Household hints

Fried Cakes. — If properly made, these need not be looked down upon by people who disapprove of lard. One cup of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, one tea-spoonful of soda, two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar, two eggs, three table-spoonfuls of lard ; flavor with cinnamon or nutmeg ; a half tea-spoonful of ginger may be added if you please. Beat the sugar and lard together till light, then add the well-beaten eggs. Mix the dough as soft as you can. Have the lard in which they are to be fried very hot. It is taken for granted that the lard is as sweet and clear as you can get. Before putting any of the cakes into it, take a bit of the dough and drop in to test its heat. If it rises to the top instantly, the lard is hot enough. Then put in a few of the cakes at a time ; watch them closely, and turn them over without piercing with a fork. By omitting all shortening — that is, both butter and lard — from any good fried cake recipe, and using in place of it a cup of sweet milk, the cakes will be light and almost entirely free from grease. Doughnuts. — The doughnut has been favorably mentioned in literature ; it fills an honored place in our memories of childhood ; but the doughnut which is rolled in pulverized sugar, and which has a raisin in the center, possesses an ideal grace never attained by the plain fried cake. or even by the ring. Three pints of flour, butter the size of an egg, one cup of sugar, one egg, a small bowlful of milk or water, and four tea-spoonfuls of baking powder ; flavor with nutmeg or cinnamon. The dough made in this way will be thin, and you will need to sprinkle flour enough over it and on the kneading-board to roll it out nicely. Cut the cakes out with a biscuit-cutter ; then take a knife and insert it at the edge of the cake until the point of the knife is at the center ; then take out the knife and put the raisin in ; press and flatten the cake, and cut it out again with the biscuit-cutter. This operation prevents the raisin from bursting out when the cake rises. When the cakes are ready for the table, sift pulverized sugar over them. Fig Cake. — One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, half a cup of sweet milk, whites of seven eggs, two tea-spoonfuls of baking powder. Beat the butter and sugar until very light — and, by the way, this should always be done when making nice cake. For the filling take one pound of figs, chop them fine, and cook until soft and smooth with a teacup of water and half a cupful of sugar. Another, but I think less desirable, way to prepare the filling is to chop ten ounces of figs and five ounces of raisins, soak them over night in enough brandy, wine, or cider, to make with them a paste that will spread almost like custard. Grandmother's Cake, — One cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three cups of flour, four eggs, one cup of sweet milk, two tea-spoonfuls of baking powder. Raisins or cocoanut may be added. This is nice baked in a loaf or in gem tins, or may be baked in layers with custard put between. Custard for the cake is made of half a pint of milk, two teaspoonfuls of com starch, half a cup of sugar, one egg ; flavor with vanilla. Roll Jelly Cake. — One cup of sugar, one cup of flour. three eggs, three table-spoonfuls of sweet milk, one tea-spoonful of baking powder. Roll while hot. My Own Soft Ginger Cake. — One cup of molasses, one cup of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, half a cup of butter, one egg, two tea-spoonfuls of baking powder ; ginger and raisins to suit the taste. Stir in flour enough to make a soft batter, not as thick as ordinary cake. Bake slowly. Molasses Cake. — Two cups of New Orleans molasses, four cups of flour, one cup of water, one cup of butter, one egg, two tea-spoonfuls of soda, one orange ; grate the peel, put that in, and also the juice and pulp.