Chap. XX – Pancakes and Fritters, pp.417-421.

General Observations.

GREAT care should be taken that the frying pan is quite clean; take a bit of butter, or fresh lard, melt and make it touch every part of the pan, then pour it out, and wipe the pan with a cloth; put in a little more butter or lard, and when it is a pale brown put in a large spoonful of the batter, or as much as will cover the bottom of the pan, either thick or thin as you incline; make it spread quickly over; when all is firm, shake it to loosen the cake, turn it by a quick toss of the pan and do the other side; then fold it up with a knife, lay it on a dish before the fire, put in a piece more butter, and so proceed; they should be served hot, a few at a time.

Common Pancakes.

Beat six eggs light, make it thick with flour, stirring till it is perfectly smooth, reduce it to a proper thinness with milk, and season it with a little salt; they require a good piece of butter to fry them, and are served with sugar strewed over. In place of eggs they may be made with brisk table beer, or snow, allowing two spoonfuls of snow for each egg required; but either, as may be supposed, form a very poor substitute.

Cream Pancakes.

Take the yolks of four eggs, beat up with four ounces pounded sugar, add pounded cinnamon, nutmeg or cloves, to your taste; stir in a pint (mutchkin) of cream, and a little flour; make them very thin.

Fine Pancakes.

To six eggs beat light add four gills cream, four ounces sugar, and four ounces butter melted, with nutmeg and cinnamon to taste; stir in as much flour as will make the batter a proper thickness.

A Quire of Paper Pancakes.

Take four gills cream, six eggs whipt light, three spoonfuls flour, three spoonfuls of wine, one of orange [flower] water, sugar and spiceries, eight ounces butter, melted and made almost cold; mix all well together, butter the pan for the first pancake, let them run over the bottom of the pan as thin as brown paper, and when just coloured they are ready. As they will not bear turning, they should be quickly toasted in the frying pan before the fire, and then folded up.

Pink or Rose Coloured Pancakes.

Boil a large beet root tender, peel and beat it fine in a stone mortar, add the yolks of five eggs, with two spoonfuls sugar, a little cinnamon and nutmeg; stir in the beet root, two spoonfuls of flour, a glass of brandy, two gills of cream; mix all well together, fry them with butter; garnish with sweetmeats, sprigs of myrtle, or flowers. They make a very pretty side or corner dish. A little lake or rosepink, answers fully better than beet for colouring this dish.

Fritters.

To a pound of new made curds mix in six eggs beaten light, with sugar, a little salt, and as much flour as will make it pretty thick; set it on the fire in a saucepan, stir constantly until it is thick, dust flour upon a clean table or flat dish, pour it out and let it cool; cut it in pieces of any shape you please, fry them with butter a good colour, glaze them or not as you fancy. This composition, when mixed with pounded almonds, nuts, orange or lemon peel, &c. takes the name of the article put in; as, almond fritters, &c.

Plain Fritters.

Grate down the crumb of a twopenny loaf, add four gills of milk, set it on the fire to boil and stir till it is smooth; when cold, add the yolks of six eggs, beaten with sugar and spiceries to taste; drop it in the frying pan and make them a pale brown; serve with pudding sauce, and pounded sugar over them.

Custard Fritters,

Is a custard made the usual way with the addition of some flour, and baked; when cold cut in slices, dipped in a batter made with rich milk, eggs, and flour to thicken it, seasoned with sugar and spiceries, then fried in butter, lard, or beef dripping.

Spanish Fritters.

Take the crumb of a French roll, cut it in strips the thickness of your finger, soak in the composition ordered for custards, then fry them a good brown, and serve up with a pudding sauce.

Apple Fritters.

Pare and core the apples, cut them in thin slices, dip them in any of the batters under the head boiled puddings, fry, and serve with pudding sauce and sugar strewed over.

Potatoes boiled and sliced, then dipped in a batter as above eat very nice.

Potatoe Fritters.

Boil, peel, and beat half a pound of potatoes very fine in a mortar, with four eggs, a gill of cream, a spoonful of wine, a little lemon juice and spiceries; beat the batter very light for a considerable time; put a good piece of lard into the frying pan, drop a spoonful of the batter in spots all over the bottom, and fry them a nice brown; serve with a sauce made of lemon juice, wine, and the liquor of a few bitter almonds, blanched and pounded with water.

Fritters Royal.

Put a quart (choppin) of new milk into a saucepan, when the milk boils pour in a pint (mutchkin) wine, let it boil up, take it off, let it stand a few minutes, take out all the curd, put it in a basin and beat it with six eggs; season with nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon, then whisk it light; add flour to make it into a batter, sweeten and then fry them; do it quickly.

Almond Fritters or Fraize.

Blanch and pound half a pound of Jordan almonds with half a pint (half a mutchkin) of cream, beat the yolks of six and the whites of three eggs, mix all together, stir in as much grated bread as will make it a proper thickness, add sugar to taste, also spiceries if you chuse; put a good piece of butter into the frying pan, pour in the batter, keep stirring it till it is thick, then turn it into a dish and strew sugar over it.

Cream Toasts.

Cut two French rolls into slices, not too thin, lay them in a dish, pour over them a pint and a half (three half mutchkins) cream or rich milk, strew over pounded cinnamon and sugar to your taste; after soaking some time, turn them with a fish slice, that they may be soaked through, then lift them out carefully, not to break them; beat four eggs in a basin, into which dip and turn the slices, then fry them a good brown with fresh or clarified butter, grate some sugar over them, then serve. They answer well for a second course, or supper dish.