By Winifred Moses and Lucile Brewer

Pastry is a shortened dough, a mixture of flour, shortening, and liquid put together in different ways, according to the purpose for which it is to be used. Three kinds are in common use: (1) Plain pastry, in which the shortening is worked into the flour by cutting or chopping; (2) puff pastry, in which the shortening is worked into the paste by folding and rolling; (3) flaky pastry, in which the shortening is worked into the flour by a combination of these two methods.

Ingredients

Flour

Pastry flour, made from winter wheat, makes the best pastry. It differs from ordinary bread flour made from spring wheat in that it contains less gluten and more starch; it is softer, whiter, and more velvety. One of the best tests for winter wheat flour is that it easily retains the impress of the fingers, while spring wheat flour tends to fall apart as quickly as the pressure is removed.

Bread flour may be made to approximate pastry flour in effect by substituting two tablespoons of cornstarch for two tablespoons of flour in each cup.

Liquid

Water is used as the liquid in making pastry. It should be as nearly ice cold as possible, except when beef drippings and warm water are used. To make pastry tender, the smallest possible amount of water that will hold the ingredients together is used. The actual amount depends on the water-absorbing quality of the flour, and on the amount of fat used-the more fat, the less moisture required.

Fat

The following kinds of fat may be used: butter, oleomargarine, vegetable fat, lard, lard substitutes, beef drippings, chicken fat, and suet. When suet is used, it is melted over boiling water and stirred while hot into the flour. The paste is then kneaded and rolled into a rather thick sheet and shaped in a mold. The effects of the various fats are as follows: lard: a soft, tender crust; cottolene: a soft, tender crust, slightly darker in color than if lard is used; vegetable oils: a less flaky crust and darker in color than if lard is used; suet: a more compact and firm crust than if lard is used. It has been found by experiment that more butter than lard is required and more lard than lard substitute, and that less shortening is needed when pastry flour is used than when bread flour is employed.

For 1 cup of bread flour one should use: 1/3 cup of lard; 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of butter; 1/3 cup minus 1 tablespoon of lard substitute.

For I cup of pastry flour one should use: 34 cup of lard; 34 cup plus 2/3 tablespoon of butter; 1/4 Cup minus 4/5 tablespoon of lard substitute.

Lard makes the tenderer crust, but butter gives the better flavor. For equivalent measures of various fats see page 477.

Baking Powder

Baking powder may be used to help leaven the crust, in the proportion of 1/4 teaspoon to 1 cup of flour. Usually the only leavening agents used in pastry are the air and water which expand when heated.

Salt

If an unsalted fat is used, salt should be added in the proportion of 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 1 cup of flour.