Miss Parloa's New Cook Book

by Maria Parloa

Kneaded Plum Cake.

Two and a half cupfuls of sugar, half a cupful of butter, half a cupful of sour milk, two spoonfuls of cream, a teaspoonful of saleratus, half a spoonful of cinnamon and of nutmeg, a cupful of chopped raisins, and flour enough to knead (about six cupfuls). Roll an inch thick, and cut in oblong pieces. Bake on sheets in a quick oven.

Eclairs.

Put one cupful of boiling water and half a cupful of butter in a large sauce-pan, and when it boils up, turn in one pint of flour. Beat well with the vegetable masher. When perfectly smooth, and velvety to the touch, remove from the fire. Break five eggs into a bowl. When the paste is nearly cold, beat the eggs into it with the hand. Only a small part of the eggs should be added at a time. When the mixture is thoroughly beaten (it will take about twenty minutes), spread on buttered sheets in oblong pieces about four inches long and one and a half wide. These must be about two inches apart. Bake in a rather quick oven for about twenty-five minutes. As soon as they are done, ice with either chocolate or vanilla frosting. When the icing is cold, cut the éclairs on one side and fill them.

Chocolate Éclairs.

Put one cupful and a half of milk in the double boiler. Beat together two-thirds of a cupful of sugar, one-fourth of a cupful of flour, two eggs, and one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt. Stir the mixture into the boiling milk. Cook fifteen minutes, stirring often. When cold, flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Put two squares of scraped chocolate with five table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar and three of boiling water. Stir over the fire until smooth and glossy. Dip the tops of the éclairs in this as they come from the oven. When the chocolate icing is dry, cut open, and fill with the cream, which should be cold. If a chocolate flavor is liked with the cream, one table-spoonful of the dissolved chocolate may be added to it.

Vanilla Éclairs.

Make an icing with the whites of two eggs and a cupful and a half of powdered sugar. Flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla extract. Frost the éclairs; and when dry, open, and fill with a cream, the same as chocolate éclairs. They may be filled with cream sweetened, flavored with vanilla and whipped to a stiff froth. Strawberry and raspberry preserves are sometimes used to fill éclairs. They are then named after the fruit with which they are filled.

Frosting.

The white of one egg, one tea-cupful of powdered sugar, one table-spoonful of lemon juice. Put the white of the egg in a bowl and add the sugar by degrees, beating with a spoon. When all has been added, stir in the lemon juice. If the white of the egg is large it will require a very full cup of sugar, and if small, a rather scant cupful. The egg must not be beaten until the sugar is added. This gives a smooth, tender frosting, which will cover one small sheet of cake. The same amount of material, prepared with the whites of the eggs unbeaten, will make one-third less frosting than it will if the eggs are beaten to a stiff froth before adding the sugar; but the icing will be enough smoother and softer to pay for the extra quantity. It may be flavored with half a teaspoonful of vanilla.