Beat well together the yolks of five eggs, one half cupful of sugar, and one heaping tablespoonful of cornstarch; dilute it with two cupfuls of boiling milk, and stir it over the fire until thickened; then remove, add the flavoring, and let it cool. If coffee flavoring is wanted, use one half black coffee and one half milk. If chocolate, melt three or four ounces and add it to the custard.
=CHOCOLATE FILLING=
Melt four ounces of chocolate; dilute it with three tablespoonfuls of milk, and then add a cupful of sugar mixed with a well-beaten egg, and stir until thickened.
=ORANGE CAKE=
Whites of 9 eggs.
2 cupfuls of granulated sugar.
3 heaping cupfuls of flour sifted three or four times.
1 cupful of b.u.t.ter.
1 cupful of milk.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder.
1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice.
Cream the b.u.t.ter; add the sugar, and beat for ten minutes; add the milk, and then add alternately the whipped eggs and the flour, the baking-powder having been sifted with the flour; add the lemon-juice last, and mix all lightly. Bake in layer tins; spread the layers with orange filling and frost the top with royal icing flavored with orange-juice and a little lemon.
=ORANGE FILLING=
Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth. Boil one and one quarter cupfuls of sugar with one half cupful of water to the small ball (see page 512). Pour the boiling sugar in a very fine stream onto the whipped whites, beating hard all the time. Add the grated rind and juice of one orange and continue to beat until it is cold and the sugar is stiffened enough to place between the cakes without running.
=PISTACHIO CAKE=
Make three layers of cake after the receipt given for orange cake. Make a cream filling as directed for layer cakes. Flavor it with orange-flower water and a little bitter almond, to give the flavor of pistachio (see page 391), and color it a delicate green. Frost the top with a soft royal icing (page 484) made of confectioners" sugar; color it a delicate light green and sprinkle the top with chopped pistachio nuts. This cake is rather soft and creamy, and should not be cut before going on the table.
=PLAIN CUP CAKE=
1/2 cupful of b.u.t.ter.
1-1/2 cupfuls of sugar.
1 cupful of water or milk.
3 cupfuls of flour.
2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder.
4 eggs.
Juice and rind of 1 lemon.
Beat the b.u.t.ter and sugar to a cream; add the beaten yolks; then add slowly the water and three quarters of the flour. Beat it a long time until very smooth and light; then add the lemon and the rest of the flour in which the baking-powder is mixed; beat well together, and lastly add the whipped whites of the eggs. Bake in gem-pans, putting a tablespoonful of the mixture into each pan. Raisins may be added to this cake, or two ounces of melted chocolate may be used instead of the lemon-juice, making it chocolate cake; or it may be made into spice cakes by using two tablespoonfuls of mola.s.ses with enough water to give one cupful of liquid; add also one half teaspoonful each of ground cloves, cinnamon, and allspice, and a few currants if desired; use one teaspoonful of soda instead of the baking-powder if mola.s.ses is used.
Bake in a moderate oven about one half hour, and see that the cakes rise evenly and are of the same size. Turn them out of the pans bottom side up, and frost the bottom and sides with royal icing while they are still warm. For chocolate or spice cakes, use chocolate icing.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAIN CUP CAKES ICED AND SMALL PIECE OF ANGELICA PLACED IN CENTER OF EACH CAKE.]
=GOLD-AND-SILVER CAKE=
Use the receipt given for plain cup cake. Divide the materials; use the whites of the eggs with one part, the yolks and one whole egg with the other. Bake in separate tins; cut before serving; arrange the slices with the two colors alternating on a lace paper.
=MARBLE CAKE=
Make a mixture as directed for plain cup cake; divide it into three parts; color one with carmine, another with melted chocolate (one ounce), and leave the third one white. Do this quickly, so the baking-powder will not lose its force before going into the oven. Pour the mixtures into a tin, alternating the colors twice; they will run together and make a mottled cake.
=RICHER CUP; OR, 1, 2, 3, 4 CAKE=
Use one cup of b.u.t.ter, two of sugar, three of flour, and four eggs, and one half teaspoonful of vanilla. Mix as directed for b.u.t.ter-cake mixtures (page 465).
=POUND-CAKE=
Use one pound each of b.u.t.ter, sugar, and flour; ten eggs; one quarter teaspoonful of mace and one half cupful of brandy. Mix as directed for b.u.t.ter-cake mixtures. Divide it into two loaves and bake in tins lined with paper forty to fifty minutes in a moderate oven. This cake may be filled with sliced citron and raisins if desired, or may have nuts mixed with it, making a nut cake, or some nuts may be sprinkled over the top before it goes in the oven.
=WHITE CAKE=
Whites of 6 eggs.
3/4 cupful of b.u.t.ter.
1-1/4 cupfuls of powdered sugar.
2 cupfuls of flour.
Juice of half a lemon.
1/4 teaspoonful of soda.
Sift the soda with the flour three times; cream the b.u.t.ter and add the flour to it; whip the eggs to a stiff froth and add the sugar, then beat them gradually into the b.u.t.ter and flour, and add the lemon-juice. When it is thoroughly mixed and smooth put it into a biscuit or flat tin, so it will make a layer one and a half inches thick when done. Bake it in a moderate oven; while it is still warm spread it with royal icing (see page 483). Before the icing fully hardens, mark two lines down the length of the cake, dividing it into three sections, then across in even lines, giving slices one inch broad and about two and a half inches long; to do this hold over it a straight edge and mark it with the back of a knife. Put into a pastry bag some of the frosting, made a little stiffer with sugar, and place two dots of icing on each slice. This cake may be made with baking-powder, using one teaspoonful and mixing it in the usual way. It will then be a lighter cake and should be baked in a loaf; the first gives a firm, fine-grained cake.
=PLAIN FRUIT CAKE=
1 {3/4 cupful of b.u.t.ter. } {2 cupfuls of granulated sugar. } Cream these together well.
2 {3 eggs.
{1 teaspoonful of allspice.
3 {1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg.
{1/3 teaspoonful of ground cloves.
{1/4 teaspoonful of ground mace.
4 {1 cupful of milk with 3/4 teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it.
5 {3 cupfuls of sifted flour with 1 teaspoonful of cream of tartar mixed in it.
6 {1 cupful of sliced citron.
{2 cupfuls of raisins.
Mix the materials in the order given, beating well each one before the next is added; add part of the flour and the milk at the same time, then the rest of the flour. Flour the fruit and add it last. More fruit can be used if desired. This will make one large or a dozen small cakes.
Bake in a moderate oven about one hour if in one cake.