370 
[December, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
A Christinas Pie. 
Molasses Candy. 
Our experienced correspondent, J. Crozer, 
sends the following description of the w ay to 
make a good article, which will he welcome to 
all who have not yet lost them “ sweet teeth 
Candy can only be made from sugar; when 
molasses is boiled, the sugar it contains, is 
brought to a solid condition, and, of course, the 
more sugar there is in the molasses, the better 
the prospect of getting “ candy.” Much molass¬ 
es, so called, is composed principally of water, 
colored with a little charcoal or carbon, the su¬ 
gar is wanting, and you will not succeed in mak¬ 
ing candy from such an article, unless sugar be 
added to it. To make a “ prime article,” get 
molasses of a light color, rich in sugar, put it in 
a pan, and set it over the fire; confectioners use 
copper pans. The pan should not be more 
than half full, as it is very liable to boil over at 
first. To prevent this in soihe degree, add a 
little piece of butter—perhaps half the size of a 
hickory nut, whenever it boils near the top, and 
be ready to take it from the fire, if that should 
fail. When it fairly gets to boiling, there is not 
so much danger of its running over. 
To ascertain when it is boiled enough, drop 
a little into cold water, and as soon as it has 
beeome cold, try it with the teeth. If it 
bites tough, it is not boiled enough, but if it 
cracks between the teeth, and seems very brit¬ 
tle, it is done. Then immediately take it from 
the fire, and pour it on something to cool, and 
you have molasses candy. In proportion as it 
is boiled to this degree, it will require more 
careful watching to prevent burning. Do not 
let it boil as rapidly, and try it oftener, until it 
cracks and snaps between the teeth or fingers. 
Sometimes alittle saleratus is added to the candy 
to make it lighter, and more brittle. If it be used, 
have it finely pulverized, and as soon as the 
molasses is boiled enough, take it off the fire, 
sprinkle in the saleratus, stir it quickly for a 
moment, and pour it out. The color is unproved 
by “working” the candy; that is, when it is 
cooled enough to handle, taking a lump, stret ch¬ 
ing it out and folding it together repeatedly, 
until it is sufficiently w r hite. A little lard on the 
hands prevents sticking. Confectioners have a 
large hook over their table, over Avhicli the lump 
is thrown and pulled, and doubled and pulled 
again, until finished. Mo flour is added to 
whiten it, .as some suppose; the light color is due 
to the thorough working. 
-- ■a o ^ gw - - 
Best mode of Drying Pumpkins and 
.Squashes. 
The common method of cutting into rings and 
drying on poles is far inferior to another plan 
which was partly described in a former volume 
of th c American Agriculturist, and which we have 
practiced for several seasons past. The pump¬ 
kins, or squashes, are pared and cut in pieces and 
cooked thoroughly in as little water as will suf¬ 
fice to keep them from burning. After they are 
well done the water is mostly dried off with 
a gentle heat. The mass is then rubbed through 
a sieve or colander, and spread out on plates. 
It is soon dried before the fire, or in an oven 
kept at a very moderate warmth so as not to in¬ 
jure the flavor. The dried sheets peel off readi¬ 
ly, and may be kept any length of time. When 
desired for use it is simply soaked in milk It 
gives a good flavored pulp, and makes pies quite 
as rich as the fresh pumpkins or squashes. 
Before plum pudding was invented, a mam¬ 
moth pie for Christmas was considered indis¬ 
pensable in every English family. An old wri¬ 
ter says of it, “ It is a great nostrum ; the com¬ 
position of this pasty is a most learned mixture 
of neats’ tongues, chicken, eggs, sugar, raisins, 
lemon and orange peel, various kinds of spicery, 
etc.” Another writer mentions that the chief in¬ 
gredient of the pie was always a goose. There 
is an account of an enormous Christmas pie 
made in 1770 for Sir Henry Grey. It contained 
two bushels of flour, twenty pounds of butter, 
four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, four wild 
ducks, two woodcocks, six snipes, four partridg¬ 
es, two neats’ tongues, two curlews, seven 
black-birds, and six pigeons ! It was nine feet 
in circumference, and weighed about one hun¬ 
dred and sixty eight pounds. It was fitted up¬ 
on a case set on Avlieels, so that it .could be easi¬ 
ly passed about the table to each guest. 
■ - - ■ ■ -o -< mu—; 0 "n i *—er.- 
A Good Cake. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
We make a cake at our house, and when 
guests partake thereof they exclaim: “ Oh! do 
let me have the recipe.” Even gentlemen con¬ 
descend to eat turn or three at a sitting. For the 
bonum of the publico I will send the recipe to you. 
We call them Shrewsbury Cakes. 
1 lb. of flour; 1 lb. of sugar; £ lb. of butter; 
3 eggs; 2 tablespoonfuls of powdered cinnamon. 
Mix together the butter and flour; then stir in 
the sugar and cinnamon; mix it all together 
into a paste with the eggs, then roll it out tliin, 
cut it into cookies with a tumbler, and bake them 
in a quick oven. When nicely browned let the 
publico send samples of them to the Agriculturist, 
and my word for it, they will be highly ap¬ 
proved of. Aukt Sue. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Cakes for the Holidays. 
As the festive season will soon be here, when 
a supply of good cake is deemed indispensable 
by most housekeepers, I send for the Agricultur¬ 
ist a fev T nev r recipes which I have proved to be 
good in my own practice, and can therefore 
recommend them to the public. Mone of them 
are very expensive. 
Welcome Cake. —Stir a cup and a half of 
sugar and half a cup of butter together, with 
three well beaten eggs. Sift a teaspoonful of 
cream of tartar, and half a teaspoonful of soda 
with three small cups of flour; this, with half a 
cup of milk must be mixed with the above, 
and baked in a moderately quick oven. By ad¬ 
ding raisins and currants, i pound of each, a very 
good fruit cake may be made. 
Mew Year’s Cake. — 1 cup of butter, 1 of su¬ 
gar, 1 teaspoonful of cream tartar, 1 teaspoon¬ 
ful of soda, and caraway seeds to the taste. Flour 
must be added till the dough is fit to roll—these 
require a quick oven. , 
Seice Cakes. — 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup molass¬ 
es, I cup butter, a tcuspoonful of spice, and 
one of soda dissolved in a little milk, add flour 
till it is quite stiff; then roll thin and cut iu 
cakes. Bake quick. 
Wealthy Cake. — Take pound of butter, •$ 
pound of sugar, the same of flour, 4 eggs, 2 lbs. 
of seeded raisins, 1 pound of currants, £ pound 
of citron, 1 gill of brandy. Spice well with 
nutmeg aud ground cloves. Bake slowly three 
hours. ThiS'Cakc will keep six months. Icing 
for the cake. Beat the Avliite of Iavo eggs to a 
froth, then stir in half a pound of poAvdered 
sugar. Flavor with a little essence of lemon, 
and spread on Avitk a knile when the cake is cold. 
Alice. 
Premium Bread. 
The folloAving directions for making bread 
Avere given by the ladies to whom premiums 
Were awarded for the best samples skoAvn at 
the Presque Isle (Me.) Agricultural Exhibition, 
Mrs. C. P. Bean, says: “ I take one and a half 
cupfuls of new milk, and the same amount of 
boiling water, aud add Horn- to this to make 
yeast, and let it set till it rises; then add flour 
until the dough is thick enough for baking. 
Then let it rise one half hour; then bake it.” 
Mrs. Sarah A. Emerson’s method: “ Take one 
pint of boiling Avater, one half teaspoonful of 
salt; when it is lukewarm, stir in flour until it 
becomes thick batter; set the dish iu Avarm 
Avater in a warm place until the batter rises. 
Then mix Avitk it one quart of sAveet milk, or 
waiter; stir in flour until it forms a thick bat¬ 
ter ; set it in warm place until it rises; add 
Horn' until it is hard enough to knead; then let 
it set until it rises again, and bake it by a grad¬ 
ual fire until done.” 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Bread without Yeast cr Drugs. 
Bread can be made light, wholesome, and pal¬ 
atable to the unperverted taste, Avitkout rotting 
by fermentation, or poisoning with Saleratus, 
Cream of Tartar, etc., in the following manner: 
Take cold Avater, the colder the better—ice Ava¬ 
ter is the best—stir in unsifted wheat meal, 
enough to. make a batter not very still - ; stir 
quickly Avliile adding the meal, so' as to intro¬ 
duce all tlie air possible. Put it iu small patty 
pans (cake tins)—these are better than large 
dishes—and bake in a hot oven, hotter than for 
any other bread. Balm it half an hour or more. 
A little experience iu making and baking Avill 
convince any one that bread can be made light 
Avitliout yeast or “lightening” of any kind, except 
air and water; and those who regard good bread 
as tlie staff of life, Avfll ask no better. If any 
should not succeed the first time, try again, for it 
can be done. The baking is the most important 
part of the operation; the oven must be hot. 
A Header. 
Good Jelly from Sour Apples. 
Perhaps all the lady readers of the American 
Agriculturist arc not aware that a very delicate 
and palatable jelly may be made from common 
sour apples, and it may be prepared at all sea¬ 
sons Avlien you have apples on hand. To our 
taste it is preferable to any other. It is prepared 
thus: Pare the apples and sIcav them as you 
Avould for common sauce; then express l lie juice 
by straining the pulp through a flannel bag. To 
every pint of juice add from J lb. to a pound of 
sugar, according to the tartness of the apples 
used. Let the juice boil before adding tlie su¬ 
gar. (In making all jellies, this previous boil¬ 
ing facilitates tlie process.) The time of boiling 
is usually from 15 to 20 minutes! but this can be 
tested, and should be stopped before the jelly 
toughens. Put into molds, boivls or jars as 
may be most convenient, and cover Avitli paper 
to exclude the air. A fciv quinces Avitli the ap¬ 
ples improve the flavor for most persons. 
