School and Home Cooking

by Carlotta C. Greer

(2) To compare homemade and baker's cake. Determine the weight and cost of homemade and baker's cake. Compare like kinds of cake, i.e. plain, chocolate, etc. Compute the cost per pound of each. If possible compare the flavor, grain, and texture of each. What are the advantages of homemade over baker's cake?

DIVISION FIFTEEN

PASTRY

LESSON CLIII

PIE WITH UNDER CRUST

PASTRY.—Good pastry is: (a) light, (b) flaky or friable, and (c) tender. The lightness of pastry is largely dependent upon the temperature of the ingredients. All the materials should be cold, so that the expansion in baking may be as great as possible. In order to keep the ingredients cold and the fats solid, a knife (instead of the fingers) should be used in mixing. It is well to chill pastry by placing it on the ice before rolling out. The lightness of pastry is dependent somewhat upon quick and deft manipulations. A little baking powder also increases the lightness of pastry.

Flaky pastry results when the ingredients are mixed so as to form layers. To accomplish this, solid fat is used and it is not cut fine into the dry ingredients, but is left in pieces. Thus, when rolled, there are layers of flour and fat. Pastry is sometimes made by cutting part of the fat into the flour mixture, then moistening and rolling it out; adding the remainder of the fat in small bits, folding and rolling out again.

Friable pastry usually results when oil is used instead of solid fat. The following fats may be used alone or in combination: butter, oleomargarine, lard, vegetable oil or fat, lard substitutes.

To make pastry tender and not tough, the least possible moisture should be used. The quantity of fat used also determines its tenderness. The more fat used, the less the amount of water required. Less moisture is required when oil rather than solid fat is used. For this reason, many persons can produce more tender pastry by using a cooking oil. The fact that the moisture is decreased when oil is used may also account for the decreased quantity of oil given in the recipe for pastry. Less oil than solid fat will produce the same degree of tenderness, provided less water is used.

PIE WITH THE UNDER CRUST.—Pastry is somewhat difficult of digestion; but a crust that is brittle and easily crumbled is more readily digested than one that is moist and pasty. Pie crust should crumble as finely as a cracker. To prevent moist and pasty pie crust, it is advisable to bake "one crust" pie. If an under crust only is used, it should be baked before adding the filling. The filling should be cooked and sweetened before adding it to the crust.