FEDERAL CAKES.

Sift two pounds of flour into a deep pan, and cut up in it a pound of
fresh butter; rub the butter into the flour with your hands, adding by
degrees, half a pound of powdered white sugar; a tea-spoonful of
powdered cinnamon; a beaten nutmeg; a glass of wine or brandy, and two
glasses of rose water. Beat four eggs very light; and add them to the
mixture with a salt-spoonful of pearl-ash melted in a little lukewarm
water. Mix all well together; add, if necessary, sufficient cold water
to make it into a dough just stiff enough to roll out; knead it
slightly, and then roll it out into a sheet about half an inch thick.
Cut it out into small cakes with a tin cutter, or with the edge of a
tumbler; dipping the cutter frequently into flour, to prevent its
sticking. Lay the cakes in shallow pans buttered, or on flat sheets of
tin, (taking care not to let them touch, lest they should run into each
other,) and bake them of a light brown in a brisk oven. They are best
the second day.