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Pasty of Fresh or Preserved Fruit
A pasty is distinguished from a pie or a tart, because it has pastry both under and above the fruit. It may be baked either with or without a plate. When no dish is used, roll the pastry out thin, and stamp it into a small round shape, spread the jam, or slice the fruit, upon half the round, and turn the other half over it. Moisten the edges with a little water, press them securely together, and bake the pasties in a moderate oven. Sprinkle powdered sugar over before serving. Time to bake, according to size. A pasty made of fresh fruit will require baking a little longer than one made of jam.
A method rather than a formula: shortcrust turnovers, filled with jam or sliced raw fruit and folded in half. The book gives no quantities, so the working details matter more than usual.
- Moderate ovenRead this as 350-375F. For a folded pastry with a wet filling, the upper end is better: it sets the base before the juice can soak through.
- "With or without a plate"A plate here is a shallow pie plate or tin, lined with pastry and covered with a second sheet. The version described in detail is the plateless one, baked directly on a flat tray.
- PastryAny short pastry works; a plain shortcrust of 8 oz flour to 4-5 oz fat and a little iced water makes a batch of small pasties, the exact number depending on how thin you roll. Roll thin, but not so thin that fruit juice breaks through.
- SealingWater on the edges and firm pressure is the whole of it. Press with a fork or crimp with a thumb, and cut one small vent in the top of each so steam escapes rather than bursting a seam.
- Fresh fruit needs helpSliced apple, plum or rhubarb releases a lot of liquid. Toss it with a spoonful of sugar and a teaspoon of flour or cornflour per pasty, or the juice will run out and caramelise onto the tray.
- Timing"According to size" means roughly 20-25 minutes for small jam pasties and 30-35 for fresh fruit, which must cook through as well as heat up. Bake until the pastry is properly coloured, not merely set.
- Jam fillingsUse no more than a heaped teaspoon per small round. Jam boils, thins and finds any gap; overfilling is the usual cause of failure here.
- FinishingThe powdered sugar is icing sugar, dusted on after baking. Sprinkling it on hot pastry makes it dissolve into a glaze; wait a few minutes if you want it to stay white.
Cassell's is being precise about a distinction English cooks once drew: broadly, a tart has pastry beneath and a pie above, while a pasty has both, enclosing the filling entirely. That enclosure is what made the form portable, and the sweet fruit pasty is often linked to the same tradition as the savoury Cornish pasty -- a meal or a treat that travelled without a dish. The note that jam bakes faster than fresh fruit is a reminder that preserves were a year-round pantry staple in a period when out-of-season fruit was not.