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Baba

Sift four pounds of dried flour onto a marble or slate slab, put a quarter of it into a basin, and pour in the center one ounce of German yeast dissolved in a teacupful of warm water. Mix well with the fingers, adding a little more water if required to make a stiff paste. Roll into the shape of a ball, and again place in the basin, score it on top in the form of a cross, set in a warm place, and let the dough rise for about ten minutes, or until it is quite light. Make a cavity in the center of the three pounds of flour, adding two and a half pounds of butter, slightly warmed, half an ounce of salt and half a teacupful of water, together with fifteen eggs. Work the eggs and butter well together, then mix the whole into a paste, keeping it rather soft. In a few minutes, add six more eggs singly, and work lightly with the hand for ten minutes, sprinkling a teaspoonful of powdered saffron over the dough, and mixing it in. Put four ounces of Smyrna and eight ounces of Malaga raisins, together with four ounces of cleaned currants, and a small quantity of mixed candied peels cut into thin slices into a basin, pour over a breakfast cupful of Madeira wine and three wineglassfuls of brandy or rum, whichever may be preferred, and let these ingredients soak for a few minutes. Then mix them all in with the paste, using the hand lightly, and allow it to stand for a few minutes. Put a strip of paper about three inches above the rim of a well-buttered mould, pour in the mixture to about three-quarters the height of the mould, and set it in a warm place, and when the paste has risen to the top of the mould, place in a slack oven and bake until done, say about three hours. Turn out carefully onto a sieve, and serve either hot or cold. Care should be taken not to have the paste too thin, or the fruit will fall to the bottom of the cake, and the effect will be lost. As the fruit in some cakes has a tendency to stick to the mould when cooked, the latter may be masked with a coating of plain paste before placing the mixture in it.