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High-class cookery made easy

Chapter 162: Paste No. 1.—PUFF PASTE.
By Mrs. J. Hart
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About This Book

A practical guide aimed at young ladies and inexperienced cooks that stresses scrupulous cleanliness and the importance of a good stock as the foundation of successful cooking. It offers tested, economical, step-by-step recipes and techniques for soups (including purées, curry and mock-turtle styles), fish, entrées, sauces, joints and roasts, puddings, cakes, pastries, vegetables and icings, plus housekeeping tips such as pan care and rice preparation. Directions are written for ordinary household kitchens and seek to make more refined cookery accessible through clear procedures and economical substitutions.

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PASTE.

Paste No. 1.—PUFF PASTE.

Wet four ounces of flour with cold water to a dough, as stiff as for a breakfast roll; roll out and lay four ounces of fresh butter in pieces on the paste; fold over and roll out four times, and set away to raise in a cold place for three hours. Give the paste three turns more, and it is ready for use. Care must be taken not to dust too much flour on; rolling it at a cold slab or slate, with hands washed in cold water and salt, is an improvement to this paste. A very hot oven is needed to cook it. Do not allow the oven door to be opened, to let the draught in, as this is bad for it.

Paste No. 2.—SHORT CRUST.

Take half-a-pound of butter, one pound of flour, one egg, and a glass of milk, and two ounces of sugar; rub the butter and flour to crumbs, then add the egg and a glass of milk; knead to a stiff dough, and bake in a moderate oven; time, half-an-hour.

Paste No. 3.—PLAIN AMERICAN CRUST.

Take one pound of flour, two tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder, six ounces of butter, rubbed to crumbs by rubbing it the one way; a pinch of salt if for a meat dish, and for a sweet dish a spoonful of sugar. Make a hole in the centre, and draw the flour all in, wet with cold water to the stiffness of soda scones; bake in a moderate oven.

Paste No. 4.—HARD PASTE FOR RAISED PIES.

Put one pound of flour on to a slab, rub in three ounces of clarified fat, and a pinch of salt; wet with hot water, not very soft, and knead for half-an-hour to get it stiff. This paste will do for raised pies or mutton pies.

Paste No. 5.—SUET CRUST.

Mince fine eight ounces of suet, and mix it into one pound of flour and a pinch of salt. This paste must not be worked much, and is used for steamed or boiled crust. Boiled crust requires to boil from twenty minutes to two hours, depending on what size is boiling. This crust could be baked as well as steamed.

A Hint on the Heat of the Oven.

For baking paste, hold your hand in the oven a quarter of a minute; if the hand cannot be held any longer, it is hot enough; if the hand cannot be held so long, it will be too hot. Place some white paper over whatever is baking, and this will keep it from burning.