Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

To begin with, Pastry should be made in a cold place, and early in the day. It must be baked as soon as it is made, but it can then be set aside in a cold larder and heated in the oven when required. If paste is left for even twenty minutes before it is baked it will become dull and heavy, instead of being pliant and elastic. Numbers of recipes have been given for Pastry, from which it would appear that there are numbers of kinds of Pastry. But in reality these may be reduced to four. (1) Puff Paste, used for vol-au-vmts, patties, tarts, mince pies, etc. (2) Pie Crust, for meat pies baked in pie-dishes. (3) Raised Pie Crust, for cold game or cold pork pies. (4) Short Crust, made with sugar and used for tarts as well as Puff Paste. Before beginning to make Pastry the cook should have everything at hand which she will want, and she must see that the oven will be ready for the paste as soon as it is made. A marble slab is much better for making Pastry than a pastry board, as marble retains cold much more readily than wood, and the slab should be made as cold as possible by pouring very cold water slowly over its surface. The cook must have close to her flour, butter, salt, and a jug of very cold water. In summer iced water should be used. The flour must be dried in the oven and sifted ; the least touch of damp in the flour will ruin any Pastry. The butter must be gently squeezed in a soft cloth so as to get rid of any moisture. Both flour and butter must be of the best, and the quantities of both must be most carefully weighed. Many good Pastry makers prefer clarified beef suet to butter, as it is much firmer than butter. When everything is ready the cook should wash her hands in very hot water, then put them into very cold water, and dry them thoroughly. She should keep a basin of cold water and a towel close to her, so that she may cool her hands from time to time. If she can learn to use two wooden spoons instead of her hands it will be all the better for the Pastry. For Puff Paste, weigh one pound of flour, turn it out upon the marble slab, make a hollow in the middle of it, and fill that with a quarter of a pint of the cold water, and half an ounce of salt. Mix the flour gradually with the water, and when this is done and the paste half mixed sprinkle over it by degrees as much more cold water as may be needed to form the dough. This can be ascertained by pressing the flour ; if it is at all crumbly a little more water is needed ; if it sticks to the hands it is too moist, and a little more flour must be dredged over and worked in. Mix it all thoroughly together, until it ceases to adhere to the slab, pat it with two wooden spoons into a round ball, cover it with a cloth, and let it rest ten minutes. All this can be done quite as well in a roomy basin, set on ice in summer ; if the dough is properly mixed the basin will be quite clean when the dough is used to wipe it out. Work it lightly and gradually ; never use strength or pressure, for the less the dough is kneaded the lighter the Puff Paste will be. Now take one pound weight of firm butter, which has been previously squeezed free from moisture. Or take the same weight of clarified suet, pounded in a mortar till it is quite pliant.