Original White House Cookbook

Stew the damsons whole in water only sufficient to prevent their burning ; when tender and while hot, sweeten them with sugar and let them stand until they become cold ; then pour them into pie dishes lined with paste, dredge flour upon them, cover them with the same paste, wet and pinch together the edges of the paste, cut a slit in the centre of the cover through which the vapor may escape and bake twenty minutes. PEACH PIE. Peel, stone and slice the peaches. Line a pie-plate with crust and lay in your fruit, sprinkling sugar liberally over them in proportion to their sweetness. Allow three peach kernels chopped fine to each pie ; pour in a very little water and bake with an upper crust, or with cross-bars of paste across the top. DRIED FRUIT PIES. Wash the fruit thoroughly, soak over night in water enough to cover. In the morning stew slowly until nearly done in the same water. Sweeten to taste. The crust, both upper and under, should be rolled thin ; a thick crust to a fruit pie is undesirable. RIPE BERRY PIES. All made the same as “ Cherry Pie.” Line your pie-tin with crust, fill half full of berries, shake over a tablespoonful of sifted flour (if very juicy) and as much sugar as is necessary to sweeten sufficiently. Now fill up the crust to the top, making quite full. Cover with crust and bake about forty minutes. Huckleberry and blackberry pies are improved by putting into them a little ginger and cinnamon. JELLY AND PRESERVED FRUIT PIES. Preserved fruit requires no baking ; hence, always bake the shell and put in the sweetmeats afterwards ; you can cover with whipped cream, or bake a top crust shell ; the former is preferable for delicacy. CRANBERRY PIE. Take fine, sound, ripe cranberries and with a sharp knife split each one until you have a heaping coffeecupful ; put them in a vegetable dish or basin ; put over them one cupful of white sugar, half a cup of water, a tablespoon full of sifted fiour ; stir it all together and put into your crust. Cover with an upper crust and bake slowly in a moderate oven. You will find this the true way of making a cranberry pie. Newport Style. CRANBERRY TART PIE. After having washed and picked over the berries, stew them well in a little water, just enough to cover them ; when they burst open and become soft, sweeten them with plenty of sugar, mash them smooth (some prefer them not mashed) ; line your pie-plates with thin puff paste, fill them and lay strips of paste across the top. Bake in a moderate oven. Or you may rub them through a colander to free them from the skins. GOOSEBERRY PIE. Can be made the same as “ Cranberry Tart Pie,’’ or an upper crust can be put on before baking. Serve with boiled custard or a pitcher of good sweet cream. STEWED PUMPKIN OR SQUASH FOR PIES. Deep-colored pumpkins are generally the best. Cut a pumpkin or squash in half, take out the seeds, then cut it up in thick slices, pare the outside and cut again in small pieces. Put it into a large pot or saucepan with a very little water; let it cook slowly until tender. Now set the pot on the back of the stove, where it will not burn, and cook slowly, stirring often until the moisture is dried out and the pumpkin looks dark and red. It requires cooking a long time, at least half a day, to have it dry and rich. When cool, press through a colander.