ASTRY making supplies plenty of material for study, and indeed, when carried to per- fection, is almost a fine art. A start should be made with the plainer kinds of pastry, and especially those in which the fat is well mixed with the flour before the rolling begins, such as Short Paste. When those have been thoroughly mastered, the more difficult kinds may be attempted. There are several kinds of fat which can be used for pastry making, such as butter, lard, drippings, oil, clarified fat, margarine, and various kinds of vegetable fats now on the market. Butter is the best to use for all the finer kinds of pastry, but it must be carefully chosen and free from taint of any kind. The very best butter rhust be used for making puff pastry. When a more economical pastry is wanted, good drippings, lard or margarine may be used, or a mixture of lard and butter is good. Good crust made with drippings is one of the most wholesome kinds of pastry for children. Shredded suet is used principally for making boiled pastry, the fat taken from the kidney being the best, and the beef suet preferred to mutton. ■ Water is usually the only liquid required for mixing the pastry. It must be as cold as possible, and in hot weather a piece of ice should be added to it. The exact amount of water to use is not always given in the recipes, as so much depends on the consistency of the fat used, and also upon whether the flour is a very dry kind or not. It will generally be found that the finer the flour the more water it will require. In the richer kinds of pastry a beaten egg or the yolk of an egg is used together with a little water. Be careful that all utensils used, such as baking board, rolling-pin, basins, spoons, etc., are particu- larly clean and cool. The board should be smooth and perfectly flat. A marble slab is always to be preferred to a wooden board, as it is so cool and level. The rolling-pin should also be smooth and not too heavy. Handle it very lightly. Clean and cool hands are always imperative. Those who have very warm hands should mix the pastry as much as possible with a knife. Make the pastry in a cool place, not in a hot kitchen. The colder pastry is kept during the making, the lighter it will be, because it will contain more air. Cold air occupies much less space than hot. The colder the air the greater, consequently, will be its expansion when put into a hot oven. The paste must be handled and rolled lightly. Heavy rolling and handling expels the air. Never allow pastry to stick to the baking board, but lift it occasionally on the rolling-pin and dust a little flour underneath. If the rolling-pin sticks to the pastry, dust a little flour over it, and brush it off again lightly with a small brush kept for the purpose. In making short crust, cut the butter or fat into the flour with a knife, then rub the shortening lightly into the flour with the tips of the fingers, and do not use more water than is necessary in mixing it. It is a common mistake to use too much water; to do so deprives the paste of its shortening. 54 Short paste is the best for children and people of weak digestion; the flour in it, being more thoroughly incorporated with the fat, gets better cooked. It is also more capable of mastication than flaky crusts, which are liable to be swallowed in flakes. Puff paste is a kind of fine sandwich. There should be a certain number of layers of dough and layers of butter. Take every care, therefore, to prevent the butter breaking through the dough. The manu- facture of this pastry requires patience, because if it is not properly cooled between the turns, the friction of rolling will melt the butter and cause it to smear into the dough.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Pastry making supplies plenty of material for study, and indeed, when carried to perfection, is almost a fine art. A start should be made with the plainer kinds of pastry, and especially those in which the fat is well mixed with the flour before the rolling begins, such as Short Paste. When those have been thoroughly mastered, the more difficult kinds may be attempted. There are several kinds of fat which can be used for pastry making, such as butter, lard, drippings, oil, clarified fat, margarine, and various kinds of vegetable fats now on the market. Butter is the best to use for all the finer kinds of pastry, but it must be carefully chosen and free from taint of any kind. The very best butter must be used for making puff pastry. When a more economical pastry is wanted, good drippings, lard or margarine may be used, or a mixture of lard and butter is good. Good crust made with drippings is one of the most wholesome kinds of pastry for children. Shredded suet is used principally for making boiled pastry, the fat taken from the kidney being the best, and the beef suet preferred to mutton. ■ Water is usually the only liquid required for mixing the pastry. It must be as cold as possible, and in hot weather a piece of ice should be added to it. The exact amount of water to use is not always given in the recipes, as so much depends on the consistency of the fat used, and also upon whether the flour is a very dry kind or not. It will generally be found that the finer the flour the more water it will require. In the richer kinds of pastry a beaten egg or the yolk of an egg is used together with a little water. Be careful that all utensils used, such as baking board, rolling-pin, basins, spoons, etc., are particularly clean and cool. The board should be smooth and perfectly flat. A marble slab is always to be preferred to a wooden board, as it is so cool and level. The rolling-pin should also be smooth and not too heavy. Handle it very lightly. Clean and cool hands are always imperative. Those who have very warm hands should mix the pastry as much as possible with a knife. Make the pastry in a cool place, not in a hot kitchen. The colder pastry is kept during the making, the lighter it will be, because it will contain more air. Cold air occupies much less space than hot. The colder the air the greater, consequently, will be its expansion when put into a hot oven. The paste must be handled and rolled lightly. Heavy rolling and handling expels the air. Never allow pastry to stick to the baking board, but lift it occasionally on the rolling-pin and dust a little flour underneath. If the rolling-pin sticks to the pastry, dust a little flour over it, and brush it off again lightly with a small brush kept for the purpose. In making short crust, cut the butter or fat into the flour with a knife, then rub the shortening lightly into the flour with the tips of the fingers, and do not use more water than is necessary in mixing it. It is a common mistake to use too much water; to do so deprives the paste of its shortening. Short paste is the best for children and people of weak digestion; the flour in it, being more thoroughly incorporated with the fat, gets better cooked. It is also more capable of mastication than flaky crusts, which are liable to be swallowed in flakes. Puff paste is a kind of fine sandwich. There should be a certain number of layers of dough and layers of butter. Take every care, therefore, to prevent the butter breaking through the dough. The manufacture of this pastry requires patience, because if it is not properly cooled between the turns, the friction of rolling will melt the butter and cause it to smear into the dough.

Ryzon baking book