Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches

set it near the fire to warm, till the butter becomes soft; then with a knife, mix it thoroughly with the milk, and set it away to cool. Afterwards stir in two wine glasses of strong fresh yeast, and add by degrees as much sifted flour as will make a dough just stiff enough to roll out. As soon as it is mixed, roll it into a thick sheet, and cut it out into round cakes with the edge of a tumbler or a wine glass. Sprinkle a large iron pan with flour; lay the biscuits in it, cover it and set it to rise near the fire. When the biscuits are quite light, knead each one separately; prick them with a fork, and set them again in a warm place for about half an hour. When they are light again, bake them in a moderate oven. They should be eaten fresh, and pulled open with the fingers, as splitting them with a knife will make them heavy. WHITE GINGERBREAD. Sift two pounds of flour into a deep pan, and rub into it three quarters of a pound of butter; then mix in a pound of common white sugar powdered; and three table-spoonfuls of the best white ginger. Having beaten four eggs very light, mix them gradually with the other ingredients in the pan, and add a small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash melted in a wine glass of warm milk. Stir the whole as hard as possible. Flour your paste-board; lay the lump of dough upon it, and roll it out into a sheet an inch thick; adding more flour if necessary. Butter a large shallow square pan. Lay the dough into it, and bake it in a moderate oven. When cold, cut it into squares. Or you may cut it out into separate cakes with a jagging iron, previous to baking. You must be careful not to lay them too close together in the pan, lest they run into each other. COMMON GINGERBREAD. Cut up a pound of butter in a quart of West India molasses, which must be perfectly