Fruit pies for family use, are generally made with common paste,
allowing three quarters of a pound of butter to a pound and a half
of flour.
Peaches and plums for pies, should be cut in half, and the stones
taken out. Cherries also should be stoned, and red cherries only
should be used for pies.
Apples should be cut into very thin slices, and are much improved
by a little lemon peel. Sweet apples are not good for pies, as
they are very insipid when baked, and seldom get thoroughly done.
If green apples are used, they should first be stewed in as little
water as possible; and made very sweet.
Apples, stewed previous to baking, should not be done till they
break, but only till they are tender. They should then be drained
in a colander, and chopped fine with a knife or the edge of a
spoon.
In making pies of juicy fruit, it is a good way to set a small
tea-cup on the bottom crust, and lay the fruit all round it. The
juice will collect under the cup, and not run out at the edges or
top of the pie. The fruit should be mixed with a sufficient
quantity of sugar, and piled up in the middle, so as to make the
pie highest in the centre. The upper crust should be pricked with
a fork, or have a slit cut in the middle. The edges should be
nicely crimped with a knife.
Dried peaches, dried apples, and cranberries should be stewed with
a very little water, and allowed to get quite cold before they are
put into the pie. If stewed fruit is put in warm, it will make the
paste heavy.
If your pies are made in the form of shells, or without lids, the
fruit should always be stewed first, or it will not be sufficiently
done, as the shells (which should be of puff paste) must not
bake so long as covered pies.
Shells intended for sweetmeats, must be baked empty, and the fruit
put into them before they go to table.
Fruit pies with lids, should have loaf-sugar grated over them. If
they have been baked the day before, they should be warmed in the
stove, or near the fire, before they are sent to table, to soften
the crust, and make them taste fresh.
Raspberry and apple-pies are much improved by taking off the lid,
and pouring in a little cream just before they go to table.
Replace the lid very carefully.