Paste for Raised Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Bring ½ pint of water and 5 ounces of lard to a boil in a saucepan.
Combine 2 pounds of flour in a bowl.
Gradually pour the boiling water and lard into the flour, mixing well with a spoon.
Transfer the mixture to a board and knead until it forms a stiff dough.
Shape the dough
Cut a piece off to form the cover.
Knead the remaining dough into shape.
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
- Adds fat that keeps the crust tender and short, giving a flaky, crumbly texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together once kneaded.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour and, when boiled with the lard, helps form a workable dough.
The step that matters
Pouring the boiling water and lard into the flour. Hot liquid partly cooks and gelatinises the starch in the flour, which makes this hot-water dough easier to handle and shape. Adding it gradually and mixing well keeps the dough evenly moistened instead of having lumps of dry flour or wet pockets.
“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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