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Cakes, Cookies, Etc.

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Easy Cake


1111

Ingredients
  • 2 eggs
  • Milk
  • 1½ cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking-powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 5 tablespoons butter
Utensils
  • Bowl
  • Sifter
  • Wooden cake-spoon
  • Small saucepan
  • Dover beater
  • Cake-pan (with tube)
Directions
  1. Break the eggs into the measuring-cup, and fill the cup to the top with milk.
  2. Pour into a bowl, and beat the eggs and milk together with a dover beater.
  3. Add the sugar, and beat again.
  4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan; add the melted butter with the vanilla, and then the flour, to the mixture in the bowl, and beat for at least five minutes.
  5. Add the baking-powder, and stir well.
  6. Pour the mixture into a buttered cake-pan, place the pan in a cold oven, light the gas, and bake for about forty minutes, reducing the heat after the first fifteen minutes. If a layer-cake is wanted, the baking must be done in two shallow cake-pans, and about fifteen minutes allowed for the baking.

Pound Cake


1111

Ingredients
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla, or grated peel of a lemon
  • Juice of half a lemon
Utensils
  • Mixing-bowl
  • Mixing-spoon
  • Dover beater
  • 2 bowls
  • Sifter
  • Baking-pans
  • Teaspoon or grater and lemon-squeezer
Directions
  1. "Cream" the butter, add the sugar to it, and "cream" again.
  2. Break the eggs, putting the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.
  3. Beat the egg-whites until stiff and dry, and then beat the yolks until creamy.
  4. Stir the yolks into the butter and sugar, mixing well.
  5. Sift the flour, and add it to the mixture.
  6. Stir in the flavoring.
  7. "Fold" the beaten egg-whites into the mixture.
  8. Bake in a buttered cake or muffin pan, in a moderate oven, for about twenty minutes.
Remarks

To make a layer-cake from this recipe, bake the batter in two shallow cake-pans. When done, remove from the pans, spread current[1] jelly over the top of one layer, place the other layer on this, and cover the top and sides of the cake with Boiled Frosting.

If a deep cake-pan is used, instead of the muffin or shallow cake-pans, from forty to fifty minutes in a slow oven will be required for baking.

  1. Possibly a typo for currant.

Sponge Cake


1111

Ingredients
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 cup flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
Utensils
  • 2 bowls
  • Dover beater
  • Wooden spoon
  • Grater
  • Lemon-squeezer
  • Sifter
  • Cake-pan
Directions
  1. Measure out the sifted flour, add salt to this, and sift twice again.
  2. Break the eggs, putting the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.
  3. Beat the yolks until they are thick and creamy in texture and light in color.
  4. Add the sugar to the egg-yolks, and beat well together.
  5. Grate the outer rind of the half lemon, and squeeze out the juice.
  6. Add the grated rind and juice to the beaten egg-yolks, and stir well together.
  7. Beat the egg-whites until stiff, and "fold" half of the beaten whites into the mixture already prepared.
  8. Add the flour, "cutting and folding" it in; then "fold" in the remaining half of the beaten egg-whites.
  9. Pour the batter into an unbuttered cake-pan, set the pan in a slow oven, and bake for one hour. At the end of half an hour the heat may be increased for fifteen minutes, then turned down again.
  10. Take the cake from the oven, invert the pan and let the cake stand in this way until it is cold.

Cup Cakes


1111

Ingredients
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ½ teaspoon soda
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1½ cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking-powder
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Utensils
  • Mixing-bowl
  • Mixing-spoon
  • 2 small bowls
  • Sifter
  • Dover beater
  • Muffin-pans
Directions
  1. Break the eggs, putting the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another.
  2. With the dover beater, beat first the whites and then the yolks very thoroughly.
  3. Stir the sour cream and soda together in the mixing-bowl.
  4. Add the sugar, and stir.
  5. Add the beaten egg-yolks, and stir again.
  6. Sift the flour and baking-powder together into the bowl, and stir the whole mixture vigorously.
  7. Add the lemon extract, and "fold in" the beaten egg-whites.
  8. Butter the muffin-pans, and fill them about two-thirds full of the batter.
  9. Bake in a fairly hot oven for about fifteen minutes or until the cakes are browned.

Strawberry Shortcake

The keyword exceeded the maximum length of 150 characters.

1111

Ingredients
Utensils
  • Colander
  • Bowl
  • Potato-masher
  • Pie-pan
Directions
  1. Stem the berries, wash them in cold water, and drain them through a colander.
  2. Prepare the biscuit dough in accordance with the directions for Baking-Powder Biscuit.
  3. Divide the dough into two parts, and roll each part out separately into a round sheet about a third of an inch thick.
  4. Put one of the sheets of dough on a pie-pan, spread half the butter over it, then place the second sheet on top of the first.
  5. Bake in a hot oven, reducing the heat considerably after the first five minutes of baking.
  6. While the biscuit is baking, mash the strawberries in a bowl, and mix the sugar with them.
  7. When the biscuit dough is baked through and nicely browned on top, take it from the oven and split it open between the two layers.
  8. Put the lower layer on a warm serving-dish, and cover it with mashed strawberries.
  9. Place the top layer over the lower one, spread with the remaining butter, and pour the rest of the mashed strawberries over the whole.
Remarks

Serve slightly warm, with either plain or whipped cream.

Gingerbread

The keyword exceeded the maximum length of 150 characters.

1111

Ingredients
  • ½ cup butter
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon clove
  • 1 teaspoon soda
  • ½ cup strong hot coffee
  • 2 cups flour
Utensils
  • Small saucepan
  • Mixing-bowl
  • Small bowl
  • Mixing-spoon
  • Dover beater
  • Sifter
  • Bread or cake pan
Directions
  1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and pour it into a mixing-bowl.
  2. Add the sugar and molasses, and stir.
  3. Beat the egg in a small bowl, and add it to the mixture in the large bowl.
  4. Stir in the spices and beat well.
  5. Mix the soda into the hot coffee, stir well, and pour this into the mixture in the large bowl.
  6. Sift the flour into the mixture, and stir and beat until the batter is light and smooth.
  7. Pour the batter into a buttered bread-pan, or two buttered cake-pans, and bake in a moderate oven about twenty minutes.
Remarks

Gingerbread may be covered with Boiled Frosting, if desired.

Cookies


1111

Ingredients
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ teaspoon soda
  • 2 cups flour
  • ¾ teaspoon baking-powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg
Utensils
  • Mixing-bowl
  • Mixing-spoon
  • Small bowl
  • Dover beater
  • Sifter
  • Bread-board
  • Rolling-pin
  • Cookie-cutter
  • Baking-pans
Directions
  1. "Cream" the butter in the mixing-bowl, and stir in the sugar.
  2. Beat the egg, add it to the butter and sugar, and mix.
  3. Stir the soda into the cream, and add this to the butter, sugar, and egg, mixing well.
  4. Sift the flour, baking-powder, salt, and nutmeg together, and add a little at a time to the mixture in the bowl, stirring all together well.
  5. Sprinkle flour over the bread-board and rolling-pin, and place about a third of the dough on the board.
  6. Toss the dough about on the board until it is coated with flour, then roll it out into a sheet about ¼ inch thick.
  7. Dip the cookie-cutter in flour and cut the dough, putting the circles of dough into the baking-pans as they are cut.
  8. Take another third of the dough from the mixing-bowl, roll this out, and cut in the same way.
  9. When all the dough has been rolled out and cut, the scraps should be gathered together, worked into a ball, rolled out, and cut.
  10. Bake the cookies in a hot oven for about ten minutes, or until they are lightly browned. Should they brown more quickly on the bottom than on the top, place the pans in the lower oven under the fire for a minute or two.
Remarks

If desired, granulated sugar may be sprinkled over the tops of the cookies, or raisins or a few chopped nuts pressed into the tops, just before the pans are put into the oven.

Doughnuts


1111

Ingredients
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2½ teaspoons baking-powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons butter
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 or 3 pounds lard or similar fat
Utensils
  • Bowl
  • Tablespoon
  • Small saucepan
  • Sifter
  • Dover beater
  • Deep iron kettle
  • Bread-board
  • Rolling-pin
  • Doughnut-cutter
  • Long-handled fork
  • Colander with paper
Directions
  1. Beat the egg in a bowl, add the sugar, and beat again.
  2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add it with the cinnamon to the egg and sugar, and stir well.
  3. Sift the flour, baking-powder, and salt together, and add with the milk, alternately and a little at a time, to the mixture in the bowl, stirring constantly.
  4. Set the bowl in the ice-box for an hour or more.
  5. When ready to fry the doughnuts, put the fat in the kettle and set it over the fire.
  6. Sprinkle the bread-board and rolling-pin with flour, place half the dough on the board, and roll it out into a sheet about ¼ inch thick.
  7. Dip the doughnut-cutter in flour, and cut out the doughnuts from the sheet of dough.
  8. Take the remaining dough from the mixing-bowl, and repeat the operation. The scraps of dough left on the board should be worked together, rolled out, and cut.
  9. Put three or four doughnuts at a time into the hot fat in the kettle, turning them with a long-handled fork so that they will brown evenly. It should take from three to five minutes to cook them.
  10. Lift the doughnuts from the fat as they are cooked, putting them on soft crumpled paper in the colander.
Remarks

The temperature of the fat is an important matter. It should be hot enough so that the doughnuts will rise quickly from the bottom of the kettle immediately after they are put into the fat. The heat must be at once reduced if the fat begins to smoke.

The doughnuts may be coated with powdered sugar after frying by putting them one at a time in a small paper bag containing 3 or 4 tablespoons of sugar, and shaking the bag once or twice.

The fat in which the doughnuts have fried should be strained into a bowl, and kept for the same use later.

Frosting for Cakes[edit | edit source]

Boiled Frosting


1111

Ingredients
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg—white only
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla (or other flavoring extract)
  • ⅓ cup boiling water
Utensils
  • Saucepan
  • Bowl
  • Dover beater
  • Tablespoon
Directions
  1. Put the sugar in a saucepan, and pour the boiling water over it.
  2. Place the saucepan over a slow fire, and stir until the sugar is melted; then stop stirring and allow the mixture to boil slowly until it "threads" when dropped from the tip of a spoon.
  3. Beat the egg-white, and then slowly pour the boiled sugar and water over it, stirring all the time.
  4. Add the flavoring, and beat until stiff enough to spread on the cake.

Chocolate Frosting


1111

Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 2 squares bitter chocolate
  • ¾ cup cream
  • 1¾ cups powdered sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
Utensils
  • Double-boiler
  • Sifter
  • Tablespoon
Directions
  1. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double-boiler.
  2. Sift the powdered sugar, and add the sugar and cream, alternately and a little at a time, to the melted butter and chocolate, stirring constantly.
  3. Take the double-boiler from the fire, and add the vanilla.
  4. Beat until stiff enough to spread on the cake.

Caramel Frosting


1111

Ingredients
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
Utensils
  • Saucepan
  • Tablespoon
Directions
  1. Put the sugar, milk, and butter into a saucepan, set the pan over the fire, and bring slowly to a boil.
  2. Boil without stirring until the mixture will form into a thread when dropped from the tip of a spoon.
  3. Take from the fire, add the vanilla, and beat until thick enough to spread on the cake.


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This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. It was adapted by the Observatory from a version produced by Wikisource contributors.

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Please note that the original source material has been altered by a human editor or was human-edited with AI-assist to be easier to read and search for on the Observatory. To find the original source material as it was originally written and/or formatted, please click here.

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