Original White House Cookbook

After making the crust, take a portion of it, roil it out and fit it to a buttered pie-plate by cutting it off evenly around the edge ; gather up the scraps left from cutting and make into another sheet for the top crust; roll it a little thinner than the under crust; lap one-half over the other and cut three or four slits about a quarter of an inch from the folded edge (this prevents the steam from escaping through the rim of the pie, and causing the juices to run out from the edges). Now fill your pie-plate with your prepared filling, wet the top edge of the rim, lay the upper crust across the centre of the pie, turn back the half that is lapped over, seal the two edges together by slightly pressing down with your thumb, then notch evenly and regularly with a three-tined fork, dipping occasionally in flour to prevent sticking. Bake in a rather quick oven a light brown, and until the filling boils up through the slits in the upper crust. To prevent the juice soaking through into the crust, making it soggy, wet the under crust with the white of an egg, just before you put in the pie mixture. If the top of the pie is brushed over with the egg, it gives it a beautiful glaze. FOR ICING PASTRY. To ICE pastry, which is the usual method adopted for fruit tarts and sweet dishes of pastry, put the white of an egg on a plate and with the blade of a knife beat it to a stiff froth. When the pastry is nearly baked, brush it over with this and sift over some pounded sugar ; put it back into the oven to set the glaze and in a few minutes it will be done. Great care should be taken that the paste does not catch or burn in the oven, which it is very liable to do after the icing is laid on. Or make a meringue by adding a tablespoonful of white sugar to the beaten white of one egg. Spread over the top and slightly brown in the oven. FINE PUFF PASTE, Into one quart of sifted flour mix two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and a teaspoonful of salt; then sift again. Measure out one teacupful of butter and one of lard, hard and cold. Take the lard and rub into the flour until a very flne smooth paste. Then put in just enough ice-water, say half a cupful, containing a beaten white of egg, to mix a very stiff dough. Roll it out into a thin sheet, spread with one-fourth of the butter, sprinkle over with a little flour, then roll up closely in a long roll, like a scroll, double the ends towards the centre, flatten and re-roll, then spread again with another quarter of the butter. Repeat this operation until the butter is used up. Put it on an earthen dish, cover it with a cloth and set it in a cold place, in the ice box in summer ; let it remain until cold; an hour or more before making out the crust. Tarts made with this paste cannot be cut with a knife when fresh ; they go into flakes at the touch. You may roll this pastry in any direction, from you, towards you, sideways, any way, it matters not, but you must have nice flour, ice-water and very little of it, and strength to roll it, if you would succeed. This recipe I purchased from a colored cook on one of the Lake Michigan steamers many years ago, and it is, without exception, the finest puff paste I have evfer seen. PUFF PASTE FOR PIES.