Gooseberry Pie

Line the edges of a deep pie-dish with rich puff paste, fill the dish with cleaned and picked gooseberries and put half a pound of moist sugar with them; pour in a little water, cover the pie with more puff paste moistening the edges so they will stick to the undercrust, cut it evenly all round, make a slit in the top with a knife, and bake in a moderate oven. When cooked take it out, sprinkle powdered sugar over, and serve with a good custard.

Lemon Pie

(1.) Mix two tablespoonfuls of corn starch with one breakfast cupful of hot water, pour it into a stewpan, and stir over the fire until boiling. Then mix in the grated rinds and juice of two lemons and three-fourths of a pound of powdered sugar; when cool stir in the yolks of four well-beaten eggs, line some buttered plates with a good rich crust, pour the mixture in, and bake until the crust is done. Beat the whites of two eggs together with six tablespoonfuls of sugar, and when very light and frothy pour it over the pies, place them in the oven again, and bake till slightly browned. Serve either hot or cold.

(2.) Make a good paste, and line a deep pie-dish with it. Stir together the following: The grated rinds and juice of two lemons, one breakfast cupful of finely-chopped raisins, one teacupful of cracker-dust, one breakfast cupful of boiling water, and one and one-half breakfast cupfuls of sugar. Stir all these ingredients in a saucepan over the fire until they boil, and then fill the dish with them; put an upper crust on the pie, wetting the edges to make it adhere, brush the surface with beaten eggs, make two or three little cuts in it, and bake in a moderate oven until well-browned.

Lemon-Cream Pies

Line some small buttered plates with a good short paste, and bake until lightly browned. Boil one pint of milk, then put with it one teacupful of powdered sugar; mix together the grated rind of half a lemon and two tablespoonfuls of flour, pour over a little of the milk gradually to form a thick paste, then mix all together and whisk it over the fire. When the flour is cooked, add the juice of half a lemon, a large lump of butter, and four well-beaten yolks of eggs, continue stirring over the fire, but be careful to remove it before the eggs curdle. Pour the cream into the plates of crusts, and serve when cold.

Mince Pies

Prepare some puff, short or tart-paste, and roll it on a floured table to the thickness of one-fourth of an inch. Butter some large pie-plates and line them with the paste; fill each one with mincemeat, cover with rounds of the paste, trim round the edges, moisten and press them together. Bake for about thirty minutes in a brisk oven. Beat the whites of two or three eggs to a stiff froth; take out the pies when cooked, dip a paste-brush in the beaten egg, and brush them over with it. Sprinkle sugar over each and place them in the oven again to glaze for two or three minutes. Arrange the pies on a folded napkin placed on a dish, garnish with sprigs of holly, and serve while they are very hot.