Apple Pies

Use either a good puff-paste or rub together half a pound of butter to every pound of flour used, until evenly mixed; then pour in a little cold water and salt, and stir up with two fingers drawing in the flour gradually. Spread some of the flour on the table, and pat the paste into a smooth mass in it; roll out the paste once, fold up as you would a napkin, and it is ready to use. Cover each patty-pan with a layer of paste, rolled thin. Peel some good apples, slice them off the cores into the pie, and cover with another crust; cut off the edges by pressing with both hands against the patty-pan, turning it round at the same time. Bake in a slack oven until the apples are done, say from fifteen to thirty minutes. If desired, a little nutmeg or cinnamon may be added, dredge a little flour over and add before the top crust is put on. A little sugar dusted over the top after they are baked improves the appearance.

Apple Custard Pie

Peel, core and chop up enough apples to make the number of pies desired, stew them in not more than sufficient water to keep them from burning. When done, mash well, and add to each quart of fruit the following: Four eggs (well beaten), one pint of sweet milk, four ounces of butter (melted), a grated nutmeg, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, and a half pound of powdered sugar. When the apples are cool, stir all up together and bake in a rich pastry crust.

Apricot Pie

Take an ordinary pie-dish and make sufficient tart paste, according to the size of tart proposed to be made; lay closely pressed around the border of the dish, previously moistened, a band of paste three inches wide and a sixth of an inch thick. Within the dish arrange halves of apricots to fill it (unripe fruit will do for these pies), a little sugar and an ounce or two of butter. Roll out some more paste to make a crust, and, wetting the band, cover over with the sheet of paste, press the edges down, and trim. Brush over the top with the white of egg and strew finely-broken sugar over it. Bake for an hour and a quarter, and serve hot.

Banana Cream Pie

Put a lump of butter in a basin and warm it together with a little crushed loaf-sugar, the yolks of two or three eggs, a little milk and sherry or angelica, and some pulp of bananas mashed thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a deep dish, stirring in the well-whipped whites of a couple of eggs; place the dish in a moderate oven and bake until done, taking care not to bake too quickly. Then remove and serve.

Cherry Pie

Remove the stones from the necessary amount of cherries and then scald the fruit in their own juice, sweeten well, and pour into a deep pie-dish lined with a rich paste. Dredge with flour, cover with a top crust of the same paste, ornament the edge, and put in the oven to bake.

Cocoanut Pies

Pour one cupful of milk into a saucepan, boil and sprinkle in one tablespoonful of corn starch mixed with two tablespoonfuls of sugar; when these are incorporated, add a lump of butter, one pinch of salt and two ounces of grated cocoanut. Pour the mixture in a basin, let it cool, add the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth, put the mixture into pans lined with puff paste, and bake until done.