Maple Cookies

1 egg1 cupful sugar3 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 cupful sour cream1 teaspoonful baking soda3 tablespoonfuls hot water1/2 teaspoonful saltFlourMaple sugar

Cream Crisco and sugar together, add egg well beaten, mix well, add cream, salt, soda dissolved in water, and sufficient flour to make of right consistency to drop from spoon. Grate some maple sugar on each cookie and bake in moderate oven eight minutes. Sufficient for forty cookies.

4 cupfuls flour1/2 cupful Crisco1 teaspoonful saltMilkWater

Mix and sift flour and salt. Cut Crisco in with knife or work in lightly with finger tips. Mix a little milk and water together chill thoroughly and add enough to dry ingredients to make stiff dough. Everything should be as cold as possible. Beat with rolling-pin until dough blisters. Roll to one-third inch in thickness and cut into small biscuits, prick in center and set in refrigerator an hour before baking. Place biscuits on Criscoed tins and bake in moderate oven thirty minutes. Biscuits may be baked in moderate gas oven and gas turned off when biscuits are golden brown. Allow biscuits to remain ten minutes in cooling oven to dry out.

Sufficient for sixty small biscuits, a fraction larger than a dollar.

1 cupful scalded milk2 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 cupful boiling water1/4 cupful sugar1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt1/2 yeast cake1 egg4 cupfuls flour

Add Crisco, salt, and half of sugar to milk and water; when lukewarm add yeast mixed with remaining sugar, egg well beaten, and flour.Beat thoroughly, cover, and let rise until light. Put greased muffin rings on hot griddle greased with Crisco. Fill half full with raised muffin mixture and cook slowly until well risen and browned underneath. Turn muffins and rings and brown other side. When muffins are cold, split open, toast, and serve with marmalade.

Sufficient for sixteen muffins.

1-1/4 cupfuls sugar4 tablespoonfuls Crisco1-1/2 cupfuls milk2 eggs4 teaspoonfuls baking powder1 cupful chopped English walnut meats1 teaspoonful vanilla extract1 teaspoonful lemon extract1/2 teaspoonful saltFlour to make soft dough

Cream Crisco and sugar together, add eggs well beaten, milk, salt, extracts, baking powder, nuts, and sufficient flour to make soft dough. Roll out, cut with cutter and fry in hot Crisco to a golden color. Drain and sift with sugar.

Sufficient for seventy-five doughnuts.

1-1/4 cupfuls sugar1 cupful Crisco3 cupfuls rolled oats2 eggs1/2 cupful sour mil1 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon1 teaspoonful powdered ginger1 cupful stoned chopped dates1 teaspoonful baking soda2 cupfuls flour1 teaspoonful salt

Cream Crisco and sugar thoroughly together, add eggs well-beaten, rolled oats, dates, salt, spices, soda dissolved in milk, and flour. Mix and drop from spoon on Criscoed baking tins. Bake in moderate oven from ten to twelve minutes.

Sufficient for forty-five cookies.

4 cupfuls flour5 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 tablespoonful sugar1/2 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful baking soda2 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar1 eggSweet milk

Rub Crisco finely into flour, add sugar, salt, soda, and cream of tartar. Beat egg, put half of it into cup, then with one-half and some sweet milk make other ingredients into soft dough. Knead very little on floured baking board, divide into five pieces, make them smooth and roll out, not too thinly, cut them into four small cakes. Lay them on a Criscoed tin, brush over with remaining egg and bake in hot oven ten minutes. A few currants or raisins may be added if liked.

Sufficient for twenty small scones.

1 cupful milk1/4 yeast cake1/4 cupful lukewarm wate1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt1 cupful sugar1/4 cupful Crisco2 eggs1 teaspoonful grated nutmegFlour

Dissolve yeast cake in lukewarm water. Scald milk and cool, then add yeast, half teaspoonful of the salt and flour to make a drop batter. Set in a cosy place to rise. Cream Crisco with sugar, add eggs well beaten, remainder of salt and nutmeg, add to yeast mixture with enough flour to make stiff dough; let rise again. When risen, make into small balls and place in a Criscoed pan to rise. When light drop into plenty of hot Crisco and cook from four to five minutes until doughnuts are done. Drain on soft paper and dredge with powdered sugar.

Sufficient for seventy doughnuts.

4 cupfuls flour5 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful soda2 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar3 tablespoonfuls sugar2 eggsButtermilk to make soft dough1 cupful sultana raisins

Sift flour, salt, soda and cream of tartar into basin, rub in Crisco fine, add sugar, raisins, eggs well beaten, and sufficient buttermilk to make soft dough. Make into smooth mound, roll out, divide into four pieces, lay on greased tin and bake in moderate oven twenty-five minutes.

Sufficient to make four small loaves.

1 cupful sugar5 tablespoonfuls Crisco3 eggs4 teaspoonfuls baking powder1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt1 cupful milk1 teaspoonful grated nutmegFlour to make soft dough

From 4-1/2 to 5 cupfuls flour sifted before measuring. Cream Crisco, add sugar gradually, and eggs well beaten. Sift dry ingredients and add alternately to egg mixture. Roll out as soft as can be handled. Cut with cutter and fry in hot Crisco. Heat Crisco until crumb of bread becomes golden brown in sixty seconds.

Sufficient for sixty doughnuts.

2 cupfuls boiling water2 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 cupful rolled oats1/2 cupful molasses2 teaspoonfuls salt1/2 yeast cake1/2 cupful lukewarm waterFlour

Add boiling water to oats and allow to stand one hour; add molasses, salt, Crisco, yeast cake dissolved in lukewarm water, and flour to makestiff dough; knead well, let rise, knead a very little, divide into two Criscoed bread pans, let rise again and bake forty minutes in moderate oven.

Sufficient for two small loaves.

1 cupful sugar6 tablespoonfuls Crisco2 eggs1/4 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful rose extract2 cupfuls flour

Cream Crisco, adding sugar gradually, then stir in eggs well beaten; add salt, extract, and flour. The dough should be soft. Now chill dough, then roll very thin, using sugar instead of flour, to dust rolling-pin and board. Cut out with small fancy cutter. Place on tins greased with Crisco and bake in moderate oven eight or ten minutes or until slightly browned.

Sufficient for fifty small cakes.

1 cupful flour2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco1 cupful ryemeal2 tablespoonfuls brown sugar2 teaspoonfuls baking powder1 egg1/2 teaspoonful salt1 cupful milk

Sift flour, meal, baking powder, and salt together. Beat egg and sugar together, then add them with milk and melted Crisco. Mix and divide into Criscoed gem pans and bake in moderate oven twelve minutes.

Sufficient for twelve muffins.

1 yeast cake4 tablespoonfuls sugar1/2 cupful Crisco5 tablespoonfuls lukewarm water2 cupfuls flour1/2 teaspoonful salt3 eggs2 tablespoonfuls chopped almonds1 cupful whipped creamFor Syrup3/4 lb. lump sugar3 cupfuls water3 tablespoonfuls lemon juice

For cake. Put yeast cake into cup, add 1 tablespoonful sugar, 1 tablespoonful flour, and lukewarm water. Allow to rise ten minutes. Put flour into basin, add salt, remainder of sugar, almonds, yeast mixture, eggs well beaten, and Crisco melted and cooled. Beat ten minutes with wooden spoon. Turn into Criscoed tube mold. Allow to rise until doubled in size, then bake in quick oven forty-five minutes. Mold should be sprinkled over with shredded almonds.

For syrup. Boil sugar and water for almost forty-five minutes, then add lemon juice. Soak cake with syrup and when cold serve with cream in center.

Sufficient for one savarin.

2-1/2 cupfuls flour1/2 cupful Crisco1/2 cupful sugar1/2 teaspoonful salt1 egg1 teaspoonful vanilla extract

Beat Crisco, sugar, and salt to cream. Add gradually egg well beaten, flour, and flavoring. Knead lightly on floured baking board, then roll out one-fourth inch thick and cut into small rounds. Mark them with fork, lay on Criscoed tins and bake in moderate oven from ten to fifteen minutes.

Sufficient for forty cookies

1 quart flour3 tablespoonfuls Crisco1/2 teaspoonful salt1/5 teaspoonful baking sodaButtermilk

Sift flour with soda and salt, then rub in Crisco thoroughly with finger tips, and mix to stiff dough with buttermilk. Beat with rolling-pin or hammer until dough blisters. Roll out one-third inch in thickness, cut with round cutter, and lay on Criscoed tins. Bake in moderate oven from thirty to forty minutes.

Sufficient for forty biscuits.

(Kate B. Vaughn)2 cupfuls flour3 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 teaspoonful salt1/2 teaspoonful baking soda1 cupful sour milk

Sift flour and salt into basin, rub Crisco lightly into them. Stir soda into milk until it effervesces and then add to flour. Turn out on floured baking board, knead lightly until smooth, roll out quarter of an inch thick, cut with biscuit cutter, place on greased tin and bake twelve to fifteen minutes in hot oven.

Sufficient to make twelve biscuits.

2 cupfuls flour1 tablespoonful melted Crisco2 cupfuls sour milk1/2 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful baking soda1 egg1 tablespoonful sugar

Sift dry ingredients, add milk, well beaten egg, and melted Crisco. Drop by spoonfuls on hot griddle, greased with Crisco. Cook until browned, then turn and cook on other side. Serve hot with syrup.

Sufficient for eighteen cakes.

1 cupful cornmeal4 tablespoonfuls Crisco2 eggs1-1/2 cupfuls sour milk2 cupfuls flour3/4 cupful sugar1 teaspoonful baking soda1 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful lemon extract

Beat up the eggs, add meal and milk and mix well, add flour, sugar, soda, and salt sifted together. Now add extract and Crisco, melted, and beat two minutes. Divide into Criscoed and floured gem pans and bake in moderate oven fifteen minutes.

Sufficient for sixteen cakes.

1/2 pint graham flour1/3 cupful Crisco1/2 cupful white flour1 cupful milk1 cupful chopped English walnut meats1/2 teaspoonful salt2 teaspoonfuls baking powder1 cupful sugar1 egg

Cream Crisco and sugar together, add egg well beaten, milk, salt, flours, baking powder, and nuts. Mix and turn into Criscoed mold, cover with greased paper and steam two hours. This nut bread is delicious served hot with butter. It may be served as a pudding with cream or liquid sauce.

Sufficient for one loaf.

3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco2 cupfuls cornmeal1 quart milk1 teaspoonful salt3 eggs

Heat milk to boiling point, then stir in meal and salt; add Crisco and cook five minutes. Cool mixture, add yolks of eggs well beaten, then beat whites of eggs to stiff froth and fold in. Pour batter into Criscoed two-quart pan and bake in moderate oven forty minutes. Serve while hot, using a spoon with which to serve it. This is especially good served with roast pork.

Sufficient for one large pan of bread.

3 eggs1-1/2 cupfuls brown sugar1 cupful Crisco1 cupful molasses1/2 cupful sour milk2 teaspoonfuls baking soda1/2 teaspoonful black pepper1 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon1 teaspoonful powdered ginger1 teaspoonful powdered cloves1 teaspoonful grated nutmeg1/2 teaspoonful baking powderFlour to make a stiff dough

Beat eggs five minutes, then add sugar and beat five minutes, then add Crisco and beat until thoroughly mixed, add molasses, milk, soda, salt, spices, baking powder, and enough flour to make stiff dough. Leave mixture in basin until following day. Take pieces of dough and roll out, cut with small cutter, lay on Criscoed tins and bake in moderate oven from seven to ten minutes.

Sufficient for ninety cookies.

2 cupfuls hot milk3/4 cupful sugar1/2 cupful Crisco1/2 teaspoonful salt15 cardamom seeds1 yeast cake2 cupfuls flour

Remove seeds from cardamoms and grind fine, add to hot milk with Crisco, sugar, and salt. When lukewarm add yeast cake mixed with a little tepid water and flour. Mix and allow to rise. Then add flour enough to make stiff dough. Knead and let rise again, then make into rolls or loaves. Let rise again and bake in moderate oven till ready.

Sufficient for eighteen rolls or two small loaves

2 tablespoonfuls sugar3 tablespoonfuls Crisco2 teaspoonfuls salt1 yeast cake3 cupfuls rye flour1 cupful white flour4 cupfuls boiling water

In evening add Crisco, sugar, and salt to boiling water; cool, add yeast cake mixed with a little tepid water or sugar, rye flour and white flour. Allow to rise and in morning add more white flour, a little at a time, to make a stiff dough. Let rise, knead again and bake in Criscoed pie tins or cake tins as it will rise better than if baked in bread tins. Bake in hot oven half hour. When taken out of oven brush crust with a little melted Crisco.

Sufficient for four loaves.

1 cupful milk1/2 teaspoonful salt2 teaspoonfuls baking powder2 cupfuls flour2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, rub in Crisco with tips of fingers, then add milk. Pat and roll out dough, cut with cutter, brush with melted Crisco, place one on top of another, lay on Criscoed tin and bake in hot oven from ten to twelve minutes.

Sufficient for twelve biscuits.

3 cupfuls flour2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco1/2 teaspoonful baking soda1 teaspoonful salt1 tablespoonful sugar2 cupfuls sour milk2 eggs

Mix and sift dry ingredients, add milk gradually, yolks of eggs well beaten, melted Crisco, and whites of eggs beaten to stiff froth; cook on hot waffle iron greased with Crisco. Serve with maple syrup, or honey and butter.

Waffles may be served for breakfast, luncheon, supper or high tea. A waffle iron should fit closely on range, be well heated on one side, turned, heated on other side, and thoroughly greased with Crisco before iron is filled. In filling, put tablespoonful of mixture in each compartment nearthe center of iron, cover, and mixture will spread to fill iron. If sufficiently heated, it should be turned almost as soon as filled and covered. In using new iron, special care must be taken in greasing, or waffles will stick.

Sufficient for six waffles.

2 cupfuls sugar1 cupful Crisco1/2 cupful thick sour milk2 eggs1 teaspoonful baking soda1 teaspoonful salt1 teaspoonful vanilla extract1/2 teaspoonful lemon extractFlour

Cream Crisco and sugar together, add eggs well beaten, soda mixed with sour milk, salt, extracts, and about 5 cupfuls flour. Roll very thin, cut with cookie cutter, lay on Criscoed tins, bake in moderately hot oven five minutes. To keep any length of time, when cold, place in covered tin cans and set in cool place, and they will be as crisp as when first baked.

Sufficient for ninety cookies.

2 lbs. flour3/4 cupful Crisco1 teaspoonful salt2 cupfuls milk1 yeast cake1 cupful sugar1 cupful sultana raisins1 cupful currants1/2 cupful seeded raisins1/2 cupful chopped candied citron peel1 teaspoonful powdered ginger1/2 teaspoonful powdered mace

Heat Crisco in milk, then cool and add yeast cake mixed with a little sugar; stir in flour and salt, and allow to rise four hours. Mix sugar, fruit, peel, and spices into risen dough. Let rise again then divide into two Criscoed loaf tins. Allow to rise fifteen minutes, then bake in moderate oven one and a half hours.

Sufficient for two medium-sized loaves.

2 cupfuls boiling water2 tablespoonfuls Crisco1 tablespoonful sugar2 teaspoonfuls salt1/4 yeast cake dissolved in1/4 cupful lukewarm waterAbout six cupfuls sifted flour

Mix Crisco, sugar and salt, pour on boiling water; when lukewarm add dissolved yeast cake. Stir in enough flour to make a batter; beat well, then add more flour, a little at a time to make stiff dough, mixing with a knife. Turn on a floured board; knead until it is smooth, elastic and does not stick to the board. Put into a bowl greased with Crisco, cover closely and let stand in a warm place over night. The first thing in the morning knead again until fine grained; shape into loaves and place in a warm pan greased with Crisco. Cover and put in a warm place. When double in bulk, bake in a hot oven. Bake one hour.

There are five principal ways of making cakes.The first method is used for plain cakes. The shortening is rubbed into the flour in the same way as for short pastry; then the dry ingredients, such as sugar, fruit, and spice, are added, and lastly the eggs and milk. Then all are mixed well together.The second way is used for fruit, pound, and seed cakes. The shortening and sugar are creamed together, the eggs beaten in one at a time, and the fruit and flour stirred in lightly and quickly at the last.In the third way the eggs and sugar are beaten together until thick and creamy, then the flour is stirred in lightly and quickly. This is used chiefly for sponge cakes and cakes of that texture.For the fourth way the sugar, shortening, milk, and syrup or molasses are melted together, then cooled slightly and added to the dry ingredients. This method is used for ginger-breads.In the fifth way the sugar and eggs are beaten thoroughly over boiling water, then cooled before the melted shortening and dry ingredients are added. This method is used for Gennoise cake and some kinds of layer cakes. Care must be taken to insure the right consistency of cakes. The mixture should be fairly stiff. If too moist the fruit will sink to the bottom. For rich cakes the tins should be lined with paper, the paper coming a short distance above the tins, so that the cake is protected as it rises. For very rich fruit cakes, experience has shown that it is best not to grease the paper or tin. The cake is not so liable to burn, and the paper can be removed easily when the cake is done without injuring it. On the other hand, if tins are lined for sponge cakes or jelly-rolls, the paper should be greased.When making cakes in which baking powder, carbonate of soda, cream of tartar or tartaric acid are used, almost everything depends upon the handling, which should be as light and as little as possible. The more rapidly such cakes are made the better they will be. Two cooks working from the same recipe will often produce entirely different results, if one kneads her mixture as if it were household bread, while the other handles it with due lightness of touch. As soon as the baking powder or other rising medium is added to the mixture, the cake should be put into the oven as quickly as possible. Soda alone is never good in a cake where there is shortening, unless some substance containing acid is used along with it. Molasses is one of the substances containing acid.The greatest care and cleanliness must be exercised in all cake making; and accuracy in proportioning the materials to be used is indispensable. The flour should be thoroughly dried and sifted, and lightly stirred in. Always sift flour before measuring, then sift it again with the baking powder to insure a thorough blending.Good cakes never can be made with indifferent materials. Eggs are used both as an aerating agent and as one of the "wetting" materials. It is not economy to buy cheap eggs, for such eggs are small, weak, colorless, and often very stale. Eggs should be well beaten, yolks and whites separately, unless other directions are given. The yolks must be beaten to a thick cream and the whites until they are a solid froth. Sugar tends to improve the texture of cakes, and when cheap cakes are made, plenty should be used, provided that the cake is not made too sweet. It should be dissolved before being added to the fat and the flour.For best cakes, and all that are required of a light color, fine-grained sugar should be used. With coarse-grained sugar there is danger of producing specks which show on the cakes after baking, unless they have been made by the method of beating up the eggs and sugar together with a beater over hot water. This method will dissolve the grains of sugar.Always buy the best fruits for cake making, as they are sweetest and cleanest. Currants and sultana raisins for cakes should not be too large, but of medium size, sweet and fleshy. Cheap dry sultanas should not be used. Though there is no need to wash sultanas, yet if the fruit is inclinedto be very dry, it will be better to do so than to put them in to spoil the appearance and the flavor of the cake. Currants always should be washed, cleaned, and dried before using. Orange, lemon, and citron peel should be of good color and flavor. They should not be added to cake mixture in chunks, as often is done, but should be in long shredded pieces. Large pieces of peel are sometimes the cause of a cake cutting badly. In making fruit cakes add the fruit before the flour, as this will prevent it falling to the bottom.If a cake cracks open while baking, the recipe contains too much flour. There are two kinds of thick crusts which some cakes have. The first of these is caused by the cake being overbaked in a very hot oven. Where this is so, the cake, if a very rich one, has a huge crack in the top caused by the heat of the oven forming a crust before the inside has finished aerating; then as the interior air or gas expands, it cracks the crust to escape. This crack spoils the appearance of the cake, and when cut it generally will be found to be close and heavy in texture. To guard against this it is necessary to bake them at a suitable temperature, noting that the richer the cake the longer the fruit takes to bake.The second kind of thick crust referred to may only be on top of the cake, and in this case may be caused by an excess of fat and sugar being mixed together, or otherwise insufficient flour. In this case the mixture will not bake, but only forms a kind of syrup in the oven, and the cake sinks in the center. A cake made under such conditions would have a thick shiny crust, and be liable to crumble when touched. The inside of the cake would be heavy, having more the appearance of pudding than cake.Successful cake making means constant care. In recipes in which milk is used as one ingredient, either sweet or buttermilk may be used but not a mixture of both. Buttermilk makes a light, spongy cake, and sweet milk makes a cake which cuts like pound cake.In creaming shortening and sugar, when the shortening is too hard to blend easily warm the bowl slightly, but do not heat the shortening, as this will change both the flavor and texture of the cake.For small cakes have a quick oven, so that they set right through, and the inside is baked by the time the outside is browned. For all large cakes have a quick oven at first, to raise them nicely and prevent the fruit sinking to the bottom. The oven then should be allowed to become slower to fire the cakes thoroughly.Cake must not be hurried. Keep the oven steady though slow, and after putting a large cake into it do not open the door for at least twenty minutes. During baking, do not open the door unnecessarily, or in fact do anything to jar the cake lest the little bubbles formed by the action of the baking powder burst, causing the gas to escape and the cake to sink. This produces what is known as a "sad" cake, but refers probably to the state of mind of the cook. A very light cake put into a quick oven' rises rapidly round the sides, but leaves a hollow in the middle.If a cake is made too light with eggs or powder and an insufficient quantity of flour is added it will drop in the center. Another frequent cause is the moving of cakes while in the oven before the mixture has set properly. The same defect is produced if the cakes are removed from the oven before being baked sufficiently. When a cake batter curdles, the texture will not be so even as if the curdling had not taken place. Sometimes the mixture will curdle through the eggs being added too quickly, or if the shortening contains too much water. This forms a syrup with the sugar, and after a certain quantity of eggs have been added the batter will slip and slide about, and will not unite with the other ingredients. Weak, watery eggs are another cause of this happening; and although this may be checked by adding a little flour at the right time, yet the cake would be better if it were unnecessary to add any flour until all the eggs had been beaten in, that is, if the batter had not curdled. Before turning out a cake allow it to remain in the tin for a few minutes. It is best to lay it on a wire cake stand, or lay it on a sieve; but if you do not possess these, a loosely made basket turned upside down will do. If the cake will not turn out of the tin easily, rest it on its side, turning it round in a couple of minutes and it may loosen, if not, pass a knife round the edge, turn the cake over on a clean cloth, and let it stand a few minutes.Do not place cakes in a cold place or at an open window, or the steam will condense and make them heavy. A rich cake improves in flavor and becomes softer with keeping (from 2 to 6 weeks, according to quality) before cutting. Wrap, when cold, first in a clean towel, then in paper. After a week remove the paper and put the cake into a tin wrapped in the towel. Small cakes may be baked in tiny molds or tins, or baked in a flat sheet, and then cut out into squares,diamonds or rounds. Then they can be frosted or coated with cream and decorated with cherries or other crystallized fruits. If a real distinction is desired, they may be placed in tiny crinkled paper cases, bought by the hundred at a trifling cost.Cake tins should be greased with Crisco and dredged with flour, the superfluous flour shaken out, or they can be fitted with paper which has been greased with Crisco. When creaming Crisco and sugar, do not grudge hard work; at this stage of manufacture the tendency is to give insufficient work, with the result that the lightness of the cake is impaired.

There are five principal ways of making cakes.

The first method is used for plain cakes. The shortening is rubbed into the flour in the same way as for short pastry; then the dry ingredients, such as sugar, fruit, and spice, are added, and lastly the eggs and milk. Then all are mixed well together.

The second way is used for fruit, pound, and seed cakes. The shortening and sugar are creamed together, the eggs beaten in one at a time, and the fruit and flour stirred in lightly and quickly at the last.

In the third way the eggs and sugar are beaten together until thick and creamy, then the flour is stirred in lightly and quickly. This is used chiefly for sponge cakes and cakes of that texture.

For the fourth way the sugar, shortening, milk, and syrup or molasses are melted together, then cooled slightly and added to the dry ingredients. This method is used for ginger-breads.

In the fifth way the sugar and eggs are beaten thoroughly over boiling water, then cooled before the melted shortening and dry ingredients are added. This method is used for Gennoise cake and some kinds of layer cakes. Care must be taken to insure the right consistency of cakes. The mixture should be fairly stiff. If too moist the fruit will sink to the bottom. For rich cakes the tins should be lined with paper, the paper coming a short distance above the tins, so that the cake is protected as it rises. For very rich fruit cakes, experience has shown that it is best not to grease the paper or tin. The cake is not so liable to burn, and the paper can be removed easily when the cake is done without injuring it. On the other hand, if tins are lined for sponge cakes or jelly-rolls, the paper should be greased.

When making cakes in which baking powder, carbonate of soda, cream of tartar or tartaric acid are used, almost everything depends upon the handling, which should be as light and as little as possible. The more rapidly such cakes are made the better they will be. Two cooks working from the same recipe will often produce entirely different results, if one kneads her mixture as if it were household bread, while the other handles it with due lightness of touch. As soon as the baking powder or other rising medium is added to the mixture, the cake should be put into the oven as quickly as possible. Soda alone is never good in a cake where there is shortening, unless some substance containing acid is used along with it. Molasses is one of the substances containing acid.

The greatest care and cleanliness must be exercised in all cake making; and accuracy in proportioning the materials to be used is indispensable. The flour should be thoroughly dried and sifted, and lightly stirred in. Always sift flour before measuring, then sift it again with the baking powder to insure a thorough blending.

Good cakes never can be made with indifferent materials. Eggs are used both as an aerating agent and as one of the "wetting" materials. It is not economy to buy cheap eggs, for such eggs are small, weak, colorless, and often very stale. Eggs should be well beaten, yolks and whites separately, unless other directions are given. The yolks must be beaten to a thick cream and the whites until they are a solid froth. Sugar tends to improve the texture of cakes, and when cheap cakes are made, plenty should be used, provided that the cake is not made too sweet. It should be dissolved before being added to the fat and the flour.

For best cakes, and all that are required of a light color, fine-grained sugar should be used. With coarse-grained sugar there is danger of producing specks which show on the cakes after baking, unless they have been made by the method of beating up the eggs and sugar together with a beater over hot water. This method will dissolve the grains of sugar.

Always buy the best fruits for cake making, as they are sweetest and cleanest. Currants and sultana raisins for cakes should not be too large, but of medium size, sweet and fleshy. Cheap dry sultanas should not be used. Though there is no need to wash sultanas, yet if the fruit is inclinedto be very dry, it will be better to do so than to put them in to spoil the appearance and the flavor of the cake. Currants always should be washed, cleaned, and dried before using. Orange, lemon, and citron peel should be of good color and flavor. They should not be added to cake mixture in chunks, as often is done, but should be in long shredded pieces. Large pieces of peel are sometimes the cause of a cake cutting badly. In making fruit cakes add the fruit before the flour, as this will prevent it falling to the bottom.

If a cake cracks open while baking, the recipe contains too much flour. There are two kinds of thick crusts which some cakes have. The first of these is caused by the cake being overbaked in a very hot oven. Where this is so, the cake, if a very rich one, has a huge crack in the top caused by the heat of the oven forming a crust before the inside has finished aerating; then as the interior air or gas expands, it cracks the crust to escape. This crack spoils the appearance of the cake, and when cut it generally will be found to be close and heavy in texture. To guard against this it is necessary to bake them at a suitable temperature, noting that the richer the cake the longer the fruit takes to bake.

The second kind of thick crust referred to may only be on top of the cake, and in this case may be caused by an excess of fat and sugar being mixed together, or otherwise insufficient flour. In this case the mixture will not bake, but only forms a kind of syrup in the oven, and the cake sinks in the center. A cake made under such conditions would have a thick shiny crust, and be liable to crumble when touched. The inside of the cake would be heavy, having more the appearance of pudding than cake.

Successful cake making means constant care. In recipes in which milk is used as one ingredient, either sweet or buttermilk may be used but not a mixture of both. Buttermilk makes a light, spongy cake, and sweet milk makes a cake which cuts like pound cake.In creaming shortening and sugar, when the shortening is too hard to blend easily warm the bowl slightly, but do not heat the shortening, as this will change both the flavor and texture of the cake.For small cakes have a quick oven, so that they set right through, and the inside is baked by the time the outside is browned. For all large cakes have a quick oven at first, to raise them nicely and prevent the fruit sinking to the bottom. The oven then should be allowed to become slower to fire the cakes thoroughly.

Cake must not be hurried. Keep the oven steady though slow, and after putting a large cake into it do not open the door for at least twenty minutes. During baking, do not open the door unnecessarily, or in fact do anything to jar the cake lest the little bubbles formed by the action of the baking powder burst, causing the gas to escape and the cake to sink. This produces what is known as a "sad" cake, but refers probably to the state of mind of the cook. A very light cake put into a quick oven' rises rapidly round the sides, but leaves a hollow in the middle.

If a cake is made too light with eggs or powder and an insufficient quantity of flour is added it will drop in the center. Another frequent cause is the moving of cakes while in the oven before the mixture has set properly. The same defect is produced if the cakes are removed from the oven before being baked sufficiently. When a cake batter curdles, the texture will not be so even as if the curdling had not taken place. Sometimes the mixture will curdle through the eggs being added too quickly, or if the shortening contains too much water. This forms a syrup with the sugar, and after a certain quantity of eggs have been added the batter will slip and slide about, and will not unite with the other ingredients. Weak, watery eggs are another cause of this happening; and although this may be checked by adding a little flour at the right time, yet the cake would be better if it were unnecessary to add any flour until all the eggs had been beaten in, that is, if the batter had not curdled. Before turning out a cake allow it to remain in the tin for a few minutes. It is best to lay it on a wire cake stand, or lay it on a sieve; but if you do not possess these, a loosely made basket turned upside down will do. If the cake will not turn out of the tin easily, rest it on its side, turning it round in a couple of minutes and it may loosen, if not, pass a knife round the edge, turn the cake over on a clean cloth, and let it stand a few minutes.

Do not place cakes in a cold place or at an open window, or the steam will condense and make them heavy. A rich cake improves in flavor and becomes softer with keeping (from 2 to 6 weeks, according to quality) before cutting. Wrap, when cold, first in a clean towel, then in paper. After a week remove the paper and put the cake into a tin wrapped in the towel. Small cakes may be baked in tiny molds or tins, or baked in a flat sheet, and then cut out into squares,diamonds or rounds. Then they can be frosted or coated with cream and decorated with cherries or other crystallized fruits. If a real distinction is desired, they may be placed in tiny crinkled paper cases, bought by the hundred at a trifling cost.

Cake tins should be greased with Crisco and dredged with flour, the superfluous flour shaken out, or they can be fitted with paper which has been greased with Crisco. When creaming Crisco and sugar, do not grudge hard work; at this stage of manufacture the tendency is to give insufficient work, with the result that the lightness of the cake is impaired.

Cakes and Crisco

1 cupful brown sugar1-1/2 cupfuls apple sauce2-1/2 cupfuls flour1/2 cupful Crisco1 lb. raisins1 teaspoonful powdered cloves1 teaspoonful powdered cinnamon1 teaspoonful grated nutmeg2 teaspoonfuls baking soda1/2 teaspoonful salt3 tablespoonfuls vinegar

Cream Crisco and sugar thoroughly together, add apple sauce, flour, raisins, spices, salt, and soda mixed with vinegar. Mix and pour into greased and floured cake tin and bake in moderate oven one and a half hours.

Sufficient for one cake.

1-1/2 cupfuls sugar1/2 teaspoonful salt3 eggs1/2 cupful Crisco1 cupful milk1/2 teaspoonful baking soda2 cupfuls flour1 teaspoonful baking powder1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract1/3 cake chocolateFor Filling1 cupful sugar1/3 cupful boiling water1 white of egg1/2 cupful stoned stewed prunes1/3 cupful blanched chopped almonds

For cake.Beat 1 egg in double boiler, add 1/2 cupful milk, 1/2 cupful sugar and chocolate; mix well and cook until it thickens. Cool and set aside. Cream Crisco with remainder of sugar, add salt, eggs well beaten, soda mixed with remainder of milk, flour, baking powder andvanilla. Mix well and add chocolate paste, and divide into two Criscoed and floured layer cake tins. Bake twenty minutes in moderate oven.

For filling.Boil sugar and water together without stirring until it forms a soft ball when tried in cold water, or 240° F., then pour it over the beaten white of egg, beating all the time. Now add chopped prunes and almonds and beat well. Put between layers of cake.

Sufficient for one good-sized layer cake.

2 cupfuls sugar2 cupfuls Crisco2 teaspoonfuls salt12 eggs4 cupfuls flour1/2 teaspoon powered mace3 tablespoons brandy

Cream Crisco and sugar thoroughly together, add yolks of eggs well beaten, fold in whites of eggs beaten to a stiff froth, add brandy, flour, salt and mace, and mix lightly and quickly. Turn into a papered cake pan and bake in a slow oven for one hour and twenty minutes.

Sufficient for one large cake.

1 cupful boiling water1 cupful sugar1/2 cupful Crisco1 egg1/4 cupful chopped candied citron peel1 cupful sultana raisins2-1/2 cupfuls flour1/2 teaspoon salt2 teaspoonfuls baking powder1/4 teaspoonfuls grated nutmeg1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

Put Crisco and sugar into basin, pour boiling water over them; let stand till cold, then add egg well beaten, sift in flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg, add peel, raisins, and lemon extract, and mix well. Turn into greased and floured small square tin and bake in moderate oven half hour. Cool and cover with boiled frosting.

Sufficient for one small cake.

2 cupfuls brown sugar2/3 cupful Crisco2 cupfuls water2 cupfuls sultana raisins2 cupfuls seeded raisins1 teaspoonful salt2 teaspoonfuls powdered cinnamon1 teaspoonful powdered cloves3 tablespoonfuls warm water1/2 teaspoonful powdered mace1/2 teaspoonful grated nutmeg2 teaspoonfuls baking soda4 cupfuls flour1 teaspoonful baking powder1-1/2 cupfuls chopped nut meats3 tablespoons warm water

Put Crisco into saucepan, add sugar, water, raisins, salt, and spices, and boil three minutes. Cool, and when cold add flour, baking powder, soda dissolved in warm water and nut meats. Mix and turn into Criscoed and floured cake tin and bake in slow oven one and a half hours.

Sufficient for one medium-sized cake.

For Cake1-1/4 cupfuls sifted sugar2 eggs1/2 cupful Crisco1 cupful cold water3 cupfuls flour2 teaspoonfuls baking powder1 teaspoonful vanilla extract1/2 cupful granulated sugar1/2 teaspoonful salt1/4 cupful boiling waterFor Filling1 teaspoonful Crisco1 ounce chocolate1 teaspoonful vanilla extract1/2 cupful hot water1/2 cupful brown sugar1/2 cupful granulated sugarPinch salt

For cake. Put granulated sugar into small pan and melt over fire till brown, remove from fire, add boiling water, stir quickly, return to stove, and stir until thick syrup; set aside to cool. Beat Crisco and sugar to a cream, add eggs well beaten, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla, three tablespoonfuls of the syrup and water. Mix and beat two minutes, then divide into two Criscoed and floured layer tins and bake in moderate oven twenty minutes.

For filling. Melt granulated sugar in small pan and stir until it becomes a light brown syrup, add the water gradually, then brown sugar, Crisco, salt, and chocolate stirring all the time. Cook until it forms a soft ball when tried in cold water, or 240° F. Remove from fire, add vanilla, beat until creamy, then spread between cakes.

Sufficient for one layer cake.

For Cake1 cupful sugar3/4 teaspoonful salt1/4 cupful grated chocolate3/4 cupful Crisco5 eggs2 cupfuls flour1 teaspoonful baking powder1/2 cupful sultana raisins1/2 cupful candied chopped citron peelFor Chocolate Frosting2 tablespoonfuls Crisco2 squares melted bitter chocolate2 cupfuls powdered sugar6 tablespoonfuls coffee1/4 teaspoonful salt1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract

For cake. Cream Crisco; add sugar gradually, yolks of eggs well beaten, milk, flour, salt, baking powder, grated chocolate, citron, and raisins. Mix and beat two minutes, then fold in stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Turn into Criscoed and floured tin and bake for one and a quarter hours in a moderate oven. When cold cover with frosting.

For chocolate frosting. Knead Crisco into sugar. Melt chocolate, add coffee, sugar, salt, and Crisco, and stir until thick, then add vanillaand put away to cool. When cold spread on cake. This frosting may be used any time. It is just as good made one day and used the next by adding a little more hot coffee. It is always soft, creamy and delicious.

Sufficient for one cake.

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