PASTRY-RICH PUFF PASTE. 119 one large spoonful of cream, another of sweet wine, a squeeze of lemon, and a little nutmeg. Beat this batter half an hour at least. It will be extremely light. Put a good quantity of fine lard in a stew-pan, and drop a spoonful of the batter at a time into it. Fry them and serve as a sauce a glass of white wine, the juice of a lemon, one dessert-spoonful of peach leaf or almond water, and some white sugar warmed together, not to be served in the dish. : Another way.-Slice potatoes thin, dip them in a fine batter, and fry them. Serve with white sugar sifted over them. Lemon peel, and a spoonful of orange-flower water should be added to the butter. Bookings.-Mix three ounces of buck-wheat flour with a teacupful of warm milk, and a spoonful of yeast; let it rise before the fire about an hour; then mix four eggs well beaten, and as much milk as will make the batter the usual thickness for pancakes, and fry them the same. PASTRY.-Rich Puff Paste.-Puffs may be made of any sort of fruit, but it should be prepared first with sugar. Weigh any quantity of butter with as much fine flour as you judge necessary; mix a little of the former with the latter, and wet with as little water as will make it into a stiff paste. Roll it out, and put all the butter over it in slices, turn in the ends, and roll it thin; do this twice, and touch it no more than can be avoided. The butter may be added at twice; and to those who are not accustomed to make paste it may be better to do so. A quicker oven than for a short crust. A less rich Paste.-Weigh a pound of flour, and a quarter of a pound of butter, rub them together, and mix into a paste with a little water, and an egg well beaten-of the former as little as will suffice, or the paste will be tough. Roll, and fold it three or four times. Rub extremely fine in one pound of dried flour, six ounces of butter, and a spoonful of white sugar; work up the whole into a stiff paste with as little hot water as possible. Crust for Venison Pasty.-To a quarter of a peck of fine flour use two pounds and a half of butter, and four eggs; mix into paste with warm water, and work it smooth and to a good consistence. Put a paste round the inside, but not to the bottom of the dish, and let the cover be pretty thick, to bear the long continuance in the oven. Rice Paste for Sweets.-Boil a quarter of a pound of ground rice in the smallest quantity of water: strain from it all the moisture as well as you can; beat it in a mortar with half an ounce of butter, and one egg well beaten, and it will make an excellent paste for tarts, &c. Rich Paste for relishing things.-Clean, and put some rice, with an onion and a little water and milk, or milk only, into a saucepan, and simmer till it swell. Put seasoned chops into a 120 POTATO PASTE-SHORT CRUSTS. dish, and cover it with the rice; by the addition of an egg the rice will adhere better. Rabbits fricasseed, and covered thus, are very good. Potato Paste.-Pound boiled potatoes very fine, and add, while warm, a sufficiency of butter to make the mash hold together, or you may mix with it an egg; then, before it gets cold, flour the board pretty well to prevent it from sticking, and roll it to the thickness wanted. If it has become quite cold before it be put on the dish, it will be apt to crack. Raised Crusts for Custards or Fruit.-Put four ounces of butter into a saucepan with water, and when it boils pour_it into as much flour as you choose; knead and beat it till smooth; cover it, as at page 108. Raise it; and if for custard, put a paper within to keep out the sides till half done, then fill with a cold mixture of milk, egg, sugar, and add a little peach water, lemon peel, or nutmeg. By cold is meant that the egg is not to be warmed, but the milk should be warmed by itself-not to spoil the crust. The above butter will make a great deal of raised crust, which must not be rich, or it will be difficult to prevent the sides from falling. Excellent Short Crusts.-Take two ounces of fine white sugar, pounded and sifted, quite dry, then mix it with a pound of flour well dried; rub into it three ounces of butter so fine as not to be seen-into some cream put the yolks of two eggs, beaten, and mix the above into a smooth paste; roll it thin, and bake it in a moderate oven. Another.-Mix with a pound of fine flour dried, an ounce of sugar pounded and sifted; then crumble three ounces of butter in it till it looks all like flour, and with a gill of boiling cream work it up to a fine paste. Another, not sweet but rich.-Rub six ounces of butter in eight ounces of fine flour; mix into a stiffish paste, with as little water as possible; beat it well, and roll it thin. This, as well as the former, is fit for tarts of fresh or preserved fruits. Bake in a moderate oven. A very fine Crust for Orange Cheesecakes, or Sweetmeats, when to be particularly nice.-Dry a pound of fine flour, mix with it three ounces of refined sugar; then work half a pound of butter with your hand till it come to froth; put the flour into it by degrees, and work into it, well beaten and strained, the yolks of three, and whites of two eggs. If too limber, put some flour aud sugar to make it fit to roll. Line your patty-pans, and fill. A little above fifteen minutes will bake them. Against they come out, have ready some refined sugar beat up with the white of an egg as thick as you can; ice them all over, set them in the oven to harden, and serve cold. Use fresh butter. Salt butter will make a very fine flaky crust; but if for mincepies, or any sweet things, should be washed. OBSERVATIONS ON PASTRY. 121 Observations on Pastry.-An adept in pastry never leaves any part of it adhering to the board or dish used in making. It is best when rolled on marble, or a very large slate. In very hot weather the butter should be put into cold water to keep it as firm as possible, and if made early in the morning, and preserved from the air until it is to be baked, the cook will find it much better. A good hand at pastry will use much less butter, and produce lighter crust than others. Salt butter, if very good and well washed, makes a fine flaky crust. Remarks on Using Preserved Fruits in Pastry.-Preserved fruits should not be baked long; those that have been done with their full proportion of sugar, need no baking; the crust should be baked in a tin shape, and the fruit be afterwards added; or it may be put into a small dish, or tart-pans, and the covers be baked on a tin cut out according to your taste. Apple Pie.-Pare and core the fruit, having wiped the outside, which, with the cores, boil with a little water till it tastes well; strain, and put a little sugar and a bit of bruised cinnamon, and simmer again. In the meantime place the apples in a dish, a paste being put round the edge; when one layer is in, sprinkle half the sugar, and shred lemon peel, and squeeze some juice, or a glass of cyder if the apples have lost their spirit; put in the rest of the apples, sugar, and the liquor that you have boiled. Cover with paste. You may add some butter when cut, if eaten hot, or put quince-marmalade, orange-paste, or cloves, to flavour. Hot Apple Pie.-Make with the fruit, sugar, and a clove, and put a bit of butter in when cut open. Cherry Pie should have a mixture of other fruit,-currants or raspberries, or both. Currant Pie, with or without raspberries. Mince Pie. Of scraped beef free from skin and strings, weigh two pounds, four pounds of suet picked and chopped, then add six pounds of currants nicely cleaned and perfectly dry, three pounds of chopped apples, the peel and juice of two lemons, a pint of sweet wine, a nutmeg, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves, ditto mace, ditto pimento, in finest powder; press the whole into a deep pan when well mixed, and keep it covered in a dry cool place. Half the quantity is enough, unless for a very large family. Have citron, orange, and lemon peel ready, and put some of each in the pies when made. Mince Pies without Meat. Of best apples six pounds, pared, cored, and minced; of fresh suet and raisins stoned, each three pounds, both likewise minced: to these add of mace and cinnamon a quarter of an ounce each, and eight cloves, in finest powder, three pounds of the finest powdered sugar, three quarters of an ounce of salt, the rinds of four and juice of two lemons, half a pint of port, the same of brandy. Mix well and put into a deep pan. Have ready washed and dried four pounds of currants, and add as you make the pies, with candied fruit. 122 LEMON MINCE PIES-ICING FOR TARTS-PRUNE TART. Lemon Mince Pies.-Squeeze a large lemon, boil the outside till tender enough to beat to a mash, add to it three large apples chopped, and four ounces of suet, half a pound of currants, four ounces of sugar; put the juice of the lemon, and candied fruit as for other pies. Make a short crust, and fill the patty-pans as usual. Egg Mince Pies. Boil six eggs hard, shred them small shred double the quantity of suet; then put currants washed and picked one pound, or more, if the eggs were large; the peel of one lemon shred very fine, and the juice, six spoonfuls of sweet wine, mace, nutmeg, sugar, a very little salt: orange, lemon, and citron, candied. Make a light paste for them. Currant and Raspberry.-For a tart, line the dish, put sugar and fruit, lay bars across, and bake. Light Paste for Tarts and Cheesecakes.-Beat the white of an egg to a strong froth; then mix with it as much water as will make three quarters of a pound of fine flour into a very stiff paste; roll it very thin, then lay the third part of half a pound of butter upon it in little bits; dredge it with some flour left out at first, and roll it up tight. Roll it out again, and put the same proportion of butter; and so proceed till all be worked up. Icing for Tarts.-Beat the yolk of an egg and some melted butter well together, wash the tarts with a feather, and sift sugar over as you put them in the oven. Or beat white of egg, wash the paste, and sift white sugar. Pippin Tarts.-Pare in two Seville or China oranges, boil the peel tender, and shred it fine; pare and core twenty apples, put them in a stew-pan, and as little water as possible: when half done, add half a pound of sugar, the orange peel and juice; boil till pretty thick. When cold, put it in a shallow dish, or pattypans lined with paste, to turn out, and be eaten cold. Prune Tart.-Give prunes a scald, take out the stones and break them; put the kernels into a little cranberry juice, with the prunes and sugar; simmer; and, when cold, make a tart of the sweetmeat. Orange Tart.-Squeeze, pulp, and boil two Seville oranges tender, weigh them, and double of sugar; beat both together to a paste, and then add the juice and pulp of the fruit, and the size of a walnut of fresh butter, and beat together. Choose a very shallow dish, line it with a light puff crust, and lay the paste of orange in it. You may ice it. Codlin Tart.-Scald the fruit as will be directed under that article: when ready take off the thin skin, and lay them whole in a dish, put a little of the water the apples were boiled in at bottom, strew them over with lump sugar or fine Lisbon; when cold, put a paste round the edges and over the tart. You may wet it with white of egg, and strew sugar over, which looks very well or cut the lid in quarters, without touching the paste on the edge of the dish and either put the broad end downwards, and make the point stand up, or remove the lid : RHUBARB TART-ORANGE TART-OYSTER PATTIES. 123 altogether. Pour a good custard over it when cold, and sift sugar over. Or, line the bottom of a shallow dish with paste, lay the apples in it, sweeten, and lay little twists of paste over in bars. Rhubarb Tart.-Cut the stalks in lengths of four or five inches, and take off the thin skin. If you have a hot hearth, lay them in a dish, and put over a thin syrup of sugar and water, cover with another dish, and let it simmer very slowly an hour; or do them in a block-tin saucepan. When cold, make into a tart, as codlin. When tender, the baking the crust will be sufficient. Raspberry Tart with Cream.-Roll out some thin puff paste, and lay it in a patty-pan of what size you choose; put in raspberries; strew over them fine sugar; cover with a thin lid, and then bake. Cut it open, and have ready the following mixture warm: half a pint of cream, the yolks of two or three eggs well beaten, and a little sugar; and when this is added to the tart, return it to the oven for five or six minutes. Orange Tart.-Line a tart-pan with thin puff paste; put into it orange marmalade that is made with apple jelly; lay bars of paste, or a croquant cover over, and bake in a moderate oven. Fried Patties:-Mince a bit of cold veal, and six oysters, mixed with a few crumbs of bread, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a very small bit of lemon peel-add the liquor of the oysters; warm all in a tosser, but do not boil; let it cool; have ready a good puff paste, roll thin, and cut it in round or square bits; put some of the above between two of them, twist the edges to keep in the gravy, and fry them of a fine brown. This is a very good thing; and baked, is a fashionable dish. Oyster Patties.-Put a fine puff paste into small patty-pans, and cover with paste, with a bit of bread in each; and against they are baked have ready the following to fill with, taking out the bread. Take off the beards of the oysters, cut the other parts into small bits, put them in a small tosser, with a grate of nutmeg, the least white pepper, and salt, a morsel of lemon peel, cut so small that you can scarcely see it, a very little cream, and a little of the oyster liquor. Simmer for a few minutes before you fill. Observe always to put a bit of crust into patties, to keep them hollow while baking. Oyster Patties, or Small Pies.-As you open the oysters separate them from the liquor, which strain; parboil them, after taking off the beards. Parboil sweetbreads, and cutting them in slices, lay them and the oysters in layers, season very lightly with salt, pepper and mace. Then put half a teacup of liquor, and the same of gravy. Bake in a slow oven; and before you serve, put a teacup of cream, a little more oyster liquor, and a cup of white gravy, all warmed, but not boiled. If for patties, the oysters should be cut in small dice, gently stewed, and seasoned as above, and put into the paste when ready for table. |