The _Northampton-Cake._

Take a Peck of Flour, and a Pound of fine Sugar beaten well into Powder,
and sifted; then add a quarter of an Ounce of Cloves, half an Ounce of
Cinnamon, and a large Nutmeg, and beat them to powder; put to this some
Orange-Flower-Water, or Rose-Water; then take five or six Pounds of Currans
well pick'd, and rub'd dry with a coarse Cloth, but not wash'd. Put these
with your Fruit, and a little Salt into the Flour; then take as much Cream
as you think proper: then melt two Pounds of Butter, to mix with it, and
add a Pint of Canary-Wine, and kneed it with some fresh Ale-Yeast, till it
rises under your hand. Have your Oven hot before you put it in the Hoop for
Baking.



Of the Baking of Fruit. From Mr. _L. M._

It is to be observed, that all Fruits that are ripe require little baking,
and those which are of the hardest, or most unripe Sorts, ought to have a
long and gentle baking. In Pears, for example, when we have some of those,
which ripen in the Autumn, they will bake with a Tart; for as they are ripe
of themselves, they require very little baking, for Ripeness is one degree
tending to Rottenness; and as that is done by heat gently, so the Oven
brings that to a certain height, suddenly, with its safeguard of Sugar;
that the Fruit comes to its full flavour, with the additional beauty, from
the Sugar. It would have done a great deal by Nature itself, if the Tree
had stood in a place agreeable; but much more would it be for those baking