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Twelfth Day: Aunt

When the birth-day cake came out, after being inspected by many admiring eyes, it was set away in the pan to cool. "We must ice it over the top," said Aunt Jane, "so as to keep this beautiful rounded side uppermost. A loaf that is to be cut in the pantry and not appear on the table except in slices, should be iced on the bottom, and then it is handsome all round. If you have ever noticed little pound cakes or anything of that sort, they are always iced in that way, and so look as if they had two tops, one white and one brown."

What do you suppose Grace and Aunt Jane found when they went home to tea that evening? That those rogues of little girls had persuaded their mother to let them go into the kitchen and make things all by themselves!

Rhoda was out, and they had full liberty to do as they pleased, under the single condition of leaving everything in good order after them. There was a good fire, which one of the other servants attended to, and they had followed the devices of their own minds in what they did, each one selecting some easy-looking dish that did not require expensive materials. Mabel took a pint of milk and two eggs, which she beat up together with a great deal of fine sugar and vanilla, and made very good little custards of it, only rather strong and sweet. She also forgot to grate nutmeg over the top, which was not an important omission, however. Jessie made some No. 63 cup-cake, using the after-dinner coffee-cups for it, so as to make a small quantity, and two eggs instead of four. She found some difficulty in estimating half the quantity named of soda and cream tartar, but after much solemn consultation among the three, it was measured out, and the cake proved excellent, though a little broken on the under side, owing to the difficulty of getting it out, the tins not having been buttered. Amy had moused about till she found an old receipt-book of her aunt's, in which there were directions for "sugar drops," a confection not named in her mother's list; so she copied it into her book and made half the quantity, for fear they should not turn out well.

No. 165-SUGAR DROPS.

Beat the whites and yolks of four eggs separately to a light foam; dilute the yolks with two teaspoonfuls of water, add the whites and beat for some time together; then add by degrees a pound of fine powdered sugar, and afterward a quarter of a pound of flour, beating constantly. Flavor with extract of lemon or orange juice. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture on buttered paper, ice them over with powdered sugar, and bake about ten minutes.

These were, if anything, the crowning success of the day. The only trouble was that the children found them so good they had hard work to keep any to show what they had been about; but finally Amy seized what remained and resolutely shut them up in the closet, "out of the way of temptation," as she said, which gave the impression that the sugar drops were in some mysterious way tempted to be eaten.

The birth-day itself was a busy one at Aunt Carroll's. First of all, there was the great cake to be iced. They decided on a plain icing (No. 57), flavored with lemon, and Mrs. King told them how it must be made. "You must beat the whites of eggs only till they are a little frothy before you begin to add the sugar," said she. "Beating them stiff only increases the labor, and makes the icing slow in drying and sticky when done. Shake in the sugar slowly with your left hand while you beat with the right. When you have cranberry sauce, it makes a very pretty variety to color a part of the icing with the jelly when you are icing small cakes. As I told you, they are always iced on the bottom, and to keep them firm while the icing is hardening, you can lay thin strips of wood across the sieve just far enough apart to rest the edges of the cake on and support it. A round loaf of cake will often fit into the top of a vegetable dish." As soon as the cake was thickly iced, and before it was dry, Aunt Jane said she would show the girls what she once saw done by a professional cook. She had procured from the confectioner's some pink frosting-sugar, and had made a little horn of white paper with an opening at the small end about as large as the head of a pin. Then she traced very lightly with a pin-point on the icing a pretty border in a sort of embroidery pattern, and in the center the word "Jessie," with the date of the anniversary underneath it. "Now, Rose,” said she, "take this in your hand and go slowly over all the pattern I have traced on the top of the cake. The pink sugar will run out through the little hole in the end of the horn, and as the icing dries it will close in round it and keep it in place, even after it is cut. Not so fast! Your lines will be too thin; and not too slowly or you will make a heap instead of a fine line. There; now that your hand moves steadily it looks very pretty." "It is too bad to spoil this handsome cake by sticking candles into it," said Edith. "The same thing occurred to me," answered Mrs. King; "and besides, the wax is almost sure to run down on the icing, and then that has to be thrown away. I have seen one pretty good contrivance to prevent this. Each candle was set in a little flat candlestick, from the bottom of which projected downwards a sharp piece of tin which held it in the cake. That did very well, but I found something yesterday at a toy shop that I like still better." Then she showed them ten little tall candlesticks which were to stand on the table immediately round the cake, and could be easily removed when the candles were burned down. The children still thought there ought to be one in the middle of the cake "to grow on," but at last decided to be contented without it.

After this chief ornament was finished, the girls turned their attention to the rest of the entertainment. There was plenty of icing left for the little sponge-cakes, which looked extremely pretty in the cake basket mixed with macaroons and cocoanut drops. The chocolate, being for young people, was diluted with double the quantity of milk given in ordinary recipes, and was quite as acceptable; the whipped cream and orange jelly made a very agreeable contrast in color, being served together in the same saucer; and as for the biscuit, made by Rose, and Grace's puffs, filled with different kinds of jelly, all that needs to be said of them is that they were worthy of Aunt Jane's Cooking Class.