Chapter IX: Part 9

Take large fine green gages that are all perfectly ripe. Weigh them, and to each pound of fruit allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar. Put a layer of fresh vine leaves at the bottom of a porcelain preserving kettle, place on it a layer of gages, then cover them with a layer of vine leaves, and so on alternately, finishing with a layer of leaves at the top. Fill up the kettle with hard water, and set it over a slow fire. When the gages rise to the top, take them out and peel them, putting them on a sieve as you do so. Then replace them in the kettle with fresh vine leaves and water; cover them very closely, so that no steam can escape, and hang them up at some distance above the fire to green slowly for six hours. They should be warm all the time, but must not boil. When they are a fine green, take them carefully out, spread them on a hair sieve to drain, and make a syrup of the sugar, allowing a half pint of water to each pound and a half of sugar. When it has boiled and been skimmed, put in the green gages and boil them gently for a quarter of an hour. Then take them out and spread them to cool. Next day boil them in the same syrup for another quarter of an hour. When cold, put them into glass jars with the syrup, and tie them up with brandy paper.

You may green these, or any other sweetmeats, by substituting for the vine-leaves, layers of the fresh green husks that inclose the ears of young indian corn.

TO PRESERVE PLUMS.--Take fine ripe plums: weigh them, and to each pound allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar. Put them into a pan, and scald them in boiling water to make the skins come off easily. Peel them, and throw them as you do so into a large china pitcher. Let them set for an hour or two, and then take them out, saving all the juice that has exuded from them while in the pitcher. Spread the plums out on large dishes, and cover them with half the sugar you have allotted to them, (it must be previously powdered,) and let them lie in it all night. Next morning pour the juice out of the pitcher into a porcelain preserving kettle, add the last half of the sugar to it, and let it melt over the fire. When it has boiled skim it, and then put in the plums. Boil them over a moderate fire, for about half an hour. Then take them out one by one with a spoon, and spread them on large dishes to cool. If the syrup is not sufficiently thick and clear, boil and skim it a little longer till it is. Put the plums into glass jars and pour the syrup warm over them.

The flavour will be much improved by boiling in the syrup with the fruit a handful or more of the kernels of plums, blanched in scalding water and broken in half. Take the kernels out of the syrup before you pour it into the jars.

You may preserve plums whole, without peeling, by pricking them deeply at each end with a large needle.

Green gages and damsons may be preserved according to this receipt.

PLUMS FOR COMMON USE.--Take fine ripe plums, and cut them in half. Extract all the stones, and spread out the plums on large dishes. Set the dishes on the sunny roof of a porch or shed, and let the plums have the full benefit of the sun for three or four days, taking them in as soon as it is off, or if the sky becomes cloudy. This will half dry them. Then pack them closely in stone jars with a thick layer of the best brown sugar between every layer of plums; putting plenty of sugar at the bottom and top of the jars. Cover them closely, and set them away in a dry place.

If they have been properly managed, they will keep a year; and are very good for pies and other purposes, in the winter and spring.

Peaches may be prepared for keeping in the same manner.

EGG PLUMS WHOLE.--Take large egg plums that are all quite ripe, and prick them all over with a small silver fork. Leave on the stems. To four pounds of plums allow four pounds and a half of loaf-sugar, broken small or powdered. Put the plums and sugar into a preserving kettle, and pour in one quart of clear hard water. Hang the kettle over a moderate fire, and boil and skim it. As soon as the skin begins to crack or shrivel, take out the plums one at a time, (leaving the syrup on the fire,) and spread them on large dishes to cool. Place them in the open air, and as soon as they are cool enough to be touched with your fingers, smooth the skin down where it is broken or ruffled. When quite cold, return them to the syrup, (which in the mean time must have been kept slowly simmering,) and boil the plums again till they are quite clear, but not till they break. Put them warm into large glass or queen's-ware jars, and pour the syrup over them.

TO PRESERVE PEARS.

Take large fine juicy pears that are all perfectly ripe, and pare them smoothly and thin; leaving on the stems, but cutting out the black top at the blossom end of the fruit. As you pare them, lay them in a pan of cold water. Make a thin syrup, allowing a quart of water to a pound of loaf-sugar. Simmer the pears in it for about half an hour. Then put them into a tureen, and let them lie in the syrup for two days. There must be syrup enough to cover them well. After two days, drain the syrup from the pears, and add to it more sugar, in the proportion of a pound to each pint of the thin syrup. Stir in a very little beaten white of egg, (not more than one white to three or four pounds of sugar,) add some fresh lemon-peel pared thin, and set the syrup over a brisk fire. Boil it for ten minutes, and skim it well. Then add sufficient lemon-juice to flavour it; and put in the pears. Simmer them in the strong syrup till they are quite transparent. Then take them out, spread them to cool, and stick a clove in the blossom end of each. Put them into glass jars; and having kept the syrup warm over the fire while the pears were cooling, pour it over them.

If you wish to have them red, add a little powdered cochineal to the strong syrup when you put in your pears.

BAKED PEARS.--The best for baking are the large late ones, commonly called pound pears. Pare them, cut them in half, and take out the cores. Lay them in a deep white dish, with a thin slip of fresh lemon-peel in the place from which each core was taken. Sprinkle them with sugar, and strew some whole cloves or some powdered cinnamon among them. Pour into the dish some port wine. To a dozen large pears you may allow one pound of sugar, and a pint of wine. Cover the dish with a large sheet of brown paper tied on; set it in a moderate oven, and let them bake till tender all through, which you may ascertain by sticking a broom twig through them. They will be done in about an hour, or they may probably require more time; but you must not let them remain long enough in the oven to break or fall to pieces. When cool, put them up in a stone jar. In cold weather they will keep a week.

To bake smaller pears, pare them, but leave on the stems, and do not core them. Put them into a deep dish with fresh lemon or orange-peel; throw on them some brown sugar or molasses; pour in at the bottom a little water to keep them from burning; and bake them till tender throughout.

TO PRESERVE GOOSEBERRIES.

The best way of preserving gooseberries is with jelly. They should be full grown but green. Take six quarts of gooseberries, and select three quarts of the largest and finest to preserve whole, reserving the others for the jelly. Put the whole ones into a pan with sufficient water to cover them, and simmer them slowly till they begin to be tender; but do not keep them on the fire till they are likely to burst. Take them out carefully with a perforated skimmer to drain the warm water from them, and lay them directly in a pan of cold water. Put those that you intend for the jelly into a stew-pan, allowing to each quart of gooseberries half a pint of water. Boil them fast till they go all to pieces, and stir and mash them with a spoon. Then put them into a jelly-bag that has been first dipped in hot water, and squeeze through it all the juice. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar. Break up the sugar, and put it into a preserving kettle; pour the juice over it, and let it stand to melt, stirring it frequently. When it has all dissolved, set it over the fire, put the gooseberries into it, and let them boil twenty minutes, or till they are quite clear, and till the jelly is thick and congeals in the spoon when you hold it in the air. If the gooseberries seem likely to break, take them out carefully, and let the jelly boil by itself till it is finished. When all is done, put up the gooseberries and the jelly together in glass jars.

Strawberries, raspberries, grapes, currants or any small fruit may in a similar manner be preserved in jelly.

TO STEW GOOSEBERRIES.--Top and tail them. Pour some boiling water on the gooseberries, cover them up, and let them set about half an hour, or till the skin is quite tender, but not till it bursts, as that will make the juice run out into the water. Then pour off the water, and mix with the gooseberries an equal quantity of sugar. Put them into a porcelain stew-pan or skillet, and set it on hot coals, or on a charcoal furnace. In a few minutes you may begin to mash them against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Let them stew about half an hour, stirring them frequently. They must be quite cold before they are used for any thing.

GOOSEBERRY FOOL.--Having stewed two quarts of gooseberries in the above manner, stir them as soon as they are cold into a quart of rich boiling milk. Grate in a nutmeg, and covering the pan, let the gooseberries simmer in the milk for five minutes. Then stir in the beaten yolks of two or three eggs, and immediately remove it from the fire. Keep on the cover a few minutes longer; then turn out the mixture into a deep dish or a glass bowl, and set it away to get cold, before it goes to table. Eat it with sponge-cake. It will probably require additional sugar, stirred in at the last.

Gooseberries prepared in this manner make a very good pudding, with the addition of a little grated bread. Use both whites and yolks of the eggs. Stir the mixture well, and bake it in a deep dish. Eat it cold, with sugar grated over it.

TO BOTTLE GOOSEBERRIES.--For this purpose the gooseberries must be large and full grown, but quite green. Top and tail them, and put them into wide-mouthed bottles as far up as the beginning of the neck. Cover the bottom of a large boiler or kettle with saw-dust or straw. Stand the bottles of gooseberries (slightly corked) upright in the boiler, and pour round them cold water to each, as far up as the fruit. Put a brisk fire under the boiler, and when the water boils up, instantly take out the bottles and fill them up to the mouth with boiling water, which you must have ready in a tea-kettle. Cork them again slightly, and when quite cold put in the corks very tight and seal them. Lay the bottles on their sides in a box of dry sand, and turn them every day for four or five weeks. If properly managed, the gooseberries will keep a year, and may be used at any time, by stewing them with sugar.

You may bottle damsons in the same manner; also grapes.

PRESERVED RASPBERRIES.

Take a quantity of ripe raspberries, and set aside the half, selecting for that purpose the largest and firmest. Then put the remainder into your preserving pan, mash them, and set them over the fire. As soon as they have come to a boil, take them out, let them cool, and then squeeze them through a bag.

While they are cooling, prepare your sugar, which must be fine loaf. Allow a pound of sugar to every quart of whole raspberries. Having washed the kettle clean, put the sugar into it, allowing half a pint of cold water to two pounds of sugar. When it has melted in the water, put it on the fire, and boil it till the scum ceases to rise, and it is a thick syrup; taking care to skim it well. Then put in the whole raspberries, and boil them rapidly a few minutes, but not long enough to cause them to burst. Take them out with a skimmer full of holes, and spread them on a large dish to cool. Then mix with the syrup the juice of those you boiled first, and let it boil about ten or fifteen minutes. Lastly, put in the whole fruit, and give it one more boil, seeing that it does not break.

Put it warm into glass jars or tumblers, and when quite cold cover it closely with paper dipped in brandy, tying another paper tightly over it.

Strawberries may be done in the same manner; blackberries also.

RASPBERRY JAM.--Take fine raspberries that are perfectly ripe. Weigh them, and to each pound of fruit allow three quarters of a pound of fine loaf-sugar. Mash the raspberries, and break up the sugar. Then mix them together, and put them into a preserving kettle over a good fire. Stir them frequently and skim them. The jam will be done in half an hour. Put it warm into glasses, and lay on the top a white paper cut exactly to fit the inside, and dipped in brandy. Then tie on another cover of very thick white paper.

Make blackberry jam in the same manner.

TO PRESERVE CRANBERRIES.--The cranberries must be large and ripe. Wash them, and to six quarts of cranberries allow nine pounds of the best loaf sugar. Take three quarts of the cranberries, and put them into a stew-pan with a pint and a half of water. Cover the pan, and boil or stew them till they are all to pieces. Then squeeze the juice through a jelly-bag. Put the sugar into a preserving kettle, pour the cranberry juice over it and let it stand till it is all melted, stirring it up frequently. Then place the kettle over the fire, and put in the remaining three quarts of whole cranberries. Let them boil till they are tender, clear, and of a bright colour, skimming them frequently. When done, put them warm into jars with the syrup, which should be like a thick jelly.

RED CURRANT JELLY.--The currants should be perfectly ripe and gathered on a dry day. Strip them from the stalks, and put them into a stone jar. Cover the jar, and set it up to the neck in a kettle of boiling water. Keep the water boiling round the jar till the currants are all broken, stirring them up occasionally. Then put them into a jelly-bag, and squeeze out all the juice. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of the best loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, pour the juice over it, and stir it frequently till it is all melted. Then set the kettle over a moderate fire, and let it boil twenty minutes, or till you find that the jelly congeals in the spoon when you hold it in the air; skim it carefully all the time. When the jelly is done, pour it warm into tumblers, and cover each with two rounds of white tissue paper, cut to fit exactly the inside of the glass.

Jelly of gooseberries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, barberries, blackberries, grapes, and other small fruit may all be made in this manner.

WHITE CURRANT JELLY.--The currants should be quite ripe, and gathered on a dry day. Having stripped them from the stalks, put them into a close stone jar, and set it in a kettle of boiling water. When all the currants are broken, take them out and strain them through a linen cloth. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of the best double refined loaf-sugar; break it small, and put it into a porcelain preserving pan with barely sufficient water to melt it; not quite half a pint to a pound and a quarter of sugar; it must be either clear spring water or river water filtered. Stir up the sugar while it is dissolving, and when all is melted, put it over a brisk fire, and boil and skim it till clear and thick. When the scum ceases to rise, put in the white currant juice and boil it fast for ten minutes. Then put it warm into tumblers, and when it is cold, cover it with double white tissue paper.

In making this jelly, use only a silver spoon, and carefully observe all the above precautions, that it may be transparent and delicate. If it is not quite clear and bright when done boiling, you may run it again through a jelly-bag.

White raspberry jelly may be prepared in the same manner. A very nice sweetmeat is made of white raspberries preserved whole, by putting them in white currant jelly during the ten minutes that you are boiling the juice with the syrup. You may also preserve red raspberries whole, by boiling them in red currant jelly.

BLACK CURRANT JELLY.--Take large ripe black currants; strip them from the stalks, and mash them with the back of a ladle. Then put them into a preserving kettle with a tumbler of water to each quart of currants; cover it closely, set it over a moderate fire, and when the currants have come to a boil, take them out, and squeeze them through a jelly-bag. To each pint of juice you may allow about a pound of loaf-sugar, and (having washed the preserving kettle perfectly clean) put in the sugar with the juice; stir them together till well mixed and dissolved, and then boil it not longer than ten minutes; as the juice of black currants being very thick will come to a jelly very soon, and if boiled too long will be tough and ropy.

Black currant jelly is excellent for sore throats; and if eaten freely on the first symptoms of the disease, will frequently check it without any other remedy. It would be well for all families to keep it in the house.

GRAPE JELLY.--Take ripe juicy grapes, pick them from the stems; put them into a large earthen pan, and mash them with the back of a wooden ladle, or with a potato beetle. Put them into a kettle, (without any water,) cover them closely, and let them boil for a quarter of an hour; stirring them up occasionally from the bottom. Then squeeze them through a jelly-bag, and to each pint of juice allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the grape juice; then put it over a quick fire in a preserving kettle, and boil and skim it twenty minutes. When it is a clear thick jelly, take it off, put it warm into tumblers, and cover them with double tissue paper cut to fit the inside.

In the same manner you may make an excellent jelly for common use, of ripe fox grapes and the best brown sugar; mixing with the sugar before it goes on the fire, a little beaten white of egg; allowing two whites to two pounds of sugar.

BRANDY GRAPES.--Take some large close bunches of fine grapes, (they must be quite ripe,) and allow to each bunch a quarter of a pound of bruised sugar candy. Put the grapes and the sugar candy into large jars, (about two-thirds full,) and fill them up with French brandy. Tie them up closely, and keep them in a dry place. Morella cherries may be done in the same manner.

Foreign grapes are kept in bunches, laid lightly in earthen jars of dry saw-dust.

TO KEEP WILD GRAPES.--Gather the small black wild grapes late in the season, after they have been ripened by a frost. Pick them from the stems, and put them into stone jars, (two-thirds full,) with layers of brown sugar, and fill them up with cold molasses. They will keep all winter; and they make good common pies. If they incline to ferment in the jars, give them a boil with additional sugar.

TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES.

Strawberries for preserving should be large and ripe. They will keep best if gathered in dry weather, when there has been no rain for at least two days. Having hulled, or picked off the green, select the largest and firmest, and spread them out separately on flat dishes; having first weighed them, and allowed to each pound of strawberries a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Sift half the sugar over them. Then take the inferior strawberries that were left, and those that are over-ripe; mix with them an equal quantity of powdered sugar, and mash them. Put them into a basin covered with a plate, and set them over the fire in a pan of boiling water, till they become a thick juice; then strain it through a bag, and mix with it the other half of the sugar that you have allotted to the strawberries, which are to be done whole. Put it into a porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise; then put in the whole strawberries with the sugar in which they have been lying, and all the juice that may have exuded from them. Set them over the fire in the syrup, just long enough to heat them a little; and in a few minutes take them out, one by one, with a tea-spoon, and spread them on dishes to cool; not allowing them to touch each other. Then take off what scum may arise from the additional sugar. Repeat this several times, taking out the strawberries and cooling them till they become quite clear. They must not be allowed to boil; and if they seem likely to break, they should be instantly and finally taken from the fire. When quite cold, put them with the syrup into tumblers, or into white queen's-ware pots. If intended to keep a long time it will be well to put at the top a layer of apple jelly.

TO PRESERVE CHERRIES.

Take large ripe morella cherries; weigh them, and to each pound allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Stone the cherries, (opening them with a sharp quill,) and save the juice that comes from them in the process. As you stone them, throw them into a large pan or tureen, and strew about half the sugar over them, and let them lie in it an hour or two after they are all stoned. Then put them into a preserving kettle with the remainder of the sugar, and boil and skim them till the fruit is clear and the syrup thick.

CITRON MELON SLICES.--Take some fine citron melons; pare, core, and cut them into long broad slices. Weigh them, and to every six pounds of melon allow six pounds of fine loaf-sugar; and the juice and yellow rind (pared off very thin) of four lemons; also, half a pound of race (root) ginger. Put the slices of melon into a preserving-kettle; cover them with strong alum water, and boil them half an hour, or longer, till they are quite clear and tender. Then drain them, lay them in a broad vessel of cold water, cover them and let them stand all night. Next morning, tie up the race ginger in a piece of thin muslin, and boil it in three pints of clear spring or pump water, till the water is highly flavoured. Having broken up the sugar, put it into a clean preserving-kettle, and pour the ginger water over it. When the sugar is all melted, set it over the fire, add the lemon parings, and boil and skim it, till no more scum rises. Then take out the lemon peel, stir in the juice, and put in the citron slices. Boil them in the syrup till they are transparent and soft, but not till they break. When done, put the citron slices and syrup into a large tureen, set it in a dry, cool, dark place, and leave it uncovered for two or three days. Then put the slices carefully into wide-mouthed glass jars, and gently pour in the syrup. Lay inside the top of each jar a double white tissue paper cut exactly to fit, and close the jars carefully with corks and cement. This will be found a delicious sweetmeat.

CHERRY JELLY.--Take fine juicy red cherries, and stone them. Save half the stones, crack them, and extract the kernels. Put the cherries and the kernels into a preserving kettle over a slow fire, and let them boil gently in their juice for half an hour. Then transfer them to a jelly-bag, and squeeze out the juice. Measure it, and to each pint allow a pound of fine loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the juice, and then boil and skim it for twenty or thirty minutes. Put it up in tumblers covered with tissue paper.

CHERRY JAM.--To each pound of cherries allow three quarters of a pound of the best white sugar. Stone them, and as you do so throw the sugar gradually into the pan with them. Cover them and let them set all night. Next day, boil them slowly till the cherries and sugar form a thick smooth mass. Put it up in queen's-ware jars.

TO DRY CHERRIES.--Choose the finest and largest red cherries for this purpose. Stone them, and spread them on large dishes in the sun, till they become quite dry, taking them in as soon as the sun is off, or if the sky becomes cloudy. Put them up in stone jars, strewing among them some of the best brown sugar.

The common practice of drying cherries with the stones in, (to save trouble,) renders them so inconvenient to eat, that they are of little use, when done in that manner.

With the stones extracted, dried cherries will be found very good for common pies.

BARBERRY JELLY.--Take ripe barberries, and having stripped them from the stalks, mash them, and boil them in their juice for a quarter of an hour. Then squeeze them through a bag; allow to each pint of juice, a pound of loaf-sugar; and having melted the sugar in the juice, boil them together twenty or twenty-five minutes, skimming carefully. Put it up in tumblers with tissue paper.

FROSTED FRUIT.--Take large ripe cherries, plums, apricots, or grapes, and cut off half the stalk. Have ready in one dish some beaten white of egg, and in another some fine loaf-sugar, powdered and sifted. Dip the fruit first into the white of egg, and then roll it one by one in the powdered sugar. Lay a sheet of white paper on the bottom of a reversed sieve, set it on a stove or in some other warm place, and spread the fruit on the paper till the icing is hardened.

PEACH LEATHER.--To six pounds of ripe peaches, (pared and quartered,) allow three pounds of the best brown sugar. Mix them together, and put them into a preserving kettle, with barely water enough to keep them from burning. Pound and mash them a while with a wooden beetle. Then boil and skim them for three hours or more, stirring them nearly all the time. When done, spread them thinly on large dishes, and set them in the sun for three or four days. Finish the drying by loosening the peach leather on the dishes, and setting them in the oven after the bread is taken out, letting them remain till the oven is cold. Roll up the peach leather and put it away in a box.

Apple leather may be made in the same manner.

RHUBARB JAM,--Peel the rhubarb stalks and cut them into small square pieces. Then weigh them, and to each pound allow three quarters of a pound of powdered loaf-sugar. Put the sugar and the rhubarb into a large, deep, white pan, in alternate layers, the top layer to be of sugar--cover it, and let it stand all night. In the morning, put it into a preserving kettle, and boil it slowly till the whole is dissolved into a thick mass, stirring it frequently, and skimming it before every stirring. Put it warm into glass jars, and tie it up with brandy paper.

PASTRY, PUDDINGS, ETC.

THE BEST PLAIN PASTE.

All paste should be made in a very cool place, as heat renders it heavy. It is far more difficult to get it light in summer than in winter. A marble slab is much better to roll it on than a paste-board. It will be improved in lightness by washing the butter in very cold water, and squeezing and pressing out all the salt, as salt is injurious to paste. In New York and in the Eastern states, it is customary, in the dairies, to put more salt in what is called fresh butter, than in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. This butter, therefore, should always undergo the process of washing and squeezing before it is used for pastry or cakes. None but the very best butter should be taken for those purposes; as any unpleasant taste is always increased by baking. Potted butter never makes good paste. As pastry is by no means an article of absolute necessity, it is better not to have it at all, than to make it badly, and of inferior ingredients; few things being more unwholesome than hard, heavy dough. The flour for paste should always be superfine.

You may bake paste in deep dishes or in soup plates. For shells that are to be baked empty, and afterwards filled with stewed fruit or sweetmeats, deep plates of block tin with broad edges are best. If you use patty-pans, the more flat they are the better. Paste always rises higher and is more perfectly light and flaky, when unconfined at the sides while baking. That it may be easily taken out, the dishes or tins should be well buttered.

To make a nice plain paste,--sift three pints of superfine flour, by rubbing it through a sieve into a deep pan. Divide a pound of fresh butter into four quarters. Cut up one quarter into the flour, and rub it fine with your hands. Mix in, gradually, as much cold water as will make a tolerably stiff dough, and then knead it slightly. Use as little water as possible or the paste will be tough. Sprinkle a little flour on your paste-board, lay the lump of dough upon it, and knead it a very short time. Flour it, and roll it out into a very thin sheet, always rolling from you. Flour your rolling-pin to prevent its sticking. Take a second quarter of the butter, and with your thumb, spread it all over the sheet of paste. If your hand is warm, use a knife instead of your thumb; for if the butter oils, the paste will be heavy. When you have put on the layer of butter, sprinkle it with a very little flour, and with your hands roll up the paste as you would a sheet of paper. Then flatten it with a rolling-pin, and roll it out a second time into a thin sheet. Cover it with another layer of butter, as before, and again roll it up into a scroll. Flatten it again, put on the last layer of butter, flour it slightly, and again roll up the sheet. Then cut the scroll into as many pieces as you want sheets for your dishes or patty-pans. Roll out each piece almost an inch thick. Flour your dishes, lay the paste lightly on them, notch the edges, and bake it a light brown. The oven must be moderate. If it is too hot, the paste will bake before it has risen sufficiently. If too cold, it will scarcely rise at all, and will be white and clammy. When you begin to make paste in this manner, do not quit it till it is ready for the oven. It must always be baked in a close oven where no air can reach it.

The best rolling-pins, are those that are straight, and as thick at the ends as in the middle. They should be held by the handles, and the longer the handles the more convenient. The common rolling-pins that decrease in size towards the ends, are much less effective, and more tedious, as they can roll so little at a time; the extremities not pressing on the dough at all.

All pastry is best when fresh. After the first day it loses much of its lightness, and is therefore more unwholesome.

COMMON PIE CRUST.--Sift two quarts of superfine flour into a pan. Divide one pound of fresh butter into two equal parts, and cut up one half in the flour, rubbing it fine. Mix it with a very little cold water, and make it into a round lump. Knead it a little. Then flour your paste-board, and roll the dough out into a large thin sheet. Spread it all over with the remainder of the butter. Flour it, fold it up, and roll it out again. Then fold it again, or roll it into a scroll. Cut it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste, and roll each not quite an inch thick. Butter your pie-dish.

This paste will do for family use, when covered pies are wanted. Also for apple dumplings, pot-pies, &c.; though all boiled paste is best when made of suet instead of butter. Short cakes may be made of this, cut out with the edge of a tumbler. It should always be eaten fresh.

SUET PASTE.--Having removed the skin and stringy fibres from a pound of beef suet, chop it as fine as possible. Sift two quarts of flour into a deep pan, and rub into it one half of the suet. Make it into a round lump of dough, with cold water, and then knead it a little. Lay the dough on your paste-board, roll it out very thin, and cover it with the remaining half of the suet. Flour it, roll it out thin again, and then roll it into a scroll. Cut it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste, and roll them out half an inch thick.

Suet paste should always be boiled. It is good for plain puddings that are made of apples, gooseberries, blackberries or other fruit; and for dumplings. If you use it for pot-pie, roll it the last time rather thicker than if wanted for any other purpose. If properly made, it will be light and flaky, and the suet imperceptible. If the suet is minced very fine, and thoroughly incorporated with the flour, not the slightest lump will appear when the paste comes to table.

The suet must not be melted before it is used; but merely minced as fine as possible and mixed cold with the flour.

If for dumplings to eat with boiled mutton, the dough must be rolled out thick, and cut out of the size you want them, with a tin, or with the edge of a cup or tumbler.

DRIPPING PASTE.--To a pound of fresh beef-dripping, that has been nicely clarified, allow two pounds and a quarter of flour. Put the flour into a large pan, and mix the dripping with it, rubbing it into the flour with your hands till it is thoroughly incorporated. Then make it into a stiff dough with a little cold water, and roll it out twice. This may be used for common meat pies.

LARD PASTE.--Lard for paste should never be used without an equal quantity of butter. Take half a pound of nice lard, and half a pound of fresh butter; rub them together into two pounds and a quarter of flour, and mix it with a little cold water to a stiff dough. Roll it out twice. Use it for common pies. Lard should always be kept in tin.

POTATO PASTE.--To a pint and a half of flour, allow fourteen large potatoes. Boil the potatoes till they are thoroughly done throughout. Then peel, and mash them very fine. Rub them through a cullender.

Having sifted the flour into a pan, add the potatoes gradually; rubbing them well into the flour with your hands. Mix in sufficient cold water to make a stiff dough. Roll it out evenly, and you may use it for apple dumplings, boiled apple pudding, beef-steak pudding, &c.

Potato paste must be sent to table quite hot; as soon as it cools it becomes tough and heavy. It is unfit for baking; and even when boiled is less light than suet paste.

FINE PUFF PASTE.--To every pound of the best fresh butter allow a pound or a quart of superfine flour. Sift the flour into a deep pan, and then sift on a plate some additional flour to use for sprinkling and rolling. Wash the butter through two cold waters; squeezing out all the salt, and whatever milk may remain in it; and then make it up with your hands into a round lump, and put it in ice till you are ready to use it. Then divide the butter into four equal parts. Cut up one of the quarters into the pan of flour; and divide the remaining three quarters into six pieces,[E] cutting each quarter in half. Mix with a knife the flour and butter that is in the pan, adding by degrees a very little cold water till you have made it into a lump of stiff dough. Then sprinkle some flour on the paste-board, (you should have a marble slab,) take the dough from the pan by lifting it out with the knife, lay it on the board, and flouring your rolling-pin, roll out the paste into a large thin sheet. Then with the knife, put all over it, at equal distances, one of the six pieces of butter divided into small bits. Fold up the sheet of paste, flour it, roll it out again, and add in the same manner another of the portions of butter. Repeat this process till the butter is all in. Then fold it once more, lay it on a plate, and set it in a cool place till you are ready to use it. Then divide it into as many pieces as you want sheets of paste; roll out each sheet, and put them into buttered plates or patty-pans. In using the rolling-pin, observe always to roll from you. Bake the paste in a moderate oven, but rather quick than slow. No air must be admitted to it while baking.

The edges of paste should always be notched before it goes into the oven. For this purpose, use a sharp penknife, dipping it frequently in flour as it becomes sticky. The notches should be even and regular. If you do them imperfectly at first, they cannot be mended by sticking on additional bits of paste; as, when baked, every patch will be doubly conspicuous. There are various ways of notching; one of the neatest is to fold over one corner of each notch; or you may arrange the notches to stand upright and lie flat, alternately, all round the edge. They should be made small and regular. You may form the edge into leaves with the little tin cutters made for the purpose.

If the above directions for puff paste are carefully followed, and if it is not spoiled in baking, it will rise to a great thickness and appear in flakes or leaves according to the number of times you have put in the butter.

It should be eaten the day it is baked.

FOOTNOTES:

[E] Or into nine; and roll it in that number of times.

SWEET PASTE.--Sift a pound and a quarter of the finest flour, and three ounces of powdered loaf-sugar into a deep dish. Cut up in it one pound of the best fresh butter, and rub it fine with your hands. Make a hole in the middle, pour in the yolks of two beaten eggs, and mix them with the flour, &c. Then wet the whole to a stiff paste with half a pint of rich milk. Knead it well, and roll it out.

This paste is intended for tarts of the finest sweetmeats. If used as shells, they should be baked empty, and filled when cool. If made into covered tarts, they may be iced all over, in the manner of cakes, with beaten white of egg and powdered loaf-sugar. To make puffs of it, roll it out and cut it into round pieces with the edge of a large tumbler, or with a tin cutter. Lay the sweetmeat on one half of the paste, fold the other over it in the form of a half-moon, and unite the edges by notching them together. Bake them in a brisk oven, and when cool, send them to table handsomely arranged, several on a dish.

Sweet paste is rarely used except for very handsome entertainments. You may add some rose water in mixing it.

SHELLS.--Shells of paste are made of one sheet each, rolled out in a circular form, and spread over the bottom, sides, and edges of buttered dishes or patty-pans, and baked empty; to be filled, when cool, with stewed fruit, (which for this purpose should be always cold,) or with sweetmeats. They should be made either of fine puff paste, or of the best plain paste, or of sweet paste. They are generally rolled out rather thick, and will require about half an hour to bake. The oven should be rather quick, and of equal heat throughout; if hotter in one part than in another, the paste will draw to one side, and be warped and disfigured. The shells should be baked of a light brown. When cool, they mast be taken out of the dishes on which they were baked, and transferred to plates, and filled with the fruit.

Shells of puff paste will rise best if baked on flat patty-pans, or tin plates. When they are cool, pile the sweetmeats on them in a heap.

The thicker and higher the paste rises, and the more it flakes in layers or leaves, the finer it is considered.

Baking paste as empty shells, prevents it from being moist or clammy at the bottom.

Tarts are small shells with fruit in them.

PIES.--Pies may be made with any sort of paste. It is a fault to roll it out too thin; for if it has not sufficient substance, it will, when baked, be dry and tasteless. For a pie, divide the paste into two sheets; spread one of them over the bottom and sides of a deep dish well buttered. Next put in the fruit or other ingredients, (heaping it higher in the centre,) and then place the other sheet of paste on the top as a lid or cover; pressing the edges closely down, and afterwards crimping or notching them with a sharp small knife.

In making pies of juicy fruit, it is well to put on the centre of the under crust a common tea-cup, laying the fruit round it and over it. The juice will collect under the cup, and not be liable to run out from between the edges. There should be plenty of sugar strewed among the fruit as you put it into the pie.

Preserves should never be put into covered pies. The proper way is to lay them in baked shells.

All pies are best the day they are baked. If kept twenty-four hours the paste falls and becomes comparatively hard, heavy, and unwholesome. If the fruit is not ripe, it should be stewed, sweetened, and allowed to get cold before it is put into the pie. If put in warm it will make the paste heavy. With fruit pies always have a sugar dish on the table in case they should not be found sweet enough.

STANDING PIES.--Cut up half a pound of butter, and put it into a sauce-pan with three quarters of a pint of water; cover it, and set it on hot coals. Have ready in a pan two pounds of sifted flour; make a hole in the middle of it, pour in the melted butter as soon as it boils, and then with a spoon gradually mix in the flour. When it is well mixed, knead it with your hands into a stiff dough. Sprinkle your paste-board with flour, lay the dough upon it, and continue to knead it with your hands till it no longer sticks to them, and is quite light. Then let it stand an hour to cool. Cut off pieces for the bottom and top; roll them out thick, and roll out a long piece for the sides or walls of the pie, which you must fix on the bottom so as to stand up all round; cement them together with white of egg, pinching and closing them firmly. Then put in the ingredients of your pie, (which should be venison, game, or poultry,) and lay on the lid or top crust, pinching the edges closely together. You may ornament the sides and top with leaves or flowers of paste, shaped with a tin cutter, and notch or scollop the edges handsomely. Before you set it in the oven glaze it all over with white of egg. Bake it four hours. These pies are always eaten cold, and in winter will keep two or three weeks, if the air is carefully excluded from them; and they may be carried to a considerable distance.

A PYRAMID OF TARTS.--Roll out a sufficient quantity of the best puff paste, or sugar paste; and with oval or circular cutters, cut it out into seven or eight pieces of different sizes; stamping the middle of each with the cutter you intend using for the next. Bake them all separately, and when they are cool, place them on a dish in a pyramid, (gradually diminishing in size,) the largest piece at the bottom, and the smallest at the top. Take various preserved fruits, and lay some of the largest on the lower piece of paste; on the next place fruit that is rather smaller; and so on till you finish at the top with the smallest sweetmeats you have. The upper one may be not so large as a half-dollar, containing only a single raspberry or strawberry.

Notch all the edges handsomely. You may ornament the top or pinnacle of the pyramid with a sprig of orange blossom or myrtle.

APPLE AND OTHER PIES.

Take fine juicy acid apples; pare, core, and cut them into small pieces. Have ready a deep dish that has been lined with paste. Fill it with the apples; strewing among them layers of brown sugar, and adding the rind of a lemon pared thin, and also the juice squeezed in, or some essence of lemon. Put on another sheet of paste as a lid; close the edges well, and notch them. Bake the pie in a moderate oven, about three quarters of an hour. Eat it with cream and sugar, or with cold boiled custard.

If the pie is made of early green apples, they should first be stewed with a very little water, and then plenty of sugar stirred in while they are hot.

What are called sweet apples are entirely unfit for cooking, as they become tough and tasteless; and it is almost impossible to get them sufficiently done.

When you put stewed apples into baked shells, grate nutmeg over the top. You may cover them with cream whipped to a stiff froth, and heaped on them.

Cranberries and gooseberries should be stewed, and sweetened before they are put into paste; peaches cut in half or quartered, and the stones removed. The stones of cherries and plums should also be extracted.

Raspberries or strawberries, mixed with cream and white sugar, may be put raw into baked shells.

RHUBARB TARTS.--Take the young green stalks of the rhubarb plant, or spring fruit as it is called in England; and having peeled off the thin skin, cut the stalks into small pieces about an inch long, and put them into a sauce-pan with plenty of brown sugar, and its own juice. Cover it, and let it stew slowly till it is soft enough to mash to a marmalade. Then set it away to cool. Have ready some fresh baked shells; fill them with the stewed rhubarb, and grate white sugar over the top.

For covered pies, cut the rhubarb very small; mix a great deal of sugar with it, and put it in raw. Bake the pies about three quarters of an hour.

MINCE PIES.

These pies are always made with covers, and should be eaten warm. If baked the day before, heat them on the stove or before the fire.

Mince-meat made early in the winter, and packed closely in stone jars, will keep till spring, if it has a sufficiency of spice and liquor. Whenever you take out any for use, pour some additional brandy into the jar before you cover it again, and add some more sugar. No mince-meat, however, will keep well unless all the ingredients are of the best quality. The meat should always be boiled the day before you want to chop it.

GOOD MINCE-MEAT.--Take a bullock's heart and boil it, or two pounds of the lean of fresh beef. When it is quite cold, chop it very fine. Chop three pounds of beef suet (first removing the skin and strings) and six pounds of large juicy apples that have been pared and cored. Then stone six pounds of the best raisins, (or take sultana raisins that are without stones,) and chop them also. Wash and dry three pounds of currants. Mix all together; adding to them the grated peel and the juice of two or three large oranges, two table-spoonfuls of powdered cinnamon, two powdered nutmegs, and three dozen powdered cloves, a tea-spoonful of beaten mace, one pound of fine brown sugar, one quart of Madeira wine, one pint of French brandy, and half a pound of citron cut into large slips. Having thoroughly mixed the whole, put it into a stone jar, and tie it up with brandy paper.

THE BEST MINCE-MEAT.--Take a large fresh tongue, rub it with a mixture, in equal proportions, of salt, brown sugar, and powdered cloves. Cover it, and let it lie two days, or at least twenty-four hours. Then boil it two hours, and when it is cold, skin it, and mince it very fine. Chop also three pounds of beef suet, six pounds of sultana raisins, and six pounds of the best pippin apples that have been previously pared and cored. Add three pounds of currants, picked, washed and dried; two large table-spoonfuls of powdered cinnamon; the juice and grated rinds of four large lemons; one pound of sweet almonds, one ounce of bitter almonds, blanched and pounded in a mortar with half a pint of rose water; also four powdered nutmegs; two dozen beaten cloves; and a dozen blades of mace powdered. Add a pound of powdered white sugar, and a pound of citron cut into slips. Mix all together, and moisten it with a quart of Madeira, and a pint of brandy. Put it up closely in a stone jar with brandy paper; and when you take any out, add some more sugar and brandy; and chop some fresh apples.

Bake this mince-meat in puff paste.

You may reserve the citron to put in when you make the pies. Do not cut the slips too small, or the taste will be almost imperceptible.

VERY PLAIN MINCE-MEAT.--Take a piece of fresh beef, consisting of about two pounds of lean, and one pound of fat. Boil it, and when it is quite cold, chop it fine. Or you may substitute cold roast beef. Pare and core some fine juicy apples, cut them in pieces, weigh three pounds, and chop them. Stone four pounds of raisins, and chop them also. Add a large table-spoonful of powdered cloves, and the same quantity of powdered cinnamon. Also a pound of brown sugar. Mix all thoroughly, moistening it with a quart of bottled or sweet cider. You may add the grated peel and the juice of an orange.