The school kitchen textbook

Recipe, No. 161. Griddle Cakes 1 c. flour. i tsp. soda. I tsp. salt. 1 c. sour milk. I tsp. baking-powder. 2 tsp. melted butter. Put the sour milk into a bowl. If one eighth of the liquid is sour cream, omit the butter. Turn in the sifted flour but do not mix. Lay a fine strainer over the flour and sift the soda, baking-powder, and salt through it, mixing it lightly into the dry flour. As the acid in the sour milk varies in amount the baking-powder is necessary. Stir until all the flour is moistened and the mixture begins to puff. If an egg is to be used, — and cakes are better with it, — add it unbeaten and beat until light and smooth. As both milk and flour vary in consistency, more of one or the other may be needed. The batter should be like thick cream as it is poured from the spoon. Rub the griddle all over with a thin bacon rind, leaving only a film of fat on the surface. BATTERS 239 The surest way is to fry a spoonful and add more liquid if the batter be too thick to run easily on the griddle, and more flour if the cake spreads too much or will not hold its shape in turning. Pour the batter from the tip of a tablespoon, to make the cakes round; if poured from the side they may be irregular in shape. When one side is full of bubbles, turn the cakes over and brown the other side until it stops puffing. Half flour and half fine white corn meal, or whole wheat flour, may be used. This method illustrates one of the short cuts in cooking. Here separate beating of the eggs is unnecessary on account of the gas from the soda. Recipe, No. 162. Buckwheat Cakes Mix overnight, two cups buckwheat, one cup Graham flour and one teaspoon salt. Stir in warm water for thick batter, two tablespoons molasses and one half cake compressed yeast dissolved in water. In the morning, stir the batter down ; if too thick, thin with warm water, or if any sour odor, add one fourth teaspoon soda dissolved in water. Raise again and fry on greased griddle as wanted. LESSON XIV REVIEW OF BATTERS Recipe, No. 163. Whole-wheat or Graham Gems ^ c. Graham flour. | c. milk or water. J tsp. salt. Mix salt with flour, add liquid gradually till smooth. Beat thoroughly. Drop by spoonfuls on a hot, well-greased griddle, or bake in hissing hot, buttered gem-pans, thirty minutes. Recipe, No. 164. Popovers 1 c. flour. 1 c. milk. I tsp. salt. 1 egg. Mix the salt with the flour, add half of the milk slowly, and when a smooth paste is formed, add the remainder and the egg beaten thoroughly. Beat well before filling the pans. Cook in hot, buttered gem-pans, or earthen cups, in a hot oven half an hour, or until the puffs are brown and well popped over. They should rise well before browning, and remain in the oven until the crust is well cooked, otherwise they will settle and the crusts will stick together. A popover should be hollow and nearly dry inside. Questions on Batters What are batters? What do we use in the griddle Why should batters be light cakes to make them rise? and porous ? Why should batters be cooked How does air make a batter soon after they are mixed ? light ? What is the proportion of flour How are popovers made light ? and liquid for a batter ? REVIEW OF BATTERS What is the difference between