which you have rolled lightly round the rolling-pin ; then put some dorure all over equally, mark with a knife on the surface some lines crossing each other, to cut it when done into long squares thus

;

the marks on the square are made with a knife for ornament, and to prevent bladders of air. Glaze as above, and separate the squares when cold.

822. Croques en Bouche.

When you have some remnants of paste, handle them together, and spread it out with the rolling-pin very thin; roll the paste over the rolling-pin, and lay it on a buttered baking sheet; rub this over with white of egg. Spread some coarse sugar equally over it, mark it strongly through with a plain paste cutter, and bake it in a moderate oven. When done, take the shaped part to make the dish. You may cut them sometimes in plain rounds, and at other times hollow out the centre of the circle, making of it a strong ring called lorg

nettes.

823. Feuillantines garnished.

Cut some puff-paste into pieces the length of a finger, and about a third of an inch thick. Butter a baking dish, and lay the paste on it sideways, at a distance from each other; put them into the oven without dorure, or wash of egg. Observe, that when the sides of the paste have spread, and have acquired consistence, you must glaze with fine sugar, and take them out when done. Then drain the butter from them, by putting them on a sheet of paper, and garnish lightly with sweetmeat.

824. Petits Paniers, garnished with Jam.

Spread some puff-paste on the dresser, about two-eighths of an inch thick, then cut with a cutter of this shape

; put them into a baking dish, and give them

a good colour with the dorure; bake them in a very hot oven, and glaze with sugar; garnish the round part with cherries, and mark the lines on the side of the basket with currant-jelly, cut in fillets. Eighteen for a dish.

825. Little Plats decorated.

Spread some puff-paste about an eighth of an inch thick, cut out of it three ribbons, of the same length. Lay one on the dresser, and with your finger put a little dorure (white and yolk of egg beaten up) on the end of another, and stick it to the head of the first; then put the third in the middle by the same process, and plat them, beginning by the two outside ribbons; when platted, put a little more dorure to stick them together; doré them lightly, and bake them in a hot oven. Glaze with fine sugar, and when done, garnish between the twists with currant-jelly cut into fillets.

826. Little Cockades garnished.

Spread some puff-paste on the dresser, about a quarter of an inch thick, cut it with a large fluted round cutter, about the same as for patties; cut a hole in the middle with a small plain round cutter, then as quickly as possible with your finger turn the paste, so as to put the inside on the baking dish, and the outside above; put them at a great distance from each other on the baking dish, as the pastes spread sideways instead of rising; bake in a hot oven, and glaze of a good colour. When done, they represent exactly a cockade. Garnish with fillets of sweetmeat to form the plaits of the cockade.

827. Apricot Cakes trellised.

Spread some puff-paste over the dresser; trimmings will do for these cakes; spread it equally on a large buttered baking sheet, by using the rolling-pin as above. Spread some apricot marmalade over the paste equally, then cut some more paste long and narrow, roll it about the size of strong cord, and arrange it crossways like a trellis over the marmalade; put dorure over the bars lightly, and,

lastly, bake in a moderately hot oven.

When done, cut

it into small oblong squares, and dress them on the dish one above the other.

As there is an immense variety of paste cutters, select your own forms; the paste is always the same. Decorate sometimes with almonds cut into different shapes, and sometimes with almonds coloured with green of spinach. It would be too tedious and minute to attempt describing the various forms. The ingenuity of the practitioner will supply the ornaments, which must always be made of sweetmeat.

BRIOCHE PASTE.

828. Brioche Paste.

Take fifteen good fresh eggs, four pounds of very dry flour, and two pounds of fresh butter. Lay the flour on the table after you have sifted it. Divide it into four

equal parts; take one of them to make the leaven; make a hole in the centre, and use some yeast that has been well washed. What we call washing the yeast, is pouring some water over it, stirring it, and then letting it stand still. When all the dregs are at the bottom of the vessel, throw away all the water that is on the top, and take about a large table-spoonful of the sediment, which put into the fourth part of the flour. Then take some hot water, pour it gently over the yeast, and mix the paste directly, in order to avail yourself of its strength. Do not make it too liquid; powder some flour in a small stewpan, put the yeast paste (which is called leaven) into the pan, make slight slits over the paste, cover the pan, and lay it before the fire; a quarter of an hour after, sce whether the yeast has risen: if it has swelled, dilute the brioche directly, in the following manner:

Make a great hole in the remaining three-fourths of the flour, put four small pinches of salt on as many different places, with a good pinch of sugar, to correct the bitter taste of the yeast, and a little water to melt the salt. Then take two pounds of butter, which break into small pieces with your hand, and put in the middle of the flour:

next break the eggs, and smell them successively to ascertain if they are good: mix the whole well together, and then knead the paste as follows: spread it lengthways on the edge of the table, then with the palms of both hands press upon it, pushing it by degrees towards the middle of the table; when you have thus worked the whole of the paste, bring it back again towards the edge, and knead it a second time; again bring it near the edge of the table, and pour the yeast paste all over it: next, divide the whole into small pieces, which shift from one place to another: this operation is to mix the yeast with the paste properly. Now knead the paste well again twice, and gather the whole up together. Take a large sieve or an earthen pan, in which spread a towel, powder a little flour over the towel, put the paste on it, and cover it with the towel. In summer remove the paste to a cool place, and in winter to a warm one. Observe, that the paste is better when made on the preceding day, and take care to break it several times before you use it: then cut it into equal pieces, and shape them with the palms of your hands; lay these on the less even side; shape off small balls, which turn also with your palms, brush them over with a beaten egg, then make a little hollow, put the small ball into it, brush twice over with the egg, and bake it in a hot oven. If you wish to make a large brioche, you must make a very large round well-buttered paper-case; and then mould your paste accordingly. Make a head the same as for the small one, and bake in a hot oven, but not so hot as is used for the small ones, for the larger the articles of pastries are, the less heat must the oven have. The borders of the brioche, or pies, &c., would burn before the middle part could hardly be heated. When you perceive that the brioche has colour enough, if it should not be thoroughly baked, cover it with paper without losing sight of the colour. This same paste may serve to make all sorts of little entremets, such as

Les Petites Nattes en Gateaux de Nanterre-(Little Plats in Nanterre Cake.)

Les Petits Pains Sucrés-(Sugared Rolls.)

The only difference is, that you must put some coarse sugar over these, and sometimes currants inside.

If you make them of different shapes, you give them different names, and by this means make a multiplicity of entremets; however, you have already a sufficient number of them at your disposal, without introducing many sorts of brioches, as they are too nourishing after dinner; but they are very good for balls and routs.

It is easy to make a great number of dishes with the brioche paste, by giving it various forms, and employing different means for the top: sometimes use the dorure, sometimes use white of egg, and sometimes coarse sugar spread over without colour; put paper over them to prevent their taking too much colour. Sometimes you may use milk alone to colour it, at other times the same paste. When you have given several forms to the paste, and intend to give them different names, you may likewise change the flavour by using a little saffron dissolved in a glass of malaga wine and sugar: make some of one sort, with half of this paste, and to the remainder add a few black currants, and give to those another different form; by these means you will obtain a multiplicity of cakes, having all the same paste, but possessing various flavours and different appearances.

829. Compiegn Cake.

The same paste as for brioches; only keep it more liquid. with some hot milk. Put in a few stoned raisins and curmade in a mould well trimmed with

rants. butter.

This cake is

830. Baba.

Dilute this paste the same as the brioche. Take eight grains of saffron, which infuse in a little water, and then pour this water into the paste; add two glasses of Madeira, some currants, raisins, and a little sugar; then make the cakes as you do the brioches. You must butter the mould when you put them in; the oven must be moderately hot, as the babas must remain a long time in; after one hour you must look at them, and preserve the colour by putting some paper over them.