Cut up the butter in the milk, and warm it till the butter is quite soft; then stir it together, and set it away to cool. It must not be made too warm. After you have beaten the eggs, mix them with the butter and milk, and stir the whole into the pan of flour. Add the spice and liquor, and stir in the sugar gradually. Having poured off the thin part from the top, stir the yeast, and pour it into the mixture. Then sprinkle in the remainder of the flour.
Have ready the fruit, which must be well floured, stir it gradually into the mixture. Butter a large tin pan, and put the cake into it. Cover it, and set in a warm place for five or six hours to rise. When quite light, bake it in a moderate oven.
SUGAR BISCUITS.
Three pounds of flour, sifted.
One pound of butter.
A pound and a half of powdered sugar.
Half a pint of milk.
Two table-spoonfuls of brandy.
A small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash dissolved in water.
Four table-spoonfuls of carraway seeds.
Cut the butter into the flour. Add the sugar and carraway seeds. Pour in the brandy, and then the milk. Lastly, put in the pearl-ash. Stir all well with a knife, and mix it thoroughly, till it becomes a lump of dough.
Flour your paste-board, and lay the dough on it. Knead it very well. Divide it into eight or ten pieces, and knead each piece separately. Then put them all together, and knead them very well in one lump.
Cut the dough in half, and roll it out into sheets, about half an inch thick. Beat the sheets of dough very hard, on both sides, with the rolling-pin. Cut them out into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler. Butter iron pans, and lay the cakes in them. Bake them a very pale brown. If done too much, they will lose their taste.
These cakes kept in a stone jar, closely covered from the air, will continue perfectly good for several months.
MILK BISCUITS.
Two pounds of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Two eggs.
Six wine-glasses of milk.
Two wine-glasses of the best brewer's yeast, or three
of good home-made yeast.