Gooseberry Tart

Ingredients

• one quart of gooseberries
• one cupful of sugar
• a slight grating of nutmeg
• one cupful and a half of flour
• one-third of a cupful of butter
• one teaspoonful of baking-powder
• half a teaspoonful of salt
• about one-third of a cupful of cold water

Method

1. 1

   Mix baking powder, salt, and butter with flour.

2. 2

   Add water gradually to form a smooth paste.

3. 3

   Roll out and chill.

4. 4

   Prepare gooseberries, sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg.

5. 5

   Roll paste for the top, bake for 1 hour, cool before serving.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Miss Parloa's kitchen companion (1887) by Maria Parloa, page 309. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Gooseberry Tart. For six persons use one quart of gooseberries, one cup- ful of sugar, a slight grating of nutmeg, one cupful and a half of flour, one-third of a cupful of butter, one tea- spoonful of baking-powder, half a teaspoonful of salt, and about one-third of a cupful of cold water. Mix the baking-powder, salt, and butter lightly with PIES. 691 the flour. Add the water gradually, stirring with a knife. When a smooth paste is formed, turn it on to a board that has been sprinkled lightly with flour. Koll the paste down to a thin sheet about one-fourth of an inch thick. Fold it up and roll down again ; then put in a cool place until the fruit is ready. If possible, put it on ice. Free the berries of stems and blossoms ; then wash them and put into an oval vegetable-dish, heaping them in the centre. Grate the nutmeg, and sprinkle the sugar over the fruit. Now roll the paste into the shape of the top of the dish, but somewhat larger, to allow for turning the edges in a little. Cut a small slit in the centre of the paste, and lift it from the board to the dish, being careful to put it on evenly. Turn the edges in a little, and press them against the sides of the dish. Bake in a moderately hot oven for an hour; then set away to cool. At serving- time sprinkle the top of the tart with sugar. This is delicious without any sauce, but English people usually serve cream or soft custard with it. Cur- rant tarts are made in the same manner. * Rhubarb Pie. Put into a chopping-bowl a cupful of sifted flour, a teaspoonful of sugar, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt, and four table-spoonfuls of butter, and chop until the ingredients get well mixed ; then add a little more than one-eighth of a cupful of cold water, and continue the chopping until a smooth paste is formed. Put away in a cold place until needed later. Mix a cupful of sugar and a teaspoonful of flour, and afterward add a well-beaten egg and a heaping cupful of chopped rhubarb. Now take a part of the paste which was put away, and roll it rather thin. Use it for lining a deep pie-plate, and turn the rhubarb mixture 592 MISS PARLOA'S KITCHEN COMPANION. into the plate. Boll the remainder of the paste thin, and cover the plate with it, pressing together the edges of the paste, — that is, of the covering and lining. Bake in a rather quick oven for forty minutes, reducing the heat after the first ten. How to Line Plates for Pies. These directions apply only to squash, pumpkin, and custard pies. Butter a deep pie-plate. Roll the pastry a little larger than the plate and about one-eighth of an inch thick. Cover the plate with this paste, being careful not to shut in air between the paste and the plate. It is a good plan to lift one side of the paste and lower it slowly, passing the left hand over it from the centre to the edge as it touches the plate. This will force out any air that may have lodged under the paste. Treat both sides in this manner. The paste should hang about half an inch over the edge of the plate. Koll it up until it rests on the edge of the plate, — the rolled part being underneath. There will then be a thick edge all round the plate. Pinch this with the thumb and forefinger until a thin scalloped wall is formed. It is always necessary to build a barrier like this, because plates are not made deep enough for squash, pumpkin, or custard pies. It is a singular fact that many housekeepers do not know the difference between a pumpkin and squash, and cook both in the same manner. The squash can be pre- pared in many ways ; the pumpkin is desirable only in pies. The squash can be boiled or steamed in half an hour ; the pumpkin must be cooked for six hours. * Squash Pie. The materials needed for two large pies are five cup- fulg of stewed and strained squash, five cupfuls of milk, PIES. 598 one table-spoonful of butter, one heaping cupful of sugar,

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.