Household.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 602, 18 August 1883, Page 3

Household.

Cream Cakes.—lnto half a pint of good cream stir a pinch of salt and as much flour as will make a stiff batter, then add a teaspoonful of .carbonate of soda ; bake at once in a shallow tin in a very quick oven, and serve hot, with sifted sugar over. If liked sweet, 2oz. of sugar may be stirred in with the other ingredients. Vinegar Plant is thus produced :—Dissolve a Jib. of coarse brown sugar and Jib. of treacle in three quarts of water. Then let it simmer, and put it into a covered jar in a warm place for six to eight weeks, when a fungus will be found on top, which is the vinegar plant, the liquid below having become vinegar. To use the vinegar plant, Jib. of brown sugar and a like quantity of treacle should be boiled in two gallons of water, well stirring while boiling. Put this into a jar, and when only lukewarm put on it the vinegar plant. In a period varying according to the temperature the liquid will have become vinegar, and merely requires straining. Curd Cheesecake. —Take a gill of curds, a tablespoonful of currants, and a piece of butter the size of a large walnut; mix them together, and add sugar and nutmeg to taste. Have some good paste ready, line some teacake tins with it, put in the curds, and bake a nice brown. A few drops of essence of lemon are an improvement. To make the curds, put some new milk into a basin, and place it hear the fire until it is the warmth of milk fresh brought from the cow, then put in a small piece of alum, still keeping the milk in a warm place ; when it is turned to curds, put it into a piece of clean strong muslin, and drain off the whey. An Invalid’s Dish.—A dish of value to a convalescent is made by soaking all night —after first washing it—one heaping tablespoonful of tapioca in a little sweet milk, say one cupful; in the morning heat this, gradually adding milk until you have a pint in all; beat the yolks of two egg very light, stir in, and let come to a boil : if the tapioca is nob perfectly soft, so that it can be crushed like jelly with a spoon, it is best to let it boil for two or three minutes ; sweeten and flavor to suit the taste of the one for whom it is intended. When it is done and has cooled so that it no longer steams, add the whites of the two eggs which you have beaten to a stiff froth; stir them in thoroughly; then put all in glasses. English Beef Broth. —Cover the bottom of a porcelained kettle with a small onion, sliced ; a grated carrot, one leek, a little summer savory, thyme and parsley, one hay leaf, two or three cloves, two or three pepper corns. Crack the bone of a small knuckle of veal, and two pounds from a shin of beef. Lay these on top of the vegetables in the saucepan. Let all simmer together until the vegetables are lightly colored, then add two quarts of stock or water, and cook slowly three hours ; when it begins to boil remove the scum and all the fat that accumulates on the top. While the broth is boiling, some vegetables to serve with it may be prepared, some carrots, turnips, two or three slices of onion, a dessertspoonful of pearled barley, one tablespoonful of bufter, one teaspoonful of sugar; add enough stock to cover; simmer slightly until cooked. When the broth has cooked three hours strain through a napkin, put it back on the fire, thicken with a little corn starch, add the cooked vegetables, the barley and one-quarter pound of chopped raw beef ; cook altogether one-half hour. Before serving add one glass of sherry wine and one dessert spoonful of Worcestershire sauce.