Ingredients required: - One pound of sifted sugar, and twelve whites of egg.

Whisk the whites in an egg-bowl until they present the appearance of a perfectly white, smooth, substantial froth, resembling snow; then substitute a spoon for the whisk, and proceed to mix in the whole of the sugar, lightly; carefully avoid working the batter too much, for fear of rendering it soft, as in that case it becomes difficult to mould the meringues; they can never be so gracefully shaped as when it is kept firm. Next, cut some stiff foolscap paper into bands about two inches wide; then take a table-spoon, and gather it nearly full of the batter, by working it up at the side of the bowl in the form of an egg, and drop this slopingly upon one of the bands of paper, at the same time drawing the edge of the spoon sharply round the outer base of the meringue, so as to give to it a smooth and rounded appearance, in order that it may exactly resemble an egg. Proceed in this manner until the band is full, keeping the meringues about two inches and a half apart from each other on the paper; as each band is filled, place; them close beside each other on the slab or table, and when all the batter is used up, shake some rather coarse sifted sugar all over them, and allow it to remain for about three minutes ; then take hold of one of the bands at each end, shake off the loose sugar, and place the band of meringues on the board :* and so on with the other bands, which when placed carefully on the boards closely side by side, must be put in the oven (at very moderate heat) and baked of a light-fawn color. When done, each piece of meringue must be carefully removed from off the paper, the white part of the inside scooped out with a dessert spoon, and then nicely smoothed over ; after this, they must be placed in neat order on a baking-sheet, and put back again in the oven to dry, taking particular care that they do not acquire any more color.

When about to send the meringues to table, whip some double cream, season it with a little pounded sugar, and either a glass of any kind of liqueur, a few drops of orange-flower water, or some pounded vanilla ; garnish each piece with a spoonful of this cream join two together, dish them up in a pyramidal form on a napkin, and serve.

Note. - Meringues may be made of all sizes, and may also be shaped in the form of small bunches of grapes: for this purpose it is necessary to use a "cornet," or biscuit-forcer, of paper, to mould the berries. In order to vary their appearance, previously to shaking the sugar over them, some finely-shred pistachios or almonds, rough granite sugar, and small currants, may be strewn over them. They may also be garnished with preserve, or any kind of iced-creams.

* These boards must be made of seasoned wood, and should be about an inch thick; their size must of course depend upon the dimensions of the oven, allowing sufficient room for them to be turned round in it.

1298a. Italian Biscuits

Ingredients: - Six eggs, eight ounces of pounded sugar, five ounces of flour, some orange or lemon sugar for flavoring, a pinch of salt, and six ounces of chopped almonds.

First, divide the yolks from the whites of the six eggs, placing the whites in an egg-bowl, and the yolks in a basin ; add the sugar, the flavoring, and the salt, to the yolks, and with a wooden spoon continue working these until they present the appearance of a rather stiff creamy batter. Then add half the flour, and when this has been well mixed in, let the six whites previously whipped firm, be also lightly mixed in, together with the remainder of the flour, taking care to keep the batter as firm and light as possible.

You now fill a biscuit-forcer with some of the batter, and then proceed to gently force out the batter on to the baking-sheets (previously buttered and floured for the purpose), in round or oval shapes, twice the size of a five-shilling piece; and when the whole of the batter is used up in this manner, let the chopped almonds be equally strewn over the biscuits; and, after some sugar has been shook over their surface with a dredger-box, they must be baked of a very light color, in a rather slack oven.

These cakes are most appropriate for dessert; but, when made of the size of a five-shilling piece, by first spreading any kind of fruit, jam, on the under part, and sticking two of them together, they may be neatly dished up, for a second-course dish, with some whipped cream in the centre.