Chap. XV. – Gingerbreads, &c., pp.167-170.

[Gingerbreads, &c. Contents]

Fine Gingerbread.

	lib.	oz.
Treacle	8	0
Flour	12	0
Orange Peel	2, 3, or 4	0
Fresh Butter	1	8
Ground Ginger	0	4
Ground Jamaica Pepper	0	5
Caraway Seeds	0	8
Pot, or Pearl Ashes	0	6
Alum	0	2

   Rub the butter very fine into the flour and then mix in the fruits and spiceries, afterwards the treacle; wash out the dish with water, in which dissolve the ashes; then melt the alum in a little water on the fire, mix all well together, and form it into loaves, cakes, &c. 

Or,

Put the flour, fruits, and spiceries, into a deep can, put the treacle into a pan and set it on the fire with the butter. When the butter is dissolved pour it into the flour; dissolve the ashes into the pan with two gills of water, which also pour in, melt the alum with one gill water, which also add, then mix all well together; let it lie forty-eight hours, then work it well on the table, and mould it into any size you please. 

Gingerbread Nuts.

   Take a pint of treacle, two pounds raw sugar, a peck, or eight pounds flour, one pound of butter, six ounces ashes, and spiceries as before, with fruits according as you want it rich, and proceed as already directed. This makes most excellent cakes, or nuts. 

   N. B. The orange peel put into the above composition should be cut in narrow stripes of one inch long. The frames they are baked in should be rubbed over with melted butter, and before putting the loaves and cakes into the oven brush them over with an egg whipped up; and if the gloss is not very perceptible when they are baked, go over them with a brush dipped in a little raw sugar and water, immediately upon taking them out of the oven. From the above list of the ingredients, any quantity may be made by taking the half, the fourth, or eighth part of each. 

German Gingerbread.

	lib.	oz.
Flour	6	0
Pot Ashes	0	3
Treacle	4	0
Alum	0	1
Spiceries.

   Melt the pot ashes in hot water and mix it with the treacle; lay down the flour, make a hollow in the middle to hold the treacle, mix all together, dissolve the alum by itself and work it in; set it aside till next day, work it over again and mould it. 

Fine Gingerbread Nuts.

	lib.	oz.
Flour	6	0
Treacle	4	0
Orange Peel, cut	1	8
Jamaica Pepper	0	4
Raw Sugar	3	0
Fresh Butter	0	2
Ground Ginger	6	0
Caraway Seeds	0	4

   Bruise the sugar fine, and cast it light with the butter, then add the treacle, then the flour and spiceries, &c.; form them into nuts and place them upon buttered tins. 

Brown Quality.

	lib.	oz.
Flour	6	0
Treacle	4	8
Ginger Ground	0	2
Pot Ash	0	3
Alum	0	2
Caraway Seeds	0	2

   Melt the alum with a gill of water, in a brass pan large enough to hold the treacle; when dissolved put in the treacle and let it be near boiling, then take it off and let it cool a little. Mix in half of the flour, dissolve the ashes in two gills of water, which also add and work the whole well together with more flour; let it stand all night, and next morning work in what remains of the flour to a proper stiffness; roll it out into large cakes the thickness wanted, about a quarter of an inch, so that the cutter may not cut through it altogether, but mark it deeply; then cut them out in squares with the cutter, lay them on tins, and brush them over with a mixture of raw sugar and water. 

White Quality.

	lib.	oz.	dr.
Flour	8	0	0
Fresh Butter	2	0	0
Raw Sugar	3½	0	0
Salt of Tartar	0	1	4
Milk, 1 quart (or choppin).

   Melt the butter, mix in the sugar and flour with the milk, dissolve the tartar in nearly half a gill water, which add to the milk; work all up together and let it lie forty-eight hours. Work it well and roll it out thin, as directed for brown quality; cut it in shapes, brush them over with milk, and bake them in a slow oven. They are also named American pot ash cakes, as any alkali will answer as well as salt of tartar, or crystals of soda. They require a brisk oven. 

Orange Sponge.

   This very curious dish is thus made. Dissolve two ounces picked isinglass in a pint (mutchkin) of water, in a pan over the fire, and put in the thin rhind of a bitter orange or lemon; strain it while hot, and add the juice of five or six China oranges, one lemon, and four bitter oranges, with sugar to your palate. Whisk the whole together quickly for nearly an hour, or till it looks like sponge, then fill your mould, or moulds. It will be tolerably firm in a few hours, but it should remain at least twelve hours.