PART II RECIPES (continued 3)
Reading edition
FRUIT TAPIOCA
Wash half a cup of tapioca, put it into a double boiler with a pint of water, and cook until the grains are soft and transparent. If granulated tapioca is used, one hour is sufficient time. Then add to it half a cup of grape or currant jelly, and mix until the jelly is dissolved; turn it into a pudding-dish. Serve cold, with sugar and cream. Any well-flavored fruit jelly may be used instead of the grape or currant.
TAPIOCA JELLY
½ Cup of tapioca. 2 Cups of water. ½ Cup of sugar. Juice and grated rind of half a lemon. ¼ Cup of sherry wine, or ¼ Cup of brandy (French).
Pick over and wash the tapioca. Put it into a double boiler with the water, and cook it for one hour, or until the grains are transparent and soft. Then add to it the sugar, juice and grated rind of the lemon, the sherry and the brandy, mixing them thoroughly. Press all through a wire strainer into a glass pudding-dish, and set it in a cool place to become a jelly. It should be served cold, and with cream.
ORANGE LAYERS
4 Oranges. 3 Bananas. 1 Cup of sugar. ⅓ Cup of water. 1 Cup of claret wine.
Peel the oranges, slice them in thin slices, and remove the seeds. Peel and slice the bananas. Arrange both in alternate layers in a glass dish. Make a syrup of the sugar and water by boiling them together, without stirring, for ten minutes; then add the wine, and remove at once from the fire; cool it, and pour it over the fruit. In half an hour it will be ready to serve.
It will not do to keep this dish long, as the fruit shrinks and loses its freshness. One fourth of an inch is the proper thickness for the slices of orange, and one sixth or one eighth for the bananas.
ORANGE BASKETS
From the end opposite the stem end of an orange cut out sections in such a way as to form a basket with a handle.
The body of the basket should be more than half the orange. With a knife and spoon cut and scrape out all the pulp from the inside. Fill the baskets with blocks of orange jelly, or with raspberries, strawberries, or other fruits. They are pleasing to children, and are pretty for luncheon or tea. The edges may be scalloped, and diamonds or rounds cut out of the sides, if one has time.
IRISH MOSS BLANC-MANGE
Irish moss, or carrageen, is a sea moss which grows abundantly along the shores of Europe and America. After gathering, it is dried and bleached in the sun, and then packed for market. It is exceedingly rich in an easily digested vegetable jelly, and is also valuable for food because of its mineral constituents.
To Prepare.
⅓ Cup of dry moss. 1 Quart of milk. ¼ Cup of sugar.
Soak the moss for half an hour in warm water, to soften it and to loosen the sand which is dried and entangled in it. Wash each piece separately under a stream of cold water. Its weight (that of the water) will carry down the sand. Then put the moss in a pudding-bag, and cook it in a double boiler in the quart of milk for one hour. At the end of that time lift out the bag, squeeze it a little, throw away the moss, and put the bag to soak in cold water. Add the sugar to the mixture, strain it into molds, and set in a cool place to harden. It will form a tender jelly-like pudding, which has an agreeable taste, resembling the odor of the sea, which many like. Serve it with cream, and with or without pink sugar.[40]
This blanc-mange may also be made without sugar if it is desirable to have an unsweetened dessert.
PINK BLANC-MANGE
Make a pudding according to the above rule. Color it, just before straining, with three or four drops of carmine, barely enough to give a delicate shell pink, for if it is very dark it is not attractive.
Carmine for use in cooking is made by mixing one ounce of No. 40 carmine (which may be obtained of a druggist) with three ounces of boiling water and one ounce of ammonia. It should be bottled, and will keep indefinitely. It is useful for coloring ice-cream, cake, and puddings.
SALADS
Salads are of two classes: the plain salads, consisting of green herbs or vegetables, such as lettuce, endive, water-cress, cucumber, etc., dressed or seasoned with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar, or oil and lemon-juice; and the so-called meat salads, which consist of one or more green vegetables, with an admixture of fish, lobster, crab, fowl, or game. A salad of whichever kind should be cool, delicate, and prepared by a gentle hand. Ordinary servants do not enough appreciate the "niceties" to make acceptable salads. The lettuce, cress, or whatever green is used, should be thoroughly washed, but not crushed, broken, or roughly handled, drained in a wire basket, dried in a napkin, and then torn with the fingers, not cut. Of course, cucumbers, beet-root, olives, etc., are exceptions.
The dressing for salads, whether simply oil and vinegar, or a mayonnaise, should be mixed with a wooden spoon, and an intelligent mind. As for the seasonings, the Spanish maxim which reads as follows is a good guide: "Be a miser with vinegar, a counselor with salt, and a spendthrift with oil." Let the oil be of the first quality of genuine olive-oil. In nearly all the large cities one may get fine oil by searching for it. Once found, there is no longer any difficulty, so long as the brand does not deteriorate.
To vary and flavor the salads of vegetables only, use the fine herbs when in season, for instance balm, mint, parsley, cress, and sorrel, chopped or minced, and scattered through the salad. Unless the vinegar is known to be pure cider or wine vinegar, use lemon-juice. Theodore Child says: "Lemon-juice is the most delicate and deliciously perfumed acid that nature has given the cook."
FRENCH DRESSING
French dressing is a mixture of fine olive-oil, vinegar or lemon-juice, or both, salt, Cayenne pepper, and onion-juice. The following proportions will make enough for one head of lettuce:
1 Tablespoon of oil. A bit of cayenne. ½ Saltspoon of salt. 4 Drops of onion-juice. 1 Teaspoon of lemon-juice. 1 Teaspoon of vinegar.
Mix all together well. This dressing may be used with lettuce, tomatoes, cold meat, potato salad, and to marinate chicken, lobster, and crab when they are to be used for salads.
MAYONNAISE DRESSING
½ Saltspoon of salt. 2 Saltspoons of mustard. 2 Saltspoons of sugar. ¼ Saltspoon of cayenne. Yolk of one egg. ½ Cup of olive-oil. 2 Tablespoons of lemon-juice. 1 Tablespoon of vinegar. 1 Tablespoon of thick sweet cream.
These proportions may be multiplied or divided to make larger or smaller quantities. Put the first five ingredients together in a bowl, and mix them well; then add the oil one drop at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden paddle or spoon "round and round," not back and forth. After dropping and stirring for ten minutes, the mixture will become stiff and difficult to turn. At this point stir in a little of the vinegar or lemon-juice. Then drop in more oil, and stir until it again becomes stiff. Continue putting in oil and the acids until all are used, when you should have a thick, smooth cream which, when taken up on the end of the spoon, will keep its shape and not "run." It will take from twenty minutes to half an hour to make it. Last stir in the cream.
Should the dressing "break," or appear as if curdled, it may sometimes be restored to smoothness by beating with a Dover egg-beater, or by adding more egg and stirring for a while without adding oil. If these expedients fail, begin all over again, adding the spoiled dressing to a new one. However, a mayonnaise dressing will not go wrong except in the hands of a careless worker. The only points to be observed are to put the oil in slowly, and to stir constantly and rapidly. The sweet cream is a valuable addition, giving the mayonnaise a delicate, satisfying flavor.
LETTUCE SALAD
Prepare a head of lettuce by washing each leaf separately in a stream of water, tearing off any portion that is bruised or brown, and looking carefully for little green creatures that may be lodged in the creases; they are not easily seen. Then drain the lettuce on a fresh towel or napkin, for if the leaves are very wet the dressing will not cling to them. Next tear it to pieces with the fingers, rejecting the large part of the midrib, put it into a deep bowl, pour on a French dressing, and toss it with a wooden salad-spoon and fork until all the lettuce seems oiled. Serve immediately.
Mayonnaise dressing may be used instead of the French dressing in this salad.
TOMATO SALAD
Wash in cold water and wipe some fair, ripe tomatoes. Cut them in slices one third of an inch thick. Do not peel them. Arrange some clean white lettuce leaves on a silver or china platter, with two large leaves at either end, their stems toward the middle, and two small ones at the sides. Lay on them the slices of tomato, with their edges overlapping each other. Serve with this salad French dressing.
CHICKEN SALAD
Prepare a nice chicken (one not too young) by boiling it until tender. Then set it away in its own broth to cool. (It is a good plan to boil the chicken the day before it is intended for use.) Meanwhile make a mayonnaise dressing. When the chicken has become cold, take it from the broth, and cut it as nearly as possible into half-inch cubes, rejecting all skin, tendons, cords, and bones. Season it with salt and pepper. Tear into small pieces with the fingers some tender, well-cleaned lettuce, and then mix equal quantities of chicken and lettuce with a part of the dressing; arrange it in a shallow salad-bowl, and spread the remainder of the mayonnaise over the top. The yolk of egg hard-boiled and pressed through a wire strainer with the back of a spoon, so that it falls in little crinkled pieces all over the top, makes a pretty garnish. Celery tops, the tiny inside leaves of lettuce, and parsley may be used singly or together for a border.
Chicken salad is usually made with celery instead of lettuce, but the latter is better for an invalid, although tender, delicate celery may be used. Serve a very small quantity, for chicken salad is a concentrated food, and should not be eaten in large amounts by either the convalescent or the well. The chicken, lettuce, and dressing may all be prepared beforehand, but on no account should they be mixed together until just before serving.
POTATO SALAD
For this salad fresh boiled potatoes, red sugar-beets, and French dressing are needed. The potatoes and beets should be cooked in salted water purposely for the salad, and allowed to become just cool. Cold potatoes left over from the last meal may be used, but they are not nice. When the potatoes are cool, cut them into thin slices, season with a little more salt and a bit of white pepper; cut the beets also in thin slices, and mix the two in the proportions of one third beets to two thirds potatoes, with the dressing, or arrange them in alternate layers in a salad-bowl, with the dressing poured over each layer as it is made.
A more dainty way, and one which a person of cultivated taste will appreciate (as it really makes a perceptible difference in the flavor of the salad), is to mix the lemon-juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper together without the oil, and pour it over the different layers as they are laid, and then add the oil by itself. The acids penetrate and season the vegetables, and the oil is left on the outside of each piece.
POTATO SALAD WITH OLIVES
Make a potato salad according to the foregoing rule, except substitute chopped olives for the beets, in the proportion of one eighth olives by measure to seven eighths potato.
CELERY SALAD
"One of the finest salads to be eaten, either alone or with game, especially partridges or wild duck, is a mixture of celery, beet-root, and corn-salad. Water-cresses will make a poor substitute when broken into small tufts.
"The beets are cut into slices one sixteenth of an inch thick; the celery, which must be young and tender and thoroughly white, should be cut into pieces an inch long, and then sliced lengthwise into two or three pieces. (N. B.—Select only the tender inside branches of celery.) This salad will require plenty of oil, and more acid than a lettuce salad, because of the sweetness and absorbent nature of the beet-root. The general seasoning, too, must be rather high, because the flavors of the celery and the beet are pronounced." ("Delicate Feasting," by Theodore Child.)
There are many kinds of salads, but they are all based upon the principles stated in these rules. Green herbs or vegetables treated with French or mayonnaise dressing, either by themselves or with meats, form the foundations of all salads.
ICE-CREAM, SHERBETS, AND ICES
For patients suffering with fevers, and for use in very warm weather, good ice-cream and sherbet are most acceptable. They should, however, be used with great care, particularly if the illness be due to disturbance of digestion, for they lower the temperature of the stomach and often cause such disorders as lead to severe illness. Even if this does not happen, they, in order to be raised to a temperature at which digestion will take place, absorb heat from the body, and a person reduced by illness cannot afford to needlessly part with any form of energy.
Sherbet in its literal sense means a cool drink. It is of oriental origin, but in this country it has come to mean a frozen mixture of fruit, or fruit-juice, water and sugar. There is a distinction made, however, between water-ice and sherbet. Sherbet has, in addition to the fruit-juice and water, either sugar-syrup, white of egg, or gelatine, to give it sufficient viscousness to entangle and hold air when beaten in a freezer, so that sherbets (unless colored by the fruit used) will be white and opaque like snow. Water-ices, on the contrary, are made without the white of egg, syrup, or gelatine, do not entangle air, and are translucent and what might be called "watery." Both are delicious when made with fresh, ripe fruit, and both may be enriched by the addition of sweet cream if desired.
Freezers. Of the various kinds of freezers perhaps the "Improved White Mountain Freezer" is, everything considered, as good as any. It is strong and freezes quickly when the salt and ice are properly proportioned.
It is well to study the gearing before attempting to use a freezer. The different parts should be taken apart and put together until it is understood how the machine works. See that the paddles in the can do not interfere with each other, and that the crank turns easily. Then put all together again, fasten down the crank-bar across the top of the can, and have everything in readiness before packing the freezer with salt and ice. The object in using the salt is to get a greater degree of cold than could be obtained with the ice alone. The affinity of salt for water is very great—so great, that it will break down the structure of ice in its eagerness for it. Heat is involved in this process of melting, and will be drawn from surrounding objects, from the can, the bucket, the cream, and even the ice itself. The more rapid the union of salt and ice, the more heat is absorbed, consequently the greater is the degree of cold and the quicker the mixture to be frozen will become solid.
Water is converted into steam by a certain amount of heat. Ice is transformed into water by the same agency, and in the case of the ice-cream freezer heat is drawn from whatever comes in contact with the ice that is warmer than itself. If the melting of the ice can be hastened in any way, the abstraction of heat will be correspondingly greater; hence the use of salt, which is so eager for water that it takes it even in the form of ice. Now it will be easily seen that if the ice is in small pieces, and there is the proper amount of salt for each piece, union between the two will be immediate, the amount of heat used will be very great, consequently the degree of cold will be great. Cold is only a less degree of heat.
Ordinary liquid mixtures that contain a large percentage of water become solid when reduced to a temperature of 32° Fahr.
To Pack an Ice-Cream Freezer. Break a quantity of ice into small pieces by pounding it in an ice-bag (a bag made of canvas or very strong cloth) with a wooden mallet. The ice should be about as fine as small rock-salt. Put into the bucket, around the tin can which is to hold the cream, alternate layers of the pounded ice and salt in the proportions of two thirds ice to one third salt (a quart cup may be used for measuring). Should it happen that you have "coarse-fine" salt, put all the ice into the freezer first, and then the salt on top of it, as it will quickly work down to the bottom. When the packing is complete unfasten the cross-bar and lift off the cover of the can carefully, so that no salt shall get inside; then put in the mixture to be frozen, replace the cover, and fasten the bar. Let it stand till the mixture is thoroughly chilled, then turn steadily but not very fast for about ten minutes, or until the turning becomes difficult; that is an indication that the contents of the can are freezing. Continue turning for a few minutes longer, to give the cream a fine and even consistency; then take out the paddle, drain off the water through the hole in the side of the bucket, fill in all about the can with coarse ice, and cover it with a thick wet cloth or towel. Let it stand for half an hour to become firm, when it is ready to serve. If it is desirable to keep the ice-cream for a length of time, it may be done by packing the freezer closely with ice and salt, and covering it with wet cloths. Or, the ice-cream may be taken from the can, packed in molds of fanciful shapes, sealed at the edges with melted tallow, and repacked in ice and salt.
PHILADELPHIA ICE-CREAM
The so-called Philadelphia ice-cream is pure, sweet cream, sweetened with sugar, and flavored. For a small quantity use the following:
¾ Cup of sugar. 1 Teaspoon of vanilla. 1 Tablespoon of brandy. 1 pint of scalded sweet cream.
Mix and freeze. The whites of two eggs beaten stiff is a valuable addition to this cream.
ROYAL ICE-CREAM
1 Tablespoon of flour. 1½ Cups of sugar. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 1 Pint of milk. 2 Eggs. 1 Pint of sweet cream. 1 Tablespoon of vanilla. ½ Teaspoon of almond. ½ Cup of sherry wine, or ¼ Cup of brandy.
Heat the milk until it boils; meanwhile mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a little cold water, and when the milk reaches the boiling-point pour it in; stir it for a minute over the fire in a saucepan, and then turn it into a double boiler and cook it for twenty minutes. At the end of this time beat the eggs very light, and pour them into the boiling mixture slowly, stirring it rapidly; continue stirring, after all the egg is in, for from one to two minutes; then strain the mixture into a dish and set it aside to cool. Last, add the cream and flavorings, and freeze. This makes a rich and delicious cream. It may be colored with carmine a pretty pink, or with spinach a delicate green.
ICE-CREAM WITH AN IMPROVISED FREEZER
Make the Philadelphia ice-cream mixture, or half of it, dividing each ingredient exactly. Put it into a small tin can (the Dutch cocoa-cans are convenient) with a closely fitting cover. Place it in the middle of a deep dish, and surround it with alternate layers of ice and salt, in the same manner as for ordinary freezing, and cover it closely; then lay wet cloths on the top and set it in a cool place. It will become solid in from one to two hours, according to the amount of mixture to be frozen. It is well to cut in the thick layer on the sides of the can once or twice during the freezing. If the cream which you have to use is thick enough to whip, do so; the result, when frozen, will be a very dainty dish.
This is a convenient way of making a little ice-cream for one person.
FROZEN CUSTARD
1 Pint of milk. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 1¼ Cups of sugar. Yolks of three eggs. 1 Pint of milk or cream. 1 Teaspoon of rose-water. 2 Tablespoons of wine or brandy.
Make a soft custard with the first four ingredients, according to the rule on page 195. When done, strain it into a granite-ware pan and let it cool. Then add the flavoring and the remaining pint of milk or cream, and freeze.
LEMON SHERBET WITH GELATINE
1 Tablespoon of gelatine. 1 Pint of boiling water. 1 Cup of sugar ⅓ Cup of lemon-juice. 1 Tablespoon of brandy.
Soak the gelatine (Plymouth Rock or Nelson's) in a little cold water for half an hour. Then pour over it the boiling water, stirring until the gelatine is dissolved; add the sugar, lemon-juice, and brandy, and strain all through a fine wire strainer. Freeze.
Nelson's gelatine and the Plymouth Rock or phosphated gelatine are the best to use for sherbets and water-ices, because they have a delicate flavor, and lack the strong, fishy taste which characterizes some kinds. The phosphated gelatine should, however, never be used except when a slight acidity will do no harm. Avoid it for all dishes made with cream or milk, as it will curdle them. The directions on the packages advise neutralizing the acid with soda; but, as there is no means of determining the amount of acid in a given quantity, it is not a process that recommends itself to an intelligent person.
Phosphated gelatine may, however, be used in sherbets even when milk or cream forms a part of them, for when it is added to a slightly acid mixture which has a low temperature, or is partially frozen, curdling does not take place.
LEMON SHERBET WITH SUGAR SYRUP
1 Pint of boiling water. 1 Cup of sugar. ⅓ Cup of lemon-juice.
Boil the water and sugar together without stirring for twenty minutes. You will thus obtain a thin sugar syrup, which, however, has enough viscousness to entangle and hold air when beaten. As soon as it is cool, add the lemon-juice, strain, and freeze it. This makes a snow-white sherbet of very delicate flavor. Lemon sherbet may also be made with water, sugar, lemon-juice, and the whites of eggs well beaten, instead of with gelatine or syrup.
ORANGE SHERBET
1 Tablespoon of gelatine. 1 Cup of boiling water. 1 Cup of sugar. 1 Cup of orange-juice. Juice of one lemon. 2 Tablespoons of brandy.
Soak the gelatine in just enough cold water to moisten it, for half an hour. Then pour over it the cup of boiling water, and put in the other ingredients in the order in which they are written; when the sugar is dissolved, strain all through a fine wire strainer, and freeze it.
To get Orange-juice. Peel the oranges, cut them in small pieces, quarters or eighths, put them into a jelly-bag or napkin, and press out the juice with the hand. By this means the oil of the rind, which has a disagreeable flavor, is excluded.
APRICOT ICE
1 Quart of apricots. 1 Quart of water. ½ Quart of sugar. 3 Tablespoons of brandy.
Either fresh or canned apricots may be used for this ice. If fresh ones are chosen, wash and wipe them carefully, cut them into small pieces, mash them with a potato-masher until broken and soft, and add the water, sugar, and brandy; then freeze. The treatment is the same if canned fruit be used. This ice may be made without the brandy, but it is a valuable addition, especially for the sick.
Peaches, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, and in fact any soft, well-flavored fruit may be made into water-ice by following exactly the above rule, except, of course, substituting the different kinds of fruits for the apricots, and possibly varying the sugar. If pineapple is selected, it should be chopped quite fine, and quickly, so that the knife will not discolor it. Peaches should be pared, and strawberries and raspberries carefully washed. All of these ices are delicious, and most wholesome and grateful in very warm weather, or for feverish conditions when fruit is allowed. If there is a question about seeds, as might be the case in using strawberries, strain the fruit through a coarse wire strainer after it is mashed; it is advisable to do this always in making strawberry, raspberry, or pineapple ice.
COOKED FRUITS
BAKED TART APPLES
Select fair, sound, tart apples. Wash and wipe them, and cut out the cores with an apple-corer, being careful to remove everything that is not clear pulp. Sometimes the tough husk which surrounds the seeds extends farther than the instrument will reach with once cutting; this can be detected by looking into the apple, and removing with the point of the corer anything that remains. If there are dark blotches or battered places on the outside of the apple, cut them off. Everything of that kind is valueless as food, and injures the flavor of that which is good.
When they are prepared place the apples in an earthen baking dish (granite-ware will do), put a teaspoon of sugar and half an inch of dried lemon-peel, or fresh peel cut very thin, into each hole, pour boiling water into the dish until it is an inch deep, and bake in a moderately hot oven; when the skins begin to shrink and the apples are perfectly soft all the way through, they are done; then take them from the oven, arrange them in a glass dish, and pour around them the syrupy juice that is left.
The time for baking varies, according to the species of apple, from half an hour to two hours. They should be basted once or twice during the time with the water which is around them. It will nearly all evaporate while they are baking. If the apples are Baldwins, or Greenings, or any others of fine flavor, the lemon-peel may be omitted. Stick cinnamon may be used instead of lemon-peel for apples which are not quite sour.
BAKED SWEET APPLES
Prepare sweet apples according to the foregoing rule, except use a fourth of a square inch of cinnamon instead of the lemon-peel, and half a teaspoon of sugar for each apple. Sweet apples require two or three hours' baking. They should be cooked until perfectly soft, and until the juice which oozes out becomes gelatinous. Serve cold with sweet cream. Cooked apples are an excellent addition to a diet. They contain acids and salts of great value.
STEWED APPLES
Pare and quarter three slightly sour apples. Put them into a saucepan with a cup of water and two tablespoons of sugar, and stew gently until they are soft, but not broken. Each piece should be whole, but soft and tender. A tablespoon of lemon-juice put in just before they are taken from the fire is a good addition to make if the apples are poor in flavor; or, lemon-peel may be used, and also cinnamon and cloves.
APPLE COMPOTE
Wash and wipe some fair, well-flavored apples (not sweet). Core them with an apple-corer (not a knife), being careful not to leave in any of the hulls, which sometimes penetrate far into the fruit; pare them evenly, so that they will be smooth and of good shape. Then boil them gently, in water enough to just reach their tops, with a square inch or two of thin lemon-peel, and a teaspoon of sugar for each apple, until they are soft, but not broken, watching them carefully toward the last part of the cooking, lest they go to pieces. When done lift them out into a glass dish, reduce the water by further boiling until it is somewhat syrupy, and set it aside to cool. Fill the holes with apple, grape, or any bright-colored jelly, and when the syrup is cold pour it over and around the apples.
STEWED PRUNES
1 Pint of prunes. 1½ Pints of water. ¼ Cup of sugar. 2 Tablespoons of lemon-juice.
Soak the prunes in warm water for fifteen minutes, to soften the dust and dirt on the outside. Then wash them carefully with the fingers, rejecting those that feel granular (they are worm-eaten); stew them gently in the sugar and water in a covered saucepan for two hours. Just before taking them from the fire put in the lemon-juice. They should be plump, soft, and tender to the stone. As the water evaporates the amount should be restored, so that there will be as much at the end as at the beginning of the cooking. French prunes may not require quite so long time for cooking as most ordinary kinds.
CRANBERRY SAUCE AND JELLY
Pick out the soft and decayed ones from a quantity of Cape cranberries; measure a pint, and put with it half the bulk of sugar, and one fourth the bulk of water. Stew the berries ten minutes without stirring, counting the time from the moment when they are actually bubbling. Done in this way, the skins will be tender, and the juice on cooling will form a delicate jelly. Or, the fruit may be pressed through a soup-strainer and the whole made into jelly.
GRAPE SAUCE
Take any small quantity of grapes. Wash them by dipping each bunch several times in water, unless you know that they have been gathered and handled by clean hands. Separate the skins from the pulps by squeezing each grape between the fingers and thumb. Cook the pulps about five minutes, or until soft and broken. Cook the skins for the same length of time in a separate saucepan, then press the pulps through a strainer into them, until there is nothing left but the seeds. Measure the mixture, and for each measure, pint or cup, as the case may be, add half a measure of sugar, and simmer for five minutes. Many invalids who cannot eat grapes uncooked, on account of the seeds, may take them stewed in this way. More or less than the above amount of sugar may be used, according to the requirements of the individual.
GRAPE JELLY
Separate the pulps from the skins of a quantity of washed grapes. Cook each separately for a few minutes, and slowly, so as not to evaporate the juice. Press the pulps through a soup-strainer, mashing them if they are not broken, until there is nothing left but the seeds; strain into this the juice from the skins, mashing and squeezing out all that is possible. Measure the mixture, and for every cup add a cup of sugar. Put all into a granite-ware saucepan and boil slowly for ten or twelve minutes.
The time required for cooking depends upon the condition of the grapes. If they are very ripe, and it is late in the season, ten minutes is sufficient time to obtain a fine, delicate jelly; but if it is early in the autumn, and the fruit has not been as thoroughly changed by nature as late in the season, twelve or fifteen minutes will be required to obtain the same result. Even less than ten minutes' cooking will sometimes cause the pectin of the fruit to dissolve, which, on cooling, forms the jelly. The time required will always be variable, according to the condition of the fruit, so it is well to ascertain by experiment what number of minutes gives the desired result.
Another and important point to notice in making fruit jellies is, that if the fruit be cooked longer than is necessary to dissolve the jelly-forming substance, that is the pectin, the natural flavor of the fruit is more or less injured; consequently, if grapes which require only ten minutes' boiling are boiled for fifteen, the flavor is inferior to what it would be if they were exposed for the lesser time.
It is impossible to give a rule which shall at all times apply to the making of fruit jellies, on account of the always variable condition of the fruit. But in general, grapes, cranberries, currants, and similar fruits require a short time, while apples, crab-apples, lemons, and oranges will take from one and a half to three hours. One is therefore obliged to test the jelly at intervals by taking out a little on a saucer to cool. If it becomes firm quickly, the mixture is cooked enough; if not, one may get an idea, from the consistency which it has, what further cooking will be necessary.
APPLE JELLY
Wash and wipe good tart apples. Cut them in quarters or, better, eighths, but do not pare them. Stew them in half their bulk of water,—that is, if you have four quarts of cut apples, put in two quarts of water,—until the skins as well as the pulp are perfectly soft. No definite time can be given, because that depends upon the kind and ripeness of the fruit. When done, turn them into a jelly-bag and drain until the juice is all out. Measure it, and for each cup add a cup of sugar, one clove, and one square inch of thin lemon-peel. Simmer gently for half an hour, then test it, to see how near the jellying-point it is, by taking out a little into a cool saucer. With some kinds of apples it will be done in that time, with others it will take an hour or more longer. When a little becomes firm on cooling, remove the whole immediately from the fire, skim it, and strain it into jars or tumblers which have been thoroughly washed in soap and water, and have been standing in boiling water for some minutes.
When the jelly is cool, pour over the surface a thin coating of melted paraffin, let it harden, then pour in another; for, as the first hardens, it may crack or shrink from the sides and leave spaces where ferments may enter; in other words, the jars need to be made air-tight—not that the air does mischief, but because it contains the organisms which, on entering the jelly, cause by their growth the various fermentative changes known to occur in fruits. The object then will be to exclude all micro-organisms.
There are other ways of sealing jelly than by the use of paraffin, as, for instance, with paper soaked in alcohol, or coated with oil; but paraffin, if properly used, is a sure, easy, and economical means.
A wad of sterilized cotton batting, packed into the mouth of the jar or tumbler, like a stopper, is sometimes employed, but it is not as effectual as the paraffin; for that, being poured in hot, sterilizes the surface of the jelly, thus killing any organisms that may have lodged upon it during the cooling. Organisms cannot go through batting; but, though it may be properly sterilized, it cannot be packed over the jelly until it has become firm, and during the time ferments may have settled upon it. Paraffin is a most satisfactory means of preserving jelly, and the only precaution necessary in using it is to put on two layers, the second one two or three hours after the first, or when all contraction has ceased.
BREAD
The two most practicable methods of making bread are with yeast, and with cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda.
Yeast is a micro-organism—an exceedingly minute form of plant life—which by its growth produces carbonic acid and alcohol. When this growth takes place in a mass of flour dough, the carbonic acid generated, in its effort to escape, puffs it up, but, owing to the viscous nature of the gluten, it is entangled and held within. Each little bubble of gas occupies a certain space. When the bread is baked, the walls around these spaces harden in the heat, and thus we get the porous loaf.
Barley, rye, and some other grains would be very useful for bread if it were not that they lack sufficient gluten to entangle enough carbonic acid to render bread made from them light.
Good bread cannot be made without good flour. There are two kinds usually to be found in market, namely bread flour, and pastry flour. The former is prepared in such a way that it contains more gluten than the latter. In making Pastry, or St. Louis flour, as it is sometimes called, the grain is crushed in such a manner that the starch, being most easily broken, becomes finer than the gluten, and in the process of bolting some of the latter is lost. For pastry and cake this kind is best. Lacking gluten, bread made from it is more tender, whiter, but less nutritious than that made from so-called bread flour.
New Process, or bread flour may be distinguished by the "feel," which is slightly granular rather than powdery, by its yellow color, and by the fact that it does not "cake" when squeezed in the hand; while St. Louis is white, powdery, and will "cake."
The best method to pursue in buying flour is, first, to find a good dealer, upon whose advice you may rely. Next, take a sample of the flour recommended and, with a recipe which you have proved to be correct, try some; if the first loaf of bread is not satisfactory, try another, and then another, until you are confident that the fault lies in the flour, and not in the method of making. Finally, having found a brand of flour from which you can make yellow-white instead of snow-white bread, which has a nutty, sweet flavor, which in mixing absorbs much liquid, and does not "run" after you think you have got it stiff enough, and which feels puffy and elastic to the hand after molding, keep it; it is probably good.
Often the same flour is sold in different sections of the country under different names, so that it is impossible to recommend any special brand. Each buyer must ascertain for herself which brands in her locality are best. It is just as easy to have good bread as poor. It only requires a little care and a little intelligence on the part of the housekeeper.
Having found a brand of good flour, next give your attention to yeast. In these days, when excellent compressed yeasts may be found in all markets, it is well to use them, bearing in mind that they are compressed, and that a very small quantity contains a great many yeast cells, and will raise bread as well, if not better, than a large amount.
Home-made liquid yeast is exceedingly easy to prepare. It simply requires a mixture of water and some material in which the plant cells will rapidly grow. Grated raw potato, cooked by pouring on boiling water, flour, and sugar form an excellent food for their propagation. A recipe for yeast will be given later.
Now we have come to the consideration of what will take place when the two, flour and yeast, are made into dough. According to some accounts of the subject, the yeast begins to act first upon the starch, converting it into sugar (glucose C6H12O6). While this is taking place there is no apparent change, for nothing else is formed except the glucose, or sugar. Then this sugar is changed into alcohol and carbonic acid; the latter, owing to its diffusive nature, endeavors to escape, but becomes entangled in the viscous mass and swells it to several times its original bulk.
This has been the accepted explanation; it is now, however, believed not to be correct. It is thought, and I believe demonstrated, that the yeast plant lives upon sugar; that it has not the power to act directly upon starch, but that it is capable of producing a substance which acts upon starch to convert it into sugar.
The production of the carbonic acid is the end of desirable chemical change, and when it has been carried to a sufficient degree to fill the dough with bubbles, it should be stopped.
Kneading bread is for the purpose of distributing the gas and breaking up the large bubbles into small ones, to give the loaf a fine grain. One will immediately see that kneading before the bread is raised is a more or less useless task. Kneading is a process which should be done gently, by handling the dough with great tenderness; for if it is pressed hard against the molding-board, the bubbles will be worked out through the surface, and the loaf consequently less porous than if all the gas is kept in it.
The best temperature for the raising of bread (in other words, for the growing of yeast) during the first part of the process is from 70° to 75° Fahr. It may touch 80° without harm, but 90° is the limit. Above that acetic fermentation is liable to occur, and the bread becomes sour. When the bread is made into loaves, it may be placed in a very warm temperature, to rise quickly if it is intended for immediate baking. Besides killing the yeast, the object sought in baking is to form a sheath of cooked dough all over the outside, for a skeleton or support for the inside mass while it is cooking. Baking also expands the carbonic acid, and volatilizes the alcohol. The latter is lost.
A good temperature in which to begin the baking of bread is 400° Fahr. This may gradually decrease to not lower than 250°, and the time, for a good-sized brick loaf, is one hour. If it is a large loaf, increase the time by a quarter or a half hour.
"The expansion of water or ice into 1700 times its volume of steam, is sometimes taken advantage of in making snow bread, water gems, etc. It plays a part in the lightening of pastry and crackers. Air at 70° Fahr. expands to about twice its volume at the temperature of a hot oven, so that if air is entangled in a mass of dough it gives a certain lightness when the whole is baked. This is the cause of the sponginess of cakes made with eggs. The viscous albumen catches the air and holds it."[41]
There are other means of obtaining carbonic acid to lighten bread, besides by the growing of yeast. The most convenient, perhaps the most valuable, method is by causing cream of tartar and bicarbonate of soda to unite chemically. (The products of the union are carbonic acid and Rochelle salts.) The advantage of using these over everything else yet tried is, that they do not unite when brought in contact except in the presence of water and a certain degree of heat. Rochelle salts, taken in such minute quantities as it occurs in bread made in this way, is not harmful.
Cream of tartar bread, if perfectly made, is more nutritious than fermented bread, for none of the constituents of the flour are lost, as when yeast is used.[42]
The difficulty of obtaining good cream of tartar is very great. It is said to be more extensively adulterated than any other substance used for food. Moreover, in the practice of bread-making the cream of tartar and soda are generally mixed in the proportion of two to one—that is, two teaspoons of cream of tartar to every teaspoon of soda; but this is not the exact proportion in which they neutralize each other, so that under ordinary circumstances there is an excess of soda in the bread.
To be exact they should always be combined by weight, as is done in making baking-powders, the proportion being 84 parts of soda to 188 of cream of tartar, or, reducing to lower terms, as 21 to 47—a little less than half as much soda as cream of tartar. For practical use in cooking there are no scales known to the author for the purpose of weighing these materials, so the proportion will have to be approximated with teaspoons, and a fairly accurate result for bread-making may be obtained most easily by measuring a teaspoon of each in exactly the same manner, and then taking off a little from the soda.
With good materials, care in measuring them, and a hot oven to set the bread before the gas escapes, cream of tartar biscuits are both wholesome and palatable.
LIQUID YEAST
(HOME-MADE WITH GRATED POTATO)
1 Medium-sized potato. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. 1 Tablespoon of flour. 1 Teaspoon of salt. 1½ Pints of boiling water. ⅕ of a two-cent cake of Fleischmann's yeast.
First see that there is a supply of boiling water. Then put the salt, sugar, and flour together in a mixing-bowl. Wash and peel the potato, and grate it quickly into the bowl, covering it now and then with the flour to prevent discoloring. As soon as the potato is all grated, pour in the boiling water and stir. It will form into a somewhat thick paste at once. Set it aside to cool. Then dissolve the yeast in a little cold water, add it, and set the mixture to rise in a temperature of 70° to 80° Fahr.
In a short time bubbles will begin to appear; these are carbonic acid, showing that the alcoholic stage of the fermentation has begun. In six or eight hours the whole will be a mass of yeast cells, which have grown in the nutrient liquid. It is then ready for use. It should be bottled in wide-mouthed glass or earthen jars, and kept in a cool place. It will remain good for two weeks. At the end of that time make a fresh supply.
Yeast is an organism—a microscopic form of plant life—which grows by a species of budding with great rapidity when it finds lodgment in material suitable for its food. The dissolved compressed yeast is like seed, which, when put into a fruitful soil, grows so long as sustenance lasts.
WATER BREAD
1 Pint of boiling water. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. 1 Teaspoon of salt. 1 Tablespoon of butter. ⅓ Cup of liquid yeast, or ⅕ of a two-cent cake of Fleischmann's yeast. Enough sifted flour to make a stiff dough.
Put the sugar, salt, and butter with the boiling water into a mixing-bowl or bread-pan. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the water lukewarm, then add the yeast (if compressed, it should be dissolved in a little water). Last, stir in the flour until a dough stiff enough to mold easily is made. Mold it for a minute or two to give it shape and to more thoroughly mix the ingredients, and then set it to rise in a room warm enough to be comfortable to live in—that is, having a temperature of 70° Fahr. It should remain in this temperature for eight hours. Cover it closely, that the top may not dry.
It is often convenient to let bread rise over night. There is no objection to this, provided the bread is mixed late in the evening, and baked early the next morning. Care must be taken, however, that the room in which it is left is warm enough to insure rising in the time given. On the other hand, if allowed to rise too long, or at too high a temperature, the fermentation is carried so far that an acid is produced, and the dough becomes sour.
Eight hours at 70° Fahr. is a good rule to keep in mind. During the time of raising the dough should double itself in bulk. If this does not happen, or it does not appear to have risen at all, either the yeast was not good, or the temperature was too low.
When the bread has risen sufficiently, cut it down, and knead it for five minutes on a bread-board, to distribute the gas and break the large bubbles, so that the bread may have an even grain; then shape it into a loaf, put it into an oiled baking-pan, and let it rise quickly in a warm place, until it again doubles itself. The amount of dough indicated in the rule will make one large loaf, or a medium-sized loaf and some biscuit. Multiply the rule by two if you want two loaves. Bake the bread in an oven which is hot at first, but gradually decreases in temperature, for an hour and a quarter. If you have an oven thermometer use it.[43]
MILK BREAD
1 Pint of scalded milk. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. 1 Teaspoon of salt. ⅓ Cup of liquid yeast, or ⅕ Cake of Fleischmann's yeast.
Measure the milk after scalding, but otherwise proceed exactly as in the making of water bread.
STICKS
1 Cup of scalded milk. ½ Teaspoon of salt. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. 2 Tablespoons of butter. ⅕ Cake of yeast, or ¼ Cup of liquid yeast. White of one egg. Flour enough to make a slightly soft dough.
Dissolve the salt and sugar, and soften the butter in the hot milk, which must be measured after heating. When it is cooled to lukewarmness, put in the yeast (which, if compressed, should be dissolved in a little cold water), the beaten white of the egg, and flour enough to make a dough slightly softer than that for ordinary bread. Let it rise overnight, or until light. Then cut it into small pieces, shape the pieces into balls, and roll and stretch them into tiny slender sticks, from ten to twelve inches long, about half an inch thick in the middle, and tapering toward each end. Place them, two inches apart, in shallow, buttered pans, and put them in a warm place for an hour to rise; then bake them in a moderate oven fifteen or twenty minutes, or until they are a golden brown. Sticks are good at any time; they are especially nice served with soup, or for lunch, with cocoa or tea.
This dough may also be made into tiny loaves for tea-rolls.
RUSK
1 Tablespoon of sugar. ½ Teaspoon of salt. 1 Cup of scalded milk. ¼ Cup of liquid yeast, or ⅙ Cake of compressed yeast. Flour enough to make a soft dough.
Mix the above ingredients together, and let the dough rise overnight in the usual time given to bread. Then beat one-fourth of a cup of butter, one-fourth of a cup of sugar, and one egg together, and work the mixture into the dough, adding a little more flour to make it stiff enough to mold. Set it to rise a second time; then shape it into rolls or tiny loaves, allow them to rise again until quite light, or for an hour in a warm place, and bake like bread.
DRIED RUSK
Cut the rusk when cold into thin slices, dry them slowly in the oven, and then brown them a delicate golden color.
Dried rusk is exceedingly easy of digestion, and makes a delicious lunch with a glass of warm milk or a cup of tea.
GRAHAM BREAD
1 Pint of milk. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Teaspoon of salt. ⅕ Cake of compressed yeast. 2 Cups of white flour. Enough Graham flour to make a dough.
Scald some milk, and from it measure a pint; to this add the sugar and salt. While it is cooling sift some Graham flour, being careful to exclude the chaff or outside silicious covering of the grain, but nothing else. When the milk has become lukewarm, put in the yeast, which has previously been dissolved in a little cold water, and the white flour (sifted), with enough of the Graham to make a dough which shall be stiff, but yet not stiff enough to mold. Mix thoroughly, and shape it with a spoon into a round mass in the dish. After this follow the same directions as for water bread, letting it rise the same time, and baking it in the same manner.
After the dough has risen, although it is soft, it can be shaped into a loaf on the bread-board, but not molded.
CREAM-OF-TARTAR BISCUIT
First, attend to the fire; see that you have a clear, steady one, such as will give a hot oven by the time the biscuits are ready for baking. Then sift some flour, and measure a quart. Into it put two teaspoons of cream of tartar, and one of soda, the latter to be measured exactly like the teaspoons of cream of tartar, and then a very little taken off. This is a more accurate way of getting a scanted teaspoon than by taking some on the spoon and guessing at it. Add one teaspoon of salt, and sift all together four times, then with the fingers rub into the flour one spoon of butter.
At this point, if it has not been already done, get the baking-pans, rolling-pin, board, dredging-box, and cutter ready for use. Then with a knife stir into the flour enough milk to make a soft dough. Do this as quickly as convenient, and without any delay mold the dough just enough to shape it; roll it out, cut it into biscuits, and put them immediately into the oven, where they should bake for thirty minutes.
Pocket-Books. Work or knead together the pieces that are left after making cream-of-tartar biscuit (or make a dough on purpose), roll it out very thin, cut it into rounds, brush them over with milk or melted butter, fold once so as to make a half-moon shape, and you will have "pocket-books."
Twin Biscuit. Roll out some dough very thin, cut it into very small rounds, and place one on top of another, with butter between.
Iced water may be substituted for milk in the above rule. In baking, however, the oven should be unusually hot, so as to take advantage of the expansion of the water. Also, baking-powder may be substituted for the cream of tartar and soda, using a fourth more of the baking-powder than of the two together.
SNOW-CAKES
½ Tablespoon of butter. 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Whites of two eggs. 1½ Cups of flour. 1 Saltspoon of salt. 1½ Teaspoons of baking-powder. 1 Cup of milk.
Measure each of the ingredients carefully, then sift the flour, salt, and baking-powder together four times. Cream the butter and sugar with a little of the milk, then add the whites of the eggs well beaten, the rest of the milk, and last the flour. Bake this batter in hot buttered gem-pans from twenty minutes to half an hour. These cakes are delicious eaten hot for lunch or tea. This mixture may also be baked in small, round earthen cups.
GRAHAM GEMS
1 Cup of milk. ½ Teaspoon of salt. ½ Cup of white flour. 1 Cup of Graham flour. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Teaspoon of cream of tartar. ½ Teaspoon of soda (slightly scanted). 1 Tablespoon of melted butter.
Sift and measure the Graham flour, add the cream of tartar, soda, and white flour, and sift again. Mix the milk, salt, and sugar together, and stir it into the flour; last, put in the melted butter, beat for a minute, and then drop a spoonful in each division of a roll gem-pan, which should be well buttered, and made very hot on the top of the stove. Bake in a hot oven from twenty-five minutes to half an hour. Serve hot.
OATMEAL MUFFINS
2¼ Cups of flour. 2 Teaspoons of baking-powder. 1 Teaspoon of salt. 2 Tablespoons of sugar. 1 Egg. 1 Cup of milk. 1 Cup of cooked oatmeal. 1 Tablespoon of butter melted.
Sift the flour and baking-powder together twice. Beat the egg very light, stir into it the salt, sugar, and milk, then add the flour, and last the oatmeal and butter; beat for half a minute, and bake immediately in gem-pans or muffin-rings in a hot oven for half an hour.
N. B.—The oatmeal should not be cooked to a soft, thin mush, but should be rather dry; so, in preparing it, use less water than for porridge. These cakes are to be eaten hot.
GLUTEN BREAD
Gluten flour is prepared in such a way that much of the starch of the grain is excluded. It is frequently required for persons suffering with diabetes, who cannot digest either sugar or starch. It should be made with flour, water, yeast, and salt only. Do not use milk for mixing, as it contains sugar.
One pint of water, one half teaspoon of salt, one fifth of a cake of yeast, one tablespoon of butter, and enough flour to make the usual bread dough will be required. Otherwise the process is exactly the same as for ordinary bread.
BAKING-POWDER
Baking-powder is a mixture of cream of tartar, bicarbonate of soda, and arrowroot. The latter is used to keep the two chemicals dry, and thus prevent the slow union which would otherwise take place. Sometimes tartaric acid is used instead of cream of tartar. The following rule may be relied upon:
Tartaric acid2 oz. by weight.
Bicarbonate of soda3 " " "
Arrowroot3 " " "
Mix and sift together thoroughly. Keep in a dry place, in a wide-mouthed bottle.
CAKE
Cake of the simpler kinds, especially sponge cake, is frequently given to the sick. Good sponge cake, served with sweet cream or a glass of milk, is an excellent lunch for an invalid. Some of the plain kinds of butter cakes—those made with a little butter—such as white, feather, and similar varieties, are excellent food.
Consider for a moment what they contain: eggs, milk, butter, sugar, and flour—five of the most valuable of all our food products. Yet there are those who pride themselves upon not eating cake, which idiosyncrasy can only be explained in one of two ways: either the cake which they have had has not been properly made, or else it has been so good that, during a lapse of judgment, they have eaten too much.
The dark fruit cakes should be avoided by both sick and well, on account of the indigestible nature of the dried fruits used in them, and also because they are often compact and close-grained, not light.
There is a custom prevalent in many kitchens of using what is called "cooking" butter—that is, butter which is off taste or rancid—for cake. It is but poor economy, even if it can merit that name at all. If you have no other butter for cake, don't make any. Sweet butter and fresh—not "store"—eggs are absolutely necessary. Also, a dainty worker to mix the ingredients with accuracy and care, and to oil the pan in which the cake is to be baked, so that the outside shall not taste of fat. Many an otherwise nice cake has been spoiled by oiling the pan in which it was baked with dirty or rancid grease. Use a very little sweet butter or olive-oil.
THE PROCESS OF CAKE MAKING
All ordinary cakes are made in much the same way as to the order in which their ingredients are mixed. First the butter and sugar are creamed together, then the yolks of the eggs are beaten and added, with the milk, to the butter and sugar; then the flour, into which the cream of tartar and soda have been well mixed by sifting them together several times, is put in; and last, the beaten whites of the eggs.
Care in Baking. For sponge cake made with baking-powder, or soda and cream of tartar, an oven moderately heated will be required—that is, one of 300° Fahr., or one which will slightly brown a loaf in twenty minutes.
For sponge cake made without raising material, such as the old-fashioned kind, in which only eggs, sugar, and flour are used, a slow oven is necessary.
For butter cakes a temperature somewhere between 350° and 380° will not fail.
The baking of cake is the most difficult part of the process, on account of the constantly variable condition of ovens in common iron stoves, and because it is more easily spoiled than bread and other foods usually cooked in an oven. One is obliged to exercise a new judgment every time cake is made. Even thermometers are only a partial help, for if an oven has a temperature of 300° Fahr. at a certain time, there is no means of being sure what the temperature will be half an hour from then. However, by giving attention and some practice to it, one may gain considerable skill in managing fires. Should the cake be cooking too fast, and arranging the stove dampers does not lessen the heat, a piece of buttered paper laid over the top will protect it, and will not stick. Layer, or thin cakes, require a hotter oven than loaves.
Pans for baking cake should be lined with buttered paper (the buttered side up), letting it overlap the sides for about an inch to assist in lifting out the cake. An earthenware bowl and a wooden spoon should be used for mixing.
Get everything ready before beginning to mix cake, the oven first of all. Bake as soon as possible after the flour is in, for carbonic acid begins to be formed as soon as the soda and cream of tartar come in contact with the liquid, and some of it will escape unless the mixture is baked at once. Do not stop to scrape every bit from the bowl; that can be attended to afterward, and a little patty-cake made of what is left.
INVALID'S SPONGE CAKE
2 Cups of pastry flour measured after sifting. 1 Teaspoon of cream of tartar. ½ Teaspoon of soda (slightly scanted). 4 Eggs. 1½ Cups of powdered sugar. ½ Cup of water. 2 Tablespoons of lemon-juice.
Get everything ready before beginning to make the cake; oil the pan, or oil paper and line the pan with it; measure the flour, cream of tartar, and soda, and sift them together four times; measure the sugar, water, and lemon-juice, and separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs. Beat the whites of the eggs with half the sugar until they are very light. Then beat the yolks very light, or until they become lemon-colored, add the remaining half of the sugar and beat again, and then a little of the water if it is difficult to turn the egg-beater. When the sugar is well mixed, add the remainder of the water, the lemon-juice, and the flour. Beat for a few seconds, but not long, as all mixtures that have cream of tartar and soda should be baked as quickly as possible. Last of all fold in (not beat) the whites of the eggs lightly, so as not to break out the air which has been entangled by the beating, as it helps to make the cake light.
Bake in a moderate oven from forty-five to fifty minutes, or until the cake shrinks a little from the pan.
FEATHER CAKE
¼ Cup of butter. 1 Cup of sugar. 2 Eggs. 1½ Cups of pastry flour. ½ Teaspoon of soda (slightly scanted). 1 Teaspoon of cream of tartar. A little grated nutmeg. 1 Teaspoon of vanilla.
See first of all that you have a proper fire. Measure the ingredients, and get everything ready before beginning—mixing-bowl, pans, etc. Use a wooden cake spoon, with slits in the bowl, for mixing. Line the pans with buttered paper. Then cream the butter, adding to it half the sugar and half the milk, the latter very slowly; separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites, and beat them with the remaining sugar; when they are very light add the rest of the milk. Beat the whites until stiff. Now mix the creamed butter and yolks together with the flavoring, then stir in the flour, and last the whites, which are to be cut and folded in, not beaten. Bake it in shallow pans in a moderate oven forty minutes, or about that time. When the cake begins to shrink a little from the sides of the pan, there is no doubt that it is cooked enough. This recipe may be used for a variety of plain cakes.
For Chocolate Cake. Melt and stir into the above mixture two ounces of Baker's chocolate, or two teaspoons of cocoa wet in a little warm water.
For Rose Cake. Color the feather cake mixture with six drops of carmine.
LAYER CAKE
Oil three layer cake pans, or pie-plates. Make the feather cake mixture, and divide it into three portions. Bake one white, color another pink with three or four drops of carmine, and the third brown with an ounce of melted chocolate. Bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. When cool, join the layers with White Mountain frosting, and frost the top of the last layer. Any of the fillings given under the head of "Cake Filling" may also be used.
When chocolate is used in cake, it is not necessary to grate it or even to break it into small pieces. It contains a large proportion of fat which liquefies at a low temperature, consequently it is necessary only to heat it slowly to reduce it to the liquid state.
CARMINE FOR COLORING
The following rule for making liquid carmine for coloring cake, ice-cream, blanc-mange, etc., will be found useful:
1 Ounce of No. 40 carmine. 3 Ounces of boiling water. 1 Ounce of ammonia.
Bottle for use. It will keep indefinitely.
WHITE CAKE
1 Tablespoon of butter. 1 Cup of sugar (powdered). 1¼ Cups of pastry flour. ½ Teaspoon of soda. 1 Teaspoon of cream of tartar. Whites of four eggs. ¼ Teaspoon of almond extract, or 1 Teaspoon of rose-water.
Proceed, as with all cake mixtures, by getting everything ready before beginning to mix any of the ingredients, not forgetting the fire. Then cream the butter with the sugar, and add the milk to it slowly, so that the cream shall not break. Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff. Then to the butter, sugar, etc., add the flour, with which the cream of tartar and soda have been sifted at least four times, and the flavoring; last, fold in the whites of the eggs, and bake in a round loaf for an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half in a slow oven.
DREAM CAKE
Make a white cake mixture. Bake it in shallow layer-cake pans, in a moderate, not slow, oven. Join them with a caramel filling, and frost the top with the same, or use White Mountain frosting instead of the caramel, flavored with rose-water, and left either white, or colored a delicate shell pink with carmine.
CAKE FILLING AND FROSTING
WHITE MOUNTAIN FROSTING
Boil together, without stirring, one cup of granulated sugar with one third of a cup of boiling water, for eight or ten minutes. When the sugar has been boiling five minutes, beat the white of one egg until it is very light. Then test the sugar mixture by letting a little run off the side of a spoon. If in falling it forms a delicate thread, it is just at the point to stop the boiling. When it has reached this point, pour it at once into the beaten egg in a small stream, stirring the egg constantly to keep it smooth. Continue stirring for two or three minutes until it begins to thicken, then spread it either between layer cakes for filling, or use it for frosting.
CARAMEL FILLING
1 Cup of brown sugar. ¼ Cup of sweet cream. 1 Teaspoon of butter.
Boil all together until it threads, stirring it slowly as it boils. It will take about eight minutes. Use either for frosting or filling.
CHOCOLATE ICING
½ Cup of sugar. 4 Tablespoons of water. 2 Eggs. 1 Ounce of chocolate, or 1 Tablespoon of Dutch cocoa. 1 Teaspoon of vanilla.
Boil the sugar, water, and chocolate together, two minutes, to render the chocolate smooth. Then add the beaten eggs. Cook two minutes more, stirring slowly and gently. Add the vanilla just as it is taken from the fire, and use at once, as it becomes firm quickly. It is good either for icing cakes or for filling.
CREAM FILLING
Make a cream sauce with one cup of milk, a tablespoon of butter, and a tablespoon of flour. Beat one egg with half a cup of sugar, and stir it into the sauce slowly. Cook for two minutes, or until the egg is done. It should look like a thick smooth cream. Flavor it with a piece of cinnamon bark boiled in the milk, or with vanilla or almond. Use this cream for filling, for layer cakes, or split a thin sponge cake in two, and spread it between the halves.
DIET LISTS OR MENUS FOR THE SICK
Diet for the sick may be divided into three kinds: Liquid, Light, and Convalescent's or Invalid's Diet.
Liquid diet consists entirely of liquids, of which milk is the most valuable. The meat broths (those made with beef, chicken, and mutton), oyster and clam broth, albumen water, eggs in the form of egg-nog, egg cream, and mulled wine, and tea and coffee are excellent. To this list may be added, as the patient shows signs of recovery, soft custards, and jellies made with wine, lemon, coffee, or orange-juice, which quickly become liquid when eaten.
A patient is given liquid diet during times of severe and dangerous illness. Usually the amount of food and intervals at which it is to be given are prescribed by the physician.
The following table may be of assistance to those who are without such aid:
LIQUID DIET
No. 1
8 A. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
10 A. M.Hot coffee with cream and a little sugar½ of a cup
12 M. Beef-juice2 tablespoons
2 P. M.Warm milk¾ of a cup
4 P. M.Wine whey½ of a cup
6 P. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
8 P. M.Hot cocoa¾ of a cup
No. 2
8 A. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
10 A. M.Chicken broth¾ of a cup
12 M. Egg-nog½ tumbler
2 P. M.Milk¾ of a cup
4 P. M.Hot tea with cream and sugar¾ of a cup
6 P. M.Chicken broth¼ of a cup
8 P. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
No. 3
8 A. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
10 A. M.Beef broth¾ of a cup
12 M. Beef-juice2 tablespoons
2 P. M.Milk, either warm or cold¾ of a cup
4 P. M.Oyster broth with milk¾ of a cup
6 P. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
8 P. M.Hot cocoa¾ of a cup
No. 4
8 A. M.Hot cocoa¾ of a cup
10 A. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
12 M. Beef-juice, warm or cold¾ of a cup
2 P. M.Beef broth, hot¾ of a cup
4 P. M.Wine jelly2 tablespoons
6 P. M.Hot cocoa¾ of a cup
8 P. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
No. 5
8 A. M.Hot milk¾ of a cup
10 A. M.Coffee with cream and sugar½ of a cup
12 M. Hot beef broth¾ of a cup
2 P. M.Orange jelly3 tablespoons
4 P. M.Mulled wine¾ of a cup
6 P. M.Warm or cold soft custard½ of a cup
8 P. M.Warm cocoa¾ of a cup
If nourishment is to be given throughout the night, either hot or warm milk or cocoa is good. They are soothing and sometimes induce sleep. Tea and wine whey should be avoided at night, unless, of course, the patient needs stimulating, in which case use the wine only, for tea often causes wakefulness.
The whites of eggs beaten and strained, and mixed with finely crushed ice, is a valuable form of food for a typhoid fever patient. Toast-water and cracker tea are good in all feverish conditions. Milk may be varied by making it into milk-punch, with a very little sugar (a scanty teaspoon) and a tablespoon of brandy or sherry to each tumbler, or it may be made with a few drops of vanilla, instead of the brandy or sherry.
LIGHT DIET
Light diet consists of everything included in liquid diet, and in addition fruits, such as grapes and oranges; porridge of granum or farina; soft-cooked or poached eggs; dry, water, milk, and cream toast; the maigre soups, such as celery and mock-bisque, and chicken; delicate puddings, coffee and velvet cream, and baked custards, with perhaps for dinner a meat ball, a small bit of beefsteak or roast beef, and a baked potato.
Jellies made with gelatine, especially when flavored with wine, are a very valuable form of food with which to make the transition from liquid to light diet. They are palatable, nutritious, and, being in solid form, are satisfying to the minds of those who think they are not getting much to eat when fed on liquids alone.
The change from liquid to light diet should be made gradually, adding one kind of solid food at a time. Perhaps after the jellies a bit of water or milk toast, then an egg, then a little soup or pudding, until, as strength is gained, the person is able to take anything in the list, and finally is able to eat almost any kind of nutritious and well-prepared food.
First Day.
Breakfast.
Poached Egg on Toast. Cocoa.
Lunch.
Milk-punch.
Dinner.
Raw Oysters. Cream-crackers. Port Wine.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Beef Broth.
Supper.
Milk Toast. Wine Jelly. Tea.
Second Day.
Breakfast.
Soft-cooked Egg. Milk Toast. Coffee with Sugar and Cream.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Soft Custard.
Dinner.
Cream-of-celery Soup. Sippets. A little Barley Pudding, with Cream. Sherry Wine.
Lunch.
Milk-punch.
Supper.
Water Toast, Buttered. Wine Jelly. Tea.
Third Day.
Breakfast.
Scrambled Egg. Cream Toast. Cocoa.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Chicken Broth.
Dinner.
Chicken Panada. Bread. Port Wine. A little Tapioca Cream.
Lunch.
An Egg-nog.
Supper.
Buttered Dry Toast. Baked Sweet Apples and Cream. Tea.
Fourth Day.
Breakfast.
An Orange. Farina Mush, with Cream and Sugar. Poached Egg on Toast. Baked Potato. Cocoa.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Soft Custard.
Dinner.
Potato Soup. Croutons. A small Piece of Beefsteak. Creamed Potatoes. Baked Custard. Coffee.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Chicken Broth, with Rice.
Supper.
Raw Oysters. Banquet Crackers. Graham Bread, Toasted. Wine Jelly. Tea.
Fifth Day.
Breakfast.
An Orange. Coffee. Mush of Wheat Germ, with Cream and Sugar. Broiled Mutton Chop. Toast.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Mulled Wine.
Dinner.
Chicken Soup. Bread. Creamed Sweetbreads. Duchess Potato. Snow Pudding. Cocoa.
Lunch.
Siphon Soda, with Coffee Syrup and Cream.
Supper.
Buttered Dry Toast. Orange Jelly. Sponge Cake and Cream. Tea.
CONVALESCENT'S DIET
Convalescent's diet includes the liquid and light diets, and, in addition, all easily digested and nutritious food. For meats, game, especially venison and birds, beef, mutton, and chicken may be given, but never either pork or veal. They are difficult of digestion. Eggs in all ways, soft-cooked, scrambled, poached, and as omelets, well-baked potatoes, creamed potatoes, celery, snow pudding, cream of rice pudding, and tapioca cream, jellies, both those made from gelatine and fruits, Graham bread, Graham gems, rusk, and, in fact, any well-made bread, and good cake.
A convalescent may use for drinks plenty of good milk, cocoa, carefully made tea and coffee, occasionally good wine, and the different mineral and drinking waters. Some foods to be avoided are pastry, dark or badly made cakes, pork, veal, any highly seasoned meat dish made with gravy, all kinds of fried food, sausages, heavy puddings, badly made bread, lobsters and crabs.
SPRING
No. 1
Breakfast.
An Orange. Porridge of Wheat Flakes, with Cream and Sugar. Omelet, with Broiled Ham. Coffee. Hot Graham Gems and Butter.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Beef Broth. A Cream-cracker.
Dinner.
Chicken Soup. Creamed Fish. Mashed Potato. Snow Pudding. White Cake. Tea.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Milk.
Supper.
Broiled Squab on Toast. Creamed Potatoes. Bread and Butter. Jelly. Cocoa.
No. 2
Breakfast.
An Orange. Farina Porridge, with Cream and Sugar. French Chops (Mutton). Baked Potato. Cream Toast of Graham Bread. Cocoa.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Cracker Gruel.
Dinner.
Mock-bisque Soup. Sticks. Roast Beef. French Peas. Mashed Potato. Bread and Butter. Baked Cup Custard. Coffee or Claret.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Bouillon.
Supper.
Scrambled Eggs. Creamed Potatoes. Water Toast, with Apple Compote. Feather Cake. Tea.
SUMMER
No. 1
Breakfast.
Blackberries. Farina Porridge, with Cream and Sugar. Broiled Steak. Baked Potatoes. Dry Toast. Cocoa.
Lunch.
1 Tumbler of Kumiss.
Dinner.
Potato Soup made with New Potatoes. Baked Fish. Mashed Potatoes. Peas. Chicken Salad. Lemon Jelly. Tea.
Lunch.
Soda-water, with Vanilla Syrup and Cream.
Supper.
Cold Broiled Chicken. Bread and Butter. Blueberries. White Cake. Cocoa.
No. 2
Breakfast.
Blueberries. Broiled Perch. Baked Potatoes. Hot Snow Cakes, with Butter. Coffee.
Lunch.
Milk-punch.
Dinner.
Broiled French Chop. Duchess Potato. Peas. Tomato Salad. Tapioca Cream. Wine Jelly. Lemonade.
Lunch.
Egg-nog.
Supper.
Hot Water Toast, Buttered. Berries. Omelet, with Parsley. Tea. Soft Custard in Cups.
AUTUMN
No. 1
Breakfast.
Oatmeal Mush, with Cream and Sugar. Broiled Steak. Baked Potatoes. Oatmeal Muffins, Hot, with Butter. Coffee.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Beef Broth. A Banquet Cracker.
Dinner.
Celery Soup. Sippets. Roast Pheasant, with Jelly. Potatoes. Stewed Mushrooms. Velvet Cream. Cocoa.
Lunch.
A thin Sandwich of Bread and Butter. Tea.
Supper.
Raw Oysters. Cream Toast. Baked Apples. Rusk. Tea.
No. 2
Breakfast.
Cantaloup. Farina Porridge, with Cream and Sugar. Broiled Mutton Chop. Baked Potatoes. Dry Toast. Coffee.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Chicken Broth.
Dinner.
Oyster Soup. Sticks. Roast Beef. Creamed Potatoes. Celery Salad. Coffee Cream. Tea.
Lunch.
A Cup of Hot Oatmeal Gruel.
Supper.
Poached Egg on Toast. Cocoa. Graham Bread and Butter. Sponge Cake.
WINTER
No. 1
Breakfast.
An Orange. Oatmeal Porridge, with Cream and Sugar. Coffee. Broiled Steak. Baked Potato. Cream Toast.
Lunch.
Egg-nog.
Dinner.
Celery Soup. Croutons. Roast Chicken. Creamed Onions. Duchess Potato. Lettuce Salad (plain). Velvet Cream. Coffee.
Lunch.
Cocoa Cordial. Sponge Cake.
Supper.
Fancy Roast of Oysters. Dry Toast. Chocolate, with Whipped Cream. Orange Jelly.
No. 2
Breakfast.
An Orange. Wheat Germ, with Cream and Sugar. Broiled Partridge. Dry Toast. Coffee.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Hot Chicken Broth.
Dinner.
Consommé. Bread. Roast Beef. Mashed Potatoes. Tomato Salad. Cream of Rice Pudding. Coffee.
Lunch.
1 Cup of Mulled Wine.
Supper.
Venison Steak, with Port Wine Sauce. Toast. Sponge Cake, with Sweet Cream. Cocoa.