Screenland (May-Oct 1931)

SCREENLAND Tea for Two — Continued from page 14 From the pantry shelf Genevieve took down her cake box. Three kinds of cake ! It might be too many, but after all she had been challenged and there was only one way to prove her prowess as a cake maker. The 'Devil's cake' had been prepared from the following recipe : \l/2 cups pastry flour V/2 teaspoons baking powder lJ/2 teaspoons salt Y\ cup of butter 2 eggs Y2 cup sour milk or buttermilk 2 squares bitter chocolate 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla Measure the flour. Add baking powder and salt, sifting together three times. Pour boiling water over chocolate after the chocolate has been cut into fine pieces, and let stand while you are putting the other ingredients together. Cream butter and sugar. Then add eggs, one at a time, beatin well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Add flour and sour milk alternately, beat well and add mixture of water, sugar and soda. Bake in two layers or else in one oblong or square pan to be cut into cubes. Use moderate oven — 350° — for 25 or 30 minutes. Then, there was gingerbread. Old-fashioned and good. The recipe had been in the family for a couple of generations and was dubbed 'Best Gingerbread' in the old family cookbook. That was recommendation enough and for the sake of those who enjoy the delicacy, here is the recipe : Cream together one-half cup of butter and half a cup of sugar. Then add 1 egg, beaten well, and a cup of black molasses. Sift two and a half cups of Hour with one and a half teaspoons of soda and add to this a teaspoon of cinnamon, one of ginger, a half teaspoon of cloves and a half teaspoon of salt. Add this to the first mixture, then take a cup of hot water and pour over all, beating the mixture until smooth. This makes a very soft batter but is excellent cake when baked in a shallow pan for 35 minutes in a moderate oven. By adding a cup of nuts and raisins the cake is much improved. The last was real tea cake, made in muffin rings and looking very dainty and pretty in white icing. These had been the easiest of all to make, so she set them around the plate in an ornamental way and smiled. Here is her recipe : Ya cup butter 2/3 cup sugar 1 pfrcr Yi cup milk \Y\ cups flour 2 teaspoons baking powder Y2 teaspoon vanilla Ya teaspoon salt Cream butter and sugar, add egg beaten very light. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add alternately with milk to mixture. Add Vanilla last and beat all until smooth. Bake in oven at 375°. Ice when cool. Genevieve's next addition to the little tea wagon was from the cupboard also. Orange marmalade would be exactly right for her hot buttered biscuit. This marmalade had I • Genevieve Tobin is one of the most charming hostesses in Hollywood. And as a teapourer she can't be beat! been made from a recipe discovered in California, which seemed appropriate, and while it was a bit of trouble to make, it certainly justified itself by being perfectly delicious. Miss Tobin's cook makes it most of the time, but this particular jar was some she had prepared herself to test out her new recipe when she first acquired it. She wras bound not to 'cheat' on her tea prepared by herself. Meantime, sandwiches were being made. She wanted them to look lovely as well as taste good and there was a delightful variety when the plate was finally ready. For example, there were 'open-faced' ones cut round and spread with avocado, seasoned with a little salt and lemon and decorated with a smaller ring of green-pepper and a dab of chopped parsley in the center. Also, some crescent-shaped ones, spread with soft yellow cheese and garnished with strips of pimento. Nut bread had been cut in diamond shapes and spread with white cheese, softened with cream and flavored with paprika and a little lemon juice. The dish was prettily garnished with lemon, cut in fancy shapes, and parsley sprigs. It was cool and tempting ! And at last, the tea cannister was looked over to make sure the 'right kind of tea' was ready for the party. When the boiling water was poured over it the aroma of jasmine was unmistakable. Nothing less than jasmine tea for fastidious Genevieve, but when the lovely brown biscuit had been enjoyed, the tea sipped, the cake praised, Mr. Boles voted orange marmalade the piece dc resistance. He begged for the recipe and in case there are others who might enjoy the delicacy, Miss Tobin offers the following to her fans: Take five oranges, three lemons and two grapefruits. Remove the pulp and chop; put the skin through the meat chopper. Add the pulp and juice to the skin. To each pint of the mixture add three quarts of cold water and let stand over night. Measure and to each quart of the mixture allow one cup of sugar. Boil for an hour and take it off when a little of it, tested in a cool place, hardens. The moral of this story is that a smart, modern girl, may have a career and still find time to cook if she likes it well enough to learn ! Beautiful Kay Hush appears with Johnny Farrell, golf pro, in the RKO-Pathe series of golf pictures.