French Puff Pastry Pie Crust of 1877
Posted by Warren
Makes one 9 to 10 inch pie, double crust, dough
Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping, by Estelle W. Wilcox, 1877
This is the original french puff pastry recipe with all its difficulties.
Do not try this if your are a beginner. Practice first with the short cut version.
Once you master that try this one.
If you can accomplish this pastry, you are licensed to call yourself a pastry chef.
French Puff Pastry Pie Crust Recipe from 1877
Buckeye Cookery, and Practical Housekeeping, by Estelle W. Wilcox, 1877 – Text Version
PUFF-PASTE.
One heaping pound superfine sifted flour, one of butter; place the flour on board (or marble slab is better), make a well in center, squeeze in juice of half a lemon, and add yolk of one egg, beaten with a little ice-water; stir with one hand and drop in ice-water with the other, until the paste is as hard as the butter; roll paste out in a smooth square an inch thick, smooth sides with a rolling-pin, spread the butter over half the paste; lay the other half over like an old-fashioned turn-over, leave it for fifteen minutes in a cold place, then roll out in a long strip, keeping the edges smooth, and double it in three parts, as follows:
Fold one-third over on the middle third, roll it down, then fold over the other outside third, roll out in a long strip and repeat the folding process; let it lie for fifteen minutes, and repeat this six times, allowing fifteen minutes between each rolling, and the paste is ready for use.
Handle as little as possible through the whole process. All the flour used must be of the very best quality, and thoroughly sifted. The quantity of water depends on the capacity of the flour to absorb it, which is quite variable. Too little makes the paste tough, and too much makes it thin, and prevents the flakiness so desirable. Rich paste requires a quick oven.–Mrs. V. G. Hush, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A Cookbook with vintage pie recipes
This was the great mid-American cookbook of its day. It began life as a charity cookbook in 1876.
They published the Buckeye Cookery cookbook to raise money to build a parsonage.
They named it The Centennial Buckeye Cook Book, in honor of America’s Centennial.
Why was the book so popular? Clearly, it met the needs of thousands of women looking for advice on how to feed their families and manage their households.
This cookbook kept up-to-date by revisions covering newly introduced foods and equipment.
It contains about 300 pages of cookery recipes and another 125 or so of household hints, suggestions for caring for the sick, for doing laundry, for the cellar and the ice-house, for “Hired Help”, for preserving, gardening – and everything else within the housewives’ sphere of responsibility.
Pie Crust Recipe made with Lard and Butter
—Ingredients and instructions are not the actual vintage recipe but is provided for reference purposes.
Pastry dough – double crust
2 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour (Red bag)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 ice cold water (do not use all at once)
1 teaspoon cold canola oil
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) cold leaf lard
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter (any brand wrapped in foil)
Directions making the dough
1. Add all your dry ingredients to a chilled glass bowl and tossed the mixture with a fork.
2. Cube your fats into small pieces and add to the bowl.
3. Using just your finger tips rub the cold fat into the flour. Stop when the mixture resembles cracker crumbs and tiny peas.
4. Whip the ice cold water and oil until it looks cloudy and the mixture looks a little foamy. Quickly add two thirds of this to the dry ingredients and toss with a fork. If it is not coming together add the remaining liquid.
Do Not over work the dough.
It will make it tough.
5. The dough should look somewhat dry but come together when squeezed in your hands.
6. Now divide this mixture in half to make two balls by squeezing it all together. Compress and flatten the balls to form two large disks.
7. Wrap disks tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 30-60 minutes. You can freeze them for two months by adding a foil wrap to the covered disks.
8. Your dough is now ready for your favorite pie recipe.
Pie Crust Success
Why make just one batch. If you plan to use this often make a large batch. It will take all day anyway.
More than half of the time used to make pastry is spent getting out the ingredients, putting things away and cleaning up.
Wrap the dough in plastic then aluminum foil and freeze it up to a month.
Take the dough out a day before and let thaw in the refrigerator. It works out well.
