Part 48

Bottle for use. It will keep indefinitely.

WHITE CAKE

1 Tablespoon of butter. 1 Cup of sugar (powdered). 1¼ Cups of pastry flour. ½ Teaspoon of soda. 1 Teaspoon of cream of tartar. Whites of four eggs. ¼ Teaspoon of almond extract, or 1 Teaspoon of rose-water.

Proceed, as with all cake mixtures, by getting everything ready before beginning to mix any of the ingredients, not forgetting the fire. Then cream the butter with the sugar, and add the milk to it slowly, so that the cream shall not break. Beat the whites of the eggs very stiff. Then to the butter, sugar, etc., add the flour, with which the cream of tartar and soda have been sifted at least four times, and the flavoring; last, fold in the whites of the eggs, and bake in a round loaf for an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half in a slow oven.

DREAM CAKE

Make a white cake mixture. Bake it in shallow layer-cake pans, in a moderate, not slow, oven. Join them with a caramel filling, and frost the top with the same, or use White Mountain frosting instead of the caramel, flavored with rose-water, and left either white, or colored a delicate shell pink with carmine.

CAKE FILLING AND FROSTING

WHITE MOUNTAIN FROSTING

Boil together, without stirring, one cup of granulated sugar with one third of a cup of boiling water, for eight or ten minutes. When the sugar has been boiling five minutes, beat the white of one egg until it is very light. Then test the sugar mixture by letting a little run off the side of a spoon. If in falling it forms a delicate thread, it is just at the point to stop the boiling. When it has reached this point, pour it at once into the beaten egg in a small stream, stirring the egg constantly to keep it smooth. Continue stirring for two or three minutes until it begins to thicken, then spread it either between layer cakes for filling, or use it for frosting.

CARAMEL FILLING

1 Cup of brown sugar. ¼ Cup of sweet cream. 1 Teaspoon of butter.

Boil all together until it threads, stirring it slowly as it boils. It will take about eight minutes. Use either for frosting or filling.

CHOCOLATE ICING

½ Cup of sugar. 4 Tablespoons of water. 2 Eggs. 1 Ounce of chocolate, or 1 Tablespoon of Dutch cocoa. 1 Teaspoon of vanilla.

Boil the sugar, water, and chocolate together, two minutes, to render the chocolate smooth. Then add the beaten eggs. Cook two minutes more, stirring slowly and gently. Add the vanilla just as it is taken from the fire, and use at once, as it becomes firm quickly. It is good either for icing cakes or for filling.

CREAM FILLING

Make a cream sauce with one cup of milk, a tablespoon of butter, and a tablespoon of flour. Beat one egg with half a cup of sugar, and stir it into the sauce slowly. Cook for two minutes, or until the egg is done. It should look like a thick smooth cream. Flavor it with a piece of cinnamon bark boiled in the milk, or with vanilla or almond. Use this cream for filling, for layer cakes, or split a thin sponge cake in two, and spread it between the halves.

DIET LISTS OR MENUS FOR THE SICK

Diet for the sick may be divided into three kinds: Liquid, Light, and Convalescent's or Invalid's Diet.

Liquid diet consists entirely of liquids, of which milk is the most valuable. The meat broths (those made with beef, chicken, and mutton), oyster and clam broth, albumen water, eggs in the form of egg-nog, egg cream, and mulled wine, and tea and coffee are excellent. To this list may be added, as the patient shows signs of recovery, soft custards, and jellies made with wine, lemon, coffee, or orange-juice, which quickly become liquid when eaten.

A patient is given liquid diet during times of severe and dangerous illness. Usually the amount of food and intervals at which it is to be given are prescribed by the physician.

The following table may be of assistance to those who are without such aid:

LIQUID DIET

No. 1

8 A. M. Hot milk ¾ of a cup 10 A. M. Hot coffee with cream and a little sugar ½ of a cup 12 M. Beef-juice 2 tablespoons 2 P. M. Warm milk ¾ of a cup 4 P. M. Wine whey ½ of a cup 6 P. M. Hot milk ¾ of a cup 8 P. M. Hot cocoa ¾ of a cup

No. 2

8 A. M. Hot milk ¾ of a cup 10 A. M. Chicken broth ¾ of a cup 12 M. Egg-nog ½ tumbler 2 P. M. Milk ¾ of a cup 4 P. M. Hot tea with cream and sugar ¾ of a cup 6 P. M. Chicken broth ¼ of a cup 8 P. M. Hot milk ¾ of a cup

No. 3