Yorkshire Cakes.—(No. 104.)
Take a pint and a half of milk quite warm, and a quarter of a pint of thick small-beer yest; mix them well together in a pan with sufficient flour to make a thick batter; let it stand in a warm place covered over until it has risen as high as it will; rub six ounces of butter into some flour till it is quite fine; then break three eggs into your pan with the flour and butter; mix them well together; then add sufficient flour to make it into a dough, and let it stand a quarter of an hour;[392] then work it up-again, and break it into pieces about the size of an egg, or larger, as you may fancy; roll them round and smooth with your hand, and put them on tins, and let them stand covered over with a light piece of flannel.
376-* The goodness of a cake or biscuit depends much on its being well baked; great attention should be paid to the different degrees of heat of the oven: be sure to have it of a good sound heat at first, when, after its being well cleaned out, may be baked such articles as require a hot oven, after which such as are directed to be baked in a well-heated or moderate oven; and, lastly, those in a slow soaking or cool one. With a little care the above degrees may soon be known. In making butter cakes, such as Nos. 55, 57, or 61, too much attention cannot be paid to have the butter well creamed; for should it be made too warm, it would, cause the mixture to be the same, and when put to bake, the fruit, sweetmeats, &c. would, in that event, fall to the bottom. Yest cakes should be well proved before put into the oven, as they will prove but little afterward. In making biscuits and cakes where butter is not used, the different utensils should be kept free from all kinds of grease, or it is next to impossible to have good ones. In buttering the insides of cake-moulds, the butter should be nicely clarified, and when nearly cold, laid on quite smooth, with a small brush kept for that purpose. Sugar and flour should be quite dry, and a drum sieve is recommended for the sugar. The old way of beating the yelks and whites of eggs separate (except in very few cases), is not only useless, but a waste of time. They should be well incorporated with the other ingredients, and, in some instances, they cannot be beaten too much. 378-* Take fine brown Holland, and make a bag in the form of a cone, about five inches over at the top. Cut a small hole at the bottom, and tie in a small pipe of a tapering form, about two inches long; and the bore must be large or small, according to the size of the biscuits or cakes to be made. When the various mixtures are put in, lay the pipe close to the paper, and press it out in rows. Some use a bullock’s bladder for the purpose. 379-* A wide-mouthed earthen pan, made quite hot in the oven, or on a fire, will be a good substitute. 391-* If you do not mind the expense, the cake will be much lighter if, instead of the milk, you put four eggs.
OBSERVATIONS ON PUDDINGS AND PIES.
The quality of the various articles employed in the composition of puddings and pies varies so much, that two puddings, made exactly according to the same receipt, will be so different392-* one would hardly suppose they were made by the same person, and certainly not with precisely the same quantities of the (apparently) same ingredients. Flour fresh ground, pure new milk, fresh laid eggs, fresh butter, fresh suet, &c. will make a very different composition, than when kept till each article is half spoiled.
Plum puddings, when boiled, if hung up in a cool place in the cloth they are boiled in, will keep good some months; when wanted, take them out of the cloth, and put them into a clean cloth, and as soon as warmed through, they are ready.
Mem.—In composing these receipts, the quantities of eggs, butter, &c. are considerably less than are ordered in other cookery books; but quite sufficient for the purpose of making the puddings light and wholesome;—we have diminished the expense, without impoverishing the preparations; and the rational epicure will be as well pleased with them as the rational economist.
Milk, in its genuine state, varies considerably in the quantity of cream it will throw up, depending on the material with which the cow is fed. The cow that gives the most milk does not always produce the most cream, which varies fifteen or twenty per cent.
Eggs vary considerably in size; in the following receipts we mean the full-sized hen’s egg; if you have only pullet’s eggs, use two for one. Break eggs one by one into a basin, and not all into the bowl together; because then, if you meet with a bad one, that will spoil all the rest: strain them through a sieve to take out the treddles.
[393]N.B. To preserve eggs for twelve months, see N.B. to No. 547. Snow, and small beer, have been recommended by some economists as admirable substitutes for eggs; they will no more answer this purpose than as substitutes for sugar or brandy.
Flour, according to that champion against adulteration, Mr. Accum, varies in quality as much as any thing.
Butter also varies much in quality. Salt butter may be washed from the salt, and then it will make very good pastry.
Lard varies extremely from the time it is kept, &c. When you purchase it, have the bladder cut, and ascertain that it be sweet and good.
Suet. Beef is the best, then mutton and veal; when this is used in very hot weather, while you chop it, dredge it lightly with a little flour.
Beef-marrow is excellent for most of the purposes for which suet is employed.
Drippings, especially from beef, when very clean and nice, are frequently used for kitchen crusts and pies, and for such purposes are a satisfactory substitute for butter, lard, &c. To clean and preserve drippings, see No. 83.
Currants, previous to putting them into the pudding, should be plumped: this is done by pouring some boiling water upon them: wash them well, and then lay them on a sieve or cloth before the fire, pick them clean from the stones;—this not only makes them look better, but cleanses them from all dirt.
Raisins, figs, dried cherries, candied orange and lemon-peel, citron, and preserves of all kinds, fresh fruits, gooseberries, currants, plums, damsons, &c. are added to batter and suet puddings, or enclosed in the crust ordered for apple dumplings, and make all the various puddings called by those names.
Batter puddings must be quite smooth and free from lumps; to ensure this, first mix the flour with a little milk, add the remainder by degrees, and then the other ingredients.
If it is a plain pudding, put it through a hair-sieve; this will take out all lumps effectually.
Batter puddings should be tied up tight: if boiled in a mould, butter it first; if baked, also butter the pan.
Be sure the water boils before you put in the pudding; set your stew-pan on a trivet over the fire, and keep it steadily boiling all the time;—if set upon the fire, the pudding often burns.
Be scrupulously careful that your pudding-cloth is perfectly sweet and clean; wash it without any soap, unless very greasy; then rinse it thoroughly in clean water after. Im[394]mediately before you use it, dip it in boiling water; squeeze it dry, and dredge it with flour.
If your fire is very fierce, mind and stir the puddings every now and then to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan; if in a mould, this care is not so much required, but keep plenty of water in the saucepan.
When puddings are boiled in a cloth, it should be just dipped in a basin of cold water, before you untie the pudding-cloth, as that will prevent it from sticking; but when boiled in a mould, if it is well buttered, they will turn out without. Custard or bread puddings require to stand five minutes before they are turned out. They should always be boiled in a mould or cups.
Keep your paste-board, rolling-pin, cutters, and tins very clean: the least dust on the tins and cutters, or the least hard paste on the rolling-pin, will spoil the whole of your labour.
Things used for pastry or cakes should not be used for any other purpose; be very careful that your flour is dried at the fire before you use it, for puff paste or cakes; if damp it will make them heavy.
In using butter for puff paste, you should take the greatest care to previously work it well on the paste-board or slab, to get out all the water and buttermilk, which very often remains in; when you have worked it well with a clean knife, dab it over with a soft cloth, and it is then ready to lay on your paste; do not make your paste over stiff before you put in your butter.
For those who do not understand making puff paste, it is by far the best way to work the butter in at two separate times, divide it in half, and break the half in little bits, and cover your paste all over: dredge it lightly with flour, then fold it over each side and ends, roll it out quite thin, and then put in the rest of the butter, fold it, and roll it again. Remember always to roll puff paste from you. The best made paste, if not properly baked, will not do the cook any credit.
Those who use iron ovens do not always succeed in baking puff paste, fruit pies, &c. Puff paste is often spoiled by baking it after fruit pies, in an iron oven. This may be easily avoided, by putting two or three bricks that are quite even into the oven before it is first set to get hot. This will not only prevent the syrup from boiling put of the pies, but also prevent a very disagreeable smell in the kitchen and house, and almost answers the same purpose as a brick oven.
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