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Short Crust
725. Short crust should be made by weighing the proper quantity of flour and putting it into a basin, first taking from the weight sufficient to fill the flour-dredge one-third full, then add to it all the dripping, lard, or butter which is to be used, and work it very lightly between the thumb and fingers till it is well mixed with the flour, and has the appearance of coarse meal. This mixing must be done very lightly, or the paste will be spoiled; then add water or milk just sufficient to form it into a paste, and with the hands take it out of the basin, first dredging a little flour on the board, then work it a little with the fingers, not the heels of the hands; roll it out three times lightly, and put it on the tart. 726. An Economical Short Crust for Common Purposes. - Weigh one pound of flour, and half a pound of mixed dripping and lard, or all dripping will do; mix them together with the fingers while dry, as described above, or, if the cook has a hot hand, mix it with a spoon or fork; then add just water enough to wet it and make a paste; roll it out three times. After covering the dish, wet the paste with milk, or the white of an egg, and sift crystallized or "crushed lump" sugar over it. This receipt answers very well for meat-pies without the sugar, and with a little salt mixed with the flour.
A similar Crust may be made from beef-suet, either melted or chopped very fine. 27. A Good Common Paste. - To each ounce of flour add a quarter of an ounce of butter, a quarter of an ounce of lard or dripping, and half an ounce of water. From three to five ounces of flour are enough for one tart, and by weighing the water no waste is incurred, nor more paste made than is required. 728. Plain Short Crust made with Butter. - Put two ounces of butter into two spoonsful of water, and melt it in a saucepan. Take half a pound of flour and heat it in the oven; when hot, mix it with two ounces of cold butter with the knife, then pour the melted butter into the middle, and stir it all together; roll it out once, put it over the fruit, and bake it immediately. Two lumps of sugar can be added to the flour. 729. Rich Short Crust. - To half a pound of flour put not quite half a pound of butter, two ounces of finely sifted sugar, and the yolk of an egg beat up with a table-spoonful of water. The butter, sugar, and flour to be well mixed before the fire, then add the egg and water. 730. Sweet and Crisp Tart Paste. - One pound and a quarter of flour, ten ounces of fresh butter, two yolks of eggs beaten, and three ounces of sifted loaf sugar. Mix up well together with half a pint of new milk, and knead it lightly. 731. Crisp Short Crust for Tarts. - One pound of fine flour and one ounce of sifted loaf sugar, mix into a stiff paste with two ounces of butter melted in a teacupful of boiling cream. Work it well, and roll it out. Glaze the tarts with white of egg and lump sugar. Another. Spread on the table two handsful of flour, two spoonsful of sugar pounded, a pinch of salt, an ounce of butter, and a little water to melt the salt. Make a hole in the middle of the flour, and break into it two eggs and the yolk of another. Mix the paste well, and it will serve for making tarts, tartlets, and for mounting croquantes.
Seven variations on one idea: a rubbed-in or melted-fat pastry for fruit tarts and pies, ranked from dripping-cheap to butter-rich. The instructions assume a cool larder, a marble or scrubbed deal table, and a cook who knows that overworking is the only real failure.
- Keep everything cold, and mind the "hot hand"The whole method turns on rubbing fat into flour until it looks like coarse meal without letting it soften into a paste. The advice to mix with a spoon or fork if the cook has a hot hand is sound; a food processor pulsed briefly does the same job, as does grating frozen fat into the flour.
- Weights per tartNo. 727 gives the useful working ratio: per 1 oz flour, 1/4 oz butter, 1/4 oz lard or dripping, 1/2 oz water, with 3-5 oz flour enough for a single tart. At the top of that range that is about 140 g flour, 35 g butter, 35 g lard and 70 ml water.
- Dripping and lardDripping is the strained fat from a roast, beef for preference; it is still sold in British butchers and makes a savoury, notably crisp crust. Lard behaves the same way. Either can be replaced by butter or by a firm block shortening, though a dripping crust is what No. 726 is built around.
- The sugars"Loaf sugar" sifted means refined white sugar ground fine, so caster sugar. "Crystallized or crushed lump" sugar scattered on a glazed lid is a coarse white crystal, nearest to modern nibbed or pearl sugar. The "two lumps of sugar" in No. 728 is imprecise, lumps broken from a loaf varying in size; a couple of teaspoons is a reasonable guess.
- Liquid measuresThese are imperial: half a pint is 10 fl oz, about 285 ml, and a teacupful is loosely a gill to a third of a pint, 5-7 fl oz. The half pint of milk in No. 730 gives a soft, almost biscuit-like dough with 1 1/4 lb flour; add it gradually and stop when the paste just comes together.
- "Roll it out three times"The book does not say whether the paste is folded between rollings; if it is, the effect is a rough layering short of true puff. Resting the paste chilled for 20 minutes before the final roll will help it shrink less in the tin.
- The hot-flour methodNo. 728 warms the flour and pours melted butter into the centre, a distant relation of hot-water crust. Warm flour takes up the fat differently, and the paste is to be rolled once and baked at once, as instructed.
- OvenNone of these give a temperature. Fruit tarts with a short crust want a hot oven, 400-425F (200-220C), for the first 15 minutes to set the pastry, then 350-375F (180-190C) until the fruit is tender. Bake on a preheated tray to crisp the base.
- GlazingBrushing the lid with milk or egg white before sugaring gives the crackled, sparkling top the book is after. Egg white sets to a firm, near-transparent glaze; milk browns more softly.