rich paste being light, great expedition must be used in
the making and baking; for if it stand long before it is put in the
oven, it becomes flat and heavy.

[Illustration: PASTE-CUTTER AND CORNER-CUTTER.]

[Illustration: ORNAMENTAL-PASTE CUTTER.]

1190. _Puff-paste_ requires a brisk oven, but not too hot, or it would
blacken the crust; on the other hand, if the oven be too slack, the
paste will be soddened, and will not rise, nor will it have any colour.
Tart-tins, cake-moulds, dishes for baked puddings, pattypans, &c.,
should all be buttered before the article intended to be baked is put in
them: things to be baked on sheets should be placed on buttered paper.
Raised-pie paste should have a soaking heat, and paste glazed must have
rather a slack oven, that the icing be not scorched. It is better to ice
tarts, &c. when they are three-parts baked.

[Illustration: PATTY-PANS, PLAIN AND FLUTED.]

[Illustration: PIE-DISH.]

[Illustration: RAISED-PIE MOULD.]

[Illustration: RAISED-PIE MOULD, OPEN.]

1191. To ascertain when the oven is heated to the proper degree for
puff-paste, put a small piece of the paste in previous to baking the
whole, and then the heat can thus be judged of.

1192. The freshness of all pudding ingredients is of much importance, as
one bad article will taint the whole mixture.

1193. When the _freshness_ of eggs is _doubtful_, break each one
separately in a cup, before mixing them altogether. Should there be a
bad one amongst them, it can be thrown away; whereas, if mixed with the
good ones, the entire quantity would be spoiled. The yolks and whites
beaten separately make the articles they are put into much lighter.

1194. Raisins and dried fruits for puddings should be carefully picked,
and, in many cases, stoned. Currants should be well washed, pressed in a
cloth, and placed on a dish before the fire to get thoroughly dry; they
should then be picked carefully over, and _every piece of grit or stone_
removed from amongst them. To plump them, some cooks pour boiling water
over them, and then dry them before the fire.

1195. Batter pudding should be smoothly mixed and free from lumps. To
insure this, first mix the flour with a very small proportion of milk,
and add the remainder by degrees. Should the pudding be very lumpy, it
may be strained through a hair sieve.

1196. _All boiled puddings_ should be put on in _boiling water_, which
must not be allowed to stop simmering, and the puddi