ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VII, Issue 2, 10 January 1891, Page 14

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

‘ Edena.’ —For a simple sweet for supper, have youevei made this one? Take some sponge cakes and split them, andspread apricot preserve over them, and moisten them with a little rum (Liquid Sunshine) ; then cover them with w’ell-whipped flavoured and sweetened cream, and over the cream grate some chocolate, and ornament it with shreded pistachio kernels and pink royal icing here and there. It is a very simple dish, but really very pretty and nice. Little caramel puddings make a very nice dish, and are quite sinmle to make. Another very pretty sweet is Cornets ala Creme. To make this little sweet you must puachase some little •comet tins, which are not very expensive. You must make a paste of four ounces of finely-chopped almonds, two ounces of fine flonr, two ounces of castor sugar, one large egg, and a tablespoonful of orange flour water, and a little carmine. Take two baking-tins which are quite smooth and clean, and put them in the oven to warm, and then rub them over with white wax, and then let the tins cool. On these spread the paste very thinly with a palette-knife, and bake in the •oven for only two or three minutes, just until the paste sets ; then take tlie tins out of the oven, and cut the paste in rounds with a plain cutter about two an a-half inches in diameter, and immediately wrap these rounds of the paste round thecornet tins, which should nave been previously lightly oiled on the outside and inside, press the edges of the paste well together, so that it takes the shape of the tin, then remove it, and slip it inside the tin, and place another tin inside it. This must all be done very quickly ; and it is a good plan to only bake a small quantity of the paste at a time, as it becomes cold so very soon. When all the paste is used, place the cornets in a moderate oven, and let them dry ; then take them out of the oven and remove the tins. When •cold, ornament the edges with a little royal icing by means of a forcing-bag and pipe, and dip the icing into finelychopped pistachio kernels, which have been finely chopped. These little cornets must be filled with whipped cream just before they are served which has been sweetened and flavoured. To make the royal icing take half a pound of icing sugar and the white of a large egg and a few drops of lemon juice, and work it with a wooden spoon until quite smooth and white. I hope this will not be too troublesome a dish to make. It looks very dainty and pretty, and you •can make the cornet cases some days before you want to’use them ; and if you keep them in a tin box they will keep -quite crisp and nice.

• Amateur.’—To prepare a strong glue for inlaying, select the best light-brown glue, free from streaks, and dissolve it in water. To every pint add half a gill of the best vinegar and one-half of an ounce of isinglass.

‘ Alma.’—l will give a recipe for one kind of scone which you will find very nice and light, and the sugar can be used or not; that is, of course, simply a matter of taste. Take one pound of flour and rub into it until smooth two ounces of butter or dripping, then add two ounces of castor sugar, and half-an-ounce of cream of tartar. Take half a pint of milk and dissolve in it a quarter-of an-ounce of bicarbonate of soda, and pour the milk into the basin containing the flour, and mix it into a stiff dough. Then turn it out on to a board and roll it as little as possible ; in fact, it is really better to shape the mixture into rounds with your hand. Place on lightly-floured tins and bake in a fairly hot oven for about twenty to twenty-five minutes. If sour buttermilk were used instead of milk, the cream of tartar and the soda would not be required. Household scones : One pound flour, three-quarter teaspoon soda, three-quarter teaspoon tartaric acid, a little sugar, some sweet milk ; rub the lumps out of the soda and tartaric, and mix the whole with the milk, and roll out your scones ; you can’t make scones without carbonate of soda, for they would not rise or be nice _ unless it be thin scones; but if you use the tartaric acid the scones won’t be brown ; it is the want of an acid that makes the soda taste and brown them. ‘ Kitchen. ’ —Take two parts of sulphur and one part (by weight) of fine blacklead ; put the sulphur in an old iron pan and hold it over the fire until it begins to melt, then add the lead ; stir well until it is mixed and melted ; then pour out on an iron plate or smooth stone; when cool break into small pieces ; solder the cracks with this by means of a hot iron in the same way as a tinsmith solders his sheets.