Ingredients: Twelve ounces of fine sifted flour, twelve ounces of
butter, two drams of fine salt, and the yolks of two eggs beaten.
Manner of working: Having placed twelve ounces of flour on the board,
make a small hole in the middle, into which put two drams of fine salt,
the yolks of two eggs, and nearly a glass of water. With the ends of the
fingers gradually mix the flour with the ingredients, adding a little
water when necessary, till the paste is of a proper consistence--rather
firm than otherwise. Then lean your hand on the board, and work it for
some minutes, when the paste will become soft to the touch and glossy in
appearance.
Care must be taken, in mixing the flour with the liquid ingredients,
that they do not escape, and that the paste be very lightly gathered
together, to prevent it from forming into lumps, which render it stiff,
and very difficult to be worked, thereby in some degree causing a
failure, which is easily ascertained by the paste, when drawn out,
immediately receding, which arises from its having been clumsily and
irregularly mixed. To remedy this, let it be carefully rolled out,
placing here and there five or six pieces of butter, each the size of a
nutmeg, when, after working it as before, it will acquire the degree of
softness necessary. It is of importance to observe that this paste
should be neither too soft nor too hard, but of a proper medium; yet it
is better to be a little too soft than too stiff. One should not choose
a hot place in which to make paste: for this reason, summer renders the
operation quite difficult. If one can not find a cool place, the paste
might be slightly stiffer in summer than in winter.
When the paste has been made as above, take three-quarters of a pound of
butter in pieces, which has been twenty minutes in ice-water, well
washed and pounded. Squeeze and work it well in a napkin, in order to
separate the water from it, and at the same time to render it soft, and,
above all, of an equal consistence; then, as quickly as possible, roll
the paste into a square on a marble slab (the ends must be perfectly
even, as much success depends upon folding); place the butter in the
middle; spread it over half the paste, immediately turning over the
other half of the paste to cover it. Then roll the paste out about three
feet in length; fold it into three parts by doubling one part over the
other; after which roll it out again, and fold it once more into three
equal parts; now roll it to a greater length, fold it, and put it
quickly on a plate sprinkled with flour. Place this upon ten pounds of
pounded ice, then, covering it with a second plate, put upon that one
pound of broken ice. This plate serves to keep the surface of the paste
cool, and also to prevent its becoming soft by the action of the air.
After two or three minutes, remove the plate, and turn the paste upside
down, instantly covering it as before. After about fifteen minutes, roll
it out, and use it as expeditiously as possible.
Thus, in less than half an hour, it is possible to make very fine puff
paste, having previously every thing ready--the ice pounded, the butter
frozen, and the oven quite hot; for otherwise it can not be done. This
is all-important, as it is sometimes an hour before the oven can be made
hot. When the oven is half heated, begin to make the paste.
The great variety of elegant and delicate forms[F] this paste is made
to assume justifies one for giving such explicit instructions, and
repays one for all necessary pains to make it.