Rich Pie Crust
? pound flour
? teaspoonful salt
? pound lard
? cup ice water

Fine Pie Crust
1 pound flour
1 teaspoonful salt
? pint ice water
? pound lard
6 ounces butter
yolk of 1 egg

Puff Paste
1 pound flour
a pinch of salt
1 cup ice water
1 pound butter

Short Paste
? pound sifted flour
6 ounces butter
the yolks of 4 eggs
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoonful sugar
the grated rind of ? lemon

Directions for Making Pies.? To succeed in making good pastry the following rules should be observed:?Flour should be of the best quality, dry and sifted before using. Butter, unless fresh, should be washed several times in cold water and dried in a napkin. Lard should be sweet, and is best when tried out from leaf lard. If suet is used it should be fresh, chopped fine and freed from all skin. During the process of chopping it should be dredged with flour. Beef dripping should be clarified, and if the dripping has any odor or by-taste a very disagreeable flavor will be imparted to the paste. Strict cleanliness must be observed. All utensils used for pastry making should be clean and kept exclusively for that purpose. Prepare the crust as quickly as possible and do not touch it with your hands any more than necessary. When the crust is ready take a pie plate (agate pie plates are the best) and dust it with flour; do not grease it with butter or lard. Cut off a portion of the crust, roll it out thin, lay it over the plate, press it down lightly with the hand, set the plate in front of you, press with the palms of both hands against the edge of plate and cut the paste which hangs over the edge off with your fingers. The plate is then ready to receive the ingredients of which the pie is to be made. If pumpkin, cocoanut or custard pie is to be made, brush 184 the surface of crust over with beaten egg and sprinkle over 2 tablespoonfuls finely sifted bread or cracker crumbs; then fill in the mixture. This keeps the crust dry and prevents it from being heavy. Pies that are made of stewed or preserved fruit should also be treated the same way. For fine meringue pies the crust should be baked before the mixture is put in. This is done in the following manner:?Line the pie plate with crust and brush the edge over with beaten egg; then roll some pie crust very thin, cut it into strips 1 inch wide and cut one side of the strips into scallops with a knife; wet the edge of crust on the pie plate with beaten egg or water; then lay the strip around the edge of plate so the scallops stand a little above the edge; next lay some thin, buttered brown paper into the plate all over the crust, fill the plate with dry peas and bake it in a medium hot oven till crust is done; then take it from the oven, remove paper and peas, fill in the mixture and bake again till pie is done; draw the pie to front of oven, spread over the meringue and let it remain in oven for a few minutes; then transfer it to a cool place and serve cold. 1 or 2 quarts of dry peas should be kept for this purpose only. They may be put away in a box or glass jar and can then be used several times. If the peas should at any time become rancid from the butter or lard of which the pie crust is made, pour boiling water over them and drain and rub thoroughly with a dry towel; then spread them apart on shallow tins and when dry put away until wanted again. Instead of peas the pie plate may be filled with pieces of stale bread, which can then be used for bread crumbs; but peas are best for this purpose.



Pie Crust (quick and good).? 2 cups flour, ? teaspoonful salt, ? cup ice water and 1 cup lard; sift flour and salt in a bowl, add the lard and chop it fine with a knife in the flour; add the water and mix it with the same knife into a stiff paste; put the paste on a floured board and work it for a few minutes with the knife; take a portion from it and roll it out thin; line a pie plate with it and fill the plate with the ingredients the pie is to be made of; roll out another portion of paste and spread over the top ? 185 tablespoonful lard; lay this over the pie with the lard side up, press the paste off which hangs over the edge of plate with your hands and place the pie in oven to bake. This crust is excellent, inexpensive and quickly made; sufficient for 2 large pies.



Rich Pie Crust.? ? pound flour, ? teaspoonful salt, ? pound lard and ? cup ice water; sift flour and salt into a bowl, add the water and mix it into a paste; put the paste on a floured board and work it thoroughly for 5 minutes, or until it does not stick to the hands; then roll it out into a square about an inch in thickness; also shape the lard into a square, but 1 inch smaller than the paste; lay it in center of paste, fold the paste over and place it for ? hour on ice; then put it on the board again, dust it under and over with flour, roll it out 3 times as long as wide with a rolling pin, fold over one-third to the center, roll over it once, fold the other end over that, so the paste is three double, roll over it once with the rolling pin, turn the paste around, roll it out again 3 times as long as wide, fold it up the same way as before and set the paste again for ? hour on ice; repeat the folding and rolling twice more and let it rest each time for ? hour; when ready to make the pie roll a portion of the paste out very thin, line pie plate as directed with it and fill the plate with the ingredients the pie is to be made of; roll out another portion of the paste, spread the top thickly with lard, lay the paste over the pie with the lard side up and remove the paste which hangs over the edge of plate by pressing against the edge with the palm of your hand; sufficient for 2 large pies.



Fine Pie Crust.? 1 pound flour, 1 teaspoonful salt, ? pint ice water, ? pound lard, 6 ounces butter and the yolk of 1 egg; sift flour and salt in a bowl, add ? the lard and chop it fine in the flour with a knife; put the yolk in the ice water and beat it with an egg beater till it foams; then add it to the flour and mix it with the same knife into a stiff paste; turn the paste onto a floured board and roll it into a square piece about an inch in thickness; form the remaining lard and the butter also into a square piece, but 1? 186 inches smaller on all sides; lay it in center of paste, fold it over the lard and butter together, first from right and left, then from and towards you; lay the paste onto a plate and let it rest for ? hour on ice; then put it on a board, dust under and over with flour and roll it out 3 times as long as wide, rolling always from you; fold over one-third to the center, roll over it once with the rolling pin, fold the other end over that, so the paste is 3 double, roll over it once with a rolling pin, turn the paste around, roll it out again 3 times as long as wide, fold it up the same as above and set the paste again for ? hour on ice or in a cool place; repeat the rolling out and folding up twice more and let it rest each time ? hour; after the last rolling let it rest 10 minutes and then use as directed; sufficient for 4 large pies.





Puff Paste.? 1 pound flour, a pinch of salt, 1 cup ice water and 1 pound butter; sift flour in a bowl, add salt and ice water and mix it into a smooth paste; work it thoroughly on the board with your hands for 5 minutes, cover and set it for 20 minutes on ice; knead the butter well in ice water, to remove the salt, and dry it in a napkin; put the paste onto a floured board and roll it out into a square about 1? inches in thickness; press the butter flat, also into a square, but smaller than the paste; lay the butter in center of paste and fold the paste first from the right and left side; then from you and towards you over the butter together; turn the paste over with the folded side towards the board; dust under and over a little flour and roll the paste out 3 times as long as wide; fold the lower third over the center and roll over it once with the rolling pin; then fold over that the upper third, so the paste is three double; roll over it once with the rolling pin; turn the paste around, roll it out again 3 times as long as wide, fold it again 3 double, lay it on a plate and set the paste for 1 hour on ice; then roll it out again and fold the same way twice; let it rest for ? hour on ice; roll and fold it twice more, so the paste has been rolled out and folded up 6 times; after the last rolling let it rest for 20 minutes and then use. The rolling out and folding together must be done 188 with the greatest care, so the layers fit exactly over one another, as the whole success depends upon this. The paste has attained its greatest lightness when rolled and folded together 6 times; if it is rolled out oftener it will loose in lightness; and if it is to be used where lightness is not wanted it must be rolled and folded together from 8 to 10 times. Puff paste is best made in a cool place, and if handy on a marble slab.



665. Short Paste (M?rber Teig?German art).? ? pound sifted flour, 6 ounces butter, the yolks of 4 eggs, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoonful sugar and the grated rind of ? lemon; knead the butter in ice water, to remove the salt, and dry it in a napkin; put the flour on a board, make a hollow in center, put in the yolks, lemon, sugar, salt and butter and work it quickly into a smooth dough with your hands; set it on ice for 1 hour before using. Another way:?? cup butter, the yolks of 3 eggs, 4 tablespoonfuls cream, ? tablespoonful sugar, a pinch of salt and ? pound flour; mix these ingredients together the same as above. Short paste (or M?rber Teig) is used a great deal in Germany the same as pie crust in America, and is excellent when made right. A very nice pie is made as follows:?Roll the paste out very thin, cover a pie plate with it (one which is not very deep), cut off what hangs over the edge of plate, spread a thick layer of any kind of fruit marmalade over it, cover with a thin layer of the paste and bake in a quick oven; or bake thin layers of the paste the same as Jelly Cake, and when done lay 2 together with jelly, fruit marmalade or whipped cream between them. Another way to use it is:?Roll the paste out ⅛ of an inch in thickness, cut it into rounds with a cake cutter, brush them over with beaten egg and sprinkle chopped nuts and sugar over them; bake in a medium hot oven and serve with wine.

The recipes in this entry were taken from "Desserts and Salads" by Gesine Lemcke. The cookbook was published by D. Appleton and Company in New York in 1920. For the complete copyright-free cookbook visit www.gutenberg.org. Image: from New York Public Library Digital Gallery.

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