3427.—STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.
Ingredients.—1 cup of sour or butter-milk, ⅓ of a teaspoonful of soda, ¼ of a teaspoonful of salt, 2 tablespoonfuls of butter, 1 cup of flour.
Method.—Mix the soda, butter and salt into the flour, and wet it up into a nice, free paste with the milk. Divide it into four, roll it up round under the hand, and flatten out with a rolling-pin; place it on to a suitable-sized tin (baking-tin), dock or prick it all over with a fork or skewer, and bake in a quick oven. While baking, take 1½ pints of strawberries and mash them fine. When the cakes are baked, allow them to get cold, spread them over with butter, dredge on a layer of sugar, then strawberries, then sugar, and place another cake on top, the buttered side downwards; dredge the top with sugar, and serve.
Time.—10 to 15 minutes. Average Cost, 1s. Sufficient for 2 cakes. Seasonable in June and July.
3428.—TEA-CAKES.
Ingredients.—2 lbs. of flour, ½ a teaspoonful of salt, ¼ of a lb. of butter or lard, 1 egg, ½ an oz. of distillery yeast, warm milk.
Method.—Put the flour, which should be perfectly dry, into a basin, mix with it the salt, and rub in the butter or lard; make a bay, pour in the yeast, dissolve in a little warm milk, add the egg, and then sufficient warm milk to make the whole into a smooth paste, and knead it well. Let it rise near the fire, and when well risen form it into cakes; place them on tins, let them rise again before placing them in the oven, and bake from a ¼ to ½ an hour in a moderate oven. These cakes are also very nice with the addition of a few currants and a little sugar to the other ingredients, which should be put in after the paste is moistened. The cakes should be buttered and eaten hot as soon as baked; but, when stale, they are very nice split and toasted; or, if dipped in milk, or even water, and covered with a basin in the oven till hot, they will be almost equal to new.
Time.—¼ to ½ hour. Average Cost, 10d. Sufficient to make 8 tea-cakes.
3429.—TEA-CAKES, SMALL.
Ingredients.—2 teacupfuls of flour, 1 teacupful of ground rice, 1½ of moist sugar, 2 ozs. of butter, 2 ozs. of lard or dripping, 2 eggs, lemon to taste.
Method.—Melt the butter and lard, beat well, and add the mixture to the flour and rice; then put in the eggs and sugar, well beating them together with a wooden spoon, and using a little milk if necessary to give the proper consistency, then bake in small cakes on a tin in a quick oven.
Time.—15 minutes. Average Cost, 9d. Sufficient for 12 or 14 small tea-cakes.
