Paste for Raised Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Dissolve lard in boiling water.
Stir in enough flour to make a stiff, smooth paste.
Knead the dough thoroughly until firm enough to hold its shape.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it cool until nearly cold.
Shape the pie
Dredge flour on a pastry board and shape the dough into a cone.
Flatten the top of the cone to half its height.
Press down with your knuckles while forming the walls with your other hand.
Ensure the sides are smooth and of equal thickness.
Fill the pie, roll out the cover, and place it on top.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Lard
- Fat that coats flour strands, keeping the paste short and tender rather than tough.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the paste enough structure to hold its shape.
- Boiling water
- Melts the lard and hydrates the flour so the mixture binds into a workable paste.
The step that matters
Let the dough cool until nearly cold before shaping. Warm lard-based dough is soft and slumps easily. As it cools, the fat firms, so the cone and walls hold their shape and stay of even thickness.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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