The Lady's Own Cookery Book, and New Dinner-Table Directory;

Egg Loaf

Soak crumb of bread in milk for three hours; strain it through a sieve; then put in a little salt, some candied citron and lemon-peel cut small, and sugar to your taste. Put to your paste the yolks only of six or eight new-laid eggs, and beat it till the eggs are mixed. Whip the whites of the eggs till they are frothed; add to the other ingredients, and mix them well. Butter the pan or dish in which you bake your loaf. When baked, turn it out into your dish, scrape some fine sugar upon it, and glaze with a hot shovel.

Buns. No. 1

Two pounds of flour, a quarter of a pound of butter; rub the butter in the flour like grated bread; set it to the fire to dry: put in one pound of currants and a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, with a few caraway seeds, and two spoonfuls of good yest; make the dough into small buns; set them to rise half an hour: you may put two or three eggs in if you like.

Buns. No. 2

One pound of fine flour, two pounds of currants, a few caraway seeds, a quarter of a pound of moist sugar, a pint of new milk, and two table-spoonfuls of yest; mix all well together in a stiff paste, and let it stand half an hour to rise; then roll them out, and put them in your tins; let them stand another half hour to rise before you bake them. The above receipt answers equally well for a cake baked in a tin.

Buns. No. 3

Take flour, butter, and sugar, of each a quarter of a pound, four eggs, and a few caraway seeds. This quantity will make two dozen. Bake them on tins.

Bath Buns

Take a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered, the same quantity of butter, and nearly double of flour dried before the fire, a walnut-shell full of caraway-seeds just bruised, and one egg. Work all these up together into a paste, the thickness of half-a-crown, and cut it with a tea-cup, flour a tin; lay the cakes upon it; take the white of an egg well beat and frothed; lay it on them with a feather, and then grate upon them a little fine sugar.

Another way

Take one pound of fine flour, dry it well by the fire, sift it, and rub into it a pound of butter, the yolks of four eggs, the whites of two, both beaten light, three spoonfuls of cream, and the like quantity of white wine and ale yest. Let this sponge stand by the fire to rise; then beat it up extremely well and light with your hand; grate in a nutmeg; continue beating till it is ready for the oven; then add a pound of rough caraway seeds, keeping a few out to strew on the top of the cakes before they are put into the oven.

Plain Buns

Take three pounds of flour, six ounces of butter, six ounces of sugar sifted fine, six eggs, both yolks and whites. Beat your eggs till they will not slip off the spoon; melt the butter in a pint of new milk, with which mix half a pint of good yest; strain it into the flour, and throw in half an ounce of caraway seeds. Work the whole up very light; set it before the fire to rise; then make it up into buns of the size of a penny roll, handling them as little as possible. Twenty minutes will bake them sufficiently.

Butter, to make without churning

Tie up cream in a fine napkin, and then in a coarse cloth, as you would a pudding: bury it two feet under ground; leave it there for twelve hours, and when you take it up it will be converted into butter.

Black Butter

To one quart of black gooseberries put one pint of red currants, picked into an earthen jar. Stop it very close, and set it in a pot of cold water over the fire to boil till the juice comes out. Then strain it, and to every pint of liquor put a pound of sugar; boil and skim it till you think it done enough: put it in flat pots, and keep it in a dry place. It will either turn out or cut in slices.

Spanish Butter

Take two gallons of new milk, boil it, and, when you take it off the fire, put in a quart of cream, giving it a stir; then pour it through a sieve into an earthen pan: lay some sticks over your pan, and cover it with a cloth; if you let it stand thus two days, it will be the better. Skim off the cream thick, and sweeten it to your taste; you may put in a little orange-flower water, and whip it well up.

Cake

Five pounds of flour dried, six pounds of currants, a quart of boiled cream, a pound and a half of butter, twenty eggs, the whites of six only, a pint of ale yest, one ounce of cinnamon finely beaten, one ounce of cloves and mace also well beaten, a quarter of a pound of sugar, a little salt, half a pound of orange and citron. Put in the cream and butter when it is just warm; mix all well together, and let it stand before the fire to rise. Put it into your hoop, and leave it in the oven an hour and a quarter. The oven should be as hot as for a manchet.

An excellent Cake

Beat half a pound of sifted sugar and the same quantity of fresh butter to a cream, in a basin made warm; mixing half a pound of flour well dried, six eggs, leaving out four whites, and one table-spoonful of brandy. The butter is to be beaten in first, then the flour, next the sugar, the eggs, and lastly, the brandy. Currants or caraways may be added at pleasure. It must be beaten an hour, and put in the oven immediately.

A great Cake

Take six quarts of fine flour dried in an oven, six pounds of currants, five pounds of butter, two pounds and a half of sugar, one pound of citron, three quarters of a pound of orange-peel, and any other sweetmeat you think proper; a pound of almonds ground very small, a few coriander seeds beat and sifted, half an ounce of mace, four nutmegs, sixteen eggs, six of the whites, half a pint of sack, and half a pint of ale yest.

Light Cake

One pound of the finest flour, one ounce of powdered sugar, five ounces of butter, three table-spoonfuls of fresh yest.

A nice Cake

Take nine eggs; beat the yolks and whites separately; the weight of eight eggs in sugar, and five in flour: whisk the eggs and the sugar together for half an hour; then put in the flour, just before the oven is ready to bake it. Both the sugar and the flour must be sifted and dried.

A Plain Cake

Take a pound of flour, well dried and sifted; add to it one pound of sugar also dried and sifted; take one pound of butter, and work it in your hands till it is like cream; beat very light the yolks of ten eggs and six whites. Mix all these by degrees, beating it very light, and a little sack and brandy. It must not stand to rise. If you choose fruit, add one pound of currants, washed, picked, and dried.

A very rich Cake

Two pounds and a half of fresh butter, twenty-four eggs, three-pounds of flour, one pound and a half of sugar, one ounce of mixed spice, four pounds of currants, half a jar of raisins, half of sweet almonds, a quarter of a pound of citron, three quarters of orange and lemon, one gill of brandy, and one nutmeg. First work the butter to a cream; then beat the sugar well in; whisk the eggs half an hour; mix them with the butter and sugar; put in the spice and flour; and, when the oven is ready, mix in the brandy, fruit, and sweetmeats. It will take one hour and a half beating. Let it bake three hours.

Cake without butter

Beat up eight eggs for half an hour. Have ready powdered and sifted one pound of loaf sugar; shake it in, and beat it half an hour longer. Put to it a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds beat fine with orange-flower water; grate the rind of a lemon into the almonds, and squeeze in the juice. Mix all together. Just before you put it in the oven, add a quarter of a pound of dry flour; rub the hoop or tin with butter. An hour and a half will bake it.

Another

Take ten eggs and the whites of five; whisk them well, and beat in one pound of finely sifted sugar, and three quarters of a pound of flour: the flour to be put in just before the cake is going to the oven.

Almond Cake

Take a pound of almonds; blanch them in cold water, and beat them as small as possible in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle, putting in, as you beat them, some orange-flower water. Then take twelve eggs, leaving out half of the whites; beat them well; put them to your almonds, and beat them together, above an hour, till it becomes of a good thickness. As you beat it, sweeten it to your taste with double-refined sugar powdered, and when the eggs are put in add the peel of two large lemons finely rasped. When you beat the almonds in the mortar with orange-water, put in by degrees about four spoonfuls of citron water or ratafia of apricots, or, for want of these, brandy and sack mixed together, two spoonfuls of each. The cake must be baked in a tin pan; flour the pan before you put the cake into it. To try if it is done enough, thrust a straw through it, and if the cake sticks to the straw it is not baked enough; let it remain till the straw comes out clean.

Another

Take twelve eggs, leaving out half the whites; beat the yolks by themselves till they look white; put to them by degrees one pound of fine sifted sugar; put in, by a spoonful at a time, three quarters of a pound of fine flour, well dried and sifted, with the whites of the eggs well beaten, and continue this till all the flour and the whites are in. Then beat very fine half a pound of fine almonds, with sack and brandy, to prevent their oiling; stir them into the cake. Bake it three quarters of an hour. Ratafia cake is made in the same manner, only keep out two ounces of the almonds, and put in their stead two of apricot kernels; if you have none, use bitter almonds.

Almond Cakes

Take one pound of almonds, blanch them; then take one pound of double-refined sugar, beaten very small; crack the almonds, one by one, upon the tops; put them into the sugar; mix them, and then beat them well together till they will work like paste. Make them into round cakes; take double-refined sugar, pounded and sifted, beat together with the white of an egg, and, when the cakes are hardened in the oven, take them out, and cover one side with sugar with a feather; then put them into the oven again, and, when one side is hardened, take them out and do the same on the other side. Set them in again to harden, and afterwards lay them up for use.

Clear Almond Cakes

Take the small sort of almonds; steep them in cold water till they will blanch, and as you blanch them throw them into water. Wipe them dry, and beat them in a stone mortar, with a little rose-water, and as much double-refined sugar, sifted, as will make them into clear paste. Roll them into any size you please; then dry them in an oven after bread has been drawn, so that they may be dry on both sides; when they are cold, make a candy of sugar; wet it a little with rose-water; set it on the fire; stir it till it boils, then take it off, and let it cool a little. With a feather spread it over the cakes on one side; lay them upon papers on a table; take the lid of a baking-pan, put some coals on it, and set it over the cakes to raise the candy quickly. When they are cold, turn the other side, and serve it in the same manner.

Apple Cake

Take one pound and a half of white sugar, two pounds of apples, pared and cut thin, and the rind of a large lemon; put a pint of water to the sugar, and boil it to a syrup; put the apples to it, and boil it quite thick. Put it into a mould to cool, and send it cold to table, with a custard, or cream poured round it.

Another

One pound of apples cut and cored, one pound of sugar put to a quarter of a pint of water, so as to clarify the sugar, with the juice and peel of a lemon, and a little Seville orange. Boil it till it is quite stiff; put it in a mould; when cold it will turn out. You may put it into a little warm water to keep it from breaking when taken out.

Apricot Clear Cakes

Make a strong apple jelly, strain it, and put apricots into it to boil. Slit the apricots well, cover them with sugar, and boil them clear. Strain them, and put them in the candy when it is almost boiled up; and then put in your jelly, and scald it.

Biscuit Cake

Take eggs according to the size of the cake, weigh them, shells and all; then take an equal weight of sugar, sifted very fine, and half the weight of fine flour, well dried and sifted. Beat the whites of the eggs to snow; then put the yolks in another pan; beat them light, and add the sugar to them by degrees. Beat them until very light; then put the snow, continuing to beat; and at last add by degrees the flour. Season with lemon-peel grated, or any peel you like; bake it in a slow oven, but hot enough to make it rise.

Bread Cake

Take two pounds of flour, a quarter of a pound of butter, four eggs, one spoonful of good yest, half a pound of currants, half a pound of Lisbon sugar, some grated lemon-peel, and nutmeg. Melt the butter and sugar in a sufficient quantity of new milk to make it of a proper stiffness. Set it to rise for two hours and a half before the fire, and bake it in an earthen pan or tin in a quick oven, of a light brown.

Caraway seeds may be added – two ounces to the above quantity.

Breakfast Cakes

To a pound of fine flour take two ounces of fresh butter, which rub very well in with a little salt. Beat an egg smooth, and mix a spoonful of light yest with a little warm milk. Mix as much in the flour as will make a batter proper for fritters; then beat it with your hand till it leaves the bottom of the bowl in which it is made. Cover it up for three or four hours; then add as much flour as will form a paste proper for rolling up; make your cakes half an hour before you put them into the oven; prick them in the middle with a skewer, and bake them in a quick oven a quarter of an hour.

Excellent Breakfast Cakes

Water the yest well that it may not be bitter; change the water very often; put a very little sugar and water to it just as you are going to use it; this is done to lighten and set it fermenting. As soon as you perceive it to be light, mix up with it new milk warmed, as if for other bread; put no water to it; about one pound or more of butter to about sixteen or eighteen cakes, and a white of two of egg, beat very light; mix all these together as light as you can; then add flour to it, and beat it at least a quarter of an hour, until it is a tough light dough. Put it to the fire and keep it warm, and warm the tins on which the cakes are to be baked. When the dough has risen, and is light, beat it down, and put it to the fire again to rise, and repeat this a second time; it will add much to the lightness of the cakes. Make them of the size of a saucer, or thereabouts, and not too thick, and bake them in a slow oven. The dough, if made a little stiffer, will be very good for rolls; but they must be baked in a quicker oven.

Bath Breakfast Cakes

A pint of thin cream, two eggs, three spoonfuls of yest, and a little salt. Mix all well together with half a pound of flour. Let it stand to rise before you put it in the oven. The cakes must be baked on tins.

Butter Cake

Take four pounds of flour, one pound of currants, three pounds of butter, fourteen eggs, leaving out the whites, half an ounce of mace, one pound of sugar, half a pint of sack, a pint of ale yest, a quart of milk boiled. Take it off, and let it cool. Rub the butter well in the floor; put in the sugar and spice, with the rest of the ingredients; wet it with a ladle, and beat it well together. Do not put the currants till the cake is ready to go into the oven. Butter the dish, and heat the oven as hot as for wheaten bread. You must not wet it till the oven is ready.

Caraway Cake. No. 1

Melt two pounds of fresh butter in tin or silver; let it stand twenty-four hours; then rub into it four pounds of fine flour, dried. Mix in eight eggs, and whip the whites to a froth, a pint of the best yest, and a pint of sack, or any fine strong sweet wine. Put in two pounds of caraway seeds. Mix all these ingredients thoroughly; put the paste into a buttered pan, and bake for two hours and a half. You may mix with it half an ounce of cloves and cinnamon.

Caraway Cake. No. 2

Take a quart of flour, a quarter of a pint of good ale yest, three quarters of a pound of fresh butter, one quarter of a pound of almonds, three quarters of a pound of caraway comfits, a handful of sugar, four eggs, leaving out two of the whites, new milk, boiled and set to cool, citron, orange, and lemon-peel, at your discretion, and two spoonfuls of sack. First rub your flour and yest together, then rub in the butter, and make it into a stiff batter with the milk, eggs, and sack; and, when you are ready to put it into the oven, add the other ingredients. Butter your hoop and the paper that lies under. This cake will require about three quarters of an hour baking; if you make it larger, you must allow more time.

Caraway Cake. No. 3

Take four quarts of flour, well dried, and rub into it a pound and a quarter of butter. Take a pound of almonds, ground with rose-water, sugar, and cream, half an ounce of mace, and a little cinnamon, beaten fine, half a pound of citron, six ounces of orange-peel, some dried apricots, twelve eggs, four of the whites only, half a pound of sugar, a pint of ale yest, a little sack, and a quart of thick cream, well boiled. When your cream is nearly cold, mix all these ingredients well together with the flour; set the paste before the fire to rise; put in three pounds of double-sugared caraways, and let it stand in the hoop an hour and a quarter before it is put into the oven.

Small Caraway Cakes

Take one quart of fine flour, fourteen ounces of butter, five or six spoonfuls of ale yest, three yolks of eggs, and one white; mix all these together, with so much cream as will make it into a paste; lay it before the fire for half an hour; add to it a handful of sugar, and half a pound of caraway comfits; and when you have worked them into long cakes, wash them over with rose-water and sugar, and pick up the top pretty thick with the point of a knife. Your oven must not be hotter than for manchet.

Cocoa-nut Cakes

Grate the cocoa-nut on a fine bread grater; boil an equal quantity of loaf-sugar, melted with six table-spoonfuls of rose-water; take off all the scum; throw in the grated cocoa-nut, and let it heat thoroughly in the syrup, and keep constantly stirring, to prevent its burning to the bottom of the pan. Have ready beaten the yolks of eight eggs, with two table-spoonfuls of rose-water; throw in the cocoa-nut by degrees, and keep beating it with a wooden slice one hour; then fill your pans, and send them to the oven immediately, or they will be heavy.

Currant clear Cakes

Take the currants before they are very ripe, and put them into water, scarcely enough to cover them; when they have boiled a little while, strain them through a woollen bag; put a pound and a quarter of fine sugar, boiled to a candy; then put a pint of the jelly, and make it scalding hot: put the whole into pots to dry, and, when jellied, turn them on glasses.

Egg Cake

Beat eight eggs, leaving out half the whites, for half an hour; half a pound of lump-sugar, pounded and sifted, to be put in during that time; then, by degrees, mix in half a pound of flour. Bake as soon after as possible. Butter the tin.

Enamelled Cake

Beat one pound of almonds, with three quarters of a pound of fine sugar, to a paste; then put a little musk, and roll it out thin. Cut it in what shape you please, and let it dry. Then beat up isinglass with white of eggs, and cover it on both sides.

Epsom Cake

Half a pound of butter beat to a cream, half a pound of sugar, four eggs, whites and yolks beat separately, half a quartern of French roll dough, two ounces of caraway seeds, and one tea-spoonful of grated ginger: if for a plum-cake, a quarter of a pound of currants.

Ginger Cakes

To a pound of sugar put half an ounce of ginger, the rind of a lemon, and four large spoonfuls of water. Stir it well together, and boil it till it is a stiff candy; then drop it in small cakes on a wet table.

Ginger or Hunting Cakes. No. 1

Take three pounds of flour, two pounds of sugar, one pound of butter, two ounces of ginger, pounded and sifted fine, and a nutmeg grated. Rub these ingredients very fine in the flour, and wet it with a pint of cream, just warm, sufficiently to roll out into thin cakes. Bake them in a slack oven.

Ginger or Hunting Cakes. No. 2

Rub half a pound of butter into a pound of flour; add a quarter of a pound of powder-sugar, one ounce of ginger, beat and sifted, the yolks of three eggs, and one gill of cream. A slow fire does them best.

Ginger or Hunting Cakes. No. 3

One ounce of butter, one ounce of sugar, twelve grains of ginger, a quarter of a pound of flour, and treacle sufficient to make it into a paste; roll it out thin, and bake it.

Gooseberry clear Cakes

Take the gooseberries very green; just cover them with water, and, when they are boiled and mashed, strain them through a sieve or woollen bag, and squeeze it well. Then boil up a candy of a pound and a quarter of fine sugar to a pint of the jelly; put it into pots to dry in a stove, and, when they jelly, turn them out on glasses.

Jersey Cake

To a pound of flour take three quarters of a pound of fresh butter beaten to a cream, three quarters of a pound of lump sugar finely pounded, nine eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, nutmeg to your taste. Add a glass of brandy.

Jersey Merveilles

One pound of flour, two ounces of butter, the same of sugar, a spoonful of brandy, and five eggs. When well mixed, roll out and make into fancy shapes, and boil in hot lard. The Jersey shape is a true-lover’s knot.

London Wigs

Take a quarter of a peck of flour; put to it half a pound of sugar, and as much caraways, smooth or rough, as you like; mix these, and set them to the fire to dry. Then make a pound and half of butter hot over a gentle fire; stir it often, and add to it nearly a quart of milk or cream; when the butter is melted in the cream, pour it into the middle of the flour, and to it add a couple of wine-glasses of good white wine, and a full pint and half of very good ale yest; let it stand before the fire to rise, before you lay your cakes on the tin plates to bake.

Onion Cake

Slice onions thin; set them in butter till they are soft, and, when they are cold, put into a pan to a quart basin of these stewed onions three eggs, three spoonfuls of fine dried bread crumbs, salt, and three spoonfuls of cream. Put common pie-crust in a tin; turn it up all round, like a cheesecake, and spread the onions over the cake; beat up an egg, and with a brush spread it in, and bake it of a fine yellow.

Orange Cakes

Put the Seville oranges you intend to use into water for two days. Pare them very thick, and boil the rind tender. Mince it fine; squeeze in the juice; take out all the meat from the strings and put into it. Then take one-fourth more than its weight in double-refined sugar; wet it with water, and boil it almost to sugar again. Cool it a little; put in the orange, and let it scald till it looks clear and sinks in the syrup, but do not let it boil. Put it into deep glass plates, and stove them till they are candied on the tops. Turn them out, and shape them as you please with a knife. Continue to turn them till they are dry; keep them so, and between papers.

Lemon cakes are made in the same way, only with half the juice.

Another way

Take three large oranges; pare and rub them with salt; boil them tender and cut them in halves; take out the seeds; then beat your oranges, and rub them through a hair sieve till you have a pound; add one pound and a quarter of double-refined sugar, boiled till it comes to the consistency of sugar, and put in a pint of strong juice of pippins and juice of lemon; keep stirring it on the fire till the sugar is completely melted.