The home cook book

When the following receipts call for the butter to be creamed before adding the sugar, this should always be heeded. The creaming consists in beating and working the butter until it becomes like thick cream. In this way the oil cells are broken and the texture of the cake made finer in consequence. Sifting the flour makes it lighter, and, unless stated otherwise, should be measured after sifting. It is safer to test the cake batter by dropping a little on a small pan and baking. If it spreads and is flat, the batter needs more flour. If tough, it needs a little more milk. Some flour thickens more readily than others, so the exact amount can not be judged. When using bicarbonate of soda, a level teaspoon is meant unless otherwise stated. CAKES FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS Many housekeepers look aghast when the question of decorating cakes comes up, and it arises quite often in a family where there are young folk. Every housekeeper may try her hand at this feature, which does not involve much extra trouble and needs very little skill. Once in a while a prettily decorated cake brought to the table when there are no guests other than one's immediate family will elicit many encomiums and also tempt the appetite. To write the name on a birthday cake no expensive apparatus is required: just a couple of cornucopias made of thick writing paper and sewed up the side. When the cake is ready, cover thickly with icing and set until firm. Fill the cornucopia with whatever icing the decoration is to be of, then, holding steadily in the left hand, commence to press from the larger end toward the smaller, pressing the icing out in a slender line from the opening. Roses and other flowers and geometrical designs and fancy tracings may be made. Unless accustomed to this work, it is better to trace with a sharp-pointed skewer the design on to the icing first, then following it out with the colored. ICING Beat stiff the white of one egg, stir in a cup of confectioners' sugar, two teaspoons of cold water, and the flavor you choose. Spread the icing upon the cake with a broadbladed knife, constantly dipping the knife in cold water to spread the icing smooth. ICING FOR CHILDREN'S CAKES Put three tablespoons of boiling water on a hot plate and stir in icing sugar or confectioners' sugar till you have a soft paste. Add as you stir a few drops of the flavoring you wish, such as vanilla or lemon. Spread the soft paste on the cakes. ALAIOND ICE Mix half a pound of finely powdered almonds with a pound of sugar. Moisten with a dash of orange water and the whites of enough eggs to make a paste. With this coat the cake. Over the almond icing a second icing is sometimes laid, prepared in the following way: Work a pound and a half of fine sugar into the whites of eight eggs, adding, now and then a dash of lemon- juice. You will have a thick, glistening mass. Coat the cake, and dry in a warm, clear air. BOILED ICING Boil together a cup of sugar and half a cup of water till the syrup hairs off a spoon. Take from the fire, and while cooling beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth. Stir the whites and the syrup together, beating the syrup in with the movement you have beaten the eggs. Use whatever flavor you choose, or whatever fruits. CLEAR ICING