LXXXIV.MAKING CAKE AND PASTRY.
ONE of our young friends, speaking of her troubles, says:—
“I must have cake in the house, but shrink from the attempt to make it; and in my brief experience in housekeeping have, so far, depended on the bake-shops; for I know nothing about such work, and won’t let my girl see me trying it, lest she find out what a novice her mistress is. If I should put all the materials for my cake together, in the most careful manner, and when it is taken from the oven find that it was not good,Ishould not know if the failure arose from my want of skill in preparing it, or from my girl’s carelessness in baking it; butshewould doubtless know whose the fault was, and I am dreadfully afraid it would prove to have been my own. I don’t understand much about cooking, and still less, I fear, how to judge of the quality of the materials I must use in cooking.”
In the first place, bear in mind always, in purchasing, that it is cheaper in the end to buythe best, and in no one article is this so manifest as in flour. Get the best in market, even if you pay an extra price, and notice thebrand. Try the flour faithfully, and if it proves satisfactory, “make a noteof it,” and continue to furnish yourself with that kind, unless, after a few times, you find it deteriorates.
Good flour will adhere, slightly pressed together in the hand; and when you unclasp your hand, thelinesin the palm will be plainly seen on the flour you have held so tightly. Dough from good flour will not be a clear, blue white, but yellowish, and, when well kneaded, will not stick to the hand.
We should have said, in the first place, by inquiries and observation secure a good, honest, reliable grocer,—one who will truly endeavor to serve you with the best; having satisfied yourself that you can trust him, you will find his judgment will assist you out of many uncertainties, until you have, by experience, learned to trust your own.
The same rule for buying holds good of all groceries.Buy the best.You will save money and insure comfort by it. There is no more economy in buying cheap sugar than cheap flour. A barrel of pure, clear, granulated sugar will last longer, and in the end be cheaper, than any of the coffee or brown sugars.
Before collecting your materials for making cake or pies, see that your stove or range is in good order; the grate shaken free from ashes; all the fuel needed for the cooking added and burning clear. Be careful that no doors or windows are opened, so that the air will blow across the stove. No oven can bake well if this is not prevented, or if the sun shines across it. We all know that if this happens, the coal will soon look whitish, instead of burning clear and lively.
Having the fire and oven in a proper condition, you can now prepare for making bread, cake, or pastry. Of course you will have a large, clean apron, andfold, not push, your sleeves back above the elbow. A sack apron, with high neck and short sleeves, made long and full enough to cover thedress, is a great convenience, for if suddenly called from your work you can throw it off easily, leaving your dress in a neat, presentable condition. A close net cap drawn over the head will prevent loose hairs falling into your work, and should be more used than is common. A basin of water and a clean towel close by are necessary, so that you need not be obliged to stop in the midst of your work to get it in case of any mishap. Put everything you will need on the table. Be sure that all utensils are always put away clean, so that, when they are next wanted, you will not be hindered to do more than wipe them free from the dust which may have gathered upon them. Scrupulous neatness about all your cooking-utensils should never be forgotten. If iron, tin, wood, or earthen vessels are set aside without being scrubbed perfectly clean and wiped dry, you will waste much time when next they are needed, aside from risking a moldy or rusty taste in your food.
A good-sized bread or molding-board, white and clean, perfectly dry and smooth, should be placed on the table. It keeps the flour, sugar, etc. that may fall, from the table, and is readily lifted, with all the soiled dishes on it, to the sink for washing,—thus saving much litter and many steps. Learn to cook without gathering a large number of things about; after a little practice, you will be surprised to see how few things are really needed, and how much confusion and how many steps can be avoided by a little management.
In making cake, dry and sift the flour, roll the sugar, if at all lumpy (granulated sugar will not lump), and put it in separate bowls or pans. Wash the butter, for cake or pastry, and put it into ice-water; weigh or measure the sugar and milk needed. Raisins should be stoned, the citron cut in thin slices, and currants washed and picked over, covered closely, and put away in a cool place the night before they are needed.
These materials all collected, butter the pans. If for cake, line them with clean white paper, well buttered. Use butter, instead of lard or drippings, as they may give an unpleasant taste to the under crust. Cake baked in butter-lined pans does not burn so readily on the bottom. If the cake does not require long baking, unbuttered paper will answer, as it will peel off readily when the cake is cool. Have some clean paper at hand to cover the top of the cake, if it begins to scorch.
The white paper used to print our newspapers on is as good for buttering and lining cake pans as the more expensive letter-paper, and is also very nice to cover shelves with, or lay in the bottoms of drawers. Two or three dozen sheets will last a good while, be of little expense, and very convenient for many purposes.
Eggs that are to be used in cake should be put into cold water in summer, while you are making your preparations, until ready to use them. Then break each one separately into a cup, to see if it is good; but by breaking all into the dish you beat them in, you risk ruining the whole by one bad egg. If good, turn it into the dish, and proceed the same way with the others. Have your nutmegs grated, and all other spices ready.
These preliminaries attended to, (and it takes but a few minutes to have all in readiness when you have done it rightly and methodically,) begin to put the materials together. First beat the butter and sugar together, till white and creamy; then beat the eggs,—the yelks and whites separately always, as whites require longer beating than yelks. Strain the yelks after beating, and add to them well-beaten butter and sugar; then the spices; stir in the flour gradually, before using the sweet or sour milk needed. If you use soda and cream of tartar, the latter should be sifted with the flour, and the soda, dissolved in cool milk or water,—never in hot water,—shouldbe added after the milk. Ifprepared flouris used, no soda or cream of tartar can be put in at all. Beat the batter very light, flour the currants and raisins and stir in; then add the whites, beaten stiff, the last thing. After they are added, the batter must not be beaten hard,—only enough to have it thoroughly incorporated with the dough. In beating the whites, do not stop after you begin till quite stiff, else they will “go back,” and then they will not come up light again.
In raised cake, put in the fruit, rolled in flour, just before you put the cake into the oven. Spread it over the top lightly, and press it in but a little way, else it will all sink to the bottom and be worthless.
Only practice and watchfulness can teach you how to judge correctly when cake, bread, etc., are done. If ever so perfectly made, it will be heavy if taken from the oven before being thoroughly baked. When obliged to turn pans round in the oven, do not move them roughly, and never, if possible, take cake, bread, or biscuit out of the oven to turn. The air striking on them will make them heavy and solid.
Cake made with sour milk or buttermilk should be put into the oven the moment it is put together, unless, like cookies or hard gingerbread, it is to be molded or rolled. In that case it is quite as good to be kept overnight or for some hours before baking.
In making pastry use the best butter you can find. Poor butter is bad enough anywhere, but nowhere so detestable as in pastry. If made with lard it looks nicer, but is by no means so good, and certainly much more hurtful than when shortened with two thirds more butter than lard. Use the hands as little as possible in making pastry; either rub in the shortening quickly, or chop it into the flour, so as not to heat it by your hands, particularly in warm weather. Wet always with cold water, and in summer with ice-cold water. Don’t touch it with your hands after you are ready to put in thewater, but stir together with a knife quickly and lightly, turning it at once upon the board and roll out. Molding will make it tough. Bake in a moderately hot oven to a delicate brown. If scorched or hard baked, it will be bitter and disagreeable. If your oven does not bake so well at the bottom as at the top, the bottom crust will be very heavy and unhealthy.
Before rolling out, let your pastry stand on the ice, or in a cold place for an hour, as it makes it much more flaky.
In making puddings, some advise beating both whites and yelks together and then straining them. We prefer to beat separately, straining the yelks. The milk for most pies should be boiled, in which case the eggs must be added the last thing, and after the milk has become cool.
In batter puddings, only a little milk should be added to the flour at a time, and all the lumps beaten out smoothly before adding more, if you would have a light batter. When berries of any kind are put into batter pudding, they should be rolled in flour and added to the batter the last thing, or they will not mix well, and will settle to the bottom and be heavy. One third more flour is requisite for a batter pudding with fruit than when plain, except with cherries. They need only a little more.
If you have no tin pudding-boiler, a bowl, with a thick cloth tied tightly over, answers very well, or a thick tow or “butcher’s linen” square cloth. If a cloth is used, wring it out of cold water, and then sprinkle or spread flour over. Tie the cloth or bag very tight, but allow room to swell; plunge at once into a pot of boiling water, which must be kept constantly boiling until the pudding is done, or it will be poor and watery. Replenish the water as it wastes, by pouring boiling water from the teakettle into the pot. If there is fruit in the pudding, it should be turned over four or five times the first half-hour; if plain batter, turn it over when it has boiled ten minutes, or the flour will settle.
When done, a boiled pudding must be plunged into cold water a moment, to make it separate from the cloth easily. In cutting a boiled pudding, dip the knife in hot water for a minute, or lay it on the sides of the pudding till warm, and you can cut it without making it heavy.
Old housekeepers will think these hints quite needless, but letters daily received show them to be very much needed by the young, with whom in a short time we intend to have another quiet talk, from which the old folks may retire.