Soyer's standard cookery

Two and a half cups of brown sugar, two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, half a cup of white sugar, whites of four eggs, half a cup of English walnut meats, broken in pieces. Boil sugar and water as for white mountain cream. Pour gradually, while beating constantly, on beaten whites of eggs, and continue the beating until mixture is nearly cooked. Set pan containing mixture in pan of boiling water, and cook over range, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes granular around edge of pan. Remove from pan of hot water and beat, using a spoon, until mixture will hold its shape. Add nuts and vanilla, pour on cake, and spread with back of spoon, leaving a rough surface. Opera Caramel Frosting. Three cups of brown sugar, one and a half cups of thin cream, one tablespoonful of butter. Boil ingredients together in a smooth granite saucepan until a ball can be formed, when mixture is tried in cold water. It takes about forty minutes for boiling. Beat until of right consistency to spread. Chocolate Fudge Frosting. Three tablespoonfuls of butter, one cup of unsweetened powdered cocoa, two and a half cups of confectioners' sugar, few grains of salt, half cup of milk, one teaspoonful of vanilla. Melt butter, add cocoa, sugar, salt and milk. Heat to boiling-point, and boil about eight minutes. Remove from fire and beat until creamy. Add vanilla and pour over cake. Mocha Frosting. One cup of butter, three cups of confectioners' sugar, two tablespoonfuls of breakfast cocoa, coffee infusion. Cream butter, and add sugar gradually, continuing the beating; then add cocoa and coffee infusion, drop by drop, until of right consistency to spread, or force through a pastry bag and tube. Fondant Icing. The mixture in which small cakes are dipped for icing is fondant, the recipe for which may be found in chapter on Confections. Cakes for dipping must first be glazed. To GLAZE CAKES. — Beat white of one egg slightly and add one tablespoonful of powdered sugar. Apply with a brush to top and sides of cakes. After glazing, cakes should stand overnight before dipping. To DIP CAKES. — Melt fondant over hot water, and color and flavor as desired. Stir, to prevent crust from forming on top. Take cake to be dipped on a three-tined fork and lower in fondant three-fourths the depth of cake. Remove from fondant, invert, and slip from fork to a board. Decorate with ornamented frosting and nut meat, candied cherries, angelica, or candied violets. For small ornamented cakes, pound cake mixture is baked a little more than one inch thick in shallow pans, and when cool cut in squares, diamonds, triangles, circles, crescents, etc. Marshmallow Frosting Melt one cup white fondant, add the white of one egg beaten until stiff, and stir over the fire two minutes. Remove from range, and beat until of right consistency to spread. Flavor with one-fourth teaspoonful of water and vanilla. This is a most delicious frosting for chocolate cake, but will never spread perfectly smooth. Ornamental Frosting. Four cups of sugar, two cups of water, whites of six eggs, half teaspoonful of tartaric acid.