Composition-Cake

Five cups of flour, three of sugar, two of butter, one of milk, five eggs beaten separately, a wine-glass of brandy or wine, one nutmeg grated, a teaspoonful of soda, one pound of raisins seeded, half a pound of currants washed and dried; stir the butter and sugar to a cream, add the eggs, then the brandy and spice, half the flour; beat very light, then add the other half of the flour, beat again, then the milk with the soda dissolved in it, last the fruit with a little of the flour stirred through it, which prevents it from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Bake about an hour. Try with a broom splint.

Molasses Cup-Cake

One and a half coffee-cups of butter, two of brown sugar, one of molasses, one of milk, five of flour, four eggs, a teaspoonful of soda, a small tablespoonful of ginger, a teaspoonful of cloves, the same of cinnamon, half an one of powdered mace, a coffeecup of raisins seeded, the same of currants, and half an one of citron. Stir the butter and sugar to a cream, add the eggs, then the molasses, spice, flour, and last the milk with the soda dissolved in it. Leave out a tablespoonful of flour to stir through the fruit; put this in just before you pour into the pans. Bake all in one, or in square flat tin pans. Try it with a broom splint.

Light Cake

Take a pint of bread dough, beat into it two eggs; boil a small half teacup of milk, stir in it while boiling a teacup of sugar and half an one of butter. When nearly cool, add half a teaspoon of soda and a little flour; knead all together into the dough, flatten it out in a square tin which you have buttered; put half a pound of seeded raisins in a bowl with a teaspoon of cinnamon, a tablespoonful of sugar and a piece of butter the size of a nutmeg; rub all together until the raisins are well covered, then stick them down through the dough, let it rise. When light, cover the top with sugar and milk mixed to a paste, and bake.

Fruit Ginger-Cake

One pint of molasses, a teacup of sugar, three eggs, seven ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of ground cloves, three table-spoonsful of ground ginger, one pound of raisins seeded, and a half pound of citron cut in little slips, flour to the consistence of pound-cake. Stir the sugar and butter to a cream, add the eggs; mix the molasses, cloves and cinnamon together, and stir them into the butter, sugar and eggs; then add a teaspoonful of saleratus dissolved in a cup of cream, then the fruit with two tablespoonsful of flour stirred through it, and bake in a large cake.

Strawberry Short-Cake

In New England, where this cake originated, the wild strawberries are used for it, and are the best; where they cannot be procured, have ready about two quarts of berries; make the cake as for soda biscuit: three pints of flour with three tea-spoonsful of cream of tartar sifted in it, a teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonsful of butter and one of lard rubbed into the flour; mix it with a pint of milk with a teaspoonful of soda dissolved in it; roll it out half an inch in thickness, and bake either in one or two cakes, in a quick oven, about fifteen or twenty minutes. Split the cake open as soon as it comes from the oven, mark it round the edges with a knife, and separate it with the fingers; cutting it makes it heavy. Butter both top and bottom cakes, spread the strawberries on the lower one, sprinkle thickly with powdered sugar, lay the top crust on the berries, and serve it with rich cream. To be cut at the table. This is nice for dessert or the tea-table. Bake it in large round or square tins.