the paste with orange or rose water, or flavour with lemon juice. The butter must all be crumbled into the flour before it is wetted; the less it is rolled the better.
A Nice Crust for Preserved Fruits, Cheesecakes, &c.
Beat ½ lb. good fresh butter, in a bason, with a spoon, till it becomes cream, add 2 oz. finely sifted sugar, and mix in 1 lb. fine flour, then wet it with the whites of 3 eggs well beaten, and roll out the paste. If not stiff enough, use more flour and sugar.—Or: rub together equal quantities of flour and butter, with a little sifted sugar; work it into a paste with warm milk, roll it out thin and line your patty pans. Another.—Melt 4 oz. of butter in a saucepan, with a tea-spoonful of water, 2 oz. sifted sugar, and a bit of lemon peel; when the butter is melted, take out the lemon peel, and first dredge a little flour into the liquid, shake the saucepan, then put in as much more flour, with a spoon, as the butter will take, keep the saucepan over the fire, and stir briskly with a wooden spoon. Turn it out into another saucepan and let it cool; then put it over the fire, and break in, first 1 egg, stir it well, then 3 more eggs, and stir well again, till the paste is ropy.
Raised Crust for Meat Pies.
Put ¾ of a pint of water and ½ lb. lard into a saucepan, set it on the fire; have ready on the paste-board, 2½ lbs. of flour, make a hole in the middle, and when the water in the saucepan boils, pour it into it, gently mixing it by degrees with the flour, with a spoon; when well mixed, knead it into a stiff paste. Dredge flour on the board, to prevent the paste from sticking, continue to roll, and knead it, but do not use a rolling-pin. Let it stand to cool before you form the crust for the pie, as follows: cut out pieces for the bottom and top, roll them of the proper thickness, and roll out a piece for the sides; fix the sides round the bottom pieces, cement them together with white of egg, and pinch the bottom crust up round to keep it closed firmly; then put in the meat and lay on the top crust, pinching the edges together closely.—It must be thick in proportion to the size of the pie.
