Page:The White House Cook Book.djvu/346

 316 CAKES.

ful of grated nutmeg, three tablespoonfuls of English currants or chopped raisins. Mix soft and roll out, using just enough flour to stiffen sufficiently. Cut out with a large cutter, wet the tops with milk and sprinkle sugar over them. Bake on buttered tins in a quick oven.

CRISP COOKIES. (Very Nice.)

ONE cup of butter, two cups of sugar, three eggs well beaten, a tea- spoonful of soda and two of cream of tartar, spoonful of milk, one tea- spoonful of nutmeg and one of cinnamon. Flour enough to make a soft dough just stiff enough to roll out. Try a pint of sifted flour to begin with, working it in gradually. Spread a little sweet milk over each and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a quick oven a light brown.

LEMON COOKIES.

FOUR cups of sifted flour, or enough for a stiff dough, one teacupful of butter, two cups of sugar, the juice of one lemon and the grated pee! from the outside, three eggs whipped very light. Beat thoroughly each ingredient, adding, after all is in, a half teaspoonful of soda dis- solved in a tablespoonf ul of milk. Roll out as any cookies and bake a light brown. Use no other wetting.

COCOANUT COOKIES.

ONE cup grated cocoanut, one and one-half cups sugar, three- fourths cup butter, one-half cup milk, two eggs, one large teaspoonful baking powder, one-half teaspoonful extract of vanilla and flour enough to roll out.

DOUGHNUTS OR FRIED CAKES.

SUCCESS in making good fried cakes depends as much on the cook- ing as the mixing. In the first place, there should be boiling lard enough to free them from the bottom of the kettle, so that they swim on the top, and the lard should never be so hot as to smoke or so cool as not to be at the boiling point ; if it is, they soak grease and are spoiled. If it is at the right heat, the doughnuts will in about ten minutes be of a delicate brown outside and nicely cooked inside. Five or six minutes will cook a cruller. Try the fat by dropping a bit of the dough in first ; if it is right, the fat will boil up when it is dropped in. They should be turned over almost constantly, which causes them to rise and brown

�� �