BANBURY CAKES

First, mix well together a pound of currants, cleaned with great nicety and dried, a quarter-pound of beef suet, finely minced, three ounces each of candied orange and lemon-rind, shred small, a few grains of salt, a full quarter-ounce of pounded cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, and four ounces of macaroons or ratafias rolled to powder. Next, make a light paste with fourteen ounces of butter to the pound of flour; give it an extra turn or two to prevent its rising too much in the oven; roll out one half in a very thin square, and spread the mixed fruit and spice equally upon it; moisten the edges, lay on the remaining half of the paste, rolled equally thin, press the edges securely together, mark the whole with the back of a knife in regular divisions of two inches wide and three in length, bake the pastry in a well-heated oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, and divide it into cakes while it is still warm. They may be served as a second course dish either hot or cold, and may be glazed at pleasure.

Currants, 1 lb.; beef-suet, 4 oz.; candied orange and lemon-rind each, 3 oz.; salt, small pinch; mixed spices, 1/4 oz.; macaroons or ratafias, 4 oz.: baked 25 to 30 minutes.

MERINGUES.

Whisk, to the firmest possible froth, the whites of six very fresh eggs, taking every precaution against a particle of the yolk falling in amongst them. Lay some squares or long strips of writing-paper closely upon a board or upon very clean trenchers, which ought to be nearly or quite an inch thick, to prevent the _meringues_ from receiving any colour from the bottom of the oven. When all is ready, mix with the eggs three-quarters of a pound of the finest sugar, well dried, and sifted; stir them together for half a minute, then with a table or dessertspoon lay the mixture quickly on the papers in the form of a half-egg, sift sugar over them without delay, blow off with the bellows all that does not adhere, and set the _meringues_ into a gentle oven. The process must be expeditious, or the sugar melting will cause the cakes to spread, instead of retaining the shape of the spoon, as they ought. The whole art of making them, indeed, appears to us to consist in preserving their proper form, and the larger the proportion of sugar worked into the eggs, the more easily this will be done. When they are coloured to a light brown, and are firm to the touch, draw them out, turn the papers gently over, separating the _meringues_ from them, and with a teaspoon scoop out sufficient of the insides to form a space for some whipped cream or preserve, and put them again into the oven upon clean sheets of paper, with the moist sides uppermost, to dry: when they are crisp through they are done. Let them become cold; fill, and then join them together with a little white of egg so as to give them the appearance shown in the plate. Spikes of pistachio nuts, or almonds, can be stuck over them, as represented there, at pleasure. They afford always, if well made, a second course dish of elegant appearance, and they are equally ornamental to breakfasts or suppers of ceremony. They are made in perfection by the pastry-cooks in France, being equally light, delicate, and delicious. Much of thei

Whites of very fresh eggs, 6; sugar, 3/4 lb.: gentle oven, 20 to 30 minutes.