Method. Mix and sift the flour, salt, and baking powder. Chop the shortening into the dry ingredients, using the back of a steel-pronged fork. Do not chop it too fine; bits the size of half a pea will be small enough. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid, and mix very lightly, with as little manipulation as possible, until a soft dough is formed. The dough should be rather moist, and spongy, and porous. It should be so soft that it wiU spread if left without support at the sides, yet it should be so stiff that it will remain rough on top when it is dropped by spoonfuls into greased muffin pans. Bake in a hot oven. Shortly before removing from the oven the tops should be brushed over with milk, if this has not been used for the wetting, or with a mixture of sugar and water — two teaspoonfuls of sugar to a cup of water. (Why?) DERIVATIVES OF THE SOFT DOUGH Simple luncheon buns, or tea cakes to be served hot, may be made by adding to the biscuit mixture sugar, spice, fruit, either fresh or dried, nuts, chocolate — or even chopped, cold meat. The orthodox baking-powder biscuit is this same dough, 156 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD PREPARATION made just a little stiff er, so that it can be rolled out on a molding board and cut with a biscuit cutter. The shortcake, in strawberry or peach time, is the same dough, with the maximum of shortening, rolled out and baked, split open while hot from the oven, spread with a mixture of fruit and sugar, the split halves put together and more fruit and sugar piled on top, and a blanket of whipped cream spread over all. The cruller, to be fried in deep fat, has beaten egg and milk, half and half, for the wetting, is slightly sweetened — perhaps two tablespoonfuls of sugar to a cup of flour — is spiced with cinnamon, lightly rolled, cut out with a cruller cutter, fried according to the rules for frying an uncooked mixture (see Chapter XIII, page 122), and dusted over with powdered sugar before serving. A plain crust for a meat pie, or for a deep-dish fruit pie, can be made from this dough. It can be used also for dumplings. (See Chapter XI, page 92.) THE STIFF DOUGH A stiff dough is one that will not cling to the sides of the mixing bowl, one that can be handled without adhering to the fingers, one that can be rolled out quite thin with- out sticking to the rolling pin or the molding board. The proportions for such a mixture depend more on the ability of the cook to manipulate skillfully and with a light touch on the rolling pin than on any given measurements, or than even on the kind and quality of flour used. Four times as much liquid as flour is often given as the propor- tion for this mixture, but the less flour used the crisper and lighter will be the dough. FLOUR MIXTURES AND LEAVENS I DOUGHS 157 EXAMPLES OF THE STIFF DOUGH Plain Pie Crust Ingredients. 1 cup flour. 3^ cup shortening. ]/i teaspoonful salt. 34 cup water, cold as possible✪ Plain Pie Crust.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Method. Mix and sift the flour, salt, and baking powder. Chop the shortening into the dry ingredients, using the back of a steel-pronged fork. Do not chop it too fine; bits the size of half a pea will be small enough. Add the dry ingredients to the liquid, and mix very lightly, with as little manipulation as possible, until a soft dough is formed. The dough should be rather moist, and spongy, and porous. It should be so soft that it wiU spread if left without support at the sides, yet it should be so stiff that it will remain rough on top when it is dropped by spoonfuls into greased muffin pans. Bake in a hot oven. Shortly before removing from the oven the tops should be brushed over with milk, if this has not been used for the wetting, or with a mixture of sugar and water — two teaspoonfuls of sugar to a cup of water. (Why?) DERIVATIVES OF THE SOFT DOUGH Simple luncheon buns, or tea cakes to be served hot, may be made by adding to the biscuit mixture sugar, spice, fruit, either fresh or dried, nuts, chocolate — or even chopped, cold meat. The orthodox baking-powder biscuit is this same dough, made just a little stiff er, so that it can be rolled out on a molding board and cut with a biscuit cutter. The shortcake, in strawberry or peach time, is the same dough, with the maximum of shortening, rolled out and baked, split open while hot from the oven, spread with a mixture of fruit and sugar, the split halves put together and more fruit and sugar piled on top, and a blanket of whipped cream spread over all. The cruller, to be fried in deep fat, has beaten egg and milk, half and half, for the wetting, is slightly sweetened — perhaps two tablespoonfuls of sugar to a cup of flour — is spiced with cinnamon, lightly rolled, cut out with a cruller cutter, fried according to the rules for frying an uncooked mixture (see Chapter XIII, page 122), and dusted over with powdered sugar before serving. A plain crust for a meat pie, or for a deep-dish fruit pie, can be made from this dough. It can be used also for dumplings. (See Chapter XI, page 92.) THE STIFF DOUGH A stiff dough is one that will not cling to the sides of the mixing bowl, one that can be handled without adhering to the fingers, one that can be rolled out quite thin without sticking to the rolling pin or the molding board. The proportions for such a mixture depend more on the ability of the cook to manipulate skillfully and with a light touch on the rolling pin than on any given measurements, or than even on the kind and quality of flour used. Four times as much liquid as flour is often given as the proportion for this mixture, but the less flour used the crisper and lighter will be the dough. FLOUR MIXTURES AND LEAVENS: DOUGHS 157 EXAMPLES OF THE STIFF DOUGH Plain Pie Crust Ingredients. 1 cup flour. 3^ cup shortening. ]/i teaspoonful salt. 34 cup water, cold as possible.

Records on this page

Plain Pie CrustNut CookiesGinger Snaps

Principles of food preparation