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Flour Mixtures Continued: Pastry and Pies: Apple

APPLE PIE Take a little more than one-half of the pastry, made by either of the above recipes. If the first be selected, turn it over on the board dredged with flour, knead slightly to get into a compact mass, then roll into a round to fit the plate; lift the paste to the plate (agate preferred) and trim so as to leave one-fourth an inch of paste beyond the plate. Pare five or six tart apples and slice them into the plate. Use enough apples to round the slices up well. Mix one-fourth a teaspoonful of salt with two-thirds a cup of sugar and sprinkle over the apple; put on one teaspoonful or more of butter, in little bits, here and there, add a grating of nutmeg, then roll out the rest of the crust in the same manner as the first and cut six or eight half-inch slits in the center to form a design; leave the paste on the board while the edge of the pastry on the plate is brushed over with cold water, then put about three tablespoonfuls of cold water over the apple. Lift the pastry from the board and set it over the apple, letting it lie loosely, as it will shrink in banking. Press the edge of the upper piece of paste upon the edge of the lower and trim if needed to make them even. Then brush the two edges together with cold water and bake about half an hour. The oven should not be too hot or the pastry will brown before it is cooked. After the pie has been in the oven six or seven minutes, the paste should have contracted and risen somewhat. ENGLISH APPLE PIE Butter a shallow agate dish. Select one that is deeper than a pie plate. Slice apples into the dish to fill it. Sprinkle on about a cup of sugar, half a teaspoonful of salt and a grating of nutmeg or lemon rind. Put on two teaspoonfuls of butter in bits, here and there, add two or three tablespoonfuls cold water, then roll out half of the quantity of paste indicated in the above recipes. Cut slits in the paste and spread it over the apple, pressing it against the dish on the edge. Bake about forty minutes. Serve with or without cream.

APPLE PIE WITH MERINGUE Bake the crust as for "Cranberry Tart," page 319. Set the cooked pastry in a suitable plate and fill two-thirds full with sifted apple sauce, reduced by cooking till quite thick. Cover with meringue and let bake eight or ten minutes in a very moderate oven.

Meringue Whites of 2 eggs, beaten dry sugar 4 tablespoonfuls of granulated 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla Beat two tablespoonfuls of the sugar into the whites, beaten dry, then fold in the rest of the sugar and the vanilla. After the meringue is spread, sift granulated sugar over it. The oven must be moderate. The meringue should not color until after eight minutes.

BLUEBERRY PIE Line the plate as for an apple pie; mix one pint of berries, two tablespoonfuls of flour, half a teaspoonful of salt and three-fourths a cup of sugar and turn into the plate, put on two teaspoonfuls of butter in little bits, then cover with the second crust and finish as the apple pie with two crusts. All pies are less liable to "run out" in the oven, if the paste be put on loosely. Allow plenty of paste, that the plate may be covered when the paste shrinks.