Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-07-05
|ShOrtcakes
AT Their Best

and tempting dessert for the warm
weather menu. The suggestions here
offered for preparing them in appe-
tizing forms will doubtless prove de-
cided novelties to the average house
keeper.
The evolution of the shortcake has
brought into existence dish very diff
ferent from that made with the simple
biscuit crust and layers Of luscious,
crimson fruit. The genuine shortcake
of olden times is seldom seen nova
days. ....
Perhaps the best shortcake was
made by the famous old colored cooks
of the south, whose very name is
now becoming tradition. Thrifty
New England housewives could sell
dom find "heart" to use enough Of the
sweetest, best butter OF the larder
with the liberality that the rich short
cake demands; though it is true that
they made delicious buttermilk
cake.
For a genuine southern shortcake,
take three cupfuis of flour, half tea
spoonful Of salt, two heaping tea
spoonfuls of baking powder Cor its
equivalent OF baking soda and cream
of tartar), one-half cupfut of the best
butter, and sufficient rich milk to
form a soft dough-. Sift the baking
powder, salt and flour together; rub
the butter in with the finger tips, and
,, add the milk. Work quickly, handling
the dough as little as possible. Roll
into a thin sheet and bake in round
creased pan in very quick oven.
brush over with melted butter before
putting into the oven, so that the
crust will not harden.) While the
cake is baking, take two boxes of Der,
ries, hull them and divide the larger
fruit from the smaller. Slightly crush
the smaller fruit and sprinkle literally
with powdered sugar. When the cake
is removed from the oven, allow it to
cool slightly, then split open, spread
with softened butter. and cover with
a layer of the large berries. Dust,
with powdered sugar; pour over hall
the crushed fruit and syrup, place
the upper half of the cake on top,
and pour over the rest Of the fruit,
Have the oven moderately warm,
place the cake in it for four or five
minutes, and send to the table COW
cred with powdered sugar. This cake,
warm and fresh, eaten with the &C
compartment of thick cream, will
linger long in the memory of those
fortunate enough to partake Of it.
There is French berry cake which
somewhat resembles a. charlotte russo
to which Strawberries or other fruit
have been added as all after-thought.
1t consists of layers of delicate, fresh
sponge cake. put together with layers
Of sweetened whipped cream and ber-
ries. 1t is very easily made. First
prepare the sponge cake. AS the
sweetened berries and cream are rich
themselves, a rather plain water
sponge cake is generally preferred.
The following will be found an ex-
cellent formula:
r The ingredients required are four
eggs, half the weight OF the eggs in
sifted -four, the same weight as the
eggs in sugar, the juice and grated rind
of half lemon, and two tablespoon
fuls OF water, After weighing the
-four and sugar, separate the eggs
Beat the yolks and sugar together I'M
til very light; add the lemon and
water with half the flour, which has
been previously sifted three times.
Beat the whites OF the eggs until they
will stand alone; add half of them to
the cake batter; add the rest of the
-four and lastly, fold in the rest OF
the whites. Pour into two ungreased
layer-cake pans and bake in mod
crate oven. As soon as the layers
have cooled, spread with sweetened
whipped cream to the depth of hall
an inch and cover each layer with
large, ripe berries. If the cream has
been sufficiently sweetened and the
fruit is ripe and fairly sweet, no ad-
ditional sugar will be required.
To prepare whipped cream for
shortcake, the housewife must re.
member that thick, or "double-thick'
cream, as it is called, is required and
that it must be thoroughly chilled be-
fore it is whipped. A pint of cream
increases to quite double its bulk
when whipped, and large bowl OF
cream-whip utensil should be used for
whipping. Begin by beating slowly
and increase the swiftness of the
stroke as the cream begins to thicken
Do not beat too long or too vigor-
ously, for such beating may result
in a pat of unsalted butter instead Of
tempting bowl Of whipped cream.
Still another variety OF cake is made
from any good plain or cup-cake bat.
ter, baked in layers, as in the previous
recipe. The filing is composed oil
berries and powdered sugar, and the
top layer is covered with a meringue
made from the stiffly whipped whites
of two eggs, beaten with two table
spoonfuls Of powdered sugar. Return
the cake to very moderate oven
for the meringue to brown lightly and
serve cold, with thick chilled cream
For most of the cakes mentioned
with the exception Of the first one
one quart Of berries will be sufficient;
and the amount Of sugar used in con-
neetion with them must of course be
determined by the acidity of the
fruit.-Virginia c. Lee in Mothers
Magazine.