=BROD TORTE=
9 eggs.
2-1/2 cupfuls of sugar.
2 cupfuls of bread-crumbs--Graham preferred.
2 teaspoonfuls of ground cinnamon.
Citron size of small egg.
3/4 cupful of blanched almonds.
Grated rind of one lemon.
1/4 cupful of brandy or rum.
2-1/2 ounces of chocolate.
1 teaspoonful of ground allspice.
Put into a bowl the bread-crumbs, dried and pounded fine, the citron and almonds both chopped fine, the spices and lemon-rind and the chocolate grated fine; mix them thoroughly and evenly together. In a second bowl put the yolks of the nine eggs and whites of five with one and one half cupfuls of sugar. Beat them until quite stiff. In a third bowl put the whites of four eggs; beat them to a stiff froth; then stir in the remaining cupful of sugar. Now gradually and lightly mix the dry ingredients of bowl No. 1 with No. 2; then add the whites from No. 3.
Lastly, add the brandy or rum, and quickly put it into the oven to bake for three quarters of an hour. Cover with chocolate icing, and decorate with lines of white icing.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ICED CAKE DECORATED WITH CANDIED CHERRIES CUT IN HALVES, ANGELICA CUT INTO TRIANGULAR PIECES, AND A SCALLOPED LINE OF ICING.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: CAKE COVERED WITH CHOCOLATE ICING AND ORNAMENTED IN CENTER WITH LINES OF WHITE ICING.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: CAKE ORNAMENTED WITH A MEDALLION IN CENTER FORMED BY A RING OF CANDIED PLUMS CUT IN QUARTERS AND STOOD ON EDGE. THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE IS COVERED WITH BOILED ICING AND DECORATED WITH CANDIED CHERRIES AND ANGELICA. THE CAKE OUTSIDE THE MEDALLION IS BRUSHED WITH WHITE OF EGG AND THEN COVERED WITH BLANCHED ALMONDS CUT IN THIN SLICES.]
=FRUIT CAKE=
1 pound of flour.
1 pound of sugar.
1 pound of b.u.t.ter.
1/2 pound of candied citron (sliced).
4 pounds of currants.
4 pounds of raisins (stoned and chopped).
9 eggs.
1 tablespoonful of ground cinnamon.
1 tablespoonful of mace.
1 tablespoonful of nutmeg.
3 gills of brandy.
Mix the fruit together and flour it; mix the spices with the sugar.
Cream the b.u.t.ter and sugar; add the beaten yolks, then the whipped whites and the brandy, then the flour, and lastly the fruit. Put the mixture in two large tins lined with double paper, and bake in a moderate oven for three hours. If preferred, add the sliced citron in layers as the mixture is poured into the pans. One pound of chopped almonds may be subst.i.tuted for one of the pounds of currants. This cake will keep any length of time, therefore the quant.i.ty may not be too great to make at one time.
CREAM CAKES AND eCLAIRS
These are made of cooked paste, and are very easy to prepare. The cream cakes differ from the eclairs only in form and in not being iced.
=CREAM CAKES=
1 cupful of water.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
2 tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter.
1-1/2 cupfuls of flour (pastry flour preferred).
3 to 4 eggs.
1/2 saltspoonful of salt.
Put the water, sugar, salt, and b.u.t.ter in a saucepan on the fire. When the b.u.t.ter is melted remove; add to it the flour, and beat until it is a smooth paste; return it to the fire, and stir vigorously until the paste leaves the sides of the pan; then remove; let it partly cool, and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating each one for some time before adding the next. When all are in, beat until the batter is no longer stringy. It should be consistent enough to hold its shape without spreading when dropped from the spoon on a tin. Three eggs make it about right unless they are very small or the flour very dry. The batter is better if it stands for an hour or two before being used; but this is not essential. Put the mixture into a pastry-bag with a tube of one half inch opening; press the batter through into b.a.l.l.s one and a half to two inches in diameter. A spoon can be used, but does not give the cakes as good shape. Brush the tops with egg. Put them in a slack oven and bake slowly for about forty minutes. They will feel light when done, and be puffed very high. Oil and flour the pans or baking-sheets as directed on page 464. When the puffs are cool make an incision in the side and fill with cream filling as given for layer cakes, page 468. The whipped whites of the eggs may be added to this filling if it is wanted thinner and lighter.
These cakes are good made very small, filled with jam and a little whipped cream, and the tops dipped in sugar boiled to the crack, then sprinkled with chopped burnt almonds.
=CHOCOLATE, VANILLA, AND COFFEE eCLAIRS=
Make a mixture as for cream cakes; put it into a pastry-bag with a tube of three eighth inch opening. Press the batter onto tins (floured as directed for cream cakes) in strips three and one half inches long, and a little distance apart, the same as lady-fingers. Egg the tops and bake in a slack oven about thirty minutes. Cut open one side and fill with cream filling made the same as for cream cakes. Make a chocolate icing No. 2 (page 485); dip the eclairs into it, covering them one half. For vanilla or coffee eclairs use fondant icing, page 485. Flavor the filling with vanilla or coffee, the same as the icing.
=CAROLINES=
Make small eclairs two inches long, using a tube with opening no larger than a pencil. When baked run a wooden skewer through them, leaving an opening at each end, so the filling will go all the way through. Put the filling in a bag, and press it through the carolines. Cover the top with fondant icing. Have the filling flavored with coffee.
FANCY SMALL CAKES
=MERINGUES AND KISSES=
Add a half saltspoonful of salt to the whites of three eggs; beat them, and add gradually, while whipping, three quarters of a cupful of powdered sugar. Continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and firm enough to hold its shape without spreading when dropped in a ball; add the flavoring of lemon-juice or any essence. Place the meringue in a pastry-bag and press it through a tube into b.a.l.l.s of the size desired onto strips of paper laid on a board that will fit the oven. With a wet knife flatten down the point on top left by the tube, and sprinkle them with sugar. Put them into a very slack oven, and let them dry for at least an hour; then remove from the papers and either press in the bottoms or scoop out the soft center and turn them over to dry inside.
If small kisses, it is better to give them plenty of time to dry, so none of the center has to be taken out. They can be removed to the warm shelf if the oven is giving them too much color. They should be only slightly colored on top and dried all the way through. For large meringues to be filled with cream, use one and a half tablespoonfuls of meringue for each piece. Make them an oblong shape. Place them in an oven hot enough for cake and watch them closely until they have formed a light-colored crust; then remove and take out the soft center or press in the bottom, and turn them over to dry inside. These meringues may be dried like the kisses, but take longer time, as they are larger. When a board is not at hand the papers holding the meringues may be laid in biscuit-tins, a second tin placed like a cover over the top, and set on the shelf over the range for several hours. This serves very well where the fire is too great for the ovens to be cool. There is no difficulty in making meringues if the eggs are sufficiently whipped. They soon become stiff when whipped after the sugar is in. They must be dried rather than baked. If the meringues stick to the paper turn them over, slightly moisten the paper, and it will soon come off. Make kisses small and stick two together with white of egg. When very small they are good with a little jam or jelly between them. Large meringues can be filled with ice-cream or with whipped cream just before serving them, and two placed together.
One quarter cupful of powdered sugar is needed for the white of each egg.
[Ill.u.s.tration: 1. SMALL KISSES. (SEE PAGE 475.)
2. MADELEINES--ROUND, SQUARE, DIAMOND-SHAPED, AND CRESCENTS, EACH ONE ICED AND GARNISHED WITH PIECE OF ANGELICA CUT THE SAME SHAPE AS THE CAKE. (SEE PAGE 477.)]
=LADY-FINGERS=
6 eggs.
1/2 pound or 1-1/4 cupfuls of powdered sugar.
1/4 pound or 1 cupful of sifted flour.
1/2 saltspoonful of salt.
Flavoring of vanilla, lemon, or orange-flower water.
Beat the yolks and sugar to a light cream; add the flavoring. Stir in lightly the flour and then the whites of the eggs whipped very firm; the salt is added to the whites before being whipped. Have a sheet of paper on the baking-pan or sheet. Place the mixture in a pastry-bag, and press it through a tube having an opening one half to three quarter inch wide. Have the strips four and a half inches long. Cut off the paste from the tube with a knife so the ends will be clean; dust them with sugar and bake in a moderate oven ten to twelve minutes, or until a light crust has formed. The crust should not be colored. When done, stick two together, using white of egg.