1887 Lemon Sponge Fingers

1887 Lemon Sponge Fingers
Miss Parloa's Kitchen Companion
6 eggs
1 scant cupful of powdered sugar
1 cupful flour
Grated rind of 1 lemon
a little extra sugar will be required for sprinkling over the fingers. Have large sheets of paper spread on tin sheets. Rub them over with washed butter. When this has been done, dredge the paper with powdered sugar. Into a large pastry-bag put a tin tube about half an inch in diameter at the small end, and put a small stopper in the outer end of the tube. See that the oven is properly heated It must be a very moderate heat. Put a piece of white paper in the oven, and if at the end of five minutes it is a yellow color, the oven is all right for the sponge fingers. Should the oven be too hot the cake will rise and then fall. Still, it must be hot enough to form a crust on the cakes quickly, else they will spread an, of course, be spoiled. Now that everything is ready, make the cake. Grate the rind of the lemon on the sugar. Beat the yolks of the eggs very light. Add the sugar to them, and beat with a spoon until the mixture is smooth and light. Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff, dry froth. Add the beaten yolks and sugar to the whites, a spoonful at a time. Do not stir the mixture; cut it in lightly. Now sprinkle in the flour, a little at a time, and cut it lightly into the preparation, which must be kept dry and light. If it be stirred it will become liquid and heavy. When the flour has been added, pour the preparation into the pastry-bag. There should be enough to fill about 2/3 of the bag. Twist the cloth at the top, and continue twisting until the cake mixture is pressed well down. Remove the stopper from the tube. Hold the top part of the bag in the left hand. Place the right hand under the bag and near the tube, having the thumb come on top. Bring the point of the tube close to the buttered paper mentioned in the first part of the receipt, and apply a slight pressure with the thumb and fingers of the right hand. This will force the past out of the bag on the paper. Draw the bag toward you very slowly, continuing the pressure all the while. When the sponge fingers are long enough, remove the pressure, and tip the point of the bag up. This will stop the flow of the mixture. The fingers should be four or five inches long. Press them out in rows on the paper until all the preparation has been used. Dredge them thickly with powdered sugar, and bake for about twelve minutes; then remove from the paper, and spread on a dish to cool.
Did we eat them? No
Would I make them again? No

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