A little lemon juice, or half a teaspoonful of tartaric acid, added to the frosting while being beaten, makes it white and more frothy.

The flavors mostly used are lemon, vanilla, almond, rose, chocolate and orange.  If you wish to ornament with figures or flowers, make up rather more icing, keep about one-third out until that on the cake is dried; then, with a clean glass syringe, apply it in such forms as you desire and dry as before; what you keep out to ornament with may be tinted pink with cochineal, blue with indigo, yellow with saffron or the grated rind of an orange strained through a cloth, green with spinach juice and brown with chocolate, purple with cochineal and indigo.  Strawberry, or currant and cranberry juices color a delicate pink.

Set the cake in a cool oven with the door open to dry, or in a draught in an open window.

ALMOND FROSTING.

The whites of three eggs, beaten up with three cups of fine, white sugar.  Blanch a pound of sweet almonds, pound them in a mortar with a little sugar, until a fine paste, then add the whites of eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.  Pound a few minutes to thoroughly mix.  Cover the cake with a very thick coating of this, set in a cool oven to dry, afterwards cover with a plain icing.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING.

The whites of four eggs, three cups of powdered sugar and nearly a cup of grated chocolate.  Beat the whites a very little, they must not become white, stir in the chocolate, then put in the sugar gradually, beating to mix it well.

PLAIN CHOCOLATE ICING.

Put into a shallow pan four tablespoonfuls of scraped chocolate, and place it where it will melt gradually, but not scorch; when melted, stir in three tablespoonfuls of milk or cream and one of water; mix all well together, and add one scant teacupful of sugar; boil about five minutes, and while hot, and when the cakes are nearly cold, spread some evenly over the surface of one of the cakes; put a second one on top, alternating the mixture and cakes; then cover top and sides, and set in a warm oven to harden.  All who have tried recipe after recipe, vainly hoping to find one where the chocolate sticks to the cake and not to the fingers, will appreciate the above.  In making those most palatable of cakes, “Chocolate Eclairs,” the recipe just given will be found very satisfactory.

TUTTI FRUTTI ICING.

Mix with boiled icing one ounce each of chopped citron, candied cherries, seedless raisins, candied pineapple and blanched almonds.

SUGAR ICING.