<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
<h4><span class="smcap">pastry.</span></h4>
<p><span class="smcap">To make</span> good puff paste is a thing many ladies are
anxious to do, and in which they generally fail, and this
not so much because they do not make it properly, as
because they handle it badly. A lady who was very
anxious to excel in pastry once asked me to allow her to
watch me make paste. I did so, and explained that there
was more in the manner of using than in the making
up. I then gave her a piece of my paste when completed,
and asked her to cover some patty pans while I
covered others, cautioning her as to the way she must
cover them; yet, when those covered by her came out
of the oven they had not risen at all, they were like rich
short paste; while my own, made from the same paste,
were toppling over with lightness. I had, without saying
anything, pressed my thumb slightly on one spot of
one of mine; in that spot the paste had not risen at all,
and I think this practical demonstration of what I had
tried to explain was more useful than an hour's talk
would have been.</p>
<p>I will first give my method of making, which is the
usual French way of making "<i>feuilletonage</i>." Take
one pound of butter, or half of it lard; press all the
water out by squeezing it in a cloth; this is important,
as the liquid in it would wet your paste; take a
third of the butter, or butter and lard, and rub it into<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</SPAN></span>
one pound of <i>fine</i> flour; add no salt if your butter is
salted; then take enough water (to which you may add
the well-beaten white of an egg, but it is not absolutely
necessary) to make the flour into a smooth, firm dough; it
must not be too stiff, or it will be hard to roll out, or
too soft, or it will never make good paste; it should roll
easily, yet not stick; work it till it is very smooth, then
roll it out till it is half an inch thick; now lay the whole
of the butter in the center, fold one-third the paste over,
then the other third; it is now folded in three, with the
butter completely hidden; now turn the ends toward
you, and roll it till it is half an inch thick, taking care,
by rolling very evenly, that the butter is not pressed out
at the other end; now you have a piece of paste about
two feet long, and not half that width; flour it lightly,
and fold <i>over</i> one third and under one third, which will
almost bring it to a square again; turn it round so that
what was the side is now the end, and roll. Most likely
now the butter will begin to break through, in which
case fold it, after flouring lightly, in three, as before, and
put it on a dish on the ice, covering it with a damp cloth.
You may now either leave it for an hour or two, or till
next day. Paste made the day before it is used is much
better and easier to manage, and in winter it may be kept
for four or five days in a cold place, using from it as
required.</p>
<p>When ready to use your paste finish the making by
rolling it out, dredging a <i>little</i> flour, and doubling it in
three as before, and roll it out thin; do this until from
first to last it has been so doubled and rolled seven times.</p>
<p>Great cooks differ on one or two points in making
pastry; for instance, Soyer directs you to put the yolk
of an egg instead of the white, and a squeeze of lemon<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</SPAN></span>
juice into the flour, and expressly forbids you to work it
before adding the mass of butter, while Jules Gouffé
says, "work it until smooth and shining." I cannot
pretend to decide between these differing doctors, but I
pursue the method I have given and always have light
pastry. And now to the handling of it: It must only be
touched by the lightest fingers, every cut must be made
with a sharp knife, and done with one quick stroke so that
the paste is not dragged at all; in covering a pie dish or
patty pan, you are commonly directed to mold the paste
over it as thin as possible, which conveys the idea that the
paste is to be pressed over and so made thin; this would
destroy the finest paste in the world; roll it thin, say
for small tartlets, less than a quarter of an inch thick,
for a pie a trifle thicker, then lay the dish or tin to be
covered on the paste, and cut out with a knife, dipped in
<i>hot</i> water or flour, a piece a little larger than the mold,
then line with the piece you have cut, touching it as little
as possible; press only enough to make the paste adhere
to the bottom, but on no account press the border; to
test the necessity of avoiding this, gently press one spot
on a tart, before putting it in the oven, only so much as
many people always do in making pie, and watch the
result. When your tartlets or pies are made, take each
up on your left hand, and with a sharp knife dipped in
flour trim it round quickly. To make the cover of a
pie adhere to the under crust, lay the forefinger of your
right hand lengthwise round the border, but as far from
the edge as you can, thus forming a groove for the syrups,
and pressing the cover on at the same time. A word
here about fruit pies: Pile the fruit high in the center,
leaving a space all round the sides almost bare of fruit,
when the cover is on press gently the paste, as I have<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</SPAN></span>
explained, into this groove, then make two or three deep
holes in the groove; the juice will boil out of these holes
and run round this groove, instead of boiling out through
the edges and wasting.</p>
<p>This is the pastry-cook's way of making pies, and makes
a much handsomer one than the usual flat method,
besides saving your syrup. To ornament fruit pies or
tartlets, whip the white of an egg, and stir in as much
powdered sugar as will make a thin meringue—a large
tablespoonful is usually enough—then when your pies or
tartlets are baked, take them from the oven, glaze with
the egg and sugar, and return to the oven, leaving the
door open; when it has set into a frosty icing they are
ready to serve.</p>
<p>It is worth while to accomplish puff paste, for so
many dainty trifles may be made with it, which, attempted
with the ordinary short paste, would be unsightly.
Some of these that seem to me novel I will describe.</p>
<p>Rissolettes are made with trimmings of puff paste; if
you have about a quarter of a pound left, roll it out very
thin, about as thick as a fifty-cent piece; put about half
a spoonful of marmalade or jam on it, in places about
an inch apart, wet lightly round each, and place a piece
of paste over all; take a small round cutter as large as
a dollar, and press round the part where the marmalade
or jam is with the thick part of the cutter; then cut
them out with a cutter a size larger, lay them on a baking
tin, brush over with white of egg; then cut some little
rings the size of a quarter dollar, put one on each, egg
over again, and bake twenty minutes in a nice hot oven;
then sift white sugar all over, put them back in the oven
to glaze; a little red currant jelly in each ring looks
pretty; serve in the form of a pyramid.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</SPAN></span><span class="smcap">Pastry Tablets.</span>—Cut strips of paste three inches
and a half long, and an inch and a half wide, and as
thick as a twenty-five cent piece; lay on half of them
a thin filmy layer of jam or marmalade, not jelly; then
on each lay a strip without jam, and bake in a quick
oven. When the paste is well risen and brown, take
them out, glaze them with white of egg and sugar,
and sprinkle chopped almonds over them; return to
the oven till the glazing is set and the almonds just
colored; serve them hot or cold on a napkin piled log-cabin
fashion.</p>
<p><span class="smcap">Frangipané Tartlets.</span>—One quarter pint of cream,
four yolks of eggs, two ounces of flour, three macaroons,
four tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar, the peel of a
grated lemon, and a little citron cut very fine, a little
brandy and orange-flower water. Put all the ingredients,
except the eggs, in a saucepan—of course you will
mix the flour smooth in the cream first—let them
come to a boil slowly, stirring to prevent lumps;
when the flour smells cooked, take it off the fire for
a minute, then stir the beaten yolks of eggs into it.
Stand the saucepan in another of boiling water and return
to the stove, stirring till the eggs seem done—about
five minutes, if the water boils all the time. Line patty
pans with puff paste, and fill with frangipané and bake.
Ornament with chopped almonds and meringue, or not,
as you please.</p>
<p>It is very difficult to make fine puff paste in warm
weather, and almost impossible without ice; for this
reason I think the brioche paste preferable; but if it
is necessary to have it for any purpose, you must take
the following precautions:</p>
<p>Have your water iced; have your butter as firm as<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</SPAN></span>
possible by being kept on ice till the last moment; make
the paste in the coolest place you have, and under the
breeze of an open window, if possible; make it the day
before you use it, and put it on the ice between every
"turn," as each rolling out is technically called; then
leave it on the ice, as you use it, taking pieces from it as
you need them, so that the warmth cannot soften the
whole at once, when it would become quite unmanageable.
The condition of the oven is a very important
matter, and I cannot do better than transcribe the rules
given by Gouffé, by which you may test its fitness for
any purpose:</p>
<p>Put half a sheet of writing paper in the oven; if it
catches fire it is too hot; open the dampers and wait
ten minutes, when put in another piece of paper; if it
blackens it is still too hot. Ten minutes later put in a
third piece; if it <i>gets dark brown</i> the oven is right for
all small pastry. Called "<i>dark brown paper heat</i>."
<i>Light brown paper heat</i> is suitable for <i>vol-au-vents</i> or
fruit pies. <i>Dark yellow paper heat</i> for large pieces of
pastry or meat pies, pound cake, bread, etc. <i>Light yellow
paper heat</i> for sponge cake, meringues, etc.</p>
<p>To obtain these various degrees of heat, you try paper
every ten minutes till the heat required for your purpose
is attained. But remember that "light yellow" means
the paper only tinged; "dark yellow," the paper the
color of ordinary pine wood; "light brown" is only a
shade darker, about the color of nice pie-crust, and dark
brown a shade darker, by no means coffee color.</p>
<hr />
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</SPAN></span></p>
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