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Paste for Pies

Put three pounds of well-sifted flour on a board or table, work in one pound of butter, make a hollow in the center, and work in the yolks of four eggs, one ounce of salt, and a breakfast cupful of cold water. Should the paste while being used be too hard and crack, it may be rolled out again and slightly dampened with water before being worked up. If preferred, the butter may be mixed in with the liquids, before being introduced into the flour, which must be well worked in, adding it gradually. It is far easier to make this paste in winter than in summer.

Paste for Meat and Game Pies Use eight ounces of butter to one pound of flour; chop one-half the butter into the flour, and add one teaspoonful of salt and enough cold water, to mix it to a smooth paste just soft enough to roll out. If ice-water is used, the paste is mixed with a knife instead of the hand, as it can be kept cooler, and will be lighter and more delicate. In making, touch the paste as little and as lightly as possible with the hands, because heating and pressing heavily upon it makes it dense and tough. After the paste is mixed and rolled about one-half inch thick, dredge it with flour, cut half the remaining butter into slices, and lay them on the paste, leaving a space of about one inch all around the edges, dredge the butter with flour, turn the edges in all round to enclose the outside layers of butter, and then double the paste, and roll it out about one-half inch thick, put the rest of the butter on it in slice, dredge again with flour, fold in the edges, double it, and roll out as already directed. If any paste is left after the pie is made, wrap it in a floured cloth and keep in a cool dry place; it will be good for several days, and only requires to be rolled out two or three times before using to make it quite light.