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Crust, Common, for Raised Pies
Melt a quarter of a pound of butter and a quarter of a pound of lard in half a pint of water. Put two pounds of flour into a basin, and when the butter and lard are melted in the water, pour them into the flour, stirring it all the time. Work the mixture with the hands to a stiff paste, and, in order to keep it soft, put the portion which is not being worked upon a plate over a saucepan of hot water. Probable cost, 5d. per pound
This is hot water crust, the standing pastry used to hand-raise pork and game pies. It behaves like no other dough in the book: it must be worked hot, and it stiffens into a wall rather than flaking.
- The hinge: keep it hotHot water crust is workable only while warm. Once it cools it cracks and will not take a shape, which is why the recipe parks the unused portion over a pan of hot water. Work quickly, in batches, and keep the reserve covered so it does not skin over.
- Half a pintCassell's is British, so half an imperial pint is 10 fl oz, about 1 1/4 US cups. Using a US half-pint (8 oz) with 2 lb of flour will give a dough too dry to raise.
- Quantities in modern terms2 lb flour is roughly 7 cups; 4 oz butter is one stick, 4 oz lard about half a cup. Plain (all-purpose) flour is correct here -- strong bread flour makes the crust tough and springy rather than firm.
- SaltThe recipe gives none. A teaspoon or two of salt dissolved in the water is standard in later versions and costs nothing.
- Lard is not optionalThe lard gives the paste its short, close texture and its ability to hold a raised wall. All-butter versions slump. If you cannot get leaf lard, a good rendered pork fat behaves the same way; shortening works but tastes of nothing.
- Working the pasteThe recipe says only to melt the fat in the water; later practice is to bring it to the boil before pouring. Mix with a wooden spoon until cool enough for hands, then knead only until smooth -- a minute or two.
- YieldTwo pounds of flour is a large batch, enough for one substantial raised pie of about 8 inches plus a lid, or six to eight hand-raised individual pies. Halve it for a single small pie.
- BakingCassell's gives no oven temperature in this entry. Raised pies are generally started hot, around 425F, to set the walls, then dropped to 350F for the long bake.
- "Probable cost, 5d. per pound"Five pence in pre-decimal currency; Cassell's gives a probable cost for most of its entries. It has no modern equivalent worth converting.
Hot water crust is one of the oldest surviving English pastries, descended from the medieval "coffin" -- a thick flour-and-water case that served as both cooking vessel and container, sturdy enough to be carried and often not eaten at all. By the time Cassell's was compiled in the late nineteenth century the crust had softened with butter and lard and was expected to be edible, but its structural job had not changed: it is raised by hand around a wooden dolly or moulded into a pie mould, filled with pork, veal and ham, or game, and baked freestanding.