MRS. PEPYS’S DIARY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 248, 10 January 1928, Page 4

MRS. PEPYS’S DIARY

MONDAY. —Having been asked by a reader of my diary that I will write of the making of a saffron cake, do now proceed to do so from a recipe posted to me straight from Cornwall, where this cake is of all others most esteemed. The way of it to rub into ljlb of flour, slb of butter, 51b of lard, a pinch of salt, half a teaspoonful of baking powder and half a teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Add 41b of sultanas, 41b of currants, of mixed peel, 2!oz and 41b of sugar, mixing very well indeed. Have ready a little saffron, ■ this to be bought at your grocer’s and put, the night before, into a little basin, covered with hot water and a pinch of sugar and so left, till you need it, with a lid on. Strain the saffron through a pointed sieve, pressing it to get all the colour out, into a beaten egg, and with this mix your cake, to a thick cream, adding a little milk if necessary. Pour your mixture into a square tin, lined with butter paper, and bake, for one hour. See that you do not open your oven until your cake hath been in it for 20 minutes, and then have a care that you shut it both tightly and speedily. A little of the mixture may be baked in patty-pans to be eaten as buns. TUESDAY.—This day, lunching with Mr. Pepys’s aunt Lettice, do eat ■ of some very excellent loganberry puffs, of the which she doth afterwards give me the recipe, both for my own use and for writing here. The manner of making them to mix and sift into a basin two cupfuls of flour, three teaspoonfuls of baking powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a teacupful of sugar; rub finely into same, with your fingers, four good tablespoonsful of butter, adding two eggs well beaten, pf milk ione cupful and of loganberries two cupfuls, well heaped. Pour all into buttered and floured moulds, cover with buttered paper, steam for one hour and a half, and serve with loganberry sauce. WEDNESDAY.—Hearing from Mr. Pepys’s cousin Gladys how she would like to serve hot chocolate, for a change, when she would offer refreshments at her bridge evenings, do tell her to scrape fine some hard chocolate, of the sort that is but little sweetened, and to mix it with a small quantity of cold water. Add this to equal parts of milk and water and boil well. Sweeten to taste and serve very hot, frothing it from a jug into the cups, and laying upon each cup a teaspoonful of cream. Thus a‘ drink obtained to put no hostess to shame, as I consider. THURSDAY.—For sending to Mistress Basset, who hath in all things to study ecomony for the right feeding of a large family, do write out a way of maikng mixed peel at home. The manner is to soak the peel of oranges and lemons in salt water for three days. Then pour off the water and drain well and boil in fresh water until fine and tender. Next, to lib of white sugar add one pint of the water in which the peel has been boiled; then boil your peel in the syrup until it candies. Drain upon a dish until cold, and store in an air-tight box in a dry place. FRIDAY.—Very betimes to my kitchen there to busy myself making a very uncommon pickle called a red cauliflower pickle, well liked by Mr Pepys and myself. The way of it to cut your cauliflower into pieces of an equal size, sprinkle them with salt and leave in a warm place for a couple of days. Make a syrup of vinegar and sugar, and, for this to every quart of vinegar allow 41b of sugar, a few sticks of cinnamon, and as much sliced, or bruised and pounded, beetroot as will serve to give your vinegar a deep red colour, very handsome to look upon. When all the salt water is drained away from your cauliflower put into a pan and pour over the boiling hot vinegar-syrup, through a fine sieve When cold, bottle the pickle and cork well. SATURDAY.— For a change to serve at our luncheon upon the Lord’s Dav do decide upon a rabbit pie. the wav to make same being to skin, wash and cut up into pieces, your rabbit then pu f. it into a fireproof pie-dish, adding a little water, seasoning and a small ° n, 1 < ? n ’ J sllced ’ and cook in the oven until well done. "When cold cover with a rich pie-crust and bake until of a pretty brown. This a dinner, with the addition of suitable vegetables, to satisfy the taste of most, and it is not -too expensive.