Page:Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats.djvu/60

 50 sufficient time, the appearance of the cake will be much improved by icing it twice. Put on the first icing soon after the cake is taken out of the oven, and the second the next day, when the first is perfectly dry. While the last icing is wet, ornament it with coloured sugar-sand or nonpareils.

BLACK CAKE, OR PLUM CAKE.

Pick the currants very clean, and wash them,draining them through a cullender. Wipe them in a towel. Spread them out on a large dish, and set them near the fire, or in the hot sun to dry, placing the dish in a slanting position. Having stoned the raisins, cut them in half, and when all are done, sprinkle them well with sifted flour, to prevent their sinking to the bottom of the cake. When the currants are dry, sprinkle them also with flour.

Pound the spice, allowing twice as much cinnamon as mace. Sift it, and mix the mace, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. Mix also the liquor and rose-water in a tumbler or cup. Cut the citron in slips. Sift the flour into a broad dish. Sift the sugar into a deep earthen pan, and cut the butter