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Rusks
No. 1.--Put two pounds of flour into a bowl, and mix with it a pinch of salt and six ounces of powdered sugar (if the rusks are intended for cheese the sugar should be omitted). Dissolve four ounces of butter in half a pint of hot milk. Add six well-beaten eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of yeast, and with this liquor work the flour into a smooth dough. Cover with a cloth, and set it in a warm place to rise. When light knead it, and divide into small cakes the size of an orange. Lay these closely together in a buttered pan, and bake in a brisk oven. When done enough, take them out, break them in halves, and place them again in the oven to get crisp on the other side. When cold keep them closely packed in tin canisters. Time to bake, altogether about half an hour. No. 2.--Warm half a pint of milk, and stir into it two table-spoonfuls of good yeast. Put a pound of flour into a bowl, and mix with it a pinch of salt and three table-spoonfuls of powdered sugar. Make a hollow in the flour, but not so deep as to lay bare the bottom of the bowl, and stir in the yeast and milk to make a thin batter. Shred a quarter of a pound of butter into the flour, cover the bowl, and leave it in a warm place until the batter rises in bubbles. Work all lightly together until the dough no longer sticks to the hand, then let it rise again until the surface cracks. Divide the paste into rolls six inches long and two broad, lay these side by side on a buttered tin, and set them before the fire for a few minutes to rise. Bake in a quick oven. When done enough, tear them into halves, and put them again into the oven till they are crisp. A table-spoonful of aniseed may be worked into the rusks if liked, and they will then be good for infants' food. No. 3.--Stir two ounces of butter in half a pint of warm milk until dissolved, add a table-spoonful of yeast and two well-beaten eggs. Put a pound of flour into a bowl, and mix with it a heaped table-spoonful of powdered sugar. Make a hole in the centre, pour in the eggs and milk, and beat in as much flour from the side as will make a thin batter. Sprinkle a little flour over this, cover the bowl with a cloth, and leave the preparation to rise until the bubbles show themselves through the flour; this will be in about an hour. Knead the whole into a firm dough, divide it into small cakes a little larger than an egg, and let these rise on the baking-tins for another hour. Bake the cakes in a moderate oven, and when cool put them in a warm screen to dry for half an hour. Store in tins in a dry place. Time to bake, about twenty minutes.