Bread, cakes, and biscuits

Parkin ( real old Yorkshire). — Melt together ljlb. of treacle, ilb. of butter, and |Tb. of sugar, with ginger to taste ; then work this well into 2lb. of fine sifted oatmeal, and bake in well-greased tins in a moderate oven. It rises a good deal in baking. Or : 41b. fine oatmeal, 61b. treacle, 4oz. butter, four teaspoonfuls of ground ginger, and one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda; mix well, and bake in well-greased tins in a very, very slow oven. Cake, Irish Plum. — lib. of butter, lilb, of flour, lib. caster sugar, l^lb. currants, 4oz. almonds, 4oz. peel, nine eggs, a wineglassful of brandy. Beat the butter to a cream, then work in the sugar, next the eggs (the yolks and whites beaten separately and very thoroughly), lastly the flour, beating it all continuously from the moment you begin mixing it. Just before putting it into the oven add the peel finely shredded, the well washed and dried currants, and the almonds pounded finely. This makes a capital cake, but requires much beating and elbow work. Plum ( a la vanille). — Pile l£lb. of flour on a board, make a hollow in the centre, and put into this ioz. caster sugar, J,oz. fine salt, the yolks of three eggs, lib. of butter, and a glass of good cream ; beat this all well together, drawing the flour gradually from the sides till it is all well mixed in ; then roll it out like puff paste four times, sprinkling it each time with powdered vanilla ; mix in then as many stoned raisins or sultanas as you please, press the cake into a tin 3 inches deep, surround it with bands of buttered paper, and bake in a quick oven for three hours. Porter. — Rub 4oz. of butter into lib. of flour ; then mix in ilb. well washed and dried currants, the same of sultanas or stoned raisins, two teaspoonfuls of mixed spice, the finely-grated rind of one lemon, a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda on to which has been poured a quarter pint of heated porter, and four eggs broken (not beaten) into the mixture ; beat altogether for twenty minutes, then bake for three hours in a slow oven. To be kept three days before use in an airtight tin. The recipes for this cake only vary slightly in detail ; for instance, in some, finely-shred candied peel is given instead of fresh lemon peel, while one adds 2oz. blanched and shred almonds to the mixture. Potato. — Rub 4oz. clarified dripping into lib. of flour, then work into it lib. of mashed mealy potatoes, an egg, a teaspoonful of baking powder, a pinch of salt, and as much tepid milk as will mix it to a nice smooth paste. H 2 Shape this into rounds the size of a plate, cut these again into triangles from the centre, and bake in a hot oven, or preferably on a girdle. If the paste is too soft, or the oven cool, these cakes are spoilt. A richer kind may be made by baking instead of boiling the potatoes, crushing them through a potato masher, and to every pound of this potato snow allow 1oz. of fresh butter, or a proportionate amount of cream, a dust of salt and of grated nutmeg, sugar to taste, and the yolk of an egg. When beaten quite smooth (it should look very rich), flatten it out with the hands, shape it in rounds the size of a plate, cut it into triangles, and bake, glazing it at the last with a little sugar.