Cream the butter; add the sugar, and beat for ten minutes; add the milk, and then add alternately the whipped eggs and the flour, the baking-powder having been sifted with the flour; add the lemon-juice last, and mix all lightly. Bake in layer tins; spread the layers with orange filling and frost the top with royal icing flavored with orange-juice and a little lemon.
ORANGE FILLING
Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth. Boil one and one quarter cupfuls of sugar with one half cupful of water to the small ball (see page [512]). Pour the boiling sugar in a very fine stream onto the whipped whites, beating hard all the time. Add the grated rind and juice of one orange and continue to beat until it is cold and the sugar is stiffened enough to place between the cakes without running.
PISTACHIO CAKE
Make three layers of cake after the receipt given for orange cake. Make a cream filling as directed for layer cakes. Flavor it with orange-flower water and a little bitter almond, to give the flavor of pistachio (see page [391]), and color it a delicate green. Frost the top with a soft royal icing (page [484]) made of confectioners’ sugar; color it a delicate light green and sprinkle the top with chopped pistachio nuts. This cake is rather soft and creamy, and should not be cut before going on the table.
PLAIN CUP CAKE
- ½ cupful of butter.
- 1½ cupfuls of sugar.
- 1 cupful of water or milk.
- 3 cupfuls of flour.
- 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder.
- 4 eggs.
- Juice and rind of 1 lemon.
Beat the butter and sugar to a cream; add the beaten yolks; then add slowly the water and three quarters of the flour. Beat it a long time until very smooth and light; then add the lemon and the rest of the flour in which the baking-powder is mixed; beat well together, and lastly add the whipped whites of the eggs. Bake in gem-pans, putting a tablespoonful of the mixture into each pan. Raisins may be added to this cake, or two ounces of melted chocolate may be used instead of the lemon-juice, making it chocolate cake; or it may be made into spice cakes by using two tablespoonfuls of molasses with enough water to give one cupful of liquid; add also one half teaspoonful each of ground cloves, cinnamon, and allspice, and a few currants if desired; use one teaspoonful of soda instead of the baking-powder if molasses is used. Bake in a moderate oven about one half hour, and see that the cakes rise evenly and are of the same size. Turn them out of the pans bottom side up, and frost the bottom and sides with royal icing while they are still warm. For chocolate or spice cakes, use chocolate icing.
