It requires practice to make puff paste well ; and as
there are so manj' other dishes more easily made and
vastly more important, it is better not to waste time
and strength upon it. Let your ambition as a house-
keeper soar higher than perfection in making puff paste.
But those who will have it may observe the following
directions.
Puff Paste. — One pound of hest butter^ one pound
of pastry flour ^ one scant teaspoonful of salt✪ Puff Paste^ about one
The Boston Cook Book,
317
cup of ice water. By measure, use one quart of flour and
one pint of butter. Scald the bowl, then fill with cold
water. Dip the hands into hot and then into cold water ;
tills makes bowl and hands smooth, and keeps the butter
from sticking. Wash the butter, by working it in the cold
water, till soft and waxy. Divide into four parts ; pat
each part into a long and narrow piece, and wrap in a
clean napkin.
Have three shallow oblong pans that will fit the one into
the other. Fill the largest and smallest of the pans with
broken ice. Put the butter, covered with the napkin, into
the other, and place it between the two pans of ice to
harden. Mix the salt with the fiour, then break in one
quarter of the butter. Rub with the tips of the fingers,
and keep plenty of flour between the fingers and the but-
ter. Many prefer to chop it, that the warmth of the hand
may not soften the butter. When the butter and flour
are well mixed, and fine and dr}^ like meal, pour in the cup
of ice water slowl,y. Mix with a knife, and cut, rather
than stir. Wet only part of the flour at first and toss it
to one side of the bowl, then wet another part ; and when
it is all of the proper consistency^ cut and mix it together
till it can be taken up clean from the bowl with the knife.
Add the last of the water cautiously, wetting only the dry
flour, and use less or more than the cupful as the flour
may require. If the butter be softened by the heat in
rubbing, it will moisten the flour, and less water will be
required. But it should not be allowed to soften. The
mixture should be light and dry, like separate minute
crumbs of butter coated with flour.
Use a large smooth rolling-board and a glass rolling-
pin. Put half a cup of flour in the dredger, and sprinkle
the middle of the board with a light coating of flour. Toss
the ball of paste in the flour with a knife until floured all
over, then pat with the rolling-pin into a flat cake an inch
thick. Have the end of the board next you, that 3'ou may
roll the paste the required length. Hold the handles of
the pin firmly, and roll with a light quick stroke as far as
3i8
The Boston Cooh Book.
✪ Puff Paste
Page 188 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It requires practice to make puff paste well ; and as there are so manj' other dishes more easily made and vastly more important, it is better not to waste time and strength upon it. Let your ambition as a housekeeper soar higher than perfection in making puff paste. But those who will have it may observe the following directions.
Puff Paste. — One pound of best butter, one pound of pastry flour, one scant teaspoonful of salt, about one
The Boston Cook Book,
cup of ice water. By measure, use one quart of flour and one pint of butter. Scald the bowl, then fill with cold water. Dip the hands into hot and then into cold water ; this makes bowl and hands smooth, and keeps the butter from sticking. Wash the butter, by working it in the cold water, till soft and waxy. Divide into four parts ; pat each part into a long and narrow piece, and wrap in a clean napkin.
Have three shallow oblong pans that will fit the one into the other. Fill the largest and smallest of the pans with broken ice. Put the butter, covered with the napkin, into the other, and place it between the two pans of ice to harden. Mix the salt with the fiour, then break in one quarter of the butter. Rub with the tips of the fingers, and keep plenty of flour between the fingers and the butter. Many prefer to chop it, that the warmth of the hand may not soften the butter. When the butter and flour are well mixed, and fine and dr}^ like meal, pour in the cup of ice water slowly. Mix with a knife, and cut, rather than stir. Wet only part of the flour at first and toss it to one side of the bowl, then wet another part ; and when it is all of the proper consistency, cut and mix it together till it can be taken up clean from the bowl with the knife. Add the last of the water cautiously, wetting only the dry flour, and use less or more than the cupful as the flour may require. If the butter be softened by the heat in rubbing, it will moisten the flour, and less water will be required. But it should not be allowed to soften. The mixture should be light and dry, like separate minute crumbs of butter coated with flour.
Use a large smooth rolling-board and a glass rollingpin. Put half a cup of flour in the dredger, and sprinkle the middle of the board with a light coating of flour. Toss the ball of paste in the flour with a knife until floured all over, then pat with the rolling-pin into a flat cake an inch thick. Have the end of the board next you, that 3'ou may roll the paste the required length. Hold the handles of the pin firmly, and roll with a light quick stroke as far as
The Boston Cook Book.
Records on this page
Puff PastePuff Paste