Scrap-Cakes
Origin: London, England
Source: Isabella Beeton, 1861
Ingredients
- 2 lb leaf, or the inside fat of a pig
- 1-1/2 lb flour
- 1/4 lb moist sugar
- 1/2 lb currants
- 1 oz candied lemon-peel
- ground allspice to taste
Instructions
- Cut the leaf, or flead, as it is sometimes called, into small pieces;
- put it into a large dish, which place in a quick oven; be careful that it does not burn, and in a short time it will be reduced to oil, with the small pieces of leaf floating on the surface; and it is of these that the cakes should be made.
- Gather all the scraps together, put them into a basin with the flour, and rub them well together.
- Add the currants, sugar, candied peel, cut into thin slices, and the ground allspice.
- When all these ingredients are well mixed, moisten with sufficient cold water to make the whole into a nice paste;
- roll it out thin, cut it into shapes, and bake the cakes in a quick oven from 15 to 20 minutes.
- These are very economical and wholesome cakes for children, and the lard, melted at home, produced from the flead, is generally better than that you purchase.
- To prevent the lard from burning, and to insure its being a good colour, it is better to melt it in a jar placed in a saucepan of boiling water; by doing it in this manner, there will be no chance of its discolouring.