Marion Harland's Complete Cook Book: A Practical and Exhaustive Manual of Cookery and Housekeeping

with a knife dipped in hot water. Soft white filling for layer cake Make a syrup of a cupful of granulated sugar and a third of a cupful of water and simmer over the fire until it threads. Beat the whites of two eggs stiff, add a generous pinch of cream of tartar, and beat steadily while you pour in the hot syrup. Do not cease beating until it is like a thick white paste; then flavor with vanilla or lemon and spread at once on the layer cakes. Caramel filling (No. 1) Put together over the fire three-quarters of a cupful of cream, half a cupful of sugar and a tablespoonful of butter. Cook until it spins a thread, add to it four tablespoonfuls of burnt sugar, or caramel, and a teaspoonful of vanilla. When it is cool, use for the filling and frosting of cake. Caramel filling (No. 2) Make the caramel of burnt sugar by putting a cupful of sugar over the fire with a quarter-cup of water and let them boil until the syrup begins to change color. Tip the saucepan from one side to the other so that it may brown equally. When it is nearly black, but before it has begun to char, add to it a cupful of boiling water, pouring it in carefully lest in its sputtering you should be scorched. It must boil after this until all is dissolved and it is like very dark syrup. In making your cake filling put over the fire one tablespoonful of butter, three-quarters of a cupful of cream and half a cupful of white sugar. Boil all together until they spin a thread from the end of a fork tine, add four tablespoonfuls of the caramel and a teaspoonful of vanilla and set aside to cool. Use for filling and frosting cakes. Raisin filling One cupful of granulated sugar and one-fourth cupful of water. Boil together without stirring until it is brittle when dropped into cold water. Stir quickly into the beaten white of one egg. Add to this one small cup of stoned