Evening star., 1921-09-02
The Stars Household
Expert Gives Recipes
and Tells of the Four
Essentials Value of
the Flour Mixtures.

The four essentials in all batters,
doughs and pastries are flour, liquid,
salt and a leaven. These four must
always be in definite proportions, but
the non-essentials. such as sugar.
shortening. spice. fruit and favoring.
may vary according to individual
taste. The proportions of the essen
tial ingredients should be committed
to memory and followed rather
strictly. The liquid may be milk,
water. beaten eggs or a mixture of
a thin batter have equal parts of
flour and liquid. cup of flour to a
cup OF liquid; for a thick batter twice
as much -four as liquid; for soft
liquid: for a stiff dough four times
as much flour as liquid. For the pro-
portions of the dry ingredients one
cup of flour calls for one-fourth tea
spoonful pGsa tn, Of salt, tan and one cup Of -four
ing powder. If you remember that
one cup of -four will make four ordi-
nary sized mullins, biscuits. gems or
pancakes, you will see that you can
construct recipe to serve as many
or as few persons as you wish.
All flour mixtures are derived from
either the thin batter, the thick bat
ter, the soft dough or the stiff dough.
Have test for the right consistency
ent kinds of flour vary in strength or
thickening qualities A thin batter
should be about the consistency of
thick cream; it should pour slug
A thick batter should also pour. but
should require full mipute to settle,
or find its level. A soft dough should
be rather wet and sticky and should
spread in the bowl or on the board.
A stiff dough should be firm. keep p
fingers
or the molding board.
What to Make With a Thin Batter.
This batter. with or without the ad-
dftion of sugar, butter, eggs or any of
the non-essentials that should be used
according to individual taste, can be
made into pancakes, waff1es. fritters,
popoverS and puffS. Cold rice, left
over cereal or mashed potato may be
added to the pancake batter. and
when so added makes tempting and
wholesome breakfast surprises.
A French pancake is nothing but a
common pancake made very thin and
glorified by being spread with jelly.
rolled and sprinkled with powdered
sugar. 1t is then good enough for
dessert. Waffies usually need the ad-
a quarter, cup of liquid. Eggs and
butter are Complementary to one an
other in a batter, for the egg tough
ems and the butter shortens; the egg
makes the batter light, the butter
whenever egg is used. unless the OBJ
ject is to tougher somewhat and
tighten a good deal. butter must be
added.
The maximum of richness and light
ness is gained by the use of equal
parts of each, but at a pinch as little
as one level tablespoon of butter may
be allowed to each egg. Fritter bat
ters call for only a mere trace OF
of butter will cause a fritter to fly to
pieces if cooked in deep fat. For pop
overs and puffs no leaven is necessary
except air vigorously beaten in Egg
may be used to increase their tenac-
ity. A hot popover with hole
punched through it as it comes from
the oven. and with the hole filled
with applesauce, makes an appetiz-
ing dessert for luncheon. Chopped
raisins or currants may be added to
the popover batter for variety.
With a Thick Batter.
The thick batter is the muffin bat
ter and the steamed pudding batter.
1t can also be used for fritters. Cooked
cereal and cold mashed potatoes can
be added to this batter for variety.
Sugar added to the ordinary muffin
batter, from half to two-thirds as
much as you have used of flour. makes
q plain cake, cottage pudding or a
layer cake. Except In midwinter.
when eggs are very high, you would
Of course use eggs in the last named
varieties. Chopped apples. peaches,
figs. raisins or fresh berries. stirred
into a sweetened muffin batter. made
as plain or as rich as you please and
spiced with Glove or nutmeg. II you
like those fiavors, make an excellent
steamed pudding, or baked will give
YOU an astonishing variety of quick
cakes. To make bacon muffins add
some diced and fried bacon to the
batter; also use the tried-out fat.
Bacon gridd1e cakes are equally good.
Nuts may be added and the mixture
baked as a loaf When you add ber-
.ias to the batter. such as black