, add a small tea-cup of yeast, and set it where it will rise
quick. When of a spongy lightness, weigh out a pound of butter, a pound
and a quarter of nice sugar--stir them to a cream, then work them with
the hand into the sponge. Beat four eggs to a froth, the whites and
yelks separately--mix the eggs with the cake, together with a wine glass
of wine, one of brandy, a quarter of an ounce of mace, or one nutmeg.
Cinnamon is good spice for loaf cake, but it turns it a dark color. Add
another pound of flour, and work it with the hand for fifteen or twenty
minutes. (The longer it is worked, the more delicate will be the cake.)
Let it remain till risen again--when perfectly light, beat it a few
minutes with the hand, then add a couple of pounds of seeded raisins, a
quarter of a pound of citron, or almonds blanched, and pounded fine.
Butter three common sized cake pans, and put the cake into them--let
them remain half an hour in a warm place, before setting them in the
oven. Bake the cake in a quick, but not a furious oven, from an hour and
fifteen to thirty minutes, according to the heat of the oven. If it
browns too fast, cover it, while baking, with thick paper.

199. _Plain Loaf Cake._

Mix together a pint of lukewarm milk, two quarts of sifted flour, a
small tea-cup of yeast. Set the batter where it will rise quick. When
perfectly light, work in with the hand four beaten eggs, a tea-spoonful
of salt, two of cinnamon, a wine glass of brandy or wine. Stir a pound
of sugar with three-quarters of a pound of butter--when white, work it
into the cake, add another quart of sifted flour, and beat the whole
well with the hand ten or fifteen minutes, then set it where it will
rise again. When of a spongy lightness, put it into buttered cake pans,
and let them stand fifteen or twenty minutes before baking. Add if you
like a pound and a half of raisins, just before putting the cake into
the pans.

200. _Shelah, or Quick Loaf Cake._

Melt half a pound of butter--when cool, work it into a pound and a half
of raised dough. Beat four eggs with three-quarters of a pound of rolled
sugar, mix it with the dough, together with a wine glass of wine, or
brandy, a tea-spoonful of cinnamon, and a grated nutmeg. Dissolve a
tea-spoonful of saleratus in a small tea-cup of milk, strain it on to
the dough, work the whole well together for a quarter of an hour, then
add a pound of seeded raisins, and put it into cake pans. Let them
remain twe