COOKING FAILURES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 April 1939, Page 8

COOKING FAILURES

MAKING THE BEST OF THEM. SOME TIMELY HINTS. The best of cooks sometimes have accidents with their cooking, but even a bad accident can generally be overcome witli a little care, or the food in question made use of in other ways. It should seldom be necessary entirely to waste food that has known an accident. Burnt Sponge or Plain Cake.—With a sharp knife cut the whole top off the cake. Beat stiffly the white of an egg with a little vinegar, spread evenly over top of cake, and return to oven for five minutes to set the new top. If too badly burnt, trim away the burnt portions, then cut the remainder into squares. Dip these into beaten egg and milk and put into oven for five minutes. Serve as small cakes. The squares may also be iced, as for Leamingtons, or they may be rolled in warmed jam and then in coconut. . Burnt Fruit Cake.—Cut into pieces about three inches square and steam in a pudding basin over a saucepan of boiling water, until thoroughly heated through. Serve as a pudding with any desired sauce. A sodden, or very dry cake, may be treated in the same way. Burnt Biscuits or Small Cakes. —Rub the burnt portions away carefully with a nutmeg grater. Any that are too badly burnt may be used to make a milk pudding, with the addition of a little jam. Burnt Fat.—Drop a few pieces of raw potato into fat that has become burnt, and leave for 4 or 5 minutes. By that time all trace of burn will have disappeared. Burnt Milk.—lmmediately burning has been noticed, pour the milk into another vessel and stand it in cold water. Add a pinch of salt and a little sugar to the milk, and stir with a wooden spoon for a few minutes. Curdled Mayonnaise.—Break the yolk of an egg into a basin, then beat in the curdled mixture with a wooden spoon, beating in the one direction all the time. Another method is to blend a tablespoon of cornflour with a little cold milk. Pour the hot mixture over the cornflour, stirring all the time, then return to fire and stir over gentle heat until it thickens. Finally, beat with' an egg-beater until smooth. Lumpy Sauce or Boiled Custard.— Beat well with an egg-beater and then strain. Reheat carefully before serving. Over-salted Soup.—Slice a raw potato and let it boil in the soup for several minutes. This will absorb the salty taste. Burnt Sou pi—Here, too, potatoes are effective. Cook two raw potatoes in the. burnt soup for 20 minutes, then remove. Over-boiled Potatoes.—Place a thick cloth inside a colander and strain the potatoes through it. Then gather up the cloth and squeeze the potatoes until dry. Return them to a hot saucepan and beat them up with a little cream and a pinch of baking powder. Beat until light and fluffy. Over-salted Vegetables.—Stretch a clean cloth over the saucepan and sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour on it. Steam for 5 minutes, when theflour will have absorbed the salt.