There are several grades and varieties of sponge cake to be found in this book, all good in their place, yet the one I used to regard the chief and is so put forward in the American Pastry Cook had nearly been set aside here because the boys regard it as laborious and sometimes fail with it in warm weather, until on a recent occasion I found at an "Oriental Cafe" - the Turks who kept the institution were making a specialty of "Arabian cake," selling considerable quantities to the curious passers-by and kept a Turkish woman cook (young, and a real Zuleika, by the way) busy all day making and baking it. As I carry with me the "Open Sesame!" to all the kitchens in the land, I proceeded to investigate and found it to be neither more nor less except the substitution of starch for flour, than our old favorite Savoy cake - fine sponge cake made by beating the eggs and sugar together without separating the whites and yolks, the way alluded to at Nos. 279 and 280 and the note. These Turks beat the mixture about an hour, but in rather a sleepy sort of way and with frequent relays, for Ali, Arabi and Raphael all had to come in turn and work till their oriental arms gave out. Some who read this will be interested in the fact that this notable cook from Constantinople made them always stir the cake one way just like American home folks do. This is the cake:

1 pound .fine granulated sugar (light weight.) 12 eggs.

3/4 pound of starch (or flour if for Savoy cake.) Vanilla to flavor.

Have everything cold to begin with; put the eggs and sugar together in a deep bowl or round-bottomed pan or candy kettle, and beat vigorously with a bunch of wire half an hour by the clock.

It should by that time be twice or thrice the volume it was at the beginning. Add flavoring and the flour or starch. Do not beat after that is in but stir around only enough to fairly mix it out of sight. Bake in a deep turban-shaped mold, slightly oiled before the cake is put in.

A large cake of this sort will generally be done in half an hour. Our Turkish woman carried a long straw in her ear - just where a bookkeeper carries his pen - to try her cakes with.