FRENCH ALMOND CAKE

Six ounces of shelled sweet almonds. Three ounces of shelled bitter almonds, or peach-kernels. Three ounces of sifted flour, dried near the fire. Fourteen eggs. One pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Twelve drops of essence of lemon.

Blanch the almonds, by scalding them in hot water. Put them in a bowl of cold water, and wipe them dry, when you take them out. Pound them, one at a time, in a mortar, till they are perfectly smooth. Mix the sweet and bitter almonds together. Prepare them, if possible the day before the cake is made. [Footnote: While pounding the almonds, pour in occasionally a little rose-water. It makes them much lighter.]

Put the whites and yolks of the eggs, into separate pans. Beat the whites till they stand alone, and then the yolks till they are very thick.

Put the sugar, gradually, to the yolks, beating it in very hard. Add, by degrees, the almonds, still beating very hard. Then put in the essence of lemon. Next, beat in, gradually, the whites of the eggs, continuing to beat for some time after they are all in. Lastly, stir in the flour, as slowly and lightly, as possible.

Butter a large tin mould or pan. Put the cake in and bake it in a very quick oven, an hour or more according to its thickness.

The oven must on no account be hotter at the top, than at the bottom.

When done, set it on a sieve to cool.

Ice it, and ornament it with nonpareils.

These almond cakes are generally baked in a turban-shaped mould, and the nonpareils put on, in spots or sprigs.

A pound of almonds in the shells (if the shells are soft and thin,) will generally yield half a pound when shelled. Hard, thick-shelled almonds, seldom yield much more than a quarter of a pound, and should therefore never be bought for cakes or puddings.

Bitter almonds and peach-kernels can always be purchased with the shells off.

Families should always save their peach-kernels, as they can be used in cakes, puddings and custards.

MACCAROONS.

Half a pound of shelled sweet almonds. A quarter of a pound of shelled bitter almonds. The whites of three eggs. Twenty-four large tea-spoonfuls of powdered loaf-sugar. A tea-spoonful of rose-water. A large tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace and cinnamon.

Blanch and pound your almonds, beat them very smooth, and mix the sweet and bitter together; do them, if you can, the day before you make the maccaroons. Pound and sift your spice. Beat the whites of three eggs till they stand alone; add to them, very gradually, the powdered sugar, a spoonful at a time, beat it in very hard, and put in, by degrees, the rose-water and spice. Then stir in, gradually, the almonds. The mixture must be like a soft dough; if too thick, it will be heavy; if too thin, it will run out of shape. If you find your almonds not sufficient, prepare a few more, and stir them in. When it is all well mixed and stirred, put some flour in the palm of your hand, and taking up a lump of the mixture with a knife, roll it on your hand with the flour into a small round ball; have ready an iron or tin pan, buttered, and lay the maccaroons in it, as you make them up. Place them about two inches apart, in case of their spreading. Bake them about eight or ten minutes in a moderate oven; they should be baked of a pale brown colour. If too much baked, they will lose their flavour; if too little, they will be heavy. They should rise high in the middle, and crack on the surface. You may, if you choose, put a larger proportion of spice. [Footnote: Cocoa-nut cakes may be made in a similar manner, substituting for the pounded almonds half a pound of finely-grated cocoa-nut. They mast be made into small round balls with a little flour laid on the palm of the hand, and baked a few minutes. They are very fine.]

A pound of flour, sifted. Half a pound of butter. Half a glass of wine, and a table-spoon of rose-water mixed. Half a pound of powdered white sugar. A nutmeg, grated. A tea-spoonful of beaten cinnamon and mace. Three table-spoonfuls of carraway seeds.

Sift the flour into a broad pan, and cut up the butter in it. Add the carraways, sugar, and spice, and pour in the liquor by degrees, mixing it well with a knife; add enough of cold water to make it a stiff dough. Spread some flour on your pasteboard, take out the dough, and knead it very well with your hands. Cut it into small pieces, and knead each separately, then put them all together, and knead the whole in one lump. Roll it out in a sheet about a quarter of an inch thick. Cut it out in round cakes, with the edge of a tumbler, or a tin of that size. Butter an iron pan, and lay the cakes in it, not too close together. Bake them a few minutes in a moderate oven, till they are very slightly coloured, but not brown. If too much baked, they will entirely lose their flavour. Do not roll them out too thin.

Three eggs. Half a pound of flour, sifted. Half a pound of butter. Half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. A table-spoonful of rose-water. A nutmeg grated. A tea-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon.

Stir the sugar and butter to a cream. Beat the eggs very light. Throw them, all at once, into the pan of flour. Put in, at once, the butter and sugar, and then add the spice and rose-water. If you have no rose-water, substitute six or seven drops of strong essence of lemon, or more if the essence is weak. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife.

Spread some flour on your paste-board, and flour your hands well. Take up with your knife, a portion of the dough, and lay it on the board. Roll it lightly with your hands, into long shin rolls, which must be cut into equal lengths, curled up into rings, and laid gently into an iron or tin pan, buttered, not too close to each other, as they spread in baking. Bake them in a quick oven about five minutes, and grate loaf-sugar over them when cool.

One pound of the best loaf sugar, powdered and sifted. The whites of four eggs. Twelve drops of essence of lemon. A tea-cup of currant jelly.

Beat the whites of four eggs till they stand alone. Then heat in, gradually, the sugar, a tea-spoonful at a time. Add the essence of lemon, and beat the whole very hard.

Lay a wet sheet of paper on the bottom of a square tin pan. Drop on it, at equal distances, a small tea-spoonful of stiff currant jelly. [Footnote: It is better to put a little of the beaten white of egg and sugar at first under the currant jelly.] With a large spoon, pile some of the beaten white of egg and sugar, on each lump of jelly, so as to cover it entirely. Drop on the mixture as evenly as possible, so as to make the kisses of a round smooth shape.

Set them in a cool open, and as soon as they are coloured, they are done. Then take them out and place them two bottoms together. Lay them lightly on sieve, and dry them in a cool oven, till the two bottoms stick fast together, so as to form one ball or oval.