This is a delicious creamy icing when made according to directions.  If sugar and water be cooked one minute too long, the icing becomes sugary instead of creamy.  One-half the above quantity will ice the top of a cake nicely.

MARY’S RECIPE FOR “HOT MILK” SPONGE CAKE

For this cake was used: 

2 cups granulated sugar. 4 eggs. 2-1/8 cups flour. 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder. 1 cup boiling hot milk.

Separate the eggs, place yolks in a bowl, add the sugar and beat until creamy.

Add the stiffly beaten whites of eggs alternately with the sifted flour and baking powder; lastly add the cup of boiling hot milk; should the milk not be rich, add one teaspoon of butter to the hot milk.  The cake batter should be thin as griddle cake batter, pour into a tube pan and place at once in a very moderate oven; in about 15 minutes increase the heat and in about 25 minutes more the cake, risen to the top of pan, should have commenced to brown on top.

Bake from 15 to 20 minutes more in a moderately hot oven with steady heat; when baked the top of the cake should be a light fawn color and texture of cake light and fine grained.

Mary was told by her Aunt that any sponge cake was improved by the addition of a teaspoon of butter, causing the sponge cake to resemble pound cake in texture.

CHEAP “MOLASSES GINGER BREAD”

1 cup New Orleans molasses. 1 cup sugar. 1/2 cup shortening (lard and butter mixed). 1 cup hot water. 1 large teaspoonful soda dissolved in the one cup of hot water. 1 teaspoonful of ginger. 1/2 teaspoonful of cinnamon. 1 quart of flour.

Stir sugar and shortening together.  Add molasses, beat all thoroughly, then add hot water and flour.  Stir hard.  Bake in two layer pans in quick oven about 30 minutes.  Use cake while fresh.

AUNT SARAH’S EXTRA FINE LARGE SPONGE CAKE

2 cups granulated sugar. 2-1/4 cups of flour. 3/4 cup of boiling water. 4 large eggs. 2 even teaspoonfuls baking powder. 1 teaspoonful lemon juice.

Put whites of eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat very stiff.  Add sugar (sifted 3 times), then add the well-beaten yolks, flour (sifted 3 times with baking powder), add lemon juice.  Lastly, add the hot water.  Bake about 50 minutes in a tube pan in a moderately hot oven with a steady heat.  Stand a pan of hot water in the upper rack of oven if the oven is quite hot.  It improves the cake and causes it to be more moist.  This is an excellent sponge cake and easily made, although the ingredients are put together the opposite way cakes are usually mixed, with the exception of angel cake.  When this cake was taken from oven, powdered sugar was sifted thickly over the top.  Use cup holding 1/2 pint, as in all other cake recipes.

ANGEL CAKE—­AUNT SARAH’S RECIPE