EXPERIMENTS AND RECIPES
A. Experiments with baking powder.
1. Dissolve half a teaspoonful of baking powder in two tablespoonfuls of water and heat in a test tube, or saucepan, over a flame; notice the effervescence when the bubbling is at its height,
and hold a lighted match in the mouth of the tube. This is a simple test for carbon dioxide.
2. Dissolve 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar in 1⁄2 cup water in a glass.
Dissolve 1 teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in 1⁄2 cup water in a glass.
Taste both of these.
Test both with litmus paper, noting the change of color. There are several vegetable coloring matters that change color in this way, in the presence of an acid or an alkaline substance.
Turn the two solutions together, and test with both blue and pink litmus paper, after the solution has stood for several minutes. What results?
Taste this mixed solution to see if you can detect any difference.
To prove that there is a substance still left, evaporate the water.
3. A pretty form of this experiment is to use, instead of litmus, the water in which red cabbage has previously been boiled and which therefore contains some of the coloring matter of the cabbage. The changes in color are very striking, and prove conclusively that neither the cream of tartar nor the soda remains such.
B. Oven experiments.
If one oven in the school kitchen can be equipped with a chemical thermometer inserted in the oven, the following experiments are helpful.
1. Let each pupil test the oven by feeling, when it has reached 380° F., 400° F., 425° F., 450° F., 475° F.-500° F.
2. Place pieces of white paper, one for each pupil, in the oven for five minutes at the various temperatures. These may be pasted in the notebook for future reference.
1. Popovers, puffovers, or mahogany cakes.
Ingredients for 12.
| Flour | 1 | pint |
| Milk | 1 | pint |
| Eggs | 3 | |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
Some rules give two eggs only.
For baking, heavy earthen cups, hot and greased.
Method of mixing is No. 1.
Special points.—The liquid must be poured very slowly into the flour to prevent lumping. A large Dover egg beater is convenient for beating out lumps, if any occur.
The leavening of the popover is effected by steam, and it is not necessary therefore to spend time and strength in the long beating sometimes recommended. This has been conclusively proved by experiment. Neither is it necessary to put the batter into the oven immediately, as sometimes directed. It may stand all day or even over night.
Pour the batter in the hot cups, having each cup two thirds full. The baking of the popovers is unique, in that they should be put into an intensely hot oven for the first stage of the baking—as hot as 475° F., or even more—then the oven must be cooled. This first stage crusts the top; then the expansive force of the steam pushes up the top; and the muffin “pops” or “puffs” over. The more moderate heat cooks the sides and the bottom, and makes an agreeable crust. The perfect puffover is hollow. Three quarters of an hour is the average time of baking. If at the end of that time the oven door is set ajar, and the popovers allowed to remain longer, they are improved, coming from the oven stiff and crisp with a rich brown color, rather than soft and underdone. In an old family cookbook, one recipe, sixty years old, calls popovers “Mahogany Cakes.”
They may be eaten as a muffin, or served with a pudding sauce as a dessert.
2. Plain muffins.
Ingredients for 12.
| Flour | 1 | pint |
| Baking powder | 3 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Eggs | 2 | or 1 |
| Milk | 11⁄4 | cup |
| Butter, or butter substitute | 1 | tablespoonful |
| Sugar, if desired | 1 | tablespoonful |
For baking, greased muffin pan. Bake about half an hour.
Method of mixing is No. 1.
This recipe may be varied in many ways.
(a) Use 1⁄2 cup cooked cereal in place of an equal quantity of flour. Will you change the amount of wetting?
(b) One cup fine white corn meal, or 1⁄2 cup yellow meal in place of equal quantities of flour. Corn meal absorbs more water than white flour.
What change in the wetting?
The oven should be the temperature for bread, and the baking at least 3⁄4 of an hour.
(c) One cup Graham or rye meal in place of an equal quantity of flour.
3. Baking-powder biscuit.
Ingredients.
| Flour | 1 | pint |
| Baking powder | 3 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Butter, or butter substitute | 1 or 2 | tablespoonfuls |
| Milk | 1 | scant cup |
For shaping, molding board, rolling pin, and biscuit cutter.
For baking, an iron sheet or pan sprinkled with flour. Oven about 425° F., a ten-second test, or golden brown paper. Bake twenty minutes to half an hour.
Method of mixing is No. 2.
To shape. Dust the board with flour, turn out the dough, dredge with flour, pat into a firm mass, and then pat or lightly roll out to 1⁄2 inch thickness. Cut out with a cutter dipped in flour. (A small glass or the top of a round tin can may be used.)
Variations.—Add 1 egg. This makes a delicious biscuit. Sprinkle the top with granulated sugar, and spice. Dried currants washed, and dredged with flour, may be laid on the top.
Increase the butter to two or three tablespoonfuls, and decrease the wetting and the mixture becomes shortcake. This is the mixture to use for the true strawberry shortcake. Many other fruits may be used, both uncooked and cooked.
4. Sour milk griddlecakes.
Ingredients.
| Flour | 21⁄2 | cups |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Melted butter | 2 | tablespoonfuls |
| Sour milk | 2 | cups |
| Soda | 11⁄4 | teaspoonfuls |
| Egg | 1 |
Method.—Mix dry ingredients. Add sour milk, egg well beaten, and melted butter in order given. Beat thoroughly. Drop by spoonfuls on a greased griddle and let cook until the edges are cooked and the cake full of bubbles. Turn with a cake turner or spatula knife and cook on the other side. Serve with butter and sirup or scraped maple sugar.
5. Sweet milk griddlecakes.
Ingredients.
| Flour | 3 | cups |
| Baking powder | 4 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1 | teaspoonful |
| Sugar | 1⁄4 | cup |
| Milk | 2 | cups |
| Egg | 1 | |
| Melted butter | 2 | tablespoonfuls |
Method.—Mix dry ingredients. Beat egg and mix with it the milk. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir altogether until smooth. Add the melted butter and cook the cakes the same as with sour milk griddlecakes.
6. Cookies.—Cookies may be plain, or rich in butter; crisp and thin, or soft and thick. They may be sweetened with sugar, or molasses, and spiced in various ways. It would be an interesting exercise to tabulate all the possible forms of cookies.
Ingredients.
| Butter | 1 | cup |
| Sugar | 11⁄2 | cups |
| Eggs | 2 | |
| Milk | 3 | tablespoonfuls |
| Flour | about 3 cups | |
| Baking powder | 1 | teaspoonful |
| Salt | 11⁄2 | teaspoonfuls |
The flavoring may be two teaspoonfuls of vanilla, or lemon essence, one or two tablespoonfuls of ground spice, or caraway seeds.
For baking, a floured iron sheet or flat pan. Temperature 425° F., or even more. The baking requires from 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cooky.
Fig. 49.—Materials and utensils for fancy cookies. Courtesy of Miss Anna M. Barrows.
The method of mixing is No. 3. Notice that this is a stiff dough. The amount of flour depends somewhat upon the expertness of the cooky maker. The flour used in rolling out must be accounted for, as the expert can manage a softer dough than the novice. Mix the baking powder and salt with one cup of the flour.
Shaping the cookies.—Figure 49 shows you the apparatus. The dough is turned out upon the floured board, gently rolled out to a quarter of an inch, cut and placed in a floured pan; or cut off a small piece, roll in the flour, until it forms a ball, set the ball in the pan, and pat it down to a round. This may seem to take longer, but it is easier, and there is no board to clean afterward.
A plainer cooky is made with 1⁄2 cup butter, and 1⁄2 cup water or milk, with somewhat more flour.
7. Butter cake.—A foundation recipe. Learn to make one cake well, and vary it by changing the forms and flavors.
Ingredients.
| Butter | 1⁄3 | cup |
| Sugar | 1 | cup |
| Eggs | 2 | |
| Milk | 2⁄3 | cup |
| Flour | 13⁄4 | cup |
| Baking powder | 21⁄2 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄4 | teaspoonful |
The flavoring may be 1 teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon essence, or 1⁄2 teaspoonful of almond, or two teaspoonfuls of spices. Raisins, 1⁄2 cup, citron 1⁄4 lb., nuts, 1⁄2 cup. The rind of 1⁄2 orange is delicious with the vanilla flavor. With the vanilla use 4 tablespoonfuls of cocoa, for a chocolate flavor.
To make a plainer cake, omit one egg, use 1⁄4 cup butter, and 3⁄4 cup of milk.
If you use 1⁄2 cup butter, making a richer cake, what other changes should be made?
Bake in deep or shallow pan, jelly cake tins, or small tin cups.
The mixing is Method 3.
As layer cake, it may be used with a variety of fillings and icings,—jelly, cream filling, soft icing with nuts, raisins, or dates.
A chocolate filling.—One half cup milk, 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup of sugar, yolk of one egg, 1 teaspoonful vanilla extract. Break up the chocolate, melt it in a bowl over hot water or in a double boiler, with the sugar and the milk. When the mixture is smooth add the beaten yolk, cook for one or two minutes, add the vanilla, and remove from the fire.
Fig. 50.—A loaf of sponge cake. Courtesy of Dept. of Foods and Cookery, Teachers College.
8. Sponge cake.—The old-time sponge cake is given on page [173]. Sponge cakes should be baked in a very moderate oven, below 380° F., the bread temperature. (See Fig. 50.)
9. Hot water sponge cake.
Ingredients.
| Eggs | 2 | |
| Sugar | 1 | cup |
| Hot water or Milk | 3⁄8 | cup |
| Flour | 1 | cup |
| Baking powder | 11⁄2 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄4 | teaspoonful |
| Lemon or | 1⁄4 | teaspoonful |
| Vanilla extract | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
Method.—Separate eggs and beat yolks and whites thoroughly. Mix and sift the dry ingredients. Add the sugar gradually to beaten yolks alternately with water until well blended. Next add the flavoring and then fold in the stiffly beaten whites together with the dry ingredients until blended. Bake in a buttered shallow pan in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes or until cake shrinks from the side of the pan.
10. Plain gingerbread.
Ingredients.
| Molasses | 1 | cup |
| Boiling water | 1⁄2 | cup |
| Flour | 21⁄2 | cups |
| Soda | 1 | teaspoonful |
| Ginger | 11⁄2 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Butter | 4 | tablespoonfuls |
Method.—Melt butter in boiling water. Mix dry ingredients. Add the molasses to the water and butter and stir this mixture into the dry ingredients, beating vigorously. Pour into a buttered shallow pan and bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven. If the molasses is taken from a freshly opened can, no acid will be present and the soda should be omitted and 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder used instead.
Laboratory management.—Effective work in batters cannot be accomplished with less than 1⁄2 cup liquid, though a smaller portion is sometimes used. It is well to have some group work, so that the pupils may learn to beat larger quantities. If there is a school lunch room, large quantities may be utilized there.
Pastry.—Pastry is a stiff dough with a large proportion of shortening, and is flaky when baked rather than porous. Pastry and pies should not be used as a staple food, but when well made and properly masticated, pies may be eaten occasionally by people in good health. The crust should be flaky, and thoroughly baked.
11. Foundation recipes for pastry.
1. Proportions.
(1) Plain crust.
This crust is more digestible and more economical than the “short” or rich crust and may be used for English deep apple pie, or meat or chicken pies.
| Flour | 2 | cups |
| Baking powder | 2 | teaspoonfuls |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Fat (butter or lard, or half of each) | 1⁄2 | cup (measured solid) |
| Ice water | 1⁄4 | cup |
(2) Short crust.
| Flour | 2 | cups |
| Salt | 1⁄2 | teaspoonful |
| Fat (equal parts butter and lard) | 2⁄3 | cup |
| Ice water | 1⁄2 | cup |
(3) Rich flaky crust.
Same as (2) (more fat is to be added later)
2. Method of mixing for all.
Have all the ingredients and utensils icy cold. Mix the dry ingredients and cut in the fat with two knives. Stir in the ice water until the dough will just hold together. Toss upon a floured board and roll to 1⁄4 inch or less in thickness. Roll this up. If not ready to be used, this pie crust may be covered with moist cheesecloth and put on the ice until wanted. This amount of crust will make two medium-sized pies with two crusts each.
3. Method of shaping.
For plain crust.—Cut off 1⁄2 of the roll of crust. Roll out to about 1⁄8 inch thickness. Have a deep dish ready containing either the apple or meat fillings (see recipes below) and with the edge of dish buttered. Invert a small cup in the center of the dish to hold up the crust if apples are used. Lay the rolled-out crust over the top, having rolled it a little
larger than the dish. Turn under the edges of the crust and crimp them down on the dish. Make several small cuts in the top of the crust to let the steam escape. Bake in a moderate oven until the filling (if apples) is cooked and the crust brown.
For short crust.—Cut off 1⁄4 of the roll of crust and roll very thin, keeping the shape round. Line a buttered pie plate with the crust. Fill this with the desired filling, moisten the edge of bottom crust with water, and cover with another round of crust rolled as before. Crimp down the edges of the top crust and make cuts in the top as before. Bake until the filling is cooked and the crust is brown.
For rich crust.—Roll the crust to 1⁄2 inch thickness. Have ready 1⁄3 cup ice-cold fat. Cut off small bits of this and spread it in dabs over the rolled-out crust. Roll this again and then proceed as for the “short” crust (2).
12. Apple pie filling.
Use juicy, tart apples. Pare, cut in quarters, core, and slice apples into pie dish, filling it heaping full. Add 1⁄4 cup water and 1⁄2 cup sugar. Any flavor desired may be used, lemon rind, or spices. A little butter gives an agreeable flavor.
13. Lemon pie filling.
Ingredients.
| 1 heaping tablespoonful cornstarch mixed with a little cold water | 1 egg whole, or yolks of 2 eggs |
| Large cup hot water | Juice and rind of 1 lemon |
| Piece butter the size of walnut | A very little salt |
| 1 cup sugar | Whites of 2 eggs |
| Powdered sugar, 1 tablespoonful |
Method.
Mix the starch with the cold water, add the boiling water and cook until it thickens, and add the butter and sugar. Beat the egg (or yolks) and add the other ingredients. Add the lemon last. When the pie is done, if two yolks were used, beat the whites with a tablespoonful of powdered sugar, place on the top, and brown in a moderate oven.
14. Meat or chicken pie.
Use left-over, cooked meat. Cut the meat into dice or small bits and fill the dish. Sprinkle with salt and moisten with gravy, if possible. If not, add 1 cup hot water and dredge lightly with flour. Have top crust only.
How would the time for cooking this pie compare with that for deep apple pie?