Biscuit, Gems, Etc

"Then to breakfast, with what appetite you have.

Shakspere.

Biscuit. (Baking Powder.)

One quart of flour,

Two heaping tea-spoonfuls of baking powder.

Sweet milk to moisten.

One tea-spoonful of salt.

Two even table-spoonfuls of lard.

Place the salt in the flour, which should be measured before it is sifted ; stir well, add the baking powder, and sift once more. Rub the lard into the flour, using the back of a spoon ; and when it is thoroughly mixed with the flour, add the milk to moisten. The dough should be just moist enough so that it will not stick to the board ; it should not be at all hard, or the biscuit will be hard and dry.

Mold the dough a moment, sprinkling the board with flour; and when it forms a smooth ball roll it out an inch thick. Cut the sheet into cakes with a small round cutter, and place these in an ungreased tin. Bake thirty minutes in a moderately quick oven. This quantity will make one dozen large biscuits, or eighteen if cut with a small cutter. Some cooks prefer butter to lard in making biscuit, but if the lard is perfectly sweet it is much better than butter.

Biscuit. (Cream Of* Tartar.)

These are made the same as the preceding, except that in place of the baking powder are used

One tea-spoonful of soda.

Two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar.

Grind the soda perfectly smooth on a plate, using a spoon or knife, and mix it with the flour and cream of tartar, sifting as directed. Care is required in the use of soda, for if is not perfectly pulverized, the biscuit will be yellow and most disappointing.

Biscuit. (Sour Milk.)

Make the same as the baking-powder biscuit, but use one even tea-spoonful of pulverized soda instead of the baking powder, and moisten with sour milk instead of sweet. The milk should be unmistakably sour, but need not be very thick, to insure success.

Biscuit. (Sour Cream.)

Make the same as the baking-powder biscuit, but omit the butter, and substitute a tea-spoonful of soda for the baking powder. The cream should be rich.

Biscuit. (Sweet Cream.)

These are made the same as the baking-powder biscuit, omitting the butter. As in the last recipe, the cream should be rich.

Maryland Beaten Biscuit

One quart of flour. One-quarter cupful of lard. One-half tea-spoonful salt. One cupful of cold water.

Rub the lard and salt into the flour, and mix all with the water until a stiff dough is formed. Knead ten minutes, then beat hard with a biscuit-beater or heavy rolling-pin, turning the mass over and over until it begins to blister and looks light and puffy, or until, pulling off a piece quickly will give a sharp, snapping sound. When the dough is in this condition pull off small pieces suddenly, and form it into round biscuits; then pinch off a bit from the top of each, turn the biscuit over, and press it with the thumb, leaving a hollow in the middle. Arrange the biscuit some distance apart in the pans, prick them with a fork, and bake twenty minutes in a quick oven. They should be light and of even grain and should crack at the edges like crackers.