A textbook of domestic science for high schools

Tarts Roll paste T3f inch thick. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Cut as many more pieces with a doughnut cutter. Brush the circles with water and lay the rims on them. Chill thoroughly and bake 15 m. in a hot oven. Cool and fill with jelly. By placing 3 or 4 rings on the tart, shells may be made for creamed oysters or chicken. Cheese Straws Roll paste ^ inch thick. Sprinkle one half with grated cheese to which has been added a few grains of salt and cayenne. Fold, press edges together, fold again, roll out j inch thick. Sprinkle with cheese and proceed as before ; repeat twice. Cut in strips 5 inches long, | inch wide ; dust with salt. Bake 8 m. in hot oven. CHAPTER XVI CAKES may be classified under two heads : 1. Cakes without butter, or sponge cakes. 2. Cakes with butter. Powdered sugar makes a fine-grained cake. Coarse granulated sugar makes a coarse-grained, sticky cake. Winter wheat flour should be used, as it makes a light, tender cake. To mix Sponge Cake. — Separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the yolks till lemon-colored and thick. Add the sugar gradually and continue beating. Add flavoring. Fold in the whites beaten stiff. Sift in the flour carefully, and do not beat after adding the flour, or the air bubbles will be broken and the cake will be close grained and tough. Do not grease the pan for sponge cakes. Line the bottom of the pan with ungreased paper cut to fit it. To mix Butter Cakes. — Use an earthen bowl and a wooden spoon. Have all the ingredients measured and ready, the pans greased before beginning to mix the cake. Cream the butter, add the sugar gradually, and beat till very light. Add the beaten yolks, flavoring, then the milk, and flour in which the baking powder has been sifted, alternately. Beat well, as cake is made fine-grained only by long beating; then fold in the beaten whites. Never stir the cake after the final beating. For butter cakes, grease the pan with lard (do not use butter, as it burns), sprinkle with flour, shake out all the flour that does not adhere to the grease. Fill the pans about two thirds full, having the mixture come well into the corners. Leave a slight depression in the middle, so that the cakes will be level when baked. Baking. — The baking is the most critical part of cake making. Test the oven with a piece of white paper. If it turns a light yellow in 5 minutes, it is ready for sponge cakes ; if a dark yellow in 5 minutes, it is ready for butter cakes. The time of baking should be divided into quarters; during the first quarter the mixture should begin to rise; during the second quarter it should continue to rise and begin to brown; in the third quarter, continue browning; in the last quarter, finish baking and shrink from the edge of the pan. Cake should not be moved until it has risen its full height. When it feels firm to the touch, shrinks from the pan, stops crackling, and a straw inserted comes out clean, the cake is done. Small and layer cakes require a hotter oven than sponge and loaf cakes. Sponge cakes are of two general kinds : 1. Those in which the eggs and sugar are the only liquids used. 2. Those in which water is added for part of the liquid. Sponge cake is nutritious and is easily digested. It is the best form of cake to give to children.