1 teaspoonful salt
1 cupful Crisco
2 cupfuls flour
1 yolk of egg
2 teaspoonfuls lemon juice
Cold water
Measure Crisco and set in cold place to chill it. Sift flour and salt
into basin, and add lemon juice. Take a quarter of the Crisco, and rub
it lightly into flour with finger tips until there are no lumps left.
Beat yolk of egg and add a little cold water, then add them to the
flour, making them into a stiffish dough. Turn this on to floured
board, and work well with hands until it will no longer stick to
fingers and forms a perfectly smooth dough. Form into oblong piece and
roll out to about half inch thickness. The Crisco to be used should be
as nearly, as possible of same consistency as the paste.
Form it into neat flat cake, and place in center of pastry. Fold
up rather loosely, and flat the folds with rolling-pin. Place in
refrigerator for ten minutes. Then roll out pastry into long narrow
strip, being careful that Crisco does not get through. Fold exactly
in three, press down folds, and lay aside in cool place or in
refrigerator fifteen minutes. This is called giving the pastry one
"turn" and seven of these is the number required for this pastry. The
next time the pastry is rolled, place it with the joins at your right
hand side, and open end's towards you. Give two "turns" this time,
and again set aside in cool place for at least fifteen minutes.
Repeat this until pastry has had seven rolls in all. The object of the
cooling between the rolls is to keep Crisco and flour in distinct and
separate layers, in which it is the function of the rolling-pin and
folding to arrange them, and on which the lightness of the pastry
depends.
When rolling, keep the pressure of the two hands as equal as possible.
If the pastry becomes rounded, it shows that there is more pressure
being done on the rounded side than the other. After it has received
its last roll, it is better to be laid aside before using, then rolled
to the thickness required.
Sufficient for two pies.