The handy dictionary of cookery

Grate half a pound of chocolate ; blanch and chop finely a quarter of a pound of almonds ; beat half a pound of butter to a cream ; add to it half a pound of fine sugar, the chocolate, almonds, the beaten yolks of six eggs, and eight drops of ratafia. Beat these all well together until they are thoroughly blended ; whip up the whites to a stiff froth on a clean dry plate with a broad-pointed knife, and a tiny pinch of salt. Mix them in very lightly just at the last, with a quarter of a pound of flour. Pour the cake into a well-greased tin, and bake in a moderate oven an hour and a half. Clarified Fat. Cut into small pieces any kind of fat cooked or uncooked ; put them into an iron pan j cover them with cold water ; bring it slowly to the boil ; be very careful to remove the scum just at boiling-point. Boil it very quickly without a 5^ lid until the water has all evaporated ; this may be known when the liquid has the appearance of salad oil. Remove it from the fire to cool before straining it, as the great heat of the fat is apt to melt the strainer. Pour it into a dish and set aside for use. A^ote. — Fat clarified in this way will keep a very long time, and is the best medium we have for frying ; oil or lard may be used, but they are more extravagant, as they are so much more apt to burn. Clarified fat is also very useful in making cheap soups, as potato, pea, vegetable, &c., and may be used for pastry, cakes, and puddings. Clear Soup. Cut into small pieces two pounds and a half shin of beef ; put into a saucepan, with two quarts and a half of cold water, a piece of turnip, carrot, one onion stuck with cloves, twelve peppercorns, a piece of celery. Bring it slowly to the boil, then throw in half a teaspoonful of salt; this will cause the scum to rise. Remove it carefully and allow it to simmer very slowly six hours with the lid tightly on ; strain it ; allow it to stand all night. Take off every particle of fat with an iron spoon dipped into hot water. Pass a clean towel over the surface, which must have been wrung out in hot water. Put the soup into a clean pan with the whites and shells of three eggs and a small piece of each vegetable used the first day. Whisk it over the fire till you get up a stiff froth ; remove the whisk ; let it boil up twice ; remove it from the fire; allow it to stand quite still twenty minutes. Be careful not to break the filter formed on the top, which is the coagulated albumen, and it really clears the soup. Turn up a chair. Tie over the legs. a clean kitchen towel ; pass a little hot water through it. Then pour the soup through till clear. Cocoa. Mix a teaspQonful of cocoa with a little cold water ; pour over it a cup of boiling milk ; return it to the pan, stir to boiling, boil three minutes and serve. Add sugar to taste. Cocoa-Nut Biscuits. Put into a bowl half a pound of either prepared or grated cocoa-nut, a quarter of a pound of fine sugar, and a tablespoonful of flour ; mix these all well together Then add very lightly the whites of three eggs beaten up to a stiff froth, on a clean dry plate ; drop it with two forks on to wafer paper, or a greased tin, in pieces the size of a walnut. Bake to a pale golden colour in a moderate oven. Cocoa-Nut Sandwich Cake.