Very Good Light Paste

Ingredients

• a pound of sifted flour
• six ounces of fresh, pure lard
• ten ounces of butter
• a little salt

Method

1. 1

   Mix flour and lard into a smooth paste with cold water.

2. 2

   Press the buttermilk from the butter, form it into a ball, roll out the paste, place the butter ball in the center, close it, and roll it thin.

3. 3

   Fold the ends into the middle, dust with flour, and roll thin again.

4. 4

   Set aside for a few minutes, then give it two more turns.

5. 5

   Bake as soon as possible for best results.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Modern cookery, in all its branches (1884) by Eliza Acton, page 313. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

VERY GOOD LIGHT PASTE. Mix with a pound of sifted flour six ounces of fresh, pure lard, and make them into a smooth paste with cold water ; press the but- termilk from ten ounces of butter, and form it into a ball, by twisting it in a clean cloth. Roll out the paste, put the ball of butter in the middle, close it like an apple-dumpling, and roll it very lightly until it is less than an inch thick ; fold the ends into the middle, dust a little flour over the board and paste-roller, and roll the paste thin a second time, then set it aside for three or four minutes in a very cool place ; give it two more turns, after it has again been left for a few minutes, roll it out twice more, folding it each time in three. This ought to render it fit for use. The sooner this paste is sent to the oven after it is made, the lighter it will be : if allowed to remain long before it is baked, it will be tough and heavy. Flour, 1 lb.; lard, 6oz. ; butter, 10 oz. ; little salt.

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