Three quarters of a pound of butter, and the same of flour; mix the flour very stiff with a little water; put the butter in a clean cloth, and press it thoroughly to get from it all the water. Then roll out all the flour and water paste, and lay the butter upon it, double over the paste, and beat it with a rolling-pin. Double it up quite thick, lay it in a clean plate, and put it in a cool place for an hour. If it is not light when tried in the oven, it must be beaten again.
Short Paste. No. 7.
Rub into your flour as much butter as possible, without its being greasy; rub it in very fine; put water to make it into a nice light paste; roll it out; stick bits of butter all over it; then flour and roll it up again. Do this three times; it is excellent for meat-pies.
Short Paste, made with Suet.
To one pound of flour take about half a pound of beef suet chopped very small; pour boiling water upon it; let it stand a little time; then mix the suet with the flour, taking as little of the water as possible, and roll it very thin; put a little sugar and white of egg over the crust before it is baked.
Sugar Paste.
Take half a pound of flour, and the same quantity of sugar well pounded; work it together, with a little cream and about two ounces of butter, into a stiff paste; roll it very thin. When the tarts are made, rub the white of an egg, well beaten, over them with a feather; put them in a moderate oven, and sift sugar over them.
Peaches, to preserve in Brandy. No. 1.
The peaches should be gathered before they are too ripe; they should be of the hard kind—old Newington or the Magdalen peaches are the best. Rub off the down with a flannel, and loosen the stone, which is done by cutting a quill and passing it carefully round the stone. Prick them with a large needle in several places; put them into cold water; give them a great deal of room in the preserving-pan; scald them extremely gently: the longer you are scalding them the better, for if you do them hastily, or with too quick a fire, they may crack or break. Turn them now and then with a feather: when they are tender to the feel, like a hard-boiled egg that has the shell taken off, remove them from the fire, carefully take them out, and cover them up close with a flannel. You must in all their progress observe to keep the fruit covered, and, whenever you take it from the scalding syrup, cover it up with a cloth or flannel, or the air will change the colour. Then put to them a thin syrup cool. The next day, if you think the syrup too thin, drain it well from the peaches, and add a little more sugar; boil it up, and put it to them almost cold. To a pint of syrup put half a pint of the best pale brandy you can get, which sweeten with fine sugar. If the brandy is dark-coloured, it will spoil the look of the fruit. The peaches should be well chosen, and they should have sufficient room in the glass jars. When the liquor wastes, supply the deficiency by adding more syrup and brandy. Cover them with a bladder, and every now and then turn them upside down, till the fruit is settled.