Pâte à Tourte (Pastry for Two-Crust Pies)
Cut 5 tablespoons butter and 5 tablespoons lard (or other shortening) into 2 cups of flour sifted with ½ teaspoon salt, mixing the butter and lard in with the finger tips or with a pastry blender. Add 6 or 7 tablespoons cold water, or enough to make a firm dough, handling it very gently. Chill the dough for several hours before using it.
Pâte a Paté (Pastry for Meat Pies)
Cream together 4 tablespoons butter and 5 tablespoons lard. Add ½ teaspoon salt and 1 egg. Mix in 2 cups flour with the finger tips or a pastry blender and add about 6 tablespoons cold water, or enough to make a firm dough. Handle the pastry very gently and mix it carefully and just long enough to combine the ingredients. Use for meat pies and pates that arc enclosed in a crust.
Napoléons
Roll out puff paste into a sheet 1/8 inch thick and about 14 inches long and 12 inches wide. Lay the sheet on a buttered baking pan and prick it all over with a fork. Bake it in a hot oven (400° to 425°F) until it is golden brown. The cake should be light but not puffy. With a very sharp knife, cut it into three strips, each 4 inches wide. Form a 3-layer cake, using pastry cream (March, 1956) between the layers. Brush the top layer with apricot puree and ice it with white fondant icing (March, 1956). Put a little melted chocolate in a tiny paper cornucopia and make stripes across the icing. Carefully cut across the chocolate stripes with a small knife to make the conventional design used for napoléons. With a sharp knife dipped in boiling water slice into pieces 1 ½ inches wide.
Mille-Feuille
Follow the recipe for napoléons, filling the layer with thick apricot puree mixed with the pastry crumbs left from cutting the baked strips. Or fill the layers with whipped cream and sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.
Mirlitons
Line 12 individual dec]) tart molds with puff paste and prick the paste well with a fork. Put ½ teaspoon apricot jam in each mold and fill the shells with the following mixture: Beat 2 eggs with ½ cup sugar until they are light and fluffy, flavor with a little vanilla and add 4 of 5 dry macaroons, crushed to make very fine crumbs. Sprinkle the tarts lightly with chopped almonds and bake them in a moderately hot oven (375° to 400°F.) for 12 to 15 minutes.
Cbausson aux Pommes
Roll puff paste ¼ inch thick and cut it into an 8or 9-inch circle, using a plate as a guide. Spread the center with thick applesauce or with apples cooked for cbauSSOns, leaving clear a 1 ½inch rim all around. Moisten one half of this rim with water and fold it over the other half to make the circle into a half-moon. Seal the edges together and make liny nicks with a small knife around the curved edge to give a decorative scalloped effect. Brush the top with dorure (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk) and prick it in several places with a fork. Lay the cbausson on .c1 moistened baking pan and bake it in a hot oven (400° to 425°F.) for 30 to 35 minutes. About 5 minutes before taking it from the oven, sprinkle the turnover with powdered sugar; this gives it an attractive glaze. Serve cool or lukewarm.
Apples for Chaussons
Peel, core and slice 1 pound apples. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan and in it saute the apple slices until they begin to soften. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste, and cook until the mixture is thick. Add a little vanilla or a few drops of lemon juice or 1 tablespoon of rum. Cool the apples and use them to fill the chausson. Two tablespoons of raisins may be added to the apples, if you like.
Petits Chaussons
Follow the recipe for chausson aux pommes, but make tiny individual turnovers. Fill them with the apple mixture or with jam or pastry cream and bake them for 12 to 15 minutes in a hot oven (425° to 450° F.).
Chausson aux fraises
Follow the directions for chausson aux pommes, but instead of using apples for the filling, spread 3 or 4 crushed macaroons or ladyfingers over the paste and over these put 1 cup strawberries, washed and thoroughly dried, and 2 teaspoons red currant jelly.
Conversation
Roll out 2 separate pieces of puff paste, one piece 1/8 inch thick and the other ¼ inch thick. Cut them into 8inch circles, using a plate as a guide. Turn the thinner layer onto a moistened baking sheet. Spread the center with pastry cream (March, 1956) leaving a clear border of about 1 ½ inches around the edge. Moisten the edge with water, place the other layer on top and press the two edges together to seal them. Make tiny nicks with a small knife around the edge to give a decorative scalloped effect. Make a smooth paste with confectioners' sugar and 1 egg white and spread this over the top. Cut very narrow strips of puff paste, brush them with dorure (1 egg beaten with I tablespoon milk) and arrange them in a pattern on top of the cake. Bake it in a moderately hot oven (375° to 400° F.) for 25 to 30 minutes.
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