Pastry

Pastry, if it is to be served at all, should be light, tender and flaky. It is then more easily digested.

Winter wheat flour, called pastry flour, should be used, as it makes the pastry more tender than bread flour. Less shortening is required when pastry flour is used, than when bread or spring wheat flour is used.

The lightness of the pastry depends on the amount of air enclosed and its expansion in baking.

The flakiness depends upon the number of layers of shortening and paste formed by folding and rolling.

General Directions

Use butter, lard or drippings for the shortening.

Rub in shortening with the tips of the fingers or chop in with a knife. Add enough cold water to make a stiff dough, using a knife for mixing. All the ingredients must be cold.

Handle the dough as little as possible, and keep it as cold as possible, as heat melts the fat and makes it difficult to handle the dough. Use as little flour as possible during the rolling. Cut the pastry a little larger than the dish, to allow for shrinkage.

Recipe For Pastry

1 1/2 Cups Flour. 1/2 Teaspoon Salt. 1/3 to 1/2 Cup Shortening. Cold Water to make a stiff dough (about 4 1/2 Tablespoons).

Mix and sift flour and salt. Rub in shortening with tips of fingers or cut it into the flour with two knives. Add the cold water, using a knife for mixing. Knead the dough lightly into a ball. Cut in two; roll into circular pieces to fit pie tin; or

Work 1/2 of the butter or shortening into the flour, add cold water to make a stiff dough, as in Recipe I.

Toss on a floured board, roll out into a rectangular piece. Dot with remaining 1/2 of butter. Fold or roll up like a jelly roll; cut in halves and roll out for top and bottom crust.

This makes a flaky crust. The top crust should be gashed in several places to let out the steam.

Why Fried Food And Pastry Are Hard To Digest

Fat is not acted upon by the saliva in the mouth nor the gastric juice in the stomach; so, when particles of food which should be acted upon by these fluids are entirely coated with grease they cannot be reached, and therefore enter the smaller intestines undigested. Here the fat is removed from them by the action of the pancreatic juices, which do their best to digest all, but as they were not intended to do all the work, much of the food is passed on undigested. In pastry there is also another reason, namely, that so little water is added to the fat coated starch granules that they cannot swell and burst sufficiently. Starch grains must absorb water, swell and burst before they can be digested.

Working Directions To Be Followed By All Odd Numbered Girls

In today's lesson yon are to prepare the apple tilling' while your partner prepares the pastry for the crust.

See Recipe on Front Page.

Measure the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and rind into your saucer. Mix.

Pare and core the apple (see FIGURE 1), cut it into eighths.

Roll out 1/2 of pie crust to tit pie tin. (See FIGURE 2.)

Cover bottom of pie tin (see FIGURE 3), allowing crust to come over edge of tin.

Cover the crust with apples.

Spread the apples with the sugar mixture. Dot with butter.

Pass it to your partner.

You are to WIPE the dishes today according to directions already learned.

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 3.

NOTE BOOK WORK. RECIPE FOR PASTRY.

MATERIALS:

1 1/2 Cups Flour. 1/2 Teaspoon Salt. 1/3 to 1/2 Cup Shortening.

Cold Water to make a stiff dough (about 4 1/2 tablespoons).

Working Directions

Mix and sift flour and salt. Rub in or cut shortening into the flour with two knives. Add the cold water, using a knife for mixing. Knead the dough lightly into a ball. Cut in two; roll into circular pieces to fit pie tin.

Apple Pie

MATERIALS:

5 Sour Apples. 1/8 Teaspoon Salt. 1/2 Cup Sugar.

1 Teaspoon Butter.

1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon.

1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice. 1/8 Teaspoon Nutmeg.

2 Gratings Lemon Rind.

Line pie plate with paste. Pare, core and cut apples and fill the pie. Mix the dry ingredients and lemon juice and sprinkle over apples. Dot over with butter. Wet edges of under crust, cover with upper crust, pressing the edges close together. Bake in a hot oven 40 to 45 minutes, or until fruit is cooked.

Cost of preparing Home Recipe of Pastry and Apple Pie:

Working Directions To Be Followed By All Even Numbered Girls

In today's lesson you are to prepare the pastry for the pie.

See Recipe on Front Page.

Measure, mix and sift the flour and salt.

Measure the butter and work it into the flour with a knife or tips of fingers. (See FIGURE 1.)

Add the cold water gradually and mix with a knife, cutting to make a stiff dough. (See FIGURE 2.)

Do not add more water than just enough to hold the dough together.

Toss on a floured board.

Knead slightly.

Divide into halves.

Pass 1/2 to your partner.

Roll out the other 1/2 to circular piece. Make incisions with the knife. (See FIGURE 3.)

Moisten edges of under crust prepared by your partner. (See FIGURE 4.)

Place top crust over under crust.

Press edges with the fork tines dipped in flour. Trim off edges by cutting around with a knife. (See FIGURE 5.) Bake in a moderately hot oven 25 minutes or until apples are tender and crust is nicely browned.

You are to WASH the dishes today according to directions already learned.

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 5.