Chambers's cookery for young housewives

Wash salt butter in cold water, wring it in a cloth, and then beat it to a cream. In cold weather the butter may be warmed, but should never be allowed to melt. Break each egg separately in a cup or small vessel ; in many cases it is necessary to beat the yolks and whites separately. When raisins are used they must be cut in halves and the stones taken out; sultanas need only have the stalks removed. Cakes made from yeast will not keep good so long as those made with eggs and bakingpowder. A small portion of baking-powder will be found a great improvement to nearly all cakes, except where sour [illustration: SHORTBREAD—PITCAITHLY BANNOCK—TEA-CAKES. 126] cream, sour milk, or buttermilk is used, and then a small quantity ol bicarbonate of soda will suffice in conjunction with the acidity of the milk. A good deal of labour is necessary to make a good cake, for unless a tolerable amount of air be beaten into the dough before it is placed in the oven, no heat or after attention will make it light and wholesome. SHORTBREAD. i lb. flour. | j lb. rice flour. i lb. butter. I J lb. powdered sugar. Mix the above ingredients together with the tips of the fingers and thumbs, until a soft dough is formed. Shape it into a round or square cake. Pinch neatly round the edges. Prick on the top with a fork, place it on a flat baking-tin, and bake in a moderately hot oven for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Let cool on the tin ; it is apt to break if removed while hot. Caraway comfits or strips of citron-peel may be strewed on the tops of the cakes before they are baked. PITCAITHLY BANNOCK. | lb. flour. 10 oz. butter. 4 oz. sugar. 2 oz. almonds. 2 oz. candied peel. 4 oz. rice flour. Blanch and chop the almonds, and cut the candied peel into small pieces. Mix the flour, butter, sugar, and rice flour well together ; add the fruit, and form by working with the hands into a soft dough. Roll this to a round or square cake, about an inch thick. Strew some flour on a paper on a tin, and place the cake on it, with a band of paper round to keep it in shape. Prick the top with a fork. Bake in a moderately hot oven. Cool on the tin. SMALL TEA-CAKES. 1 lb. flour. 1 teaspoonful bakingpowder. I teaspoonful salt. 1 oz. butter. Sugar. Milk. Rub the butter, sugar, salt, and baking-powder with the flour, and mix to a stiff dough with milk; turn the dough on to a floured board, knead a little, and then form it into SODA — CREAM — DROPPED SCONES. cakes the size and shape required. If thin, they may bo baked over the lire on a thin iron plate or a girdle lightly floured, or they may be placed on a floured balcing-tin, and baked in a moderately hot oven for about twenty minutes. Serve hot. SODA SCONES. 1 lb. flour. Nearly a teaspoonful carbonate of soda. i teaspoonful cream of tartar. A teaspoonful salt. Buttermilk. Rub the soda and salt till they are quite smooth, and mix them thoroughly well with the flour ; add sufficient buttermilk to form into a lithe dough. Turn the dough on to a floured board, and knead it a little ; then form into two rounds half an inch in thickness, cut each round into four scones across and across, and bake on a floured girdle not too hot. CREAM SCONES. 1 lb. flour. 1 teaspoonful salt. 2 eggs. 2 oz. butter. 1 teaspoonful bakingpowder. Cream.