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PASTRY AND PIES.

In the first place, don't make either, except very semi-occasionally. Pastry, even when
good, is so indigestible that children should never have it, and their elders but
seldom. A nice short-cake made as on p. 209, and filled with stewed fruit, or with
fresh berries mashed and sweetened, is quite as agreeable to eat, and far more
wholesome. But, as people will both make and eat pie-crust, the best rules known
are given.

Butter, being more wholesome than lard, should always be used if it can be
afforded. A mixture of lard and butter is next best. Clarified dripping makes a good
crust for meat pies, and cream can also be used. For dumplings nothing can be
better than a light biscuit-crust, made as on p. 208. It is also good for meat pies.

PLAIN PIE-CRUST.

One quart of flour; one even teacup of lard, and one of butter; one teacup of ice-water
or very cold water; and a teaspooonful of salt.

Rub the lard and salt into the flour till it is dry and crumbly. Add the ice-water, and
work to a smooth dough. Wash the butter, and have it cold and firm as possible.
Divide it in three parts. Roll out the paste, and dot it all over with bits from one part of
the butter. Sprinkle with flour, and roll up. Roll out, and repeat till the butter is gone. If
the crust can now stand on the ice for half an hour, it will be nicer and more flaky.
This amount will make three good-sized pies. Enough for the bottom crusts can be
taken off after one rolling in of butter, thus making the top crust richer. Lard alone will
make a tender, but not a flaky, paste.

PUFF PASTE.

One pound of flour; three-quarters of a pound of butter; one teacupful of ice-water;
one teaspoonful of salt, and one of sugar; yolk of one egg.

Wash the butter; divide into three parts, reserving a bit the size of an egg; and put it
on the ice for an hour. Rub the bit of butter, the salt, and sugar, into the flour, and stir
in the ice-water and egg beaten together. Make into a dough, and knead on the
molding-board till glossy and firm: at least ten minutes will be required. Roll out into
a sheet ten or twelve inches square. Cut a cake of the ice-cold butter in thin slices,
or flatten it very thin with the rolling-pin. Lay it on the paste, sprinkle with flour, and
fold over the edges. Press it in somewhat with the rolling-pin, and roll out again.
Always roll from you. Do this again and again till the butter is all used, rolling up the
paste after the last cake is in, and then putting it on the ice for an hour or more. Have
filling all ready, and let the paste be as nearly ice-cold as possible when it goes into
the oven. There are much more elaborate rules; but this insures handsome paste.
Make a plainer one for the bottom crusts. Cover puff paste with a damp cloth, and it
may be kept on the ice a day or two before baking.

PATTIES FROM PUFF PASTE.

Roll the paste about a third of an inch thick, and cut out with a round or oval cutter
about two inches in diameter. Take a cutter half an inch smaller, and press it into the
piece already cut out, so as to sink half-way through the crust: this to mark out the
top piece. Lay on tins, and bake to a delicate brown. They should treble in thickness
by rising, and require from twenty minutes to half an hour to bake. When done, the
marked-out top can easily be removed. Take out the soft inside, and fill with
sweetmeats for dessert, or with minced chicken or oysters prepared as on p. 140.

GRANDMOTHER'S APPLE PIE.

Line a deep pie-plate with plain paste. Pare sour apples,—greenings are best;
quarter, and cut in thin slices. Allow one cup of sugar, and quarter of a grated
nutmeg mixed with it. Fill the pie-plate heaping full of the sliced apple, sprinkling the
sugar between the layers. It will require not less than six good-sized apples. Wet the
edges of the pie with cold water; lay on the cover, and press down securely, that no
juice may escape. Bake three-quarters of an hour, or a little less if the apples are
very tender. No pie in which the apples are stewed beforehand can compare with
this in flavor. If they are used, stew till tender, and strain. Sweeten and flavor to taste.
Fill the pies, and bake half an hour.

DRIED-APPLE PIES.

Wash one pint of dried apples, and put in a porcelain kettle with two quarts of warm
water. Let them stand all night. In the morning put on the fire, and stew slowly for an
hour. Then add one pint of sugar, a teaspoonful of dried lemon or orange rind, or
half a fresh lemon sliced, and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon. Stew half an hour
longer, and then use for filling the pies. The apple can be strained if preferred, and a
teaspoonful of butter added. This quantity will make two pies. Dried peaches are
treated in the same way.

LEMON PIES.

Three lemons, juice of all and the grated rind of two; two cups of sugar; three cups of
boiling water; three tablespoonfuls of corn-starch dissolved in a little cold water;
three eggs; a piece of butter the size of an egg.

Pour the boiling water on the dissolved corn-starch, and boil for five minutes. Add
the sugar and butter, the yolks of the eggs beaten to a froth, and last the lemon juice
and rind. Line the plates with crust, putting a narrow rim of it around each one. Pour
in the filling, and bake half an hour. Beat the whites to a stiff froth; add half a teacup
of powdered sugar and ten drops of lemon extract, and, when the pie is baked,
spread this on. The heat will cook it sufficiently, but it can be browned a moment in
the oven. If to be kept a day, do not make the frosting till just before using. The
whites will keep in a cold place. Orange pie can be made in the same way.

SWEET-POTATO PIE OR PUDDING.

One pound of hot, boiled sweet potato rubbed through a sieve; one cup of butter;
one heaping cup of sugar; half a grated nutmeg; one glass of brandy; a pinch of salt;
six eggs.

Add the sugar, spice, and butter to the hot potato. Beat whites and yolks separately,
and add, and last the brandy. Line deep plates with nice paste, making a rim of puff
paste. Fill with the mixture, and bake till the crust is done,—about half an hour.
Wickedly rich, but very delicious. Irish potatoes can be treated in the same way, and
are more delicate.

SQUASH OR PUMPKIN PIE.

Prepare and steam as in directions on p. 194. Strain through a sieve. To a quart of
the strained squash add one quart of new milk, with a spoonful or two of cream if
possible; one heaping cup of sugar into which has been stirred a teaspoonful of
salt, a heaping one of ginger, and half a one of cinnamon. Mix this with the squash,
and add from two to four well-beaten eggs. Bake in deep plates lined with plain pie-
crust. They are done when a knife-blade on being run into the middle comes out
clean. About forty minutes will be enough. For pumpkin pie half a cup of molasses
may be added, and the eggs can be omitted, substituting half a cup of flour mixed
with the sugar and spice before stirring in. A teaspoonful of butter can also be added.

CHERRY AND BERRY PIES.

Have a very deep plate, and either no under crust save a rim, or a very thin one. Allow
a cup of sugar to a quart of fruit, but no spices. Stone cherries. Prick the upper crust
half a dozen times with a fork to let out the steam.

For rhubarb or pie-plant pies, peel the stalks; cut them in little bits, and fill the pie.
Bake with an upper crust.

CUSTARD PIE.

Line and rim deep plates with pastry, a thin custard pie being very poor. Beat
together a teacupful of sugar, four eggs, and a pinch of salt, and mix slowly with one
quart of milk. Fill the plate up to the pastry rim after it is in the oven, and bake till the
custard is firm, trying, as for squash pies, with a knife-blade.

MINCE-MEAT FOR PIES.

Two pounds of cold roast or boiled beef, or a small beef-tongue, boiled the day
beforehand, cooled and chopped; one pound of beef-suet, freed from all strings,
and chopped fine as powder; two pounds of raisins stoned and chopped; one
pound of currants washed and dried; six pounds of chopped apples; half a pound of
citron cut in slips; two pounds of brown sugar; one pint of molasses; one quart of
boiled cider; one pint of wine or brandy, or a pint of any nice sirup from sweet pickles
may be substituted; two heaping tablespoonfuls of salt; one teaspoonful of pepper;
three tablespoonfuls of ground cinnamon; two of allspice; one of clove; one of mace;
three grated nutmegs; grated rind and juice of three lemons; a cupful of chopped,
candied orange or lemon peel.

Mix spices and salt with sugar, and stir into the meat and suet. Add the apples, and
then the cider and other wetting, stirring very thoroughly. Lastly, mix in the fruit. Fill
and bake as in apple pies. This mince-meat will keep two months easily. If it
ferments at all, put over the fire in a porcelain-lined kettle, and boil half an hour.
Taste, and judge for yourselves whether more or less spice is needed. Butter can
be used instead of suet, and proportions varied to taste.

RAMMEKINS, OR CHEESE STRAWS.

One pound of puff paste; one cup of good grated cheese. Roll the paste half an inch
thick; sprinkle on half the cheese; press in lightly with the rolling-pin; roll up, and roll
out again, using the other half of the cheese. Fold, and roll about a third of an inch
thick. Cut in long, narrow strips, four or five inches long and half an inch wide, and
bake in a quick oven to a delicate brown. Excellent with chocolate at lunch, or for
dessert with fruit.

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PUDDINGS BOILED AND BAKED.
For boiled puddings a regular pudding-boiler holding from three pints to two quarts
is best, a tin pail with a very tight-fitting cover answering instead, though not as good.
For large dumplings a thick pudding-cloth—the best being of Canton flannel, used
with the nap-side out—should be dipped in hot water, and wrung out, dredged
evenly and thickly with flour, and laid over a large bowl. From half to three-quarters of
a yard square is a good size. In filling this, pile the fruit or berries on the rolled-out
crust which has been laid in the middle of the cloth, and gather the edges of the
paste evenly over it. Then gather the cloth up, leaving room for the dumpling to swell,
and tying very tightly. In turning out, lift to a dish; press all the water from the ends of
the cloth; untie and turn away from the pudding, and lay a hot dish upon it, turning
over the pudding into it, and serving at once, as it darkens or falls by standing.

In using a boiler, butter well, and fill only two-thirds full that the mixture may have
room to swell. Set it in boiling water, and see that it is kept at the same height, about
an inch from the top. Cover the outer kettle that the steam may be kept in. Small
dumplings, with a single apple or peach in each, can be cooked in a steamer.
Puddings are not only much more wholesome, but less expensive than pies.

APPLE DUMPLING.

Make a crust, as for biscuit, or a potato-crust as follows: Three large potatoes, boiled
and mashed while hot. Add to them two cups of sifted flour and one teaspoonful of
salt, and mix thoroughly. Now chop or cut into it one small cup of butter, and mix into
a paste with about a teacupful of cold water. Dredge the board thick with flour, and
roll out,—thick in the middle, and thin at the edges. Fill, as directed, with apples
pared and quartered, eight or ten good-sized ones being enough for this amount of
crust. Boil for three hours. Turn out as directed, and eat with butter and sirup or with
a made sauce. Peaches pared and halved, or canned ones drained from the sirup,
can be used. In this case, prepare the sirup for sauce, as on p. 172. Blueberries are
excellent in the same way.

ENGLISH PLUM PUDDING, OR CHRISTMAS PUDDING.

One pound of raisins stoned and cut in two; one pound of currants washed and
dried; one pound of beef-suet chopped very fine; one pound of bread-crumbs; one
pound of flour; half a pound of brown sugar; eight eggs; one pint of sweet milk; one
teaspoonful of salt; a tablespoonful of cinnamon; two grated nutmegs; a glass each
of wine and brandy.

Prepare the fruit, and dredge thickly with flour. Soak the bread in the milk; beat the
eggs, and add. Stir in the rest of the flour, the suet, and last the fruit. Boil six hours
either in a cloth or large mold. Half the amounts given makes a good-sized pudding;
but, as it will keep three months, it might be boiled in two molds. Serve with a rich
sauce.

ANY-DAY PLUM PUDDING.

One cup of sweet milk; one cup of molasses; one cup each of raisins and currants;
one cup of suet chopped fine, or, instead, a small cup of butter; one teaspoonful of
salt, and one of soda, sifted with three cups of flour; one teaspoonful each of
cinnamon and allspice.

Mix milk, molasses, suet, and spice; add flour, and then the fruit. Put in a buttered
mold, and boil three hours. Eat with hard or liquid sauce. A cupful each of prunes
and dates or figs can be substituted for the fruit, and is very nice; and the same
amount of dried apple, measured after soaking and chopping, is also good. Or the
fruit can be omitted altogether, in which case it becomes "Troy Pudding."

BATTER PUDDING, BOILED OR BAKED.

Two cups of flour in which is sifted a heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, two
cups of sweet milk, four eggs, one teaspoonful of salt. Stir the flour gradually into the
milk, and beat hard for five minutes. Beat yolks and whites separately, and then add
to batter. Have the pudding-boiler buttered. Pour in the batter, and boil steadily for
two hours. It may also be baked an hour in a buttered pudding-dish. Serve at once,
when done, with a liquid sauce.

SUNDERLAND PUDDINGS.

Are merely puffs or pop-overs eaten with sauce. See p. 209.

BREAD PUDDING.

One cup of dried and rolled bread-crumbs, or one pint of fresh ones; one quart of
milk; two eggs; one cup of sugar; half a teaspoonful of cinnamon; a little grated
nutmeg; a saltspoonful of salt.

Soak the crumbs in the milk for an hour or two; mix the spice and salt with the sugar,
and beat the eggs with it, stirring them slowly into the milk. Butter a pudding-dish;
pour in the mixture; and bake half an hour, or till done. Try with a knife-blade, as in
general directions. The whites may be kept out for a meringue, allowing half a
teacup of powdered sugar to them. By using fresh bread-crumbs and four eggs, this
becomes what is known as "Queen of Puddings." As soon as done, spread the top
with half a cup of any acid jelly, and cover with the whites which have been beaten
stiff, with a teacupful of sugar. Brown slightly in the oven. Half a pound of raisins may
be added.

BREAD-AND-BUTTER PUDDING.

Fill a pudding-dish two-thirds full with very thin slices of bread and butter. A cupful of
currants or dried cherries may be sprinkled between the slices. Make a custard of
two eggs beaten with a cup of sugar; add a quart of milk, and pour over the bread.
Cover with a plate, and set on the back of the stove an hour; then bake from half to
three-quarters of an hour. Serve very hot, as it falls when cool.

BREAD-AND-APPLE PUDDING.

Butter a deep pudding-dish, and put first a layer of crumbs, then one of any good
acid apple, sliced rather thin, and so on till the dish is nearly full. Six or eight apples
and a quart of fresh crumbs will fill a two-quart dish. Dissolve a cup of sugar and
one teaspoonful of cinnamon in one pint of boiling water, and pour into the dish. Let
the pudding stand half an hour to swell; then bake till brown,—about three-quarters
of an hour,—and eat with liquid sauce. It can be made with slices of bread and
butter, instead of crumbs.

BIRD'S-NEST PUDDING.

Wash one teacupful of tapioca, and put it in one quart of cold water to soak for
several hours. Pare and core as many good apples as will fit in a two-quart buttered
pudding-dish. When the tapioca is softened, add a cupful of sugar, a pinch of salt,
and half a teaspoonful of cinnamon, and pour over the apples. Bake an hour, and
eat with or without sauce.

TAPIOCA PUDDING.

One quart of milk; one teacupful of tapioca; three eggs; a cup of sugar; a teaspoonful
of salt; a tablespoonful of butter; a teaspoonful of lemon extract.

Wash the tapioca, and soak in the milk for two hours, setting it on the back of the
stove to swell. Beat eggs and sugar together, reserving whites for a meringue if
liked; melt the butter, and add, and stir into the milk. Bake half an hour. Sago
pudding is made in the same way.

TAPIOCA CREAM.

One teacupful of tapioca washed and soaked over-night in one pint of warm water.
Next morning add a quart of milk and a teaspoonful of salt, and boil in a milk-boiler
for two hours. Just before taking it from the fire, add a tablespoonful of butter, a
teaspoonful of vanilla, and three eggs beaten with a cup of sugar. The whites may
be made in a meringue. Pour into a glass dish which has had warm water standing
in it, to prevent cracking, and eat cold. Rice or sago cream is made in the same way.

PLAIN RICE PUDDING.

One cup of rice; three pints of milk; one heaping cup of sugar; one teaspoonful of
salt.

Wash the rice well. Butter a two-quart pudding-dish, and stir rice, sugar, and salt
together. Pour on the milk. Grate nutmeg over it, and bake for three hours. Very good.

MINUTE PUDDING.

One quart of milk; one pint of flour; two eggs; one teaspoonful of salt.

Boil the milk in a double boiler. Beat the eggs, and add the flour slowly, with enough
of the milk to make it smooth. Stir into the boiling milk, and cook it half an hour. Eat
with liquid sauce or sirup. It is often made without eggs.

CORN-STARCH PUDDING.

One quart of milk; four tablespoonfuls of corn-starch; one cup of sugar; three eggs; a
teaspoonful each of salt and vanilla.

Boil the milk; dissolve the corn-starch in a little cold milk, and add. Cook five
minutes, and add the eggs and flavoring beaten with the sugar. Turn into a buttered
dish, and bake fifteen minutes, covering then with a meringue made of the whites, or
cool in molds, in this case using only the whites of the eggs. The yolks can be made
in a custard to pour around them. A cup of grated cocoanut can be added, or two
teaspoonfuls of chocolate stirred smooth in a little boiling water.

GELATINE PUDDING.

Four eggs; one pint of milk; one cup of sugar; a saltspoonful of salt; a teaspoonful of
lemon or vanilla; a third of a box of gelatine.

Soak the gelatine a few minutes in a little cold water, and then dissolve it in three-
quarters of a cup of boiling water. Have ready a custard made from the milk and
yolks of the eggs. Beat the yolks and sugar together, and stir into the boiling milk.
When cold, add the gelatine water and the whites of the eggs beaten very stiff. Pour
into molds. It is both pretty and good.

CABINET PUDDING.

One quart of milk; half a package of gelatine; a teaspoonful each of salt and vanilla;
a cup of sugar.

Boil the milk; soak the gelatine fifteen minutes in a little cold water; dissolve in the
boiling milk, and add the sugar and salt. Now butter a Charlotte-Russe mold thickly.
Cut slips of citron into leaves or pretty shapes, and stick on the mold. Fill it lightly
with any light cake, either plain or rich. Strain on the gelatine and milk, and set in a
cold place. Turn out before serving. Delicate crackers may be used instead of cake.

CORN-MEAL OR INDIAN PUDDING.

One quart of milk; one cup of sifted corn meal; one cup of molasses (not "sirup");
one teaspoonful of salt.

Stir meal, salt, and molasses together. Boil the milk, and add slowly. Butter a
pudding-dish, and pour in the mixture; adding, after it is set in the oven, one cup of
cold milk poured over the top. Bake three hours in a moderate oven.