Drinking coffee and eating little cakes in Germany is a friendly, leisurely form of entertainment. The author re calls drinking coffee with a cosmopolitan group one after* noon, where there was such brilliant conversation the food was forgotten for a time. The host and hostess, a professor and his wife, knew the art of entertaining people from many lands, and doing it so graciously that Englishman, Frenchman, Austrian, Scandnivian and American met on a common ground of equal interest in those cultural subjects which are discussed by people of all countries.

The author finally compelled herself to note the kinds of small cakes. They were tiny, rich, carefully made cakes much like the cakes of all northern European countries.

1. Mandel Schnitte

1/2 cup butter
11/2 cups flour sifted
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. milk
3 egg yolks well beaten

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Add the flour and milk alternately and knead into a soft dough. Roll thin and line a shallow pan to a depth of one-half inch. Fill with the following mixture:

11/2 cups almonds blanched and chopped fine
3 egg whites beaten dry
1 cup sugar

Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites. Fold in the almonds. Fill the crust, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 350° F. for thirty minutes. Cool slightly and cut into strips one inch wide and three inches long.

2. Mandel Krauze

4 cups flour sifted
11/2 cups butter creamed
3 egg yolks beaten seven minutes
1 cup sugar

Add the sugar to the butter and mix well. Gradually add the eggs, beating all the time. Blend in the flour and knead into a smooth dough. Roll very thin, cut into small cakes, brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and ground blanched almonds. Bake at 350° F. to a light brown.

3. Mutze-Mandel

2 cups flour sifted
2/3 cup butter creamed
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks unbeaten
1/2 lb. almonds blanched and ground

Add the eggs to the butter and mix well. Gradually add the sugar, then the flour and almonds. Shape into small balls and fry in hot fat to a golden brown.

4. Nuss Platzchen

1/2 lb. almonds blanched and ground
1/2 lb. powdered sugar sifted
2 egg whites beaten stiff

Add the sugar gradually to the egg whites and beat fifteen minutes. Add the almonds. Turn out on a well floured board and roll to one-half inch thickness. Cut in small star shapes and bake at 325° F. for about thirty minutes.

5. Mandel Platzchen

Sift together

3 cups flour
11/2 lbs. brown sugar
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 lb. almonds blanched and ground
5 eggs unbeaten

Beat the eggs and sugar together until the eggs cease to be stringy. Add the almonds. Gradually add the flour and knead slightly. Roll to one-fourth inch thickness, cut into small cakes and bake at 350° F. until pale brown.

6. Mandel Stangen

Sift together:

2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 square chocolate grated
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs beaten seven minutes
1/4 cup almonds blanched and ground
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add the sugar gradually to the eggs and beat three minutes. Add the chocolate, then the flour and nuts. Press into a well-greased pan ten by ten inches and bake at 350° F. for thirty minutes. Cut into narrow strips while warm.

7. Mandel Kiichen

1 cup flour sifted
2 eggs unbeaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup almonds chopped

Add the sugar gradually to the eggs and mix well. Add the vanilla, the nuts and flour and mix into a smooth dough. Shape into little balls and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

8. Kaffee Geback

Sift together:

4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 scant tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup butter creamed
2 eggs unbeaten

Add the sugar gradually to the butter and beat until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Gradually add the flour and knead into a smooth dough. Roll thin, brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar and ground almonds. Bake at 350° F. until light brown, fifteen to twenty minutes.

8. Zucker Platzchen

Dissolve in:

1 tbsp. hot water
3 cups flour sifted
1 tsp. soda
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup butter creamed
2 eggs unbeaten

Add the sugar to the butter and cream ten minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend in well. Add the flour, the soda and cinnamon and knead into a smooth dough. Roll thin, cut into small cakes and bake at 400° F. until light brown.

9. Zimmt Sterne (Cinnamon Stars)

1 lb. almonds blanched and ground
6 egg whites beaten stiff
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 lb. powdered sugar sifted
1 lemon rind grated

Wipe a baking sheet over with paraffin.

Add the sugar and lemon rind gradually to the egg whites. Remove one-fourth of the mixture to put on the center of the cookies. To the remaining mixture add the almonds and cinnamon. Roll, using powdered sugar to prevent sticking. Cut with a star-shaped cutter, place a small portion of the first mixture in the center of each cookie and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

10. Weihnachts Kiichlein (Cookies for Christmas Tree Decoration)

Sift together:

3 cups flour
1/2 cup lard softened
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. soda
1 cup strong cold coffee
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg unbeaten

Add the sugar and egg to the fat and beat until light. Add the flour and coffee alternately and knead into a dough that will roll easily. Roll thin and cut into fancy shapes. Coat with chocolate or sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake at 400° F. until light brown.

11. Anisplatzchen

Sift together:

11/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 eggs unbeaten
2 tbsp. anise seed

Mix the sugar and eggs together in a granite saucepan, set in a basin of boiling water and beat until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from the fire and beat until cold. Gradually add the flour and anise seed. Drop into small cakes and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

12. Leb Kuchen

Mix together in a granite saucepan and bring to a slow boil. Set aside to cool.

13/4 cups honey
2 cups sugar

Sift together:

5 cups flour
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 tbsp. cinnamon dissolved in 1 tbsp. of water
1 tbsp. cloves

Mix With:
2 tsp soda
1 cup citron chopped

Gradually add the eggs, honey and soda to the flour. Knead into a smooth dough. Roll to one-fourth inch thick ness, cut into small round cookies and bake at 325° F. for twenty minutes or longer, if needed to make the cakes very hard. These cakes are supposed to be dipped into coffee when eaten.

13. Weise Pfefferniisse

Sift together:

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
4 eggs unbeaten
1 tsp. cloves
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix with:

1 cup thinly sliced citron

Gradually add the sugar to the eggs and beat ten minutes. Blend in the flour, adding more if needed to make a smooth dough. Roll thin, cut into small cookies and bake at 325° F. until light brown.

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It was a ritual, making those little water cakes of Scotland. The cook was called from the kitchen. She was given careful instructions about the amount of flour and salt to put in a big brown crock, to be brought along with the tripod and huge iron griddle. The cakes were baked over the coals on the broad dining room hearth.

The author looked about for bannock in Scotland and found it. It was not as good as the bannock of memory, but it was real Scotch bannock, she was told; the Scotch bannock that never changes from generation to generation.

1. Bannock

2 cups coarsely ground flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold water

Add the water gradually to the flour and salt, using more if needed to make a stiff dough. Shape into thin round cakes with the hands. Bake on an ungreased griddle.

2. Belfasts

Sift together:

11/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp. soda
1 egg slightly beaten
1 cup sugar

Mix with:

11/2 cups graham flour
1 cup currants

Blend the butter into the flour. Mix in the milk and egg and knead into a smooth dough. Shape into thin cakes with the hands and bake at 400° F. for about thirty minutes.

3. Scotch Ginger Cake

Sift together:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup light molasses
1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ginger
2 eggs well beaten

Heat the molasses, sugar and butter together until the butter is melted. Gradually add the eggs and mix well. Blend in the flour. Turn into a well greased baking pan to one-half inch thickness and bake at 350° F. for thirty minutes. Cut into small squares when cold.

4. Sour Cream Ginger Cake

Sift together:

3 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together:

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter softened
1 cup light molasses
1 cup thick sour cream
2 eggs well beaten

Gradually add the flour to the molasses mixture. Bake as directed for Scotch Ginger Cake. Cut into small squares when cold.

5. Scones

Sift together:

2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
3/4 cup sour milk

Add enough milk to the flour to make a stiff dough. Shape into thin round cakes with the hands and bake on a griddle.

6. Spoon Currant Biscuit

Sift together:

2 cups flour
2 tbsp. lard
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk scant measure
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix with:

1/2 cup currants
2 tbsp. brown sugar

Blend the lard into the flour. Add the milk and mix quickly and lightly. Drop into small cakes and bake at 400° F. for fifteen minutes.

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All classes in Sweden eat cookies and drink coffee every day. No matter when two friends meet they partake of small cakes and sip strong coffee from tiny cups. The coffee is served with thick cream and there is sugar to be used with the last half cup.

The traveler is impressed with the little shops where cookies are sold. If she is an American housewife, who is forever looking for something different, she may be tempted to buy a great bag of small cakes and try sampling them all, hoping to discover the secret of their excellence.

But to appreciate the real culinary art, which goes into cookie making one, must go to “Tea,” where the meal is served with all the formality that makes it so different from the informal meal enjoyed in American households.

The author went to “Tea” in many charming Swedish homes. She was sadly lacking in manners at first. Later she learned the little points of etiquette, which must be rigidly followed.

“Tea” at a famous medieval castle, presided over by a Baroness who is a modern woman, busy with many social and economic problems, was the pleasant culmination of tea drinking in a country that holds culinary art as woman’s highest achievement.

The tea table was drawn close to a sofa. It was a grotesquely long sofa, magnificently carved, and exquisitely upholstered in hand woven damask.

The Baroness had a twinkle in her eyes when she explained: “The sofa was made especially for the castle in the long ago days when the Baron and His Majesty the King were such good friends that elaborate entertaining was always going on. The place of honor was to the right of the hostess. The other guests sat according to their rank. The ones who had no place on the sofa were very unhappy about it. So the tactful Baron had a sofa made so long that many ladies of high rank could sit side by side as they drank their tea.”

Still the guest of honor sits to the right of the hostess on the sofa. The other guests sit around the table.

The table was spread with a hand-made lace cloth from the province of Jamtland. The tea service was handsome hand wrought silver, very old, very artistic in design. Be fore each guest was a small plate on which was placed a round lace finger doilie no larger than the center of the plate. On the doilie rested the teacup and saucer. To the right of the plate was a small fork and a teaspoon.

The guests removed their cups and saucers and placed them to the right of the plates. They put the finger doilies in their laps. They were ready for tea.

There is etiquette in serving the food. The routine is: a small fancy roll for the first food eaten. This is followed by soft cake. The soft cake is usually a sponge cake filled with almond paste and whipped cream. Then come the hard cookies.

The guest of honor must take some of everything. It is the epitome of bad manners for her to fail to take one of each kind of the small hard cakes. Frequently her plate is piled high with an assortment, which is disconcerting to the American. But the conventions must not be disregarded; for other guests must not take anything that the guest of honor has failed to take.

The hostess pours and the tea is passed by the guests. She pours a tiny amount into her own cup to see that it is just right. Then she pours a cup and passes it to the guest of honor. The other cups are passed to her left. The guest of honor passes no tea. Cream and sugar is then passed.

A maid, in conventional black uniform with sheer white cap and apron, passes the food. The formal service is similar to that in America. Food is passed to the left. The guest of honor is served first, then the hostess, then the other guests.

Eating is leisurely engaged in. It is proper to stay not longer than an hour or an hour and a quarter. That time is spent at the tea table. When the meal is over the guests leave, unless the hostess gives a special invitation for the guests to remain longer for some definite further entertainment.

The author was invited many times to stay longer to see “Collections.” Swedish women are great collectors. Their collections may be ancient Swedish textiles, or modern Swedish glass, or ivories from China, or etchings from the famous etchers of the past and present. Whatever the collection is it is as excellent of its kind as was the food served by the soft-footed maid, who never made a false move.

1. Kaffebrod (Tea Biscuit)

This is the kind of biscuits that were served as the first food at “Teas”.

Sift together:

7 cups flour
1/2 cup butter melted
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. each: nutmeg, cardamon cinnamon
2 cups milk lukewarm
2 egg yolks well beaten
1/2 cup sultana raisins
1/4 cup currants
1 compressed yeast cake broken into 1/4 cup luke warm water

Mix the flour, raisins and currants. Mix the butter, sugar and egg together and beat well, then add the milk. Pour the yeast into the flour. Gradually add the milk mixture and blend into a smooth dough. Knead until the dough ceases to stick to the hands. Let rise in a warm place for six or eight hours, or to double the bulk. Knead again. Divide into small biscuits and roll them thin. Cover with almond paste or heavy sweet apple sauce, roll the dough over the filling and seal the edges. Bake at 450° F. for twenty to thirty minutes.

To make the almond filling:

1 cup almonds blanched and ground
1 cup sugar
heavy cream

Mix the almonds and sugar. Work in the cream, a few drops at a time, until the mixture is a paste.

2. Sprit Kakor

Swedish housewives have borrowed the use of baking powder from America. The baking powder is even imported from America. Cookie recipes with baking powder are an indication that they are modern Swedish.

Sift together:

3 cups flour
1 cup butter creamed
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs unbeaten

Add the sugar to the butter and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the flour gradually and mix into a smooth dough. Put the dough through the cookie press and form the cakes into small rings. Bake at 400° F. until light brown.

3. Sprit Eransar

7 cups flour sifted
2 cups butter creamed
13/4 cups sugar
grated rind 1/2 lemon

6 egg yolks well beaten

Add the sugar and egg yolks gradually to the butter and mix well. Add the lemon rind and blend in the flour, using two knives to mix the dough.

Put the dough through the cookie press, grinding it out in long strips on the biscuit board. Cut the strips in even lengths and form into small circles. Bake at 350° F. until light brown.

4. Lisa-Kakor

Sift together:

5 cups flour sifted
1 tsp. baking powder
11/2 cups sugar
1 tbsp. butter melted
1 tsp. orange juice
3 eggs well beaten
citron cut in strips

Gradually add the sugar to the eggs, beating all the time. Add the butter and orange juice and again mix well. Blend in five cups of flour, then add the flour and baking powder and knead to a smooth dough. Roll thin, cut into small cookies, place a strip of citron on each, and bake at 400° F. until light brown.

5. Kanelbrod

Sift together:

4 cups flour
1 cup butter
2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs well beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar

Blend the butter into the flour. Mix in the eggs as lightly and quickly as possible. Roll into two long loaves. Bake at 350° F. for about thirty minutes. When baked cut slices one inch thick diagonally across the loaf. Return to the oven and toast to a golden brown.

6. Ess Kakor

Sift together:

10 cups flour
11/2 cups butter creamed
3 tsp. baking powder
11/2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks unbeaten

Add the sugar to the butter and beat until very light Add one egg yolk at a time and continue beating until the eggs are well mixed. Gradually add the flour and knead to a smooth dough. Form into S shaped cookies with the hands, dip into coarse sugar, and bake at 400° F. until light brown.

7. Mandelhorns

2 cups almonds blanched and chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
5 egg whites beaten stiff
31/2 cups sugar

Mix the almonds and sugar. Add the vanilla and fold in the egg whites. Form into small c

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Then he arrives in Copenhagen and forgets the pastoral scenes in his fascination for the harbor, one of the most remarkable ports in the world, for such points of interest as Rosenborg Castle; or Our Lady’s Church, with Thorvaldsen’s Christ and the Twelve Apostles; or the “Regensen” and the “Round Tower” from whose heights a view of old town can be had that again brings forgetfulness of the present until he is rudely made aware of everyday surroundings by idle curiosity.

What in the world can all the leisurely strollers along the bench-lined street near the cathedral have in their little baskets? There is an old couple with a bigger basket. Why not follow them? They are looking for a place to sit in the shade. Ah, they are partaking of the contents of that mysterious basket.

It is strawberry season in Denmark. Everywhere along the streets people are sitting with their baskets, eating strawberries. A quaint custom the American thinks it. He feels a little superior until the sight of so many luscious berries brings a gnawing hunger. Then he thinks of tea, with little cakes to go with it, and possibly a dish of those huge ripe red strawberries.

He finds the cakes of Denmark are as choice as the strawberries. Neither could be better anywhere in the world.

1. Frisk Brod

Sift together:

6 cups flour
2 cups butter
1 cup sugar

Add the butter to the flour and continue working until the mixture is a paste. Make into rolls one-half inch in diameter and cut into cakes one and one-half inches long. Dip one side in slightly beaten egg white, then in sugar and chopped almonds. Bake at 350° F. until light brown.

2. Butterdeg

2 cups flour sifted
6 tbsp. water
1 cup butter

Divide the butter into thirds. Flatten two of the pieces out on wax paper into thin cakes and set away in the refrigerator until needed.

Blend one-third of the butter into the flour. Gradually add the water and knead into a smooth dough. Roll to one-fourth inch thickness. Place one piece of the butter in the center of the dough, fold over the four sides, turn the dough folded side down on a well-floured board and roll to one-fourth inch thickness. Fold ends in one-third from each end and chill for twenty minutes. Repeat the process with the last piece of butter. After the last butter is added and the dough is chilled, roll out the dough and fold in the ends. Chill for twenty minutes. Repeat the rolling and chilling process four times, always keeping the dough in a rectangular shape. Put away in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours. When using, be careful not to knead the dough. Cut off small pieces, roll one-half inch thick, cut into narrow strips and shape into rings. Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 450° F. for twelve to fifteen minutes.

3. Kringler

Sift together:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp. sugar
1 cup heavy cream whipped
1 tsp. baking powder

Blend the butter into the flour. Mix in the cream and knead lightly into a soft dough. Roll thin, sprinkle with sugar and cut into strips one-fourth inch wide and six inches long. Form into pretzels and bake at 400° F. until light brown.

4. Hoide Eager

2 cups flour sifted
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. lemon extract

Mix the flour and sugar. Blend in the butter until the mixture is mealy. Gradually add the cream and the flavoring. Shape into a roll one and one-half inch In diameter. Put away in the refrigerator overnight. Cut into thin slices and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

5. Jadekager

Sift together:

5 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. carbonate ammonia
11/2 cups butter
2 eggs unbeaten

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs and mix well. Gradually add the flour and knead into a smooth dough. Roll thin, cut into small cakes, brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar and chopped almonds. Bake at 275° F. to 300° F. until light brown.

6. Sprut Eager

Sift together:

21/2 cups flour
1 egg slightly beaten
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup butter

Blend the butter into the flour mixture. Add the egg and mix into a smooth dough. Make cookies with a cookie press into various shapes and bake at 300° F. until light brown.

7. Svendsker

Sift together:

3 cups flour
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp. water

Blend the butter into the flour. Add the water gradually and mix like pie crust. Shape into small rings with the hands and place on a floured board. Allow to stand in a cool place overnight. Brush with slightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar just before baking. Bake at 350° F. until light brown.

8. Kleiner

4 cups flour sifted
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup cream

Add the sugar to the eggs and beat well. Add the flour and cream alternately and knead into a soft dough. Roll thin, cut into diamond shaped cakes, cut a diagonal slit in the center of each cake and draw one end through the slit. Cook in deep fat to a light brown.

9. Brunekager

Sift together:

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 cups flour
cup syrup (scant measure)
1 tsp. soda
1 tbsp. molasses
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg unbeaten
1/2 tsp each. Cloves, nutmeg, ginger

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg, syrup and molasses and mix well. Gradually blend in the flour, adding more if needed to make a stiff dough. Make into small rolls and place in the refrigerator overnight. Slice thin and bake at 275° F. until light brown.

10. Sirupskager

Sift together:

4 cups flour
grated rind 1 orange
1 tsp. each: ginger, cloves, cinnamon
1/3 cup butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses (light)
1 eggs
1 tbsp. orange juice
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. soda

Mix the butter, sugar and egg together and beat until well blended. Add the orange juice and grated rind and the vinegar. Mix the soda into the molasses and add it and the flour alternately. Knead into a firm dough, adding more flour if needed. Roll thin, cut into fancy shapes, place one-half almond in the center of each cake and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

11. Ableskiver (Apple Cakes)

Sift together:

2 cups flour
4 egg yolks unbeaten
1/2 tsp. salt
4 egg whites beaten stiff
11/2 cups buttermilk

Dissolve in cream (1/2 cup)
2 tbsp. boiling water
1 tsp. soda

These cakes are baked in an iron apple cake griddle.

Add the buttermilk and cream gradually to the flour, beating until the batter is smooth. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat well. Stir in the soda and fold in the egg whites lightly. Drop one-half teaspoon melted butter into each cup in the griddle, drop in one tablespoon of the batter and bake, turning over and over with a fork.

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Sweets have a definite place in the art of dining. There are many kinds of cakes. Some seem strangely flavored to the foreign palate. Some are a national institution like the Moon Cakes.

1. Moon Cakes

Moon Cakes have been connected with the Festival of the Eighth Moon since ancient times. This festival is called the moon’s birthday. It comes at the time of the Harvest Moon when the full moon rises soon after sunset. The moon is the object of worship, and during the three days marked by outdoor holiday making, she is called the Queen of Heaven. Women, in their moon worship, offer Me on Cakes to the Queen of Heaven. These cakes are really little tarts very much like the English mincemeat tarts. They are tiny, dainty cakes with a crescent cut into the top crust.

1 cup Chinese dates
1 cup brown sugar chopped
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup green dried plums
2 cups chopped boiled beef chopped
1/2 cup chopped suet
6 red fruit chopped
12 lotus seed
1/4 cup walnut meats chopped
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup preserved ginger
1/2 cup pine nuts

Mix all the ingredients together and cook slowly for one hour. Cool before using.

Line small tart pans with pie crust rolled very thin. Fill the pans three-fourths full, cover with a top crust in which a crescent has been cut and bake at 475° F. for twenty to thirty minutes.

2. Hang Tan Beng

Sift together:

1 cup rice flour
1/3 cup butter softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
water if needed

Mix with

2 cups almonds blanched and ground

Blend the butter into the flour mixture. Add a few drops of water if needed to hold the dough together. Shape into small balls with the hands. Bake at 350° F. until light brown.

3. Tsoi Yan Beng (Sesame Cakes)

Sift together

1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup rice flour
2 tbsp. butter melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. sesame seed

Gradually add the milk, butter and egg to the flour and mix into a smooth batter. Spread thinly on a well-buttered pan, sprinkle with sesame seed and bake at 350° F. for fifteen to twenty minutes. Cut into small squares when cold.

4. Eai Tan Eo (Sponge Cake)

Sift together:

1 cup cake flour
1 cup sugar sifted with the flour five times
5 eggs beaten thirty minutes
1 tsp. lemon juice

Gradually fold the flour and sugar into the eggs, mixing as little and as lightly as possible. Add the lemon juice. Turn into a buttered mould, cover tightly and steam in a steamer for forty-five minutes. Cool in the mould.

5. Fa Shang Bo

1 lb. puffed rice
2 cups peanuts
cups malt syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup sesame seed

Bake the sesame seed in a 350° F. oven for five minutes. Cook the sugar and syrup together until it makes a hard ball in cold water. Keep the syrup hot. Mix the rice, pea nuts and part of the sesame seed in the syrup. Pour into a buttered pan and press down evenly. Sprinkle the rest of the seed on top and set in a cool place for five minutes. Remove from the pan and cut in thin slices.

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Then one morning he awakens after a dinner the evening before with friends, and if he is an American, he longs for the simple food of his homeland.

It was after just such an experience that the author looked about for a salad made of fresh vegetables and a simple “sweet.”

The Italians eat very little sugar, in comparison with Northern Europeans, English and Americans. One must not expect to find many little cakes. But the author did find several.

1. Cavalucci di Italia

2 cups flour sifted
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts chopped
1/3 cup candied orange peel chopped
1/8 tsp. each: nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves
1/2 tsp. anise seed

Cook the sugar and water together until the syrup spins a thread. Remove from the fire and add the nuts, spices and orange peel. Add the flour and knead into a smooth dough. Roll thin, cut into small cakes and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

2. Colombos

2 cups flour sifted
2 tbsp. cream
1/2 cup butter
2 egg yolks unbeaten
1/2 cup sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg yolks and blend in well. Add the flour and enough cream to make a stiff dough. Roll thin, cut with a cutter shaped like a bird, mark eyes with currants arid bake at 350° F. to a golden brown.

3. Dolce Ravioli

Sift together:

11/2 cups flour
3 tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup water or less

Blend the butter into the flour. Add enough water to make a stiff dough. Roll very thin and cut into small squares. Make tarts with the following filling:

1/2 lb. cottage cheese
2 egg yolks unbeaten
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Mix the ingredients together and rub through a sieve. Place a teaspoon of the mixture in the center of a square of pastry. Place another square on top. Press the edges securely together and fry in hot olive oil until light brown. Drain and sprinkle with sugar.

4. Pan Dolci (Fruit Bread)

Sift together:

6 cups flour
1 cake compressed yeast
2 tsp. salt
warm water as needed

Break the yeast into one cup of warm water and let stand until it begins to foam. Make a sponge of the flour, yeast and enough warm water to make a thick batter. Beat it until it begins to bubble. Let rise in a warm place for several hours. Then add:

2 cups butter melted
1/4 cup pistachio nuts
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup citron chopped
1 cup pine nuts
3 tbsp. Sherry
1 cup Sultana raisins
2 tbsp. orange flower water
1/2 cup seeded raisins
flour to make a dough
1/2 cup currants

When all the ingredients are added blend in flour to make a smooth dough. Knead for ten minutes. Let rise to twice the bulk. Shape into loaves and let rise to twice the bulk. Bake at 400° F. for one hour or more. Cut into strips and toast before serving.

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Mexico City, the city literally in the clouds, has an Old World charm that is not in keeping with the national corn cake of the land. But tortillas are pleasing to the palate because of their plainness.

True tortillas are made from dried corn soaked in lye. The lye is washed off and the husks removed from the corn. It is then dried and ground in a metate. The meal is coarse and of a pleasing flavor.

1. Tortillas (Corn Cakes)

1 cup corn meal
1 cup boiling water
1 tsp. salt

Mix the ingredients together into a smooth paste. Allow to cool. Shape into small flat cakes with the hands and bake slowly on an ungreased griddle until crisp and brown.

2. Bunuelos (Fried Cakes)

Mix and bring to a boil. Sift together Remove from the fire

1 cup water
1 cup flour
1 tsp. butter
1 tsp. baking powder

Gradually add the flour to the boiling water. Beat until cold. Knead into a smooth dough, using a little flour to keep from sticking. Make into small balls and fry in hot fat. Drain on unglazed paper and sprinkle with sugar.

3. “Bien Me Sabe” (Coconut Squares)

These delicious cakes are apparently known by no other name, which seemed so strange to the author that she inquired of several people. “No,” the answer came, “we call them, Bien Me Sabe.”

Meat of 1 large coconut grated
1 cup milk

Mix the milk and cocoanut and heat slowly to boiling. Cool and squeeze through a cheese cloth bag. Use the milk to make a custard.

To make the custard:

coconut milk
4 egg yolks well beaten
4 tbsp. sugar

Mix the sugar with the egg yolks. Add the milk and cook over simmering water until it thickens. The custard should be stirred constantly. Allow to cool. Coat small squares of sponge cake with the custard, icing and cover with grated coconut.

To make the icing:

4 egg whites beaten stiff
8 tbsp. sugar

Gradually add the sugar to the egg whites, beating all the time. Let stand three minutes before spreading the cakes.

To make the sponge cake:

Mix together and beat seven minutes:

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar sifted
11/2 tbsp. water
1 cup cake flour sifted five times
1 tsp. lemon extract
6 egg whites beaten seven minutes

Add half the sugar to the egg yolks and beat three minutes. Add the rest of the sugar to the egg whites and beat three minutes. Fold the egg whites into “the egg yolks. Fold in the flour as lightly as possible and add the flavoring. Turn the batter into a shallow ungreased pan and bake at 325° F. for thirty minutes. Allow to cool before cutting into small squares.

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There is the chorus singing in the Volga country that is not surpassed in any nation. There is the hand weaving of fine linens, and the exquisite embroideries done by women who love beauty. And there are the great brass samovars of coffee, heated by coals put into a pipe in the center of the urn. There is boiling water too, to make tea in one’s own teapot that is tucked somewhere in the hand luggage, and there are little cakes. They are typically Russian cakes.

1. Drachona

21/2 cups flour sifted
1 cup milk
1/4 cup powdered sugar sifted
1 tbsp. butter melted
1/2 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks well beaten

Beat the butter, sugar and eggs together and add the salt. Blend in the flour and milk alternately. Spread thinly in a well greased pan and bake at 350° F. for about thirty minutes. Cut into small squares when cold.

2. Tvorojiniki

Sift together:

31/2 cups flour
1/2 lb. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs unbeaten

The cream cheese is made by putting clabbered milk into a muslin bag, hanging it in a cool place, and allowing it to drip for twelve hours.

Mix the cheese, butter, eggs and two cups of flour together. Rub the mixture through a sieve and then work in the remaining flour. Mold into small flat cakes and cook in boiling water. Drain on a cloth and sprinkle with sugar.

3. Sirniki

3 lbs. cottage cheese (dry 4 eggs unbeaten curds)
3 tbsp. butter softened
1 heaping tbsp. flour sifted
1 tbsp. sugar

The cheese should be very dry.

Rub the cheese through a sieve. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Add the other ingredients and again mix well. Shape into small cakes, roll in flour, and fry in butter.

4. Smettanick (Sour Cream Tarts)

11/2 cups flour sifted
1 egg yolk well beaten
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp. salt

Blend the flour, butter and salt together until the mix ture is mealy. Add the egg yolk and knead into a smooth dough, adding a few drops of ice water if needed. Beat with a steak beater until the dough blisters. Roll very thin and cut into three-inch squares. Make a filling as follows:

11/2 cups almonds blanched and ground
thick sour cream
2 tbsp. jam
1 egg yolk unbeaten
2 tbsp. powdered sugar

Work the powdered sugar into the almonds, adding a few drops of cream and egg yolk as needed. Add the jam gradually. When the mixture is finished it should be a paste. Place a spoonful of the filling in the center of a square of pastry, brush the edges with cold water, place another square on top and seal the edges by fluting them. Brush the tarts with egg white, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 450° F. until brown.

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Drinking tea in Japan is a ceremony. The “Tea Ceremony” is so difficult to learn one goes to school a whole year before it is thoroughly mastered.

The American traveler in Japan is told by friends of the Diplomatic Service that there is only one safe code of etiquette for the American woman to follow when going to “Tea” in Japan. The simple rules she must follow are easily conformed to. She must slip off her shoes at the door. The Japanese hostess will probably supply her with sandals which she must put on. Then she must be sure to take the right position at the tiny tea table. Kneel, sit back upon the heels, and keep the body erect. The cup, the diplomatic friend advises, should be held in the cupped left palm. It is lifted with the right hand and the tea is sipped.

This much of the ceremony was simple enough. But the food that went with that particular “Tea” was difficult. Soy beans had been cut in thick and thin, big and little pieces, then roasted, much as we salt almonds. They had a pleasing flavor, and all the pieces somehow tasted a little different. But they were a poor substitute for tea cakes.

“Are toasted soy beans all one gets for tea?” the diplomatic friend was asked.

“The American lady would like cakes with her tea,” he told the attendant in the little Tea House.

A queer sort of sweet was brought. Yokan it is called.

1. Yokan (A Sweet Made of Beans)

2 lbs. red beans
4 cups sugar
2 ounces gelatine soaked in 1/4 cup cold water for ten minutes

Boil the beans three hours. Rub them through a sieve. Add the sugar and gelatin and cook slowly six to eight hours. Turn into a shallow pan and cut into small squares when cold.

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Bakers in Holland use butter and cheese generously in their baking and the cakes they make are delicious.

1. Toffenstrudel

2 cups flour sifted
1 egg well beaten
1/4 cup butter softened
1/2 tsp. salt
warm water to make a stiff dough

Add the egg, butter and salt to the flour, then gradually mix in the water, blending the mixture into a stiff dough Set aside for one hour.

Make a filling of:

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
4 egg yolks well beaten
1/2 lb. Dutch cheese grated
grated rind of 1 orange
1 tbsp. cream

Blend the butter and sugar together until mixed but not soft. Add the cheese, orange rind, cream and egg and mix until thoroughly blended.

Roll the pastry into a thin long sheet. Spread the cheese mixture down the center. Fold the dough over, making a long roll. Seal the ends by pinching the dough securely over the filling and bake at 350° F. for forty-five minutes. Cut in slices when cold.

2. Poffertges

1 cup flour sifted
1 cup milk scalded
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp. sugar
3 eggs unbeaten

Add the butter to the milk and stir until it melts. Add the flour and salt and beat until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, until the dough leaves the sides of the pan. Re move from the fire and blend in the sugar and eggs. Shape into small balls and fry in deep fat until dark brown.

3. Beverwyks

Sift together:

3 cups flour
1 cup butter softened
1 tsp. each: cloves, allspice, cinnamon
11/2 cups sugar
3 eggs unbeaten

Mix with:
1 cup raisins chopped

Add the sugar and eggs to the butter and beat well. Add the other ingredients and mix quickly, using more flour to make a dough that will roll. Roll one-fourth inch thick, cut into small cakes and bake at 350° F. until light brown.

4. Platzen

Sift together:

2 cups flour
2 cups powdered sugar sifted with flour five times
1 tsp. each: cloves, cinnamon
4 egg yolks beaten ten minutes

Gradually add the sugar to the egg yolks. Fold in the flour, using just enough to make a dough that will drop from a spoon. Drop into small cakes and bake at 325° F. for about fifteen minutes.

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