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CHAPTER XVIII.

Pastry.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

     The greatest possible cleanliness and nicety should be observed in making pastry. The slab or board, paste-rollers, tins, cutters, moulds, everything, in fact, used for it, and especially the hands, should be equally free from the slightest soil or particle of dust. The more expeditiously the finer kinds of paste are made and despatched to the oven, and the less they are touched the better. Much of their excellence depends upon the baking also. They should have a sufficient degree of heat to raise them quickly, but not so fierce a one as to colour them too much before they are done, and still less to burn them. The oven door should remain closed after they are put in, and not removed until the paste is set. Large raised pies require a steadily sustained, or, what is technically called a soaking heat, and to ensure this the oven should be made very hot, then cleared, and closely shut for from half to a whole hour before it is used, to concentrate the heat. It is an advantage in this case to have a large log or two of cord-wood burned in it, in addition to the usual fuel.
     In mixing the paste, the water should be added gradually, and the whole gently drawn together with the fingers, until sufficient has been added, when it should be lightly kneaded until it is as smooth as possible. When carelessly made, the surface is often left covered with small dry crumbs or lumps ; or the water is poured in heedlessly in so large a portion that it becomes necessary to add more flour to render it workable in any way ; and this ought particularly to be avoided when a certain weight of all the ingredients has been taken.

TO GLAZE OR ICE PASTRY.*

     The fine yellow glaze appropriate to meat pies is given with beaten yolk of egg, which should be laid on with a paste brush, or a small bunch of feathers: if a lighter colour be wished for, whisk the whole of the egg together, or mix a little milk with the yolk.
     The best mode of icing fruit-tarts before they are sent to the oven is, to moisten the paste with cold water, to sift sugar thickly upon it, and to press it lightly on with the hands ; but when a whiter icing is preferred, the pastry must be drawn from the oven when nearly baked, and brushed with white of egg, whisked to a froth ; then well covered with the sifted sugar, and sprinkled with a few drops of water before it is put in again : this glazing answers also very well, though it takes a slight colour, if used before the pastry is baked.

FEUILLETAGE, OR FINE FRENCH PUFF PASTE.

     This, when made by a good French cook, is the perfection of rich light paste, and will rise in the oven from one to six inches in height: but some practice is, without doubt, necessary to accomplish this. In summer it is a great advantage to have ice at hand, and to harden the butter over it before it is used; the paste also between the intervals of rolling is improved by being laid on an oven-leaf over a vessel containing it. Take an equal weight of good butter free from the coarse salt which is found in some, and which is disadvantageous for this paste, and of fine dry, sifted flour ; to each pound of these allow the yolks of a couple of eggs, and a small teaspoonful of salt. Break a few small bits of the butter very lightly into the flour, put the salt into the centre, and pour on it sufficient water to dissolve it (we do not understand why the doing this should be better than mixing it with the flour, as in other pastes, but such is the method always pursued for it); add a little more water to the eggs, moisten the flour gradually, and make it into a very smooth paste, rather lithe in summer, and never exceedingly stiff, though the opposite fault, in the extreme, would render the crust unmanageable. Press, in a soft thin cloth, all the moisture from the remainder of the butter, and form it into a ball, but in doing this be careful not to soften it too much. Should it be in an unfit state for pastry from the heat of the weather, put it into a basin, and set the basin into a pan of water mixed with plenty of salt and saltpetre, and let it remain in a cool place for an hour if possible before it is used. When it is ready (and the paste should never be commenced until it is so), roll the crust out square,* and of sufficient size to enclose the butter, flatten this a little upon it in the centre, and then fold the crust well over it, and roll it out thin as lightly as possible, after having dredged the board and paste roller with a little flour: this is called giving it one turn. Then fold it into three, give it another turn, and set it aside where it will be very cool, for a few minutes; give it two more turns in the same way, rolling it each time very lightly but of equal thickness, and to the full length that it will reach, taking always especial care that the butter shall not break through the paste. Let it again be set aside to become cold; and after it has been twice more rolled and folded in three, give it a half turn, by folding it once only, and it will be ready for use.
     Equal weight of the finest flour and good butter; to each pound of these, the yolks of two eggs, and a small saltspoonful of salt : 6 1/2 turns to be given to the paste.

VERY GOOD LIGHT PASTE.

     Mix with a pound of sifted flour six ounces of fresh, pure lard, and make them into a smooth paste with cold water; press the buttermilk from ten ounces of butter, and form it into a ball, by twisting it in a clean cloth. Roll out the paste, put the ball of butter in the middle, close it like an apple-dumpling, and roll it very lightly until it is less than an inch thick; fold the ends into the middle, dust a little flour over the board and paste-roller, and roll the paste thin a second time, then set it aside for three or four minutes in a very cool place; give it two more turns, after it has again been left for a few minutes, roll out twice more, folding it each time in three. This ought to render it fit for use. The sooner this paste is sent to the oven after it is made, the lighter it will be: if allowed to remain long before it is baked, it will be tough and heavy.
     Flour, 1 lb.; lard, 6 oz.; butter, 10 oz.; little salt.

ENGLISH PUFF-PASTE.

     Break lightly into a couple of pounds of dried and sifted flour eight ounces of butter; add a pinch of salt, and sufficient cold water to make the paste; work it as quickly and as lightly as possible, until it is smooth and pliable, then level it with the paste-roller until it is three-quarters of an inch thick, and place regularly upon it six ounces of butter in small bits; fold the paste like a blanket pudding, roll it out again, lay on it six ounces more of butter, repeat the rolling, dusting each time a little flour over the board and paste, add again six ounces of butter, and roll the paste out thin three or four times, folding the ends into the middle.
     Flour, 2 lbs.; little salt; butter, 1 lb. 10 oz.
     If very rich paste be required, equal portions of flour and butter must be used; and the latter may be divided into two, instead of three parts, when it is to be rolled in.

CREAM CRUST.

(Author's Receipt.   Very good.)

     Stir a little fine salt into a pound of dry flour, and mix gradually with it sufficient very thick, sweet cream to form a smooth paste; it will be found sufficiently good for common family dinners, without the addition of butter; but to make an excellent crust, roll in four ounces in the usual way, after having given the paste a couple of turns. Handle it as lightly as possible in making it, and send it to the oven as soon as it is ready: it may be used for fruit tarts, cannelons, puffs, and other varieties of small pastry, or for good meat pies. Six ounces of butter to the pound of flour will give a very rich crust.
     Flour, 1 lb.; salt, 1 small saltspoonful (more for meat pies); rich cream, 1/2 to 3/4 pint ; butter, 4 oz.; for richest crust, 6 oz.

PATE BRISÉE, OR FRENCH CRUST FOR HOT OR COLD MEAT PIES.

     Sift two pounds and a quarter of fine dry flour, and break into it one pound of butter, work them together with the fingers until they resemble fine crumbs of bread, then add a small teaspoonful of salt, and make them into a firm paste, with the yolks of four eggs, well beaten, mixed with half a pint of cold water, and strained; or for a somewhat richer crust of the same kind, take two pounds of flour, one of butter, the yolks of four eggs, half an ounce of salt, and less than the half pint of water, and work the whole well until the paste is perfectly smooth.
     Flour, 2 1/4 lbs.; butter, 1 lb.; salt, 1 small tablespoonful ; yolks of eggs, 4; water, 1/2 pint. Or : flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 1 lb.; yolks of eggs, 4; water, less than 1/2 pint.

FLEAD CRUST.

     Flead is the provincial name for the leaf, or inside fat of a pig, which makes excellent crust when fresh, much finer, indeed, than after it is melted into lard. Clear it quite from skin, and slice it very thin into the flour, and sufficient salt to give flavour to the paste, and make the whole up smooth and firm with cold water; lay it on a clean dresser, and beat it forcibly with a rolling-pin until the flead is blended perfectly with the flour. It may then be made into cakes with a paste-cutter, or used for pies, round the edges of which a knife should be passed, as the crust rises better when cut than if merely rolled to the proper size. With the addition of a small quantity of butter, which may either be broken into the flour before the flead is mixed with it, or rolled into the paste after it is beaten, it will be found equal to fine puff crust, with the advantage of being more easy of digestion.
     Quite common crust: flour, 1 1/4 lb,; flead, 8 oz.; salt, 1 small teaspoonful. Good common crust: flour, 1 lb.; flead, 6 oz.; butter, 2 oz. Rich crust, flead, 3/4 lb.; butter, 2 oz,; flour, 1 lb. The crust is very good when made without any butter.

COMMON SUET-CRUST FOR PIES.

     In many families this is preferred both for pies and tarts, to crust made with butter, as being much more wholesome; but it should never be served unless especially ordered, as it is to some persons peculiarly distasteful. Chop the suet extremely small, and add from six to eight ounces of it to a pound of flour, with a few grains of salt ; mix these with cold water into a firm paste, and work it very smooth. Some cooks beat it with a paste-roller, until the suet is perfectly blended with flour ; but the crust is lighter without this. In exceedingly sultry weather the suet, not being firm enough to chop, may be sliced as thin as possible, and well beaten into the paste after it is worked up.
     Flour, 2 lbs.; beef or veal kidney-suet, 12 to 16 oz.; salt (for fruit-pies), 1/4 teaspoonful, for meat-pies, 1 teaspoonful.

VERY SUPERIOR SUET-CRUST.
     Strip the skin entirely from some fresh veal or beef kidney-suet; chop, and then put it into a mortar, with a small quantity of pure-flavoured lard, oil, or butter, and pound it perfectly smooth : it may then be used for crust in the same way that butter is, in making puff-paste, and in this form it will be found a most excellent substitute for it, for hot pies or tarts. It is not quite so good for those which are to be served cold. Eight ounces of suet pounded with two of butter, and worked with the fingers into a pound of flour, will make an exceedingly good short crust; but for a very rich one the proportion must be increased.
     Good short crust: flour, 1 lb.; suet, 8 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful. Richer crust: suet, 16 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; flour, 1 1/2 lb.; salt, 1 small teaspoonful.

VERY RICH SHORT CRUST FOR TARTS.

     Break lightly, with the least possible handling, six ounces of butter into eight of flour; add a dessertspoonful of pounded sugar, and two or three of water; roll the paste, for several minutes, to blend the ingredients well, folding it together like puff-crust, and touch it as little as possible.
     Flour, 8 oz.; butter, 6 oz.; pounded sugar, 1 dessertspoonful; water, 1 to 2 spoonsful.

EXCELLENT SHORT CRUST FOR SWEET PASTRY.

     Crumble down very lightly half a pound of butter into a pound of flour, breaking it quite small. Mix well with these a slight pinch of salt and two ounces of sifted sugar, and add sufficient milk to make them up into a very smooth and somewhat firm paste. Bake this slowly, and keep it pale. It will be found an admirable crust if well made and lightly handled, and will answer for many dishes much better than puff-paste. It will rise in the oven too, and be extremely light. Ten ounces of butter will render it very rich, but we find eight quite sufficient.

BRIOCHE PASTE.

     The brioche is a rich, light kind of unsweetened bun or cake, very commonly sold, and served to all classes of people in France, where it is made in great perfection by good cooks and pastrycooks. It is fashionable now at English tables, though in a different form, serving principally as a crust to enclose rissoles, or to make cannelons and fritters. We have seen it recommended for a vol-au-vent, for which we should say it does not answer by any means so well as the fine puff-paste called feuilletage. The large proportion of butter and eggs which it contains render it to many persons highly indigestible; and we mention this to warn individuals against it, as we have known it to cause great suffering to persons out of health. To make it, take a couple of pounds* of fine dry flour, sifted as for cakes, and separate eight ounces of this from the remainder to make the leaven. Put it into a small pan, and mix it lightly into a lithe paste, with half an once of yeast, and a spoonful or two of warm water; make two or three slight incisions across the top, throw a cloth over the pan, and place it near the fire for about twenty minutes to rise. In the interval make a hollow space in the centre of the remainder of the flour, and put into it half an ounce of salt, as much fine sifted sugar, and half a gill of cream, or a dessertspoonful of water; add a pound of butter as free from moisture as it can be, and quite so from large grains of salt; cut it into small bits, put it into the flour, and pour on it one by one six fresh eggs freed from the specks; then with the fingers work the flour gently into this mass until the whole forms a perfectly smooth, and not stiff paste: a seventh egg, or the yolk of one, or even or two, may be added with advantage if the flour will absorb them; but the brioche must always be workable, and not so moist as to adhere to the board and roller disagreeably. When the leaven is well risen spread this paste out, and the leaven over it; mix them well together with the hands, then cut the whole into several portions, and change them about that the leaven may be incorporated perfectly and equally with the other ingredients: when this is done, and the brioche is perfectly smooth and pliable, dust some flour on a cloth, roll the brioche in it, and lay it into the pan. Place it in summer in a cool place, in winter in a warm on. It is usually made over-night, and baked in the early part of the following day. It should then be kneaded up afresh the first thing in the morning. To mould it in the usual form, make it into balls of uniform size, hollow these a little at the top by pressing the thumb round them, brush them over with yolk of egg, and put a second much smaller ball into the hollow part of each; glaze them entirely with yolk of egg, and send them to a quick oven for half an hour or more. The paste may also be made into the form of a large cake, then placed on a tin, or copper oven-leaf, and supported with a pasteboard in the baking; for the form of which see introductory page of Chapter XXVII.
     Flour, 2 lbs.; yeast, 1/2 oz.; salt and sugar, each 1/2 oz.; butter, 1 lb.; eggs, 6 to 8.

MODERN POTATO PASTRY.

(An excellent family dish.)

     A tin mould of the construction shown in the plate, with a perforated moveable top, and a small valve to allow the escape of the steam, must be had for this pastry, which is a good family dish, and which may be varied in numberless ways. Arrange at the bottom of the mould from two to three pounds of mutton cutlets, freed, according to the taste, from all, or from the greater proportion of the fat, then washed, lightly dredged on both sides with flour, and seasoned with salt and pepper, or cayenne. Pour to them sufficient broth or water to make the gravy, and add to it at pleasure, a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup or of Harvey's sauce. Have ready boiled, and very smoothly mashed, with about an ounce of butter, and a spoonful or two of milk or cream to each pound, as many good potatoes as will form a crust to the pastry of quite three inches thick; put the cover on the mould and arrange these equally upon it, leaving them a little rough on the surface. Bake the pastry in a moderate oven from three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a quarter, according to its size and its contents. Pin a folded napkin neatly round the mould, before it is served, and have ready a hot dish to receive the cover, which must not be lifted off until after the pastry is on the table.

     Chicken, or veal and oysters; delicate pork chops with a seasoning of sage and a little parboiled onion, or an eschalot or two finely minced; partridges or rabbits neatly carved, mixed with small mushrooms, and moistened with a little good stock, will all give excellent varieties of this dish, which may be made likewise with highly seasoned slices of salmon freed from the skin, sprinkled with fine herbs or intermixed with shrimps; clarified butter, rich veal stock, or good white wine, may be poured to them to form the gravy. To thicken this, a little flour should be dredged upon the fish before it is laid into the mould. Other kinds, such as cod, mullet, mackerel in fillets, salt fish (previously kept at the point of boiling until three parts done, then pulled into flakes, and put into the mould with hard eggs sliced, a little cream, flour, butter, cayenne, and anchovy-essence, and baked with mashed parsneps on the top), will all answer well for this pastry. Veal, when used for it, should be well beaten first: sweetbreads, sliced, may be laid in with it.
     For a pastry of moderate size, two pounds, or two and a half of meat, and from three to pour of potatoes, will be sufficient; a quarter of a pint of milk or cream, two small teaspoonsful of salt, and from one to two ounces of butter must be mixed up with these last.*

CASSEROLE OF RICE.

     Proceed exactly as for Gabrielle's pudding (see Chapter XXI.), but substitute good veal broth or stock for the milk, and add a couple of ounces more butter. Fill the casserole when it is emptied, with a rich mince or fricassee, or with stewed oysters in a béchamel sauce. French cooks make a very troublesome and elaborate affair of this dish, putting to the rice to make it "mellow," a great deal of pot-top fat, slices of fat ham, &c., which must afterwards be well drained off, or picked out from it; but the dish, made as we have directed, will be found excellent eating, and of very elegant appearance, if it be moulded in a tasteful shape. It must have a quick oven to colour, without too much drying it. The rice for it must be boiled sufficiently tender to be crushed easily to a smooth paste, and it must be mashed with a strong wooden spoon against the sides of the stewpan until all the grains are broken. It may then, when cool, be made like a raised pie with the hands, and decorated with a design formed on it with a carrot cut into a point like a graver. For a large casserole, a pound of rice and a quart of gravy will be required : a bit of bread is sometimes used in filling the mould, cut to the shape, and occupying nearly half the inside, but always so as to leave a thick and compact crust in every part. Part of the rice which is scooped from the inside is sometimes mixed with the mince, or other preparation, with which the casserole is filled.

A GOOD COMMON ENGLISH GAME PIE.

     Raise the flesh entire from the upper side of the best end of a well-kept neck of venison, trim it to the length of the dish in which the pie is to be served, and rub it with a mixture of salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg. Cut down into joints a fine young hare which has hung from eight to fourteen days, bone the back and thighs, and fill them with forcemeat No. 1 (Chapter VIII., page 157), but put into it a double portion of butter, and a small quantity of minced eschalots, should their flavour be liked, and the raw liver of the hare, chopped small. Line the dish with a rich short crust (see page 337), lay the venison in the centre, and the hare closely round and on it; fill the vacant spaces with more forcemeat, add a few spoonsful of well-jellied gravy, fasten on the cover securely, ornament it or not, at pleasure, and bake the pie for two hours in a well heated oven. The remnants and bones of the hare and venison may be stewed down into a small quantity of excellent soup, or with a less proportion of water into an admirable gravy, part of which, after having been cleared from fat, may be poured into the pie. The jelly, added to its contents at first, can be made, when no such stock is at hand, of a couple of pounds of shin of beef, boiled down in a quart of water, which must be reduced quite half, and seasoned only with a good slice of lean ham, a few peppercorns, seven or eight clove, a blade of mace, and a little salt. One pound and a half of flour will be sufficient for the crust; this, when it is so preferred, may be laid round the sides only of the dish, instead of entirely over it. The prime joints of a second hare may be substituted for the venison when it can be more easily procured; but the pie made entirely of venison, without the forcemeat, will be far better.
     Baked 2 hours.
     Obs.—These same ingredients will make an excellent raised pie, if the venison be divided and intermixed with the hare : the whole should be highly seasoned, and all the cavities filled with the forcemeat No. 18 (Chapter VIII.),* or with the truffled sausage-meat of page 263. The top, before the paste is laid over, should be covered with slices of fat bacon, or with plenty of butter, to prevent the surface of the meat from becoming hard. No liquid is to be put into the pie until after it is baked, if at all. It will require from half to a full hour more of the oven than if baked in a dish.

MODERN CHICKEN PIE.

     Skin, and cut down into joints a couple of fowls, take out all the bones and season the flesh highly with salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg; line a dish with a thin paste, and spread over it a layer of the finest sausage-meat, which has previously been moistened with a spoonful or two of cold water; over this place closely together some of the boned chicken joints, then more sausage-meat, and continue thus with alternate layers of each, until the dish is full; roll out, and fasten securely at the edges, a cover half an inch thick, trim off the superfluous paste, make an incision in the top, lay some paste leaves round it, glaze the whole with yolk of egg, and bake the pie from an hour and a half to two hours in a well heated oven. Lay a sheet or two of writing-paper over the crust, should it brown too quickly. Minced herbs can be mixed with the sausage-meat at pleasure, and a small quantity of eschalot also, when its flavour is much liked: it should be well moistened with water, or the whole will be unpalatably dry. The pie may be served hot or cold, but we would rather recommend the latter.
     A couple of very young tender rabbits will answer exceedingly well for it instead of fowls, and a border, or half paste in the dish will generally be preferred to an entire lining of the crust, which is now but rarely served, unless for pastry, which is to be taken out of the dish or mould in which it is baked before it is sent to table.

A COMMON CHICKEN PIE.

     Prepare the fowls as for boiling, cut them down into joints, and season them with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg or pounded mace; arrange them neatly in a dish bordered with paste, lay amongst them three or four fresh eggs boiled hard, and cut in halves, pour in some cold water, put on a thick cover, pare the edge, and ornament it, make a hole in the centre, lay a roll of paste, or a few leaves round it, and bake the pie in a moderate oven from an hour to an hour and a half. The back and neck bones may be boiled down with a bit or two of lean ham, to make a little additional gravy, which can be poured into the pie after it is baked.

PIGEON PIE.

     Lay a border of fine puff paste round a large dish, and cover the bottom with a veal cutlet or tender rump steak, free from fat and bone, and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg or pounded mace; prepare with great nicety as many freshly-killed young pigeons as the dish will contain in one layer; put into each a slice or ball of butter, seasoned with a little cayenne and mace, lay them into the dish with the breasts downwards, and between and over them put the yolks of half a dozen or more of hard-boiled eggs; stick plenty of butter on them, season the whole well with salt and spice, pour in some cold water or veal broth for the gravy, roll out the cover three-quarters of an inch thick, secure it well round the edge, ornament it highly, and bake the pie for an hour or more in a well-heated oven. It is a great improvement to fill the birds with small mushroom-buttons, prepared as for partridges (see Chapter XV.): their livers also may be put into them.

BEEF-STEAK PIE.

     From a couple to three pounds of rump-steak will be sufficient for a good family pie. It should be well kept though perfectly sweet, for in no form can tainted meat be more offensive than when it is enclosed in paste. Trim off the coarse skin, and part of the fat should there be much of it (many eaters dislike it altogether in pies, and when this is the case every morsel should be carefully cut away). If the beef should not appear very tender, it may be gently beaten with a paste-roller until the fibre is broken, then divided into slices half as large as the hand, and laid into a dish bordered with paste. It should be seasoned with salt and pepper, or cayenne, and sufficient water poured in to make the gravy, and keep the meat moist. Lay on the cover, and be careful always to brush the edge in every part with egg or cold water, then join it securely to the paste which is round the rim, trim both off close to the dish, pass the point of the knife through the middle of the cover, lay some slight roll or ornament of paste round it, and decorate the border of the pie in any of the usual modes, which are too common to require description. Send the pie to a well-heated, but not fierce oven for about an hour and twenty minutes. To make a richer beef-steak pie put bearded oysters in alternate layers with the meat, add their strained liquor to a little good gravy in which the beards may be simmered for a few minutes to give it further flavour, and make a light puff paste for the crust. Some eaters like it seasoned with a small portion of minced onion or eschalot when the oysters are omitted. Mushrooms improve all meat-pies. Veal pies may be made by this receipt, or by the second of those which follow. Slices of lean ham, or parboiled ox-tongue, may be added to them.
     1 to 1 1/2 hour.

COMMON MUTTON PIE.

     A pound and a quarter of flour will make sufficient paste for a moderate-sized pie, and two pounds of mutton freed from the greater portion of the fat will fill it. Butter a dish and line it with about half the paste rolled thin; lay in the mutton evenly, and sprinkle over it three-quarters of an ounce of salt, and from half to a whole teaspoonful of pepper according to taste; pour in cold water to within an inch of the brim. Roll the cover, which should be quite half an inch thick, to the size of the dish; wet the edges of the paste with cold water or white of egg, be careful to close them securely, cut them off close to the rim of the dish, stick the point of the knife through the centre, and bake the pie an hour and a quarter in a well-heated oven.
     Flour, 1 1/4 lb.; minced suet rather less than 1/2 lb.; or, butter, 4 oz., and very pure lard, 2 or 3 oz.; mutton, 2 lbs.; salt, 3/4 oz.; pepper, half to a whole teaspoonful; water, 1/4 pint : 1 1/4 hour.

A GOOD MUTTON PIE.

     Lay a half-paste of short or of puff crust round a buttered dish; take the whole or part of a loin of mutton, strip off the fat entirely, and raise the flesh clear from the bones without dividing it, then slice it into cutlets of equal thickness, season them well with salt and pepper, or cayenne, and strew between the layers some finely-minced herbs mixed with two or three eschalots, when the flavour of these last is liked; or omit them, and roll quite thin some good forcemeat (which can be flavoured with a little minced eschalot at pleasure), and lay it between the cutlets: two or three mutton kidneys intermingled with the meat will gently enrich the gravy; pour in a little cold water, roll the cover half an inch thick, or more should the crust be short, as it will not rise like puff paste, close the pie very securely, trim the edges even with the dish, ornament the pie according to the taste, make a hole in the centre, and bake it from an hour and a half to a couple of hours. The proportions of paste and meat may be ascertained by consulting the last receipt. Gravy made with part of the bones, quite cleared from fat, and let to become cold, may be used to fill the pie instead of water.

RAISED PIES.

     These may be made of any size, and with any kind of meat, poultry or game, but the whole must be entirely free from bone. When the crust is not to be eaten, it is made simply with a few ounces of lard or butter dissolved in boiling water, with which the flour is to be mixed (with a spoon at first, as the heat would be too great for the hands, but afterwards with the fingers) to a smooth and firm paste. The French who excel greatly in this form of pie,* use for it a good crust which they call a pâte brisée (see page 347), and this is eaten usually with the meat which it contains. In either case the paste must be sufficiently stiff to retain its form perfectly after it is raised, as it will have no support to prevent its falling. The celebrated Monsieur Ude gives the following directions for moulding it to a proper shape without difficulty; and as inexperienced cooks generally find a little at first in giving a good appearance to these pies, we copy his instructions for them: "Take a lump of paste proportionate to the size of the pie you are to make, mould it in the shape of a sugar loaf, put it upright on the table, then with the palms of your hands flatten the sides of it; when you have equalized it all round and it is quite smooth, squeeze the middle of the point down to half the height of the paste," then hollow the inside by pressing it with the fingers, and in doing this be careful to keep in every part of equal thickness. Fill it,† roll out the cover, egg the edges, press them securely together, make a hole in the centre, lay a roll of paste round it, and encircle this with a wreath of leaves, or ornament the pie in any other way, according to the taste; glaze it with beaten yolk of egg, and bake it from two to three hours in a well-heated oven if it be small, and from four to five hours if it be large; though the time must be regulated in some measure by the nature of the contents, as well as by the size of the dish.
     Obs.—We know not if we have succeeded in making the reader comprehend that this sort of pie (with the exception of the cover, for which a portion must at first be taken off) is made from one solid lump of paste, which, after having been shaped into a cone, as Monsieur Ude directs, or into a high round, or oval form, is hollowed by pressing down the centre with the knuckles, and continuing to knead the inside equally round with one hand, while the other is pressed close to the outside. It is desirable that the mode of doing this should be once seen by the learner, if possible, as mere verbal instructions are scarcely sufficient to enable the quite-inexperienced cook to comprehend at once the exact form and appearance which should be given to the paste, and some degree of expertness is always necessary to mould a pie of this kind well with the fingers only. The first attempts should be made with very small pies, which are less difficult to manage.

A VOL-AU-VENT. (ENTRÉE.)
     This dish can be successfully made only with the finest and lightest puff-paste (see feuilletage, page 345), as its height, which ought to be from four to five inches, depends entirely on its raising in the oven. Roll it to something more than an inch in thickness, and cut it to the shape and size of the inside of the dish in which it is to be served, or stamp it out with a fluted tin of proper dimensions; then mark the cover evenly about an inch from the edge all round, and ornament it and the border also, with a knife, as fancy may direct; brush yolk of egg quickly over them, and put the vol-au-vent immediately into a brisk oven, that it may rise well, and be finely coloured, but do not allow it to be scorched. In from twenty to thirty minutes, should it appear baked through, as well as sufficiently browned, draw it out, and with the point of a knife detach the cover carefully where it has been marked, and scoop out all the soft baked crumb from the inside of the vol-au-vent; then turn it gently on to a sheet of clean paper, to drain the butter from it. At the instant of serving, fill it with a rich fricassee of lobster, or of sweetbreads, or with turbot à la crême, or with the white part of cold roast veal cut in thin collops not larger than a shilling, and heated in good white sauce with oysters (see minced veal and oysters, page 251), or with any other of the preparations which we shall indicate in their proper places, and send it immediately to table. The vol-au-vent, as the reader will perceive, is but the case, or crust, in which various kinds of delicate ragouts are served in an elegant form. As these are most frequently composed of fish, or of meats which have been already dressed, it is an economical as well as an excellent mode of employing such remains. The sauces in which they are heated must be quite thick, for they would otherwise soften, or even run through the crust. This, we ought to observe, should be examined before it is filled, and should any part appear too thin, a portion of the crumb which has been taken out, should be fastened to it with some beaten egg, and the whole of the inside brushed lightly with more egg, in order to make the loose parts of the vol-au-vent stick well together. This method is recommended by an admirable and highly experienced cook, but it need only be resorted to when the crust is not solid enough to hold the contents securely.
     For moderate-sized vol-au-vent, flour, 1/2 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; salt, small saltspoonful; yolk, 1 egg; little water. Larger vol-au-vent, 3/4 lb. flour; other ingredients in proportion : baked 20 to 30 minutes.
     Obs.—When the vol-au-vent is cut out with the fluted cutter, a second, some sizes smaller, after being just dipped into hot water, should be pressed nearly half through the paste, to mark the cover. The border ought to be from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half wide.

A VOL-AU-VENT OF FRUIT. (ENTREMETS.)

     After the crust has been made and baked as above, fill it at the moment of serving with peaches, apricots, mogul, or any other richly flavoured plums, which have been stewed tender in syrup; lift them from this, and keep them hot while it is boiled rapidly almost to jelly; then arrange the fruit in the vol-au-vent, and pour the syrup over it. For the manner of preparing it, see compotes of fruit, Chapter XXIV.; but increase the proportion of sugar nearly half, that the juice may be reduced quickly to the proper consistency for the vol-au-vent. Skin and divide the apricots, and quarter the peaches, unless they should be very small.

VOL-AU-VENT A LA CRÊME. (ENTREMETS.)

     After having raised the cover and emptied the vol-au-vents, lay it on a sheet of paper, and let it become cold. Fill it just before it is sent to table with fruit, either boiled down to a rich marmalade, or stewed as for the preceding vol-au-vent, and heap well flavoured, but not too highly sweetened, whipped cream over it. The edge of the crust may be glazed by sifting sugar over it, when it is drawn from the oven, and holding a salamander or red hot shovel above it; or it may be left unglazed, and ornamented with bright coloured fruit jelly.

OYSTER PATTIES.* (ENTRÉE).

     Line some small patty-pans with fine puff-paste, rolled thin and to preserve their form when baked, put a bit of bread into each; lay on the covers, pinch and trim the edges, and send the patties to a brisk oven. Plump and beard from two to three dozens of small oysters; mix very smoothly a teaspoonful of flour with an ounce of butter, put them into a clean saucepan, shake them round over a gentle fire, and let them simmer for two or three minutes; throw in a little salt, pounded mace, and cayenne, then add, by slow degrees, two or three spoonsful of rich cream, give these a boil, and pour in the strained liquor of the oysters; next, lay in the fish, and keep at the point of boiling for a couple of minutes. Rise the covers from the patties, take out the bread, fill them with oysters and their sauce, and replace the covers. We have found it an improvement to stew the beards of the fish with a strip or two of lemon-peel, in a little good veal stock for a quarter of an hour, then to strain and add it to the sauce. The oysters, unless very small, should be once or twice divided.

COMMON LOBSTER PATTIES.

     Prepare the fish for these as directed for fricasseed lobster, Chapter II., increasing a little the proportion of sauce. Fill the patty-cases with the mixture quite hot, and serve immediately.

SUPERLATIVE LOBSTER-PATTIES.

(Author's Receipt.)

     Form into balls about half the size of a filbert either the cutlet-mixture or the pounded lobster of Chapter III., roll them in the sifted coral, warm them through very gently, have ready some hot patty-cases (see page 361), pour into each a small spoonful of rich white sauce, or Sauce à l'Aurore (see page 118), lay the balls round the edge, pile a larger one in the centre, and serve the whole very quickly.
     The Dresden patties of page 387 may be thus filled.

GOOD CHICKEN PATTIES. (ENTRÉE.)

     Raise the white flesh entirely from a young undressed fowl, divide it once or twice, and lay it into a small clean saucepan, in which about an ounce of butter has been dissolved, and just begins to simmer; strew in a slight seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne, and stew the chicken very softly indeed for about ten minutes, taking every precaution against its browning: turn it into a dish, with the butter, and its own gravy, and let it become cold. Mince it with a sharp knife; heat it, without allowing it to boil, in a little good white sauce (which may be made of some of the bones of the fowl), and fill ready-baked patty-crusts, or small vol-au-ventsw with it, just before they are sent to table; or stew the flesh only just sufficiently to render it firm, mix it after it is minced and seasoned with a spoonful or two of strong gravy, fill the patties, and bake them from fifteen to eighteen minutes. It is a great improvement to stew and mince a few mushrooms with the chicken.
     The breasts of cold turkeys, fowls, partridges, or pheasants, or the white part of cold veal, minced, heated in a béchamel sauce, will serve at once for patties : they may also be made of cold game, heated in an Espagnole, or in a good brown gravy.

PATTIES A LA PONTIFE. (ENTRÉE.)

(A fast day, or Maigre dish.)

     Mince, but not very small, the yolks of six fresh hard-boiled eggs; mince also and mix with them a couple of fine truffles,* a large saltspoonful of salt, half the quantity of mace and nutmeg, and a fourth as much of cayenne. Moisten these ingredients with a spoonful of thick cream, or béchamel maigre (see page 109), or with a dessertspoonful of clarified butter; line the patty-moulds, fill them with the mixture, cover, and bake them from twelve to fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. They are excellent made with the cream-crust of page 347.
     Yolks hard-boiled eggs, 6; truffles, 2 large; seasoning of salt, mace, nutmeg, and cayenne; cream, or béchamel maigre, 1 tablespoonful, or clarified butter, 1 dessertspoonful: baked moderate oven, 12 to 15 minutes.
     Obs.—A spoonful or two of jellied stock or gravy, or of good white sauce, converts these into admirable patties: the same ingredients make also very superior rolls or cannelons. For Patties à la Cardinale, small mushroom-buttons stewed as for partridges, Chapter XIII., before they are minced, must be substituted for truffles ; and the butter in which they are simmered should be added with them to the eggs.

EXCELLENT MEAT ROLLS.

     Pound, as for potting (see page 305), and with the same proportion of butter and of seasonings, some half-roasted veal, chicken, or turkey. Make some forcemeat by the receipt No. 1, Chapter VI., and form it into small rolls, not larger than a finger; wrap twice or thrice as much of the pounded meat equally round each of these, first moistening it with a teaspoonful of water; fold them in good puff-paste, and bake them from fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the crust is perfectly done. A small quantity of the lean of a boiled ham may be finely minced and pounded with the veal, and very small mushrooms, prepared as for a partridge (page 329), may be substituted for the forcemeat.

SMALL VOLS-AU-VENTS, OR PATTY-CASES.


     These are quickly and easily made with two round paste-cutters, of which one should be little more than half the size of the other : to give the pastry a better appearance, they should be fluted. Roll out some of the lightest puff-paste to a half-inch of thickness, and with the larger of the tins cut the number of patties required; then dip the edge of the small shape into hot water, and press it about half through them. Bake them in a moderately quick oven from ten to twelve minutes, and when they are done, with the point of a sharp knife, take out the small rounds of crust from the tops, and scoop all the crumb from the insides of the patties, which may then be filled with shrimps, oysters, lobster, chicken, pheasant, or any other of the ordinary varieties of patty meat, prepared with white sauce. Fried crumbs may be laid over them instead of the covers, or these last can be replaced.
     For sweet dishes, glaze the pastry, and fill it with rich whipped cream, preserve, or boiled custard; if with the last of these put it back into a very gentle oven until the custards are set.

ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR TARTLETS.

     For a dozen tartlets, cut twenty-four rounds of paste of the usual size, and form twelve of them into rings by pressing a small cutter quite through them; moisten these with cold water, or white of egg, and lay them on the remainder of the rounds of paste, so as to form the rims of the tartlets. Bake them from ten to twelve minutes, fill them with preserve while they are still warm, and place over it a small ornament of paste cut from the remnants, and baked gently of a light colour. Serve the tartlets cold, or if wanted hot for table put them back into the oven for one minute after they are filled.

A SEFTON, OR VEAL CUSTARD.

     Pour boiling, a pint of rich, clear, pale veal gravy on six fresh eggs, which have been well beaten and strained : sprinkle in directly the grated rind of a fine lemon, a little cayenne, some salt if needed, and a quarter-teaspoonful of mace. Put a paste border round a dish, pour in, first two ounces of clarified butter, and then the other ingredients; bake the Sefton in a very slow oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until it is quite firm in the middle, and send it to table with a little good gravy. Very highly flavoured game stock, in which a few mushrooms have been stewed, may be used for this dish with great advantage in lieu of veal gravy; and a sauce made of the smallest mushroom buttons, may be served with it in either case. The mixture can be baked in a whole paste, if preferred so, or in well buttered cups; then turned out and covered with the sauce before it is sent to table.
     Rich veal or game stock, 1 pint ; fresh eggs, 6 ; rind, 1 lemon ; little salt and cayenne ; pounded mace, 1/4 teaspoonful ; butter, 2 oz. : baked, 25 to 30 minutes, slow oven.

APPLE CAKE, OR GERMAN TART.

     Work together with the fingers, ten ounces of butter and a pound of flour, until they resemble fine crumbs of bread; throw in a small pinch of salt, and make them into a firm smooth paste with the yolks of two eggs and a spoonful or two of water. Butter thickly, a plain tin cake, or pie mould (those which open at the sides, see plate, page 344, are best adapted for the purpose); roll out the paste thin, place the mould upon it, trim a bit to its exact size, cover the bottom of the mould with this, then cut a band the height of the sides, and press it smoothly round them, joining the edge, which must be moistened with egg or water, to the bottom crust; and fasten upon them, to prevent their separation, a narrow and thin band of paste, also moistened. Next, fill the mould nearly from the brim with the following marmalade, which must be quite cold when it is put in. Boil together, over a gentle fire at first, but more quickly afterwards, three pounds of good apples with fourteen ounces of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon, the strained juice of a large lemon, three ounces of fresh butter, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a couple of lemons: when the whole is perfectly smooth and dry, turn it into a pan to cool, and let it be quite cold before it is put into the paste. In early autumn, a larger proportion of sugar may be required, but this can be regulated by the taste. When the mould is filled, roll out the cover, lay it carefully over the marmalade that it may not touch it; and when the cake is securely closed, trim off the superfluous paste, add a little pounded sugar to the parings, spread them out very thin, and cut them into leaves to ornament the top of the cake, round which they may be placed as a sort of wreath.* Bake it for an hour in a moderately brisk oven; take it from the mould, and should the sides not be sufficiently coloured put it back for a few minutes into the oven upon a baking tin. Lay a paper over the top, when it is of a fine light brown, to prevent its being too deeply coloured. This cake should be served hot.
     Paste : flour, 1 lb.; butter, 10 oz.; yolks of eggs, 2 ; little water. Marmalade : apples, 3 lbs.; sugar, 14 oz. (more if needed); juice of lemon, 1; rinds of lemons, 2; butter, 3 oz.: baked 1 hour.

TOURTE MERINGUÉE, OR TART WITH ROYAL ICING.†

     Lay a band of fine paste round the rim of a tart-dish, fill it with any kind of fruit mixed with a moderate proportion of sugar, roll out the cover very evenly, moisten the edges of the paste, press them together carefully, and trim them off close to the dish; spread equally over the top, or within rather more than an inch of the edge all round, the whites of three fresh eggs beaten to a quite solid froth and mixed quickly at the moment of using them with three tablespoonsful of dry sifted sugar. Put the tart into a moderately brisk oven, and when the crust has risen well and the icing is set, either lay a sheet of writing-paper lightly over it, or draw it to a part of the oven where it will not take too much colour. This is now a fashionable mode of icing tarts, and greatly improves the appearance.
     Bake half an hour.

A GOOD APPLE TART.

     A pound and a quarter of apples weighed after they are pared and cored, will be sufficient for a small tart, and four ounces or more for one of moderate size. Lay a border of English puff-paste, or of cream-crust round the dish, just dip the apples into water, arrange them very compactly in it, higher in the centre than at the sides, and strew amongst them from three to four ounces of pounded sugar, or more should they be very acid: the grated rind and the strained juice of half a lemon will much improve their flavour. Lay on the cover rolled thin, and ice it or not at pleasure. Send the tart to a moderate oven for about half an hour. This may be converted into the old-fashioned creamed apple tart, by cutting out the cover while it is still quite hot, leaving only about an inch-wide border of paste round the edge, and pouring over the apples when they have become cold, from half to three-quarters of a pint of rich boiled custard. The cover divided into triangular sippets, was formerly stuck round the inside of the tart, but ornamental leaves of pale puff-paste have a better effect. Well-drained whipped cream may be substituted for the custard, and piled high, and lightly over the fruit.

TART OF VERY YOUNG GREEN APPLES. (GOOD.)

     Take very young apples from the tree before the cores are formed, clear off the buds and stalks, wash them well, and fill a tart-dish with them after having rolled them in plenty of sugar, or strew layers of sugar between them; add a very small quantity of water, and bake the tart rather slowly, that the fruit may be tender quite through. It will resemble a green apricot-tart if carefully made. We give this receipt from recollection, having had the dish served often formerly, and having found it very good.

BARBERRY TART.

     Barberries, with half their weight of fine brown sugar, when they are thoroughly ripe, and with two ounces more when they are not quite so, make an admirable tart. For one of moderate size, put into a dish bordered with paste three quarters of a pound of barberries stripped from their stalks, and six ounces of sugar in alternate layers; pour over them three tablespoonsful of water, put on the cover, and bake the tart for half an hour. Another way of making it is to line a shallow tin pan with very thin crust, to mix the fruit and sugar well together with a spoon before they are laid in, and to put bars of paste across instead of a cover; or it may be baked without either.*

THE LADY'S TOURTE, AND CHRISTMAS TOURTE A LA CHÂTELAINE.

     To make this Tourte, which, when filled, is of pretty appearance, two paste-cutters are requisite, one the size, or nearly so, of the inside of the dish in which the entremets is to be served, the other not more than an inch in diameter, and both of them fluted, as will be seen by the engraving. To make the paste for it, throw a small half saltspoonful of salt into half a pound of the finest flour, and break lightly into it four ounces of fresh butter, which should be firm. Make these up smoothly with cold milk or water, of which nearly a quarter of a pint will be sufficient, unless the butter should be very hard, when a spoonful or two more must be added. Roll the paste out as lightly as possible twice or thrice is needful, to blend the butter thoroughly with it, and each time either fold it in three by wrapping the ends over each other, or fold it over and over like a roll pudding. An additional ounce, or even two, of butter can be used for it when very rich pastry is liked, but the tourte will not then retain its form so well. Roll it out evenly to something more than three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and press the large cutter firmly through it; draw away the superfluous paste, and lay the tourte on a lightly floured baking-tin. Roll the remainder of the paste until it is less than a quarter of an inch thick, and stamp out with the smaller cutter—of which the edge should be dipped into hot water, or slightly encrusted with flour— as many rounds as will form the border of the tourte. In placing them upon it, lay the edge of one over the other just sufficiently to give a shell-like appearance to the whole; and with the finger press lightly on the opposite part of the round to make it adhere to the under paste. Next, with a sharp-pointed knife, make an incision very evenly round the inside of the tourte nearly close to the border, but be extremely careful not to cut too deeply into the paste. Bake it in a gentle oven, from twenty to thirty minutes. When it is done, detach the crust from the centre, where it has been marked with the knife, take out part of the crumb, fill the space high with apricot-jam, or with any other choice preserve, set it again for an instant into the oven, and serve it hot or cold. Spikes of blanched almonds, filberts, or pistachio-nuts, may be strewed over the preserve, when they are considered an improvement; and the border of the pastry may be glazed or ornamented to the fancy; but if well made, it will generally please in its quite simple form. It may be converted into a delicious entrée, by filling it either with oysters, or sliced sweetbreads, stewed, and served in thick, rich, white sauce, or béchamel. Lobster also prepared and moulded as for the new lobster patties of page 359, will form a superior dish even to these.
     Obs.—Six ounces of flour, and three of butter, will make sufficient paste for this tourte, when it is required only of the usual moderate size. If richer paste be used for it, it must have two or three additional turns or rollings to prevent its losing its form in the oven.
     Christmas Tourte à la Châtelaine.—Make the case for this tourte as for the preceding one, and put sufficient mince-meat to fill it handsomely in a jar, cover it very securely with paste, or with two or three folds of thick paper, and bake it gently for half an hour or longer, should the currants, raisins, &c., not be fully tender. Take out the inside of the tourte, heap the hot mince-meat in it, pour a little fresh brandy over; just touch it with a strip of lighted writing-paper at the door of the dining-room, and serve it in a blaze; or if better liked so, serve it very hot without the brandy, and with Devonshire cream as an accompaniment.*

GENOISES A LA REINE, OR HER MAJESTY'S PASTRY.

     Make some nouilles (see page 5), with the yolks of four fresh eggs, and when they are all cut as directed there, drop them lightly into a pint and a half of boiling cream (new milk will answer quite as well, or a portion of each may be used), in which six ounces of fresh butter have been dissolved. When these have boiled quickly for a minute or two, during which time they must be stirred to prevent their gathering into lumps, add a small pinch of salt, and six ounces of sugar on which the rinds of two lemons have been rasped; place the saucepan over a clear and very gentle fire, and when the mixture has simmered from thirty to forty minutes take it off, stir briskly in the yolks of six eggs, and pour it out upon a delicately clean baking-tin which has been slightly rubbed in every part with butter; level the nouilles with a knife to something less than a quarter of an inch of thickness, and let them be very evenly spread; put them in a moderate oven, and bake them of a fine equal brown: should any air-bladders appear, pierce them with the point of a knife. On taking the paste from the oven, divide it into two equal parts; turn one of these, the under-side uppermost, on to a clean tin or a large dish, and spread quickly over it a jar of fine apricot-jam, place the other half upon it, the brown side outwards, and leave the paste to become cold; then stamp it out with a round or diamond-shaped cutter and arrange the genoises tastefully in a dish. This pastry will be found delicious the day it is baked, but its excellence is destroyed by keeping. Peach, green-gage, or magnum bonum jam, will serve for it quite as well as apricot. We strongly recommend to our readers this preparation, baked in patty-pans, and served hot; or the whole quantity made into a pudding. From the smaller ones a little may be taken out with a teaspoon, and replaced with some preserve just before they are sent to table; or they may thus be eaten cold.
     Nouilles of 4 eggs; cream or milk, 1 1/2 pint ; butter, 6 oz.; sugar 6 oz.; rasped rinds of lemons, 2; grain of salt: 30 to 40 minutes. Yolks of eggs, 6 : baked from 15 to 25 minutes.

ALMOND PASTE.

     For a single dish of pastry, blanch seven ounces of fine Jordan almonds and one of bitter;* throw them into cold water as they are done, and let them remain in it for an hour or two; then wipe, and pound them to the finest paste, moistening them occasionally with a few drops of cold water, to prevent their oiling; next, add to, and mix thoroughly with them, seven ounces of highly-refined, dried, and sifted sugar; pour them into a small preserving-pan, or enamelled stewpan, and stir them over a clear and very gentle fire until they are so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched; turn the paste immediately into an earthen pan or jar, and when cold it will be ready for use.
     Jordan almonds, 7 oz.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; cold water, 1 tablespoonful; sugar, 7 oz.
     Obs.—The pan in which the paste is dried, should by no means be placed upon the fire, but high above it on a bar or trevet: should it be allowed by accident to harden too much, it must be sprinkled plentifully with water, broken up quite small, and worked, as it warms, with a strong wooden spoon to a smooth paste again. We have found this method perfectly successful; but, if time will permit, it should be moistened some hours before it is again set over the fire.

TARTLETS OF ALMOND PASTE.

     Butter slightly the smallest-sized patty-pans, and line them with the almond-paste rolled as thin as possible; cut it with a sharp knife close to their edges, and bake or rather dry the tartlets slowly at the mouth of a very cool oven. If at all coloured, they should be only of the palest brown; but they will become perfectly crisp without losing their whiteness if left for some hours in a very gently-heated stove or oven. They should be taken from the pans when two-thirds done, and laid, reversed, upon a sheet of paper placed on a dish or board, before they are put back into the oven. At the instant of serving, fill them with bright-coloured whipped cream, or with peach or apricot jam; if the preserve be used, lay over it a small star or other ornament cut from the same paste, and dried with the tartlets. Sifted sugar, instead of flour, must be dredged upon the board and roller in using almond paste. Leaves and flowers formed of it, and dried gradually until perfectly crisp, will keep for a long time in a tin box or canister, and they form elegant decorations for pastry. When a fluted cutter the size of the pattypans is at hand, it will be an improvement to cut out the paste with it, and then to press it lightly into them, as it is rather apt to break when pared off with a knife. To colour it, prepared cochineal or spinach-green, must be added to it in the mortar.

FAIRY FANCIES.

(Fantaisies de Fées.)

     A small, but very inexpensive set of tin cutters must be had for this pretty form of pastry, which is, however, quite worthy of so slight a cost. The short crust, of page 349, answers for it better than puff paste. Roll it thin and very even, and with the larger tin, shaped thus, cut out a dozen or more of small sheets; then, with a couple of round cutters, of which one should be about an inch in diameter, and the other only half the size, from four times the number of rings, and lay them on the sheets in the manner shown in the engraving. The easier mode of placing them regularly, is to raise each ring without removing the small cutter from it, to moisten it with a camel's hair brush dipped in white of egg, and to lay it on the paste as it is gently loosened from the tin. When all the pastry is prepared, set it into a very gentle oven, that it may become crisp and yet remain quite pale. Before it is sent to table, fill the four divisions of each fantaisie with preserve of a different colour. For example : one ring with apple or strawberry jelly, another with apricot jam, a third with peach or green-gage, and a fourth with raspberry jelly. The cases may be iced, and ornamented in various ways before they are baked. They are prettiest when formed of white almond-paste, with pink or green rings : they may then be filled, at the instant of serving, with well-drained whipped cream.

MINCEMEAT.

(Author's Receipt.)

     To one pound of unsalted ox-tongue, boiled tender and cut free from the rind, add two pounds of fine stoned raisins, two of beef kidney suet, two pounds and a half of currants well cleaned and dried, two of good apples, two and a half fine Lisbon sugar, from half to a whole pound of candied peel according to the taste, the grated rinds of two large lemons, and two more boiled quite tender, and chopped up entirely, with the exception of the pips, two small nutmegs, half an ounce of salt, a large teaspoonful of pounded mace, rather more of ginger in powder, half a pint of brandy, and as much good sherry or Madeira. Mince these ingredients separately, and mix the others all well before the brandy and the wine are added; press the whole into a jar or jars, and keep it closely covered. It should be stored for a few days before it is used, and will remain good for many weeks. Some persons like a slight flavouring of cloves in addition to the other spices; others add the juice of two or three lemons, and a larger quantity of brandy. The inside of a tender and well-roasted sirloin of beef will answer quite as well as the tongue.
     Of a fresh-boiled ox-tongue, or inside of roasted sirloin, 1 lb.; stoned raisins and minced apples, each 2 lbs.; currants and fine Lisbon sugar, each 2 1/2 lbs.; candied orange, lemon or citron rind, 8 to 16 oz.; boiled lemons, 2 large; rinds of two others, grated ; salt, 1/2 oz.; nutmegs, 2 small ; pounded mace, 1 large teaspoonful, and rather more of ginger; good sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint.
     Obs.—The lemons will be sufficiently boiled in from one hour to one and a quarter.

SUPERLATIVE MINCEMEAT.

     Take four large lemons, with their weight of golden pippins pared and cored, of jar-raisins, currants, candied citron and orange-rind, and the finest suet, and a fourth part more of pounded sugar. Boil the lemons tender, chop them small, but be careful first to extract all the pips; add them to the other ingredients, after all have been prepared with great nicety, and mix the whole well with from three to four glasses of good brandy. Apportion salt and spice by the preceding receipt. We think that the weight of one lemon, in meat, improves the mixture; or, in lieu of it, a small quantity of crushed macaroons added just before it is baked.

MINCE PIES. (ENTREMETS.)

     Butter some tin pattypans well, and line them evenly with fine puff paste rolled thin; fill them with mincemeat, moisten the edges of the covers, which should be nearly a quarter of an inch thick, close the pies carefully, trim off the superfluous paste, make a small aperture in the centre of the crust with a fork or the point of a knife, ice the pies or not, at pleasure, and bake them half an hour in a well-heated but not fierce oven: lay a paper over them when they are partially done, should they appear likely to take too much colour.
     1/2 hour.

MINCE PIES ROYAL. (ENTREMETS.)

     Add to half a pound of good mincemeat an ounce and a half of pounded sugar, the grated rind and the strained juice of a large lemon, one ounce of clarified butter, and the yolks of four eggs; beat these well together, and half fill, or rather more, with the mixture, some pattypans lined with fine paste; put them into a moderate oven, and when the insides are just set, ice them thickly with the whites of the eggs beaten to snow, and mixed quickly at the moment with four heaped tablespoonsful of pounded sugar; set them immediately into the oven again, and bake them slowly of a fine light brown.
     Mincemeat, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1 1/2 oz.; rind and juice, 1 large lemon; butter, 1 oz.; yolks, 4 eggs. Icing: whites, 4 eggs; sugar, 4 tablespoonsful.

THE MONITOR'S TART, OR TOURTE A LA JUDD.

     Put into an enamelled stewpan, or into a delicately clean saucepan, three quarters of a pound of well-flavoured apples, weighed after they are pared and cored; add to them from three to four ounces of pounded sugar, an ounce and a half of fresh butter cut small, and half a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a small lemon. Let them stand over, or by the side of a gentle fire until they begin to soften, and toss them now and then to mingle the whole well, but do not stir them with a spoon; they should all remain unbroken and rather firm. Turn them into a dish, and let them become cold. Divide three-quarters of a pound of good light paste into two equal portions; roll out one quite thin and round, flour an oven-leaf and lay it on, as the tart cannot so well be moved after it is made; place the apples upon it in the form of a dome, but leave a clear space of an inch or more round the edge; moisten this with white of egg, and press the remaining half of the paste (which should be rolled out to the same size, and laid carefully over the apples) closely upon it: they should be well secured, that the syrup from the fruit may not burst through. Whisk the white of an egg to a froth, brush it over the tart with a paste brush or a small bunch of feathers, sift sugar thickly over, and then strew upon it some almonds blanched and roughly chopped; bake the tart in a moderate oven from thirty-five to forty minutes. It may be filled with peaches, or apricots, half stewed like the apples, or with cherries merely rolled in fine sugar; or with the pastry cream of page 173.
     Light paste, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.; apples, 12 oz.; butter, 1 1/2 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; glazing of egg and sugar; some almonds: 35 to 45 minutes.

PUDDING PIES. (ENTREMETS.)

     This form of pastry (or its name at least) is, we believe, peculiar to the county of Kent, where it is made in abundance, and eaten by all classes of people during Lent. Boil for fifteen minutes three ounces of good rice* in a pint and a half of new milk, and when taken from the fire stir into it three ounces of butter and four of sugar; add to these six well-beaten eggs, a grain or two of salt, and a flavouring of nutmeg or lemon-rind at pleasure. When the mixture is nearly cold, line some large pattypans or some saucers with thin puff paste, fill them with it three parts full, strew the tops thickly with currants which have been cleaned and dried, and bake the pudding-pies from fifteen to twenty minutes in a gentle oven.
     Milk, 1 1/2 pint; ground rice, 3 oz.: 15 minutes. Butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; nutmeg or lemon-rind; eggs, 6; currants, 4 to 6 oz. 15 to 30 minutes.

PUDDING PIES.

(A commoner kind.)

     One quart of new milk, five ounces of ground rice, butter, one ounce and a half (or more), four ounces of sugar, half a small nutmeg grated, a pinch of salt, four large eggs, and three ounces of currants.

COCOA-NUT CHEESE-CAKES. (ENTREMETS.)

(Jamaica Receipt)

     Break carefully the shell of the nut, that the liquid it contains may not escape.† Take out the kernel, pare thinly off the dark skin, and grate the nut on a delicately clean grater; put it, with its weight of pounded sugar, and its own milk, or a couple of spoonsful or rather more of water, into a silver or block-tin saucepan, or a very small copper stewpan perfectly tinned, and keep it gently stirred over a quite clear fire until it is tender: it will sometimes require an hour's stewing to make it so. When a little cooled, add to the nut, and beat well with it, some eggs properly whisked and strained, and the grated rind of half a lemon. Line some pattypans with fine paste, put in the mixture, and bake the cheese-cakes from thirteen to fifteen minutes.
     Grated cocoa-nut, 6 oz.; sugar, 6 oz.; the milk of the nut, or of water, 2 large tablespoonsful: 1/2 to 1 hour. Eggs, 5: lemon-rind, 1/2 of 1: 13 to 15 minutes.
     Obs.—We have found the cheese-cakes made with these proportions very excellent indeed, but should the mixture be considered too sweet, another egg or two can be added, an a little brandy also. With a spoonful or two more of liquid too, the nut would become tender in a shorter time.

COMMON LEMON TARTLETS.

     Beat four eggs until they are exceedingly light, add to them gradually four ounces of pounded sugar, and whisk these together for five minutes; strew lightly on, if it be at hand, a dessertspoonful of potato flour, if not, of common flour well drained and sifted,* then throw into the mixture by slow degrees, three ounces of good butter, which should be dissolved, but only just luke-warm: beat the whole well, then stir briskly in, the strained juice and the grated rind of one lemon and a half. Line some pattypans with fine puff-paste rolled very thin, fill them two-thirds full, and bake the tartlets about twenty minutes, in a moderate oven.
     Eggs, 4; sugar, 4 oz.; potato-flour, or common flour, 1 dessertspoonful; butter, 3 oz.; juice and rind of 1 1/2 full-sized lemon baked 15 to 20 minutes.

MADAME WERNER'S ROSENVIK CHEESE-CAKES.
     Blanch and pound to the finest possible paste, four ounces of fine fresh Jordan almonds, with a few drops of lemon-juice or water, then mix with them, very gradually indeed, six fresh, and thoroughly well-whisked eggs; throw in by degrees twelve ounces of pounded sugar, and beat the mixture without intermission all the time: add then the finely grated rinds of four small, or of three large lemons, and afterwards, by very slow degrees, the strained juice of all. When these ingredients are perfectly blended, pour to them in small portions, four ounces of just liquefied butter (six of clarified if exceedingly rich cheese-cakes are wished for), and again whisk the mixture lightly for several minutes; thicken it over the fire like boiled custard, and either put it into small pans or jars for storing,† or fill with it, one-third full, some pattypans lined with the finest paste; place lightly on it a layer of apricot, orange, or lemon-marmalade, and on this pour as much more of the mixture. Bake the cheese-cakes from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven. They are very good without the layer of preserve.
     Jordan almonds, 4 oz.; eggs, 6 ; sugar, 12 oz.; rinds and strained juice of 4 small, or 3 large lemons; butter, 4 oz. (6 for rich cheese-cakes); layers of preserve. Baked 15 to 20 minutes, moderate oven.

APFEL KRAPFEN.

(German Receipt.)

     Boil down three-quarters of a pound of good apples with four ounces of pounded sugar, and a small glass of white wine, or the strained juice of a lemon; when they are stewed quite to a pulp, keep them stirred until they are thick and dry; then mix them gradually with four ounces of almonds, beaten to a paste, or very finely chopped, two ounces of candied orange or lemon-rind shred extremely small, and six ounces of jar raisins stoned and quartered: to these the Germans add a rather high flavouring of cinnamon, which is a very favourite spice with them, but a grating of nutmeg, and some fresh lemon-peel, we think, preferable for this composition. Mix all the ingredients well together; roll out some butter-crust a full back-of-knife thickness, cut it into four-inch squares, brush the edges to a depth of an inch round with beaten egg, fill them with the mixture, lay another square of paste on each, press them very securely together, make, with the point of a knife, a small incision in the top of each, glaze them or not at pleasure, and bake them rather slowly, that the raisins may have time to become tender. They are very good. The proportion of sugar must be diminished when it is thought too much. A delicious tart of the kind is made by substituting for the raisins and candied orange-rind, two heaped tablespoonsful of very fine apricot jam.

CRÊME PATISSIÈRE, OR PASTRY CREAM.

     To one ounce of fine flour add, very gradually, the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; stir to them briskly, and in small portions at first, three-quarters of a pint of boiling cream, or of cream and new milk mixed; then turn the whole into a clean stewpan, and stir it over a very gentle fire until it is quite thick. Take it off, and stir it well up and round; replace it over the fire, and let it just simmer from six to eight minutes; pour it into a basin, and add to it immediately a couple of ounces of pounded sugar, one and a half of fresh butter, cut small, or clarified, and a spoonful of the store mixture of page 153, or a little sugar which has been rubbed on the rind of a lemon. The cream is rich enough for common use without further addition; but an ounce and a half of ratafias, crushed almost to a powder with a paste-roller improves it much, and they should be mixed with it for the receipt which follows.
     Flour, 1 oz.; yolks of eggs, 3; boiling cream, or milk and cream mixed, 3/4 pint: just simmered, 6 to 8 minutes. Butter, 1 1/2 oz. sugar, 2 oz.; little store-flavouring, or rasped lemon-rind ; ratafias, 1 1/2 oz.
     Obs.—This is an excellent preparation, which may be used for tartlets, cannelons, and other forms of pastry, with extremely good effect.

SMALL VOLS-AU-VENT, A LA PARISIENNE. (ENTREMETS.)

     Make some small vol-au-vents by the directions of page 361, either in the usual way, or with the rings of paste placed upon the rounds. Ice the edges as soon as they are taken from the oven, by sifting fine sugar thickly on them, and then holding a salamander or heated shovel over them, until it melts and forms a sort of pale barley-sugar glaze. Have ready, and quite hot, some crême patissière, made as above; fill the vols-au-vents with it, and send them to table instantly. These will be found very good without the icing.

PASTRY SANDWICHES.

     Divide equally in two, and roll off square and as thin as possible, some rich puff paste;* lay one half on a buttered tin, or copper oven-leaf, and spread it lightly with fine currant, strawberry or raspberry jelly; lay the remaining half closely over, pressing it a little with the rolling pin after the edges are well cemented together; then mark it into divisions, and bake it from fifteen to twenty minutes in a moderate oven.

LEMON SANDWICHES.

     Substitute for preserve, in the preceding receipt, the lemon cheese-cake mixture of page 372, with or without the almonds in it.

FANCHONNETTES. (ENTREMENTS).
     Roll out very thin and square some fine puff paste, lay it on a tin or copper oven-leaf, and cover it equally to within something less than an inch of the edge with peach or apricot jam; roll a second bit of paste to the same size, and lay it carefully over the other, having first moistened the edges with beaten egg, or water; press them together securely, that the preserve may not escape; pass the paste-brush or small bunch of feathers dipped in water over the top, sift sugar thickly on it, then with the back of a knife, mark the paste into divisions of uniform size, bake it in a well-heated but not fierce oven for twenty minutes, or rather more, and cut it while it is still hot, where it is marked. The fanchonnettes should be about three inches in length and two in width. In order to lay the second crust over the preserve without disturbing it, wind it lightly round the paste-roller, and in untwisting it, let it fall gently over the outer part.
     This is not the form of pastry called by the French fanchonnettes.
     Fine puff paste, 1 lb.; apricot or peach jam, 4 to 6 oz.: baked 20 to 25 minutes.

JELLY TARTLETS, OR CUSTARDS.

     Put four tablespoonsful of fine fruit-jelly into a basin, and stir to it gradually twelve spoonsful of beaten egg; if the preserve be rich and sweet, no sugar will be required. Line some pans with paste rolled very thin, fill them with the custard, and bake them about ten minutes.*

STRAWBERRY TARTLETS. (GOOD.)

     Take a full half-pint of freshly-gathered strawberries, without the stalks; first crush, and then mix them with two ounces and a half of powdered sugar ; stir to them by degrees four well-whisked eggs, beat the mixture a little, and put it into pattypans lined with fine paste : they should be only three parts filled. Bake the tartlets from ten to twelve minutes.

RASPBERRY PUFFS.

     Roll out thin some fine puff-paste, cut it in rounds or squares of equal size, lay some raspberry jam into each, moisten the edges of the paste, fold and press them together, and bake the puffs from fifteen to eighteen minutes. Strawberry, or any other jam will serve for them equally well.

CREAMED TARTLETS.

     Line some pattypans with very fine paste, and put into each a layer of apricot jam; on this pour some thick boiled custard, or the pastry cream of page 373. Whisk the whites of a couple of eggs to a solid froth, mix a couple of tablespoonsful of sifted sugar with them, lay this icing lightly over the tartlets, and bake them in a gentle oven from twenty to thirty minutes, unless they should be very small, when less time must be allowed for them.

RAMEKINS A L'UDE, OR SEFTON FANCIES.

     Roll out, rather thin, from six to eight ounces of fine cream-crust, or feuilletage (see page 345); take nearly or quite half its weight of grated parmesan, or something less of dry white English cheese ; sprinkle it equally over the paste, fold it together, roll it out very lightly twice, and continue thus until the cheese and crust are well mixed. Cut the ramekins with a small paste-cutter; wash them with yolk of egg mixed with a little milk, and bake them about fifteen minutes. Serve them very hot.
     Cream-crust, or feuilletage, 6 oz.; Parmesan, 3 oz.: or English cheese, 2 1/2 oz. : baked 12 to 15 minutes.