Cassell's dictionary of cookery

to be owing to the way in which it is prepared. i The whisky ordinarily sold in England is more j free from flavouring ingredients than any other j form of distilled spirit. "Kum," says Dr. Lankester, in his valuable I work " On Food," " is less generally consumed i in England than the other spirit ; but from the { fact of its being supplied by the Government to our soldiers and sailors, largo quantities are entered for consumption in Great Britain. It is principally made in the West Indies, and our supphes are almost wholly drawn from Jamaica, where it is manufactured from the fermented scum of the sugar boilers and molasses. A flavour is often given to it by the addition of slices of pine-apple. It is usually sold much above proof, so that a pint of rum will contain fifteen ounces of alcohol. It has a peculiar odour, which is due to butyric ether. Like brandy, it improves by keeping, and probably develops the same class of bouquets as wine. The action of the alcohol of rum is of course the same as that of other fermented liquors ; but Dr. Edward Smith has pointed out a curious fact in its action on the system, and that is, that it increases the quantity of carbonic acid thrown out from the lungs. This may be due to the butyric ether. Whether this suggestion be correct or not, it is a curious fact, resulting from Dr. Smith's experiments, that whilst other alcoholic drinks decrease the expiration of carbonic acid, rum should increase it." Spit, Cradle {see Cradle Spit). Sponge Biscuits. — Break six fresh eggs, and put the yolks and whites into separate bowls. Take out the specks, beat the yolks thoroughly, and add gi-adually, beating the mixture all the time, si.x ounces of powdered and sifted sugar, a dessert-spoonful of orangeflower water, the whites of the eggs whisked to a firm froth, and, lastly, five ounces of flour. Beat the cake for half an hour. Wipe out some small biscuit-tins, butter the inside, and sift powdered sugar over them. Three-parts fill them with the batter, and sprinkle sugar over them before putting them into the oven, which must be very brisk. When done enough turn them out of the tins, and lay them on a sieve. Time to bake, fifteen to twenty minutes. Sponge Cake (a German recipe). — Take half a pound of sifted sugar and the yolks of ten eggs ; stir these ingredients for a quarter of an hour. Add six ounces of butter beaten to a cream, half a pound of fine flour, and the grated peel of a lemon and its juice. When these are ! thoroughly stirred in, add the whites of the ten eggs whipped to a snow. Stir all well together. Then take one or two moulds and butter them. Fill the moulds three-parts full, strew thin slices of almonds and some coarsely-powdered sugar on the top, and bake the cakes in a moderate oven. Sponge Cake (another way). — Boil three quarters of a pound of the finest loaf sugar pounded in a quarter of a pint of water SPO ( 919 ) SPO