PASTRY DESSERTS
Banbury Tarts
1 cup raisins
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cracker
Juice and grated rind 1 lemon
Stone and chop raisins, add sugar, egg slightly beaten, cracker finely
rolled, and lemon juice and rind. Roll pastry one-eighth inch thick, and
cut pieces three and one-half inches long by three inches wide. Put two
teaspoons of mixture on each piece. Moisten edge with cold water
half-way round, fold over, press edges together with three-tined fork,
first dipped in flour. Bake twenty minutes in slow oven.
Cheese Cakes
1 cup sweet milk
1 cup sour milk
1 cup sugar
Yolks 4 eggs
Juice and grated rind one lemon
¼ cup almonds, blanched and chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
Scald sweet and sour milk, strain through cheese-cloth. To curd add
sugar, yolks of eggs slightly beaten, lemon, and salt. Line patty pans
with paste, fill with mixture, and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Bake
until mixture is firm to the touch.
Cheese Straws
Roll puff or plain paste one-fourth inch thick, sprinkle one-half with
grated cheese to which has been added few grains of salt and cayenne.
Fold, press edges firmly together, fold again, pat, and roll out
one-fourth inch thick. Sprinkle with cheese and proceed as before;
repeat twice. Cut in strips five inches long and one-fourth inch wide.
Bake eight minutes in hot oven. Parmesan cheese, or equal parts of
Parmesan and Edam cheese, may be used. Cheese straws are piled log cabin
fashion and served with cheese or salad course.
Condés
Whites 2 eggs
¾ cup powdered sugar
2 oz. almonds, blanched and finely chopped
Beat whites of eggs until stiff, add sugar gradually, then almonds. Roll
paste, and cut in strips three and one-half inches long by one and
one-half inches wide. Spread with mixture; avoid having it come close to
edge. Dust with powdered sugar and bake fifteen minutes in moderate
oven.
Galattes
Roll puff or plain paste one-eighth inch thick. Shape with an oblong
cutter three and one-half inches long by one and three-fourths inches
wide. Brush over with white of egg and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake in a hot oven. A lady-finger cutter may be used with satisfaction,
but is more difficult to procure.
Cream Horns
Roll puff paste in a long rectangular piece, one-eighth inch thick. Cut
in strips three-fourths inch wide. Roll paste over wooden forms bought
for the purpose, having edges overlap. Bake in hot oven until well
puffed and slightly browned. Brush over with white of egg slightly
beaten, diluted with one teaspoon water, then sprinkle with sugar.
Return to oven and finish cooking, and remove from forms. When cold,
fill with Cream Filling or whipped cream sweetened and flavored.
Florentine Meringue
Roll puff or plain paste one-eighth inch thick; cut a piece ten inches
long by seven inches wide; place on a sheet, wet edges, and put on a
half-inch rim. Prick with fork six times, and bake in hot oven. Cool,
and spread with jam, cover with Meringue II, and almonds blanched and
shredded; sprinkle with powdered sugar and bake.
Cocoanut Tea Cakes
Roll puff or plain paste to one-fourth inch in thickness. Shape with a
lady-finger cutter and bake on a tin sheet in a hot oven. When nearly
done remove from oven, cool slightly, brush over with beaten white of
egg, sprinkle with shredded cocoanut, and return to oven to finish the
cooking.
Napoleons
Bake three sheets of pastry, pricking before baking. Put between the
sheets Cream Filling; spread top with Confectioner’s Frosting, sprinkle
with pistachio nuts blanched and chopped, crease in pieces about two and
one-half by four inches, and cut with sharp knife.
Orange Sticks
Cut puff or plain paste rolled one-eighth inch thick in strips five
inches long by one inch wide, and bake in hot oven. Put together in
pairs, with Orange Filling between.
Lemon Sticks
Lemon Sticks may be made in same manner as Orange Sticks, using Lemon
Filling.
Palm Leaves
Roll remnants of puff paste one-eighth inch thick; sprinkle one-half
surface with powdered sugar, fold, press edges together, pat and roll
out, using sugar for dredging board; repeat three times. After the last
rolling fold four times. The pastry should be in long strip one and
one-half inches wide. From the end, cut pieces one inch wide; place on
baking-sheet, broad side down, one inch apart, and separate layers of
pastry at one end to suggest a leaf. Bake eight minutes in hot oven;
these will spread while baking.
Raspberry Puffs
Roll plain paste one-eighth inch thick, and cut in pieces four by three
and one-half inches. Put one-half tablespoon raspberry jam on centre of
lower half of each piece, wet edges half-way around, fold, press edges
firmly together, prick tops, place on sheet, and bake twenty minutes in
hot oven.
Tarts
Roll puff paste one-eighth inch thick. Shape with a fluted round cutter,
first dipped in flour; with a smaller cutter remove centres from half
the pieces, leaving rings one-half inch wide. Brush with cold water the
larger pieces near the edge; fit on rings, pressing lightly. Chill
thoroughly, and bake fifteen minutes in hot oven. By brushing tops of
rings with beaten yolk of egg diluted with one teaspoonful water, they
will have a glazed appearance. Cool, and fill with jam or jelly.
Polish Tartlets
Roll puff or plain paste one-eighth inch thick, and cut in two and
one-half inch squares; wet the corners, fold toward the centre, and
press lightly; bake on a sheet; when cool, press down the centres and
fill, using two-thirds quince marmalade and one-third currant jelly.
Almond Tartlets
Line patty pans with puff or plain paste, fill with the following
mixture, and bake in a moderate oven until firm.
Blanch and finely chop one-third pound Jordan almonds. Add two
tablespoons cracker rolled and sifted, three eggs slightly beaten,
one-third cup sugar, one-third teaspoon salt, two cups milk, and
one-half teaspoon vanilla.
Peach Crusts
Roll puff or plain paste one-eighth inch thick, cut in two and one-half
inch squares, and bake in hot oven. Cool, press down the centres, and
arrange on each one-half a canned peach drained from syrup and heated in
oven. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and put brandy in each cavity. Light
just before sending to table.
Malaga Boats
Roll puff or plain paste one-eighth inch thick, line individual
boat-shaped tins, prick, and half fill with rice or barley to keep
pastry in desired shape. Bake in a hot oven. Remove from tins and cover
bottom of boats with marmalade, and on marmalade arrange three or four
malaga grapes cooked in syrup five minutes.
Calvé Tarts
Roll puff or plain paste one-eighth inch thick, and cut in rounds of
correct size to cover inverted circular tins. Cover tins with paste,
prick several times, and bake until delicately browned. Place one-half a
canned peach in each case and fill each cavity with one-half a blanched
Jordan almond.
Fruit Baskets
Bake plain paste over inverted patty pans. Roll paste one-eighth inch
thick, and cut in strips one-fourth inch wide. Twist strips in pairs and
bake over a one-fourth pound baking-powder box, thus making handles.
Fill cases with sliced peaches sprinkled generously with sugar, insert
handles, garnish with whipped cream and peach leaves. Strawberries,
raspberries, or other fruit may be used in place of peaches.
Lemon Tartlets
Bake paste as for Fruit Baskets without handles. Fill with Lemon Pie II
mixture, cover with Meringue II, and bake until meringue is delicately
browned.
MERINGUES
For Pies, Puddings, and Desserts
Eggs for meringues should be thoroughly chilled, and beaten with silver
fork, wire spoon, or whisk. Where several eggs are needed, much time is
saved by using a whisk. Meringues on pies, puddings, or desserts may be
spread evenly, spread and piled in the centre, put on lightly by
spoonfuls, or spread evenly with part of the mixture, the remainder
being forced through a pastry bag and tube.
Meringues I and III should be baked fifteen minutes in slow oven.
Meringue II should be cooked eight minutes in moderate oven; if removed
from oven before cooked, the eggs will liquefy and meringue settle; if
cooked too long, meringue is tough.
Meringue I
Whites 2 eggs
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
½ tablespoon lemon juice or
¼ teaspoon vanilla
Beat whites until stiff, add sugar gradually and continue beating, then
add flavoring.
Meringue II
Whites 3 eggs
7½ tablespoons powdered sugar
½ teaspoon lemon extract or
⅓ teaspoon vanilla
Beat whites until stiff, add four tablespoons sugar gradually, and beat
vigorously; fold in remaining sugar, and add flavoring.
Meringue III
Whites 4 eggs
⅞ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Put whites of eggs and sugar in bowl, beat mixture until stiff enough to
hold its shape, add lemon juice drop by drop, continuing the beating. It
will take thirty minutes to beat mixture sufficiently stiff to hold its
shape, but when baked it makes a most delicious meringue.
Meringues Glacées, or Kisses
Whites 4 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla
1¼ cups powdered sugar or
1 cup fine granulated
Beat whites until stiff, add gradually two-thirds of sugar, and continue
beating until mixture will hold its shape; fold in remaining sugar, and
add flavoring. Shape with a spoon or pastry bag and tube on wet board
covered with letter paper. Bake thirty minutes in very slow oven, remove
from paper, and put together in pairs, or if intending to fill with
whipped cream or ice cream remove soft part with spoon and place
meringues in oven to dry.
Nut Meringues
To Meringue Glacée mixture add chopped nut meat; almonds, English
walnuts, or hickory nuts are preferred. Shape by dropping mixture from
tip of spoon in small piles one-half inch apart, or by using pastry bag
and tube. Sprinkle with nut meat, and bake.
Meringues (Mushrooms)
Shape Meringue Glacée mixture in rounds the size of mushroom caps, using
pastry bag and tube; sprinkle with grated chocolate. Shape stems like
mushroom stems. Bake, remove from paper, and place caps on stems.
Meringues Panachées
Fill Meringues Glacées with ice cream, or ice cream and water ice.
Garnish with whipped cream forced through pastry bag and tube, and
candied cherries.
Creole Kisses
½ lb. Jordan almonds
¼ cup boiling water
½ cup sugar
Whites 4 eggs
1¼ cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
Blanch almonds, finely shred one-half of them, and dry slowly in oven.
Put water and sugar in a saucepan, and as soon as boiling-point is
reached, add remaining almonds, and cook until the syrup is of a golden
brown color. Turn into a pan, cool, and finely pound in mortar. Beat
whites of eggs until stiff, add gradually sugar, then vanilla, almonds,
and salt. Shape, sprinkle with shredded almonds, sift sugar over them,
and bake in a slow oven twenty-five minutes.