243. To make QUEEN CAKES.
Take a pound of London flour dry'd well before the fire, nine eggs, a pound of loaf sugar beaten and sifted, put one half to your eggs and the other to your butter; take a pound of butter and melt it without water put it into a stone bowl, when it is almost cold put in your sugar and a spoonful or two of rose water, beat it very quick, for half an hour, till it be as white as cream; beat the eggs and sugar as long and very quick, whilst they be white; when they are well beat mix them all together; then take half a pound of currans cleaned well, and a little shred of mace, so you may fill one part of your tins before you put in your currans; you may put a quarter of a pound of almonds shred (if you please) into them that is without currans; you may ice them if you please, but do not let the iceing be thicker than you may lie on with a little brush.
244. To make a BISKET CAKE.
Take a pound of London flour dry'd before the fire, a pound of loaf sugar beaten and sifted, beat nine eggs and a spoonful or two of rose water with the sugar for two hours, then put them to your flour and mix them well together; put in an ounce of carraway seeds, then put it into your tin and bake it an hour and a half in a pretty quick oven.
245. To make CRACKNELS.
Take half a pound of fine flour, half a pound of sugar, two ounces of butter, two eggs, and a few carraway seeds; (you must beat and sift the sugar) then put it to your flour and work it to paste; roll them as thin as you can, and cut them out with queen cake tins, lie them on papers and bake them in a slow oven.
They are proper to eat with chocolate.
246. To make PORTUGAL CAKES.
Take a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of currans well cleaned, and a nutmeg grated; take half of the flour and mix it with sugar and nutmeg, melt the butter and put it into the yolks of eight eggs very well beat, and only four of the whites, and as the froth rises put it into the flour, and do so till all is in; then beat it together, still strowing some of the other half of the flour, and then beat it till all the flour be in, then butter the pans and fill them, but do not bake them too much; you may ice them if you please, or you may strow carraway comfits of all sorts on them when they go into the oven. The currans must be plump'd in warm water, and dried before the fire, then put them into your cakes.
247. To make PLUMB-CAKES another way.