Of all the branches of the science and art of cooking, pastry, if not the most difficult, requires the greatest care. An inferior piece of meat makes an inferior dish, but still it can be eaten without danger: but inferior pastry can hardly be eaten; or, if eaten, it is indigestible. We will recommend our readers to be very careful about proportions; it would not make a great difference for some kinds, but for others, putting too much or too little of one or more things would certainly result in failure. It is very important to have good materials. New flour is very inferior for pastry; it must have been ground for at least three months. Always keep it in bags, and in a dry and well-ventilated place. Sift before using it. Use fresh eggs, good butter, and good pulverized sugar.

The most important of all is the oven, for, supposing that you have used good materials, have mixed them well, if not properly baked, every thing is lost, materials and labor. Supposing that you have a good oven, there is still a difficulty—and if the last, not the least—the degree of heat. Some require a quick oven, as puff-paste, choux, etc.; others a warm one, and others a slow oven, as meringues biscuits, etc. By putting the hand in the oven you can tell if it is properly heated, but it requires experience, and even practitioners are often mistaken; therefore, the easiest way is to have a thermometer in the oven. It may be placed in the oven of every stove or range; it is only necessary to bore a hole on the top of the range or stove, reaching the oven, and have a thermometer with the bulb inclosed in a brass sheath, perforated, long enough to reach the oven, and of the size of the hole bored—the glass tube being above the top of the range.

Pastes.—There are several kinds of paste. Puff-paste is the most important; it can be made very rich, rich, and less so; and several hundred different cakes can be made with it. Small cakes are called petits fours.

The next in importance is the pÂte-À-choux; then the paste for meat-pies, sometimes called pÂte brisÉe.

Puff-paste requires care, but is easily made; pÂte-À-choux must be well worked.

Puff-paste.—To make good puff-paste, good flour and butter, free from salt or sour milk, are indispensable. It must be made in a cool place. Take half a pound of good butter and knead it well in a bowl of cold water; if fresh and not salt, the kneading will take the sour milk out of it; if salty, it will remove the salt, then put it in another bowl of cold water and leave it till it is perfectly firm, and then use. When the butter is ready, put half a pound of flour on the paste-board or marble, make a hole in it, in which you put a pinch of salt, and cold water enough to make a rather stiff dough. It requires about half a pint of water, knead well, make a kind of ball with the dough, and put it on a corner of your marble or paste-board. Take the butter from the water and knead it on the board, to press all the water out of it. Give it the shape of a large sausage; dredge the board slightly with flour, roll the butter over only once, as it must take very little of it, dredge both ends of the piece of butter with flour also, then by putting one end on the board and pressing on the other end with your hands, you will flatten it of a rather round shape, and till of about half an inch in thickness. Put it thus on the corner of the board also. Immediately after having prepared the butter, take the dough and roll it down, of a round form also, and till large enough to envelop the butter in it easily. Remember that during the whole operation of folding and rolling the paste down, you must dust the marble or paste-board with flour, very slightly and often; do the same on the top of the paste. It is done in order to prevent the paste from adhering to the board or to the rolling-pin. It must be dusted slightly, so that the paste cannot absorb much of it, as it would make it tough. Have a slab of marble or slate; it is much easier than wood, and cooler.

When the dough is spread, place the butter right on the middle of it. Turn one side of the dough over the butter, covering it a little more than half way; do the game with the opposite side, the dough lapping over that of the first side turned; do the same with the side toward you, and also with the side opposite. Dough stretching easily when pulled, and contracting easily when let loose after having pulled it, you have now still four corners of the dough to bring over the butter and in the same way as above, and by doing which, you give to the whole a somewhat round form, and also have the butter perfectly enveloped in the dough. Place the rolling-pin on the middle of the paste, horizontally, and press gently on it so as to make a furrow; do the same from place to place, on the whole surface, making furrows about an inch apart. Repeat the process again, this time placing the rolling-pin right on the top of each elevated line; and again, repeat it a third time, also placing the pin on each elevated line. Now do exactly the same contrariwise. Then, roll the paste down, gently, evenly, to a thickness of about one fourth of an inch, and of a rectangular shape. Fold it in three by turning over one-third of its length toward the other end, and thus covering another third of it; fold or turn over the remaining third, so as to cover the first third turned over. Roll it down again of about the same thickness as above, but without making furrows in it; give it also the same rectangular shape, taking care to make the length of what was the width, i. e. extending it the longer way in an opposite direction to that of the first time, so that the ends will be what the sides were. Fold in three as before, put it on a plate and set in a refrigerator for from ten to twenty minutes. Take hold of it again, roll down as above, fold in the same way also, and put away for ten minutes. You roll down and fold from four to six times, not counting the time you envelop the butter in the dough. In cold weather, and when the butter is firm, fold and roll only four times; but in rather warm weather, fold and roll six times. If it is too warm, it is of no use to try with butter.

Puff-paste may be made without stopping; that is, without putting it away in a cool place for some time; but it is better to let it rest; it is lighter and rises better. When finished, it can be used immediately; but it is better also to put it in a plate or dish, cover it with a towel, and put it in a refrigerator for from twelve to twenty-four hours. Although it must be kept in a cool place, do not put it near enough to the ice to freeze. It may be kept thus for two or three days.

Puff-paste with Beef-Suet.—Take half a pound of fresh beef suet, the nearest the kidney the best; break it in small pieces with the hands, at the same time removing the thin skin and fibres as much as possible; put it in a bowl of cold water and knead well till it is rather soft; take it off, mash and bruise it well on the paste-board with a rolling-pin; knead it again like butter; roll it in flour like butter also, and proceed as above for the rest, and with the same proportion, weight for weight of flour and beef-suet, but it requires more salt. Beef-suet being more firm than butter, puff-paste can be made with it during summer, but it must be eaten immediately, being very inferior after a while.

The proportion of butter and flour may be varied. Weight for weight makes the real puff-paste, and very rich. If less butter is used it will not rise as much, but is excellent nevertheless, and is more handy to make different cakes, such as short-cakes with fruit. Therefore puff-paste may be made with the following proportions: to one pound of flour, use fourteen, twelve, ten, eight, or even four ounces of butter or suet. Another way is to mix one or two eggs in the flour, water, and salt before rolling it down. When eggs are used, it requires less water. Envelop the butter in it in the same way.

Allumettes.—Cut strips of puff-paste of any length, about three inches wide and about one-fifth of an inch in thickness; mix well together, and for about three or four minutes, one ounce of sugar and about half the white of an egg; spread this mixture over the strips of paste, so as to have a rather thin coat of it; then cut the paste across, so as to make small strips about one inch broad and three inches long. Bake in an oven at about 400 deg. Fahr.

FeuillettÉs.—Roll puff-paste down to a thickness of from one-eighth to one-half of an inch in thickness; cut it in pieces of any size and shape, according to fancy with a knife or with a paste-cutter; glaze the top only with egg, and bake in an oven at about 450 deg. Fahr.

FeuillettÉs À la CondÉ.—Roll and cut the paste exactly as for the above; then, instead of baking it, fry it in hot fat (see Frying); turn into a colander when fried, dust with sugar, and serve as warm as possible.

PommÉes.—Line the bottom of a bakepan with puff-paste, about one-eighth of an inch in thickness; spread stewed apples over it of a thickness of one-quarter of an inch; cover these with another thickness of puff-paste; prick the cover all over with the point of a knife, and bake in an oven at about 400 deg. Fahr. When baked, cut it in square pieces, dust with sugar, and serve hot or cold, according to taste.

Porte-manteaux.—Cut strips of puff-paste of any length, about three inches broad, and one-eighth of an inch in thickness; spread on the middle of the strips, and lengthwise, some frangipane, or stewed apples, or any kind of sweetmeats, of the size of the finger. Then turn one side of the paste over the frangipane or sweetmeats, glaze the border with egg (we mean by "the border," about half an inch in width, measuring from the edge); then turn the other side over it so that the glazing will cause the two pastes to stick together. Thus it will be only a little over an inch broad and about half an inch thick. Cut the strips across in small pieces about two inches long, glaze the top with egg, and then bake in an oven at 400 deg. Fahr.

Tartelettes.—Roll some puff-paste down to a thickness of about one-sixteenth of an inch; cut it, with a paste-cutter, of the size of small tin moulds, and place the pieces in the moulds; put about a teaspoonful of frangipane in each; place two narrow strips of paste across each, which strips you cut with a truckle; bake in an oven at about 380 deg. Fahr.

Tartelettes (sweet).—Proceed as for the above in every particular, except that you use any kind of sweetmeats or jelly instead of frangipane.

Cake Pithiviers.—Roll some puff-paste down to a thickness of about one-eighth of an inch; cut it round and place on a baking-pan; if the pan be square or rectangular, cut a round piece that will go in easily; cut a strip of paste about one inch broad, glaze with egg the border of the paste in the pan, place the strip all around, and then glaze it also. Fill the middle with the following mixture: pound four ounces of sweet almonds and mix them well with half a pound of sugar, two ounces of butter, four yolks of eggs, essence to flavor, and four macaroons chopped. Cut another piece of puff-paste round, and of the same size as the other; dust it slightly with flour, fold it gently in four; the piece then will have two straight sides and a circular one. With a sharp knife make three cuts in each of the two straight sides through the four thicknesses of the paste, and about half an inch in length. Make another cut through the paste also, representing half of the figure 8, right in the middle of the piece of paste, commencing half an inch from the border of the circular side and in the middle of it, and going toward the point, so that when the paste is open there are sixteen cuts in it. Place the paste still folded on the paste and mixture in the pan, the circular side on the border and the point right in the middle; open it gently, and the whole will be covered. Glaze with egg, and put in an oven at from 430 to 460 deg. Fahr. The same cake may be filled with a frangipane, and prepared as the above for the rest.

Rissoles (also called FourrÉs).—Cut round pieces of puff-paste about three inches in diameter; wet the edge with water, put a teaspoonful of compote or any kind of sweetmeat on one side of it, then fold the paste in two, so as to cover the sweetmeat; pinch the paste around to cause it to adhere, in order to envelop the sweetmeat; you have then a cake of a semicircular shape. Glaze with egg, bake in a quick oven, dust with sugar, and serve.

Galette du Gymnase.—Make puff-paste with half a pound of butter to a pound of flour, and when done as directed, knead it. Then roll it down to the thickness of about one-fourth of an inch, cut it in strips of any length and about an inch and a half wide, glaze with egg, bake in a quick oven, about 420 deg. Fahr. The two ends of the strips may be brought together and joined, forming a crown. The same galette is made with trimmings of puff-paste, kneaded and rolled as above.

Fanchonnettes.—These are made with the same puff-paste as the galette above; then cut it in round pieces, place them on small moulds, fill them with any kind of sweetmeats and frangipane, with almonds, half of each; bake, dust with sugar, and serve. Instead of frangipane, spread raisins over the sweetmeats, or almonds, peanuts, hazel-nuts, etc., all cut in small strips, lengthwise; you make then an infinite number of different small cakes.

Fans.—Make some puff-paste with equal weight of flour and butter, fold and roll it down six times, and put in a cold place. Leave it of a thickness of about one-quarter of an inch; cut it with a sharp knife in pieces of a rectangular shape, about four inches long and two broad, which cut again in two, across and from one corner to the other, so that you make two pieces of a right-angled triangle shape. Place the pieces on their sides in a bake-pan, on their sides, far apart, and bake in a very quick oven. When done, dust with sugar, and serve.

Vol-au-vent and bouchÉes for the day's use are baked early in the morning. They are warmed in a slow oven just before filling them.

Vol-au-vent.—A vol-au-vent is made with puff-paste and filled with oysters, meat, etc., when baked; that is, when the cake is baked and emptied, it is warmed in the oven, filled, and served warm. It is made of an oval or round shape. When made small it is generally of a round shape, but when made rather large it is generally of an oval shape. When the puff-paste is ready to be used, roll down to any thickness from one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch; cut it with a sharp-pointed knife of the size and shape you wish, then with the same knife cut what is called the cover, i. e., make a cut all around, about half an inch from the edge or border, and about one-third through the paste, leaving two-thirds of the thickness of the paste uncut. This operation is called marking out the cover. Glaze the top of the paste with egg, and bake it in a very quick oven, about 500 deg. Fahr. In glazing, be careful not to glaze the sides or allow any egg to run on the sides; it would prevent the paste from rising. Some drawings may be made on the cover with the back of a knife, according to fancy: leaves, for instance, are very easily imitated; it is only necessary to run the knife on the paste, without cutting it. When in the oven, do not look at it for at least seven or eight minutes, for in opening the door of the oven it might cause the paste to fall and even after that time open and shut the door quickly; take off when properly baked. When the oven is hot enough it takes about twelve minutes, and even less time when the vol-au-vent is small. Take from the oven when baked, and immediately run the point of the knife all around and in the same place as you did before being baked, which place is well marked. Thus you cut off the cover and remove it, then remove also all the unbaked paste that is inside of the vol-au-vent, so that you have left what may be called a shell. Keep it then till the oysters or meat are ready to put in it. About five minutes before the filling is ready, put the shell or baked paste in a slow oven to warm it, turn the filling into it, enough to fill it entirely; place the cover on the top, and serve warm. The unbaked paste removed from the inside is baked, and makes an excellent cake, though not a sightly one.

Another.—Cut a piece of puff-paste the same as for the above one, that is, either round or oval, and of the size you wish. Instead of marking a cover, glaze the border with egg. It is understood here by "the border," a space about three-quarters of an inch broad and all around it, the space being measured from the edge toward the centre. Then cut a strip of puff-paste about three-quarters of an inch broad, long enough to cover the place or space glazed, which strip you put all around the first paste, and you then have a border. The place between the two pastes being glazed, they will adhere in baking. Then also glaze the upper side of the border carefully with egg. With a knife or fork, prick the paste, inside of the border only, in ten, fifteen, or twenty places, according to the size of the vol-au-vent, and in order to prevent that part from rising as much as it would if not pricked. Bake in the same oven as the above—a very quick one.

A vol-au-vent thus made is deeper than the first one, having two thicknesses of paste. Generally there is little or no paste (unbaked) to remove; having pricked the centre, it prevents it from rising and bakes it evenly, but if there is any, remove it. A cover may be made by cutting a piece of puff-paste of the size of the vol-au-vent and baking it separately. It may be decorated with the back of the knife as the above one, and made convex on the top by baking it on a piece of tin. It is warmed, filled, and served the same as the above.

A vol-au-vent is filled with the following:

With Oysters.—The quantity is according to the size of the vol-au-vent. Blanch one quart of oysters. Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan, set it on the fire, and when melted add a tablespoonful of flour; stir, and when turning rather yellow add also about a pint of milk, and the liquor from the oysters; stir, and as soon as it turns rather thick put the oysters in, taking care to have them free from pieces of the shell. Give one boil, add salt to taste, two yolks of eggs, stir again, turn into the warm paste, place the cover on, and serve warm.

With Lobster.—Prepare the lobster as for bouchÉes, fill the shell with it, and serve warm.

With Cod-fish.—Prepare fresh cod-fish À la BÉchamel, fill the vol-au-vent or shell with it, and serve warm.

With Turbot.—Proceed as for cod-fish in every particular.

With Eels.—Fill the vol-au-vent with eels, oyster sauce, or in poulette, and serve warm.

With Chicken.—Fill with a chicken or part of a chicken in fricassÉe or sautÉ.

With Livers and Combs of Chicken.—Prepare combs and livers of chicken in fricassÉe, the same as a chicken, fill the vol-au-vent with them. Serve hot.

With Sweetbreads.—Cook the sweetbreads as directed, and fill the vol-au-vent with them. Serve warm.

With Veal.—Fill the vol-au-vent with veal in blanquette, in ragout, or in bourgeoise, and serve. It is generally filled with what has been left the day previous, as it requires very little for a vol-au-vent.

With Brains.—It may be filled with brains of calf, pig, sheep, or veal; prepared in poulette, or stewed.

With Rabbit.—Fill it with part of a rabbit sautÉ.

It may also be filled with any other meat or fish, according to taste, and being cooked previously.

With Fruits.—Fill the vol-au-vent with any kind of stewed fruit, jelly, sweetmeats, etc. It may be only filled, or the fruit may be dressed in pyramid inside of it.

BouchÉes.—BouchÉes, or petites bouchÉes, as they are sometimes called, are small, round vol-au-vent, served warm. They are also called bouchÉes de dames and petites bouchÉes. Roll puff-paste down to a thickness of about one-quarter of an inch, cut it with a paste-cutter of any size, mark the cover, and bake in an oven at about 450° Fahr. A good size is about three inches in diameter. When cut, take another paste-cutter about two inches in diameter, place it on the piece of paste; press on it just enough to mark the place where it was, but not enough to cut the paste, remove it and then the cover is marked; that is, you have a circle on the top of the paste, half an inch from the edge all around. Glaze with egg and bake. Make one for each person. Immediately on taking them from the oven, cut off the cover with a sharp-pointed knife. That is easily done; it is only necessary to follow the mark made with the paste-cutter, which is just as visible as before baking. Remove the cover and then carefully take out some unbaked paste inside of the bouchÉe, fill with lobster prepared as directed below, put the cover on, and serve as warm as possible.

The Filling.—Cut some flesh of boiled lobster in dice. Put two ounces of butter in a saucepan and set it on the fire; when melted, add a tablespoonful of flour, stir for about one minute, and add also broth (the quantity must be according to the number of bouchÉes, but we will give here the quantity necessary for five or six bouchÉes), about three gills, also salt, pepper, then the cut lobster; stir now and then for five or six minutes, and use.

Of Oysters.—Prepare, fill and serve exactly as the above, except that you fill with oysters prepared as for vol-au-vent, instead of filling with lobster.

Of Cod-fish.—Fill the bouchÉes with cod-fish, prepared À la BÉchamel, and serve warm.

Of Eels.—Have some eels prepared either in poulette or oyster-sauce, fill the bouchÉes, and serve warm.

Of Turbot.—It is filled with turbot À la crÈme or À la BÉchamel.

It may also be filled with any kind of fish, prepared À la BÉchamel, À la crÈme, in white sauce, oyster-sauce, etc.

Of Truffles.—Cut the white flesh of a chicken in dice, prepare it as a chicken sautÉ, using truffles but no mushrooms, fill the bouchÉes with it and serve warm.

Of PurÉe of Chicken, or BouchÉes de Dames.—It is filled with some purÉe of chicken, and served as warm as possible.

Do the same with a purÉe of game.

Of Bobolink.—Prepare and clean twelve bobolinks as directed for birds, put a teaspoonful of truffles, cut in small dice, in each bird, for stuffing; sew the incision, and bake or roast the birds. Put each bird in a bouchÉe, and serve warm. A more delicate dish cannot be made.

The same may be done with any kind of small bird.

BouchÉes are generally served on a napkin and on a dish, in pyramid.

PÂte À choux.—Weigh four ounces of flour, to which add half a teaspoonful of sugar. Put two gills of cold water in a tin saucepan with two ounces of butter, and set it on the fire, stir a little with a wooden spoon to melt the butter before the water boils. At the first boiling of the water, throw into it the four ounces of flour and stir very fast with the spoon, holding the pan fast with the left hand. As soon as the whole is thoroughly mixed, take from the fire, but continue stirring for about fifteen or twenty seconds. It takes hardly half a minute from the time the flour is dropped in the pan to that when taken from the fire. The quicker it is done, the better. When properly done, nothing at all sticks to the pan, and by touching it with the finger it feels as soft as velvet, and does not adhere to it at all. Let it stand two or three minutes, then mix well with it, by means of a spoon, one egg; then another, and so on; in all four. It takes some time and work to mix the eggs, especially to mix the first one, the paste being rather stiff. They are added one at a time, in order to mix them better. If the eggs are small, add half of one or one more. To use only half a one, it is necessary to beat it first. Let the paste stand half an hour, stir again a little, and use. If it is left standing for some time and is found rather dry, add a little egg, which mix, and then use.

Beignets SoufflÉs—(also called Pets de Nonne).—Make some pÂte À choux; take a small tablespoonful of it, holding the spoon with the left hand, and with the forefinger of the right cause the paste to fall in hot fat on the fire (see Frying), turn over and over again till fried, then turn into a colander, dust with sugar, and serve hot. In frying, the paste will swell four or five times its size, and by dropping it carefully and as nearly of a round shape as possible, the cakes will be nearly round when done.

Choux or Cream Cakes.—Make some pÂte À choux: have a buttered bakepan, and drop the paste upon it in the same way as you drop the beignets above; glaze with egg, and bake in an oven at about 380° Fahr. When baked and cold, make a cut on one side, about two-thirds through, the cut to be horizontal, a little above the middle, then, by raising the top a little, fill the cake, which is hollow, with one of the following creams: whipped, Chantilly, cuite, frangipane, or lÉgÈre; dust with sugar, and serve.

The same, with Almonds.—Blanch sweet almonds and cut them in small strips, lengthwise; then, when the choux are in the bakepan and glazed with egg, spread the almonds all over, bake, fill, and serve as the above.

Saint HonorÉ.—Make some pÂte À choux. Then put four tablespoonfuls of flour on the paste-board with two of sugar, one egg, one ounce of butter, salt, and a pinch of cinnamon; mix and knead the whole well; roll the paste down to a thickness of about one quarter of an inch and place it in a bakepan. Put a dessert-plate upside down on the paste, and cut it all around the plate with a knife; remove what is cut off and also the plate. Spread some pÂte À choux, about a teaspoonful, all over the paste left in the bakepan, about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness; put some of it also in the pastry-bag, and by squeezing it out, make a border with it about the size of the finger; prick the middle of the paste in about a dozen places with a fork and inside of the border; glaze the border with egg, and then bake in an oven at about 400° Fahr. While the above is baking, make very small choux (about the size of a macaroon), and bake them also. When both are baked, and while they are cooking, make some crÈme lÉgÈre, fill the inside of the cake with it, so as to imitate a sugar-loaf or mound, about four inches in height, smooth it or scallop it with a knife. Put two tablespoonfuls of sugar and two of water in a saucepan, set it on the fire, toss the pan occasionally to boil evenly, and till it becomes like syrup. Do not stir too much, else it will turn white and somewhat like molasses-candy. It is reduced enough when, by dipping (not stirring) a little stick in it and dipping it again immediately in cold water, the syrup-like liquor that has adhered to it breaks easily and is very transparent. It must be as transparent as glass. As soon as reduced thus, take from the fire and use. Dip the top of each small chou in it, holding the chou with a small knife stuck in it; place a piece of candy (generally, sugar-plums of various colors are used) on the top of each chou; place them apart and around the crÈme lÉgÈre, and upon the border of the cake, with one a little larger than the others on the top of it; serve cold. This cake is as good as it is sightly.

Eclairs.—Eclairs are also called petits pains or profiterolles au chocolat.

Eclairs au Chocolat.—Make some pÂte À choux as directed above, and put it in the pastry-bag with tube No. 1 at the end of it. Force it out of the bag into a baking-pan greased with butter. By closing and holding up the larger end of the bag and by pressing it downward, it will come out of the tube in a rope-like shape and of the size of the tube. Draw the bag toward you while pressing, and stop when you have spread a length of about four inches. Repeat this operation till the baking-pan is full or till the paste is all out. Leave a space of about two inches between each cake, as they swell in baking. Bake in an oven at about 370 degrees. When baked and cold, slit one side about half through, open gently and fill each cake with the following cream, and then close it. Cream: put in a block-tin saucepan three tablespoonfuls of sugar, two of flour, four yolks of eggs, and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add a pint of milk, little by little, and mixing the while; set on the fire, stir continually till it becomes rather thick, and take off. Have one ounce of chocolate melted on a slow fire in half a gill of milk, and mix it with the rest, and use. Put one ounce of chocolate in a tin saucepan with a teaspoonful of water, and set on a slow fire; when melted, mix with it two tablespoonfuls of sugar, stir for a while; that is, till it is just thick enough to spread it over the cakes, and not liquid enough to run down the sides. A thickness of about one-sixteenth of an inch is sufficient. The cakes may either be dipped in the chocolate or the chocolate may be spread over them with a knife. Serve cold.

Eclairs au CafÉ.—It is made exactly like the above, except that you mix with the cream three tablespoonfuls of strong coffee, instead of chocolate and milk.

Eclairs au ThÉ.—It is made like the preceding one, with the exception that strong tea is used instead of strong coffee.

Eclairs À la Vanille.—Proceed as for the above, but mix a teaspoonful of essence of vanilla in the cream instead of tea.

Eclairs À l'Essence.—The meaning of Éclairs À l'essence is, that a few drops of any kind of essence are mixed with the cream instead of chocolate and milk, and prepared and served like the others.

Eclairs aux Fraises.—Instead of filling the cakes with cream, fill them with strawberry-jelly, and for the rest proceed as for Éclairs au chocolat.

Eclairs aux Groseilles.—Made like the above, but filled with currant-jelly.

Do the same with apple, blackberry, cherry, grape, peach, pear, plum, quince, raspberry jelly, etc.

Petits Pains À la Reine.—Eclairs are so called when filled with marmalade of peaches in which sweet almonds chopped fine have been mixed previously.

Petits Pains À la Rose.—Like the above, and by adding a few drops of essence of roses to the marmalade.

Petits Pains À l'Essence.—Like the above, with any kind of essence: pink, violet, geranium, etc.

Biscuits in Boxes.—Make some square boxes with sheets of white paper; fill them about two-thirds full with the same mixture as for lady's fingers, dust with sugar, and bake in a slow oven; serve cold.

With Almonds.—Mix well together with a wooden spoon four yolks of eggs with four ounces of sugar (pulverized), add three ounces of flour and mix well again. Beat the four whites to a stiff froth, and then have somebody to turn the mixture into them while you finish beating, and then mix the whole gently but well. It must not be stirred too much. Have two ounces of bitter almonds well pounded, with a teaspoonful of sugar, and mix them with the rest. Butter small moulds, turn the mixture into them, filling about two-thirds full, glaze with egg, dust with sugar, and bake in an oven at about 300 degrees Fahr.; serve cold.

With Chocolate.—Make some biscuits like the above, omitting the almonds, and flavoring them with a few drops of essence of vanilla. When cold, glaze them with chocolate, the same as described for Éclairs, and serve.

With Essence.—Make biscuits with almonds or without, as the above ones, and flavor them with any kind of essence, or with orange and lemon rind grated.

Glazed.—When the biscuits are baked, glaze them with icing, and serve cold. These are sometimes called biscuits À la royale.

Of Rheims.—Mix well in a bowl six yolks of eggs with six ounces of sugar, with a wooden spoon. Add and mix with the above five ounces of flour and lemon-rind grated; beat four whites of eggs to a stiff froth, and mix them also with the rest. Butter small moulds, turn the mixture into them, and bake in a slow oven, about 300 degrees Fahr. These are often made of the shape of lady's fingers. They are excellent eaten with wine.

With Filberts.—Put ten or twelve ounces of filberts or peanuts in a mortar with a few drops of orange-flower water and about half the white of an egg; when reduced to a paste, mix well with it four ounces of sifted flour, eight ounces of fine, white sugar, the yolks of two eggs well beaten, and the whites of four eggs whisked to a froth; when the whole is properly mixed, put it into a well-buttered mould, which place in a moderately-heated oven; watch it carefully, take out when cooked, which is easily known by the color it assumes.

Biscuits with hazel-nuts, peach, or other kernels, may be made in the same way; that is, using them instead of filberts.

Lady's Fingers.—Mix well together with a wooden spoon four yolks of eggs and four ounces of pulverized sugar, then add three ounces of flour and mix well again. Beat four whites of eggs to a stiff froth; have somebody to turn two tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the whites as soon as beaten enough, and which you mix with the egg-beater, then turn the rest or the mixture in, mixing gently with the wooden spoon. This must be done rather quickly, to prevent the whole from turning liquid. Put the mixture in the pastry-bag with tin tube No. 1 at the end of it, squeeze it out in sticks about four inches long into a baking-pan slightly buttered and dusted with flour, or on a piece of paper placed in the bottom of the pan; then dust them with sugar, and bake in a rather slow oven. They must not change in the oven, that is, they must not spread or swell, showing that the oven is too hot or too slow, or that the mixture has not been properly prepared. They must be like small sticks, round on the upper side and flat underneath. They are sometimes called biscuits À la cuiller. They are used to make a Charlotte Russe, or eaten with wine.

Cakes.—Almond.—Blanch, skin, and pound well one ounce of sweet almonds and the same of bitter ones, which you mix with eight ounces of pulverized sugar, six of flour, two eggs, a tablespoonful of brandy or rum, and a pinch of sugar. When thoroughly mixed, add five yolks of eggs, mix and stir for five minutes, then add also and mix half a pound of melted butter. Turn the mixture in small moulds, well buttered, and bake in a rather slow oven. Some almonds cut in small pieces may be spread over just before baking; or, when baked, some icing may be spread over. Serve cold. This is also called Nantais cake. Instead of almonds, use filberts, hazel-nuts, currants, peanuts, or raisins.

FourrÉ.—This is made with puff-paste and cream, or puff-paste and different mixtures placed inside of it, such as Pithiviers cake and fruit-pies.

Anchovy.—Knead four ounces of flour with two ounces of butter, a little salt, and a little water. Clean four anchovies and put them in vinegar for five minutes; then cut them in small pieces, put them in a bowl, and cover them with sweet-oil; leave them thus ten minutes. Roll the paste thin, then place a little more than half of it on a tart-dish, raising it all around with the thumb and forefinger; cover the paste with the anchovies, and these with the remainder of the paste, after having cut it in square pieces; spread some of the oil in which were the anchovies on it, bake in a warm oven, baste now and then with a little of the oil, and serve warm.

Apple.—Stew eight or ten apples and mash them through a sieve. Put them in a saucepan with about two ounces of butter and eight of sugar, set on the fire for five minutes, take off, let cool, and then mix with it five or six eggs, one after another. Turn the mixture into a buttered mould, which you place in a pan of boiling water, then boil slowly about half an hour, turn over a dish, and serve warm or cold.

Hard.—Put half a pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle; put into it three ounces of pulverized sugar, three ounces of butter, two eggs, a pinch of cinnamon, a few drops of essence, and knead the whole well, dust the board with flour, roll the paste down to a thickness of about one-fourth of an inch, cut it in pieces with a paste-cutter, of any shape; beat one egg with a teaspoonful of sugar and glaze the pieces with it; with a piece of wood draw leaves or flowers on each, and bake in an oven at about 360 degrees Fahr. They are eaten cold at tea.

Heavy or GÂteau de Plomb.—Proceed as above with one pound of flour, a pinch of salt, one ounce of sugar, four yolks of eggs, one pound of butter, half a pint of cream; when rolled down as above, fold in two or four, and roll down again; repeat the process four times. Then place it in a bakepan and put in a hot oven. Serve cold at tea.

Milanais.—Put one pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle, in which you put half a pound of butter, same of sugar, two eggs, a pinch of salt, and a quarter of a gill of rum. Mix and knead to a rather stiff dough with cold water. Spread it and roll it down to a thickness of about one-eighth of an inch. Glaze it with egg, dust with sugar and bake in a rather quick oven. When cold, cut it in two, spread some compote of peaches or of apricots on one half, put the other half over it, cut in pieces according to fancy, and serve.

Rum Cakes.—These are made with sponge cake cut with a paste-cutter, some sweetmeats or jelly is placed on the middle, then it is dusted with pulverized sugar, watered with rum, and then placed in the oven for about two minutes. These cakes have several names, according to the kind of sweetmeat used.

Savarin.—Put one pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle; put into it four ounces of sugar, and make a hole again; then put in the middle four eggs, twelve ounces of butter, one and a half gills of milk; mix and knead the whole well; then mix again in the whole four ounces of leaven prepared as directed; butter a mould, dust it with sweet almonds chopped; put the mixture in it; put in a warm place (about 78 degrees Fahr.) to rise, and bake in an oven at 430 degrees Fahr. It will take about two and a half hours to rise. The mould must not be filled, else it will run over in rising.

Sauce for Savarin.—Put four ounces of sugar and half a pint of cold water in a block-tin saucepan, set it on the fire and boil till reduced about one-third; then add from one-half to one gill of rum (according to taste), give one more boil, and turn over the cake. Baste the cake with the sauce till the whole is absorbed by it. Serve warm or cold.

Sponge Cake.—Mix well together in a bowl six yolks of eggs with four ounces of sugar; add four ounces of flour and mix again, add also a few drops of essence, then whisk six whites of eggs to a stiff froth and mix them again with the rest. Butter a mould, put the mixture into it, not filling it more than two-thirds full, and bake in an oven at about 320 degrees. Sponge cake may be cut in pieces and used to make a Charlotte Russe, instead of lady's fingers.

Apple Dumplings.—Quarter, peel, and core the apples, and cut them in pieces, then envelop them in puff-paste with beef-suet, boil till thoroughly done, and serve warm with sugar, or with apple or wine sauce. It may also be served with sauce for puddings.

Buckwheat Cakes.—Make a kind of thin dough with tepid water, yeast, buckwheat flour, and a little sugar and salt, let rise, and fry with butter. Serve hot with sugar, or molasses, or butter.

Corn Cakes.—Mix well in a bowl two eggs with two ounces of melted butter, a pint of corn-meal, salt and sugar to taste. While mixing set milk on the fire, and as soon as it rises, turn it into the mixture, little by little, stirring and mixing the while, and till it makes a kind of thick dough. Butter well a shallow bakepan, put the mixture into it, and bake.

Crullers.—Mix well together and work with a wooden spoon, in a bowl, one egg with two ounces of melted butter and half a pound of pulverized sugar; then add salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, a few drops of essence, and one pound of flour, and mix again; add also milk, little by little, stirring and mixing at the same time, enough to make a thick batter. Divide the mixture in parts and fry in hot fat. (See Frying.)

Doughnuts.—Mix well together in a bowl four eggs with half a pound of sugar, add two or three ounces of melted butter and mix again, then mix with the whole, about one pound of flour and boiled milk enough to make a rather thick dough, season and mix well with the whole, nutmeg, cinnamon, and a few drops of essence. Cut in fancy pieces with a knife or paste-cutter, and fry in hot fat. (See Frying.) Dust with sugar, and serve hot.

Muffins.—Mix well together on the paste-board one pound of flour and three eggs, then add and mix again milk enough to make a thin dough, a little yeast and salt. Put away to rise; divide in parts and bake.

Pound Cake.—Take a large bowl and put in it one pound of melted butter and one pound of pulverized sugar, and mix the two thoroughly together with a wooden spoon; then add and mix well also with them, three eggs previously beaten with a saltspoonful of nutmeg and cinnamon, half of each. When the eggs are mixed, add also half a pound of flour, mix well again; then add six well-beaten eggs, and mix; then another half pound of flour, a few drops of essence of rose, half a gill of Sherry wine, a liquor-glass of brandy, four ounces of citron, and half a pound of comfited fruit, chopped fine. Beat and mix as well as possible. Butter a mould, dust it with fine bread-crumbs, turn the mixture into it, and bake in a warm but not quick oven. It takes about two and a half hours to bake. As soon as cold, serve it. It may be glazed with sugar, or sugar and white of egg.

Short Cake.—Cut puff-paste, made with a pound of flour and six or eight ounces of butter, in square or round pieces, bake; when cold, spread sweetened strawberries on, then cover with another cake, spread strawberries again on it, etc. Strawberry-jelly may be used.

Plum.—Mix well in a vessel a pound of sugar with a pound of butter, and then again with eight eggs, one at a time, also half a pound of raisins, half a pound of flour, a little rum, and a little yeast. Line a mould with buttered paper, turn the mixture into it, not filling it more than two-thirds full, place it in a warm but not quick oven for nearly two hours, remove the mould, and serve hot or cold.

Tea Cake.—Put half a pound of flour on the paste-board, and in the middle of it a pinch of salt, half an ounce of sugar, two eggs, four ounces of melted butter, and cold water enough to make a rather stiff paste. Knead well, roll down to about a quarter of an inch in thickness; cut it in pieces with a knife or paste-cutter; moisten the top with water by means of a brush, dust with sugar, and bake in an oven at about 370 degrees Fahr. Serve cold.

Viennois.—Make some biscuits in boxes, and when cold, cut off a little piece on the top, in the centre, which place you fill with peaches or apricots in compote; put two together; serve cold.

With Jelly.—Proceed as above in every particular, using currant or raspberry jelly instead of compote.

MEAT-PIES.

PÂtÉs de Viande.—Meat-pies are made in moulds without bottoms and which open in two, or are made of two pieces joined and fastened together with two pieces of wire. The size of the mould and that of the pie are according to taste. A pie may be made and filled with a reed-bird, or with a quail, or a partridge, or prairie-chicken, or with a dozen of them. We will give the receipt for one prairie-chicken.

PÂtÉ of Game.—Bone a prairie-chicken as directed for birds, and cut it in about half a dozen slices or pieces. Grease the mould with butter and put it in a baking-pan. Put one pound of flour on the paste-board and make a hole in the middle; place in it six ounces of butter, one egg, a pinch of salt, and about one gill and a half of cold water, and knead the whole well. Roll it down to a thickness of about one-quarter of an inch, and of a rectangular shape; fold in two, and roll down again. Repeat this from six to twenty times; that is, till the paste is soft. The last time roll it down to a thickness of one-third of an inch, and give it as round a shape as possible. Dust the upper side slightly with flour, fold in two in this way: turn the side farthest from you on the other, so that the side of the paste nearest to you will be somewhat round, and the opposite one will be straight. By pulling with the hands the two ends of the straight side toward you, it will make it somewhat round also; then, take hold of the paste exactly in the places where you were pulling; put it in the mould with the side nearest to you on the top; open it gently, and with the hands spread it so that the bottom and sides of the mould will be perfectly lined with it. With a sharp knife cut the paste even with the top of the mould. Line the sides of the paste with thin slices of fat salt pork. Mix in a bowl one pound and a half of sausage-meat with two eggs, salt, pepper, a pinch of cinnamon and one of nutmeg; place a layer of this mixture about half an inch thick on the bottom of the paste; then a layer of thin slices of fat salt pork; one of slices of prairie-chicken; again a layer of sausage-meat, one of salt pork, etc., layer upon layer, till the mould is nearly full, finishing with a layer of sausage-meat, and giving to the top of the pÂtÉ a convex form, but leaving a space of about half an inch unfilled all around, so that the top of the pÂtÉ will be about one inch higher than the sides, and half an inch higher than the sides of the mould and paste. The cover of the pÂtÉ is made with the same paste as the bottom and sides, or with puff-paste.

Roll the paste down to a thickness of about one-eighth of an inch. Glaze the sides of the paste in the mould with egg; that is, the space (half an inch) left unfilled; put the paste for the cover on the pÂtÉ; press it gently against the other paste with the fingers in order to cause the two pastes to adhere; with a sharp knife cut off the paste even with the mould. Make a hole in the middle and on the top of the cover about one inch in diameter; cut five pieces of paste about three inches square, dust them slightly with flour; place them one upon another on your left thumb, keeping it erect; then with the right hand take hold of the pieces, bringing the edges together so that the top will form a ball; with a sharp knife make two cuts across and through the five pieces; form a kind of stem as if you were to imitate a mushroom with these pieces, and plant the stem in the hole; when baked it looks like a flower. Glaze the cover with egg; cut strips of paste in different shapes with a knife or paste-cutter, place them on it according to fancy, and bake in an oven at about 390 degrees Fahr. The strips of paste may also be glazed with egg. It will take about two hours to bake. As soon as cold, cut the cover all around and remove it; fill the empty places with meat or calf's-foot jelly and put it on the dish. Chop some of the same jelly, put some all around it and on the top; cut some of it also in fancy shapes with a knife or paste-cutter; place it all around the dish and on the top of the pÂtÉ, and serve.

The cut following represents a plain pie; that is, without any decoration, and immediately after having removed the mould.