These are made like the sour milk cakes, only that the milk is chiefly thickened with Indian meal. A spoonful or two of flour should be added, and it is well to use two eggs instead of one, but not necessary.
Note.—In all these various kinds of cakes in which sour milk is used, it is an improvement to substitute buttermilk. But that which is sold in cities as buttermilk, is often adulterated.
Rice.
Put a teacupful of rice into two teacupsful of water, and boil it till the water is nearly absorbed, and then add a pint and a half of milk. Boil it slowly until the rice is very soft. When cool, add a small gill of yeast, three eggs, a little salt, and flour enough to make a batter of suitable thickness to bake on a griddle. Let it rise very light. To bake in muffin rings, make it a little thicker.
Ground Rice.
Boil a quart of milk. Rub smooth a teacupful of ground rice, in a gill or two of cold milk, and stir it into the boiling milk. Add salt, and when cool, add a teacup of yeast, four eggs, and flour to make it the right thickness for baking. Let it rise light.
Buckwheat.
For a family of four or five, take a quart of warm water, a spoonful of scalded Indian meal, a heaping teaspoonful of salt, and a gill of yeast. Stir in buckwheat flour enough to make a thin batter. Let it rise over night. In the morning add a quarter of a teaspoonful of saleratus or soda. Do this whether the cakes are sour or not. Buckwheat cakes cannot be made in perfection without this addition; but it should never be put in till just before they are baked. Such cakes are often made too thick, and fried with too much fat. They should be as thin as they can be, and be easily turned with a griddle shovel, and no more fat should be used than is necessary to keep them from sticking. To prevent the use of too much, tie a soft white rag, tight, round the tines of a large fork, and keep it for this purpose. If a gill of the batter is left, it will raise the next parcel.
Buckwheat cakes are as much better made with milk as other cakes are; but no others are so good made with water. They are very nice made of sour milk, with nothing added but salt and saleratus. These should be made only a short time before being baked.
Fritters or Pan-Cakes.