The girl's own cookery book

It is, I suppose, scarcely necessary to say to young ladies that every one of the utensils used in making pastry must be scrupulously clean ; that goes without any saying. Pastry boards are usually made of common wood, although superior boards are made of box-wood. Marble slabs, are, however, much better than boards to roll pastry upon, because they are cold ; and in order to make pastry light and puffy, it is very desirable that the paste should be kept cool. It is on this account that a cool, light hand is wanted, and that pastry should be made in a cool place. When a marble slab is not to be had, a large slate, or even a smooth tile is sometimes made to till its place. Girls will find that their hands will be cooler if washed in hot water a few minutes before setting to work. The best biscuit flour is usually taken for making pastry. When superior pies are wanted, however, it is worth while to use what is called Vienna flour, which E 5° The GirVs Own Cookery Book. is flour that has been passed through silken sieves in order to make it very fine. This flour is a good deal more expensive than biscuit flour, and it makes finer, lighter pastry. For ordinary purposes, however, the biscuit flour will be quite good enough. As with Vienna flour, so with eggs. Eggs are not needed for ordinary pastry, and very good pies and tarts may be made without them, but at the same time an egg and a few drops of lemon-juice improve pastry. They make it more e’astic, more workable, and also make it look and taste richer. It would, however, be far better to leave out an egg altogether rather than to use one that was not quite sweet and good. There is a gi-eat deal of difference of opinion about the use of baking-powder in making cakes and pastry. For my own part, I am in favour of baking-powder for ordinary purposes. For one thing, its use is to be re- commended oh economical grounds, because less butter or shortening is needed when baking-powder is used. Also, baking-powder makes pastry lighter, and con- sequently more digestible. It must be remembered, how- ever, that when baking-powder is used the pastry should be mixed quickly, and baked as soon as possible after it is mixed. There are four kinds of pastry in constant use amongst us : puff paste, short paste, suet crust for boiled puddings, and what is called hot-water paste for raised pies. Puff paste is considered the best of these ; it is the richest and lightest, most difficult to make, and very indigestible. A good course of puff paste would, I should think, be enough to give an elephant dyspepsia. Nevertheless, it is very much liked, and I expect the girls would be disappointed if I did not describe how it should be made. There is one consideration that may encourage us in trying it, and that is that if we can make good puff paste we can make all other kinds of pastry. It will not do, however, for us to be discouraged if our first attempt is not successful. Nothing but practice will give skill in this direction. It is always a great help to understand the idea of a thing as well as the method. The idea in puff pastiy is to have the butter and the paste separate, so that the pastry shall form a kind of sandwich, in which very thin Pus ami Paris. SI