Chapter XXXI: Mary's Marriage (8)

Beat eggs well, then sift in sugar and half of flour in which cream of tartar has been mixed. Dissolve the soda in a little water and add also the lemon juice and lastly add the balance of flour. Bake in layer cake pans two inches deep.

CUSTARD

Boil 1 pint of sweet milk and add to it, stirring constantly, the following mixture: Two tablespoonfuls corn starch, mixed with a little water before boiling, 1 cup of sugar and 1 well-beaten egg. Allow all to cook a few minutes in a double boiler about 15 minutes. Split the sponge cakes when baked and put custard between when cooled.

GRANDMOTHER'S EXCELLENT "OLD RECIPE" FOR MARBLE CAKE

LIGHT PART.

1-3/4 cups granulated sugar. 1 scant cup butter or a mixture of butter and lard. Whites of 6 eggs. 1 cup milk. 3 scant cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Flavor with essence of lemon.

DARK PART.

Yolks of 4 eggs. 1/2 cup of a mixture of butter and lard. 3/4 cup milk (scant measure). 1/2 cup brown sugar. 1 tablespoon of molasses. 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. 1 tablespoon of cloves.

One cup or a little more flour sifted with one teaspoon of baking powder. Place spoonfuls of the dark and light batter alternately in a cake pan until all has been used.

Bake in a moderately hot oven from 45 to 50 minutes.

From this recipe may be made two good sized cakes.

I should advise using one-half the quantity for both dark and light part of cake called for in recipe, which would make one good sized cake. Should this whole recipe be used, the cake baked from it would be of the size of a very large fruit cake.

MARY'S MOLASSES CAKES

She creamed together 1 cup of light brown sugar and 2 tablespoonfuls of butter. Then added 1 cup of New Orleans molasses. The molasses had been allowed to come to a boil, then cooled.

She sifted into the mixture 4 cups of flour alternately with 1 cup of sweet milk in which 2 even teaspoonfuls of soda had been dissolved. She beat all well together, then added yolk of one large egg, and lastly the stiffly beaten white of the egg. Beat the mixture again and bake in 2 square layer cake pans in a hot oven about 25 minutes. This is an excellent cake if directions are closely followed.

CHOCOLATE ICING FOR MOLASSES CAKE.

Boil 1 scant half cup water with 1 cup sugar until it spins a thread, or forms a soft, firm ball in cold water. Pour slowly over the stiffly beaten white of egg, beating while it is being poured. Melt 2 squares or 2 ounces of unsweetened chocolate by standing the bowl containing it in hot water. Add 1 teaspoonful hot water to chocolate. Stir the egg and sugar mixture slowly into the melted chocolate. Beat until stiff enough to spread on cake.

HICKORY NUT CAKE

1-1/2 cups sugar. 1/2 cup butter. 3/4 cup milk. Whites of 4 eggs. 1 cup hickory nut meats, chopped. 2 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder.

Mix together as ordinary cake. Bake in a loaf.

"LIGHT BROWN" SUGAR CAKE

Three cupfuls of light brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sweet lard and yolk of one egg creamed together until light. Then add 1-1/2 cups sour milk alternately with 4 cups of flour and 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of cinnamon; 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of ginger, 1/2 teaspoonful of cloves and half of a grated nutmeg, 1 tablespoonful of thinly shaved or grated citron is an improvement to cake, but may be omitted. Beat all together, then add 1 teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a small quantity of the sour milk. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten white of one egg and one cup seeded raisins dredged with a little flour. Put the cake batter in a large, well-greased fruit cake pan, lined with paper which had been greased and a trifle of flour sifted over, and bake in an oven with a steady heat about one hour and fifteen minutes. This is a very good, _inexpensive_ cake and will keep moist some time if kept in a tin cake box. The fruit might be omitted, but it improves the cake.

"ANGEL FOOD" LAYER CAKE

1 cup and 2 tablespoonfuls granulated sugar. 1-1\2 cups flour. 1 cup and 2 tablespoonfuls scalded milk. 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Pinch of salt. Whites of 2 eggs.

Place milk in top part of double boiler and heat to boiling point. Sift dry ingredients together four times and then pour in the hot milk and stir well together. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Fold them in lightly, but do not beat. The batter will be quite thin. Do not grease the tins. No flavoring is used. Bake in two square layer tins, put together with any icing preferred. Bake in a moderate oven. This is a good, economical cake to bake when yolks of eggs have been used for other purposes.

MARY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

One-half cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of sweet milk and 1/2 cup of grated, unsweetened chocolate. Boil all together until thick as cream; allow it to cool.

Mix 1/2 cup of butter with 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Add two beaten eggs, 2/3 of a cup of sweet milk and vanilla flavoring to taste. Beat this into the boiled mixture and add 2 cups of flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Bake in three layers and put together with chocolate icing, or cocoa filling.

COCOA FILLING.

1-1/2 cups pulverized sugar. 1 tablespoonful butter, melted. 2-1/2 tablespoonfuls cocoa.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix to a smooth paste with cold coffee. Flavor with vanilla and spread on cake. This cocoa filling should not be boiled.

A CHEAP ORANGE CAKE

2 eggs. 1-1/2 cupfuls sugar. 1 large tablespoonful butter. 1 cup milk. 2 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Juice and grated yellow rind of half an orange.

Bake in moderate oven in loaf or layers. If a loaf cake, ice top and sides with the following icing:

1-1/2 cupfuls pulverized sugar, 1 tablespoonful warm water and grated rind and juice of half an orange. Mix all together to a cream and spread over cake.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S MOLASSES CAKE

1 pint of New Orleans molasses. 3/4 cup butter and lard, mixed. 4 eggs. 1 cup sour milk 2 good teaspoonfuls soda. 4 cups flour. Grated rind of 1 orange.

Bake in a long dripping pan, cut out in square pieces, or it may be baked in a large pan used for fruit cake. It will fill two medium sized cake pans.

APPLE SAUCE CAKE

1/4 cup butter (generous measure). 1 cup light brown sugar. 1 cup apple sauce (not sweetened). 1 level teaspoonful soda. 2 cups flour. 1 teaspoonful cinnamon. 1/2 teaspoonful cloves. 1 small nutmeg, grated. Pinch of salt. 1 cup raisins.

Cream together butter, sugar and spices. Add apple sauce and flour. (Dissolve the soda in apple sauce.) Add a cup of seeded raisins or raisins and currants, if preferred. This recipe may be doubled when it makes a very good, cheap fruit cake, as no eggs are required, and it both looks and tastes like a dark fruit cake.

ICING.

One cup pulverized sugar, piece of butter size of a walnut. Moisten with a little water and spread on cake.

"SCHWARZ" CAKE

This delicious black chocolate or "Schwarz" cake, as Aunt Sarah called it, was made from the following recipe:

1-1/2 cups of sugar. 1/2 cup butter. 1/2 cup sweet milk. 1 even teaspoon of soda (saleratus). 3 eggs. 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. 2 cups flour. 1-1/2 teaspoon of Royal baking powder.

Before mixing all the above ingredients place in a stewpan on the range 1/2 cup of grated chocolate and 1/2 cup sweet milk; allow them to come to a boil, then stand this mixture aside to cool and add to the cake mixture later.

Cream together sugar and butter, add yolk of eggs; soda dissolved in the milk, then add flour and baking powder sifted together alternately with the stiffly beaten white of eggs. Then beat in last the chocolate and milk mixture which has cooled. Bake in layer cake pans.

Use the following chocolate filling:

1/2 cup sugar. 1/2 cup milk. Yolk of one egg. 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch (good measure). 1/4 cake of Baker's unsweetened chocolate.

Boil all together until quite thick and spread between layers of cake.

APPLE CREAM CAKE

2 cups Sugar. 2 tablespoonfuls butter. 1 cup sweet milk. 3 cups flour. 3 eggs. 2 teaspoonfuls Royal baking powder.

Add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs last and bake in two layers. Flavor with lemon or vanilla.

APPLE CREAM FILLING FOR CAKE.

Beat white of 1 egg very stiff. Add 1 cup of granulated sugar and beat well. Quickly grate one raw apple into the egg and sugar, add the juice of 1/4 lemon and beat 20 minutes, when it will be light and foamy. This icing is soft and creamy. Coarsely chopped nut meats may be added if liked. Cake must be eaten with a fork, but is delicious.

A "HALF POUND" CAKE

Cream together 1/2 pound of sugar and 1/2 pound of butter. Beat into this the eggs separately, until five eggs have been used. Add flour and 1 small teaspoonful of baking powder. Bake in a moderate oven about 55 minutes; 1/2 pound of flour is used in this cake. This cake is extra fine.

A DELICIOUS ICING (NOT CHEAP).

Stir to a cream a half cup butter, 1-1/2 cups pulverized sugar, 1 tablespoonful milk and 1 teaspoonful vanilla. It is then ready to use for icing a cake.

COCOANUT LAYER CAKE

2 cups sugar. 1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed. 3 eggs (yolks only). 1 cup milk. 3 cups flour, sifted several times with the 2 teaspoonfuls cream of tartar and 1 teaspoonful soda (saleratus).

Mix like an ordinary cake.

THE FILLING.

To the stiffly beaten whites of 3 eggs add 1 cup of pulverized sugar. Spread this on each one of the layers of the cake and on top. Strew a half of a grated cocoanut over. To the other half of grated cocoanut add 4 tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar and strew over top of the cake.

GOLD LAYER CAKE

Yolks of 6 eggs. 1/2 cup butter. 1 large cup granulated sugar. 1/2 cup sweet milk. 2-1/2 cups flour. 2 heaping teaspoonfuls baking powder.

Cream sugar and butter, add yolks. Beat well, then add milk and flour. Stir all together and bake in square pans in a hot oven.

SUNSHINE SPONGE CAKE

1 cup granulated sugar. Whites of 7 small fresh eggs and 5 yolks. 2/3 cup of flour, or scant cup of flour. 1/3 teaspoonful cream of tartar and a pinch of salt.

Beat the yolks of eggs thoroughly, then beat the whites about half; add cream of tartar and beat until very stiff. Stir in sugar sifted lightly through your flour sifter. Then add beaten yolks, stir thoroughly, sift the flour five times. The last time sift into the batter, stirring only enough to incorporate the flour. Bake in a tube pan from 40 to 50 minutes in a very moderate oven. This is a particularly fine cake, but a little difficult to get just right. Place cake in a cool oven; when cake has risen turn on heat. This cake should be baked same as an angel cake.

AN INEXPENSIVE DARK "CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE"

1 cup sugar. 1/2 cup butter. 2 eggs. 1/2 cup sweet milk. 2 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder. 1/2 cup chocolate.

Grate the chocolate, mix with 1/4 cup of milk and yolk of 1 egg, sweeten to taste; cook the chocolate; when cooled add to the above mixture. Bake in three layer tins. Put white boiled icing between the layers. The boiled icing recipe will be found on another page.

ANGEL CAKE

11 eggs (whites only). 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar (sifted 3 times). 1 cup flour (sifted 5 times). 1 teaspoonful cream of tartar. 1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Place white of eggs in a large bowl and beat about half as stiff as you wish them to be when finished beating. Add cream of tartar, sprinkle it over the beaten whites of eggs lightly, and then beat until very stiff. Sift in sugar, then flour very lightly. Fold into the batter, rather than stir, with quick, even strokes with spoon. Put quickly in tube pan, bake in moderate oven from 35 to 50 minutes. Do not open oven door for first 15 minutes after cake has been placed in oven.

If cake browns before it rises to top of pan open oven door two minutes; when cake has risen to top of pan finish baking quickly. The moment cake shrinks back to level of pan remove from oven. This is an old, reliable recipe given Mary by her Aunt, who had baked cake from it for years.

MARY'S CHOCOLATE LOAF (MADE WITH SOUR MILK)

2 cups brown sugar. 3/4 cup lard and butter, mixed. 2 eggs. 1/2 cup Baker's chocolate, melted. 1/2 cup sour milk. 1/2 cup warm water. 1 teaspoonful vanilla. Pinch of salt. 1 teaspoonful saleratus. 3 cups flour.

Dissolve the saleratus in a little vinegar or warm water. Mix as an ordinary loaf cake.

INEXPENSIVE SUNSHINE CAKE

5 eggs. 1 cup granulated sugar. 1 cup sifted flour.

Beat whites of eggs very stiff and stir in thoroughly, then fold the flour, stirring only just enough to mix it in. If stirred too much, the cake will be tough. Bake in a tube pan. This is a delicious cake if carefully made according to directions. No butter or baking powder is used. Bake in a very moderate oven at first, gradually adding more heat until cake is baked.

MARY'S RECIPE FOR ORANGE CAKE

Grate outside rind of 1 orange into a bowl; 1-1/2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed. Cream all together. Add yolks of three eggs, 1 cup of sweet milk, 2-1/2 cups flour, sifted with 2-1/4 teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Bake in two layers.

FILLING FOR ORANGE CAKE.

Grated rind and juice of half an orange, half the white of one egg, beaten stiff. Add pulverized sugar until stiff enough to spread between cakes and on top. (About two cups of sugar were used.)

ROLL JELLY CAKE

1 cup granulated sugar. 1-1/4 cups flour. 4 egg yolks. Pinch of salt. 1/2 cup boiling water. 1 large teaspoonful baking powder.

The yolks of eggs left from making "Pennsylvania Dutch Kisses" may be used for this cake by the addition of an extra yolk of egg. Beat the yolks quite light, then add the sugar and beat until light and frothy. Add the flour sifted with the baking powder and salt. Lastly, add the half cup of boiling water. Bake in a rather quick oven from 25 to 30 minutes in two square layer cake pans. Cover cakes first ten minutes until they have risen. When baked turn cakes out of pans on to a cloth. Take one at a time from the oven, spread as quickly as possible with a tart jelly, either currant or grape, and roll as quickly as possible, as when the cakes become cool they cannot be rolled without breaking. Roll up in a cloth and when cool and ready to serve slice from end of roll. These cakes are very nice when one is successful, but a little difficult to get just right.

AUNT SARAH'S CINNAMON CAKE

1 cup sugar. 2 cups flour. 1 egg. 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder Piece of butter the size of egg. Pinch of salt. 1 cup milk. A little grated nutmeg.

Beat the butter to a cream and gradually add the sugar. Then add the unbeaten egg and beat all together thoroughly. Add milk and flour and beat hard for five minutes. Add baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into two small greased pie-tins and before putting in oven sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over top. This is an excellent breakfast cake, easily and quickly made.

"GELB KUCHEN"

Mary's Aunt taught her to make this exceptionally fine cake, yellow as gold, in texture resembling an "angel cake," from the following ingredients: The whites of 6 eggs, yolks of 3 eggs, 3/4 cup of fine, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup of high-grade flour, 1/2 teaspoonful of cream of tartar (good measure), a few drops of almond extract or 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla.

Mix ingredients together in the following manner: Sift sugar and flour separately 3 times. Beat yolks of eggs until light, add sugar to yolks of eggs and beat to a cream. The whites of eggs were placed in a separate bowl and when partly beaten the cream of tartar was sifted over and the whites of eggs were then beaten until dry and frothy. The stiffly beaten whites of eggs were then added alternately with the flour to the yolks and sugar. Carefully fold in, do not beat. Add flavoring, pour batter in a small, narrow bread tin, previously brushed with lard, over which flour had been dusted. The cake when baked may be readily removed from the tin after it has cooled.

Bake cake in a very moderate oven about 60 minutes. After cake has been in oven 15 or 20 minutes increase heat of oven. An extra fine, large cake may be baked from this recipe if double the quantity of ingredients are used.

DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

2 cups brown sugar. 1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed. 2 eggs. 1/2 cup boiling water. 2 ounces Baker's chocolate. 2 cups flour. 1 teaspoonful soda. 1/2 cup sour cream or milk.

Cream butter and sugar and add yolks of eggs; then sour milk into which the soda has been dissolved. Add hot water, then the eggs. Bake in layers or loaf. Ice with boiled chocolate icing. If a little of the sour milk is saved until last, the soda dissolved in that, and then added to the cake batter, it will give a brick red appearance. This is an excellent cake.

A CHEAP COCOANUT LAYER CAKE

Cream together 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 egg (white of egg beaten separately), add 3/4 cup milk, 2 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder. The stiffly beaten white of egg added last. Bake in two layers. For the filling, to put between layers, beat the white of one egg to a stiff, dry froth; add one tablespoonful of sugar, mix together, spread between layers of cake and on top and over this strew freshly grated cocoanut Grate cocoanut intended for cake the day before using. After it has been grated toss up lightly with a fork and stand in a cool place to dry out before using.

LADY BALTIMORE CAKE

1 cup butter. 2 cups sugar. 3-1/2 cups flour. 1 cup sweet milk. Whites of 6 eggs. 2 level teaspoonfuls baking powder sifted with the flour. 1 teaspoonful rosewater.

Mix in the usual way and bake in three layers.

ICING FOR CAKE.

Dissolve 3 cups of sugar in a cup of boiling water. Cook until it spins a thread, about ten or twelve minutes. Take from fire and pour over three stiffly beaten whites of eggs, then add a cup of nut meats (blanched and chopped almonds). One cup of chopped raisins may also be added if liked. Stir until thick and creamy. Allow cake to get cold before icing.

One-half this recipe for icing will be sufficient for an ordinary cake.

AN INEXPENSIVE "WHITE FRUIT CAKE"

3 cups sugar. 3 eggs. 1 lb. seeded raisins. 1 cup milk. 1 cup butter. 1 lb. currants. 1 lb. chopped almonds. Flavor with almond extract. 4 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls of Royal baking powder. 1/2 lb. figs. 1/4 lb. citron.

Beat to a cream sugar, butter and yolks of eggs. Then add milk and flour alternately and fruit and almonds. Lastly, add stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Flour fruit before adding. Chop figs. Cut citron fine or shave it thin. This is a cheaper recipe than the one for a "Christmas fruit cake," but this is a very good cake.

A GOOD AND CHEAP "WHITE CAKE"

2 cups sugar. 1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed. 1 cup milk. Add a few drops of almond flavoring. 3 cups flour. 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Whites of five eggs.

Cream together the butter and sugar, add flour sifted with baking powder alternately with the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. The five yolks of eggs left from baking white cake may be used when making salad dressing. Use five yolks instead of three whole eggs, as called for in recipe for salad dressing.

CHOCOLATE ICING (VERY GOOD)

One-quarter cup grated, unsweetened chocolate, 1/4 cup milk, half a cup sugar. Boil all together until thick and creamy. This quantity will be sufficient to ice the top of one ordinary cake. Spread icing on cake before icing cools. When this icing is used for layer cake, double the recipe.

TIP-TOP CAKE

1 lb. granulated sugar. 1 cup butter. 1 cup milk. 4 eggs. 1 lb. chopped raisins. (Citron may be used instead of raisins.) 1/2 a nutmeg, grated. 5 scant cups of flour. 5 teaspoonfuls baking powder.

Mix together same as ordinary cake and bake in a loaf. This Aunt Sarah considered one of her finest cake recipes. She had used it for years in her family. The friend who gave this recipe to Aunt Sarah said: "A couple of tablespoonfuls of brandy will improve the cake."

ORANGE CAKE

Grate the yellow outside rind of 1 orange into a bowl. Add 1-1/2 cups sugar and 3/4 cups butter and beat to a cream. Then add yolks of 3 eggs. Then stir in 1 cup milk, 2-1/2 cups flour with 2 heaping teaspoonfuls baking powder. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten whites of 3 eggs. Bake in three layers.

FILLING.

Use the white of one egg, the grated rind and juice of large orange and enough pulverized sugar to stiffen. Spread between layers.

CHEAP SPONGE CAKE

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar. 4 eggs. 1-1/2 cups flour. 4 tablespoonfuls boiling water. 1-1/4 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Pinch of salt; flavor to suit taste.

Cream yolks and sugar thoroughly, then add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs, then flour, then boiling water. Bake in a tube pan about 40 minutes. This is a very easily made cake, which seldom fails and was bought with a set of "Van Dusen cake pans," which Aunt Sarah said: "She'd used for many years and found invaluable."

CARAMEL CAKE AND ICING

1-1/2 cups pulverized sugar, 1 cup of butter, 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup of corn starch, 2 teaspoons of baking powder sifted through flour and corn starch, 1 cup of milk, the whites of 4 eggs. Mix like ordinary cake. Bake as a loaf cake. Ice top the following: 1 cup of light brown sugar, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 tablespoonful of butter, 1/4 teaspoonful of vanilla. Cook all together until a soft ball is formed when dropped in water. Beat until creamy and spread on top of cake.

A WHITE CAKE

Sift together, three times, the following:

1 cup of flour. 1 cup of sugar (granulated). 3 even teaspoonfuls of baking powder.

Scald one cup of milk and pour hot over the above mixture. Beat well.

Fold into the mixture, carefully, the stiffly beaten whites of 2 eggs. Flavor with a few drops of almond extract. Bake in a _moderate oven_, exactly as you would bake an angel cake.

This is a delicious, light, flaky cake, if directions are closely followed, but a little difficult to get just right.

"DUTCH" CURRANT CAKE (NO YEAST USED)

4 eggs. 2 cups sugar. 1 cup butter. 1 cup milk. 1/2 teaspoonful baking soda. 1 teaspoonful cream of tartar. 1 teaspoonful cinnamon. 1/4 teaspoonful grated nutmeg. 1 cup dried currants. 4 to 4-1/2 cups flour.

Make about as stiff as ordinary cake mixture. The butter, sugar and yolks of eggs were creamed together. Cinnamon and nutmeg were added. Milk and flour added alternately, stirring flour in lightly; sift cream of tartar in with the flour. Add the baking soda dissolved in a very little water, then add the well-floured currants, and lastly add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Bake in a large cake pan, generally used for fruit cake or bake two medium-sized cakes. Bake slowly in a moderately hot oven. These cakes keep well, as do most German cakes.

AN "OLD RECIPE" FOR COFFEE CAKE

5 cups flour. 1 cup sugar. 1 cup raisins. 1 cup of liquid coffee. 1 cup lard. 1 cup molasses. 1 tablespoonful saleratus. Spices to taste.

Mix like any ordinary cake. This is a very old recipe of Aunt Sarah's mother. The cup used may have been a little larger than the one holding a half pint, used for measuring ingredients in all other cake recipes.

A CHEAP BROWN SUGAR CAKE

1 cup brown sugar. I tablespoonful lard. 1 cup cold water. Pinch of salt. 2 cups raisins. 1/2 teaspoonful cloves. 1 teaspoonful cinnamon.

Boil all together three minutes, cool, then add 1 teaspoonful of soda and 1/2 teaspoonful of baking powder sifted with 2 cups of flour.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S "GERMAN CHRISTMAS CAKE"

Cream together in a bowl half a pound of pulverized sugar and half a pound of butter; then add yolks of five eggs, 1 grated lemon rind, 1 pint of milk, 1-1/2 pounds of flour sifted with 4 teaspoonfuls of baking powder, 2 teaspoonfuls of vanilla extract. Bake at once in a moderately hot oven. Mary baked an ordinary-sized cake by using one-half of this recipe. The cake was fine grained, similar to a pound cake, although not quite as rich, and she added a couple tablespoonfuls of thinly shaved citron to the batter before baking. This is a particularly fine cake.

"AUNT SARAH'S" SHELLBARK LAYER CAKE

1-1/2 cups sugar. 1/2 cup butter. 3/4 cup water. 3 eggs. 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Flour to stiffen.

Save out white of one egg for icing. Bake cake in three layers. Chop 1 cup of hickory nut meats and add to the last layer of cake before putting in pan to bake. Use the cake containing nut meats for the middle layer of cake. Put layers together with white boiled icing.

IMPERIAL CAKE (BAKED FOR MARY'S WEDDING)

1 pound sugar. 1 pound butter. 3/4 pound flour. 1 pound raisins, seeded. 1 pound almonds. 1/2 pound thinly shaved citron. 1 lemon. 1 nutmeg. 12 eggs.

Mix ingredients as for pound cake. A fine cake, but expensive.

A LIGHT FRUIT CAKE (FOR CHRISTMAS)

1 pound butter, scant measure. 1 pound pulverized sugar. 1 pound flour (full pound). 10 eggs. 1 pound English walnut kernels. 1 pound raisins. 3/4 lb. citron, candied orange and lemon peel. 1 cup brandy. 1 teaspoonful baking powder.

Bake 2-1/2 to 3 hours. This is an excellent cake.

ENGLISH CAKE (SIMILAR TO A WHITE FRUIT CAKE)

5 eggs. The weight of 5 eggs in sugar. The weight of 4 eggs in flour. 1 cup raisins. 1 cup currants. The weight of 3 eggs in butter. 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder. 2 tablespoonfuls of brandy. 1/2 cup finely shaved citron. 1/2 cup English walnut or shellbark meats. Small quantity of candied orange and lemon peel.

This recipe was given Mary by an English friend, an excellent cook and cake-baker, who vouches for its excellence.

GRANDMOTHER'S FRUIT CAKE (BAKED FOR MARY'S WEDDING)

1 pound butter. 1 pound sugar. 1 pound flour. 2 pounds raisins. 2 pounds currants. Spices of all kinds. 1/4 pound thinly sliced citron. 8 eggs. 1 tablespoonful molasses. 1 cup sour milk. 1 teaspoonful soda.

Mix together in ordinary manner. Cream butter and sugar, add yolks of eggs, sour milk and soda; add flour alternately with stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Lastly, the well-floured fruit. Bake two hours in a moderate oven. This quantity makes one very large cake, or two medium sized ones, and will keep one year. Line inside of pan with well-greased heavy paper to prevent bottom of cake baking too hard.

Aunt Sarah never cut this cake until one month from time it was baked, as it improves with age and may be kept one year.

AN OLD RECIPE FOR POUND CAKE

Cream together 3/4 pound butter and 1 pound sugar and yolks of 10 eggs. Then add 10 whites of eggs well beaten alternately with 1 pound of sifted flour.

Bake in a moderate oven with a steady heat. The bottom of pan should be lined with well-greased paper.

"BUCKS COUNTY" MOLASSES CAKES (BAKED IN PASTRY)

Place in a bowl 1 cup of New Orleans molasses and 3/4 of a cup of sweet milk. Add 1 teaspoonful of baking _soda_. (For this cake Aunt Sarah was always particular to use the _Cow_-brand soda), dissolved in a very little hot water. Aunt Sarah always used B.T. Babbitt's saleratus for other purposes.

Stir all ingredients together well, then add gradually three even cups of flour, no more, and beat hard. The cake mixture should not be very thick. Pour into three medium-sized pie-tins lined with pastry and bake in a moderately hot oven. These are good, cheap breakfast cakes, neither eggs nor shortening being used.

BROD TORTE (BREAD TART)

Six yolks of eggs and 1 cup sugar, creamed together. Beat about 15 minutes. Add 1 teaspoonful allspice, 1 teaspoonful cloves, 1 cup Baker's chocolate, which had been grated, melted and cooled; 1 cup stale rye bread crumbs, crushed fine with rolling-pin. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten whites of 6 eggs, a pinch of salt and 1/2 teaspoonful of baking powder sifted over the batter. Put into a small cake pan and bake half an hour in a moderate oven. When eggs are cheap and plentiful this is an economical cake, as no flour is used. It is a delicious cake and resembles an ordinary chocolate cake.

A DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE

1/2 cake of Baker's unsweetened chocolate (grated). 1 cup granulated sugar. 1/2 cup milk. 1 teaspoonful vanilla. 1/2 cup butter. 1-1/2 to 2 cups flour. 2 eggs. 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder.

Boil together chocolate, sugar and milk. Add butter and when cool add yolk of eggs; then the flour, flavoring and stiffly beaten whites of 2 eggs. Beat all thoroughly and bake in a loaf or layers.

CHOCOLATE ICING

Boil together 5 tablespoonfuls grated chocolate, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls milk, 1 egg.

When the mixture begins to thicken and look creamy, spread on cake. If baked in layers, ice on top and between the two layers.

A WHITE COCOANUT CAKE

Cream together 3/4 cup butter and 2 cups sugar. Add whites of 5 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 teaspoonful cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoonful soda sifted with 3 cups flour and 1 grated cocoanut. Bake in a loaf. This is an excellent old recipe of Aunt Sarah's.

A POTATO CAKE (NO YEAST REQUIRED)

Cream together:

1 cup of sugar. 1/2 cup lard and butter, mixed. Yolk of 2 eggs. 1/2 cup pulverized cocoa. 1/2 cup of creamed mashed potatoes, cold. A little ground cinnamon and grated nutmeg. A few drops of essence of vanilla. 1/4 cup of sweet milk. 1/2 cup finely chopped nut meats.

One teaspoonful of baking powder sifted with one cup of flour added to the batter alternately with the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. Bake in two layers, in a moderately hot oven. Ice top and put layers together with white icing. This is a delicious, if rather unusual cake.

A CITRON CAKE

1/2 cup butter. 1 cup sugar. 4 eggs. 2 tablespoonfuls water. 1/4 pound of thinly shaved citron. 1-1/2 cups flour. 1-1/4 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Several drops of almond flavoring.

Bake in a loaf in a moderate oven about 45 minutes after mixing ingredients together as for any ordinary cake. This is a very good cake.

AUNT AMANDA'S SPICE "KUCHEN"

1 cup butter. 2 cups granulated sugar. 1 cup of a mixture of sour milk and cream. 4 eggs. 1 teaspoonful soda. 1/2 teaspoonful cloves. 1 teaspoonful cinnamon. 1/2 teaspoonful nutmeg. 1 teaspoonful vanilla extract. 2 tablespoonfuls cocoa. 3 cups flour.

Mix all like any ordinary cake. From one-half this recipe was baked an ordinary sized loaf cake.

A GOOD, CHEAP CHOCOLATE CAKE

One cup of flour, 1 teaspoonful of baking powder and 1 cup of granulated sugar were sifted together. Two eggs were broken into a cup, also 1 large tablespoonful of melted butter. Fill up the cup with sweet milk, beat all ingredients well together. Flavor with vanilla and add 2 extra tablespoonfuls of flour to the mixture. Bake in two layer cake pans.

Place the following mixture between the two layers: 1/2 cup of grated chocolate, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup of liquid coffee. Cook together a short time until the consistency of thick cream, then spread between layers.

AN ICE CREAM CAKE

Two cups of pulverized sugar, 1 cup of butter, 1 cup sweet milk, whites of 8 eggs, 1 teaspoonful soda, 2 teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, 3 cups of flour. From same proportions of everything, only using the 8 yolks instead of whites of eggs, may be made a yellow cake, thus having two good sized layer cakes with alternate layers of white and yellow. Put cakes together with white icing. This was an old recipe of Aunt Sarah's mother, used when cream of tartar and soda took the place of baking powder.

SMALL SPONGE CAKES

For these small cakes take 6 eggs, 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoonful of baking powder, a pinch of salt, flavor with lemon. Beat yolks of eggs separately, then add sugar and beat to a cream, then add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs alternately with the sifted flour and baking powder; add a pinch of salt and flavoring. Bake in small muffin tins in a very moderate oven.

SMALL CAKES AND COOKIES--"AUNT SARAH'S" LITTLE LEMON CAKES

2 cups granulated sugar. 3 eggs (not separated, but added one at a time to the sugar and shortening which had been creamed together). 1 scant cup butter and lard, mixed. 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder. Pinch of salt 1 tablespoonful sweet milk. Grated rind of 2 lemons and juice of one.

Stiffen the dough with about 3-1/2 cups flour and use about 1 extra cup of flour to dredge the bake-board when rolling out dough and for sifting over the greased baking sheets so the cakes will come off readily. Roll dough very thin and cut in any desired shape. From this recipe may be made 100 small cakes. The baking sheet (for which I gave measurements in bread recipe) holds 20 of these small round cakes. Do all young housewives know that if dough for small cakes be mixed the day before baking and stood in a cool place, the cakes can be cut out more easily and the dough may be rolled thinner, and as less flour may then be used, the cakes will be richer?

Aunt Sarah always cut these cakes with a small round or heart-shaped cutter and when all were on the baking sheet she either placed a half of an English walnut meat in the centre of each cake or cut out the centre of each small cake with the top of a pepper box lid before baking them.

OATMEAL CRISPS

2-1/2 cups rolled oats (oatmeal). 1 tablespoonful melted butter. 3/4 cup sugar. 1 teaspoonful baking powder. 2 large eggs. Pinch of salt.

Beat eggs, add salt and sugar, mix baking powder with oats and stir all together. Drop from a teaspoon on to flat pan or sheet iron, not too close together, as they spread. Flatten very thin with a knife dipped in cold water and bake in a moderate oven a light brown. These cakes are fine and easily made. Did you not know differently, you would imagine these cakes to be macaroons made from nuts, which they greatly resemble.

AUNT SARAH'S GINGER SNAPS

1 cup molasses, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of a mixture of lard and butter, 1 egg, 1 teaspoonful of ginger, 1 teaspoonful of cinnamon, 1/2 a grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoonful of soda dissolved in 1 teaspoonful of vinegar. About 3 cups of flour should be added.

Dough should be stiff enough to roll out very thin, and the cakes may be rolled thinner than would be possible otherwise, should the cake-dough stand aside over night, or on ice for several hours, until thoroughly chilled. Cut cakes small with an ordinary cake cutter and bake in a quick oven. These are excellent and will remain crisp some time if kept in a warm, dry place.

GERMAN "LEBKUCHEN"

This is a recipe for good, old-fashioned "German Christmas cakes," from which Aunt Sarah's mother always baked. She used:

1 pound dark brown sugar. 3 whole eggs and yolks of 3 more. 1/4 pound citron finely shaved on a "slaw-cutter." 1/2 pound English walnut meats (chopped fine). 1 quart flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder.

Mix well together. Do not roll thin like ginger snaps, but about a half inch thick. Cut out about size of a large coffee cup. Bake in a moderate oven and when cold ice the cakes with the following icing:

ICING FOR GERMAN LEBKUCHEN.

Boil 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup of water seven minutes. Pour over the stiffly beaten whites of three eggs; ice the cakes. Place cakes in a tin box when icing has become cold and these will keep quite a long time. I have eaten high-priced, imported Lebkuchen no better than those made from this recipe.

GRANDMOTHER'S MOLASSES CAKES

One quart of New Orleans molasses, 3 eggs, butter size of an egg. Place all together in a stew-pan on range, allow it to come to boil, stirring constantly, and when cool stir in one tablespoonful of saleratus dissolved in a very little vinegar, and about 3 pounds of flour. Do not have cake dough too stiff. Dough should stand until the following day. Roll out at least 1/2 inch thick. Cut cakes as large around as an ordinary coffee cup or cut with a knife into small, oblong pieces, a little larger than half a common soda cracker. Bake in a moderate oven. Should too much flour be used, cakes will be hard and dry instead of soft and spongy. This very old and excellent recipe had belonged to the grandmother of Sarah Landis. Cakes similar to the ones baked from this recipe, also those baked from recipe for "honey cakes," were sold in large sheets marked off in oblong sections, seventy years ago, and at that time no "vendue," or public sale, in certain localities throughout Bucks County, was thought complete unless in sound of the auctioneer's voice, on a temporary stand, these cakes were displayed on the day of "the sale," and were eagerly bought by the crowd which attended such gatherings.

ANGEL CAKES (BAKED IN GEM PANS)

The whites of four eggs should be beaten very stiff and when partly beaten sprinkle over 1/2 teaspoonful of cream of tartan Finish beating egg whites and sift in slowly 1/2 cup of fine granulated sugar, then sift 1/2 cup of flour (good measure). Flavor with a few drops of almond flavoring. Bake in small Gem pans, placing a tablespoonful of butter in each. Sift pulverized sugar over tops of cakes. Bake 20 minutes in a _very_ moderate oven. The recipe for these dainty little cakes was given Mary by a friend who, knowing her liking for angel cake, said these were similar in taste.

"ALMOND BROD"

Three-fourths cup sugar, 3 eggs, 2-1/2 tablespoonfuls olive oil 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder, 1/2 cup sweet almonds, pinch of salt. A couple of drops of almond extract.

In a bowl place 3/4 cup of granulated sugar. Add 3 well-beaten eggs, 2 cups of flour sifted with 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix all well together. Add 1 cup whole (blanched) almonds and 2-1/2 tablespoonfuls of good olive oil.

Knead the dough thoroughly. Do not have dough too stiff. Divide the dough into four equal parts, roll each portion of dough on a _well-floured_ bake board into long, narrow rolls. Place the four rolls on a baking sheet over which flour had been previously sifted. Place the rolls a short distance apart and bake in a quick oven about twenty minutes or until light brown on top. On removing the baking sheet from the oven cut rolls at once, while the almonds are still warm, into two-inch pieces. From this recipe was made thirty pieces of almond bread. The olive oil, used as shortening, is not tasted when baked. These are a very good little cake, and not bread, as their name would lead one to suppose.

"GROSSMUTTER'S" HONEY CAKES

One quart of boiled honey (if possible procure the honey used by bakers, as it is much cheaper and superior for this purpose than the clear, strained honey sold for table use). Add to the warm honey two generous tablespoonfuls of butter, yolks of four eggs, two ounces of salaratus (baking soda), dissolved in a very small quantity of vinegar, just enough to moisten the salaratus. Add just enough flour to enable one to stir well with a spoon. Work the dough a half hour and allow it to stand until the following day, when cut cakes from the dough which had been rolled out on the bake-board one-half inch thick. The dough should be only just stiff enough to roll out, as should the dough be _too soft_ the cakes will become hard and crisp, instead of light and spongy, and if too great a quantity of flour is added the cakes will not be good. As the thickening qualities of flour differ, the exact amount required cannot be given. When about to cut out cakes, the bake-board should be well-floured. Cut the cakes the size of the top of a large coffee-cup, or roll out in one-half inch thick on a well-floured baking sheet and mark in small, oblong sections with a knife, they may then be easily broken apart when baked. These cakes should he baked in a moderately hot oven and not a _hot oven_.

These are the real, old-time honey cakes as made by Aunt Sarah's grandmother on a "Bucks County" farm, and Mary's Aunt informed her she still remembered in her earlier days having bought these cakes at "Bucks County" sales or "vendues," as they were then designated.

LEMON WAFERS OR DROP CAKES

2 eggs. 1/2 pound butter. 1/2 pound sugar. 1/2 pound flour. Pinch of salt. Flavor with lemon essence.

Mix the same as other small cakes. Drop spoonfuls quite a distance apart on the cold pan or tin on which they are to be baked as the dough spreads. These are very thin, delicious wafers when baked.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S SUGAR COOKIES

1 cup lard and butter, mixed. 2 cups granulated sugar, and 2 eggs, all creamed together; then add 1 teaspoon soda (mix with a little sour milk). Flavor with vanilla.

Beat all well together. Add flour enough that they may be rolled out, no more. Flour bake-board well; cut dough with cake cutter into small round cakes and bake in a rather quick oven. This recipe will make a large number of cakes if dough be rolled thin as a wafer. Frau Schmidt was able to keep these cakes some time--under lock and key. If cake dough be mixed one day and allowed to stand over night, cakes may be rolled out much more easily and cut thinner.

ALMOND MACAROONS (AS PREPARED BY MARY)

Three eggs (whites only), 3/4 pound of pulverized sugar, 1/2 pound of almond paste (which may be bought ready prepared). Beat eggs very stiff, add other ingredients. Drop teaspoonfuls on a baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven 15 or 20 minutes. Macaroons prepared from this recipe are delicious and resemble those sold by confectioners.

"HONIG KUCHEN" (HONEY CAKES)

Two pounds of flour, 1/2 pound of butter, 2/3 pound of almonds, 2 pounds of honey in liquid form, the grated yellow rind of one lemon, 1/2 teaspoonful of cloves, 1/2 teaspoonful of cinnamon, 1 ounce of hartshorn, dissolved in a small quantity of water. Boil together honey and butter, remove from fire, and when mixture has cooled add the hartshorn, coarsely chopped almonds and flour. Allow this mixture to stand several days, roll out 1/3 inch thick. Cut in small round cakes, place a whole almond in centre of each cake. Bake a light brown in a moderate oven.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S MOLASSES SNAPS

Two cups of New Orleans molasses, 1 cup of lard, 1 tablespoonful of ginger, 1 teaspoonful of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoonful of cloves, 1/2 a grated nutmeg, 1 tablespoonful of saleratus dissolved in a small quantity of hot water. Add enough flour to form a _very_ stiff dough. Stand dough aside until the following day, when roll out very thin on a well-floured bake-board. Cut with a small round cake cutter and bake in a hot oven. These are good, cheap small cakes.

HICKORY NUT CAKES

One cup of hickory nut meals, 1 cup of pulverized sugar, 1 egg, a pinch of salt, 2 teaspoons of flour. Mix all ingredients together. Drop small pieces on a sheet-iron and bake.

"LEBKUCHEN" (AS THE PROFESSOR'S WIFE MADE THEM)

Two pounds of sugar, 8 large eggs, 3/4 pound of almonds (shelled), 1/4 pound of citron, 1/4 of a pound each of candied orange and lemon peel, the grated yellow rind of one lemon, 4 teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful allspice, about 2 pounds flour. Separate the eggs. Cream the yolks of eggs and sugar well together. Then add the almonds (which have been blanched by pouring boiling water over them, when the skins may be readily removed), the citron and lemon peel chopped fine. Then add 1 level teaspoonful of different spices. Then add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs, alternately, with the sifted flour. The recipe called for two pounds of flour, but "Frau" Schmidt said; "She was never able to use the whole amount, so she added just enough flour to prevent the mixture spreading when dropped on the baking sheet by tablespoonfuls."

FRUIT JUMBLES

Two cups sugar, 3 eggs (beaten separately), 1 cup butter, 1 cup milk, 3-1/2 cups flour, 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder, 1/4 of nutmeg, grated, 1 cup currants. Mix all together and bake in a broad, shallow pan. This is similar to Spanish Bun. When cake is cooled, but not cold, cut in two-inch squares or diamonds before removing from the pan in which the cake was baked.

BROWN "PFEFFERNUSSEN"

For these German cakes Frau Schmidt used the following: 3 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of sugar syrup, 1/8 teaspoonful of black pepper, 1/4 pound of lard, 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom powder, 1/4 pound of butter, 1/2 teaspoonful of cloves, 1/2 pound of brown sugar and 2 eggs.

Use as much "Hirschhorn Salz" as can be placed on the point of a knife ("Hirschhorn Salz" translated is carbonate of ammonia and is used for baking purposes). Allow the syrup to heat on the range. Skim off the top. When syrup has cooled mix all ingredients together and stand aside for one week or longer, when form the dough into small balls size of a hickory nut. Place on greased pans and bake half hour in a slow oven.

SMALL OATMEAL CAKES

Cream together 1-1/2 cups of light brown sugar, 1/2 cup of lard and butter, mixed, and the yolk of one egg. Add 1/2 cup of hot water and 3/4 teaspoonful of saleratus (baking soda) dissolved in a little boiling water; add 2-1/2 cups of oatmeal the stiffly beaten white of egg and 2-1/2 cups of white flour. Mix all together. Dredge the bake board with flour, roll thin. Cut out with a small round cake cutter. Sift a little flour over the well-greased baking sheets, on which place cakes and bake in a moderately hot oven.

FRAU SCHMIDT'S RECIPE FOR "GERMAN" ALMOND SLICES

1/2 pound sugar, 1/2 pound butter. 1/2 pound of seeded raisins (chopped). 1/2 pound blanched and chopped almonds. 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful of allspice. Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon. 2 cakes German sweet chocolate, grated. 3 whole eggs and 2 extra whites of eggs. 2 teaspoons baking powder, 3 cups flour. 1 tablespoon vanilla, 2 tablespoons of brandy.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, one at a time. Then add all the ingredients. Mix with flour. Flour bake board and take a handful of dough and roll with the hands in shape of a sausage roll. This quantity of dough makes eight rolls. Place on greased baking sheets a short distance apart, so they will not touch when being baked. Bake them in a _warm_, not hot, oven. Take from the oven when baked and cut while still warm into small slices across the roll. Slices should be about three-quarters of an inch wide. Cover the three sides with the following icing:

Beat together until smooth and creamy 1 cupful of sweet cream, adding enough confectioners' sugar to make it spread.

You may expedite the work by preparing raisins and almonds the day before.

The Professor's wife always served these almond cakes with coffee when she gave a "kaffee klatch" to her country friends.

"JULY ANN'S" GINGER SNAPS

Two cups of molasses (New Orleans), 1 cup of light brown sugar, 1 egg, 1 tablespoonful of soda, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1 tablespoonful of ginger and about 5-1/2 cups of flour.

Place molasses and sugar in a sauce-pan on the range, cook together until sugar is dissolved, no longer.

Mix the soda and vinegar and when foamy add to the sugar and molasses with a portion of the required amount of flour; then add the egg and the flour remaining. Turn dough out on a well-floured bake-board, roll out into a thin sheet and cut out small cakes with a tin cutter. Bake in a moderately hot oven.

No shortening of any kind was used in these cakes. One hundred cakes were baked from the above ingredients.

COCOANUT COOKIES

Three cups of sugar, 1 cup of butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup of sweet milk, 1 cup of grated cocoanut, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Mix all together, sift flour with baking powder, add flour to form a dough just stiff enough to roll out, no more. Cut with a small tin cake cutter into round cakes and bake.

CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Two cups of white sugar, 1 cup of grated, unsweetened chocolate, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of butter, 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder. Flavor with vanilla. Mix together sugar, butter and eggs, add melted chocolate and flour to stiffen, just enough flour being used to allow of their being cut with a cake cutter. The baking powder should have been sifted with a small amount of flour before adding.

SMALL "BELSNICKEL" CHRISTMAS CAKES

2 cups "A" sugar. Pinch of salt. 1 cup melted butter. 1 teaspoonful baking soda. 4 eggs. About 3 cups of flour.

Mix in just enough flour so the cake dough may be rolled out quite thin on a floured board, using as little flour as possible. Cut out small cakes and bake lightly in a moderately hot oven.

The butter, when melted, should fill one cup; pour it over the two cups of sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy; add the eggs, beating one at a time into the mixture. Sift the teaspoonful of baking soda several times through the flour before adding to the cake mixture. Stand this dough in a cold place one hour at least before cutting out cakes. No flavoring is used. Sift granulated sugar thickly over cakes before placing them in oven to bake.

From these ingredients were made over one hundred cakes. One-half this recipe might be used for a small family. The cakes keep well in a dry, cool place.

This old recipe of Aunt Sarah's mother derived its name "Belsnickel" from the fact that the Belsnickels, who invariably visited the houses of "Bucks County" farmers on Christmas Eve, were always treated to some of these delicious little Christmas cakes.

"PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH" KISSES

One cup of pulverized sugar, whites of 3 eggs, 1 heaping cup of nut meats (Mary used hickory nut meats), a pinch of salt. To the very stiffly beaten whites of eggs add sugar, salt and lastly the nut meats. Drop teaspoonfuls of this batter on a greased, floured baking tin. Bake in a moderate oven.

LITTLE CRUMB CAKES

For these small cakes Aunt Sarah creamed together 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter. One quite large egg was used. The egg yolk was added to the creamed sugar and butter and thoroughly beaten, then scant 1/2 cup of milk was added, and one heaping cup of fine dried bread crumbs sifted with 3/4 teaspoonful of baking powder and 1/4 cup of finely chopped or rolled _black_ walnut meats. Lastly, add the stiffly beaten white of egg. Flavor with grated nutmeg. Bake in small muffin pans in a moderate oven. This makes nine small cakes. No flour is used in these cakes, but, instead of flour, bread crumbs are used.

DELICIOUS VANILLA WAFERS (AS MARY MADE THEM)

1/4 pound of butter. 1/4 pound of flour. 1/4 pound of sugar. 2 eggs.

Cream together butter and sugar, add yolks of eggs, beat well, then add stiffly beaten whites of eggs and flour alternately.