Tea Cakes ("Zoete Koekies") (Mrs. Van der Riet.)

Instructions

1. Have these ingredients ready: 4 lb. of flour; 3 lb. of good clear brown sugar; 1 lb. of butter; sheep-tail fat; 1 lb. of pounded almonds (or 200 almonds pounded without blanching); 4 eggs; potash or carbonate of soda; 1 tablespoonful of cloves, finely pounded; 3 tablespoonfuls of cinnamon; a tumbler of dark wine (claret).
2. First rub the flour, sugar, butter, spices, and soda well together.
3. Lastly, add the wine, and knead all well together. If potash is used, it must be dissolved in the wine.
4. The dough is best mixed over-night.
5. Roll the dough out with a rolling-pin; make into shapes with a wineglass or any thin shape.
6. The old Dutch people put a small piece of citron preserve in the centre of each little cake.
7. Bake on buttered tins for twenty minutes in a tolerably brisk oven. Very good.