Rub a piece of butter the size of an egg into a quart of flour till there are no little lumps. Then add a teaspoonful of salt, and scatter in two heaping teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar. Have ready a pint of cold water, in which a heaping teaspoonful of saleratus or soda has been dissolved; pour it into the flour, stirring it quickly with your hand. Do this several minutes that the ingredients may become well mixed; then add flour enough to enable you to mould it smooth. Roll it out the same thickness as tea biscuit. If these are made right, they are as light as foam. They may be made of unbolted flour, if preferred. Make half the measure for a small family.
To one pint of cold milk, put a piece of butter the size of an egg, a small teaspoonful of salt, and one egg. Rub the butter into a quart of flour, then add the egg and milk. Knead in more flour until it is as stiff as it can possibly be made, and pound it with an iron pestle, or the broad end of a flat-iron, for at least one hour; then roll it very thin, cut it into rounds, prick, and bake in a quick oven, twelve or fifteen minutes.
Take one egg, one teacup of sugar, one of sweet milk, two and a half of flour, a dessert-spoonful of butter, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one of saleratus, and a very little salt. To mix it, stir the cream of tartar, sugar, and salt into the flour, then the milk, add the egg without beating, dissolve the saleratus, and melt the butter together in a spoonful of hot water, then stir all together a few minutes. Bake in fifteen minutes in two pans about the size of a breakfast plate. If you prefer, make it with sour milk, and omit the cream of tartar.
With the addition of one more egg, a teaspoonful more of butter, and half a cup of sugar, and some spice, this is a nice cake for the basket, and may sometimes be very convenient, because so quickly made.
A quart of flour, a piece of butter the size of an egg, three table-spoonfuls of sugar, two eggs, two teacups of milk, two teaspoonfuls of cream of tartar, one of saleratus, and a little salt.
To mix it, scatter the cream of tartar, the salt, and the sugar into the flour; add the eggs without having beaten them, the butter melted, and one cup of the milk; dissolve the saleratus in the remaining cup, and then stir all together steadily a few minutes. Bake in three pans the size of a breakfast plate, fifteen or twenty minutes. For a family of four or five, make half the measure. Add spice, and twice the measure of sugar, and you have a good plain cake for the cake-basket.