=PASTRY FOR TARTS OR OPEN PIES=
2 cupfuls of flour.
3/4 cupful of b.u.t.ter.
1/2 teaspoonful of salt.
1 tablespoonful of sugar.
Yolks of 2 eggs.
Water.
Sift the flour, salt, and sugar together. Cut in the b.u.t.ter as directed above. Mix in the beaten yolks, then enough water to make a paste which is not very stiff; roll it two or three times, then wrap it in a cloth, or cover it closely, and put it in the ice-box for an hour. This gives enough paste for four small tart pies like those shown in ill.u.s.tration.
=TART PIES=
(APRICOT, PLUM, APPLE, BERRY)
Roll the paste one eighth of an inch thick, lay it on a deep pie-dish; let it shrink all it will, and use as little pressure as possible in fitting it to the tin. Cut the paste an inch larger than the dish, and fold it under, giving a high twisted edge. p.r.i.c.k the paste on the bottom in several places with a fork. Lay over it a thin paper, and fill the tart with rice, dried peas, beans, cornmeal, or any dry material convenient. Brush the edge with egg, and bake it in a moderate oven.
When done remove the rice, or other filling, and the paper. Brush the bottom with white of egg. This will insure a dry under crust. If apricots or peaches are to be used, peel and cut them in halves, lay them evenly over the tart with the center side up.
Place the half of a blanched almond in each one to represent the pit.
Put the juice of the fruit into a saucepan on the fire; if there is no juice use a cupful of water. Sweeten to taste, and when it boils add to each cupful of juice one teaspoonful of arrowroot dissolved in a little cold water, and let it cook until clear; then pour it around the fruit, but not over it, as the fruit should lie on top and show its form. Place in the oven only long enough to cook the fruit tender. If canned fruit is used, cook the juice and arrowroot until a little thickened and clear; then pour it around the fruit, and let cool. It will not need to be put in the oven.
When plums or cherries are used, remove the pits carefully, and place the fruit close together, with the whole side up. For apple tarts, cut the apples in even quarters or eighths; stew them in sweetened water, with a little lemon-juice added, until tender. Lay them overlapping in even rows or circles in the tart. To a cupful of water in which the apples were stewed add a teaspoonful of arrowroot, and cook until clear; pour it over the apples, sprinkle with sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. With berries, the fruit may be stewed or not before being placed in the tart; then strips of paste are laid across it, like lattice-work, and the paste brushed with egg. Bake long enough to cook the fruit and the strips of paste. When cold place a fresh berry on each piece of crust where it crosses; or place a drop of meringue on the crusts, and the berries in the openings.
The California canned fruits, costing thirty-five cents, make very good pies. One can of fruit will make two pies. Tart-rings are better to use than pie-tins, as the sides are straight. Place them on a baking-sheet, or tin, before lining them with pastry.
[Ill.u.s.tration: TART RINGS AND CRUSTS.
1, 2. Tart Rings.
3. Crust baked in ring No. 1.
4. Crust filled with rice as prepared for baking. (See page 452)]
[Ill.u.s.tration: TART PIES.
1. Pie filled with quarters of apples arranged in rows.
2. Pie filled with apricots cut in halves--a blanched almond in the center of each piece. (See page 452.)]
=ORANGE PIE=
Juice and grated yellow rind of 1 orange.
2/3 cupful of milk.
3 eggs.
1 cupful of granulated sugar.
1 tablespoonful of flour.
1/2 saltspoonful of salt.
Beat the yolks and the sugar together; add the flour, the milk, and the grated rind and juice of the orange. Place it on the fire in a double boiler, and stir until it is a little thickened; then pour it into an open or tart pie, and bake thirty minutes. The crust of the pie should be brushed with white of egg before adding the thickened mixture. The tart crust may be first baked, as directed above, if preferred. Cover the top with meringue made with the whites of the eggs and sweetened with three tablespoonfuls of sugar. Pile it on irregularly, or press it through a pastry-bag into fancy shapes. Place it in the oven a moment to brown. A little more flour may be used if the pie is wanted more solid.
=A PLAIN APPLE PIE=
Fill a pie with apples sliced thin, using enough to make the pie at least an inch thick when done. Add a little water to the apples, and cover with a top crust which is a little richer than the under one. This is done by rolling out a part of the same paste, covering it with bits of b.u.t.ter, folding it together, and rolling it again, repeating the operation two or three times. Cut a few slits in the paste to let out the steam while cooking. Brush the top with beaten yolk of egg.
When the pie is baked, and while it is still hot, lift off carefully the top crust; add sugar, nutmeg, and a little b.u.t.ter, and mix them well with the apples. Replace the top crust, and dust it with powdered sugar.
Apple pies seasoned in this way are better than when seasoned before being baked.
=PUMPKIN PIE=
Cut a pumpkin into small pieces; remove the soft part and seeds. Cover and cook it slowly in its own steam until tender; then remove the cover and reduce it almost to dryness, using care that it does not burn. Press it through a colander. To two and one half cupfuls of pulp add two cupfuls of milk, one teaspoonful each of salt, b.u.t.ter, cinnamon, and ginger, one tablespoonful of mola.s.ses, two eggs, and sugar to taste. Add the beaten eggs last and after the mixture is cold. Pour it into an open crust and bake slowly forty to fifty minutes. Squash pies are made in the same way, but are not the same in flavor, although they are often given the name of pumpkin pies.
=MINCE PIE MIXTURE=
3 pounds of lean boiled beef chopped fine, or half beef and half boiled tongue.
1-1/2 pounds of suet chopped fine.
3 quarts of apples chopped not very fine.
1 quart of stoned raisins.
2 cupfuls of cleaned currants.
1/4 pound of citron cut into thin slices.
1 cupful of candied orange and lemon peel shredded.
1 teaspoonful each of cloves, allspice and cinnamon.
Grated zest and juice of two oranges and two lemons.
2 nutmegs grated.
1 tablespoonful of salt.
1 cupful of mola.s.ses.
3 cupfuls or sugar.
3 cupfuls of brandy.
1 cupful of sherry.
1 cupful of cider.
Mix the meat and suet together; then add all the dry ingredients and then the liquids. Pack in an earthen jar. It should stand several days before using, and will keep an indefinite time.
The pies should be made of good puff paste for the upper crust and tart paste for the under one, the edge having three layers as directed on page 451. The filling of mince meat should be one and a half inches thick. Paint the top crust with egg and trace with a pointed knife some simple design on it, cutting the paste very slightly. Bake for one hour and a quarter. Glaze the top by sifting a very little powdered sugar over it a few minutes before removing it from the oven.
=CREAM PIE=
3 eggs.
1 cupful of sugar.
1 teaspoonful of baking-powder.
1 cupful of flour.
Sift the flour and baking-powder together; beat the yolks and sugar together; add the flour and lastly the whipped whites of the eggs. Bake this cake mixture in two layers, and place between them when cold, and just before serving, a thick layer of whipped cream. Have the top piece covered with a boiled icing, or use between the cakes a cream filling made as follows:
CREAM FOR FILLING.
2-1/2 cupfuls of milk.