Wheatless Pastry

Wheatless pastry is not like the pie we made from white wheat flour, but it is tender and has a nutty flavor that is pleasant. It is rather difficult to handle, as it breaks apart easily when rolled thin. I therefore recommend the substitution of tarts, in* dividual pies, or pies without top crust, when making wheatless pastry.

Wheatless Pumpkin Pie

For one large pie, use:

2 cups pumpkin

2 eggs

1 cup milk ¼ teaspoon cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ginger ½ teaspoon salt ¾ cup light strained honey

(Use fresh pumpkins as long as they are in the market, for they are perishable. Cut up, peel and steam for fifteen minutes or until tender.)

Pastry

¾ cup barley flour ¼ cup corn flour ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup hard vegetable shortening 2 tablespoons ice-cold water

Sift the two flours and salt together. Cut into it the shortening, using a knife, until it is in tiny bits. Then rub together lightly with the hands until all ingredients are well blended; then add the water, mixing as little as possible.

Mold into a ball. Place on a floured breadboard and roll as thinly as possible. Fold over rolling-pin and lift into pie tin, pressing edges firmly into place, trimming the uneven edges. Fill with above pumpkin mixture and bake in a moderate oven about fifteen minutes.

Wheatless Strawberry Shortcake

1 cup oat flour 1 cup barley flour 1 egg ½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon shortening

2 tablespoons honey

8 teaspoons baking powder 2 cups milk

Sift the dry ingredients together. Mix in the shortening well. Add the beaten egg, honey and milk, and bake in muffin tins for about twenty minutes, in a moderate oven.

Split, butter, and pour mashed strawberries, sweetened with honey, over bottom layer. Put top on, and cover with whipped cream, sweetened with honey to taste.

Tea Biscuit

The tea biscuit in this recipe requires a little wheat flour, but the amount is so small (one-third) that the recipe will be useful when a small amount of wheat is available. These biscuit are quite as nice as any baking-powder biscuit made entirely from wheat and are for this reason particularly desirable for strawberry shortcakes, chicken fricassee, and to serve as a bread substitute.

1 cup freshly mashed or riced potato 1 cup rice flour

1 cup wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening 1 cup milk

Sift the flours, baking powder and salt well together. Cut in the shortening into small bits. When all is well mixed in, add the milk.

Mix until smooth and turn out on a floured bread-board. Roll to the thickness of an inch. Cut with a biscuit-cutter and place in a buttered tin.

Bake in a hot oven for about twenty minutes.