COFFEE AND CAKES

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 2, Issue 3, 1 September 1923, Page 44

COFFEE AND CAKES

Look After Your Cake Tins IT is most essential that cake tins and patty pans should [, be kept in good condition, but r they should never be washed unless very dirty. Simply wipe ':■ them out, first with paper and then with a damp cloth, while still hot. If, however, the cake mixture has stuck to the bottom or become burnt, wash the tins in hot soda water, using fine silver sand or powdered bath brick to remove any obstinate marks. Einse and dry with a cloth, then leave them on the rack over the fire to finish drying thoroughly. If put away at all damp, the tins are liable to rust. If cake tins are to be put away for some time, rub them over with sweet oil and wrap them in paper. Vanilla Biscuits 4ozs. of flour, 2ozs. of butter, half teaspoonful of baking powder, 1 oz. of caster sugar, the j white of one egg, vanilla essence, 4ozs. of pine kernels, pinch of salt. Put the pine kernels twice through a mincing machine, sieve the flour and salt and baking powder, rub in the butter, add the sugar and pine kernels. Whip the white of egg until stiff, stir into the flour, add vanilla essence to taste. Turn the mixture on to a floured board and roll out about a-quarter inch thick; cut into fingers, place them on a greased baking tin and bake in a quick oven about ten minutes. They should be pale fawn colour when cooked. Cocoanut Biscuits 3ozs. of ground rice, 2ozs. of caster sugar, 41b. of desiccated cocoanut, the whites of three eggs. Mix the ground rice, sugar, and cocoanut well together; whip the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth and fold in a little at a time. When well blended place tablespoonfuls of the mixture in rocky heaps on a greased baking tin. Bake in a quick oven for the first five minutes, then finish in a cooler part of the oven, or lower 1' e heat. They should be pale brown, and will take about half an hour to cook. Ground Rice Tarts REQUIRED: 2ozs. of butter, 2ozs. of caster sugar, 2ozs.- of ground rice, milk, 1 egg, almond essence, i teaspoonful of baking powder, pinch of salt, jam, short crust pastry. Line an open tart tin with short crust pastry. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the egg, and beat well. Mix together the ground rice, salt and baking powder, and stir lightly to the mixture, adding enough milk to make a dough of a consistency that will drop easily from a spoon lastly add a few drops of almond flavouring. Spread any jam desired over the pastry and cover with the rice mixture. Bake in a fairly hot oven until the pastry is crisp and the rice mixture firm to the touch; this will take about half an hour. Sprinkle with sugar on top. Chocolate Cakes 6ozs. grated chocolate, 6ozs. butter, 6ozs. flour, 2ozs. ground rice, Jib. sugar, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder, 3 eggs, vanilla flavouring. Beat butter and sugar together, add the chocolate melted in two tablespoonfuls of milk, add the beaten eggs slowly, beating well in, flavour with vanilla. Mix flour, rice and baking

powder, and add gradually to the mixture, using a very little milk if necessary, but do not make too moist. Put into greased patty-pans and bake. Do not have a very hot oven, as chocolate cakes burn very easily. r f- Pineapple Cake ► 4ozs. of flour, 6ozs. of caster sugar, 3 eggs, 3ozs. of glace %r pineapple, yellow icing, pinch of salt. Sieve the salt and flour together. Cut the pineapple into small dice, beat up the eggs, add the sugar and whisk for four minutes, then place the basin over a pan of boiling water and beat until the mixture is thick and frothy (five to eight minutes). Stir in the flour very lightly, and then the pineapple; put into a greased tin lined with greased paper, and bake in a moderate oven for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until firm on the top. Turn on to a sieve to cool, and ..j when cold ice with yellow icing and decorate with fancy shapes cut out of the pineapple. Norwegian Biscuits THE yolks of 2 hard-boiled eggs, •l mix with ilb. butter, ilb. sugar, and the yolks of 3 raw eggs. Take as much flour as will make a stiff dough. Roll pieces in the hands, and twist into odd shapes. Brush over with -beaten whites of eggs, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake in not too hot oven. Crisp Biscuits 6ozs. butter beaten to a cream, 41b. of sugar, 2 eggs well beaten, 2 cups of flour. Mix well and roll in balls, and dip in sugar. Put an almond on each, and bake in a quick oven. Slim Biscuits HALF-PINT of cream kneaded into as much flour as it will take. Roll thin, and bake on a griddle. Turn often and eat crisp. Two Old Dutch Recipes APIECE of soft dough, with a little sugar and butter blended in, just soft enough to handle. Press out on buttered shallow dish, lay halfplums (preserved or fresh) cut side downward all over, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and bake. 0 0 0 Use same consistency of dough, and make a short mixture of flour, butter, and sugar. Spread the dough in a flat baking-tin, and put layer of mixture on top. Sprinkle with chopped almonds, sugar, and lumps of butter, and bake in fairly hot oven. Cut in fingers. Bran Date Gems THESE are mildly laxative, and will be found delicious eating as well. Mix together one cupful and a-half of Iran, half a cupful of white flour, three and a-half teaspoonfuls of baking powder, and half a teaspoonful of salt. Beat one egg lightly, add one large cupful of milk, and gradually blend with the dry ingredients. Beat well, and add threequarters of a cupful of shredded dates, two tablespoonfuls of dark molasses, three tablespoonfuls of melted butter, and the lightly whipped white of another egg. Turn into greased muffin pans, and bake about thirty minutes in a moderate oven. Raisins or shredded figs may be substituted for the dates if desired.

When You are Making Coffee

COFFEE, to be really good, should be bought in small quantities, and kept in a tin with a well-fitting lid. When possible, buy the freshly-roasted berries and grind them at home, only grinding enough for immediate use. Allow a good tablespoonful of coffee to each -pint of water. The water must be freshly boiled, and the coffee-pot warmed before making the coffee. An earthenware coffee-pot with a percolator makes good coffee. Put the freshly-ground coffee into the percolator, then pour the boiling water over and let it filter through slowly, gradually adding all the necessary amount of water. Keep the coffee-pot in a warm place, or in a saucepan of gently boiling water, while the coffee is draining through the percolator, and serve as hot as possible, with hot milk and cream if desired. A Simple Method A very good way of making coffee is to put the requisite amount of freshly-ground coffee into a saucepan, pour the boiling water over, let it boil up, remove the pan from the fire for a minute, add two or three drops of cold water, stir the coffee and boil up again. Repeat this three times, then strain through a fine strainer or a piece of muslin into the warmed coffee-pot or a jug. Black coffee is very strong coffee served without milk, and with sugar. It should be made according to the last method given, allowing one teaspoonful of good coffee to each small “after-dinner” coffeecup. The water should be measured by the cups. At the last boiling up, put in a teaspoonful of cold water. Let the coffee settle before straining it. Viennese coffee is good black coffee served with a spoonful of whipped cream on the top of each cup.