Orange Butter.

In a double boiler cook together one-fourth pound of butter, one cup of sugar, the grated rind and the juice of two oranges, and two eggs or four yolks. Strain and use when cold between layer cakes, or with the addition of chopped raisins, currants, citron, and candied peel as a filling for turnovers of pastry.

Fruit Filling For Cakes.

Bake a sponge-cake in layers. Chop fine one cup of stewed prunes or other fruit or rub through a strainer, beat the whites of four eggs to a froth, add the fruit and sugar to sweeten. Spread half of this on one layer of cake, put on the second layer and the remainder of the filling, and whipped cream on top of that.

Fig Filling

Chop one pound of figs, add one-half cup of sugar and one tablespoon of lemon juice, one cup of water, and stew until soft and smooth. Spread between the layers, and ice the whole cake with boiled icing.

Mocha Cream Filling.

Cream one-fourth cup of butter, adding gradually one cup of powdered sugar. Flavor with coffee extract, prepared as for coffee frosting. Combine with one-half cup of cream filling. This may be put through a bag and tube on top of cakes.

Cookies.

It is unnecessary to have many recipes in order to obtain different kinds of cookies. A single good formula may be varied to suit all occasions, provided one understands how to mix such a dough; otherwise, all recipes are of little avail.

When variety is desired, before all the flour is added, divide the mixture into four portions; to one add one teaspoon of lemon extract, to another one-half cup of desiccated cocoanut, to the third, one-half ounce of chocolate, melted, or a tablespoon of cocoa sifted in with a little flour; to the fourth, one teaspoon of mixed spice and a half cup of chopped raisins and citron.

The dough may be further divided and one portion flavored with ginger, another with rose, another with almond, and chopped almonds sprinkled on top, when cut out, and the last flavored with mace, chopped lemon peel, and currants.

Or roll part of the dough in a thin sheet and sprinkle with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Fold the sheet once, gently roll it to former thickness, cut out and bake. These cookies will be aromatic, but with no outward sign of spice. For variety, finely chopped raisins or dates or well-crushed English walnuts may be folded in with the spice.

Fancy cutters lend their aid in furnishing an assortment of cookies from a single lot of dough, and are desirable when these sweetmeats are for children's parties.

To avoid confusion afterward, each flavor may be cut in a different shape. Where one has not a variety of fancy cutters, a pastry-wheel or jagger can be used, or with a good eye and a steady hand, all sorts of shapes, letters, etc., may be cut with an ordinary knife.

After baking, a part of the cakes may be iced and decorated with colored frostings.

Slight changes in some of the quantities used will bring about different results. For a thick soft cake, use less flour and drop on the pan from a spoon, or roll with the hands into balls the size of a nutmeg and flatten a little after placing on the buttered pan.

It is easy to see how a recipe for plain cookies may be merged into a richer one by increasing the quantities of butter, sugar, and egg, or by decreasing the flour and liquid. The foundation of most of the old-time recipes for cookies closely resemble pound-cake. Baking powder is not made to do the work of eggs, nor is any other fat allowed in place of sweet, solid butter; these were the only secrets of their good flavor and keeping qualities.

Some butter contains so much sour milk or cream that in cookies that are to be kept for a long time it is desirable to add a bit of soda to counteract this acidity.

Entire wheat flour, or half oatmeal, half white flour, may be used in place of all white flour in cookies for children.