The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1883-12-20
How to Make Puff Paste.

In spite of the various crusades
against pastry and pies they continue to
have an important place in the Ameri-
can cuisine. When pastry is well made
it is much less likely to be harmful
than when it is carelessly prepared
with inferior materials. TO tell the
| truth, the majority of cooks do not
know how to prepare pastry, and they
! either send to the table a tough, leathery
| mass that is entirely indigestible. or
! sometimes that fairly reeks with lard.
| Everybody has an ambition to make
| good pastry, and every one who has
tried 1t acknowledges that it is one of
the most difficult things to do in all
| cookery. But if the ingredients used
are good, and the rules for its prepara-
ton be carefully followed, there is no
reason why the pastry should not be
both delicate and digestible A demon
stratiOn lesson on pastry at the cooking
school always brings out an unusually
large number of ladies. Mrs Lincoln
gave this demonstration on Thursday
last, with the best possible result.
Puff paste is the richest of all pastry.
and it is used for pates, tarts, cheese
straws, bow knots and other such fan
clful and ornamental dishes. To make
1t, the following ingredients are used,
and always in the given proportions:
One pound of butter, one pound of
flour, One-half a teaspOonfuI of salt and
about one cup of ice water. The
butter must be of the finest quality
of dairy butter, as poor butter
will make VillainOus pastry. Wash it
well, divide into four equal parts, and
cool between two pans of ice in this
manner: Fill n square tin pan with
bits of chopped ice; on this place an
other pan, napkin lined, into which
place the pieces of butter; cover with
another napkin and on this set another
pan also filled with chopped ice. Mix
the salt with the flour, take one part Of
the butter and rub lightly into the flour,
using only the tips of the fingers; do
not let the butter melt; it should
crumble into small bits and each bit |
should be well mixed with flour; but |
there should be nothing like smooth |
pasty look; mix stiff with the ice water,
putting in little at q time, and cutting |
it in with a rather brOad-bladed knife |
Roll it out one-half an inch thick-and /
in the rolling lies the success of good /
pastry; do not roll back and forth with |
heavy strokes, but roll from the person
with long, light strokes, quickly re-
peated. 1t is the heavy rolling back
and forth, pulling the dough in two
directions, that gives the tough,
leathery crust The ineness, lightness
and delicacy of pastry depends almost
entirely upon the quickness and deli
cacy of manipulation. Before rolling
the paste the board should be lightly
Toured, just enough to prevent the
paste from adhering, but not enough to
admit OF any more flour being mixed in
to harden it. If the paste has softened
so that 1t will adhere in spite of all eff
forts, lay it between the ice to harden.
Do this always in paste-making of any
kind, when the paste is sOftening;
the softening indicates that the
butter is melting, and that is
disastrous to the result. A word
just here about the utensils. The board
should be perfectly smooth and should
never be used for anything except for
bread and pastry. Nothing should be
allowed to adhere to its surface, and
the worker should always keep a clean
cloth by her to wipe off the board as
often as it shall need it; always before
putting flour on wipe it clean from all
PARTICLES. This may seem unnecessary
abOr to some, and they may be in
,lined to think it "more nice than
WISE" but there is a good reason for
his care. If the particles were not re-
moved before the flour was sprinkled j
IN to the board, they would form with
he flour little hard bulbs, which would T
adhere to the surface of the paste, and {
when it was baked there would be these l
jumps unmixed with the rest of the
paste all through, spelling both the
ooks and the taste. The rolling pin !
hould be of glass, and the same care
hould be exercised to keep it also free I
rom adhering particles. When the I
taste is cold and hard, roll until it is \
laf an inch thick. Take one of the
pieces of butter, roll it thin and lay it r
n an unbroken line down the middle Of 7
he paste, fold the sides lightly over the !
utter, allowing all the air that will be
aught to remain inside fold the ends '
yer lightly also, then fold together,
nd there will be a rectangular figure &
f the paste with a number of thick ]
esses pat with the roller into a fiat Z
axe, giving short, quick blows roll =
ut again, in the same way as before,
aking great care not to break any of F
he air bubbles; repeat this process y
18th all the other pieces of butter, cool o
~ the dough as often as it seems to
often after the butter is all in repeat T
ne folding, patting and rolling from y
hree TO five times, then put between +
ne ice again until ready to use.-Bos- I
IN Herald. 9