1255. Short-Paste For Tarts

Ingredients: - One pound of flour, half a pound of butter, two ounces of pounded sugar, a very little salt, two whole eggs, and about a gill of water.

Spread the flour out on the slab with a hollow in the centre, then add the butter, sugar, salt, and the water, and break in the two eggs; work the whole together with the hands into a firm paste, and use it for covering fruit tarts, and lining tartlets, etc.

1256. Nouilles-Paste

Ingredients: - One pound of flour, about ten yolks of eggs, a tea-spoonful of salt, and merely sufficient water to melt the salt.

Place the flour on the slab, form a hollow in the centre, then put the salt in, with a little water to melt it, and add the yolks of eight eggs; work the whole well together, at first rubbing the ingredients between the hands, and then, if necessary, add two more yolks of eggs, and finish working the paste by pushing it from you with the palms of the hands, using considerable pressure ; sprinkle a few drops of water over it, then knead the paste into a ball, and keep it wrapped up in a cloth until wanted for use. This paste must be kept very stiff.

1257. Office-Paste

Ingredients: - One pound of flour, eight ounces of pounded sugar, two whole eggs, and two yolks.

Place the flour on the slab, forming a hollow in the centre, then add the sugar and the eggs, and proceed to work the whole up into a stiff, compact body. If, however, the paste should appear dry, and present any difficulty in kneading, another yolk or two may be added.

This paste is mostly used for making ornaments for the second course.

1258. Almond-Paste

Ingredients: - Eight ounces of Jordan almonds, a pound and a half of sugar, with half an ounce of gum-dragon.

First, scald the almonds, remove the skin, wash them, and allow them to steep in cold water for about twelve hours. Next, put the gum into a galley-pot, adding to it rather more than a gill of water, cover this over with paper twisted round the edge of the galley-pot, and allow the gum to steep until it has absorbed all the water; it. must then be placed in the centre of a strong cloth, which should be twisted round at each end by two persons (in the manner practised in wringing wet cloths) with considerable pressure, so as to squeeze the gum through the cloth, which must then be gathered up into a small basin. Pound the sugar and sift it through a very fine lawn-sieve.

The almonds must now be drained on- a napkin, afterwards placed in a mortar, and pounded into a very smooth paste; in order to prevent them from turning oily, while they are being pounded, it will be necessary to add a few drops of water or lemon-juice occasionally. As soon as the almonds present the appearance of a smooth paste, rub this through a very close hair-sieve, on to a plate. Next, place the pounded almonds in a convenient-sized sugar boiler, with about one-third part of the sugar, and stir these together over a stove-fire with a new wooden spoon, working the paste briskly and carefully the whole time, in order to prevent it from burning or acquiring the least color. As soon as the paste ceases to adhere to the sides of the pan, turn it out on to the slab, and begin to work in the remainder of the sugar and the gum; the latter must be previously worked on the marble slab with the hand, and some of the sugar should be added at intervals. When the whole of the ingredients have been worked together, the paste should form a white, stiff, and smooth compact body.

Note. - Almond paste, prepared as the above, is mostly used for making croquantes, small baskets filled with whipped cream and strawberries, etc.: it may also be used for making second-course ornaments; being preferred by many for that purpose on account of its transparency.