Griddle Cakes, Etc.
Thegriddle cake as made to-day with Royal Baking Powder is another article of food which has taken high rank upon the American table. The heavy, sour, grease-soaked, indigestible griddle cake of old is, where modern methods are employed, a thing of the past. The properly made griddle cake is a delicious food, healthful, appetizing, and nutritious.
Raising the griddle cake with yeast is altogether obsolete with expert cooks. Mixtures of soda, saleratus, sour milk, buttermilk, etc., are likewise not permissible. Royal Baking Powder has altogether redeemed the griddle cake. It makes the cake light, tender, digestible, and its preparation and baking are the work of a moment only.
Royal Baking Powder, plain, sweet milk, flour, and a little salt make a food fit for a feast. What so simple, so easily prepared? Eggs are altogether unessential.
The batter must be thin, the cakes made small and not too thick,—about a good ⅛ inch thick when baked,—browned, and neatly turned. The griddle must be merely rubbed with grease, not grease-soaked. This is highly important. Take a thick piece of salt pork on a fork, or a lump of suet in a piece of cheese-cloth, and rub lightly over the hot griddle and pour the batter on immediately.
Remember that buckwheat is one of the most difficult flours to lighten. Where it enters into combination with other materials this fact must be recognized and a somewhat larger proportion of Royal Baking Powder allowed. Made in the manner directed in these receipts buckwheat cakes can be safely and profusely eaten by every one.
Royal Wheat Cakes.—This is the best plain hot griddle cake without eggs. The cakes will be light, tender, and healthful. 1 quart flour, 3 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon salt. Sift well together and add sweet milk to make into a soft batter. Bake immediately on hot griddle. Should be full ⅛ inch thick when baked. Smother with butter and maple syrup or honey.
Griddle Cakes with Eggs.—3 cups flour, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well together, add 2 well-beaten eggs and sufficient sweet milk to make a thin drop batter. Bake at once on a hot, well-greased griddle. Make them thin.
Graham Griddle Cakes.—1 pint Graham flour, ½ pint Indian corn meal, ½ pint flour, 1 heaping teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 egg, ½ pint each of milk and water. Sift together Graham flour, corn meal, flour, sugar, salt, and powder. Add beaten egg, milk, and water. Mix together into a smooth batter. Heat griddlehot, pour batter into cakes as large as a tea saucer. Bake brown on one side, carefully turn and brown other side. Pile one on the other, serve very hot, with sugar, milk, cream, or maple syrup.
Rye Griddle Cakes.—1 pint rye flour, ½ pint Graham flour, ½ pint flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 egg, 1 pint milk. Sift together rye flour, Graham flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, add beaten egg and milk, mix into smooth batter. Bake deep brown color on hot griddle.
Geneva Griddle Cakes.—1½ pints flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 2 tablespoons butter, 4 eggs, nearly ½ pint milk. Rub butter and sugar to white, light cream; add yolks of eggs, 1 at a time. Sift flour, salt, and powder together; add to butter, etc., with milk and egg whites whipped to dry froth; mix together into a smooth batter. Bake in small cakes; as soon as brown, turn and brown the other side. Have buttered baking-tin; fast as browned, lay them on it, and spread raspberry jam over them; then bake more, which lay on others already done. Repeat this until you have used jam twice, then bake another batch,which use to cover them. Sift sugar plentifully over them, place in a moderate oven to finish cooking.
Three-Egg Griddle Cakes.—3 cups milk, 2 heaping cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 3 eggs, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder. Mix as for plain griddle cakes, adding whites and yolks of eggs beaten separately.
Huckleberry Griddle Cakes.-½ pint huckleberries, 1½ pints flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 2 eggs, 1 pint milk. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and powder; add beaten eggs, milk, and huckleberries (washed and picked over). Mix into batter that will run from pitcher in thick, continuous stream. Have griddle hot enough to form crust soon as batter touches it. In order to confine juice of berries, turn quickly, so as to form crust on other side; turn once more on each side to complete baking. Blackberry or raspberry griddle cakes in same manner.
Rice Griddle Cakes.—2 cups cold boiled rice, 1 pint flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 egg, little more than ½ pint milk. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and powder; add rice free from lumps, diluted with beaten egg and milk; mix into smooth batter. Have griddle well-heated, bake nice brown, not too thick; serve with maple syrup.
Crushed Wheat Griddle Cakes.—1 cup crushed wheat, 1½ pints flour, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 egg, 1 pint milk. Boil 1 cup crushed wheat in ¾ pint of water 1 hour, then dilute with beaten egg and milk. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and powder; add to crushed wheat preparation when quite cold; mix into smooth batter. Bake on hot griddle; brown delicately on both sides; serve with hygienic cream sauce.
Corn Meal Griddle Cakes.—2 cups corn meal, 1 cup flour, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon molasses, 2 teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, milk or milk and water to mix to thin batter. Bake as already directed.
Indian Griddle Cakes.-⅔ quart corn meal, ⅓ quart flour, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 heaping teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 2 eggs, 1 pint milk. Sift together corn meal, flour, salt, sugar, and powder, add beaten eggs and milk, mix into a smooth batter. Bake on very hot griddle to a nice brown. Serve with molasses or maple syrup.
Royal Buckwheats.—This is the most delicious of all the griddle cakes. It has been against buckwheat cakes when made from yeast or risen overnight that it was difficult to make them light and sweet, and that disagreeable effects followed their eating. It is found that by the use of the Royal Baking Powder to raise the batter these objections have been entirely overcome, and that buckwheat cakes are made a most delicious food, light, sweet, tender, and perfectly wholesome, that can be eaten by any one without the slightest digestive inconvenience. 2 cups pure buckwheat (do not use the so-called “prepared” or “self-raising” flours), 1 cup wheat flour, 2 tablespoons Royal Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon salt, all sifted well together. Mix with sweet milk into thin batter, and bake at once on a hot griddle.
Buckwheat Cakes.—To 1½ pints pure buckwheat flour (never use prepared or self-raising flour) add ¼ pint each wheat flour and Indian meal, 3 heaping teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar or molasses. Sift well together, in dry state, buckwheat, Indian meal, wheat flour, and baking powder, then add remainder; when ready to bake add 1 pint water or sufficient to form smooth batter that will run in a stream (not too thin) from pitcher; make griddle hot and cakes as large as a saucer. When surface is covered with air-holes it is time to turn cakes over; take off when sufficiently browned.
Bread Cakes.-½ pound bread, 1 pint flour, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, ¾ pint milk, 1 egg. Put bread, free from crust, to steep in warm water. When thoroughly soaked, wring dry in a towel; dilute with beaten egg and milk. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and powder, add to prepared bread, mix together into a smooth batter. Bake on well-heated griddle. Serve with sugar and cream.
Wheat (or Flannel) Cakes.—1½ pints flour, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 heaping teaspoons Royal Baking Powder, 2 eggs, 1½ pints milk. Sift together flour, sugar, salt, and powder; add beaten eggs and milk, mix into smooth batter that will run in rather continuous stream from pitcher. Bake on good hot griddle rich brown color, in cakes large as tea saucers. Serve with maple syrup.
Hominy Griddle Cakes.—Proceed as directed for rice griddle cakes; serve with maple syrup.
Pancakes.—1 pint flour, 6 eggs, 1 saltspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, and milk to make a thin batter. Add the baking powder to the flour, beat the whites and yolks of eggs separately; add the yolks, salt, 2 cups milk, then the whites and the flour alternately with milk, until the batter is of right consistency. Run 1 teaspoon lard over the bottom of a hot frying-pan, pour in a large ladleful of batter, and fry quickly. Roll pancake up like a sheet of paper, lay upon a hot dish, put in more lard, and fry another pancake. Keep hot over boiling water. Send ½ dozen to table at a time. Serve with sauce, jelly, or preserves.
English Pancakes.—1 pint milk, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, 1 cup cream, pinch salt. Sift flour, salt, and powder together; add to it eggs beaten with sugar and diluted with milk and cream; mix into thin batter. Have small round frying-pan; melt little butter in it; pour about ½ cup batter in it, turn pan round, that batter may cover the pan, put on hot fire; turn it and brown other side. Butter each and roll it up; sprinkle with powdered sugar.
French Pancakes.—Proceed as directed for English pancakes; when all are done, spread each with any kind of preserves, roll up, sift over plenty sugar, glaze with red-hot poker.