rate over them the yellow rind of a lemon or orange, and put them
into a moderate oven only until they are tender; do not let them break
apart. As soon as they are tender take them from the oven, heat a fire
shovel red hot and hold it over them, near enough to blacken their tops.
Serve either hot or cold.
A porcelain-lined baking dish, or a _gratin_ pan, is the best dish for
cooking the black-caps in, because either can be set upon a clean plate
and sent to the table; if the apples have to be removed from the dish in
which they were baked they may be broken, and then the appearance of the
dish will be spoiled.
The flavor of the dish may be changed by varying the spice, and by
occasionally using a little wine or brandy with the sugar. The cost of a
dish large enough for half a dozen persons will be covered by ten cents,
unless it is made when apples are scarce and dear.
=Apple Snow.=--Make this dish when eggs are cheap. Pare and core a quart
of apples, (cost five cents,) stew them to a pulp with just water enough
to moisten them, rub them through a seive, and sweeten them to taste.
Beat the whites of six eggs, (cost six cents,) with two tablespoonfuls
of powdered sugar, to a stiff froth; beat the apple-pulp to a froth; mix
the egg and apple together very lightly, turning the bowl of the spoon
over and over instead of stirring it around; then beat them with an egg
whisk until they look like snow. Pile the snow high in the centre of a
dish, putting it in by the tablespoonful, and taking care not to break
it down; in the top of the heap of snow put a fresh flower or a green
sprig; and if you have any currant jelly, lay a few bits around the
base. The effect of the dish is very pretty, and it can be made for
about fifteen cents.
=Apple Cakes.=--Pare, core, and slice a quart of apples, (price five
cents,) stew them with half their weight in sugar, (about one pound,
cost about twelve cents,) the grated rind and juice of a lemon, (cost
two cents,) one ounce of batter, (cost two cents,) and a very little
grated nutmeg. When they are tender beat them with an egg whisk until
they are light, drop them by the dessert-spoonful on buttered paper laid
on a baking sheet, and bake them in a cool oven until they are firm,
which will be in about fifteen minutes. When they are cool put them in a
tin box until wanted for use. The cost will be about twenty cents.
=Cherry Cheese.=--Put into a stone jar a pound of sound, ripe cherries,
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