Have the oven at just the right heat, at the right time. A cake which would otherwise be excellent may be heavy or tough by having to wait till the oven cools down or heats up to the proper temperature. With a gas oven, one can regulate at will, and a safe general rule is to have the oven thoroughly hot _before_ the cakes are put in, and then to moderate the heat very considerably. With a coal fire, if the oven is too hot, put on a quantity of small coal.
Artox Gingerbread.
One and a half pounds Artox wholemeal, 10 oz. golden syrup, 9 oz. butter, 4 oz. sugar, 1/2 oz. carbonate of soda, 1/2 oz. ginger, 2 eggs, little milk. Cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs, well beaten, and the syrup, stir until dissolved. Add the Artox wholemeal with the soda and ginger previously sifted in, and a little milk if necessary, to make a stiff batter. Put into greased tins, and bake in a moderate oven.
Artox Seed Cake.
Beat 10 ozs. of fresh butter to a cream, add 6 ozs. sugar and beat into the butter. Separate yokes and whites of 4 eggs and beat each mass separately. Then mix well with the butter and sugar, adding the yokes first and the whites last. Add 1 teaspoonful carraway seeds and 10 ozs. Artox wholemeal. Mix thoroughly, put into butter papered tins and bake in a quick oven.
Artox Shortbread.
One and a quarter pounds Artox wholemeal, 10 ozs. butter, 4 ozs. sugar, 1 egg, 1/4 oz. baking powder. Rub the Artox wholemeal, sugar, and butter together, add the baking powder, and make into a stiff paste with the egg. Mould it into cakes, crimp the edges, and bake in a moderate oven.
French Layer Cake.
1/4 lb. butter or fine nut butter. Four eggs, 1/2 lb. flour, 6 ozs. fine sugar, 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder, 1/2 teaspoonful essence vanilla, 4 ozs. grated chocolate, 2 ozs. icing sugar.
Butter 3 sandwich tins. Dissolve 1 oz. chocolate in pan, with 1 tablespoonful milk, over the fire. Beat butter and sugar to a cream. Beat up eggs very light, laying aside one white for icing, and add. Sift flour and baking powder, and mix in, then flavouring. Put a third in one tin, another in pan with chocolate, and put a few drops carmine in that left in bowl. Put these into the different tins and place at once in hot oven. They should be ready in 10 minutes. Put remaining chocolate with the icing sugar in pan with a tablespoonful water. Boil a minute with constant stirring. Turn out cakes on a towel. Put half of chocolate mixture on one, put another on the top, then the rest of chocolate, and, last, the third cake. Coat with the following
Icing.
Beat up white of 1 egg till quite stiff. Mix in 6 ozs. icing sugar. Put on very smoothly with a broad knife dipped in water. Sprinkle over with grated cocoanut, or decorate with pink icing put through a forcing-bag.
Cocoanut Icing
might be used instead. Dissolve about one fourth of a square of cocoanut cream with a little boiling water. When cool mix thoroughly with half of the above icing.
Gingerbread.
1/2-lb. flour, 1 oz. good cocoanut butter, 1 oz. sugar, and same of syrup or treacle--if the latter use more sugar. Two ozs. stoned raisins or sultanas, 1 teaspoonful ground ginger, and same of mixed spice. Half teaspoonful baking powder. One egg.
Mix all the dry things. Rub in butter, then add syrup, fruit, and egg, and make into a thick batter with milk. Bake in moderate oven half-an-hour or longer. Very good, if made with half wheatmeal, or a proportion of oatmeal or rolled oats.
Jumbles.
1/2-lb. flour, 1/4 lb. butter, 2 ozs. sifted sugar, 1 egg. Pinch baking powder. Beat butter and sugar to a cream, add egg, well beaten, then flour, &c. Knead into a stiff paste, divide into 12 or more pieces, and roll out pipe-wise with the hands, about a foot long. Curl round, or form into letters, &c. Lay on floured oven plate. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with sugar, and bake 15 minutes in hot oven.
Orange Rock Cakes.
1/2-lb. flour, 2 ozs. sugar, 1 teaspoonful baking powder, 1 oz. butter or cocoanut cream butter,[Footnote: [see next footnote]] 1 egg, 1 orange.