Hot water crust pastry

I planned to make raised pork pies, but after my first attempt at moulding a raised pie, decided against it. My little pork pie cases were very shallow and the lids not big enough. Still, it was an interesting experience to mould a pie case and make a form of pastry I'd not made before.

See, I laid out almost all the ingredients for pork pies, but decided against it when my pies turned out shallow and uneven. Making the pastry seemed easy enough.

But the moulding was more difficult and I felt I had to rush against time to mould them before the pastry cooled. The jars were not oiled well enough either so removing them was tricky.

And ultimately, they were uneven and the lids barely fit. Perhaps I needed to roll it thinner, or make fewer pork pie cases (remember, The Best of Mrs Beeton's Afternoon Tea are not generous with their measurements.

I didn't even bother baking them. *shrug*

Hot Water Crust Pastry

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

75g lard

100ml milk or water

Sift the flour and salt into a warm bowl and make a well in the middle. Keep the bowl in a warm place.

Meanwhile, heat the lard and milk or water until boiling. Add the hot mixture to the flour, mixing well with a wooden spoon until the pastry is cool enough to knead with the hands. Knead thoroughly and mould (whilst still warm) as required.

To Mould a Raised Pie

Use a jar, round cake tin, or similar container, as a mould; grease and flour the sides and base of the mould and invert it.

Reserve a quarter of the warm pastry for the lid and leave in the bowl in a warm place, covered with a greased polythene bag. Roll out the remainder to about 5mm / 1/4 inch, in a round or oval shape. Lay the pastry over the mould, then ease the pastry around the sides. Take care not to pull the pastry and make sure that the sides and base are of and even thickness. Leave to cool.

When cold, remove the pastry cases from the mould and put in the filling. Roll out the pastry reserved for the lid, dampen the rim of the case, put on the lid, pressing the edges firmly together. Tie 3 or 4 folds of greaseproof paper round the pie to hold it in shape during baking and to prevent it from becoming too brown.