To Make Common Pies.
One pound of lard to a gallon of flour will make very good common pies.
Work the lard in the flour, put in some salt, and wet it with water, make it so that it can just be rolled out, when you have put in the fruit, wet the crust with water, put on the top and close it up, stick it with a fork on the top.
To Stew Fruit for Pies.
All fruits that are not fully ripe should be stewed and sweetened. To boil a gallon of mola.s.ses at a time, and keep it to sweeten pies, is cheaper than sugar, and answers a very good purpose, where there is a large family. When fruit is fully ripe it does very well to bake in pies, without being stewed.
After washing the dried fruit, put it on to stew in a bell-metal kettle over the fire, or in a tin pan in a stove, let it have plenty of water, as it swells very much, and if it seems dry, put in more water. Apples take longer to stew than peaches, and should have more water. Fruit stewed in this way is very good to put on the table to eat with meat. Do not stir the fruit while it is stewing, or it will burn. Dried cherries and damsons may be stewed in the same manner, adding the sugar before they are quite done.
Pie Crust.
Sift a pound and a half of flour, and take out a quarter for rolling; cut in it a quarter of a pound of lard, mix it with water, and roll it out; cut half a pound of b.u.t.ter, and put it in at two rollings with the flour that was left out.
For making the bottom crust of pies, cut half a pound of lard into a pound of flour, with a little salt; mix it stiff, and grease the plates before you make pies; always make your paste in a cold place, and bake it soon.
Some persons prefer mixing crust with milk instead of water.
Paste for Puddings.
Sift a pound of flour, have half a pound of b.u.t.ter and quarter of a pound of lard, save out a quarter of the flour for rolling, cut the lard into the remainder, and mix it with water; roll it out, and flake in half of the b.u.t.ter; dust over it some of the flour, close it up; roll it again, and put in the rest of the b.u.t.ter. This quant.i.ty will make crust for five or six puddings.
Another Way.
To three and a half pounds of sifted flour, put two pounds of lard, and a piece of volatile salts (as large as a full sized nutmeg) dissolved in a little water;--make a pretty stiff paste; then roll in three-quarters of a pound of b.u.t.ter. This will make about eight pies and twelve sh.e.l.ls.
Puff Paste.
Sift a pound of flour, and take out a quarter for rolling, divide a pound of b.u.t.ter into four parts, cut one part of the b.u.t.ter into the flour with a knife, make it a stiff dough with water, roll it out, and flake it with part of the butler, do this three times till it is all in, handle it as little as possible, and keep it in a cool place. This quant.i.ty will make crust sufficient for three puddings and ten puffs.
They should bake with a quick beat, but do not let them burn, they will take from ten to fifteen minutes to bake, according to the number of layers of paste. Do not put on the preserves till a short time before they are eaten.
Rich Mince Pies.
Take four pounds of beef, boiled and chopped fine, pick and chop three pounds of suet, wash two pounds of currants, and one of raisins; grate the peel of two lemons, and put in the juice, pound a spoonful of dried orange peel, slice an ounce of citron, and chop twelve large apples, mix these together with three pounds of sugar, half a pint of wine, and the same of brandy--and sweet cider to make it a proper thickness, put in mace and nutmeg to your taste. If the cider is not sweet, you must put in more sugar before the pies are baked, cut several places in the top of each with a pair of scissors.
Mince Pies not so Rich.
Take four pounds of beef after it has been boiled and chopped, one of suet, two of sugar, two of raisins, and four of chopped apples, mix these together with a pint of wine and cider, to make it thin enough, season to your taste with mace, nutmeg and orange peel; if it is not sweet enough, put in more sugar. Warm the pies before they are eaten.
Where persons are not fond of suet, put b.u.t.ter instead, and stew the apples instead of so much cider.
Farmers" Mince Pies.
When you kill a beef, save the head for pies; it is some trouble to prepare it, but it is very nice for the purpose. Split the head, take out the brains and eyes, wash it well in cold water, and soak it all night with two hog"s heads that have been cleaned; in the morning, boil them till you can take out the bones easily; skim off the froth as it rises, or it will stick to the meat; pick out the bones, and chop it fine, with three pounds of suet. This should be done the day before you want to bake.
Mix to this quant.i.ty of meat, two gallons of chopped apples, four pounds of raisins, half a gallon of boiled mola.s.ses, a pint of currant wine, a tea-cup of rose brandy, an ounce of cinnamon, orange peel and mace, from two to four nutmegs, and sweet cider enough to make it the right thickness; if the cider is not sweet, put in more mola.s.ses; when all is mixed, it is best to bake a small pie, as you can alter the seasoning, if it is not to your taste. If you have not raisins, dried cherries or small grapes, that have been preserved in mola.s.ses, are very good, or stewed dried apples, instead of green; and where you have no cider, stew the apples in plenty of water, so as to have them very soft; a little good vinegar, sweetened and mixed with water, also does instead of cider, but is not so good.
This will make about forty pies, and if you have a convenient way of keeping them, you may bake all at once, as they will keep for two months very readily when the weather is cold. If you do not bake all at once, put what is left in a jar, cover the top with melted suet, and over this put a piece of white paper, with a tea-cup of spirits poured on the top; tie it up and keep it where it will not freeze. Where persons have a large family, and workmen on a farm, these pies are very useful.
Rhubarb Pie.
Peel the stalks, cut them in small pieces, and stew them till very soft in a little water; when done, mash and sweeten with sugar; set it away to cool; make a puff paste, and bake as other pies. Some prefer it without stewing, cutting the stems in small pieces, and strewing sugar over them before the crust is put on. These pies will lose their fine flavor after the first day. They take less sugar than gooseberries.
Peach Pie.
Take mellow clingstone peaches, pare, but do not cut them; put them in a deep pie plate lined with crust, sugar them well, put in a table-spoonful of water, and sprinkle a little flour over the peaches; cover with a thick crust, in which make a cut in the centre, and bake from three-quarters to one hour.
Sweet Potato Pie.
Boil the potatoes, skin and slice them; put a layer of potatoes and a layer of good apples sliced thin in a deep dish; put potatoes and apples alternately till the dish is filled, mix together wine, water, sugar, b.u.t.ter and nutmeg, and pour over, cover it with crust, and bake as oyster pie.
Pork Mince Pies.
Take pieces of fresh pork that have been left from sausage meat, or any tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of the hams or shoulders; boil them, then chop. Have two heads nicely washed and cleaned, boil, pick out the bones and chop them; mix with the other meat, and season as you do other mince pies, they do not require any suet. The lower crust of mince pies need not be so rich as the top; always cut several places in the top crust with scissors, to keep the juice from wasting. When you warm mince pies, do it gradually, and do not have the crust scorched. Some prefer them cold. When the pies are very plain, a little preserve syrup, and a gla.s.s of wine added is an improvement.
Currant Pie.
After stemming green currants, scald them, and allow them to stand awhile; pour off the water; have the crust in your plates; put in the currants, sweeten them well; put in a little water, a dust of flour and a little orange peel. Gooseberries are prepared in the same way, but require more sugar. Cherries should not be scalded.
Pumpkin Pudding.
Choose a yellow pumpkin, with a fine grain, pare and cut it in small pieces, boil it in plenty of water, and take it up as soon as it is done, or it will soak up the water; to a gallon of pumpkin, stewed and mashed, put two quarts of milk, eight eggs, half a pound of b.u.t.ter, half a tea-cup of lemon or rose brandy; nutmeg and sugar to your taste; bake it in deep plates, with a bottom crust.
Apple Pudding.
Take three pints of stewed apples, well mashed, melt a pound of b.u.t.ter, beat ten eggs with two pounds of sugar, and mix all together with a gla.s.s of brandy and wine; pat in nutmeg to your taste, and bake in puff paste.
Quince Pudding
Take six quinces, pare them, cut them in quarters, and stew them, in a little water with lemon peel; cover them and let them cook gently till soft, when mash, or rub them through a sieve; mix them with sugar till very sweet, season with mace and nutmeg; beat up four eggs and stir in with a pint of cream; bake it in paste.
Potato Pudding.