cool ten minutes; then break in, one by one, six eggs, and beat till
smooth. Have muffin-pans buttered, or large baking-sheets. Drop a spoonful
of the mixture on them, allowing room to spread, and bake half an hour in
a quick oven. Cool on a sieve, and, when cool, fill with a cream made as
below.

FILLING FOR CREAM CAKES.

One pint of milk, one cup of sugar, two eggs, half a cup of flour, and a
piece of butter the size of a walnut.

Mix the sugar and flour, add the beaten eggs, and beat all till smooth.
Stir into the boiling milk with a teaspoonful of salt, and boil for
fifteen minutes. When cold, add a teaspoonful of vanilla or lemon. Make a
slit in each cake, and fill with the cream. Corn-starch may be used
instead of flour. This makes a very nice filling for plain cup cake baked
on jelly-cake tins.

MERINGUES, OR KISSES.

Whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth; quarter of a pound of sifted
powdered sugar; a few drops of vanilla.

Add the sugar to the whites. Have ready a hard-wood board which fits the
oven. Wet the top well with boiling water, and cover it with sheets of
letter-paper. Drop the meringue mixture on this in large spoonfuls, and
set in a _very slow_ oven. The secret of a good meringue is to _dry_, not
bake; and they should be in the oven at least half an hour. Take them out
when dry. Slip a thin, sharp knife under each one, and put two together;
or scoop out the soft part very carefully, and fill with a little jelly or
with whipped cream.

PASTRY AND PIES.

In the first place, don't make either, except very semi-occasionally.
Pastry, even when good, is so indigestible that children should never have
it, and their elders but seldom. A nice short-cake made as on p. 209, and
filled with stewed fruit, or with fresh berries mashed and sweetened, is
quite as agreeable to eat, and far more wholesome. But, as people _will_
both make and eat pie-crust, the best rules known are given.

Butter, being more wholesome than lard, should always be used if it can be
afforded. A mixture of lard and butter is next best. Clarified dripping
makes a good crust for meat pies, and cream can also be used. For
dumplings nothing can be better than a light biscuit-crust, made as on p.
208. It is also good for meat pies.

PLAIN PIE-CRUST.

One quart of flour; one even teacup of lard, and one of butter; one teacup
of ice-water or very cold water; and a teaspooonful of salt.

Rub the lard and salt into