Cream Biscuit.
These are to be made in the same manner as the butter-milk biscuit, except that no butter is required; the cream will make them sufficiently short.
Stir into one quart of flour, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, and a little salt. Add two table-spoonfuls of thick cream, or rub in one spoonful of lard or butter. Put in a teaspoonful of soda or saleratus, dissolved in a very little hot water. Mix the whole rather soft with milk. Bake like the tea biscuit.
It is a convenient way to make the mixture soft enough with milk to enable you to stir it well with a spoon, and then drop it into the baking pan. It should spread a little, but not run. To vary these drop-cakes add an egg, and two spoonfuls of sugar. For a family of three or four, make half the measure.
Cream of Tartar Biscuit without Milk.
Rub a piece of butter the size of an egg into a quart of flour till there are no little lumps. Then add a teaspoonful of salt, and scatter in two heaping teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Have ready a pint of cold water, in which a heaping teaspoonful of saleratus or soda has been dissolved; pour it into the flour, stirring it quickly with your hand. Do this several minutes that the ingredients may become well mixed; then add flour enough to enable you to mould it smooth. Roll it out the same thickness as tea biscuit. If these are made right, they are as light as foam. They may be made of unbolted flour, if preferred. Make half the measure for a small family.
Litchfield Crackers.
To one pint of cold milk, put a piece of butter the size of an egg, a small teaspoonful of salt, and one egg. Rub the butter into a quart of flour, then add the egg and milk. Knead in more flour until it is as stiff as it can possibly be made, and pound it with an iron pestle, or the broad end of a flat-iron, for at least one hour; then roll it very thin, cut it into rounds, prick, and bake in a quick oven, twelve or fifteen minutes.