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Paste, Puff, very Good
INGRE- DIENTS. To every lb. of flour allow 1 lb. of butter, and not quite 1/2 pint of water. AVER- AGE COST, 9d. per lb.
PASTRY AND PUDDINGS. times, the first time covering the paste with butter, the second with lard, and the third with butter. Keep the rolling-pin and paste slightly dredged with flour, to prevent them from sticking, and it will be ready for use.
Paste, Puff. (SOYER'S Recipe.) IN- GREDIENTS. - To every lb. of flour allow the yolk of 1 egg, the juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, cold water, 1 lb. of fresh butter. AVERAGE COST, 10d. per lb.
Put the flour on to the paste-board; make a hole in the centre, into which put the yolk of the egg, the lemon-juice and salt; mix the whole with cold water (this should be iced in summer, if convenient) into a soft flexible paste, with the right hand, and handle it as little as possible; then squeeze all the buttermilk from the butter, wring it in a cloth, and roll out the paste; place the butter on this, and fold the edges of the paste over, so as to hide it; roll it out again to the thickness of 1/4 inch; fold over one-third, over which again pass the
Carefully weigh the flour and butter, and have the exact proportion; squeeze the butter well, to extract the water from it, and afterwards wring it in a clean cloth, that no moisture may remain. Sift the flour; see that it is perfectly dry, and proceed in the following manner to make the paste, using a very clean paste-board and rolling-pin:-Supposing the quantity to be 1lb. of flour, work the whole into a smooth paste with not quite 1/2 pint of water, using a knife to mix it with the proportion of this latter ingredient must be regulated by the discretion of the cook; if too much be the paste, when baked, will be tough. Roll it out until it is of an equal rolling-pin; then fold over the other third, thickness of about an inch; break 4 oz. of butter into small pieces; place these on the paste, sift over it a little flour, fold it over, roll out again and put another 4 oz. of butter. Repeat the rolling and buttering until the paste has been rolled out 4 times, or equal quantities of flour and butter have been used. Do not omit, every time the paste is rolled out, to dredge a little flour over that and the rolling-pin, to prevent both from sticking. Handle the paste as lightly as possible, and do not press heavily upon it with the rolling-pin. The next thing to be considered is the oven, as the baking of pastry requires particular attention. Do not put it into the oven until it is sufficiently hot to raise the paste; for the best-prepared paste, if not properly baked, will be good for nothing. Brushing the paste as often as rolled out, and the pieces of butter placed thereon, with the white of an egg, assists it to rise in leaves or flakes. As this is the great beauty of puff-paste, it is as well to try this method.