Page:The Lady's Receipt-book.djvu/146

140 whatever milk may remain about it. Then set it over the fire to soften all through; but do not allow it to melt, so as to become liquid or oily. Beat two eggs till very light and smooth; and when the butter is cool, stir the eggs into it, adding, very gradually, a pound of sifted flour that has been dried before the fire. Mix the whole into a lump of soft dough, and beat it well on all sides with the rolling-pin. Then transfer it to a paste-board, and roll it out thin. As quickly as possible butter some tart-pans, and line them with the paste; then brush it lightly with a little cold water, and sift on, thickly, some powdered sugar. They must be baked empty. Set them immediately in a rather brisk oven, and bake them a light brown. When cool, turn them out, and fill them with marmalade, jam, or any very nice sweetmeats. If properly made and baked, this paste looks very handsome. It may be baked in large patty-pans the size of soup-plates.

LIGHT PASTE.—Sift into a pan three quarters of a pound of flour, and another quarter on a plate. Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth, and mix them with a wine-glass or more of cold water. With this wet the flour to a stiff paste; and when it is formed into a lump, beat it on all sides with the rolling-pin. Then lay it on the paste-board, and roll it out into a thin sheet. Use the extra quarter of flour for sprinkling and rolling. Have ready three quarters of a pound of the best fresh butter, divided into three portions. Cover the sheet with one portion of the butter, placed all over it in bits of equal size, and laid on at equal distances. Then sprinkle on a little flour; fold up the sheet of paste; flour it slightly when folded; roll it out again; and put on in the same manner another portion of the butter; then flour it slightly; fold it up; roll it out again; and add the third division of