these only, and then mix to stiff paste with a little cold water. Shape
into neat oblong piece, and roll into straight strip about three times
as long as it is broad. All over this put on, with the point of knife,
one of remaining quarters of Crisco, distributing it evenly in little
dabs about size of a pea, so that they look like buttons on a card. Now
flour surface lightly and fold paste exactly in three by taking hold of
the two bottom corners and doubling them upwards from you and then of
the top corners and doubling them downwards towards you. Turn now at
right angles to its former position so as to have open ends pointing
towards you. Press these quickly together with the roller to inclose
some air, and press paste across also in two or three places, making
little ridges, thus preventing air which has been shut in, from forming
into large bubble. Roll out again, and repeat till remaining two parts
of Crisco have thus been used. At the last rolling, bring to required
thickness; and if it needs widening as well as lengthening, turn it at
right angles to its former position, and roll straight across it as
before, a rule which, with flaky pastry, should always be observed,
since, unlike the short pastries, its lightness suffers if rolled
obliquely to the direction in which it has been folded.
Sufficient for two small pies.
Puff Pastry
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 ends 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.
Rough Puff Pastry
2 cupfuls flour
½ cupful Crisco, generous measure
½ teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful lemon juice
1 egg
Cold water
Have Crisco cold and firm. Sift flour and salt into basin, add Crisco
and cut into pieces one inch square. Beat up egg, add lemon juice and a
very little cold water, then add them gradually into other ingredients
making them into a stiff paste. Roll in a long piece on floured
board, fold in three, turn rough edges toward you and roll out again,
continuing this for five times. Place in refrigerator or in cool place
ten minutes between each rolling. This pastry may be used at once for
all kinds of sweet or savory pies, but it is improved by standing for a
few hours in a cool place. Bake in hot oven. Sufficient for two covered
pies.
Dominion Paste
5 cupfuls flour
1½ cupfuls Crisco
⅓ cupful ground almonds
1 cupful sugar
2 eggs
2 yolks of eggs
1½ teaspoonfuls salt
Water
Sift flour and almonds into basin, rub Crisco into them, add salt,
sugar, eggs well beaten and water to make stiff paste. Leave in cool
place two hours, then roll out and use for pies and tartlets.
Sufficient for four pies.
Hot Water Paste
1 cupful flour
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
⅓ teaspoonful salt
¼ teaspoonful baking powder
3 tablespoonfuls boiling water
Sift flour, salt and baking powder into basin, rub Crisco lightly into
them, then stir in boiling water. Cool paste before using, or it will
be too sticky to handle.
Sufficient for one pie.
Butterscotch Pie
1 egg
1 cupful dark brown sugar
1 cupful milk
3 tablespoonfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 tablespoonfuls water
¼ teaspoonful salt
1 tablespoonful powdered sugar
1 baked crust
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
Put yolk of egg into saucepan, add brown sugar, flour, milk, water,
Crisco, salt, and vanilla. Stir over fire until it thickens and comes
to boiling point. Pour into baked pie shell. Beat up white of egg, then
beat powdered sugar into it. Spread on top of pie and brown lightly in
oven.
Sufficient for one pie.
Rhubarb Custard Pie
1 cupful cut rhubarb
1 cupful sugar
1 tablespoonful flour
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco
2 eggs
½ teaspoonful ginger extract
1 cupful milk
Crisco pastry
Cut rhubarb in small pieces and mix with sugar and flour. Beat egg
yolks, add milk, ginger extract, and melted Crisco. Line pie plate with
pastry, and fill with rhubarb mixture. Pour custard over and bake in
moderate oven until firm. Cover with meringue made with stiffly beaten
whites of eggs to which two tablespoonfuls powdered sugar have been
added.
Sufficient for one small pie.
Sugar Paste for Tartlets
1 cupful sugar
4 cupfuls flour
½ cupful Crisco, generous measure
½ teaspoonful salt
3 eggs
1 lemon
Sift flour on to baking board, make hole in center, and put in
grated lemon rind, salt, sugar, eggs, and Crisco. Mix the whole to a
stiff pastry. This paste is used for the bottom layer of pies and to
line tartlet tins of various kinds. It is excellent for turnovers.
Sufficient for thirty tartlets.
Currant Tartlets
⅓ cupful currants
3 tablespoonfuls ground rice
2 whites of eggs
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
¾ cupful sponge cake crumbs
4 tablespoonfuls sugar
2 tablespoonfuls chopped candied orange peel
½ teaspoonful lemon extract
Pinch of salt
Crisco pastry
1 tablespoonful cream
Cream Crisco and sugar together, add ground rice, crumbs, peel,
currants, cream, salt, lemon extract, and whites of eggs well beaten.
Roll out paste, cut into rounds, line some Criscoed tartlet tins with
rounds, put in each a tablespoonful of the mixture. Bake tartlets in
moderate oven from twelve to fifteen minutes. Or, these tartlets may
be covered with frosting, and a little chopped cocoanut sprinkled over
tops.
Sufficient for nine tartlets.
Bartemian Tarts
1 cupful sugar
1 lemon
¼ lb. chopped candied citron peel
Crisco flake pastry
1 egg
1 cupful raisins
1 tablespoonful melted Crisco
¼ teaspoonful salt
Roll pastry thin and cut out large cakes of it. Beat egg, add sugar,
Crisco, rind and strained juice of lemon, salt, citron, and raisins.
Mix and put tablespoonful of mixture on each of pastry cakes, wet edges
of paste and fold like old fashioned turn over. Do not stick with fork
or juice will run out. Lay turn overs on Criscoed tins and bake in hot
oven from twelve to fifteen minutes.
Sufficient for twelve tarts.
Apricot Tarts
2 cupfuls flour
½ cupful Crisco
4 tablespoonfuls sugar
½ teaspoonful salt
1 egg
2 teaspoonfuls vanilla extract
1 teaspoonful baking powder
Apricot jam or jelly
Whipped cream
Angelica
Preserved cherries
Rub Crisco into flour, add salt, sugar, baking powder, break egg in and
mix well with fork, then add vanilla. Roll out, cut with cutter and
line Criscoed tartlet tins with the rounds. Line with paper and put in
some rice or peas to keep paste from rising; bake in hot oven twenty
minutes. Remove rice and papers. When pastries are cold put in each one
a spoonful of the jam or jelly. Fill with whipped cream and decorate
with cherries and angelica.
Sufficient for thirty tarts.
Bakewell Tartlets
4 tablespoonfuls sugar
2 eggs
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful flour
½ teaspoonful baking powder
¼ teaspoonful salt
½ teaspoonful lemon extract
Preserves
Pastry
Cream Crisco and sugar, then add eggs well beaten, flour, salt,
baking powder, and extract. Line twelve tartlet tins with pastry, put
teaspoonful of preserves in each, then divide mixture into them, and
bake in moderately hot oven twenty minutes.
Sufficient for twelve tartlets.
BREADS &c.
[Illustration]
The usual method of making bread is to ferment dough with yeast; the
latter acts upon certain constituents in the flour ultimately producing
a gas which permeates the dough. The dough is placed in a very hot
oven, the heat kills the yeast plant, the gas expands with the heat,
still raising the dough. The loaf is set in shape, and, when finally
cooked and the gas all escaped, will be found to be light and full of
tiny holes. Certain factors hasten or delay these changes. A moist,
warm medium being most favorable to the growth of the yeast, the water
should just be lukewarm; then a good flour, containing about 8 per
cent of gluten is necessary. This gluten is the proteid in flour; when
well mixed with water it forms a viscid elastic substance, hence it is
necessary to well knead dough to make it more springy, so that when the
gas is generated in it, it will expand and take the form of a sponge,
and thus prevent the gas from escaping. The bread must be put into a
very hot oven at first, 340° F., so that the yeast plant is killed
quickly. If this be not accomplished soon, the loaf may go on spreading
in the oven, and, if not sour in taste, will not be of such a good
flavor.
Plenty of salt in dough is said to strengthen the gluten, give a good
flavor to the bread, and keep it moist for a longer time, but it
rather retards the working of the yeast. Flour also may be made into a
light loaf by using baking powder to produce the gas. This is a much
quicker process, but the bread is not liked so universally as when made
with yeast. For, when yeast is used, other changes take place in the
dough besides the production of the gas, that seem to give bread the
characteristic flavor constantly welcome by the palate. Good flour has
a slight pure smell, free from any moldy odor.
[Illustration]
Yeast is a fungoid growth, a microscopic plant capable of starting a
fermentation in various substances. It grows rapidly in a favorable
medium, as when mixed with flour and water, and kept in a warm place,
resulting in setting up fermentation. Baking powders are composed of an
acid and an alkali. Some kind of flour usually is added to keep them
dry and free from lumps. When the mixture containing the baking powder
is moistened the acid and the alkali chemically combine and alter, a
gas being generated. If the articles, be placed soon in great heat, the
gas is warmed, expands, and in its endeavor to escape raises the mass.
The heat sets the mixture in this raised condition, thus the cake or
pudding is rendered light, easier to masticate and digest.
Baking powders are used for two reasons. First. To supply a gas to
take the place of ingredients, as when used in making bread, buns,
etc. If flour, salt and water were mixed and baked in a large loaf, it
would be a hard, indigestible mass. If baking powder be mixed in with
similar ingredients and baked, the result would be a light loaf, easy
to masticate and digest.
Second. It is used to save labor. When a richer mixture be made it
requires to be well beaten to mix in air. Baking powder often is added
to save some of the otherwise necessary beating.
Baking Powder Biscuits
2 cupfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
[1]2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1 teaspoonful salt
Milk
[1] Amount of baking powder may be increased if especially raised
biscuits are desired. 2 teaspoonfuls, however, is most healthful amount.
Mix and sift twice dry ingredients. Work in Crisco with finger tips,
add gradually milk, mixing with knife to soft dough. Toss on floured
board; pat and roll to one-half inch thickness. Shape with biscuit
cutter. Place on Criscoed tin and bake in hot oven twelve minutes. To
have good biscuits dough should be handled as little as possible, just
enough to get in shape to cut. Milk or water used for mixing should be
very cold, and biscuits should be gotten into oven at once after adding
liquid to flour. If top of each biscuit is lightly brushed over with
melted Crisco before baking, crust will be much nicer. Sufficient for
fifteen biscuits.
Best Jumbles
2 cupfuls sugar
1 cupful Crisco
4 eggs
4 cupfuls flour
3 tablespoonfuls milk
1 teaspoonful salt
3 teaspoonfuls baking powder
1 teaspoonful almond extract
1 teaspoonful rose extract
Cream Crisco and sugar thoroughly together, then gradually add eggs
well beaten, now add milk, extracts, flour, salt and baking powder.
Mix and roll out lightly on floured baking board; cut into circles
with doughnut cutter, lay on Criscoed tins and bake in moderate oven
from seven to ten minutes or till light brown. These cookies will keep
fresh two weeks, and if milk is left out, a month.
Sufficient for seventy jumbles.
Boston Brown Bread
1 cupful ryemeal
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 cupful sugar
1 cupful cornmeal
1 cupful graham flour
¾ tablespoonful baking soda
⅓ teaspoonful salt
¾ cupful molasses
1¾ cupfuls sweet milk
Mix and sift ingredients. Dissolve soda with one tablespoonful hot
water, add to molasses, then add milk and mix with dry ingredients.
Turn into greased mold two-thirds full, grease cover, and steam
steadily three and a half hours. A 6-pound Crisco pail can be used for
a mold.
Sufficient for one loaf.
Bran Gems
½ cupful bran
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 tablespoonful whole wheat flour
½ cupful white flour
½ cupful milk
1 saltspoonful salt
1 egg
2 tablespoonfuls molasses
1 teaspoonful baking powder
Mix Crisco thoroughly with molasses, add egg well beaten, milk, salt,
bran, flours, and baking powder. Divide into well greased gem pans, and
bake in hot oven from eight to ten minutes. These gems are excellent
for constipation.
Sufficient for eight gems.
Brown Nut Bread
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
2 eggs
1 cupful sugar
1 cupful sour milk
⅔ cupful New Orleans molasses
1½ cupfuls flour
1½ cupfuls graham flour
½ teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful baking soda
1 cupful sultana raisins
1 cupful chopped nut meats
Beat eggs and sugar together for five minutes, then add molasses, soda
mixed with milk, salt, flours, raisins, and nuts. Mix and turn into
Criscoed and floured cake tin and bake in slow oven one and a quarter
hours.
Sufficient for one medium-sized loaf.
Buttermilk Biscuits
1 quart flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 tablespoonful sugar
1 teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful baking soda
1 teaspoonful baking powder
1 egg
¾ pint buttermilk
Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together, then rub in Crisco
with finger tips, add egg well beaten, and soda mixed with milk. Dough
should be soft and little more milk can be added if needed. Roll out
lightly and handle as little as possible. Cut with biscuit cutter, lay
on Criscoed tins and bake in hot oven ten minutes.
Sufficient for thirty biscuits.
Chocolate Brownies
1 cupful sugar
6 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
2 eggs
2 squares chocolate
⅓ teaspoonful salt
½ cupful flour
1 cupful chopped English walnut meats
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
3 tablespoonfuls boiling water
Cream Crisco and sugar together, add eggs well beaten, chocolate
dissolved in boiling water, salt, flour, vanilla, and nuts. Divide and
spread thin in 2 Criscoed square pans and bake in slow oven from twenty
to twenty-five minutes. Cut in strips and serve with ice cream. These
are a cross between cookies and heavy cake.
Sufficient for fifty brownies.
Chocolate Wafers
1 cupful sugar
5 tablespoonfuls Crisco
2 cupfuls flour
¼ cake chocolate
2 eggs
¼ teaspoonful baking soda
½ teaspoonful vanilla extract
¼ teaspoonful salt
Cream Crisco and sugar together, add chocolate melted, eggs well
beaten, vanilla extract, flour, salt, and soda. Mix and turn out on to
floured baking board. Roll out thin, and cut with small cutter. Lay on
Criscoed tin and bake from seven to ten minutes in moderate oven.
Sufficient for forty-six wafers.
Citron Buns
1 yeast cake
6 tablespoonfuls sugar
¾ cupful Crisco
½ cupful raisins
¼ cupful chopped citron peel
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
1 cupful scalded milk
1 egg
5½ cupfuls flour
¼ cupful lukewarm water
1 teaspoonful salt
Scald milk, add half of sugar and salt; when lukewarm add yeast
dissolved in water and 1½ cupfuls flour. Mix, cover, and let rise till
light; then add Crisco, remainder of sugar and flour, raisins, peel,
and extract. Knead lightly, cover, and let rise. Divide into small
pieces, let rise on greased tins, brush over with beaten egg and bake
in hot oven twenty minutes.
Sufficient for twenty-two buns.
Coffee Bread
¾ cupful milk
½ cupful melted Crisco
½ cake compressed yeast
1 teaspoonful salt
2 eggs
1 cupful sugar
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
¼ cupful chopped English walnut meats
Flour
Heat milk slightly, then add flour to make batter and yeast dissolved
in little lukewarm water. Allow to rise until light, then add Crisco,
eggs well beaten, sugar, lemon, salt, and enough flour to make stiff
dough. Knead ten minutes and let rise until light. Place in Criscoed
pan and let rise again. Spread with melted Crisco and sprinkle with
sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Bake in hot oven half an hour.
Sufficient for one large loaf.
Columbia Muffins
3 tablespoonfuls sugar
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 egg
1½ cupfuls milk
1 teaspoonful salt
3½ teaspoonfuls baking powder
3½ cupfuls sifted flour
Sift flour, salt, and baking powder together. Cream Crisco and sugar,
add egg well beaten, then milk and flour mixture. Divide into Criscoed
and floured gem pans and bake twenty-five minutes in hot oven.
Sufficient for twenty muffins.
Corn Bread
1 cupful cornmeal
2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
1 cupful flour
½ cupful sugar
1 cupful sour cream
2 eggs
½ teaspoonful baking soda
½ teaspoonful salt
Mix cornmeal with flour, sugar, salt, Crisco, eggs well beaten, and
soda mixed with cream. Mix well and turn into Criscoed tin and bake in
moderate oven thirty minutes.
Sufficient for one small pan of corn bread.
Cornmeal Rolls
1¼ cupfuls flour
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1 egg
½ cupful milk
1 tablespoonful sugar
½ teaspoonful salt
¾ cupful cornmeal
4 teaspoonfuls baking powder
Sift together flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Rub in
Crisco with finger tips, then add egg well beaten and milk. Roll out,
cut into rounds with a large cutter, brush over with melted Crisco,
fold over as for Parkerhouse rolls, brush tops with beaten egg or milk
and bake in hot oven ten minutes.
Sufficient for fifteen rolls.
Cream Scones
2 cupfuls flour
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 teaspoonfuls baking powder
2 teaspoonfuls sugar
½ teaspoonful salt
2 eggs
⅓ cupful cream
1 white of egg
Mix and sift flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Rub in Crisco with
finger tips, add eggs well beaten and cream. Knead dough lightly on
floured baking board, divide into four equal pieces, make smooth and
roll out, and cut into 4 small scones. Lay them on hot griddle, brush
over with beaten white of egg and fry slowly on both sides. The dough
should always be lightly handled.
Sufficient for sixteen scones.
Crisco Brownies
⅓ cupful sugar
⅓ cupful Crisco
⅓ cupful molasses
2 eggs
1 cupful flour
1 cupful chopped nut meats
¼ teaspoonful salt
½ teaspoonful vanilla extract
Cream Crisco and sugar together, add eggs well beaten, molasses,
extract, flour, salt and nuts. Divide into small fancy Criscoed tins,
or bake in Criscoed sheet tin and cut in squares. Bake in moderate oven
half hour. These are a cross between cake and candy.
Sufficient for twelve squares.
Crisco Batter Cakes
3 eggs
½ cupful melted Crisco
1 cupful flour
1 cupful buttermilk
½ teaspoonful baking soda
1 teaspoonful baking powder
½ teaspoonful salt
Beat up yolks of eggs, add milk, Crisco, and flour mixed with salt,
soda, and baking powder and beat till smooth. Fold in whites beaten to
a stiff froth. Drop in large spoonfuls on ungreased skillet or griddle.
Serve hot with butter or maple syrup.
Sufficient for fifteen cakes.
Crisco Milk Bread
3 tablespoonfuls sugar
3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
2 tablespoonfuls salt
1 yeast cake
1 quart milk
About 7 pints flour
Mix yeast cake with 1 tablespoonful sugar. Heat milk, add remainder of
sugar, Crisco, and salt. Cool and add yeast and flour to make stiff
dough. Turn out on floured baking board, cut in three pieces, knead
first one piece, then others, stretching dough; let rise over night or
in warm temperature five hours. Knead lightly and divide into Criscoed
pans. Allow to rise and bake in moderate oven one hour. From same
dough, French bread, breadsticks, horse shoe rolls and French rolls can
be made.
Sufficient for three loaves.
Dessert Biscuits
1 cupful confectioners’ sugar
1 cupful Crisco
1 cupful flour
5 whites of eggs
½ teaspoonful vanilla extract
1 teaspoonful salt
Cream Crisco and gradually add sugar, mix thoroughly, and incorporate,
one by one, whites of eggs. Now add flour, salt, and vanilla. Mix well,
then place in small, long heaps on a Criscoed tin. Bake in cool oven to
pale brown color.
Sufficient for sixty biscuits.
Entire Wheat Bread
1¼ cupfuls boiling water
2 tablespoonfuls Crisco
1¼ cupfuls milk
2 teaspoonfuls salt
2 tablespoonfuls sugar
1 yeast cake
¼ cupful tepid water
Whole wheat flour
Mix boiling water, milk, sugar, salt, and Crisco together. Add yeast
cake dissolved in tepid water, with 3½ cupfuls whole wheat flour. Mix
and let stand until light. Add more flour until soft dough is formed,
then knead and divide into two loaves. Place in Criscoed tins and let
stand until the dough doubles its bulk. Brush over with milk and bake
in moderate oven one and a half hours.
Sufficient for two small loaves.
Excellent Graham Bread
2 cupfuls graham flour
4 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
½ cupful flour
1 teaspoonful baking powder
1½ cupfuls sour milk
¼ cupful sugar
½ teaspoonful salt
1 teaspoonful baking soda
Sift flours with baking powder, salt, sugar, and soda, then add Crisco
and milk. Mix and turn into greased and floured cake tin and bake in
moderate oven fifty minutes.
Sufficient for one small loaf.
Filled Cookies
1 egg
1 cupful sugar
½ cupful Crisco
½ cupful milk or cream
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
1 teaspoonful baking soda
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
3½ cupfuls flour
½ teaspoonful salt
For Filling
1 cupful chopped raisins
1 tablespoonful flour
½ cupful sugar
½ cupful water
½ cupful chopped walnut meats
_For cookies._ Cream Crisco and sugar, add salt, egg well beaten, milk,
vanilla, and flour sifted with baking powder and soda. Mix and turn
out on floured baking board. Dough should be soft. Roll very thin and
cut out with cooky cutter. Spread one-half of cookies with filling,
then place remaining cookies on top and press edges together. Place on
Criscoed tins and bake in moderately hot oven fifteen minutes.
_For filling._ Mix sugar and flour in saucepan, add raisins, nuts, and
water, stir and cook until thick. Cool before using.
Fried Cornmeal Nut Cakes
2 cupfuls yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco
3 cupfuls boiling water
1 teaspoonful salt
1 egg
½ cupful chopped nut meats
Bring water and salt to boil, stir in cornmeal, add nut meats, and stir
and cook ten minutes. Remove from fire and add egg well beaten, and
melted Crisco. Turn into Criscoed tin and cool. When cold, slice and
fry in hot Crisco. Serve with honey or maple syrup.
Sufficient for six or eight slices.
Fried Cakes with Apple Sauce
1 cupful sugar
4 tablespoonfuls Crisco
3 cupfuls sour milk
¼ teaspoonful grated nutmeg
1 teaspoonful lemon extract
1 teaspoonful baking soda
1 teaspoonful baking powder
½ teaspoonful salt
Flour
Apple sauce