Girl's home manual of cookery, home management, home nursing and laundry

Cream butter and lard with sugar, add beaten egg and beat all together. Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt together. Add to the egg mixture alternately with the milk. Bake in greased muffin tins. This quantity makes ten. Half fill tins. Put half a cherry on each. Bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes. Cocoanut Rock Cakes. 2 cups flour. ¥% cup sugar, 1 cup cocoanut. 3 tsp. baking powder. 1% tsp. salt. 1 egg. 3 tbsp. butter. ¾ cup (about) milk. 3 tbsp. lard or dripping. Mix flour and cocoanut together, chop and then rub in the butter and lard. Add sugar and baking powder. Mix with the egg well beaten and sufficient milk to make a stiff dough. With two forks make small rough heaps on a greased baking sheet. Bake in a hot oven about fifteen minutes. Variation. Instead of cocoanut, half a cup of fruit may be used with a little grated nutmeg to flavour. CAKE AND PASTRY ICINGS Quick Icing. 3 tbsp. liquid, hot water, milk, fruit juice or coffee. ¥Y% tsp. flavouring. 1 cup icing sugar. Stir the sifted sugar into the liquid until the mixture coats the spoon without running off. If water or milk are used, % tsp flavouring must be added. Spread frosting over cake with a spatula knife. Dip knife into water, shake off surplus water and spread icing evenly over cake with wet knife. Chocolate Water Icing. 3 tbsp. boiling water. 1 cup icing sugar. 1 tsp. butter. 14 tsp. vanilla. 1 square (1 oz.) Baker’s unsweetened chocolate. Grate chocolate and melt over boiling water. Add butter to boiling water and mix with melted chocolate, stir in sifted sugar until of a consistency to spread. Mocha, Chocolate or Coffee Butter Icing. 4% cup butter. 2 oz. (2 squares) unsweetened chocolate. or 1% tsp. strong coffee essence. 1 cup icing sugar. Cream butter, add chocolate or coffee, or half of each may be used. Beat and add sifted sugar gradually. Mocha Icing. Make with coffee, and roll cakes in chopped almonds browned in oven. Royal Icing. 1 egg white. 4 tbsp. lemon juice. 1 tbsp. cold water slightly blued with washing blue. 1% cups icing sugar. Beat egg white slightly, continue beating and add the sifted sugar by degrees, add lemon juice and blue water as the mixture thickens. The blue is added to prevent the icing appearing yellow when dry, the water should be only just coloured. This icing, if used to cover a cake, should be just stiff enough to spread. For piping it must be very thoroughly beaten and should cut cleanly when it is ready to put into a slightly damp piping bag. White icing may be coloured green by adding a little spinach juice, pink with cochineal, brown with chocolate. To Prepare a Cake for Icing. Brush off all crumbs, cut off uneven parts. If necessary brush the cake over with the beaten white of egg and let this dry before spreading with icing. The egg white sets the crumbs. Almond Icing. 1 cup ground almonds. 1 egg yolk, or % egg white. % cup fruit or icing sugar. % tsp. orange flower water. Mix almonds with sugar. Beat egg and the water, mix with the dry ingredients. The paste will appear dry but if worked with the hands the liquid is sufficient. Turn on to a sugared board, roll to shape required and press on to cake. Flour rolling pin with icing sugar. Fondant Icing. Make fondant as for candies and leave for twenty-four hours. Melt fondant over hot water, stirring continuously. If necessary, thin slightly by adding a little hot water or syrup. Flavour to taste and colour if desired. ‘The fondant must be poured quickly, hot, over a cake, as it quickly cools and sets. Small cakes lift with two skewers and dip into the warm fondant. Dip twice if necessary. Crumbly cakes should first be glazed with white of egg and when dry may be dipped in melted fondant. COOKIES Ginger Cookies.