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PASTRY SANDWICHES (another way)
Roll out two squares, one of almond paste and the other of puff-paste, to the same size and thickness. Lay the puff-paste upon the almond paste, press them lightly with the fingers, and cut them out together into shapes. Brush beaten egg over them, sprinkle powdered sugar upon them, and bake them in a moderate oven. Time, about twenty minutes to bake. Probable cost, 2d. each.
A two-layer biscuit of puff pastry laid over almond paste, cut into shapes and baked. The recipe assumes you already have both pastes to hand, and gives no quantities at all.
- Moderate ovenConventionally read as about 350-375F (180-190C). Puff paste on its own is usually baked hotter, so watch the underside rather than the clock; the almond layer colours quickly.
- Almond paste, not marzipanVictorian almond paste is ground almonds, sugar and enough egg white to bind; the proportions vary from recipe to recipe, so sweetness and firmness are not fixed. Ready-made marzipan works but rolls out stickier and browns faster; dust the board with icing sugar rather than flour.
- Thickness"The same size and thickness" is the only guidance given. About 1/8 in (3 mm) for each layer is right; thicker almond paste stays raw and greasy in the middle.
- Press lightly, and mean itThis is the hinge. Heavy pressure seals the layers and stops the puff pastry lifting. A light hand and a chilled rest before baking give the layered rise the recipe is after.
- CuttingCut with a floured sharp cutter straight down, not twisted, or the pastry edges seal shut. Squares or diamonds cut with a knife waste less than rounds.
- Egg wash and sugarBeaten whole egg gives a deep gloss; brush the top only, since egg running down the sides glues the layers together. "Powdered sugar" in nineteenth-century British usage generally means granulated sugar ground and sifted fine — nearer modern caster sugar than icing sugar.
- Yield and keepingThe recipe gives no quantities, so any yield is a guess: something like 8 oz each of puff paste and almond paste would make a couple of dozen small sandwiches. They are best the day they are baked; the almond layer softens the pastry overnight.
- The cost line"2d. each" is twopence in pre-decimal currency, the kind of figure Cassell's routinely prints for household accounting. It tells you little now beyond that the book expected its readers to price individual items.
Cassell's prints this as one of several "another way" variants, a habit of the late Victorian dictionaries of cookery, which grouped alternatives under a single heading so a cook could pick according to what was in the larder. Pairing puff paste with almond paste is a long-standing European idea, and almond fillings of this kind survive in dishes such as the Dutch gevulde koek and the almond-filled French galette des rois; ground almonds were among the standard rich fillings of the period. The absence of quantities here is characteristic: puff paste and almond paste each had their own entry elsewhere in the book.