Ovens in which the heat comes from the bottom are decidedly the best for either cakes or pastry; but no one should expect to bake well in an oven they do not thoroughly understand. There is so much difference in ovens, that the hottest part of one may be the coolest in another. To bake well requires practice and experience, and no one should be discouraged by a few failures.
Puff Paste.
_Ingredients_--Equal quantities of Vienna flour and butter.
A few drops of lemon juice.
Enough water to mix the flour into a nice lithe dough.
_Method._--Rub the flour through a wire sieve.
Make a well in the middle, and squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice.
Mix very gradually with very cold water, taking care that the dough is not too stiff.
Then knead and work well about until quite smooth.
Set it aside for a few minutes to get quite cold.
Squeeze the butter in a cloth to press out the water.
Roll out the dough, and place the butter, flattened to a third of its size, in the middle.
Then fold the dough from either side over it, pressing the edges together.
Turn it with its edges toward you, and roll out very gently (care must be taken that the butter does not break through the dough).
Fold it again in three, and put it aside to cool for quite a quarter of an hour. The colder it is kept the better.
Then turn its edges towards you, and roll it out again; fold evenly in three, and roll and fold again in the same manner; each roll and fold is called a turn.
Cool the paste for another quarter of an hour.
Then give it two more turns.
Let it cool again; and at the seventh roll it will probably be ready for use.
It is, however, wise to bake a small piece of the paste before using the whole quantity. If the maker has a very light hand it sometimes happens that eight or even nine turns may be necessary to roll the butter sufficiently into the flour.
Patty Cases.
Roll the puff paste, when ready, to rather more than a quarter of an inch in thickness.
Take a fluted cutter about the size of a tumbler.
Dip it in very hot water, and cut the paste into rounds with it.
Mark the middle of these rounds with a cutter about three sizes smaller.
Roll out the remains of the paste to half the thickness of the patties.
Stamp out some rounds for covers with a fluted cutter two sizes smaller than that used for the cases.
Put the cases and covers on a baking-tin, and bake in a quick oven for ten or fifteen minutes.
When cooked, lift the lid and scrape out the soft inside carefully.
Good Short Crust.
_Ingredients_--1 lb. of flour.
lb. of butter.
Enough cold water to mix rather stiffly.
A pinch of salt.
_Method._--Rub the butter into the flour until like fine bread-crumbs.
Mix with cold water, using as little as possible (if too much is used the crust will not be short).
Roll gently to make the paste bind.
If this paste is used for tarts, add one dessertspoonful of castor sugar to the flour.
Plainer Short Crust.
_Ingredients_--1 lb. of flour.
lb. of butter.
lb. of lard.
1 teaspoonful of baking powder.
Water enough to bind.
_Method._--Make according to directions given in preceding recipe.
Economical Short Crust.
_Ingredients_--1 lb. of flour.
lb. of clarified dripping or lard.
1 teaspoonful of baking powder.
Enough water to mix.
To make this crust still plainer, a quarter of a pound only of clarified dripping or lard may be taken, and three good teaspoonfuls of baking powder.
_Method._--Make according to the directions for Short Crust.
Flaky Crust.