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Paste for Raised Pies
In making raised pies the first consideration is whether the pastry is intended to be eaten or not. If it is intended merely to form a mould in which to hold the meat, it may be made firm and compact without very much difficulty, and may be beaten with the rolling-pin or kneaded with the knuckles to make it stiff and hard. If it is intended to be eaten, greater care will be necessary. It must be remembered that small pies are much easier to make than large ones, and the very easiest and best way for in-experienced persons to make them is to use one of the tin moulds which are manufactured for the purpose, and which opens at the sides. The French pastry named Pate Brisee, the recipe for which is given (see CRUST, PATE BRISEE), makes a good crust for small raised pies. When the pastry is not to be eaten, dissolve three or four ounces of lard in half a pint of boiling water, and stir in as much flour as will make a stiff smooth paste. A little more than a pound of flour will be required. Knead it thoroughly with the fingers, and when it is sufficiently firm to keep its form when moulded, put it into a bowl, and cover with a cloth until it is nearly cold. Dredge a little flour on the pastry-board, put the pastry upon it, and roll the dough with the hands into the shape of a sugar-loaf or cone, with the diameter of the lower part rather less than the size required for the pie. Place the cone upright, and flatten the top until it is half the height. Press it down with the knuckles of the right hand, at the same time forming the walls of the pie with the left. When the sides are smooth, and of equal thickness, fill the pie, roll out the cover, lay it on, and make a hole in the centre. Fasten the edges securely with a little egg, ornament the pie according to fancy, glaze it by brushing it over with the beaten yolk of an egg, and bake in a quick oven. An easier way of shaping a raised pie is to roll out the pastry to the required thickness, and then cut out a piece for the top and bottom, and a long strip for the sides. These pieces must be fastened with egg, and the edges pressed over one another, so as to be securely fastened. The pie may then be finished according to the directions given above. When the crust is intended to be eaten, the pastry may be made according to the directions given for Pate Brisee (see CRUST, PATE BRISEE), or as follows. Rub a quarter of a pound of butter into a pound of flour. Sprinkle over it a small tea-spoonful of salt. Put another quarter of a pound of butter into a saucepan, with the third of a pint of milk. Stir it over a gentle fire until the butter is dissolved, then pour the liquid over the flour, and stir it to a smooth stiff paste. Dredge some flour over it; give it two or three turns, and mould it into the proper shape before it has had time to cool. Time to bake raised pies, from two to five hours, according to size.
This is hot water crust in its two guises: the inedible "coffin" that serves as a baking mould, and a richer butter-and-milk paste meant to be eaten. Both are worked warm, and that is the whole trick.
- Work it warm, shape it fastHot water crust is pliable only while the fat is soft; once it cools it cracks rather than stretches. Note that Cassell's treats the two pastes differently: the lard mould paste is to be covered and left "until it is nearly cold" before raising, while the butter-and-milk crust is to be moulded "before it has had time to cool."
- Imperial measuresCassell's pints are imperial: half a pint of water is 10 fl oz (a scant 1¼ US cups), and a third of a pint of milk is about 6½ fl oz. The mould paste is three or four ounces of lard to "a little more than a pound" of flour.
- "As much flour as will make a stiff smooth paste"Flour absorbency varies, so the pound-and-a-bit is a guide rather than a rule. Add most of it, then work in the rest until the dough holds a moulded shape without slumping — firmer than shortcrust, closer to modelling clay.
- A quick ovenConventionally rendered as roughly 400–450°F (200–230°C). Modern practice with a large raised pie is to start it hot to set the walls, then drop to about 325–350°F for the long remainder so the filling cooks through without the crust scorching; the recipe itself gives no such instruction.
- Two to five hoursThat range assumes a large pie packed with raw meat. Judge by the filling rather than the clock: a probe through the central steam hole should read 165°F/75°C for pork or poultry. A small mould-raised pie may be done in 90 minutes.
- The hole in the centreIt vents steam during baking and, in the pork-pie tradition, takes the funnel through which hot jellied stock is poured once the pie is out of the oven and beginning to cool. The jelly fills the gap left as the meat shrinks.
- The tin mouldThe hinged, sprung mould Cassell's recommends is still made and sold as a raised pie mould; a springform cake tin or a straight-sided loose-bottomed tin will do the same job. Raising by hand around a floured jar is the traditional alternative and takes practice.
- Eating the coffinThe lard-and-water paste is deliberately hard and unenriched and was not, in the older tradition, meant to be eaten. If you want a crust worth eating, use the second version — 8 oz butter to 1 lb flour, half rubbed in cold and half melted into the milk.
- YieldAs a rough guide, a pound of flour will case something in the region of 2 lb of filling; the recipe itself gives no yield.
Raised pies are the direct descendants of the medieval "coffin" — from the older sense of the word, simply a box or case. Before pastry was thought of as food in its own right, a stiff flour-and-water shell was the container that let a joint of meat be baked, sealed and carried, and the crust was expected to be broken open and thrown away. Cassell's is writing at the point where both traditions were still alive in one household: the hard mould paste for a game or veal-and-ham pie meant to travel, and the butter-enriched version for a crust that would be eaten with the meat. The hand-raising technique described here, working a cone of warm dough up into walls with the knuckles, is the same one still used for Melton Mowbray pork pies, which are traditionally raised without a mould and bake free-standing. Alongside it stand the tin moulds that "open at the sides," a Victorian convenience.