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Puff Paste (Take three-fourths pound)

Take three-fourths pound of butter (be sure that it is of the best quality), free it from salt (by working it in water), form it in a square lump, and place it in flour for half an hour to harden; place one pound of flour in a bowl, take two ounces of butter and rub it "fine" into the flour, wet the flour into dough with cold water, making it as near as possible the same consistency as the butter (so that the two will roll out evenly together); now place the dough on the pastry board, dust it under and over with flour, and roll it out in a piece say twelve inches long and six wide; now flour butter well, and roll that out in a sheet about eight inches long and five wide, (this will cover about three-fourths of the dough, leaving onefourth of the dough, and about half an inch around the sides and top edge, without butter). Place the sheet of butter on the dough as described; take half a tea-spoon cream tartar, mix it with twice its bulk of flour, and sprinkle it evenly over the butter; now fold the one-fourth not covered with butter, over on the butter, then fold the other part with the butter on it over on that, and you will then have three layers of dough and two of butter. Roll out to its original size, dust with flour, fold it as before, roll out again, dust with flour, and fold again; repeat twice more, giving it four rollings and foldings; when rolled out for the last time, cut it through in two even pieces, and place one on the other, and the paste is ready to roll in any shape desired.

In warm weather it is necessary to place it in a cool place after every second rolling; in very warm weather after each rolling, and sometimes on ice. A good, firm, tough butter is best for the purpose. Take care not to use carbonate of soda or saleratus instead of cream tartar; use a sharp cutter to cut out tartlets; give a rapid downward cut so that it will cut, not drag through, so that the layers may not be pressed together, so as to prevent their opening readily when baking, thus preventing the tartlets from raising fully. After they are cut, place them on the pans or in the patty-pans upside down, because the cutter in dividing the paste presses downward toward the board, closing the layers, and if placed in oven right side up, the edges pressed somewhat closely together can not open fully, consequently do not rise well, but, if inverted, the layers open more evenly at the edges.-C. H. King, Orange, N. J.