The Laurel Health Cookery: A Collection of Practical Suggestions and Recipes for the Preparation of Non-Flesh Foods in Palatable and Attractive Ways

shortening, oil the tins and sprinkle flour over, shaking off all flour that is loose; or, line tins with well oiled paper. Some recommend dipping angel cake pans into cold water and filling while wet; then the cake falls out white when cold, leaving the crust sticking to the mold. Always beat whites of eggs on a platter or in a large cake bowl or “bombe” with a whip, not with a revolving beater. Chop and fold, never stir, the whites into cake, the flour also. Have all ingredients and utensils for sponge cake cold, and if possible, put it together in a cold room. For sponge cakes, follow directions for putting nut and citron cake together, or the hot water way following sponge layer cake. Bake sponge cakes very slowly and evenly in an oven that bakes well from the bottom. They will retain their lightness better if carefully inverted in the tin after baking and left in that position until cool. Bake cakes with shortening in a moderate oven. Cool all cakes slowly. One colored cook told me that she always set her cakes on the stove hearth for a little while after taking them out of the oven. Of course they should be handled carefully. Set warm layer and other cakes on a cloth wrung out of cold water and they will quickly loosen from the pan. Loaf or layer cakes may be set in ice box in tins for 2 hrs. before baking. 3 or 4 rose geranium leaves laid in the bottom of the tin before the batter is poured in will flavor cake with rose, or the leaves may be laid between layers after baking, while cooling. If the loaf is one that will bear removing from the tin while warm, lay it on some of the leaves. Cakes may be steamed instead of baked--sponge cakes 1 hour, fruit cakes longer. One recipe for fruit cake says, steam 4 hours and bake 1 hour. Use your judgment. Sponge cakes--angel and others, are supposed to be broken apart with 2 forks, not cut. If loaves