Method.—Beat the butter to a cream; stir in the flour, sugar and caraway seeds; and when these ingredients are well mixed, add the eggs, which should be well whisked. Roll out the paste, cut out the buscuits with a round cutter, set them on to clean greased baking-sheets, and bake them in a moderate oven from 10 to 15 minutes. The tops of the biscuits may be brushed over with a little milk or the white of an egg, and a little sugar strewn over.
Time.—10 to 15 minutes. Average Cost,—1s. Sufficient to make 3 dozen biscuits.
3337.—SIMPLE HARD BISCUITS.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, 2 ozs. of butter, about ½ a pint of skimmed milk.
Method.—Warm the butter in the milk, until the former is dissolved, then mix it with the flour into a very stiff paste; beat it with a rolling pin until the dough looks perfectly smooth. Roll it out thin; cut out the paste with a plain round cutter; prick the rounds well with a fork and bake them from 6 to 10 minutes. The above is the proportion of milk estimated to convert the flour into a stiff paste; but should it be found too much, an extra spoonful or two of flour must be put in. These biscuits are very nice for the cheese course.
Time.—6 to 10 minutes. Average Cost, 6d. Sufficient for 3 dozen biscuits.
3338.—SODA BISCUITS.
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, ½ a lb. of castor sugar, ¼ of a lb. of fresh butter, 2 eggs, 1 small teaspoonful of carbonate of soda.
Method.—Put the flour into a clean basin, rub in the butter and sugar, make a hole in the centre, break the eggs and beat them up well with a wire egg whisk, dissolve the soda in a little water, turn all the ingredients together into the hole, and wet up into rather a soft paste, using a little milk if necessary. Turn out on to the board, dry over, and roll down in sheets about a ¼ of an inch thick, cut out with a small plain round cutter, set on to clean greased baking-plates, and bake in a warm oven.
Time.—12 to 18 minutes. Average Cost, 10d. Sufficient to make about 3 dozen cakes.
3339.—VIRGINIA BISCUITS.
Ingredients.—Take 1½ lbs. of flour, 1 tablespoonful of butter, 1 tablespoonful of lard, 1 teaspoonful of salt, cold water.
