Evening star., 1923-02-09
0EBRuARY is a busy month for


as there are so many social
events coming in this month
at which both simple and elaborate
refreshments are served. Puff pastry,
or French pastry, especially, is OK
tenSively served on account of its
daintiness and attractive appearance.
to say nothing of its good tasting
qualities. 1t is made into tarts and
shells of all shapes. filled with jelly,
Jam. fresh fruit or custard and deco
rated with icing, nuts ami confec-
tions.
To be successful in making puff
pastry. the work should be done in
as cool IL place as possible. manipu-
which should he kept especially for
this purpose. Mix the pastry with
a. knife and handle it AS little as
possible. Flour the marble slab and
pastry to stick to them. Use d
dtedcsr to scatter the -four. If it
is scattered on with tho hand. too
much is liable I" hc used, and ii
does not improve pastry to work
in very much dry flour.
Flour for making puff pastry
should be first dried in the oven
and then sifted twice. Baking pow
der is only required with the palmer
kinds of pastry. in which a small
large proportion of fat. baking pow
der is not required. as the bursting
OF the fat globules in the oven aerates
the pastry sufficiently. Pastry made
with baking powder must be put into
tho oven as soon as possible after
mixing it.
Puff, rough puff and faky pastries
are improved If put aside in a cold
the rolls required in making them
Roll the pastry lightly and evenly
in short. quick strokes away from
you. Puff pastry requires a hot
oven, about $40 degrees Fahrenheit.
the heat should be reduced slightly
when the pastry has risen. If no
thermometer is available. test a small
piece of pastry i'll the oven. If it
browns quite quickly, the oven is
hot enough. The oven door should
he opened and closed very gently and
Very seldom after the pastry is put
m it it becomes too brown, cover
1t with a piece of paper.
SPECIAL Pun fastry.--lnto pound of
nour chop threc-fourths of a pound of
flrm butter, and when the butter is
chopped to tiny bits. the size of a
small pea. stir in scant pint of iced
water. Mix with spoon, then turn
out on tioured pastry board or slab
and roll quickly and lightly into a
thick sheet. Fold this up. with the
edges turned into the middle of the
sheet. Roll this out again. fold and
roll once more. Place in the ice box
for twenty-tour hours, if possible be
fore making into tarts. turnovers or
other cakes. Bake in a hot oven.
If custard filing is used this
should be cooked separately. then al
lowed to cool in the tart or turnover
.'etIS. Jam or fresh fruit-~Should be
put in after the pastry is cool at
which time also the icing and other
decorations should he put on top ot
the pastry.
knark of NiNfng a Cake.
There arc three ways of adding eggs
70 a cake batter. each of which gives
different kind of cake. First. the
eggs can be broken into a bowl and
stirred into the other ingredients
without being previously beaten. This
makes a rich cake, and one that will
keep fresh better than when other
methods are used. but the eggs Will
not help much in making the cake
yolk and white together. before they
are added to the batter. A cake thus
made will he lighter and less rich
than that made after the first method
but it will not keep as well. Third
The yolks and whites can be beaten
separately. the yoIks added at the
usual time. and the whites folded into
the batter the last thing before it
goes into the pan. The cake made in
this way will be the lightest. but ii
will become dry sooner than either of
the others.
There are also three ways of adding &
butter to q cake:
First. the butter can be worked into
the -four with the hand until it is
so thoroughly mcorpora ted that its
presence would be unsuspected by
any except those who know. Many
of the fine French cakes are made in
that way. 1t gives an even, although
rot the finest grain.
Second. the butter can be melted
and added to the batter the last
thing. or Just before the beaten
whites of the eggs are added. That is
the quickest method. The only obJec-
tion TO it is that the grain of the
cake Is likely to he uneven. d mixture
nf coarse and fine. If You adopt this
plan. remember that the less you stir
YOUR batter before you add the but
ter, and the more you stir it after