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Classic
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page 286
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
fine, 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 reroll, 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,
anyway, 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 ever
seen.
PUFF-PASTE FOR PIES.
One quart of pastry flour, one pint of butter, one tablespoonful of salt, one of
sugar, one and a quarter cupfuls of ice-water. Wash the hands with soap and
water, and dip them first in very hot, and then in cold water. Rinse a large
bowl or pan with boiling water, and then with cold. Half fill it with cold
water. Wash the butter in this, working it with the hands until it is light and
waxy. This frees it from the salt and buttermilk, and lightens it, so that the
pastry is more delicate. Shape the butter into two thin cakes, and put in a pan
of ice-water to harden. Mix the salt and sugar with the flour. With the hands,
rub one-third of the butter into the flour. Add the water, stirring with a
knife. Stir quickly and vigorously, until the paste is a smooth ball. Sprinkle
the board lightly with flour. Turn the paste on this and pound quickly and
lightly with the rolling-pin. Do not break the paste. Roll from you, and to one
side; or, if easier to roll from you all the time, turn the paste around. When
it is about one-fourth of an inch thick, wipe the remaining butter, break it in
bits, and spread these on the paste. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Fold the
paste, one-third from each side, so that the edges meet. Now fold from the ends,
but do
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