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butter in a pot, and sink it in a deep pan of water the night before it is intended to be used. Part of the butter ordered in the receipts is to be mixed with the flour when dry, as in short crust, which is then to be worked into a stiff paste with as little water as will bind it, taking care to work it smooth before it is rolled out. Roll it out twice, then with a knife put on the remainder of the butter in small lumps all over it; if the weather is very hot, this must be done at twice, rolling out twice in the interval. After putting on the butter, dredge a little flour over it before folding up the paste for rolling. Great care must be taken not to handle it more than is necessary, and to dredge as little flour over it as possible; at the same time, if the butter comes through and sticks to the board or rolling-pin, the paste will not be light. Lastly, roll it out three times, folding it very lightly in the interval between, and touching it as little as possible with the hand, and when made up set it in the oven immediately. As a consequence of this, the pastry in the baking is divided into thin lamine or flakes -the butter having been rolled out into very thin layers between those of the paste, and partially keeping separate throughout. It is from this different management of the oily matter that puff or flaky crust differs from short crust. Either may be used indiscriminately for savoury or sweet pies, omitting the sugar for the former, and in that case substituting rather a larger allowance of salt. 733. To make Common Puff Paste. - To one pound of flour use half a pound of butter; rub in half of it before you put in the water. Observe the above directions in making it. 734. To make Rich Puff Paste. -To one pound of fine flour rub in half a pound of butter, wet it with soft water, and roll in half a pound more of butter, according to the above directions. 735. For Savoury Pies: Boil water with a little fine lard, an equal quantity of fresh dripping or of butter, but not much of either. While hot, mix this with as much flour as will be wanted, making the paste as stiff as is consistent with its being smooth, which will be effected by good kneading and beating it with the rolling-pin. When quite smooth, put a lump into a cloth, or under a pan, till nearly cold. Then raise it by first making up a lump of the paste of such a size as will form what is wanted; press the knuckles of the left hand into the top of the lump near to the middle, and with the right work the edges up the back of the hand, which is to be shifted round and round until the paste assumes a circular form with upright sides and a flat bottom; and as the paste is, or should be, of a stiff consistence, it maintains this shape if the cook takes care to avoid pressing it into holes or comparatively thin places. When thus formed, the meat may be put in and covered over in the usual way.
Another. Those who have not a good hand at raising crust may try the following method instead; roll the paste of a proper thickness, and cut out the top and bottom of the pie, then a long piece for the sides. Cement the bottom to the sides with egg, bringing the former farther out, and pinching both together; put egg between the edges of the paste, to make it adhere at the sides. Fill the pie, and put on the cover, and pinch it and the side crust together. The same mode of uniting the paste is to be observed if the sides are pressed into a tin form, in which the paste must be baked after it shall be filled and covered; but in the latter case the tin should be buttered, and carefully taken off when done enough; and, as the form usually makes the sides of a lighter colour than is proper, the paste should be put into the oven again for a quarter of an hour. With a feather, put egg over at first. 736. A Plain Crust for Pork Pies, &c. - Put one pound and a quarter of lard into a pint and a half of water or milk; set it on the fire, and, when boiling, make it into a paste with seven pounds of flour; knead well with the hands, and when the paste is thoroughly worked together make it into pies, keeping it by the fire till they are made.
Another. To four pounds of flour put one quart of milk, with one pound and a half of lard; rub part of the lard into the flour, and melt the rest in the milk; mix it into a very stiff paste, and let it get nearly cold before raising the pies. It may not require all the milk, therefore put the lard, which rises to the top, first, and then use as much milk as is required.
Another.-Put a quarter of a pound of lard, melted in warm milk, to a pound of flour (if there is too much milk the crust falls in the oven, and is heavy, and if too little it cracks). Knead it well, and keep it warm till made up. Allow a pound of flour to a pound and a half of meat. 737. Raised Crusts for Custards or Fruit. - Put four ounces of butter into a saucepan with water, and when it boils pour it into as much flour as will make a paste; knead and beat it till smooth. Raise it in the same way as described above, and, if intended for custards or pre-
Two quite different doctrines sit side by side here: cold-handled puff paste, which must stay chilly, and hot-water raised crust, which must stay warm. Treat them as opposites and both work.
- The hinge: temperaturePuff paste fails if the butter softens and merges into the flour, so work cool and quickly. Raised (hot-water) crust is handled differently, and the book is not consistent about how warm it should be: no. 735 and the second version of no. 736 say to let the paste stand until "nearly cold" before raising, while the first and third versions of no. 736 say to keep it warm, or "by the fire till they are made."
- Chilling the butterSinking a pot of butter in a deep pan of water overnight is a pre-refrigeration way of holding it at cellar temperature. Refrigerate the butter instead, and chill flour, bowl and board in hot weather.
- Imperial measuresA British pint here is 20 fl oz, so the pint and a half of water in no. 736 is 30 fl oz, and the quart of milk in the second version is 40 fl oz. American cooks scaling these must allow for that difference.
- Scaling the pork-pie pasteSeven pounds of flour to 1 1/4 lb lard is a bakehouse batch making many pies. Scaled down to 1 lb flour it works out at about 3 oz lard and roughly 4 fl oz of the liquid, in the same range as the last variant in the entry, which gives a quarter of a pound of lard melted in warm milk to a pound of flour.
- Fat substitutions"Fine lard" means good-quality fresh lard, not the hydrogenated block sold today; good rendered pork fat behaves closest to the original. "Fresh dripping" is fat saved from a roast, usually beef, and unsalted butter is the modern default where the text offers a choice.
- Soft waterSoft water in no. 734 means rainwater or water free of lime, sought because hard water was thought to toughen paste. Tap water is fine; the amount matters far more than the mineral content.
- No oven temperature is givenPuff paste needs a hot oven, 425-450F, to burst the layers before the butter runs. A filled raised crust wants around 400F to set the walls, then 350F for the long bake needed to cook the meat through; check the filling reaches 160-165F at the centre.
- Meat to pastry ratioThe final line of no. 736 gives the working rule for pork pies: 1 lb flour of paste to 1 1/2 lb meat.
- Egg wash and tin mouldsThe feather is simply a brush; use a pastry brush and beaten whole egg. The note about returning a tin-moulded pie to the oven for a quarter of an hour to colour the pale sides is still sound practice for pies baked in a hoop or springform.