SMALL CAKES
What the old-fashioned people call “dough cakes”—what we term “cookies” or “jumbles”—are amongst the most popular small cakes that the housemother can present to her brood. The only trouble is that they are sometimes too popular, as they melt away before John’s and the boys’ onslaughts like snow under spring sunshine. Still the mother makes them gladly. It is always a great convenience to have a stone crock full of cookies in the house. They are nice for luncheon, for afternoon tea, and to eat with a glass of milk before going to bed. They must be kept in a dry atmosphere, as they are doubly delicious when crisp and friable.
Almond macaroons
Beat the whites of three eggs stiff and whip into them half a cupful of powdered sugar, a quarter-pound of almond paste, crumbled fine, half a teaspoonful of corn-starch, and five drops of essence of bitter almonds. Drop by the spoonful on buttered paper and bake in a hot oven. If you can not get almond paste, pound blanched almonds fine.
Cocoanut macaroons
Into two cups of grated cocoanut stir a cupful and a half of powdered sugar and a gill of cream, or just enough to wet the cocoanut. Add the beaten whites of two eggs, and mix all thoroughly. Line a baking pan with buttered paper, drop the cocoanut mixture by the teaspoonful upon this and bake quickly in a hot oven. Sift powdered sugar over the macaroons while they are still warm.
Auntie’s cookies
One cupful of butter; two cupfuls of sugar; three eggs; one-half teaspoonful of baking-powder; one even teaspoonful of nutmeg and half as much cloves; flour for a soft dough. Begin with two cupfuls, adding cautiously until you have the right consistency.
Rub butter and sugar to a soft cream; add the yolks of the eggs, beaten light, then the spice, one cupful of flour with which the baking-powder has been sifted twice, and half the whites beaten stiff. Next another cupful of flour and the rest of the whites. Roll into a sheet of dough about a quarter-inch thick, cut into rounds and bake in a good oven. If you like, you may stick a seeded raisin or a bit of citron in the top of each cooky before baking.
Currant cookies
One cupful of sugar; two scant cupfuls of flour; four tablespoonfuls of butter; two eggs; one scant teaspoonful of baking-powder; one cupful of cleaned currants, chopped fine; nutmeg and cinnamon to taste.
Rub butter and sugar to a cream; add spices and the eggs beaten light, then the flour with which the baking-powder has been sifted twice; lastly, the chopped currants. Roll out with quick, light strokes, cut into shapes and bake in a tolerably brisk oven. They are better the second day after baking than on the first.
Oatmeal cookies
Mix together four cupfuls of flour (into which you have sifted a teaspoonful of soda) and three cupfuls of oatmeal; add two cupfuls of powdered sugar, a cupful of melted butter, and a teaspoonful of salt. Moisten the mass with enough cold water to make a very stiff dough. Roll as thin as possible, cut into round cakes and bake. This will make a very large number of cookies, but they will keep well for weeks.
German almond cookies
The yolks of six eggs; one and a half cupfuls of sugar; three-quarters of a cupful of butter; one cupful of almonds, chopped; one tablespoonful of cinnamon; three cupfuls of flour. Beat well, drop small spoonfuls on a well-greased pan and bake lightly.
Sponge cookies
Beat the yolks of two eggs light with one cupful of sugar. When smooth, add the whites beaten to a standing froth, the juice of half a lemon, and, with quick, light strokes, a cupful of flour sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder and a little salt. Now, work in more flour until you have a “rollable” dough. Cut into shapes, and bake quickly in a floured shallow pan.
Lemon cookies
Cream two cupfuls of granulated sugar and one cupful of butter. Add three beaten eggs and flavor with lemon juice. Sift into the mixture enough flour to make the dough stiff enough to handle, roll thin, cut out and bake.
Spice cookies
Cream one cupful of butter with two of sugar, and add three eggs. Mix together a teaspoonful each of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg, and stir these into the batter. Add enough flour to make a good dough, roll out and bake.
Caraway cookies
Rub one-half cupful of butter to a cream with one cupful of powdered sugar, and when light beat in the yolks of three eggs. Beat the whites stiff and add them alternately with two cupfuls of flour. Stir in one teaspoonful of caraway seed and enough more flour to enable you to roll it very thin. Cut into rounds and bake quickly.
Fanny’s cookies
Into two cupfuls of granulated sugar rub one cupful of butter, then stir in three eggs, well beaten, and flour enough to make a stiff dough. Roll out on a floured board, cut, sprinkle with granulated sugar, stick a raisin in the center of each and bake.
Sand cookies
Cream a cupful of butter with two cupfuls of granulated sugar, add two eggs beaten light, yolks and whites separately, then half a teaspoonful of ground mace or of nutmeg. Have ready three cupfuls of flour sifted twice with one teaspoonful of baking-powder, and work into the mixture until you can roll out the dough.
Cut round with a tin cutter; wash the tops lightly with white of egg; press half of a split blanched almond into the center of each, and sprinkle well with coarse granulated sugar.
This is the “sand.”
Bake quickly.
Peanut cookies
One cupful of butter; one and one-half cupfuls of powdered sugar; three eggs; one cupful of freshly roasted peanuts, pounded, rolled to a coarse powder, and mixed with about three cupfuls of flour.
Cream the butter and sugar, add the beaten eggs, then the flour and crushed peanuts. The dough should be just stiff enough to handle easily. Drop the dough by the spoonful upon a floured board, pat it into round cakes with the fingers, grate a little nutmeg over the top of each cake and bake. A novelty, and one that is likely to be popular.
Alma’s drop cakes
Beat five eggs light—yolks and whites separately. Into the yolks stir a cupful of powdered sugar, the juice of a lemon and half the grated peel—then the stiffened whites of the eggs. Sift together a heaping cupful of flour and a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and beat this into the other ingredients. Line a hot buttered pan with thick writing paper, well buttered; drop the batter by the spoonful upon the paper, and bake at once in a quick oven. Sift powdered sugar over them while hot.
Vanilla cookies
Cream one cupful of butter with two of sugar, and stir in a cupful of sour cream, two beaten eggs and three cupfuls of flour sifted twice with a teaspoonful of soda. Flavor with vanilla extract. If your dough is not stiff enough to handle, add more sifted flour until it is of the right consistency. Roll into a sheet about a quarter of an inch thick, cut into rounds and bake.
Cocoanut cream puffs
These cakes, while requiring care in their preparation, amply repay one for the time spent in their making.
Into a cupful of hot water stir a half-cupful of butter and bring to a boil. Then add a cupful and a half of flour, and cook (stirring constantly) for two minutes; take from the fire and pour into a bowl to cool. When the mixture is cold beat into it the whipped yolks of four eggs; lastly, the stiffened whites. Line a baking pan with buttered paper; drop the batter by the large spoonful upon it, and bake in a quick oven. The puffs should be done in fifteen minutes. When they are cold cut off the tops, fill with the following mixture and replace the tops.
Filling
Into two cupfuls of thick whipped cream beat a cupful of grated cocoanut, half a cupful of powdered sugar and a teaspoonful of extract of bitter almonds. Whip up hard before putting into the puff shells.
Molasses cookies
Warm a cupful of molasses slightly and beat to a cream with half a cupful of softened butter. Add the juice of half a lemon, one tablespoonful of ginger and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon.
Now stir in two cupfuls of flour sifted three times with an even teaspoonful of baking-soda, until you have a soft dough. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake in a good oven.
Ginger jumbles
Into two cupfuls of molasses stir a cupful of melted butter, a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon, a tablespoonful of pulverized ginger, and a half a teaspoonful of baking-soda. Beat well, add enough flour to make a soft dough, form with floured hands into small cakes and bake.
Gingersnaps (No. 1)
One cupful of sugar, one cupful of butter, one tablespoonful of ginger, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little water, as much flour as can be stirred in with a spoon—not kneaded. Pinch off a bit of the dough the size of a large marble, roll in the hands until round, pat it flat and place in a pan, leaving between each cake space for spreading; bake in a good oven to a moderate brown. Leave in the pan until sufficiently cool to be “snappy.”
Gingersnaps (No. 2)
Cream a cupful of butter with one of sugar, beat in a cupful of molasses, stir in a cupful of water, a teaspoonful each of ground ginger and cinnamon, a teaspoonful of allspice and a scant one of soda sifted with a pint and a half of flour. Add enough flour to make a dough that can be rolled out, roll thin, cut into rounds, and bake.
Pfeffernüsse
(A German recipe.)
One pound of fine flour, sifted; one teaspoonful of baking-powder; one pound of sugar, sifted; four large eggs; three ounces of citron; the grated rind of one lemon; one grated nutmeg; one teaspoonful of cinnamon; one scant teaspoonful of ground cloves. Mix the baking-powder and spices and sift with the flour, then work in the beaten eggs and sugar; form into small balls and bake in a slow oven. Place in a pan sufficiently far apart to allow them to swell to the size of macaroons when baked.
White peppernuts
Cream one and a half cupfuls of granulated sugar and a half-cupful of butter together, add three eggs, beaten light, a half cupful of milk, two teaspoonfuls of vanilla extract, and flour sifted with two even teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add this flour until stiff enough to roll out; roll a half inch thick, cut out with a thimble and bake in a hot oven. Care should be taken to put them so far apart that they will not run together in the baking.
Brown peppernuts
Three eggs; one cupful of brown sugar; a half-cupful of butter; one cupful of molasses; a half-cupful of sour or buttermilk; a teaspoonful of baking-soda; a scant teaspoonful of cinnamon and ginger, and flour enough to handle. Mix, roll out and bake as you would white peppernuts.
Peppernuts (No. 4)
Mix together half a pound of powdered sugar, the yolks of two eggs, one whole egg and a quarter-teaspoonful of potash procured from a druggist. Stir this well for fifteen minutes; add a quarter-ounce of ground cinnamon, a quarter-teaspoonful each of ground pepper and cloves, and the grated rind of a lemon. When all is well mixed, put with it half a pound of pastry flour. Knead well on a floured board, roll out about half an inch thick and cut into small rounds with a biscuit cutter. Bake in a greased tin in a very moderate oven.
Peppernuts (No. 5)
Sift together two cupfuls of sugar, four cupfuls of flour, one tablespoonful of cinnamon, half a tablespoonful of cloves, and one and a half teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Add to this half a cupful of citron, chopped fine; the grated rind of a lemon and a quarter of a nutmeg. Make to a dough with four eggs beaten enough to mix yolks and whites. Shape into balls the size of a hickory-nut, with buttered hands, and bake in pans lined with greased paper. When done, cover with an icing.
Icing for peppernuts
Into two tablespoonfuls of boiling water stir enough confectioner’s sugar to make it thick. Flavor with lemon juice and a little of the grated rind. The icing should be of the right consistency to be applied with a pastry brush. Let the cakes stand in a cool, dry place until the icing has hardened.
Vanities (No. 1)
Beat two eggs; stir in a pinch of salt and a half-teaspoonful of rose water; add sifted flour until just stiff enough to roll out. Cut with a cake-cutter and fry quickly in hot cottolene or other fat. Sift powdered sugar on them while hot, and when cool put a teaspoonful of jelly in the center of each.
Vanities (No. 2)
Boil a cupful of milk and thicken it in the saucepan with flour to a stiff dough. Let it become cool, then break in three eggs, one at a time, and beat thoroughly. Add a tablespoonful of melted butter. Drop it by small teaspoonfuls into hot cottolene or some good fat, fry to a delicate brown; drain and roll in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.
Anise cakes
Cream a half-pound of butter with a half-pound of sugar, add three well-beaten eggs and enough flour to make a stiff dough, adding to the flour an ounce of anise seed. Roll into a thin sheet, cut into shapes with a cutter and bake.
Hermits
Cream together a cupful of butter and two of sugar. Beat in the whipped yolks of three eggs, add a half-cupful of milk and then the beaten whites. Work in two cupfuls of flour, sifted twice with a teaspoonful of baking-powder, and if this does not make a dough that could be rolled out, add more flour cautiously, not to have the cakes too stiff. Roll into a very thin sheet, strew thickly with the kernels of hickory-nuts, pecans or English walnuts, chopped fine and sprinkled with sugar. Fold the dough once over the nuts, passing the rolling-pin lightly over the upper sheet, and cut into rounds with a cake cutter. Bake in a quick oven, covered, for fifteen minutes; uncover and brown.
Plain cookies
(Contributed)
Cream together one cupful of butter and two cupfuls of sugar. Add one egg, well beaten, one cupful of milk, three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder and flour enough to make a soft dough. Roll thin, cut in small cakes and bake in a moderate oven.
Eggless cookies
(Contributed)
Cream one cupful of butter and add one cupful of sweet milk, one teaspoonful of vanilla, and one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little warm water. Use flour enough to make a soft dough. Cakes made by this recipe will keep fresh for a long time.