ON MAKING PASTRY.

The flour, as in making bread or cake, should be sifted. The best-looking pastry is made with lard, but it is not so healthy or good, as that which is made with half or two thirds butter. Whichever you use, rub a third of it into the flour, but do not try to rub out every lump; the less the hands are used the better. Add cold water; in summer, ice water. If your crust is shortened wholly with lard, allow a teaspoonful of salt to a pound (or quart) of flour, and a small teaspoonful of saleratus to every three pounds. Sprinkle the salt into the flour, and dissolve the saleratus in the water. If butter only or chiefly is used, omit the saleratus. When you have put in the water, stir it quickly, rather stiff, with a knife. Do not mould it; it will make it tough; but when it is barely stirred together, put it on the board, roll it out, lay thin shavings of butter on every part, sprinkle a little flour over it, and roll it out again, then lay on butter as before. To avoid much handling of the crust, roll it so thin that all the butter will be taken up by two or three times rolling in. When it is all rolled in, fold up the crust in a long roll, and double it, laying the ends together; then lay it aside, and cut from it for each pie. In rolling out for the plates press the pin equally, so as to make all parts of the same thickness, and as nearly circular as possible. Have the plates ready buttered, or greased with lard, lay in the crust, and see that all parts touch the plate. Take the dish up on the palm of the left hand, and with the right trim the edges, holding the knife under and aslant, and so cut the crust that the edge of the dish will be perfectly covered. People differ in regard to the proper thickness of pie-crust. A pie in which the fruit constitutes one third of the thickness, and the two crusts the other two thirds, although it may look more elegant, is neither so healthful or good as one made with thinner crust and plenty of fruit. Some fruit requires thicker crust than others; for apple, peach, and pumpkin it should be thin as a common earthen plate; for juicy fruits, such as berries, cherries, currants, plums, and for mince, it should be a little thicker. Lay some of the trimmings round the rim of the plate to make the edge of the pie handsome, and put the rest by themselves, and when there are enough, roll them out for an under-crust.

In making cherries, currants, &c., into pies, use deep dishes, and be careful not to fill them even full, as the syrup will boil over, and thus, much of the richness of the pie be lost. There is one way effectually to prevent the loss of syrup. After you have laid in the fruit, or mince, and rolled out the upper-crust, wet the rim of the under-crust all around with cold water [not omitting a single spot, if you do the syrup will escape at that spot], and sprinkle a very little flour upon it, lay the trimming upon the rim, wet and flour that in the same manner, then lay the upper-crust immediately over, and press it down gently upon the rim. The flour and water act as a paste to fasten the crusts together. Trim the edge as before, and prick the top eight or ten times with a fork. This is necessary for the escape of the steam, and without it, the closing of the edge will not avail to keep in the syrup. It is a good way to invert a teacup in the centre of a juicy fruit-pie, as in making an oyster-pie.

A clammy lower-crust is neither good or digestible. Therefore never fill pies made of moist materials until just before putting them into the oven. Squash pies, cocoanut, and Marlborough puddings, &c., should not be filled until the last minute, and mince and stewed apple should only stand long enough for the upper-crust to be laid on. Pie-crust becomes yellow from standing long before being baked; therefore, delay rolling out the upper-crust for any kind of pies until the oven is nearly ready. Pastry should be baked in a quick oven, to be light, and be slightly browned to be healthy. When you bake pumpkin and similar kinds of pies, if you have the least doubt whether the crust is well done, set the dishes a few minutes on embers, or the top of a cooking stove. This sort of pies requires nearly an hour to bake; more, if the dishes are very deep. When done enough, the top will be gently swelled all over, and in moving, tremble like jelly; if not done, the middle will look like a thick liquid. Most pies require an hour to bake; those made of stewed apple or cranberry, three quarters of an hour. Much depends on the kind of oven used.

It is difficult to make flaky crust in warm weather. But cooling the butter and water with ice, and having the pastry-table in the cellar, will insure tolerable success.

There is hardly another article of food in which so much is sacrificed to appearance as in pastry. Everybody likes a light crust, a little brown, and not excessively rich, better than one that is half butter or lard, and baked white.

Cherries should not be stewed or stoned for pies. Apples, after they are pared, cut, and cored, should be washed. Steam pumpkin and squash, or stew it with very little water. Meat for pies must not be chopped till after it is cold.

After a little practice and observation, it will be just as well to omit weighing the materials for pastry. One very heaping handful of flour will make a common-sized pie; not, however, allowing for the flour to be used in rolling the paste.

When all the pies but the last one are made, scrape the remains of crust from the moulding-board and the rolling-pin, and add any parings of edges that you have, work them together, and use for the under-crust.

For almost all kinds of pies, good brown sugar is nice enough. The Havana is seldom clean. The Porto-Rico and Santa Cruz are considered the best. The New Orleans is very sweet.

The very early apples, when used for pies or sauce, should not be pared, as the greatest part of the richness of the fruit, at that season, is in the skin. Some kinds are so delicate, that when stewed, the skin is entirely absorbed in the pulp, so as not to be visible, and the color, if it is red, is beautifully diffused through the whole mass.

Rich Puff Paste.

For a pound and a half of flour, take one pound of butter; divide it into three parts, and reserve a third of the flour for use in rolling in two parts. Rub one third of the butter into the flour, add water enough just to make it a stiff dough, then roll it out, and put in the rest of the butter as directed above.

A plainer Paste.

Three pounds (or quarts) of flour, half a pound of lard, and a pound of butter.

Good common Pie-crust.

Allow one heaping handful of flour for a pie, and a table-spoonful of lard or butter for each handful.

Bread-dough Pie-crust.

Take very light dough and roll in shavings of butter three times, using as little flour as you can.

Potatoe-crust.

Boil six good-sized mealy potatoes, and mash them fine; add salt, a spoonful of butter and two of water while they are hot. Then work in flour enough for making a paste to roll out, or put in two or three spoonfuls of cream, and no butter or water. This is a good crust for pot-pies or dumplings.

PIES.

Of Stewed Apple.

Stew the apple with water enough to prevent its burning; sweeten and flavor it to your taste, and, while it is hot, add butter in the proportion of a dessert spoonful to a quart of apple. The spices most appropriate are nutmeg and lemon, cinnamon and orange. Two kinds are enough; one does very well. When you have laid the under crust in the plate, roll out the upper one, so that it may be laid on the moment the apple is put in, as the under crust will be clammy if the pie is not put immediately into the oven.

Another (without an upper crust).

Pare and quarter fourteen or eighteen fair sour apples, weigh them, and make a syrup of the same weight of sugar and a little water. Grate off the outside of a lemon and set it aside; take out the seeds, cut up the inside, and put it into the syrup. When the syrup is boiled clear, lay in half of the apples and boil them, but not till they are very soft. Take them out carefully, and lay them separately on a dish, so as not to break them. Stew the rest of the apples, and when they are taken out, boil the syrup a little while longer. Have ready three or four medium sized deep plates, with a nice paste in them. If any of the apple is broken or stewed soft, lay that into the middle of the plate, then put the quarters around in regular tiers, one above another, so as to form a sort of half sphere or pyramid, then sprinkle the grated lemon over the top, and pour on some of the syrup. Bake in a quick oven half an hour. When they are taken out, sift fine sugar over the top.

Of uncooked Apples.

To eat immediately, the following is excellent. Lay the slices into the plate upon an under crust; fill it quite full; sprinkle the rim with a little flour, to prevent the upper crust from adhering to the under one. Bake forty minutes, or till the apple is tender, and then slide off the upper crust and add a small bit of butter, some nutmeg or lemon, and sugar to your taste. Mix them well with the apple with a silver spoon, and return the upper crust to its place.

Another.

The other method is to lay the apples into a deep dish with an under crust, and for a large family, no matter how large a dish is used; grate a whole or half nutmeg over, according to the size of the pie, or if you have a fresh orange, cut small the peel of half a one, and sprinkle in with the apple; add a few sticks of cinnamon, a few little bits of butter, and lastly, put on as much sugar as your judgment directs. Cover it, and close the edge, so that the syrup will not escape. Bake from an hour and a half to two hours.

Another (sweetened with molasses).

Make a plain crust, and line a deep dish; fill it with sliced apples, grate a good deal of nutmeg over them, and lay on two or three thin shavings of butter. Then pour over a teacupful or two of good molasses, according to the size of the pie; lay on the upper crust, and close it so that the syrup cannot escape. Bake it two hours and a half.

For directions how to make a pie of Dried Apples, see the receipt for stewing them.

Whortleberry.

Fill the dish not quite even full, and to each pie of the size of a large soup plate, add four large spoonfuls of sugar; (for blackberries and blueberries, five). Dredge a very little flour over the fruit before you lay on the upper crust. Close the edge with special care.

Cherry.

The common red cherry makes the best pie. Bake it in a deep dish. Use sugar in the proportion directed for blackberries. All cherries, except the very sweet ones, are good for pies.

Cranberry.

Take the sauce as prepared to eat with meat; grate a little nutmeg over it, put three or four thin shavings of butter on it, and then lay on the upper crust. If not sweet enough, add more sugar. Make it without an upper crust, if you prefer, and lay very narrow strips across diagonally.

Green Currants and Gooseberries.

These require a great deal of sugar, at least two thirds as much in measure as of fruit. Currant pies should be made in a deep plate or a pudding dish, and with an upper crust.

Gooseberries should be stewed like cranberries, sweetened to suit the taste, and laid upon the under crust, with strips placed diagonally across the top, as directed for the cranberry tarts. Currants that are almost ripe make a nice pie, and require the same measure of sugar as blackberries.

Lemon.

Make a nice paste, and lay into two medium-sized plates; then prepare the following mixture. To the juice, and grated rind of one lemon, made very sweet with white sugar, add three well-beaten eggs, and a piece of butter half the size of an egg, melted. Stir these ingredients together, then add a pint of rich milk, or thin cream, stirring very fast. Fill the plates and bake immediately.

Another.

An egg, a lemon, and a cup of sugar prepared as directed in the last receipt; then add half a cup of water, and two small crackers, pounded and sifted. Bake in a plate, with a paste.

Rich Mince.

To one beef's tongue, allow a pound of suet, a pound of currants, another of raisins, a pound and a quarter of sugar, half a pound of citron, eight large apples, a quart of wine or boiled cider, salt, a nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, the juice and pulp of a lemon, and the rind chopped fine. Let the meat be chopped very fine, then add the apples and chop them fine also. Put the sugar into the cider or wine, and just boil it up so as to skim off the top; let it stand a few minutes, and then pour it off into a pan containing all the other ingredients. Be careful, in pouring it, not to disturb any sediment there may be from the sugar. Use loaf sugar if you choose.

Another (not as rich).

Chop the meat, apples, and suet separately, and then measure the ingredients thus: three bowls of meat, three of apple, one of suet, one of citron cut small, two of raisins, four of sugar, one of molasses, one of vinegar, one of some kind of syrup (quince or peach), or wine instead, if you prefer. Add powdered clove, nutmeg and cinnamon to suit the taste.

Temperance.

Boil five pounds of meat in water enough to have one quart when it is done; chop the meat very fine when it is cold, and add a quarter of a pound of suet, or salt pork, three pounds and a half of sugar, three of chopped apple, two and a half of box raisins and one of Sultana raisins, one of citron, and a pint of syrup of preserved peach, quince, or both; or any other syrup you may have; add salt, nutmeg, and powdered clove. To mix the ingredients, remove the fat from the juice of the meat and put it into a kettle with the apple, sugar, raisins, and citron, and let them boil a few minutes; if froth rises, take it off; have the meat ready in a pan mixed with the spices, pour the mixture boiling hot upon it, and stir it together; add, if you choose, the juice and pulp of three lemons. This process cooks the ingredients so thoroughly that, if you prefer, you can bake the paste first and then fill the dishes; and if you choose to reserve part of it, it will keep in a cool place several weeks.

Very Plain.

These may be made of almost any cheap pieces of meat, boiled till tender; add suet or salt pork chopped very fine, half or two thirds as much apple as meat; sugar and spices to your taste. If mince pies are eaten cold it is better to use salt pork than suet. A lemon, and a little syrup of sweetmeats will greatly improve them. Clove is the most important spice.

Without Suet.

Boil up a quart of good brown sugar in three pints of cider; set it off, and after a few minutes take off the scum; then put in a pint of chopped meat, a quart of chopped apple, and four large crackers pounded and sifted. Add a grated nutmeg, a large teaspoonful of powdered clove, and any other spice you prefer. Make the mixture more sweet if you choose. Boil it again four or five minutes. This will not keep so long as mince which contains no cracker.

Without Meat.

To twelve apples chopped fine, add six beaten eggs, and a half pint of cream. Put in spice, sugar, raisins or currants just as you would for meat mince pies.

Another.

A cup of molasses, a cup of sugar, half a cup of vinegar, and half a cup of butter, boiled up together for a minute. Then add three crackers pounded and sifted, a half a pint of chopped raisins, two beaten eggs, and spice to suit the taste.

Peach.

If the peaches are dried, stew them first in a little water; if fresh, pare them, but do not take out the stones. Make the pie in a large deep dish, and close the edge well, to prevent the escape of the syrup. The free-stones are best, because most tender; the cling-stones require long cooking.

Rhubarb.

Peel the stalks, and cut them into pieces about an inch long; lay them in a soft cloth in order to absorb some of the juice, as the quantity is very great. Put them in a sauce-pan and stew gently; add sugar enough to make it sweet as you wish, but no water; cover close. Be careful not to stew it so long as to break the pieces. Lay it into dishes for the table, and having baked your paste of the right size, lay it over. Some persons prefer the rhubarb without spice. If any is used, it should be the rind of a lemon.

Rhubarb tarts are good made, like the gooseberry, with a lower crust, and strips laid across the top.

Squash or Pumpkin.

To a pint and a gill of strained squash, put three gills of sugar, three eggs, two crackers, pounded and sifted (or four eggs without the crackers), a teaspoonful of salt, one nutmeg, a dessert spoonful of powdered cinnamon, or some essence of lemon, a teaspoonful of ginger, and a table-spoonful of butter, melted in a quart of milk. Boil the milk. To mix it, stir the spice and salt into the strained squash first, then add the cracker, and sugar, and when these are mixed, pour in half the milk, and when this is well stirred, add the remainder, and lastly the eggs, which should be thoroughly beaten. If you make up two quarts of milk, use five eggs, and five pounded crackers, and double the other ingredients.

Another.

Six eggs, eight table-spoonfuls of strained squash, one quart of boiled milk, a little salt, two table-spoonfuls of rose-water, a lemon (juice and rind), sugar to your taste, a spoonful of butter melted. Grate nutmeg over the top. Mix the ingredients as directed in the last receipt. The mode of making pumpkin puddings or pies, may be almost endlessly varied. They are very good without eggs, substituting a little more pumpkin and three crackers pounded and sifted, to a quart of milk; omitting rose-water, use cinnamon and a very little ginger. When you have only one or two eggs to a quart, use two crackers.

Puffs.

Make a rich paste of a quart of flour; after you have rubbed in part of the butter, cut the white of an egg to a stiff froth; reserve half a spoonful of it, and stir the rest, and the water into the flour with a knife; then proceed to roll in the remainder of the butter in the usual way. Cut rounds in the paste of the size you wish to have them, and twice as many as you intend to have of puffs. Then cut out of half of them, a small round in the centre, so as to leave a circular rim of crust. Take up these rims with a wide-bladed knife, and lay them upon the large rounds so as to form a raised edge, and with the knife lay them, thus prepared, on tin sheets, or a nice sheet-iron pan. Take a feather, and lightly brush the edges with a little of the reserved white of egg. This will make them brown handsomely. Bake them in a quick oven. Bake also the small rounds which were cut out from the rims. When all are baked, put raspberry jam, quince, currant, or lemon jelly in the puffs and lay the small rounds over it. Some people like them best, without covering the jelly.

To make lemon jelly for the purpose, beat one egg and a cup of sugar together; when well mixed, add the juice of a lemon, and then two table-spoonfuls of cold water. Put the mixture in a shallow dish, set it on the stove, and stir it steadily, until it thickens, then take it off immediately. Be careful it does not boil. When it is cool, put it into the puffs.