General Directions for Pastry Making

The pudding and pastry book · Douglas, Elizabeth · 1903
Source
The pudding and pastry book
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (6)
For the pastry
For leavening (when eggs are not used)
For sealing pastry crust
Instructions (22)
General Pastry Making Tips
  1. Keep hands, water, and room cold for best results.
  2. Use a marble slab or a dedicated pastry board.
  3. Use iced water for mixing.
  4. Chill pastry on ice before final rolling.
  5. Sift flour with a little salt.
  6. Use only the best flour and fresh butter, or a mix of butter and lard.
  7. Use as little water as possible.
  8. Never knead pastry.
  9. Handle pastry as little as possible; mix with a knife unless specified otherwise.
  10. Bake in a moderate or quick oven.
Baking Powder Addition
  1. When eggs are not used, add baking powder at a proportion of one teaspoon to each quart of flour.
  2. Sift the baking powder twice with the flour before mixing.
Baking Pastry Separately
  1. It is better to bake pastry separately from the fruit for crispness.
  2. To do this, fill the baking dish with stiff crumpled paper.
  3. Lay a smooth, well-buttered piece of paper over the crumpled paper.
  4. Cover with the pastry and bake.
  5. Remove the pastry shell.
  6. Fill the dish with well-sweetened stewed fruit.
  7. Moisten the edges of the dish with egg white.
  8. Replace the baked pastry crust.
Baking Open Tarts and Tartlets
  1. When the tin is lined with pastry, fill it with rice and bake to keep the crust crisp.
  2. Remove the rice and add the fruit or jam just before serving.
Original Text
General Directions In making pastry, the colder the hands of the maker, the water and the room, the better. A marble slab is the best thing on which to make it: otherwise a hard board which is kept for pastry only should be used. Use iced water for mixing, when possible. Pastry will be flakier if set on ice before it is finally rolled out for use. The flour used should be very dry and should be sifted with a little salt. Use the best flour only and fresh butter, or half butter, half lard. Use as little water as possible. Never knead pastry. Use the hands as little as possible. Mix with a knife unless otherwise specified. Bake in a moderate or quick oven. Baking powder, in the proportion of one tea-spoon to each quart of flour, may be added when eggs are not used. The baking powder should be sifted twice with the flour before mixing. It is better to bake pastry separately from the fruit when possible. It will thus be much crisper. To do this fill the dish which is to be used with stiff crumpled paper, over which a smooth and well-buttered piece should be laid. Cover with the pastry and bake. Remove the pastry and[Pg 124] fill the dish with well-sweetened stewed fruit. Moisten the edges of the dish with white of egg and replace the crust. In making open tarts and tartlets, when the tin is lined with pastry it can be filled with rice and baked. This is in order to keep the crust crisp. The rice must be taken out and the fruit or jam put in its place just before serving. [Pg 125]
Notes
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