Chapter 10

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.

Rough Puff Pastry

2 cupfuls flour 1/2 cupful Crisco, generous measure 1/2 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.

German Paste

5 cupfuls flour 1 1/2 cupfuls Crisco 1/3 cupful ground almonds 1 cupful sugar 2 eggs 2 yolks of eggs 1 1/3 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 1/3 teaspoonful salt 1/4 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 1/4 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 1/2 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 1/2 cupful Crisco, generous measure 1/2 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

1/3 cupful currants 3 tablespoonfuls ground rice 2 whites of eggs 4 tablespoonfuls Crisco 3/4 cupful sponge cake crumbs 4 tablespoonfuls sugar 2 tablespoonfuls chopped candied orange peel 1/2 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 1/4 lb. chopped candied citron peel Crisco flake pastry 1 egg 1 cupful raisins 1 tablespoonful melted Crisco 1/4 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 1/2 cupful Crisco 4 tablespoonfuls sugar 1/2 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 1/2 teaspoonful baking powder 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1/2 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.

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.

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 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder[A] 1 teaspoonful salt Milk

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.

[Footnote A: Amount of baking powder may be increased if especially raised biscuits are desired. 2 teaspoonfuls, however, is most healthful amount.]

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 3/4 tablespoonful baking soda 1/3 teaspoonful salt 3/4 cupful molasses 1-3/4 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

1/2 cupful bran 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 tablespoonful whole wheat flour 1/2 cupful white flour 1/2 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 2/3 cupful New Orleans molasses 1-1/2 cupfuls flour 1-1/2 cupfuls graham flour 1/2 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 3/4 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 1/3 teaspoonful salt 1/2 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 1/4 cake chocolate 2 eggs 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1/4 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 3/4 cupful Crisco 1/2 cupful raisins 1/4 cupful chopped citron peel 1 teaspoonful lemon extract 1 cupful scalded milk 1 egg 5-1/2 cupfuls flour 1/4 cupful lukewarm water 1 teaspoonful salt

Scald milk, add half of sugar and salt; when lukewarm add yeast dissolved in water and 1-1/2 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

3/4 cupful milk 1/2 cupful melted Crisco 1/2 cake compressed yeast 1 teaspoonful salt 2 eggs 1 cupful sugar 1 teaspoonful lemon extract 1/4 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 1-1/2 cupfuls milk 1 teaspoonful salt 3-1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 3-1/2 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 1/2 cupful sugar 1 cupful sour cream 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoonful baking soda 1/2 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

1-1/4 cupfuls flour 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1 egg 1/2 cupful milk 1 tablespoonful sugar 1/2 teaspoonful salt 3/4 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 1/2 teaspoonful salt 2 eggs 1/3 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

1/3 cupful sugar 1/3 cupful Crisco 1/3 cupful molasses 2 eggs 1 cupful flour 1 cupful chopped nut meats 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1/2 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 1/2 cupful melted Crisco 1 cupful flour 1 cupful buttermilk 1/2 teaspoonful baking soda 1 teaspoonful baking powder 1/2 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 1/2 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

1/4 cupfuls boiling water 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco 1-1/4 cupfuls milk 2 teaspoonfuls salt 2 tablespoonfuls sugar 1 yeast cake 1/4 cupful tepid water Whole wheat flour

Mix boiling water, milk, sugar, salt, and Crisco together. Add yeast cake dissolved in tepid water, with 3-1/2 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 1/2 cupful flour 1 teaspoonful baking powder 1-1/2 cupfuls sour milk 1/4 cupful sugar 1/2 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 1/2 cupful Crisco 1/2 cupful milk or cream 1 teaspoonful vanilla extract 1 teaspoonful baking soda 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 3-1/2 cupfuls flour 1/2 teaspoonful salt

For Filling

1 cupful chopped raisins 1 tablespoonful flour 1/2 cupful sugar 1/2 cupful water 1/2 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 figured 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 1/2 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 1/4 teaspoonful grated nutmeg 1 teaspoonful lemon extract 1 teaspoonful baking soda 1 teaspoonful baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt Flour Apple sauce

Cream Crisco, gradually add sugar, then add salt, nutmeg, lemon, soda, baking powder, sour milk and sufficient flour to make stiffish dough. Roll out on floured baking board, cut with large round cutter, and fry in hot Crisco until well cooked and nicely browned on both sides. Drain and serve with hot apple sauce.

Sufficient for twenty cakes.

Fruit Cookies