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Roll a large piece of the mixture used for apple cake into a rectangular shape from 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, brush with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and, if desired, with raisins or chopped nuts. Roll like a jelly roll, and place the two ends together on a cooky sheet so as to form a ring. Try, if possible, to conceal the joining by fastening the ends together carefully. The best way to do this is to cut a slice from each end before joining. Then, with a scissors, cut through the edge of the ring nearly to the center and slightly at a slant, as in Fig. 17. Make the cuts about 1 inch apart and turn the cut slices over so as to show the layers of dough. Brush with milk, dredge with sugar, and bake for about 1/2 hour. When baked, this cake should appear as shown in Fig. 18.

CREAM PUFFS AND ÉCLAIRS

A delicious form of dessert that is usually classed with small cakes includes cream puffs and éclairs. They are made of a special kind of paste that, when baked, becomes hollow in the center, very much as popovers do. The inside is then filled with a mixture similar to a custard mixture or with sweetened and flavored whipped cream. Many persons have an idea that these mixtures are very difficult to make, but the fact is that they may be easily made if the directions for preparing them are carefully followed.

After the paste has been mixed, the way it is to be treated will depend on whether cream puffs or éclairs are to be made. For cream puffs, which are shown in Fig. 19, it is dropped by spoonfuls on a cooky sheet or a large pan, while in the case of éclairs, several of which are shown in Fig. 20, it is forced through a large round pastry tube so as to form long strips. The shapes are then baked in a hot oven, and during this process they puff up and become hollow in the center. If, upon attempting to fill the shells thus made, the centers are found to contain a little moist, doughy material, this may be removed. The filling may then be introduced either by cutting a slit in the side and putting it in with a spoon or by inserting the end of a pastry tube into the shell and forcing it in with a pastry bag and tube. In addition to being filled with a filling of some kind, éclairs are covered, as here shown, with an icing that usually corresponds in flavor with the filling. For instance, chocolate éclairs are filled with a chocolate filling and covered with a chocolate icing, while coffee éclairs have a coffee filling and a coffee icing.

Very small cream puffs are attractive and are often served with small cakes for an afternoon tea or a buffet luncheon. These may be made by dropping the paste with a teaspoon on a cooky sheet, baking it until done, and then filling the shells with any desired paste.