Sour Cream Cake.—Beat together one cup of powdered sugar and one cup of sour cream, add two eggs beaten light, one and one-half cups of flour sifted twice with an even teaspoon of soda twice, one teaspoon of vanilla and one cup of seeded and cut raisins rolled lightly in flour. Beat to make the batter creamy and bake at once in a rather shallow pan sealed in a paper bag.
CHAPTER XX.
FRUITS.
Baked Apples.—Wash, but do not peel; cut out specks and bruises, core, fill the bottom of the core-space with a bit of butter, over which pile sugar and add a dusting of cinnamon. A clove stuck in the side may take the place of the cinnamon. Seal inside a well-greased bag and bake eighteen to twenty minutes in a fairly hot oven. Serve hot with sugar and cream or a hard sauce.
Baked Apple Dumplings.—Make a regular shortcake crust, using one pint of flour, two teaspoonfuls baking powder and a saltspoonful of salt, sifted together three times, one-quarter cup butter rubbed in with the tips of the fingers, and one egg beaten and mixed with three-quarters cup milk. Roll out and cut in five-inch squares. Have ready three large apples, peeled, cored and halved and lay each piece on a square of the paste. Fold the pastry over each apple like a blanket, lapping the four corners at the top and pressing them down firmly. Turn the dumplings upside down in a well-buttered bag, dot with bits of butter and sprinkle with sugar. Set the bag in a quick oven and bake to a russet brown. This will take about half an hour. Serve with any sweet sauce, or rich, sweet cream.
Cold Baked Apples With Rum.—Peel, core and bake the apples in a buttered bag, with a teaspoonful of sugar to each apple. Put in the serving dish, and while still very hot pour over each a dessertspoonful of rum. Let cool and serve with cake or crisped water biscuit.
Cinnamon Apples.—Peel, core and quarter six good cooking apples, preferably greenings. Melt a tablespoonful of butter in a warm bowl and stir the apples in it until coated with the butter. Mix a teaspoonful of ground cinnamon with a half cup of granulated sugar, and stir into the apples. Have a paper bag thoroughly buttered and put the apples in it. Rinse out the bowl with a cup of hot water, add it to the apples, seal carefully, place on a broiler which rests on a pie plate and bake in a hot oven fifteen minutes. Half a pint of whipped cream over the apples when served is an addition, but they are delicious, cooked in this way, without it.
Apples Stuffed With Figs.—Steam tender as many figs as you desire, chop into dice and roll each piece in powdered sugar seasoned with cinnamon. Core large, tart apples and fill the cavities with the figs. Bag and bake in a hot oven, adding a little hot water. When tender, remove carefully to the serving dish and pour over them a syrup made by boiling a half cup of sugar with an equal quantity of water. Flavor to taste and pour over the apples. Serve cold with whipped or plain cream.