Our viands

Excellent Sponge Cake. — Take 7 eggs, the weight of 6 in sugar and of 4 in flour, half the rind of i lemon chopped very fine. The eggs to be well beaten, the yolks and whites separately ; the sugar must be mixed in first, and then the RECIPES, OLD AND NEW 253 flour to be well stirred till put into the oven, and baked about an hour. The oven must not be too hot. Aberdeen Shortbread. — i Ib. flour, 8 oz. sifted sugar, 12 oz. butter, 4 oz. ground rice, 4 oz. candied orange or citron. Work the butter and sugar to a cream with the hand, add the ground rice and peel, then the flour ; knead it smooth and roll it out J inch thick. Cut the peel very fine, and the paste into rounds or oblongs. Bake in a slow oven till pale brown. Cornflour Cake. — Beat 2 oz. of butter to a cream, add 2 to 4 oz. (according to taste) of pounded loaf-sugar, and mix well j break in 2 eggs and beat all well together ; stir in lightly \ Ib. cornflour and i teaspoonful baking powder, and beat well together for five minutes; then pour the mixture into a greased cake tin, and put it into the oven immediately ; bake for half an hour — the heat should rise to 240 degrees. When done, turn the cake out of the tin and slant it against a plate until cold. Almond Cakes. — The whites of 2 eggs well beaten, 2 oz. of sweet almonds and i oz. of bitter, blanched and pounded, i Ib. loaf sugar ; mix all together and pound in a mortar ; roll into small balls, and prick each in three places with a feather. Place the balls on paper far apart, and bake in a slow oven. Rye Muffins. — With sweet milk — f of a cup of rye meal, f of a cup of flour, \ teaspoonful of soda, i teaspoonful of cream of tartar, i teaspoonful of sugar, i saltspoon of salt, i egg beaten and mixed with \ cup of sweet milk. Put the ingredients together in the order mentioned, and then drop small spoonfuls into hot fat. Cook until done when tried with a fork. With sour milk — i pint of sour milk, \ cup of 254 OUR VIANDS molasses, i saltspoonful of salt, the same of cinnamon, i teaspoonful of soda, and 2 eggs. Add enough rye flour to make a batter that will drop well from the spoon, and then fry in hot lard. These muffins are good eaten plain with an acid jelly or strong apple sauce ; the old-fashioned way was to eat them with cider, but the apple sauce is the best accompaniment. Doughnuts. — This is an old Dutch recipe, which has been in use for more than a hundred years. Beat a cup of butter into 2 cups of sugar. Add { teaspoonful of salt, 2 eggs well beaten, and 2 cups of milk. Put in flour enough to make a stiff batter. Now add a cup of yeast, and continue stirring in flour till the dough is as stiff as you can stir it. Lay the mass over, sprinkle it with flour, and set it to rise. It will take from fifteen to eighteen hours. Then turn on a moulding board and roll out Cut in balls i£ inch in diameter. Slip a raisin in the centre of each one as you cut it out — make a sharp gash with a knife for the purpose, closing the edges by wetting them, otherwise the raisin will fry out in the fat. Let the cut-out nuts stand for half an hour, then fry in hot fat for ten minutes. When they are fried, drain them from all fat and roll them in powdered sugar. Epicures soak them in Santa Cruz rum, and heap them with ice cream for a dessert dish.