French Onion Soufflé

3 large spanish onions
3 cups water (about)
6 whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground thyme
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
4 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup onion water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 eggs, separated

Peel and chop onions very fine. Boil until tender in the 3 cups water with cloves and thyme. Drain onions thoroughly. Make thick cream sauce with butter, flour, milk, onion water, salt, and pepper. Add onions to cream sauce. Blend in egg yolks well beaten. Then fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Turn into buttered backing dish. Set in pan of hot water and bake in moderate oven (350F) about 50 to 60 minutes. Serve plain, with tomato sauce or any a la king mixture. Yield ; 6 servings.

Polenta

Bake at 375F for 45 minutes. Makes 6 servings.
1 1/2 cups yellow corn meal
2 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 cups water
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1 small onion, grated
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup (1/4 pound) process American cheese, cut up
1 pimientos, diced
10 slices (about 1/2 pound) crisp bacon
1. Blend corn meal, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 cup cold water in medium size bowl.
2. Bring remaining 4 1/2 cups water to boiling in large sauce pan ; gradually stir in corn-meal mixture.
3. Cook, stirring often, until thick ; cover ; cook over very low heat 15 minutes ; pour into loaf pan, 9x5x3 ; chill about 2 hours, or until firm.
4. Melt butter or margarine in small saucepan ; remove from heat ; stir in onion, flour, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper ; add milk slowly. Cook over low heat stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and boils one minute ; add cheese and pimientos ; stir until cheese is melted.
5. Cut chilled corn meal into 1-inch cubes ; layer half in bottom of buttered shallow baking dish, 8- to 10-cup size ; crumble 5 slices crisp bacon over cubes ; top with second layer of corn-meal cubes ; pour cheese sauce over. Halve remaining bacon slices ; arrange checkerboard style, on top.
6. Bake in moderate oven (375F) 45 minutes, or until top is bubbly and lightly browned.

BUSY-DAY MACARONI

Bake at 350F for 30 min. Makes 6 servings
1 package (8 oz) elbow macaroni
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup milk
1 cup grated process American cheese (1/2-8oz package)
1 small onion, grated
2 tablespoons parsley
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
8 frankfurters (about 1lb), cut in 1/4-inch rings

1. Cook macaroni in large amount boiling salted water just until tender; drain well.
2. Mix macaroni, cream of mushroom soup, milk, cheese, onion, parsley, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in 2-qt baking dish; fold in frankfurter slices.
3. Bake in moderate oven (350F) about 30 minutes, or until bubbly hot and lightly flecked with brown.

Americas favorite tuna casserole!

In a one-qt. casserole stir together 1 can, Mushroom Soup 1/2 cup milk, a 7-oz. can drained flaked tuna, 1 cup drained cooked peas, 1 cup crushed potato chips. Bake at 375F. for 25 minutes.

Chocolate Butter Frosting (for Seven-Layer Cake)

3 cups sifted Confectioners’ sugar
⅓ cup hot water
4 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 slightly beaten egg
½ cup soft butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Bend sugar and hot water into chocolate. Whit spoon beat half of egg into chocolate mixture; beat in remaining egg. Beat in butter, a tablespoon at a time. Blend in vanilla. Frosting will be thin at this point, so place bowl in pan of ice water and beat till of spreading consistency.

Seven-layer Cake

“It takes practice, but everyone loves Seven-layer Cake.” Delectable as it is impressive-
¾ cup shortening
3 ⅓ cups sifted cake flour
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons salt
********************
1 ½ cups milk
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Stir shortening just to soften. Sift in dry ingredients. Add 1 cup of the milk, mix until all flour is dampened. Then beat vigorously 2 min. Add remaining milk, the eggs, and vanilla. Beat vigorously 2 mins. Longer.. Pour about 2 cups of the batter into a lightly greased and floured 9x1½ round pan. Tip pan so batter runs over bottom. Invert pan over cooky sheet, allowing as much batter to run out of the pan as will do so easily. Turn pan right side up, scrape down sides to prevent burning, and even out batter remaining on bottom. Repeat for other 6 layers, baking as many at a time as you have pans and oven space. *Bake in hot oven (400F) about 8 minutes or till done. Cool in pans 3 to 5 minutes, then invert on rack to cool thoroughly. Put layers together and frost with Chocolate Butter Frosting. *While baking first cakes, keep remaining batter in refrigerator.

High-Hat Soufflé

Bake at 300F 50 to 60 minutes. Makes 6 Servings
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon grated onion
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup milk
1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
4 eggs, separated

Melt butter or margarine in small saucepan; remove from heat; blend in flour, onion, mustard, salt, curry powder, and Worcestershire sauce; slowly stir in milk.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils 1 minute; add cheese; continue cooking, over low heat, until cheese melts; remove from heat.
Beat egg whites in medium-size bowl until stiff but not dry.
Beat egg yolks in large bowl until thick and lemon-colored; slowly stir in hot cheese mixture; gently fold in beaten egg whites.
Pour soufflé into un-greased 6-cup baking dish; mark a circle in soufflé with tip of spoon about 1 inch from rim of baking dish.
Bake in slow oven (300f) 50 to 60 minutes, or until top is puffy-light and a rich golden brown. Serve at once, while soufflé is puffed high.

Chocolate Fortune Frosting

Electric mixer makes frosting fluffy and light-chocolate color. Nice mixed with spoon, too; then frosting is darker and satiny-
2½ 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups sifted Confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons hot water
1 egg
1/3 cup soft butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt chocolate in mixing bowl over hot water. Remove from heat. With electric mixer blend in sugar and water. Beat in egg, then butter and vanilla. Frosting will be thin at this point, so place bowl in ice water; beat until of spreading consistency. Will frost tops and sides of two 9-inch layers.

Old-time Fudge Cake

So rich and velvety and moist and good that if you could have just one chocolate-cake recipe, bet you’d choose this—
2/3 cup soft butter
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, melted
2½ cups sifted cake flour
1¼ teaspoons soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups ice water
Cream together butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla till fluffy (beat 5 minutes at high speed on mixer, scraping bowl occasionally to guide batter into beaters; or beat 5 minutes by hand). Blend in cooled chocolate. Sift together flour, soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with ice water, beating well after each addition. Bake in 2 paper-lined 9 x 1 ½ inch round pans in moderate oven (350) 30 to 35 minutes or till done. Frost cooled cake with Chocolate Fortune Frosting; trim sides with California walnut halves.

And here’s a delectable Hungarian Desert. Geszetenye Puree.

Boil 1 pound of chestnuts for 20 to 30 minutes. Peel and remove the inner skin and put them through a ricer while still hot. Add ½ teaspoon powdered sugar.
Mix this well and chill. Beat 1 cup heavy cream until stiff, and add slowly juice 1 orange and 1 tablespoon Curacao. Add pureed chestnuts and beat all together thoroughly. Put back in refrigerator till cold, and then serve.

Hungarian Goulash

Have 2 pounds of very lean beef cut into abut 1 inch cubes. Be sure and have lean beef, and cut off all the fat. Melt 2 ounces of lard in a heavy skillet, and fry in it 2 fair-sized red onions, you can use Bermuda onions, but the goulash won’t have as pungent a flavor.
Do not allow the onions to brown, but when they are tender add the cubed meat, and shake the skillet and stir the mixture until the meat and onions become golden brown. Season with salt to taste, and add 1 generous tablespoon of the best Hungarian paprika you can get.
This is necessary for a true flavor. Domestic paprika has pungency, but no heat. Spanish paprika has heat but little pungency; real Hungarian paprika has pungency, heat, and lasting color. Also add 3 ounces of tomato paste, ½ teaspoon of caraway seeds ½ cup dry red wine, and enough beef bouillon (about 1 can).
Put the lid on the skillet and allow the mixture to simmer very slowly for about 3 hours. If the liquid boils away too much, add a little more bouillon and wine.
When the meat is quite tender, add 5 medium-sized boiled potatoes, cut into pieces about the size of walnuts. Mix the potatoes and meat thoroughly, and let the whole thing simmer for another 10 minutes. If there should be any grease, skim it off.
Just before serving, melt ½ ounce of butter in a small saucepan, stir in quickly ½ teaspoon of paprika, and add immediately a tablespoon or so of water. Pour this liquid into the stew, again mix well, and serve. This last addition to the goulash gives it the coveted red color, and the delicious Hungarian flavor.

Beef goulash with noodles

Goulash, a most excellent beef stew teeming with tomatoes and onion, is a favorite in Austria and Hungary, where it is always served with a homemade noodle called “spaetzel. The noodles you’ll use will be called noodles and probably descend readymade from the pantry shelf, but they’ll be delicious for all that.
Dice ¼ pound salt pork and sauté in a heavy skillet over low heat. Remove the salt pork and save. Cut 1 ½ pounds round steak into 2” pieces. Sprinkle lightly with 1 tablespoon flour, salt and pepper. Brown the beef on all sides in the salt-pork fat. Add 1 clove garlic, minced, and ½ cup finely chopped onion, 1 cup condensed beef bouillon and one 8-ounce can tomato sauce. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt, 12 peppercorns and 1 tablespoon paprika. Cover pan tightly and cook over low heat for 1 ½ hours or until tender, adding more liquid if necessary for sufficient gravy. Thicken if desired, with 1 tablespoon flour mixed with enough cold water to make a thin paste. Serve on a bed of cooked noodles. Serves 4.

Marshmallow Meringue

¼ lb. marshmallow
1 tbsp. milk
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
2 egg whites
¼ tsp salt
¼ c. sugar

Place marshmallow and milk in saucepan. Cook over low heat, folding over and over until marshmallow are melted down to about ½ original size. Remove from heat, add vanilla and continue folding until mixture is smooth, yet light and spongy.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Add salt and sugar slowly beating constantly. Carefully fold in slightly warm marshmallow mixture.
Pile on pie, pudding or cake. Place under broiler 3 inches from heat 30 seconds or until meringue is delicately brown.

Meringue (2nd version)

3 egg whites
5 tablespoons sugar
Beat whites until stiff, add sugar slowly and beat until creamy. Roughly spread over filling and bake 12 minutes in slow oven. Remove pie from oven and place on cake rest to allow air to circulate underneath, which will aid in preventing sogginess. Let pie cool in a warm place out of draft, as near the stove. When cool, store in cold place until serving time, not the refrigerator however, as the crust might absorb moisture

Meringue

Maybe it’s the meringue poised delicately atop a cream pie, pudding or cake that men dote on. Whatever it is, there’s one thing certain, when a desert contains a meringue a good one proves the making of it.
Many excellent cooks have repeatedly admitted to us that they find meringues a problem. Of the three types, the soft, the hard and the Italian or basic (made by pouring hot syrup over egg whites); the soft meringue usually causes the most trouble. The chief complaint seems to be that the meringue shrinks and is watery. Others say that the egg whites become tough, that the sugar spots or that the whole mixture falls flat.
All of these difficulties may be overcome if the egg whites are whipped at room temperature and if the correct procedure (such as given in the first recipe below) is followed.
A fine granulated sugar is the best kind to use for meringues. It must be beaten in gradually and completely dissolved. True enough, powdered sugar will dissolve easier, but it has the tendency to decrease the volume of the egg white mixture.
A meringue baked in a slow oven may shrink and become watery. Occasionally, it will be tough and hard to cut. In such a case a buttered or dampened knife will facilitate the serving.
On the other hand a meringue which is baked in a hot oven or placed under a broiler will brown too quickly and not be cooked through. (An exception to the rule is the baked Alaska, which must be cooked quickly to prevent the heat from melting the ice cream.) For general purposes use a moderate 350-degree oven.
Soft Meringue
2 egg whites
¼ t salt
¼ t flavoring
4 T fine granulated sugar.
Have the egg whites at room temperature. Add salt and flavoring before beating. Measure out sugar. Beat egg whites to a stiff foam. Add sugar 1 T at a time, beating after each addition. When the last sugar is added beat until the mixture piles well and all of the sugar is dissolved. Spread well over the pie, cake or pudding. Bake at 350 degrees until well browned.
Note: This recipe is a newspaper clipping with a “seal” stating: Kitchen-Proved Institute of Home Economics – in the center of the “seal” is Detroit Free Press. There is no date. I love how smarmy the article is though.

Cake Filling

1 ½ c. milk
1 egg yolk
Mix with white or brown sugar, put on stove, thicken with corn starch and flour. Note: handwritten card kind of leaves me hanging…

Chocolate Icing Deluxe

Combine:
1 large Egg (unbeaten)
2 cups sifted Confectioners’ Sugar
¼ tsp. Salt
1/3 cup Soft Shortening
2 sq. (2oz) Unsweetened Chocolate (melted)
Beat with rotary beater until fluffy. (Or you can use your favorite icing.)

Sea Foam Frosting – Mary Ann

2 egg whites
2 c. brown sugar
½ c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Dash salt
Beat together egg whites, sugar, salt and water in top part of double boiler; flow over boiling water and continue beating with rotary beater about seven minutes or until frosting thickens and holds its shape when dropped from beater.. Remove from boiling water add flavoring until stiff enough to spread. Approx yield: Frosting for top and side of two layers, or two dozen cupcakes

Icing (Seven Minutes) – Margie

1 ½ c. sugar
5 tbsp. water
¼ tsp. cream tarter
2 unbeaten egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix sugar and water – cook after boiling 3 minutes – Beat egg whites – add stuff – add vanilla.
(Note this was a hand written card – I assume a double boiler is being used and “add stuff” is the cream of tartar and egg whites).

The Frosting

2 egg whites, unbeaten
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
5 tablespoons cold water
1 ½ teaspoons white corn syrup or ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Put egg whites, sugar, water and corn syrup or cream of tartar, in upper part of double boiler. Beat with rotary egg beater until thoroughly mixed. Place over rapidly boiling water, beat constantly with rotary egg beater and cook for seven minutes, or until frosting will stand up peaks, when the beater is removed. Remove from heat, add vanilla and beat until thick and cool enough to spread.

Glaceed flowers

Glaceed flowers appear professional and are quickly made. Brush the fresh violet petals with egg white. Sprinkle with superfine sugar. Shake off excess sugar, then place the flowers in a warm place to dry. Once dried they will last several days.

Confectioners’ Topping: (for hot cross buns, doughnuts(?!))

Combine 1 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar and 3 tablespoons of warm water.
Have you ever wondered how bakers get that lovely, translucent glaze on doughnuts-and wished that you could do it, too? Well, you can, and the secret’s this: The doughnuts must be hot for glazing.
If you fry your own doughnuts, dip them right after draining. But if you buy tem unglazed, just heat in moderate oven (375) 5 minutes, or until very hot. Dip one side in glaze-this is easy with tongs-and place glaze side up on a rack to drip and cool.
To make Glaze: Thoroughly blend 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons cold water. This is enough for dipping about a dozen doughnuts.

Fresh Strawberry Cream Frosting

1 ½ cup heavy cream, whipped
24 marshmallows
1 pk. Fresh strawberries
Whip cream until stiff. With buttered scissors cut marshmallows into small pieces and fold into whipped cream. Chill well, about 3 hrs. Just before serving, clean and quarter berries, removing a few for garnish. Fold berries into cream mixture, spread top & sides of a plain angel cake. Or 9” 2 layer cake.

Topping Tip

When you find you’ve whipped more cream than you can use at one time, don’t throw away what’s left over. Instead, freeze it in dabs. Once the dabs of whipped cream harden, you can put them in a plastic bag, store in your freezer, and have them available for garnishes at a moment’s notice. No cream is wasted.

Banana Fluff

Quick, no-cook “frosting” for gingerbread or spice cake-
2 medium fully ripe, flecked with brown bananas, mashed (1 cup)
¾ cup sugar
1 egg white
Dash Salt
With electric mixer, combine all ingredients and beat till thick and fluffy, about 8 minutes. Makes 5 cups.
Handwritten note: For Buffet (?) Gingerbread – shortcake

Cocoa Cream Frosting

Combine and sift together:
½ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
Beat until stiff:
½ pint whipping cream
Gradually add sugar mixture and:
1 teaspoon vanilla
Spread on cakes and garnish with toasted almonds or shaved chocolate. This frosting is suitable for angel food, white layer cake or cupcakes.

Raspberry Cream Filling

Whip until stiff:
½ pint whipping cream
Gradually fold in:
1 cup red raspberry jam
1/8 teaspoon saltSuitable for sponge cakes or plain cupcakes

Doughnut Glaze

Here is a doughnut glaze recipe I use and find very successful. Mrs. C. W. inquired about such a recipe.
Ingredients: 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar, 1/3 cup boiling water.
Mix water and sugar in small bowl. Hold doughnut with a fork through the hole and dip into warm glaze. I usually double the above reipe to glaze two dozen doughnuts (Mrs. T.L.K.)

Chocolate Frosting

Combine 2 egg whites, 1 ½ cup sugar, 5 tbsp. water, 1tbsp light corn syrup in double broiler. Cook and boil 7 minutes. Add tsp vanilla extract, cool. Gently stirl in 2 ½ oz melted, unsweetened chocolate

Coconut Broiler Frosting

Bake a cake-spice, yellow or white- your own or from a packaged mix. Then broil this chewy, rich mixture atop-
Cream together ¼ cup butter or margarine and 1 cup brown sugar. Add 2 tablespoons light cream or evaporated milk; mix well. Stir in 1 cup flaked or shredded coconut. Spread mixture over warm cake in pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat about 4 minutes, or till golden brown. Cut cake in squares and serve warm.

Quick-as-a-wink Icing

Melt 1 pkg. Nestlé’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate over hot water. Add alternately 1 c. sifted confectioners’ sugar and 1/3 c. evaporated milk. Beat after each addition till smooth. Yield: Ices tops of two 8” layers.

Substitute Whipped Cream

Ingredients: 1 cup sugar, 1 egg white, 1 cup of soft ripe bananas.
Whip the above ingredients in a bowl until it stands in peaks. Another recipe is to grate of cup of tart apples in place of bananas. Both recipes are wonderful for frosting, but it will not keep overnight as it will turn dark.