Original White House Cookbook

One and one-half cups sugar, two eggs, one-half cup butter, threefourths cup milk, two heaping cups flour with one teaspoonful cream of tartar, one-half teaspoonful of soda, dissolved in the milk. Put half the above mixture in a small shallow tin, and to the remainder add one teaspoonful molasses, one-half cup raisins (chopped) or currants, one-half teaspoonful cinnamon, cloves, allspice, a little nutmeg and one tablespoonful flour. Bake this in same kind of tins. Put the sheets of cake together, while warm, with jelly between. FRUIT LAYER CAKE. This is a delicious novelty in cake-making. Take one cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, one cup and a half of flour, half a cup of wine, one cup of raisins, two eggs and half a teaspoonful of soda; put these ingredients together with care, just as if it were a very rich cake; bake it in three layers and put frosting between — the frosting to be made of the whites of two eggs with enough powdered sugar to make it thick. The top of the cake may be frosted if you choose. WHIPPED CREAM CAKE. One cup of sugar and two tablespoonfuls of soft butter stirred together; add the yolks of two eggs well beaten, then add four tablespoonfuls of milk, some flavoring, then the beaten whites of the eggs. Mix a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and half a teaspoon of soda in a cup of flour, sift it into the cake batter and stir in lightly. Bake in a small dripping-pan. When the cake is cool, have ready half of a pint of sweet cream sweetened and whipped to a stiff froth, also flavored. Spread it over the cake while fresh. To whip the cream easily, set it on ice before whipping. ROLLED JELLY CAKE. Three eggs, one teacup of fine sugar, one teacup of flour; beat the yolks until light, then add the sugar, then add two tablespoonfuls of water, a pinch of salt; lastly stir in the flour, in which there should be a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder. The flour added gradually. Bake in long, shallow biscuit-tins, well greased. Turn out on a damp towel on a breadboard, cover the top with jelly, and roll up while warm. TO CUT LAYER CAKE. When cutting Layer Cakes, it is better to first make a round hole in the cake with a knife or tin tube about an inch and a quarter in diameter. This prevents the edge of the cake from crumbling when cutting it. When making custard filling for Layer Cake always set the dish containing the custard in another dish of boiling water over the fire ; this prevents its burning, which would destroy its flavor. LAYER JELLY CAKE. Almost any soft cake recipe can be used for jelly cake. The following is excellent : One cup of sugar, half a cup of butter, three eggs, half a cup of sweet milk, two cups of flour, two heaping teaspoonfuls of baking powder, flavoring. For white, delicate cake the rule for “ Silver Cake ” is fine; care should be taken, however, that the oven is just right for this cake, as it browns very easily. To be baked in jelly-cake tins ^ in layers, with filling put between when done. CUSTARD OR CREAM CAKE.