# The English Housekeeper/Chapter 21

CHAPTER XXI.
BREAD, CAKES, BISCUITS, ROLLS, AND MUFFINS.
Almost every county has its peculiar fashion of making bread: and almost every hand differs in the practice. The receipt here given is the one followed by most persons in Hampshire; and I select it, being the one I am most familiar with, and not because that county is famed for excellence in bread; for much depends upon the goodness of the flour, and some other parts of England excel Hampshire in this respect.
Good bread is so essential, that no pains ought to be spared to procure it. For this purpose the flour ought to be well prepared, and kept in a dry place. Some persons like brown bread, but it is not, in general, so wholesome as that which is all white. Six pounds of rye flour, to a peck of wheaten flour, makes very good bread.
The advantages of making bread at home, in preference to buying it at the baker's, are stated in Cobbett's "Cottage Economy"; and I refer my readers to that little work, to convince them that they will benefit greatly by following the advice there given on this subject.
Small beer yeast is the best for making bread, as ale, or strong beer yeast, is generally too bitter.
To take the Bitter from Yeast.—Put the yeast to the water you use to mix the "batter," or as the country people call it, "set the sponge," and stir into it 2 or 3 good handfuls of bran; pour it through a sieve or jelly bag (kept for the purpose), and then mix it into the flour. The bran not only corrects the bitterness of the yeast, but communicates a sweetness to the bread.—Or: put into the yeast 2 or 3 pieces of wood coal, stir them about, pour the water in, and then strain it.
Household Bread.
(From Cobbett's Cottage Economy.)
"Supposing the quantity to be a bushel of flour, put it into the trough, and make a deep hole in the middle. Stir into a pint (or if very thick and good, ½ or ¾ pint), of yeast, a pint of soft warm water, and pour it into the hole in the flour. In very cold weather the water should be nearly hot, in very warm weather only lukewarm. Take a spoon and work it round the outside of this body of moisture, so as to bring into that body, by degrees, flour enough to form a thin batter, which you must stir about well for a minute or two. Then take a handful of flour and scatter it thinly over the head of this batter, so as to hide it. Cover a cloth over the trough to keep the air from the bread, and the thickness of this covering, as well as the situation of the trough as to distance from the fire, must depend on the nature of the place and state of the weather, as to heat and cold. When you perceive that the batter has risen enough to make cracks in the flour that you covered it over with, you begin to form the whole mass into dough, thus: you begin round the hole containing the batter, working the flour into the batter, and pouring in, as it is wanted, soft water, or half milk and half water, in winter a little warm, in summer quite cold; but before you begin this, you scatter the salt over the heap, at the rate of a lb. to a bushel of flour. When you have got the whole sufficiently moist, you knead it well. This is a grand part of the business; for unless the dough be well worked, there will be little round lumps of flour in the loaves; besides which, the original batter, which is to give fermentation to the whole, will not be duly mixed. The dough must, therefore, be well worked. The fists must go heartily into it. It must be rolled over; pressed out; folded up, and pressed out again, until it be completely mixed, and formed into a stiff and tough dough."
The loaves are made up according to fancy, both as to size and shape; but the time they require to bake will greatly depend upon the former, for the household loaf of a Hampshire farm-house takes three hours or three hours and a half, while that of a Norfolk farm-house does not, I should imagine, require half the time.
French Bread or Rolls.
Warm 1½ pint of milk, add ½ pint yeast; mix them with fine flour to a thick batter, put it near the fire to rise, keeping it covered. When it has risen as high as it will, add ¼ pint of warm water, ½ oz. salt, 2 oz. butter; rub the butter first with a little dry flour, mix the dough not quite so stiff as for common bread; let it stand three quarters of an hour to rise, then make it into rolls. Bake in a quick oven.
Rice Bread.
To ¼ lb. wheat flour, allow 1 lb. rice; the latter first boiled in four times its weight of water, till it becomes a perfect pulp, then mix by degrees, the flour with the rice, and sufficient yeast for the quantity of bread; knead and set it to rise.
It was the fashion in this country to present a variety of cakes, some hot and some cold, on the tea-table; but now, except in some of the northern counties, the good custom is obsolete.
In America, it is the general custom to dine early, to take tea rather late, and no supper; and there the tea table is a matter of as much consideration as the dinner table is in England or France. Every house in America, especially in the country, has one, two, or more cottage ovens of various sizes. I believe that these very useful things are known in some parts of England, but I never saw them except in America. They are particularly adapted to open fire-places, where wood or peat are burnt. They are much the same as the iron pots, which stand on legs, except that the bottom of the oven is flat, not round, and that the lid fits into the top, leaving a space sufficient to hold a layer of hot coals: the oven stands upon legs, at a little distance from the ground, to admit of hot coals being placed under it. A loaf the size of our quartern loaf may be baked in this way, as well as tarts, cakes, custards, apples, pears, &c., &c. By means of this little oven, much labour and fuel are saved. Another appendage to an American kitchen, is the girdle for baking many sorts of cakes, and crumpets; and on this girdle they cook their far-famed buckwheat cakes. It is a round iron plate with a handle over it, which is hung upon the crane upon which ​iron pots are hung, or it will stand upon a trivet, and then the crumpets are cooked in the same way as pancakes; and are much better thus, fresh made, than as they are generally eaten.
In the country, where eggs, cream, and flour (the chief ingredients), are always to be obtained in perfection, there is no excuse for an absence of cakes for the tea, or of rolls at the breakfast table. In most houses, there are young ladies who might attend to this department, with very little loss of time, and with much credit to themselves, and I should be glad if I saw reason to hope that those who are now growing up would not despise the practice. The more difficult and intricate articles of ornamental confectionary, may be too troublesome for any but professors of the art; but all cakes may be made at home. Nothing worth knowing, is to be learned without trouble; but in the art of making and baking cakes, few failures can arise after any number of trials.
Flour for cakes should be of the best quality, well dried, and sifted. The eggs fresh, beaten separately, and beaten well. Currants well washed, picked, and dried in a cloth, or before the fire. The ingredients thoroughly mixed, and the cake put into the oven instantly, unless there be yeast, and then time must be given for it to rise.
Sal Volatile is used, not to make cakes rise, but to prevent their flattening, after they have risen, but though the practice may not be injurious, it had better be avoided. Yeast ought to be sweet, white, and thick; and may be prepared in the manner directed for bread. Pearl-ash is sometimes used to lighten bread and cakes.
An iceing is made as follows: to ½ lb. finely sifted sugar put the whites of 2 eggs, beaten with a little water; beat all well with a whisk till quite smooth, and spread it thickly over the cake, with a spoon; for small cakes, put it on lightly, with a brush.
Ovens vary so much, that experience alone can teach what quantity of fuel, and what portion of time may be required to heat any particular one. When such knowledge is once obtained, it will be a matter of no great difficulty so to manage the oven that it be always of the right temperature; which it must be, or all labour is lost.
Cakes keep moist covered with a cloth, in a pan.
Common Currant Loaf.
Melt ¼ lb. butter in a pint of milk, and mix it with 4 oz. yeast and 2 eggs, then stir it into 2 lbs. flour, beat well with a wooden spoon, and set it before the fire to rise; then add 1 lb. currants, and 2 oz. sifted sugar, and bake it an hour in a moderate oven.
A Rich Plum Cake.
To 1 lb. each, of currants and flour, rubbed together, add 12 oz. fresh butter beaten to a cream. Beat the whites and yolks of 16 eggs, put to them nearly 1 lb. finely powdered sugar, set this mixture over the fire, and whisk it till the eggs are warm; then take it off, beat till cold, and stir in, first, the butter, then the flour and currants; beat well, add ½ oz. bitter almonds, beaten to a paste, 2 oz. sweet almonds, blanched, and cut the long way, ½ oz. pounded cinnamon and mace, and ½ lb. candied peel, either citron, lemon, or orange, or a portion of each; add a little brandy or any highly flavoured liquor. Paper a hoop and pour in the cake. An hour and a half, or two hours will bake it.—Another: beat 1 lb. butter to a cream, put to it ¾ lb. sifted sugar, and a little rose or orange flower water, beat it; then add 8 yolks of eggs, the whites of 4, ½ lb. almonds, blanched and beaten, 1½ lb. currants, a little each, of cinnamon, mace, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger, and 1 lb. flour. You may add 2 table-spoonsful of brandy, 1 oz. citron, 1 oz. candied lemon peel, and the same of orange peel. Bake two hours.
A very good Cake.
Beat 2 lbs. fresh butter, with a little rose water, till it is like cream; rub it into 2 lbs. well dried flour; add the peel of a lemon grated, 1 lb. loaf sugar pounded and sifted, 15 eggs (beat the whites by themselves, the yolks with the sugar), a ¼ pint of brandy, the same of Lisbon or Marsala, 2½ lbs. currants, ½ lb. almonds, blanched and cut in slices, beat well together, put it into a buttered tin or dish, bake two hours. Candied lemon or citron may be added.
Pound Cake.
To 1 lb. flour add 1 lb. butter beaten to a cream, and 8 eggs: beat well, add sifted sugar, and grated lemon peel. You may add currants or carraways, to your taste. Beat well, and bake in rather a quick oven, an hour.
Common Cake.
To 2 lbs. flour, add ½ lb. butter, ½ lb. sugar, 4 eggs, 1 lb. currants, 1 oz. candied citron or lemon, 1 oz. carraway seeds, a little nutmeg, and 3 table-spoonsful yeast. Beat well, for half an hour, then put it in the oven directly.
A Cake without Butter.
Take the weight of 5 eggs (in their shells), in sifted sugar, and the weight of 3 in flour: beat the eggs, add first, the sugar, then the flour, the rinds of 2 large lemons grated, and a wine-glassful of sherry or brandy. Bake in a tin mould in a quick oven.—Another: to a quartern of dough add ½ lb. butter, 4 eggs, ½ lb. currants, and ½ lb. sugar, beat all well together more than half an hour, and bake in a buttered tin.
A Rich Seed Cake.
Mix 1 lb. sifted sugar into 1 lb. flour, and stir in, by degrees, 8 eggs, beaten, whisk well together, and add 3 oz. sweet almonds blanched and cut, some candied citron, lemon, and orange peel, and 12 oz. butter, beaten to a cream; a little pounded cinnamon, mace, and carraway seeds. Pour it into a papered hoop, and strew carraways on the top.—Or: put 2 lbs. flour into a deep pan, and mix in ¼ lb. sifted white sugar. Make a hole in the centre, pour in ½ pint of lukewarm milk and 2 table-spoonsful good yeast; stir a little of the flour in, cover a cloth lightly over, and let it stand an hour and a half to rise. Then work it up, with ½ lb. melted butter, a little allspice, ginger, nutmeg, and 1 oz. carraway seeds; adding warm milk sufficient to work it to a proper stiffness. Butter a hoop or dish, and pour in the cake; let it stand in a warm place another half hour to rise, then bake it. You may add 2 table-spoonsful of brandy.
A Rice Cake.
Mix 6 oz. ground rice, 4 oz. sugar, the grated peel of ½ a lemon, the yolks of 5 and whites of 3 eggs, and 1 table-spoonful orange flower water; break the eggs into a deep pan, and put the rice flour to them at once, mix it with a wooden spoon, then add the sugar and the other ingredients; beat well for twenty minutes, and it will be a fine light sponge; then immediately half fill the moulds, put them into a moderate oven, and bake three quarters of an hour, of a light brown colour. Little Rice Cakes—1 lb. ground rice, 1 lb. 2 oz. sugar, ¾ lb. butter, 8 eggs, and flour to make it into a stiff paste.—Or: 1 lb. sugar, ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. ground rice, 6 oz. butter, 8 yolks and 2 whites of eggs. Both these require long beating. Roll the paste out, cut it in shapes, and bake on buttered tins. Some persons add a few drops of the essence of lemon, and of almond flavour.
Harvest Cake.
Mix into 3 lbs. flour ¼ oz. of powdered allspice; in another bowl put ¾ lb. sugar, either moist or lump, 2 oz. butter, 2 eggs, 3 table-spoonsful of yeast; beat well, then mix in the flour, with ¾ lb. currants, and warm milk and water, to make up the cake; set it by the fire an hour to rise.
Temperance Cake.
Rub ¼ lb. butter into 1 lb. flour, add ½ lb. moist sugar, ½ lb. currants, and a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda, dissolved in a ¼ pint of warm milk; mix well, and bake it in a tin.
Sponge Cake.
The weight of 12 eggs in sifted sugar, and the weight of 6 in fine flour; beat the eggs separately, stir the sugar into the yolks, and beat well, then put in the whites and beat again, add a little nutmeg and rose-water, and just before you put the cake into the oven, stir the flour lightly into the eggs and sugar. This cake must be beaten with a whisk. Bake, in rather a quick oven, three quarters, or nearly an hour.—Or: beat, separately, the yolks and whites of 5 eggs, ​put them together, add grated lemon peel, and 5 oz. fine sugar, beat again an hour and a half, then stir in as lightly as possible 4 oz. flour, previously dried before the fire.—Or: boil ¾ lb. lump sugar in ½ pint of water to a syrup; beat 7 eggs well, and pour the syrup, boiling hot, into them, stirring all the time; then beat it three quarters of an hour, and just before it is put in the oven, stir in lightly 10 oz. of fine flour, pour it in a mould, and bake in a slow oven. Lemon peel may be added. Some persons put in a dessert-spoonful of essence of lemon.
Marlborough Cake.
Beat 8 eggs, strain, and put to them 1 lb. finely sifted sugar, and beat the mixture well half an hour; then put in ½ lb. well dried flour, and 2 oz. carraway seeds, beat well five minutes, pour it into shallow tin pins, and bake in a quick oven.
Gingerbread.
Put 1¼ lb. treacle on the fire, and as it gets hot, take off the scum; stir in ¼ lb. of fresh butter, and let it cool; then mix it into a paste with 1½ lb. flour, 4 oz. brown sugar, a little ginger, and allspice; cut it into shapes, and bake on tins. More butter, or a little cream may be added. Candied orange, lemon peel, or carraway seeds, may be added.—Another: mix 1 lb. flour, ½ lb. butter (rubbed in), ½ lb. brown sugar, lemon, ginger, and ½ lb. treacle; let it stand all night, and bake it the next day. Soft Gingerbread—Six tea-cupfuls of flour, 3 of treacle, 1 of cream, and 1 of butter, 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of pearl-ash, dissolved in cold water, a table-spoonful of ginger, 1 tea-spoonful of pounded cloves, and a few raisins, stoned; mix well, and bake in a rather slow oven. Gingerbread Nuts—They may be made the same way as the receipt before the last, adding more spice. Cut in small cakes, or drop them from a spoon, and bake on paper. Parliament—Melt ¾ lb. butter with 2 lbs. treacle, and 1 lb. sugar, add ½ oz. ginger, the juice and grated rind of a lemon, and sufficient flour to make it into a paste: roll out thin, cut it into cakes, and bake it.
Parkin.
Mix 4 lbs. of meal with 2 lbs. treacle, 1 lb. sugar, 1 lb. butter, and ½ oz. ginger, with a tumbler full of brandy and rum; add nutmeg and mace if you like, and bake in large cakes.
Volatile Cakes.
Melt ½ lb. butter, and stir in 4 eggs, 1 tea-spoonful of powdered volatile salts, dissolved in a tea-spoonful of milk, ½ lb. flour, ¼ lb. finely powdered loaf sugar, a few currants and carraway seeds. Mix well, and drop the cakes on tins. They will rise very much. Bake in a quick oven.
Ginger or Hunting Cakes.
To 2 lbs. sugar, add 1 lb. butter, 2 oz. ginger, and a nutmeg grated; rub these into 1 lb. flour, and wet it with a pint of warm cream, or as much as is sufficient; roll out in thin cakes, and bake in a slack oven.
Rough Cakes.
Rub 6 oz. butter into 1 lb. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, ½ lb. currants, and a little mace or lemon peel, break in 2 eggs, work it all into a rough paste, and drop on tins. You may add 1 oz. almonds.
Ginger Rock Cakes.
Pound 1 lb. of loaf sugar, leaving a part of it as large as hemp seed; beat the whites of 2 eggs to a froth, add a dessert-spoonful of refined ginger (sold by the druggists in bottles), mix well with a tea-spoon, drop it on tins, and bake in a moderate oven, a quarter of an hour.
Plain Biscuits.
To 1 lb. flour, put the yolk of 1 egg, and milk sufficient to mix it to a stiff paste, knead it smooth, then roll out thin, cut it in round shapes, prick with a fork, and bake them in a slow oven.—Or: to 1 lb. flour add ¼ lb. butter, beaten to a cream, 5 oz. loaf sugar, 5 eggs, and some ​carraway seeds: beat well for an hour, and pour the biscuits on tins, each one a large spoonful. If not sufficiently thin and smooth, add another egg, or a little milk.—Or: rub 4 oz. fresh butter very smooth into 8 oz. flour, add 3 oz. sifted sugar, and a table-spoonful of carraways: then add the yolks of 4 eggs, and a table-spoonful of cream. Bake in a quick oven.
Indian Corn Biscuits.
To ½ lb. butter, add 6 oz. pounded sugar, and 3 eggs; when well mixed, add ¾ lb. corn flour, a little nutmeg, and carraway seeds, beat well, and bake on little tins.—Or: into ¾ lb. flour, rub 4 oz. butter, add 4 oz. sifted sugar, and nearly 1 oz. carraway seeds; make into a paste with 3 eggs, roll out thin, and cut them in any shape you like.
Dr. Oliver's Biscuits.
Put 2 lbs. flour into a shallow pan, mix 1 table-spoonful of yeast with a little warm water, and pour it into a hole in the middle of the flour, work a little of the flour into the yeast, and set the pan before the fire a quarter of an hour. Melt ¼ lb. butter in milk to mix the flour into a stiff paste, and bake on tins.
Lemon Biscuits.
Beat the yolks of 12, and the whites of 6 eggs, with 1 lb. loaf sugar: when the oven is ready, add 2 table-spoonsful rose water, 12 oz. flour, the juice and rind of 2 lemons, grated, a few almonds if you choose. Bake in a quick oven.—Or: mix 1 lb. sifted sugar with ¼ lb. butter melted, the rind of a lemon grated, 2 eggs, and a very little flour: roll into little flat cakes, and bake on tins.
Rusks.
Boil a quart of milk, let it cool, then put to it ½ pint of yeast, 2 eggs, 2 oz. coriander seeds, 2 oz. carraway seeds, a little ginger, and ¼ lb. finely pounded sugar, beat these together and add flour to make a stiff paste: divide it into ​long thin bricks, put these on tins and set them before the fire a short time to rise, then bake them. When cold, cut in slices, and dry them in a slack oven.—Or: melt ½ lb. butter in a quart of milk, let it cool, add 1 egg, ½ pint yeast, and 4 oz. sifted sugar, beat this a few minutes, then work in flour to make a light dough, and set it by the fire to rise. Make this into little loaves, bake them on tins, in a quick oven; when half done take them out of the oven, split, and put them back to finish.
Maccaroons, and Ratafia Cakes.
Blanch, and pound, with the whites of 4 eggs, 1 lb. of sweet almonds, 2 lbs. fine sugar, and beat it to a paste; add 8 more whites of eggs and beat well again. Drop it from a knife, on buttered paper, and bake on tins. Ratafia Cakes.—The same as maccaroons, only use half bitter and half sweet almonds.
Jumbles.
Rub ½ lb. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, with ¼ lb. butter, add a table-spoonful brandy and 2 eggs; keep out part of the flour to roll them out with; twist them up, and bake on tins. If too soft, leave out 1 white of egg.
Small Plum Cakes.
Mix 2 lbs. flour with 1 lb. sugar, rub in 1 lb. butter, 1 lb. currants, add 6 eggs. When well mixed, roll out the paste equally thin and flat; cut it into small round cakes with a wine-glass, and bake them in a moderate oven.—Or: do not cut, but pull it into small cakes.
Small Carraway Cakes.
Mix 1 lb. flour, 14 oz. butter, 5 or 6 table-spoonsful of yeast, 3 yolks of eggs and 1 white, into a paste, with cream. Set it before the fire half an hour, to rise; add a small tea-cupful of sugar and ½ lb. carraway seeds. Roll out into cakes, wash them over with rose water and sugar, and prick the top, with a knife. The oven rather quick.
Shrewsbury Cakes.
Beat ½ lb. butter to a cream, mix it with 6 oz. sifted sugar, 8 oz. flour, pounded cinnamon, carraway seeds, 2 eggs, and a little rose water. Roll out the paste a ¼ inch thick, cut the cakes into shapes, and bake on tins in a slack oven.
Shortbread.
Melt 1 lb. butter and pour it on 2 lbs. flour, ½ a tea-cupful of yeast, and 1 oz. carraway seeds; sweeten to your taste, and knead well. Roll out thin, cut this into 4 pieces, pinch round the edges, prick well with a fork, and bake on tins.—Or: rub 1½ lb. butter, melted without water, into the 4th of a peck of flour, add 6 oz. sifted sugar, 2 oz. each of candied orange, citron and blanched almonds, all these cut in rather large pieces; work it together, but not too much, or the cake will not be crisp; roll the paste out, about 1½ inch thick, divide it into cakes, pinch the edges neatly, and mark them on the top with a fork; strew carraways, strips of citron, and little bits of almonds on the top, and bake on buttered papers.
Derby Short Cakes.
Rub 1 lb. butter into 2 lbs. flour, ½ lb. sifted sugar, 1 egg, and milk to make it into a paste. Roll out thin, cut the cakes in slices, and bake on tins, twenty minutes.
Cinnamon Cakes.
Beat 6 eggs, with a coffee-cupful of rose water, add 1 lb. sifted sugar, ¼ oz. pounded cinnamon, and sufficient flour to make it into a paste. Roll out thin, and stamp it into small cakes. Bake on paper.
Rout Cakes.
Beat 1 lb. butter to a cream, and stir in the yolks of 12 eggs, 12 oz. flour, some grated lemon peel, and a few pounded almonds, or some orange flower water. Mix well, and pour it into a mould not more than an inch high, and lined with paper; bake it, and when it has cooled, cut it into ​shapes, with a sharp knife; moisten the sides of these with sugar, and crisp them before the fire.
Queen Cakes.
1 lb. well dried flour, 1 lb. butter, worked to a cream, 1 lb. sifted sugar, and 8 eggs. Beat the yolks and whites separately, put half the sugar into the butter, and the other half into the eggs, beat them well, then beat all together, except the flour, which must be lightly dredged in as you continue beating the mixture, and shaking in ½ lb. currants.
Buns.
Mix ½ lb. moist sugar with 2 lbs. flour, make a hole in the centre, and stir in ½ pint of lukewarm milk and a full table-spoonful of yeast. Cover it for two hours, in a warm place. Melt to an oil, 1 lb. butter, stir it into the mixture in the middle of the pan, and, by degrees, work it into a soft dough, dust it over with flour, cover with a cloth, and let it stand another hour. Make it into buns the size of a large egg, then lay them on a floured paste-board, and put them before the fire to rise to the proper size; bake on tins, in a hot oven; when done, brush them over with milk.—Cross Buns: in the same way, adding to the plain buns, about 1 oz. of ground allspice, mace, and cinnamon; when half baked, take them out of the oven, and press the form of a cross on the top; brush them over with milk when done.—Another for Plain Buns: melt 6 oz. butter, mix it well with 4 eggs, ½ lb. sifted sugar, 1 lb. flour, and a tea-spoonful of volatile salts dissolved in a tea-spoonful of warm milk; add ¼ lb. currants, with seeds to taste, and bake ten minutes. A tea-spoonful of essence of lemon, and one drop of essence of almond may be added.—Seed or Plum Buns: mix into the same quantity of bun dough as the first receipt, 1 oz. carraway seeds, or currants, or Smyrna raisins. Butter small tart pans, mould the dough into buns, put one into each pan, and set them to rise; ice them, with white of egg, dust fine sugar over, and dissolve that by sprinkling water lightly over. Bake them ten minutes, in a quick oven. Mark the edges, and ice the top, or not, as you choose.—Bath Buns: rub ½ lb. butter ​into 1 lb. flour, wet it with 4 eggs, and a wine-glassful of yeast, set it before the fire to rise; add 4 oz. sifted sugar, and a few carraway seeds. Make into buns, brush them over with white of egg, and strew sugar carraways over the top.
Sally Lumm's Tea Cakes.
Warm a pint of new milk, or cream, with 2 oz. butter; then add ¼ lb. flour to make it a stiff dough. Roll to the size you choose, and bake it on a tin. When done, cut it in 3 or more slices, butter, and send it to table directly; if it wait before the fire it will quickly be spoiled.—Some add eggs, a little yeast, and sugar, to make it eat shorter.
Breakfast Cakes.
Rub 3 oz. butter into 1 lb. flour, and a little salt. Mix 1 egg with a table-spoonful of yeast, and a little warm milk, and wet the flour, using as much milk as is required to make a light batter, as for fritters; beat well with the hand, then cover, and let it stand three or four hours, in a warm place, to rise. Add flour to make it into a paste to roll out. Make the cakes the size you choose, let them stand half an hour before the fire, prick them in the middle, with a skewer, and bake in a quick oven.—Or: mix 1 pint of cream, 2 eggs, a table-spoonful of yeast, and a little salt, into ½ lb. flour. Cover and let it rise. Bake on tins.—Or: melt ¼ lb. butter in new milk enough to wet up 2 lbs. flour, add 4 eggs, 4 table-spoonsful yeast, and wet up the flour; let it stand ten minutes, make it into 6 cakes, prick them with a fork, and let them stand covered near the fire, half an hour; bake in a moderate oven, a quarter of an hour.
Yorkshire Cakes.
Mix 1½ pint of warm milk, with a tea-spoonful of good yeast, into flour to make a thick batter; let it stand, covered, in a warm place, to rise. Rub 6 oz. butter into a little flour, add 3 eggs, mix well, then mix it with the batter, add flour enough to work it into a stiff dough, and let it stand again a quarter of an hour; then knead again, ​and break it into small cakes, roll round and smooth, then put them on tins, cover lightly, and set them by the fire fifteen minutes, to rise, before you put them into the oven.
Roehampton Rolls.
To 1 lb. of flour, add the whites of 3 eggs, 3 oz. butter, and 1 spoonful of yeast, wet it with milk into a stiff dough; let this rise, before the fire, an hour, make it into rolls, and bake ten minutes.—Or: to ½ pint of yeast add 2 eggs, 2 lumps of sugar, a piece of butter the size of an egg, and 2 quarts of milk, beat well, and strain in as much fine flour as it will take up, mix well, and divide it into rolls; set them before the fire, an hour, then bake half an hour.
Muffins.
Mix a pint of scalded milk, with ¼ pint fresh yeast, and flour to make a thick batter. Set it in a warm place to rise. Rub 2 oz. butter in a little flour and add it to the batter, with flour to make it into dough; cover and let it stand again; knead well, and make it into muffins: put them on tins, let them stand a quarter of an hour, then bake them.
Crumpets.
Mix a quart of good milk into flour to make a thick batter, add a little salt, 1 egg, and a table-spoonful of small beer yeast; beat well, cover, and let it stand near the fire half an hour, to rise. Hang the girdle, or put the frying-pan over the fire, and when hot wipe it clean with a wet cloth. Tie a piece of butter in muslin, and rub it over the girdle: then pour on it a tea-cupful of batter, and as it begins to cook, raise the edge all round, with a sharp knife; when one side is done, turn it and bake the other side. When done, put it in a plate before the fire, rub the girdle with the buttered rag, and pour in another cupful of batter, then spread butter over the one in the plate, and so on, till they are all baked. Send a few at a time, quite hot, to table. Crumpets made thus are lighter than in the common way. Rye flour makes excellent cakes this way, and likewise Indian Corn meal. N.B.—Receipts for various ways of cooking Indian Corn flour or meal will be found in "Cobbett's Cottage Economy."
Scotch Slim Cakes.
Rub 3 oz. butter into ½ lb. flour, mix it into a light dough with 2 eggs and warm milk. Roll lightly out, and cut them round, the size of a saucer, bake them, as directed, for crumpets. Butter, and serve them quite hot.