558. How To Dry Herbs

They should be picked just before the plant blossoms, wash them to free them from the dust, place them on a sieve to drain. Then put them in the oven after the bread has been drawn out, and let them remain in it till they are perfectly dry. Rub them from the stalks, put them in glass jars and cover them closely.

562. Molasses Candy

One quart of West India molasses, Half a pound of brown sugar, The juice of one lemon.

Put the molasses in a kettle with the sugar, boil it over a slow, steady fire till it is done, which you can easily tell by dropping a little in cold water, if done it will be crisp, if not, it will be stringy. A good way to judge if it is boiled enough is to let it boil till it stops bubbling. Stir it very frequently, and just before it is taken off the fire add the lemon-juice. Butter a shallow tin pan, and pour it in to get cold.

Molasses candy may be flavored with any thing you choose. Some flavor with lemon, and add roasted ground-nuts, or almonds blanched.

566. Apple Butter

Boil one barrel of cider till reduced to one half the original quantity. Pare, core, and slice enough apples to measure two bushels and a half when cut up. Put them in with the cider, let them boil, and stir it all the time it is boiling. The apples must be reduced to a pulp, which will take from nine to twelve hours. It should be boiled till perfectly smooth and thick. Great care should be taken not to let it scorch, as it would be entirely spoiled.

New cider is the kind used for making apple butter.

571. Citron Cake

One pound of butter, One pound of sugar, One pound of flour, One pound of citron, Ten eggs,

Half a gill of brandy, One tea spoonful of grated nutmeg, One tea spoonful of cinnamon.

Grate the nutmeg, slice the citron in very thin narrow strips about half an inch long, and flour it. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream, whisk the eggs very light, and stir them in with the flour, brandy, and spices. Beat the whole for several minutes, then stir in the citron. Line your pans with several thicknesses of paper, well buttered, pour in the mixture and bake them in a slow oven. When cold ice them.

572. Vanilla Kisses

Half a pound of pulverized white sugar, The whites of six eggs,

One vanilla bean.

Pound the bean in a mortar until it is completely pulverized. Whisk the eggs to a stiff froth, add the sugar very gradually, then stir in the vanilla. Drop the mixture on white paper so as not to touch each other. You may make them any size you choose. About a dessert spoonful makes a pretty sized cake. Take care to have them sufficiently far apart. Place them on tins with several thicknesses of stout paper under them, set them in a hot oven, and as soon as they have a tinge of brown take them out, with a broad bladed knife slip them off the paper, and place the under sides of two together.

573. Vanilla Cake

Half a pound of pulverized white sugar, The whites of four eggs,

One small vanilla bean, or half of a large one.

Pound the vanilla bean in a mortar until it is completely pulverized. Beat the eggs to a dry froth, add the sugar very gradually; when all the sugar is in stir in the vanilla. Drop a tea spoonful of the mixture on thick white paper to form each cake, they must not be near enough to touch each other. Place them in a cool oven, and as soon as they are sufficiently dry take them out, as soon as they are cold slip the blade of a case-knife under each one to loosen it from the paper. The oven should not be hot enough to brown them.