The royal baker and pastry cook

French Cake. — \hi cups butter, 2 cups sugar, 12 eggs, 1 quart flour, V2 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, 1 gill each of cream, wine, and brandy, 20 drops each extract bitter almonds and nutmeg, 1% cups raisins, stoned, % cup almonds, blanched, 1 cup chopped citron. Rub butter and sugar to a white, light cream ; add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating 10 minutes between the first 3 additions, and 5 minutes between the rest; add the flour, sifted with the powder, raisins, almonds, citron, extracts, cream, wine, and brandy. Mix into a smooth, consistent batter; bake in a thickly paperlined cake-pan (fig. XIII), in a steady oven, 2 hours. Light Fruit Cake. — V2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, hi cup milk, 2 cups flour, Ihi teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, whites 4 eggs, % cup seeded raisins, hi cup sliced citron, Mi cup chopped blanched almonds, teaspoon salt. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Dredge fruit with flour. Cream butter and sugar, add beaten whites, and beat hard ; add flour and milk and beat again ; stir in the prepared fruit. Line a loaf-pan with 3 thicknesses of paper, and bake cake Ihi hours in moderate oven, covering with paper for first hour. Geranium Cake. — hi cup butter, 1 cup sugar, % cup water, V4 teaspoon salt, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, whites 4 eggs. Mix flour, salt, and baking powder. Cream butter and sugar. Add alternately the water and flour, then whites of eggs, and whip hard for 5 minutes. Line loaf-pan with buttered paper, then with rose-geranium leaves. Bake in a moderate oven. The leaves can be pulled off with the paper. ’ Ginger Cake. — % cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 4 eggs, Ihi teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, IVi pints flour, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon extract ginger. Rub the butter and sugar to a light cream ; add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating 5 minutes between ; add the flour, sifted with the powder, the milk and extract ; mix into a smooth batter ; bake in a cake-tin (fig. IX), in rather hot oven, 40 minutes. Ginger Sponge Cake. — 2 cups brown sugar, 4 eggs, 1 pint flour, % cup water, Ihi teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 tablespoon extract ginger, 1 teaspoon extract lemon. Beat the eggs and sugar together for 10 minutes ; add the water, the flour sifted with the powder, and the extracts ; mix into a smooth sponge, and bake in quick oven 30 minutes. Gingerbread. — 1 cup brown sugar and 3 tablespoons butter, stirred to a cream ; add 1 cup New Orleans molasses, 2 eggs ; mix well ; stir dry 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder in 2hi cups flour, put in ginger or spice to taste, bake in 1 loaf 1 hour. Gold Cake.— ^ cup butter, 2 cups sugar, yolks 10 eggs, Ihi pints flour, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 cup thin cream, 1 teaspoon each extract lemon and nutmeg. Rub the butter and sugar to a white cream ; add the yolks, 3 at a time, beating a little after each addition ; add the flour sifted with the powder, the thin cream, and the extracts ; mix into a pretty firm batter ; bake in a paperlined cake-tin (fig. IX), in a steady oven, 50 minutes. Gold Cake, No. 2. — hi cup butter, 1 cup sugar, yolks 6 eggs, 2 cups flour, hi, teaspoon salt, i heaping teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, grated rind and strained juice 1 large orange. Mix the dry ingredients. Cream the butter and sugar, add weU-beaten yolks, orange rind and juice, and flour. Bake in shallow pan in moderate oven, and ice with orange- water icing.