Drop Cakes
1/4 cup butter. 3/4 cup sugar. 1 egg. 3 tablespoons milk 1¼ cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder Beat the butter, sugar and egg together; add the milk, flour and baking powder, well sifted, and flavoring if desired. Drop from a spoon three inches apart on buttered tins and bake quickly in a hot oven.
A plain drop cookie of the creaming-method type, thin enough to spread on the sheet. The proportions given place it between a soft cookie and a small cake.
- "Hot oven," "bake quickly"Period "hot" for small cakes corresponds roughly to 400-425F. Small drop cakes of this size will likely be done in 8 to 10 minutes; watch for browning at the edges while the centres are still pale, since the high heat gives little margin.
- Buttered tins"Tins" here most likely means flat baking sheets rather than pans with sides. Parchment on an unbuttered sheet gives more even bottoms and avoids the extra spread a greased surface encourages.
- Sifting"Well sifted" appears to apply to the flour and baking powder together; whisking the two thoroughly will do the same job.
- FlavoringThe recipe does not say which. Vanilla, lemon extract or grated nutmeg would all suit; half a teaspoon of extract is enough for this quantity of batter.
- YieldUncertain, since the butter, sugar and egg quantities are missing from the text as printed; perhaps 18 to 24 small cakes depending on the size of the spoonful. Like most plain drop cakes they are best eaten fresh.