Food History

Today’s recipes come from a book with such a long title that I rather think it introduces itself.

THE COMPLETE CONFECTIONER, PASTRY-COOK. AND BAKER.
PLAIN AND PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING CONFECTIONARY AND PASTRY, AND FOR BAKING;
WITH UPWARDS OF FIVE HUNDRED RECEIPTS:
CONSISTING OF DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING ALL SORTS OF PRESERVES,
SUGAR-BOILING, COMFITS, LOZENGES, ORNAMENTAL CAKES, ICES LIQUEURS, WATERS, GUM-PASTE ORNAMENTS SYRUPS, JELLIES, MARMALADES, COMPOTES, BREAD-BAKING, ARTIFICIAL YEASTS, FANCY BISCUITS, CAKES, ROLLS, MUFFINS, TARTS, PIES, &c. &c.
WITH ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS, BY PARKINSON,
Practical Confectioner, Chestnut Street.
PHILADELPHIA: J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO. 1864.

FANCY BISCUITS.

American. -Rub half a pound of butter into four pounds of flour, add a full pint of milk, or water; well wet them up; break your dough well, and bake them in a hot oven.

Brighton. -Take one pound and a quarter of good moist sugar, and roll it till it is fine; then pass it through a sieve with two pounds and a half of flour; rub in two ounces of butter; make a hole in the middle; strew in a few caraway seeds; pour in half a pint of honey-water, and a quarter of a pint of milk; beat it well with your hand till about half the flour is incorporated; then mix it together; roll it out in thin sheets; cut them out, and place them on your buttered tins about two inches apart; wash with a little beer; and bake them in a good steady heat.

Buttered. -Rub one pound of butter into seven pounds of flour; wet up with one quart of warm water, and half a pint of good yeast; break down smooth; prove your dough well; and bake in a strong heat.

Captains. -Rub four ounces of butter into seven pounds of flour; wet up with a quart of water; break your dough smooth; and bake in a good strong heat.

Drop. -Warm your pan; then put in one pound of powdered loaf sugar and eight eggs; beat it with a whisk till it becomes milk-warm; then beat it till it is cold; stir in a pound of sugar, two ounces of fine sifted flour, with about half an ounce of caraway seeds; put your batter into the bladder, and drop it through the pipe, in quantities about the size of a nutmeg, on wafer-paper; sift sugar over the top, and bake in a quick oven.

Filbert. -Rub a pound of butter into three pounds and a half of flour; make a hole, and put in ten ounces of powdered loaf sugar; wet up with four table-spoonsful of honey water, one of orange-flower water, and three-quarters of a pint of milk; break your dough smooth; mould them as large as a nutmeg, and as round as you can; cut them twice across the top each way, about half through, with a sharp knife; place them on your tin; and bake them in a steady heat.

Queens. -Rub one pound of butter into two pounds of flour; mix one pound of powdered sugar with it; then make a hole and pour in a quarter of a pint of milk, to mix it up with; you may add a few caraways, if you choose; roll the paste in sheets of the thickness of a halfpenny; cut them with an oval to about the size of an egg; place them on clean tins, but see that they do not quite touch, prick them with a fork, and bake them in a slow oven till they begin to change colour; when they are cold, they will be crisp.

Rout. -Powder one pound of loaf sugar, and soak it in three parts of half a pint of milk; let it stand two hours; then add two tablespoonsful of honey water, and one egg; rub half a pound of butter into two pounds of flour; make a hole in it, and mix it up with your sugar and milk. Or you may rub half a pound of butter into two pounds of flour, make a hole and put one pound of powdered sugar in the middle; then pour in three parts of half a pint of milk, and two tablespoonsful of honey water; mix it up together; let it lie ten minutes; cut it out, and place them in buttered tins, see they do not touch; wash with milk, and bake quickly.

Drops. -Take half a tea-cup of water, six eggs, and one pound of sifted loaf sugar-whisk them together till thick; then add a few caraway seeds, and eighteen ounces of flour-mix it lightly together, and drop the mixture on wafer-paper, about the size of a small walnut; sift sugar over them, and bake in a hot oven.

Cinnamon Biscuit. -Grind in a clean mortar a quarter of a pound of sweet almonds, blanched; to which add, gradually, the whites of three eggs, and then three-quarters of a pound of the best pulverized loaf sugar, and two ounces of ground cinnamon; form into a paste, which should be laid out on greased tins, in diamond or other shapes; ice with cold water, to produce a gloss, and bake.

Vanilla Biscuit. -Beat with a whisk the whites of ten eggs to a very strong froth, add three-quarters of a pound of finely-pulverized loaf sugar, ten ounces of sifted flour, three cloves of vanilla pulverized with three ounces of loaf sugar. Stir all these ingredients together for one minute, and put the batter into paper bag or cornet; lay out on waxed tins, and bake in a moderate oven.

Lady Fingers. -Put the yolks of four eggs in a small basin with four ounces of pounded sugar, on which you have grated the peel of one good fresh lemon; work this well with a spatula for five minutes; after which beat up the whites of the four eggs, and when they are very stiff, pour a fourth part of them on the yolks, which you afterwards mix with the remainder of the whites, with the addition of two ounces of sifted flour, stirring continually, to make the whole very smooth.

Then form your biscuits on half sheets of white paper, folded in such a manner that they are only three inches in length, and no larger than your finger. As soon as one sheet is full, cover your biscuits with fine sugar, and place on a baking-plate, which you put in the oven as soon as the surface of the biscuits become glossy by the melting of the sugar. Bake in a moderate oven, and when they have acquired a fine colour take them out; when sufficiently cool, remove from the paper by moistening the opposite side, or with the blade of a very thin knife. Place them afterwards two and two, with their backs to each other, in order not to injure the glossy sides.

Biscuit à la Cuillière (Spoon Biscuit). -Mix the yolks of three eggs with four ounces of fine sugar and half a clove of vanilla, powdered and passed through a silk sieve; after working these ingredients for five minutes, add a whole egg, then work them again for five minutes; after which add another whole egg, and continue to work them for five minutes longer; then beat up the whites of the first three eggs to a very stiff froth, and mix them, together with two ounces of dried and finely-sifted flour, to the former ingredients: when the batter is quite sleek, lay out on paper, and bake as Lady-fingers.

Small Biscuits with Almonds. -Prepare three yolks as usual; work them ten minutes with four ounces of sugar and an ounce of pounded bitter almonds; add a whole egg, and work together full five minutes longer; then beat up the whites very stiff, and mix them with the yolks, together with one ounce and a half of wheat flour dried in the oven and passed through a fine sieve: work this batter till it is quite sleek, and then pour it in small copper moulds formed like small melons, carefully buttered and covered twice with sugar. Mask the biscuit with fine sugar, and bake in a moderate oven.

Biscuits with Cream. -After mixing the yolks of three eggs with four ounces of fine sugar, (on which half the peel of a small lemon has been grated), work the mixture for ten minutes; then beat up the three whites as usual; mix them gradually with the yolks, together with one ounce and a half of dried sifted flour, and four spoonsful of whipped cream, well drained: the whole being lightly mixed together and very sleek, put it in moulds or cases, covering the tops of the biscuits with fine sugar; when the sugar is melted, put the biscuits in a gentle oven, and let them bake twenty or twenty-five minutes. When taken out of the oven, be careful to put them on their sides to prevent their sinking.