoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter or lard; then enough flour to make a dough stiff enough to roll. Roll it a quarter of an inch thick. Cut it into pieces three and a half inches long and two inches broad. Cut two slits in each piece, and give each one a twist. Fry the crullers in hot fat, the same as doughnuts.
=DOUGHNUTS=
2 eggs.
1 cupful of sugar.
1 cupful of milk.
4 tablespoonfuls of melted b.u.t.ter.
Flour enough to make a soft dough.
1 saltspoonful each of salt and ground cinnamon.
1/2 teaspoonful of soda and 1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar, or 1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
Roll the dough one inch thick. Cut it into small circles, or rings, or strips and twist them. Drop the cakes into smoking hot fat, and fry to light brown; drain, and roll them in powdered sugar while still warm.
=BREAD CAKE=
Take a piece of raised bread-dough large enough for one loaf. Mix into it one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one cupful each of sugar, raisins, and currants; one half teaspoonful each of ground cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Let it rise, which will take some time, and bake the same as bread.
=ONE-EGG CAKE=
Cream together a half cupful of b.u.t.ter and a cupful of sugar. Add a cupful of milk, and one beaten egg; then two cupfuls of flour mixed with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Bake in a moderate oven.
=WARREN"S CAKE=
2 eggs.
1 cupful of sugar.
1 cupful of flour.
1/2 cupful of hot water.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs together well, add the sugar, then the flour, in which the baking-powder is mixed, and lastly the water.
Put it into the oven at once.
=MOLa.s.sES WAFERS=
Mix well together one cupful of b.u.t.ter, one cupful of sugar, two cupfuls of mola.s.ses, and two cupfuls of flour. Drop a few spoonfuls into a pan, in different places, and put it in the oven; it will melt and run together. Let it bake until it begins to harden on the edges; then remove, cut it into squares, and while it is still hot and soft roll each piece around a stick.
=SOFT GINGERBREAD=
1 cupful of mola.s.ses.
1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter.
1 tablespoonful of boiling water.
2 to 3 cupfuls of flour.
1 teaspoonful each of ginger, ground cloves, cinnamon, and soda.
1/2 saltspoonful of salt.
Add the melted b.u.t.ter to the mola.s.ses, then the spices. Dissolve the soda in the boiling water, and stir it into the mola.s.ses. Add enough flour to make a very soft dough--too soft to roll. Bake in a biscuit-tin lined with paper, in a moderate oven, for thirty-five minutes. Mix it quickly and put it into the oven at once.
=MOLa.s.sES CAKE=
Put together two cupfuls of New Orleans mola.s.ses and one cupful of b.u.t.ter, and heat them enough to soften the b.u.t.ter; remove from the fire, and add a teaspoonful each of powdered ginger and cinnamon, and one half teaspoonful of cloves, then three well-beaten eggs. When it is well mixed add alternately, in small quant.i.ties, three cupfuls of flour and one cupful of boiling water in which have been dissolved three teaspoonfuls of baking soda.
ICING AND DECORATING CAKES
=ROYAL ICING=
Place the white of an egg in a bowl or plate. Add a little lemon-juice or other flavoring, and a few drops of water. Stir in powdered sugar until it is of the right consistency to spread. While the cake is still warm pile the icing on the center of the cake, and with a wet knife smooth it over the top and sides of the cake. It will settle into a smooth and glossy surface. If the icing is prepared before the cake is ready, cover it with a wet cloth, as it quickly hardens. If it becomes too stiff add a few drops of water, and stir it again. Color and flavor as desired. One egg will take about a cupful of sugar, and will make enough icing to cover one cake. If a little more is needed add a little water to the egg, and it will then take more sugar. When icing is wanted for decorating a cake, beat the whites to a froth, then beat in the sugar instead of stirring it, and continue to beat until it is firm enough to hold its form. Stirring more sugar into the unwhipped whites will make it firm enough for decorating, but the whipped icing is better. Put it into a pastry-bag with small tube, or into a paper funnel, and press it through into any shapes desired. A good icing is made of milk and sugar alone.
=ROYAL ICING WITH CONFECTIONER"S SUGAR=
Make this icing the same as the other, using confectioner"s sugar, which is finer than the powdered sugar, and use a little water with the egg.
This makes a soft, creamy icing; the more water used, the softer it will be. If beaten instead of stirred it will become firm enough to hold in place without so much sugar being used, but in this way it dries sooner and is not so creamy. This is a good icing for layer cakes, fancy cakes, and eclairs.
=BOILED ICING No. 1=
Put a cupful of sugar into a saucepan with one quarter cupful of boiling water and a half saltspoonful of cream of tartar; stir till dissolved, then let it boil without stirring until it threads when dropped from the spoon. Turn it in a fine stream onto the white of one egg whipped to a stiff froth. Beat the egg until the mixture becomes smooth and stiff enough to spread, but do not let it get too cold. Pour it over the cake.
=BOILED ICING No. 2=
Boil sugar as directed above to the soft ball; then remove from the fire, add the flavoring, and stir it until it looks clouded, and turn it at once over the cake.
=CHOCOLATE ICING No. 1=
Melt in a dry saucepan some chocolate; dilute it with a little water and add enough powdered or confectioner"s sugar to make it of the right consistency. Use it while warm, as chocolate quickly hardens. Flavor it with vanilla.
=CHOCOLATE ICING No. 2=