The home cook book

teaspoon of mixed spices. Dredge the fruit with flour and add a pound of currants which you have well washed and dried, three pounds of raisins which you have seeded, three-quarters of a pound of citron which you have shredded, and a quarter of a pound of candied orange peel. Fold in the beaten whites of the ten eggs, stir in a pound of flour, divide into two or three loaves, and bake in a slow oven two and a half or three hours. SOFT GINGERBREAD WITH OR WITHOUT FRUIT Take one teacup of dark brown sugar, one large iron spoon heaping of butter, and one large iron spoon heaping of lard. Cream these smoothly together. Then add one scant teacup of hot water, three beaten eggs, one heaping teaspoon of soda, one large iron spoon of vinegar, two even tablespoons of ground ginger, two teaspoons of cinnamon, half a teaspoon of cloves, one teaspoon of salt, and three-quarters of a teaspoon of pure ammonia (from a druggist). Last, add three cups and a half of flour. Beat thoroughly for five minutes. Bake three-quarters of an hour in a moderate, steady oven. Set a pan of warm water in the upper oven. Do not turn the cake round until partly baked, and move it slowly. Be careful to close the oven door gently, or the cake will fall. Never leave the door open to cool an oven. If fruit is wished, use one teacup of raisins chopped and one teacup of currants, floured well. If you use fruit, bake one hour. This gingerbread with fruit makes a nice dessert steamed and eaten with liquid sauce. SOFT GINGER CAKE Mix a cup of sour cream, a cup of molasses, and half a cup of sugar. Add salt and ginger to your taste, and also cinnamon and cloves if you wish them. Stir in a teaspoon of soda dissolved in a little warm water and flour enough to make a dough like ordinary cake. Bake in a moderate oven. CIDER GINGERBREAD Mix one cup of sugar and one cup of molasses with two well-beaten eggs. Add half a nutmeg, two teaspoons of ginger, half a teaspoon of salt, and a large spoon of lard or butter. Take a cup of cider and pour three-fourths of it into the above mixture and stir well. Then add gradually, beating thoroughly, three cups of flour. After you have put in the last of your flour add the remaining one- fourth cup of the cider into which you have stirred and dissolved one teaspoon of soda. Beat all together and pour into a wellbuttered, shallow pan, and bake about a half an hour in a moderately hot oven. Do not have the oven too hot. Anything with molasses in it burns easily, and a quick or hot oven is not the best for baking molasses cakes. GOLD CAKE Cream together a cup of sugar and a scant half of a cup of butter. Add to this the yolks of eight eggs which you have beaten stiff, stirring all together thoroughly. Next put in half a cup of sweet milk, and next a cup and a half of flour into which you have sifted two teaspoons of baking powder. Lastly stir thoroughly all ingredients together, and bake in a moderate oven. HICKORY-NUT CAKE