She creamed together 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoonful of lard, 1 tablespoonful of butter and added 1-1/2 cups of luke-warm milk.  Add 3 cups flour (good measure), sifted with three scant teaspoonfuls of baking powder.  Add a half cup of raisins, seeded and cut in several pieces, if liked, but the cakes are very good without.  Spread in two pans and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top and press about five small dabs of butter on top of each cake.  Put in oven and bake at once.  These are a very good substitute for “raised Dutch cakes,” and are much more quickly and easily-made and, as no eggs are used, are quite cheap and very good.

A RELIABLE LAYER CAKE

1-1/4 cups granulated sugar. 3 eggs. 1/2 cup butter and lard mixed. (Use all butter if preferred.) 1/2 cup sweet milk. 2 cups flour sifted with 2 teaspoonfuls Royal baking powder.

Cream together sugar and shortening.  Add yolks of eggs, beating well, as each ingredient is added.  Then add milk and flour alternately, and lastly the stiffly beaten white of eggs.  Stir all together.  Bake in two square layer pans, and put together with chocolate or white icing.  Or ice the cakes when cold and cut in squares.

BOILED ICING

Boil together 1 cup of granulated sugar and 5 tablespoonfuls boiling water ten or twelve minutes, or until a small quantity dropped from spoon spins a thread.  Stir this into the stiffly-beaten white of one egg until thick and creamy.  Flavor with lemon, almond or vanilla flavoring and spread on cake.  Dip knife in hot water occasionally when spreading icing on cake.

A delicious icing is composed of almonds blanched and pounded to a paste.  Add a few drops of essence of bitter almonds.  Dust the top of the cake lightly with flour, spread on the almond paste and when nearly dry cover with ordinary icing.  Dry almonds before pounding them in mortar, and use a small quantity of rose water.  A few drops only should be used of essence of bitter almonds to flavor icing or cake.  A pinch of baking powder added to sugar when making boiled icing causes the icing to become more creamy, or add a pinch of cream of tartar when making boiled icing.  Or, when a cake iced with “boiled icing” has become cold, spread on top of icing unsweetened, melted chocolate.  This is a delicious “cream chocolate icing.”

A DELICIOUS “SPICE LAYER CAKE”

2 cups light brown sugar. 1 cup chopped raisins. 2 eggs. 1 cup sour milk. 1/2 cup butter. 2 cups flour. 1 teaspoonful each of soda, cloves, cinnamon, allspice and a little grated nutmeg.

Cream sugar and butter together, add yolks of eggs, then the sour milk in which the soda has been dissolved, flour and spices, and lastly stir in the stiffly beaten white of eggs.  Bake in two-layer pans.

ICING