1321. Puff-Paste Plaits

Give nine turns to half a pound of puff-paste, roll it out to the thickness of the eighth part of an inch, and then cut this into bands about live inches in width, and divide these into narrow strips a quarter of an inch wide. Take four of these strips, and after fastening them together at one end with a little egg or water, plait them neatly but rather loosely together, and when finished, fasten the ends: as each plait is completed, place it on a baking-sheet, and when they are all ready, egg them over, and bake them of a light color, and when done, let them be glazed as usual. Just before sending these cakes to table, decorate them by placing in the small cavities some dots of bright currant or apple-jelly, and some greengage-jam.

1322. Apple Tartlets

Make half a pound of tart-paste (No. 1255), roll it out rather thin ; then stamp out twenty circular flats, with a fluted cutter suited to the size of the tartlets, and use them to line the moulds; fill each tartlet with a spoonful of apple-marmalade, cover them in with a mosaic* of paste, egg them over, place them on a baking-sheet, and bake them of a light color; when done, shake some fine sugar over them, and use the red-hot salamander, to give them a glossy appearance.

1323. Apple Tartlets, Another Method

Line the tartlet-pans as above, then garnish them with halves of small apples, previously turned and divested of the cores, and after-wards parboiled in a little syrup in which the juice of a lemon has been squeezed ; bake the tartlets, and when they are done, dilute some apricot-jam with a little of the syrup ; use this to mask the apples in the tartlets, and then place a preserved cherry on the centre of each.

1324. Cherry Tartlets

Take the stones out of two pounds of Kentish cherries, put these into a small sugar-boiler with three quarters of a pound of pounded sugar, toss them in this, then set them on the stove-fire and allow them to boil for about five minutes : the cherries must then be strained on a sieve, and the syrup reduced to about one-third part of its quantity, then added to the cherries, and kept in a small basin.

Line two. dozen small tartlet-pans with short paste or tart-paste (the flats being stamped out with a fluted cutter); knead as many small pieces of paste as there are tartlets, and after dipping them in flour, press one of them into each of the tartlets, place them on a baking-sheet, and put them in the oven (moderately heated) to be baked of a light color; when they are nearly done, withdraw them, and take out the pieces of paste, shake some fine sugar over them, and then glaze them with the red-hot salamander. Just before serving the tartlets, fill them with the cherries.

Note. - Raspberries, currants, gooseberries, and all kinds of plums, may be prepared for tartlets, by gently boiling them for a few minutes in about a pint of syrup; the fruit should then be drained on a sieve, and the syrup reduced to one-third of its original quantity, and kept with the fruit in a small basin, to fill the tartlets with as in the foregoing cases.

* Mosaic-boards, for tartlets, may be had of all sizes and patterns at any turner's shop. To cut out impressions from these, it is necessary to use small circular flats of raised pie-paste, which must be placed on the board, and pressed into the design, by rolling it with a paste-pin; the superfluous paste must then be cut or shaved away, and the mosaic of paste that remains in the design shaken out of the board.