IN THE KITCHEN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3261, 31 January 1931, Page 7

IN THE KITCHEN.

SOME DIFFERENT RECIPES. Fruit Cake.—Required: lib. flour, Vo lb. castor sugar, pinch salt, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 1 gill milk, %lb. butter, 4 eggs, %lb. "Currants, Vjlb. sultanas, %lb.» candied peel. Sieve the floury baking powder and salt. Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs one by one with a little flour, beating well. Stir in the remainder of the flour with the milk. The mixture should be moist enough to drop from a spoon. Add the cleaned fruit and shredded peel. Put into a grease tin lined with greased paper. Bake in a moderate oven for about one hour.

Queen Cakes. —Required: Boz. flour, 4oz. butter, 4oz. sugar, 2 eggs, 3oz. cherries, 1 teasponful baking powder, little milk. Cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs one-at a time with the flour, beating well, add the baking powder with the last spoonful of flour and then the cherries roughly chopped, and a little milk is required. Half fill some small greased cake tins. Bake in a moderate oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Sponge Cake. Required: 4 eggs, weight of 4 eggs in castor sugar, weight of two eggs in flour, % teaspoonful of vanilla flavouring. Separate the yolks and whites of the eggs. Beat the yolks well with a pinch of salt. Whip the whites to a stiff froth and then beat them into the yolks. Stir in the sugar quickly, and lastly add the flour a little at a time, but quickly. Beat well; put mixture into a well-greased cake tin and bake in a steady oven 30 to 45 minutes.

Eclairs—Required: 2ozs. flour, loz. butter, 1 gill water, 1 egg and % yolk, pinch salt, 1 gill cream, glace icing, vanilla essence. Sieve the flour. Melt the butter, add the salt and water, and bring to the boil. Beat in the flour; cool, and add the eggs and vanilla essence. Place the mixture in small rolls on a greased tin; bake in a steady oven till brown and firm, about 30 minutes. When baked, make a slit and scoop out the centre, and fill when cold with whipped and sweetened cream. Coat and glace icing.

Cocoanut Pyramids.—Required: Boz. dessicated coacoanut, 4oz. castor sugar, white of one egg. Whisk the white of egg until it is quite stiff. Put the cocoanut and sugar into a basin, then mix together with the white of egg. Take tablespoonful of the mixture, and form into pyramids, place them in to a floured tin. Bake in a moderate oven for a few minutes until slightly brown. Half of the mixture may be coloured pink by adding a few drops of cochineal.

Blackberry Cordial. Place 21b sound ripe blackberries into a stone jar with 21b. white sugar and three tablespoonsful of water. Cover the jar closely, and stand it in a saucepan with enough boiling water to come half-way up the jar. Having stewed the berries thus for two hours, mash them well, strain, measure the juice into an enamel pan, and boil for fifteen minutes without the lid, removing any scum as it rises. To each half-pint of the syrup add a sherry glass of brandy. When quite cold, bottle it and cork down tightly.

Galantine of Beef. —Required: Boz. of raw beef, Boz. of sausage meat, 6oz. of fine dry breadcrumbs, one teaspoonful of mixed herbs, salt and pepper, 1 gill of stock, one egg. Mix all the ingredients with the beatenup egg and the stock. Form into a roll, and tie in a well-floured, clean cloth, leaving room for the roll to swell. The cloth must be wrung out in boiling water before flouring or the flour will not adhere. Place in boiling stock or water and simmer for two hours. Remove the cloth and tie it up again tightly. Place the galantine between two dishes with a weight on the top one, and leave till cold. Take off the cloth and glaze.

Flan Pastry—This is the recipe for the pastry you require. Required: %lb. flour, one teaspoonful castor sugar, either %lb. butter or %lb. lard and butter mixed in equal quantities, yolk of one egg, water, a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of salt. Sieve the flour and salt into a clean basin. Rub in the butter until as fine as breadcrumbs, add the sugar, make a well in the centre, put in the lemon juice, and gradually stir in the egg and cold water mixed, sufficient to mix the pastry into a flexible dough, pouring the water and egg in gradually with the left hand, while stirring in the flour with a knife held in the right hand. When the water and egg is mixed in knead the pastry a little with the hands. Do not use too much water or the pastry becomes tough. Flour the pastry board and knead the dough on it until smooth, flour a rolling pin and roll out the pastry to the thickness required. It should only be rolled out once. Never turn short crust pastry, but always roll it the same way and see that it does not stick to the board at the bottom. Avoid working in too much loose flour, as it is inclined to make the pastry heavy.