Cottage Pudding

Butter, 2 tb. Sugar, 1/2 c. Egg, 1.

Milk, 3/4 c.

Baking-powder, 3 t. Flour, 1 1/2 c.

Salt, 1/4 t.

Sift flour, baking-powder, and salt together. Beat the egg well, and beat the sugar into it. Stir in the milk and the flour mixture alternately (first a little of one, then a little of the other, till all is added). Melt the butter, and stir it in last. Bake in a buttered cake-pan about 25 minutes. Serve with Lemon Sauce (p. 282) or other liquid sauce.

Standard Cake

Butter, 1/4 c. Sugar, 3/4 c. Eggs, 2.

Milk, 1/2 c.

Baking-powder, 2 1/2 t. Flour, 1 1/2 c.

Vanilla, 1/2 t.

Follow directions for making butter cakes. This cake may be made with one egg and 3 t. of baking-powder.

To vary this cake, add any one of the following:

1. 1/2 c. chopped raisins.

2. 1/2 c. currants.

3. 1/2 c. sliced citron.

4. 1/2 c. chopped nuts.

5. 4 tb. cocoa or 2 oz. chocolate, melted.

Or instead of vanilla use one of these:

6. 1 t. lemon extract.

7. 1/2 t. almond extract.

Think up other variations, and try them.

Spice Cake

Butter, 1/4 c. Brown sugar, 1 c. Sour milk, 1 c. Baking-soda, 1 t.

Flour, 2 c. Chopped raisins, 3/4 c. Cinnamon, 1 t. Cloves, 1 t.

Nutmeg, 1 t.

Cream butter and sugar, stir in milk; next dry ingredients; lastly, fruit.

Gingerbread

Butter, 2 tb. Molasses, 3/4 c. Egg, 1.

Sour milk, 1/2 c. Baking-soda, 1 t. Flour, 2 c.

Ginger, 1 tb.

Sift the flour, soda, and ginger together. Heat the molasses, and pour it upon the butter. Stir well. Add the beaten egg, and sour milk, and dry ingredients. Bake 25 minutes in a moderate oven.

Old-Fashioned Sponge Cake

Note

In the days when eggs were cheap, it was customary to use enough eggs in sponge cake to make it light without the addition of baking-powder. This cannot always be afforded now.

Eggs, 5.

Sugar, gran, or powd., 1 1/4 c.

Flour, 1 1/4 c. Salt, 1 1/4 t.

Juice and grated rind of half a large lemon.

See directions for mixing sponge cake on p. 276. Bake one hour in a slow oven.

Baking-Powder Sponge Cake

Eggs, 3. Sugar, 1 c. Hot water, 1/3 c.

Flour, 1 1/2 c. Baking-powder, 2 t. Vanilla, 1 t. or

Lemon extract, 1/2 t. Salt, 1/4 t.

Mix according to directions for mixing sponge cake, adding the hot water when part of the sugar has been beaten into the yolks. Bake forty-five minutes to one hour in a loaf, thirty-five minutes in small cakes.

Sugar Cookies

Butter, 1/2 c. Sugar, 1 c. Egg, 1.

Milk, 2 tb. Baking-powder, 2 t. Flour, about 3 c.

Nutmeg.

Mix according to directions for butter cake, using enough flour to make a dough stiff enough to roll out. Turn it on to a floured board. Roll out, part at a time, one-eighth of an inch thick. Cut out with a floured cookie cutter. Keep board and rolling-pin well floured. Sprinkle cookies with grated nutmeg. Bake 15 minutes on baking sheets or shallow pans.

Whole Wheat Ginger Snaps

Butter, 1/2 c. Sugar, 1 c. Molasses, 2 tb. Egg, 1.

Milk, 1/4 c.

Baking-powder, 1 t. Baking-soda, 1/4 t. Flour, about 3 c.

Ginger, 1 tb.

Cream the butter and sugar. Stir in the molasses, beaten egg, and milk, and last, the other materials sifted together. Roll as thin as possible. Cut out like sugar cookies, and bake in a moderate oven.

The Points Of Good Cake

A good butter cake is smooth on top and an even golden-brown all over. It should round up slightly in the middle, but not sink from the edges and rise sharply with a crack on the top. Such a cake either contains too much flour or has baked too fast. The inside of the loaf should be slightly moist, but not sticky, and of a fine, even grain, with no heavy streaks. Coarse-grained cake is usually caused by lack of beating or by too slow an oven. Sponge cake should rise in the oven, and settle to a level, not lower, after being taken out. The top crust should be slightly sugary, the texture looser than that of butter cake, but tender and velvety. Too much flour makes sponge cake tough.

Chocolate Layer Cake

Bake Standard Cake in three jelly-cake tins, and spread chocolate frosting on top and between the layers.