No sort of sugar but loaf will make light sponge-cake. Stir in, gradually, the spice and essence of lemon. Then, by degrees, put in the flour, a little at a time, stirring round the mixture very slowly with a knife. If the flour is stirred in too hard, the cake will be tough. It must be done lightly and gently, so that the top of the mixture will be covered with bubbles. As soon as the flour is all in, begin to bake it, as setting will injure it.
Put it in small tins, well buttered, or in one large tin pan. The thinner the pans, the better for sponge-cake. Fill the small tins about half full. Grate loaf-sugar over the top of each, before you set them in the oven.
Sponge-cake requires a very quick oven, particularly at the bottom. It should be baked as fast as possible, or it will be tough and heavy, however light it may have been before it went into the oven. It is of all cakes the most liable to be spoiled in baking. When taken out of the tins, the cakes should be spread on a sieve to cool. If baked in one large cake, it should be iced.
A large cake of twelve eggs, should be baked at least an hour in a quick oven.
For small cakes, ten minutes is generally sufficient. If they get very much out of shape in baking, it is a sign that the oven is too slow.
Some think that sponge-cakes and almond cakes are lighter, when the yolks and whites of the eggs are beaten in separate pans, and mixed gently together before the sugar is beaten into them.
If done separately from the yolks, the whites should be beaten till they stand alone.
ALMOND CAKE
Two ounces of blanched bitter almonds, pounded very fine.
Seven ounces of flour, sifted and dried.
Ten eggs.
One pound of loaf sugar, powdered and sifted.
Two table-spoonfuls of rose-water.
Take two ounces of shelled bitter almonds or peach-kernels. Scald them in hot water, and as you peel them, throw them into a bowl of cold water, then wipe them dry, and pound them one by one in a mortar, till they are quite fine and smooth.
Break ten eggs, putting the yolks in one pan and the whites in another. Beat them separately as light as possible, the whites first, and then the yolks.
Add the sugar, gradually, to the yolks, beating it in very hard.
Then by degrees, Beat in the almonds, and then add the rose-water.
Stir-half the whites of the eggs into the yolks and sugar. Divide the flour into two equal parts, and stir in one half, slowly and lightly, till it bubbles on the top. Then the other half of the white of egg, and then the remainder of the flour very lightly.
Butter a large square tin pan, or one made of paste-board which will be better. Put in the mixture, and set immediately in a quick oven, which must be rather hotter at the bottom than at the top.
Bake it according to the thickness. If you allow the oven to get slack, the cake will be spoiled.
Make an icing with the whites of three eggs, twenty-four tea-spoonfuls of loaf-sugar, and eight drops of essence of lemon.
When the cake is cool, mark it in small squares with a knife.
Cover it with icing, and ornament it while wet, with nonpareils dropped on in borders, round each square of the cake. When the icing is dry, cut the cake in squares, cutting through the icing very carefully with a penknife. Or you may cat it in squares first, and then ice and ornament each square separately.
FRENCH ALMOND CAKE.
Six ounces of shelled sweet almonds.
Three ounces of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels.
Three ounces of sifted flour, dried near the fire.
Fourteen eggs.
One pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
Twelve drops of essence of lemon.
Blanch the almonds, by scalding them in hot water. Put them in a bowl of cold water, and wipe them dry, when you take them out.
Pound them, one at a time, in a mortar, till they are perfectly smooth. Mix the sweet and bitter almonds together. Prepare them, if possible the day before the cake is made. [Footnote: While pounding the almonds, pour in occasionally a little rose-water. It makes them much lighter.]
Put the whites and yolks of the eggs, into separate pans. Beat the whites till they stand alone, and then the yolks till they are very thick.
Put the sugar, gradually, to the yolks, beating it in very hard.
Add, by degrees, the almonds, still beating very hard. Then put in the essence of lemon. Next, beat in, gradually, the whites of the eggs, continuing to beat for some time after they are all in.
Lastly, stir in the flour, as slowly and lightly, as possible.
Butter a large tin mould or pan. Put the cake in and bake it in a very quick oven, an hour or more according to its thickness.
The oven must on no account be hotter at the top, than at the bottom.
When done, set it on a sieve to cool.
Ice it, and ornament it with nonpareils.
These almond cakes are generally baked in a turban-shaped mould, and the nonpareils put on, in spots or sprigs.
A pound of almonds in the shells (if the shells are soft and thin,) will generally yield half a pound when shelled. Hard, thick-shelled almonds, seldom yield much more than a quarter of a pound, and should therefore never be bought for cakes or puddings.
Bitter almonds and peach-kernels can always be purchased with the shells off.
Families should always save their peach-kernels, as they can be used in cakes, puddings and custards.
MACCAROONS.
Half a pound of shelled sweet almonds.
A quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds.
The whites of three eggs.
Twenty-four large tea-spoonfuls of powdered loaf-sugar.
A tea-spoonful of rose-water.
A large tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.
Blanch and pound your almonds, beat them very smooth, and mix the sweet and bitter together; do them, if you can, the day before you make the maccaroons. Pound and sift your spice. Beat the whites of three eggs till they stand alone; add to them, very gradually, the powdered sugar, a spoonful at a time, beat it in very hard, and put in, by degrees, the rose-water and spice. Then stir in, gradually, the almonds. The mixture must be like a soft dough; if too thick, it will be heavy; if too thin, it will run out of shape. If you find your almonds not sufficient, prepare a few more, and stir them in. When it is all well mixed and stirred, put some flour in the palm of your hand, and taking up a lump of the mixture with a knife, roll it on your hand with the flour into a small round ball; have ready an iron or tin pan, buttered, and lay the maccaroons in it, as you make them up. Place them about two inches apart, in case of their spreading. Bake them about eight or ten minutes in a moderate oven; they should be baked of a pale brown colour. If too much baked, they will lose their flavour; if too little, they will be heavy. They should rise high in the middle, and crack on the surface. You may, if you choose, put a larger proportion of spice. [Footnote: Cocoa-nut cakes may be made in a similar manner, substituting for the pounded almonds half a pound of finely-grated cocoa-nut. They mast be made into small round balls with a little flour laid on the palm of the hand, and baked a few minutes. They are very fine.]
APEES.
A pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Half a glass of wine, and a table-spoon of rose-water mixed.
Half a pound of powdered white sugar.
A nutmeg, grated.
A tea-spoonful of beaten cinnamon and mace.
Three table-spoonfuls of carraway seeds.
Sift the flour into a broad pan, and cut up the butter in it. Add the carraways, sugar, and spice, and pour in the liquor by degrees, mixing it well with a knife; add enough of cold water to make it a stiff dough. Spread some flour on your pasteboard, take out the dough, and knead it very well with your hands. Cut it into small pieces, and knead each separately, then put them all together, and knead the whole in one lump. Roll it out in a sheet about a quarter of an inch thick. Cut it out in round cakes, with the edge of a tumbler, or a tin of that size. Butter an iron pan, and lay the cakes in it, not too close together. Bake them a few minutes in a moderate oven, till they are very slightly coloured, but not brown. If too much baked, they will entirely lose their flavour. Do not roll them out too thin.