Home cookery

For the choux paste put half a pint of water into a stewpan with a quarter of a pound of butter and two ounces of castor sugar ; when it boils mix into the pan five ounces of fine flour, stir quickly and mix well, and let the pan stand on the stove ten minutes for the contents to cook. Let the mixture cool, and then mix in by degrees three whole eggs and a little vanilla essence. Work the paste well with the eggs, and put it in a forcing bag with a plain tin pipe, and press it out to about the size of a large walnut on to baking tins ; glaze over with egg, and bake for about twenty minutes to half an hour. When cool split in halves, and place in the half of an apricot ; close the paste up again and Brazil Cakes. Flour Castor sugar . . . Butter Brazil nuts Cherries Eggs... ^ ... ... Brandy (if liked) Baking powder I oz. I tablespoonful. I teaspoonful. glaze over with maraschino icing- ; let this cool, and ornament it with thickly whipped cream, sweetened and flavoured with vanilla. Use a rose pipe and bag for the cream, and form a rose on the top of each with it. Serve on a dish paper. Eclairs au Cafe. (By kind permission of Mrs. A. B. Marshall.) Prepare a choux paste, and put it into a forcing bag and force it out on to an ungreased baking tin, making the Eclairs four inches long and half an inch in diameter ; brush the Eclairs over with beaten eggs. Put them to bake in a moderate oven about half an hour, or till crisp ; when cooked they should be a pretty golden colour. When cold, split them down one side and fill with Pastry Custard, as follows : — Pastry Custard. Put into a stewpan one ounce of fine flour, one yolk of egg, two ounces of butter, one ounce of castor sugar, and one and a half gills of cold milk ; stir these over the fire till the mixture boils, then flavour with a few drops of vanilla, mix into it one tablespoonful of whipped cream, and use. Glaze the Eclairs with Coffee Icing, thus : — Coffee Icing. Mix three-quarters of a pound of icing sugar with one and a half tablespoonfuls of strong- coffee or coffee essence, and one and a half tablespoonfuls of hot water ; just mix together and warm in a saucepan, then use at once. Maraschino Glace. Put into a stewpan three-quarters of a pound of icing sugar, then mix in three tablespoonfuls of maraschino ; stir over the fire until just warm, then use. Noyeau or any other liqueur can be used similarly. Royal Icing (Plain). Do not attempt to ice cakes without being provided with sugar that is specially prepared for the purpose, and it should be the best of its kind. The icing sugar must be pounded and sifted, and mixed with white of egg till it is of the right consistency. It must be well worked, using a pestle or very clean wooden spoon. A tablespoonful of lemon juice may be added to each pound of sugar. The icing must be spread smoothly over the cake with a broad knife, which should be occasionally dipped in cold water. Let it dry in a warm room. Do not put it near the fire or in the oven, as that would be apt to discolour it. Let each layer of icing get quite dry before putting on the next. Keep a wet paper over the basin containing the icing mixture, to prevent it becoming hard before it is spread on the cake.