Special Paste for Tartlets and Barquettes. - Sift one pound of flour on to a mixing-board; make a hole in the center, into which put one-eighth ounce of salt, one-half pound of cold, melted butter, one egg, the yolks of two, and a few drops of water. Mix the whole into a paste, handling it as little as possible; roll it into a ball, and put aside in the cool for two hours.

The Preparation of Tartlet and Barquette-crusts. - Roll out the paste to the thickness of one-eighth inch, and stamp it with an indented fancy-cutter into pieces of the same size as the tartlet-molds to be used, which in this case are the same as for "petits fours," and, therefore, very small.

The fancy-cutter should be round for tartlets, and oval for barquettes. Lay the paste in the molds, prick the parts lying on the bottom, lest they should blister, garnish the insides with pieces of kitchen paper to protect the paste, and fill them with rice or flour. Bake in a moderate oven; remove the rice or flour, the sole object of which was to preserve the shape of the tartlets or barquettes; turn the latter out of their molds, and set to cool.

Example. - Garnish the bottom of a tartlet or barquette with a coating of pink, shrimp, crayfish, or lobster mousse. Upon this lay a very white poached oyster, or a slice of hard-boiled egg, stamped with an indented fancy-cutter. In the center of the yolk put a little lobster coral, and coat the whole with jelly to the level of the tartlet edges.