Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

Westmoreland Oat Cakes.— Take a quarter of a peck (3£ lbs.) of fine dry sifted oatmeal. Mix together one pint of warm water, half a tumblerful of mild ale yeast, and half an ounce of salt. (Or dissolve an ounce of German yeast in the warm water.) Stir the mixture well for ten minutes, strain it gradually into the oatmeal, and work it into a light dough. Cover it, and set it in a warm place to rise for one hour. Then roll it out quickly on a floured board with your hand, divide it into lumps the size of a small egg, and roll it with a rolling pin in plenty of flour till quite thin. Cover the oatcakes with flannel, set them on the board in a warm place, and when slightly risen bake them on a hot baking sheet. Then toast them crisp on both sides without burning, tear them apart with two forks, butter the inside, put the oatcakes together again, and serve hot. These oatcakes should be very crisp and short, and success depends on quickness and lightness in the kneading. Oat Cakes for Breakfast. — Take one pound of oatmeal, coarse or fine, rub into it two ounces of butter with a small teaspoonful of salt, and then moisten with sufficient water to make a smooth dough. Pat this into a round mass and lay it upon a floured board, roll it out not less than a quarter of an inch thick. Cut this into three and a half inch squares, halve these by cutting them across from corner to corner, forming triangular shapes, and bake on a heated iron frying-pan on the hot-plate, turning them till firm and thoroughly done. Dust over with sifted meal, and serve in a hot napkin. [WyvemJ] BISCUITS. Water Biscuits. — (Family Recipe.) — One pound of flour and two ounces of butter well rubbed together. Add a pinch of salt. Mix them with cold water to a very stiff paste, and beat it well with a rolling-pin. Break off the paste in pieces the size of a walnut, and roll out round. Prick each biscuit with a biscuit pricker. It is important to put the biscuits on a hot baking sheet and to bake them in a very hot oven. Water Biscuits (2). — Rub an ounce of butter into a handful of fine flour. Make it into a stiff smooth paste with warm milk and the white of an egg beaten to a froth. Beat the paste with a rolling-pin for half an hour or longer (the goodness of the biscuits depends on the length of time that they are beaten). Take small pieces of the paste and roll them out to the size of a saucer. They must be so thin that when held to the light they can be seen through ; in fact they cannot be too thin. Bake the biscuits very lightly. Passover Biscuits. — ( Family Recipe.) — This recipe was given by a Jewish baker. One pound of Vienna flour makes fourteen biscuits, each the size of a plate. Mix up stiff with a little cream and add a little salt. Bake for five minutes or so on a girdle. Roll out the paste as thin as writing-paper. Turn the biscuits When they begin to blister on one side, and bake a nice brown. The biscuits should be covered with large blisters. Fluted Biscuits. — ( Family Recipe.) — Melt two ounces of butter, add enough cold milk to mix one pound of flour. Add a FLUTED BISCUITS little salt, and roll out as thin as possible. Prick the biscuits well, cut them into narrow oblong shapes with a fluted cutter, and bake a nice brown.