Soak the almonds in boiling-hot water till the skin will rub off easily; wipe them dry, removing the skins, and pound to a paste with the rose-water. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, stir the sugar in gradually, and then add the almonds. When the almonds are well mixed in, drop the mixture by spoonfuls upon buttered baking plates or letter-paper, several inches apart, sift sugar on them, and bake to a light brown in a slow oven; it will take fifteen to twenty minutes.
If desired, substitute an ounce or more of bitter almonds for the sweet.
Macaroons.
Cocoanut.
Rasp a fresh cocoanut, spread it on a dish or tin, and let it dry gradually for two days; add to it double its weight of fine sifted sugar, and the whites of eight eggs (beaten to a stiff froth), to the pound. Roll the mixture into small balls, place them on a buttered tin, and bake in a very slow oven twenty minutes. Move them from the tin while they are warm, and store in a perfectly dry canister as soon as cold.
Macaroons.
Filbert.
Heat a quarter of a pound of filbert meats till the skin will rub off; when cold, pound to a paste with a little white of egg; add a quarter of a pound of sifted white sugar and the white of one egg; mix well, and bake on buttered tins.
Mountain Cake.
Mix together three quarters of a pound of sugar, half a pound of butter, one pound of flour, the yolks of six eggs, and whites of four beaten to a froth, one teacupful of milk, one teaspoonful of soda, and two of cream-tartar; flavor with vanilla. For a jelly to put over the top, beat together the whites of eggs left over, one pound of sugar, and a cupful of currant jelly.
Nut Cake.
Take: Sugar, 1½ cupfuls; butter, ½ cupful; eggs, 3; milk, ½ cupful; flour, 2½ cupfuls; cream-tartar, 1 teaspoonful; soda, ½ teaspoonful; hickory-nut meats (or any other kind), 1 cupful.