INDIAN BREAKFAST CAKES.
Upon one quart of corn meal, pour one quart of boiling milk, with a small piece of butter, a spoonful of salt, a spoonful of cream of tartar, and a half one of soda sifted with the meal; when well mixed drop them into a pan, and bake in an oven: these cakes must be rough on top.
POTATO CAKES.
Boil ten mealy potatoes, put to them a piece of butter the size of an egg, some salt and flour, enough to roll them out; bake them in cakes, on the griddle: send hot to table.
TO MAKE PUFF PASTE.
Take one pound and a half of flour; sift half of it into a tin pan. The remainder keep for rolling out the paste; take a pound of butter which has been washed and well worked the night before, and kept in a cold place. Cut up half of it with two knives into the flour, then mix it with a tumbler of ice water. Then roll it out very thin, and spread on it in small thin pieces a quarter of a pound of butter, and sift flour over it. Cut it in strips, about four inches wide, and six long; lay one upon another till they are all on; then roll again, and put the remaining quarter of butter on as before; roll and cut it in strips, and those strips in squares, and lay one upon another. When you make the pie do not take one of the strips, but cut it down, so as to have as many layers as possible in each pie. Always use the knives: never touch the paste with the hand.
ANOTHER VERY SUPERIOR PUFF PASTE.
One pound and a quarter of flour, and one of butter. The butter should be divided into four parts, and the salt well washed out of it in three different waters, the night before, and set in a cold place to become hard, the harder the better. Weigh a pound and a quarter of flour; sift half a pound of the flour into a tin pan, (such a pan as should be always kept for making pastry,) keep the rest of the flour in the sieve. Cut up in the pan with the half pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of butter with two knives. (The hands should never touch the pastry.) Then pour slowly into the pan half a pint of ice water; mixing it with the knives. Sift some of the flour on your board, and roll it out very thin, with a floured rolling pin; sufficient flour must be used to prevent it sticking to the board; put over the paste in small pieces as regularly as possible, one quarter of butter; then sift flour over and cut it in strips about three inches wide; then cut across as many times, placing one piece upon another till it makes quite a high mound. Flour it and roll it out again as thin as possible. Then put on in very small pieces the third quarter of butter, and proceed as above, with the last quarter; roll out very thin, cutting it as before. The flour is now all rolled in except half of a pound, reserved for rolling out the paste when making up. It should be made in a cold place, and near an open window. When you make up your pies cut a piece from top to bottom of the pile, and roll out thin. The fire should be under pastry to make it puff up. There is nothing better for baking pastry than a ten plate stove.
VERY SUPERIOR MINCE PIES.
Take a fresh tongue and some of the neck, four pounds in all; two pounds of suet, four pounds of raisins, two of currants, two of citron, six pounds of sugar, one quart of brandy, one of Madeira wine, and half a peck of apples. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and very little salt.