Almond Cakes

Take some Valencia almonds, and put them in a large basin with an equal quantity of sugar, a little essence of lemon and mixed spice. Mix with a wooden spoon, together with the yolks of fifteen eggs to every pound of the almonds used, then stir in the whites of the eggs whipped till quite stiff, and lastly, work in thoroughly a little sifted pastry flour. Have ready a sufficient number of buttered fancy moulds, and bake until a light brown in a moderately quick oven.

American White Cake

Work a couple of ounces of butter into a cream, beat up the whites of half a dozen eggs in half a pint of milk, adding a pound of flour, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and half a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda, mixing the butter with the flour, and rubbing it in thoroughly, then make into a dough with the'milk and eggs. Butter a square cake-tin, and pour in the mixture, baking in a quick oven for an hour. Then brush over the top with the white of eggs, and sift caster-sugar over it, replacing in the oven for two or three minutes.

Apricot Cakes

Roll out a piece of puff-paste or trimmings, and spread over a baking-sheet, first winding it on a rolling-pin and then unwinding. Spread some apricot marmalade evenly all over the paste. Then cut some of the rolled paste into thin narrow strips and roll it like a cord. Arrange these strips over the marmalade, finishing off the ends and soldering to the edge of the paste by moistening with water. Lay icing-sugar along the bars in some fancy designs and bake in a moderately hot oven. When done, cut into oblong pieces, say two by three inches and pile one upon another on a dish decorated with almonds cut into various shapes and colored.

Bride Cakes

Beat some warmed butter to a cream, with sugar; then beat a dozen or so eggs, two at a time, and when all are in the batter, whisk for nearly an hour and stir in gradually a pound of sifted-flour, add a pound and a half each of raisins and currants, both chopped, quarter of a pound of pounded almonds, half a pound of candied peel minced very fine, and the grated rinds of an orange and a lemon, together with a gill of brandy. Pour this mixture into a tin lined with buttered-paper and bake until quite done. Turn upside down until quite cool, then apply icing and ornamentation.

Carnival Cakes

Beat into a gill of milk a couple of eggs, adding gradually half a pound of flour. Let it stand for three hours, and then work into it enough flour to make a good dough; roll out thin and cut into roundsnine inches in diameter, then cut four parallel lines to within one inch of the sides so as to form handles by which the cake may be lifted. Place in hot fat and fry to a light yellow; pile on a dish and sprinkle sugar over them. The cakes should be eaten cold.

Chantilly Cake

Stand one basin in another the larger one containing hot water, and break in five eggs, put in a teacupful of caster-sugar, and whisk for about ten minutes, then remove the basin from the hot water, and whisk for a few moments longer; sift in half a dozen tablespoonfuls of flour, stirring till quite smooth. Butter the inside of a cylinder-mould, sprinkle caster-sugar over it and pour in the cake mixture, and if it fills the mould, tie on a strip of buttered paper around it so as to come about an inch and a half above the top of the mould, then bake in a moderate oven. Whip up half a pint of rich cream with a little caster-sugar till it is quite firm, when it may be flavored to taste. Turn out the cake when cooked, fill the hollow with cream, and serve.