Tourte

Ingredients

• Six ounces of flour
• four ounces of fresh butter
• nearly a quarter of a pint of cold milk or water
• a small half saltspoonful of salt

Method

1. 1

   Mix flour and salt, then incorporate butter until smooth.

2. 2

   Add milk or water gradually.

3. 3

   Roll out the paste, cut into shapes, and place in a floured baking tin.

4. 4

   Bake in a gentle oven for 20-30 minutes.

5. 5

   Fill with apricot jam or other preserves, and optionally top with nuts.

6. 6

   Serve hot or cold.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Modern cookery, in all its branches (1884) by Eliza Acton, page 328. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

ow a small half saltspoonful of Lady’s Tourte. salt jnto a p0uri<l 0f the finest flour, and break lightly into it four ounces of fresh butter, which should be firm. Make these up smoothly with cold milk or water, of which nearly a quarter of a pint will be sufficient, unless the butter should be very hard, when a spoonful or two more must be added. Roll the paste out as lightly as possible twice or thrice if needful, to blend the butter thoroughly with it, and each time either fold it in three by wrapping the ends over each other, or fold it over and over like a roll pudding. An additional ounce, or even two, of butter can be used for it when very rich pastry is liked, but the tourte will not then retain its form so well. Roll it out evenly to something more than three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and press the large cutter firmly through it ; draw away the superfluous paste, and lay the tourte on a lightly floured baking- tin. Roll the remainder of the paste until it is less than a quarter of an inch thick, and stamp out with the smaller cutter— of which the edge should be dipped into hot water, or slightly encrusted with flour— as many rounds as will form the border of the tourte. In placing them upon it, lay the edge of one over the other just sufficiently to give a shell- like appearance to the whole ; and with the finger press lightly on the opposite part of the round to make it adhere to the under paste. Next, with a sharp - pointed knife, make an incision very evenly round the inside of the tourte nearly close to the border, but be extremely careful not to cut too deeply into the paste. Bake it in a gentle oven, from twenty to thirty minutes. When it is done, detach the crust from the centre, wdiere it has been marked with the knife, take out part of the crumb, fill the space high with apricot-jam, or with any other choice preserve, set it again for an instant into the oven, and serve it hot or cold. Spikes of blanched almonds, filberts, or pistachio-nuts, may be strewed over the pre- serve, wrhen they are considered an improvement ; and the border of the pastry may be glazed or ornamented to the fancy ; but if well made, it will generally please in its quite simple form. It may be converted into a delicious entree , by filling it either with oysters, or sliced sweetbreads, stewed, and served in thick, rich, white sauce, or bechamel. Lobster also prepared and moulded as for the new lobster patties of page 359, will form a superior dish even to these. Obs.— Six ounces of flour

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