a stiff paste; work it until the butter be completely mixed
with the flour, make it round, beat it with the rolling-pin, dust it, as
also the rolling-pin with flour, and roll it out towards the opposite
side of the slab, or paste-board, making it of an equal thickness, then
with the point of a knife, put little bits of butter all over it, dust
flour over it and under it, fold in all the sides, and roll it up, dust
it again with flour, beat it a little, and roll out, always rubbing the
rolling-pin with flour, and throwing some underneath the paste to
prevent its sticking to the board.

It should be touched as little as possible with the hands.

PYRAMID PASTE.

You that from pliant _paste_ would fabrics raise,
Expecting thence to gain immortal praise,
Your knuckles try, and let your sinews know
Their power to knead, and give the form to dough;
From thence of course the figure will arise,
And elegance adorn the surface of your pies.
KING.

Make a rich puff paste, roll it out a quarter of an inch thick, cut it
into five or seven pieces with scalloped tin cutters, which go one
within another; leave the bottom and top piece entire, and cut a bit out
of the centre of the others. Place them upon buttered baking tins, and
bake them of a light brown. Build them into a pyramid, laying a
different preserved fruit upon each piece of paste, and on the top a
whole apricot with a sprig of myrtle stuck in it.

FRUIT PIES.

Unless some _sweetness_ at the bottom lie,
Who cares for all the crinkling of the pie!
KING.

Fruit pies for family use are generally made with common paste. Allow
three quarters of a pound of butter to a pound and a half of flour.
Peaches and plums for pies should be cut in half, and the stones taken
out. Cherries also should be stoned, and red cherries only should be
used for pies. Apples should be cut into very thin slices, and are much
improved by a little lemon-peel. Apples stewed previous to baking,
should not be done till they break, but only till they are tender. They
should then be drained in a cullender, and chopped fine with a knife or
edge of a spoon. In making pies of juicy fruit, it is a good way to set
a small teacup on the bottom crust, and lay the fruit round it. The
juice will collect under the cup, and not run out at the edges or top of
the pie. The fruit should be mixed with a sufficient quantity of sugar,
and p