JUMBLES.
Three eggs.
Half a pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A nutmeg grated.
A tea-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon.
Stir the sugar and butter to a cream. Beat the eggs very light.
Throw them, all at once, into the pan of flour. Put in, at once, the butter and sugar, and then add the spice and rose-water. If you have no rose-water, substitute six or seven drops of strong essence of lemon, or more if the essence is weak. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife.
Spread some flour on your paste-board, and flour your hands well.
Take up with your knife, a portion of the dough, and lay it on the board. Roll it lightly with your hands, into long shin rolls, which must be cut into equal lengths, curled up into rings, and laid gently into an iron or tin pan, buttered, not too close to each other, as they spread in baking. Bake them in a quick oven about five minutes, and grate loaf-sugar over them when cool.
KISSES.
One pound of the best loaf sugar, powdered and sifted.
The whites of four eggs.
Twelve drops of essence of lemon.
A tea-cup of currant jelly.
Beat the whites of four eggs till they stand alone. Then heat in, gradually, the sugar, a tea-spoonful at a time. Add the essence of lemon, and beat the whole very hard.
Lay a wet sheet of paper on the bottom of a square tin pan. Drop on it, at equal distances, a small tea-spoonful of stiff currant jelly. [Footnote: It is better to put a little of the beaten white of egg and sugar at first under the currant jelly.] With a large spoon, pile some of the beaten white of egg and sugar, on each lump of jelly, so as to cover it entirely. Drop on the mixture as evenly as possible, so as to make the kisses of a round smooth shape.
Set them in a cool open, and as soon as they are coloured, they are done. Then take them out and place them two bottoms together.
Lay them lightly on sieve, and dry them in a cool oven, till the two bottoms stick fast together, so as to form one ball or oval.
SPANISH BUNS.
Four eggs.
Three quarters of a pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of powdered white sugar.
Two wine-glasses and a half of rich milk.
Six ounces of fresh butter.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A grated nutmeg.
A large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon.
Sift half a pound of flour into a broad pan, and sift a quarter of a pound, separately, into a deep plate, and set it aside. Put the milk into a soup-plate, cut up the butter, and set it on the stove or near the fire to warm, but do not let it get too hot. When the butter is very soft, stir it all through the milk with a knife, and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs very light, and mix the milk and butter with them, all at once; then pour all into the pan of flour. Put in the spice, and the rose-water, or if you prefer it, eight drops of essence of lemon. Add the yeast, of which an increased quantity will be necessary, if it is not very strong and fresh. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife. Add the sugar gradually. If the sugar is not stirred in slowly, a little at a time, the buns will be heavy. Then, by degrees, sprinkle in the renaming quarter of a pound of flour. Stir all well together; butter a square iron pan, and put in the mixture. Cover it with a cloth, and set it near the fire to rise. It will probably not be light in less than five hours. When it is risen very high, and is covered with bubbles, bake it in a moderate oven, about a quarter of an hour or more in proportion to its thickness.
When it is quite cool, cut it in squares, and grate loaf-sugar over them. This quantity will make twelve or fifteen buns.
They are best the day they are baked.
You may, if you choose, bake them separately, in small square tins, adding to the baiter half a pound of currants or chopped raisins, well floured, and stirred in at the last.
In making buns, stir the yeast well before you put it in, having first poured off the beer or thin part from the top. If your yeast is not good, do not attempt to make buns with it, as they will never be light.
Buns may be made in a plainer way, with the following ingredients, mixed in the above manner.
Half a pound of flour, sifted into a pan.
A quarter of a pound of flour, sifted in a plate, and set aside to sprinkle in at the last.
Three eggs, well beaten.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
Three wine-glasses of milk.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A quarter of a pound of butter, cut up, and warmed in the milk.
RUSK.
A quarter of a pound of powdered sugar.
A quarter of a pound of fresh butter.
One pound of flour sifted.
One egg.
Three wine-glasses of milk.
A wine-glass and a half of the best yeast.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon.
Sift your flour into a pan. Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm them a little, so as to soften the butter, but not to melt it entirely. Beat your egg; pour the milk and butter into your pan of flour, then the egg, then the rose-water and spice, and lastly the yeast. Stir all well together with a knife.
Spread some flour on your paste-board: lay the dough on it, and knead it well. Then divide it into small pieces of an equal size, and knead each piece into a little thick round cake. Butter an iron pan, lay the cakes in it, and set them in a warm place to rise. Prick the tops with a fork. When they are quite light, bake them in a moderate oven.
INDIAN POUND CAKE.
Eight eggs.
One pint of powdered sugar.
One pint of Indian meal, sifted, and half a pint of wheat-flour.
Half a pound of butter.
One nutmeg, grated,--and a tea-spoonful of cinnamon.
Half a glass of mixed wine and brandy.
Stir the butter and sugar to a cream. Beat the eggs very light.
Stir the meal and eggs, alternately, into the butter and sugar.
Add the spice and liquor. Stir all well. Butter a tin pan, put in the mixture, and bake it in a moderate oven.
This cake should be eaten while fresh.