ICINGS
No. 1. Using confectioners’ sugar. This is XXXX sugar, and is exceedingly fine.
Mix confectioners’ sugar with enough water to make it spread evenly. A little flavoring of any kind may be put in the water, but is not necessary. This makes a soft, clear icing, which is very nice and is the easiest of all icings to prepare and handle.
For orange icing. Use strained orange juice instead of water, or soak the grated peel in hot water for a little while, and then strain it through a cloth and use the water.
For yellow icing. Dilute the yolk of an egg with a little water, and flavor with mandarin orange extract.
For pistache icing. Color the water with green coloring paste, and flavor it with one teaspoonful of orange-flower water and one quarter teaspoonful of bitter-almond extract.
For pink icing. Use strawberry juice, or color water with a little cochineal.
For wine-cakes. Use sherry instead of water.
No. 2. Hard, white icing. Take the unbeaten white of an egg, dilute it with a very little water and flavor it. Stir in powdered sugar until it is of the consistency to spread.
This makes a hard, white icing.
No. 3. Boiled icing. Put a cupful of granulated sugar and a half cupful of hot water into a saucepan and stir until the sugar is dissolved, then let it boil without stirring until it threads or, if dropped into water, it can be taken up and rolled between the fingers into a soft ball. Remove it from the fire and stir until it slightly clouds, then immediately pour it over the cake.
This makes a clear icing, and is a good covering for cakes which are to be decorated, as it gives, with the decorating icing, two colors.
No. 4. Boiled icing, No. 2. Cook, without stirring, after the sugar is dissolved, one cupful of granulated sugar and one quarter cupful of hot water until it threads, then pour it slowly over the whipped white of one egg. Beat the mixture all the time, and until it is cool enough to spread.
No. 5. Maple icing. Boil to the thread or soft-ball stage a cupful of maple sugar with a quarter of a cupful of hot water to dissolve it, or use maple syrup. Pour it slowly over the whipped white of one egg as in No. 4.
No. 6. Caramel icing. Boil a cupful of granulated sugar, a half cupful of milk, and a teaspoonful of butter to the thread or soft-ball stage. Flavor with a few drops of vanilla and stir until it begins to grain.
No. 7. Crystal icing. Spread any icing over a cake, and while it is still moist sprinkle over it the coarse grains of granulated sugar obtained by sifting.
No. 8. Powdered sugar. Moisten with a brush the surface of a cake with the white of an egg diluted with a tablespoonful of water and stirred just enough to break the stringiness; then dust it thickly with powdered sugar, using a sifter. After the egg has dried, shake off the sugar that does not adhere.
No. 9. Whipped cream. Flavor a half pint of cream with a few drops of vanilla and whip it until it is stiff and dry. Just before serving the cake ornament it with the whipped cream pressed through a pastry-bag and star-tube.
This cream is used with strawberry cake and with molasses gingerbread.
No. 10. Whipped cream with maple flavor. Heat two tablespoonfuls of maple syrup and dissolve in it one teaspoonful of granulated gelatine which has been soaked in a tablespoonful of cold water. Let the syrup cool so it will not heat the cream, but before it sets stir it into a half pint of cream. Whip the cream to a stiff froth and press it through a pastry-bag and tube on to the cake in an ornamental pattern.
No. 11. Butter. Whip a half pound of butter until it is smooth and light, sweeten it with thick sugar syrup flavored, and add a level tablespoonful of cornstarch. Press it through a pastry-bag and tube on to the cake in ornamental designs.
No. 12. Mocha cream. Whip half a pound of butter, using a fork, until it is smooth and light. Flavor it with syrup made of a half cupful of sugar and a quarter cupful of strong coffee. Add a level tablespoonful of cornstarch to give the butter more stability. Press it through a pastry-bag and tube.
No. 13. Chocolate icing, No. 1. Dissolve one and a half ounces of unsweetened chocolate in one third cupful of cream or milk, and add half a teaspoonful of butter. When this mixture is a little cool add the beaten yolk of one egg, one half teaspoonful of vanilla, and enough confectioners’ sugar to make it spread.
No. 14. Chocolate icing, No. 2. Melt two ounces of unsweetened chocolate on a hot pan, remove it from the fire, and add half a cupful of sugar, one teaspoonful of butter, and lastly a quarter cupful of milk. Replace it on the fire and cook until a little dropped into water will form a soft ball. Pour it over the cake.
No. 15. Tutti frutti icing. Cook a cupful of sugar and a quarter cupful of water to the thread or soft-ball stage. Turn it slowly on to the whipped white of one egg. Beat them together and add a tablespoonful each of chopped blanched almonds, citron cut in small pieces, seeded raisins, candied cherries cut into pieces, and angelica cut into bits. Spread it roughly over the cake. Any combination of fruits may be used instead of those given above. As this is a rich icing, it should be used on a plain cake, such as cup- or sponge-cake.
No. 16. Decorating icing. Whip the whites of two eggs to a very stiff froth, then add slowly powdered sugar until the mixture is so stiff that every point and thread left by the beater will hold its place. It requires beating a long time. It is the same as meringue mixture, except that it is made hard with sugar instead of by drying, and takes about a half cupful of sugar to each egg.
Note.—Sprinkle a cake that is going to be frosted with flour as soon as it is taken from the pan. Before icing, wipe off the flour. This prevents the icing from running so much, and makes it easier to spread.
Note.—Smooth icings with the broad side of a wet knife. Wipe the blade clean, and dip it in water each time it is drawn over the icing. In this way very rough surfaces can be smoothed.
Note.—Icing left over will keep any length of time, if excluded from the air and not allowed to dry. Put it in a cup, cover the cup with a wet cloth, double several times, and cover the cloth with a saucer.
Note.—For other icings and directions, see “Century Cook Book,” page 483.
Chapter XIV
BREADS
BREADS
Stirred Bread
Water Bread
Whole Wheat Bread
Unleavened Bread-chips
Scotch Oat-cakes
Pulled Bread
Lace Toast or Zwieback
Swiss Rolls
Luncheon or Dinner Rolls, Braids, Twists
Striped Bread and Butter
Checkered Bread and Butter
Sandwiches, Bread and Butter
Sandwiches, Rolled or Motto
Sandwiches, Lettuce
Sandwiches: Cucumber, Egg, Cheese, Watercress, Pâté de Foie Gras, Chicken, Fish or Meat, Nasturtium Flowers, Olives, Nuts, Jam or Jellies
Sandwiches, Toasted Cheese
Brioche
Corn-muffins
Cheese-crackers
NO. 187. STIRRED BREAD.