Tart

“ Tarts have been made in the same fashion at this Oxford college for several hundred years, in order, the cook explained, with a twinkle in his eye, that the students might get what they wanted, when they slipped down on a night tart raid. It is the nick in the edge that has told generations of students the contents of the tart; an apple has only one nick, a mince has two at each end, a gooseberry three, and so on until a student who has learned the rule can choose his favorite in the dark. ”

“ Mode.—Make an apple tart by the preceding recipe, with the exception of omitting the icing. When the tart is baked, cut out the middle of the lid or crust, leaving a border all round the dish. Fill up with a nicely-made boiled custard, grate a little nutmeg over the top, and the pie is ready for table. This tart is usually eaten cold; is rather an old-fashioned dish, but, at the same time, extremely nice. ”

“ No. 2.—When a small part only of an open tart has been eaten, divide the remainder equally into triangular slices, place them at regular intervals round a dish, and then fill the intermediate spaces, and cover the tart entirely, with slightly-sweetened and well-drained whipped cream. ”

“ Tart (?) , a. [AS. teart. √63. Cf. Tear, v. t.] 1. Sharp to the taste; acid; sour; as, a tart apple.
2. Fig.: Sharp; keen; severe; as, a tart reply; tart language; a tart rebuke.
Why art thou tart, my brother?
Bunyan.
Tart, n. [OE. tarte, F. tarte; perhaps originally the same word as tourte, LL. torta, fr. L. tortus, p. p. of torquere to twist, bend, wind, because tarts were originally made of a twisted shape. Cf. Torture, n.] A species of small open pie, or piece of pastry, containing jelly or conserve; a sort of fruit pie. ”

“ If an open tart is made, only very little juice should be used, as it would make the crust heavy.
Summer fruit, like strawberries, raspberries, currants, cherries, and gooseberries need not be previously cooked. Mix the fruit with the necessary sugar, and it the tart is made with a top crust only, a little water can be added and an egg-cup or a little tea-cup should be placed in the pie-dish upside down to keep up the crust.
BLANCMANGE TARTLETS.
1 pint of milk, 3 oz. ”

“ A GOOD APPLE TART. A pound and a quarter of apples weighed after they are pared and cored, will be sufficient for a small tart, and four ounces more for one of moderate size. Lay a border of English puff-paste, or of cream-crust round the dish, just dip the apples into water, arrange them very compactly in it, higher in the centre than at the sides, and strew amongst them from three to four ounces of pounded sugar, or more should they be very acid: the grated rind and the strained juice of half a lemon will much improve their flavour. ”

“ Lat., the paste or dough of cakes or tarts being rolled or twisted. The alteration of the vowel is also seen in Ital. tartera. In English there is some confusion with " tart," sharp, acid, bitter, which comes from O.E. teart, sharp, severe, properly "tearing," from leran, to tear; cf. "bitter," from "to bite." ”

“ It is so lovely to have such dear, kind friends, that I cannot help it. Well, then out of another basket came a most wonderful cream tart, with my initials on it in caramel, and a whole lot, dozens and dozens, of the little sponge-cakes that I am so fond of. They cannot make them anywhere in the world, I think, except at Miss Russell's, and dear good Miss Cary, the housekeeper, remembered that I was fond of them. ”

“ A tart with a huge gap is an unsightly object, but it presents an altogether different appearance when the fruit is placed at the bottom of a glass dish, with the pastry cut in sections and arranged at equal distances on the top of it. ”

“ Pile the fruit high in the dish, as it shrinks very much in the cooking; put in the sugar, cover with crust, ornament the edges, and bake the tart in a well-heated oven from 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 hour. If wanted very nice, brush it over with the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth, then sprinkle on it some sifted sugar, and put it in the oven just to set the glaze: this should be done when the tart is nearly baked. A small quantity of lemon-juice, and a little of the peel minced, are by many persons considered an improvement to the flavour of rhubarb tart. ”

“ Apples and pears intended to be put into tarts must be pared, cut into quarters, and cored; cut the quarters across again, set them on in a saucepan with as much water as will barely cover them, and let them simmer on a slow fire just till the fruit is tender; put a good piece of lemon peel into the water with the fruit, and then have your patties ready; lay fine sugar at bottom, then your fruit, and a little sugar at top; pour over each tart a tea-spoonful of the liquor they were boiled in; then put on your lid, and bake them in a slack oven. ”

“ A few days ago, having given my tutor satisfaction in the performance of my exercises, he ordered me a plum-tart as a reward. It was baked in a tin pan, which I was ordered to bring back as soon as I had eat the tart. Henry Lenox was remarkably taken with the look of this tart, and offered to keep it for me till I wanted it, alleging that his room, which was a north light, would keep it much better than mine, on which the sun shone the hottest part of the day. ”

“ Taillevant speaks of cream, almonds, and rose-water, as the accompaniments of Darioles, a kind of custard; and of Talmouses, a sort of cheese-cake, made of cheese, eggs, and butter, coloured with the yolks of eggs. [XXIV_42]
Platina cites tarts made with radishes, quinces, gourds, elder-berry flowers, rice, oatmeal, millet, chesnuts, cherries, dates, May-herbs, roses, and, lastly, the white, or cream tart. ”

“ Tarraye, for To arraye, to array, arrange, E 961.
Tart, adj. of sharp flavour, pungent, A 381.
Tartre, s. tartar, G 813; oille of Tartre, (probably) cream of tartar, or bitartrate of potassium, A 630. F. tartre, Low Lat. tartarum. 'An acid concrete salt, deposited from wines when perfectly fermented; ... when in the crude state, it is much used as a flux in the assaying of ores' ”

“ They are very good. The proportion of sugar must be regulated by the nature of the fruit; and that of the almonds can be diminished when it is thought too much. A delicious tart of the kind is made by substituting for the raisins and candied orange-rind, two heaped tablespoonsful of very fine apricot jam.
CRÊME PATISSIÈRE, OR PASTRY CREAM. To one ounce of fine flour add, very gradually, the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; stir to them briskly, and in small portions at first, three-quarters of a pint of boiling cream, or of cream and new milk mixed ”

“ He paused to choose between an apple dumpling and a tart.
Observing that upon his tray
His goods were growing few,
The pieman cried: “I beg to say
That patrons such as you
One does not meet in many a moon. ”

“ Meanwhile, stew the pumpkin, cut into dice, with a little water until tender. Add sugar and Lemon juice, and cover the paste, which should have been previously brushed over with white of egg, and bake the tart until the crust is done. ”

“ Let them stand over, or by the side of a gentle fire until they begin to soften, and toss them now and then to mingle the whole well, but do not stir them with a spoon; they should all remain unbroken and rather firm. Turn them into a dish, and let them become cold. Divide three-quarters of a pound of good light paste into two equal portions; roll out one quite thin and round, flour an oven-leaf and lay it on, as the tart cannot so well be moved after it is made ”

“ Take one at a time from the oven, spread as quickly as possible with a tart jelly, either currant or grape, and roll as quickly as possible, as when the cakes become cool they cannot be rolled without breaking. ”

“ Make a batter with one cup sweet milk, one teaspoonful sugar, two eggs, whites and yolks beaten separately, two cups flour, one teaspoonful baking powder mixed with flour. Chop some good tart apples, mix them in the batter and fry in hot lard. ”

“ If nothing more remains, there are usually small scraps left over from the trimming of the edge. These should by all means be put to some good use, for the material is equally as good as that which has been used in the pie and there is no reason why it should be wasted.
24. TARTS.-A very good way in which to utilize these scraps is to make tarts of various kinds and shapes out of them. There are a number of attractive ways in which jam, jelly, marmalade, fruit butter, fresh fruits, apple sauce, stewed prunes, or other cooked or canned fruit may be utilized for the making of tarts. ”

“ Take fair pippins and pare them, then cut them in quarters, core them and stew them, in claret-wine, whole cinamon, and slic’t ginger; stew them half an hour, then put them into a dish, and break them not, when they are cold, lay them one by one into the tart, then lay on some green cittern minced small, candied orange or coriander, put on sugar and close it up, bake it, and ice it, then scrape on sugar and serve it. ”

“ To-day I return the tarts in the fire-crackers, thereby making double restitution to her most charitable and generous Majesty the Queen of Hearts.
[The Knaves open the fire-crackers and shake out the tarts into a tray held by the Joker.]
Queen of Hearts. The tarts?
"THE IDENTICAL TARTS!"
Knave of Hearts. Ay, my Queen, the identical tarts.
Queen of Clubs. But they must be stale of the last summer?
Joker. Nay, fair lady. These be royal tarts, and not of the general. Age cannot stale them, nor can human possibility limit their infinite variety. ”

“ Who would believe that this same man, a moment after, counterfeited, with equal perfection, a pastry cook's boy, who, carrying a tray of tartlets on his head, and gaping about him at the corner of the street, lets his tray fall, and, at first stupified by the accident, bursts at last into a fit of crying? ”

“ Sour apples, cranberries, and peaches, all make nice tarts. Stew, and strain them when soft. Peach tarts require a little lemon-juice, without they are sour. Grate in lemon peel, add brown sugar to the taste. Put in each pie one beaten egg, to make it cut smooth. Bake the pies on shallow plates, with an under crust and rim of pastry—ornament the pie with very small strips of pastry. When the crust is done, remove the pies from the oven. ”

“ Let’s see, for the first course, we had a hog, crowned with a wine cup and garnished with cheese cakes and chicken livers cooked well done, beets, of course, and whole-wheat bread, which I’d rather have than white, because it puts strength into you, and when I take a crap afterwards, I don’t have to yell. Following this, came a course of tarts, served cold, with excellent Spanish wine poured over warm honey; I ate several of the tarts and got the honey all over myself. ”

“ We have renounced the kind of pastry with which our ancestors used to regale themselves in the 14th century. Their stag pies [XXIV_31] are no longer in vogue; neither have we any taste for their great pies which contained a lamb or a stuffed kid, surrounded with goslings by dozens and scores. [XXIV_32]
Their tarts have fallen into the same oblivion. Who thinks now of their Janus, or double-faced, tarts, herb tarts, rose-leaf tarts, oat tarts, or chesnut tarts? ”

“ Small tarts may, in this way, be baked empty, for patty-pans, and filled with ripe fruit, such as [472] strawberries, raspberries, or grated pine-apple, made very sweet, and creamed on the top—or you may fill the shells with any sort of sweetmeats, either preserves or marmalade, or with mince-meat. Shells may be made thus, and filled with stewed oysters, or reed-birds, cooked previously, and served up warm; or with nicely-dressed lobster. ”

“ The children order them to make jam and jelly and marmalade, and tarts and pies and puddings, and all manner of pastry. If they say they won’t, they are put in the corner till they do. They are sometimes allowed to have some ”

“ When the body of the bird is dished, its garnish should be set round it in fine, tartlet crusts; its suprêmes, quickly sliced, should be distributed among the tartlets, and the dish sent to the table with the sauce separately.
By this means, it reaches the table hot, it is served quickly and cleanly; and every person gets a slice of meat, and not garnish only, as was so often the case formerly.
Instead of tartlets, one may use thin croûtons of bread, of the size of the slices of chicken, and fried in fresh butter. ”

“ At the usual high tea there are probably to be found one or two small hot dishes, cold chickens, or game, tongue or ham, salad, cakes of various kinds, sometimes cold fruit tarts, with cream or custard, and fresh fruit. ”

“ Sometimes, the business of the pastry-cook is united with that of the confectioner, especially with that branch of it which relates to making cakes. Pies and tarts consist of paste, which, in baking, becomes a crust, and some kind of fruit or meat, or both, with suitable seasoning. The art of making pies and tarts is practised, more or less, in every family: it is not, therefore, essential to be particular in naming the materials employed, or the manner in which they are combined. ”

“ Half a pound of butter warmed, four eggs well beaten, four tea-cups full of fine white sugar, two quarts of flour, four teaspoonsful of cream of tartar, two of soda, four tea-cups full of milk; stir all well together; flavour with grated lemon peel, and bake in a moderate oven. ”

“ When any fluid tends towards cold, the moving it quickly accelerates the cold; and likewise, when any fluid is tending to heat, stirring it will facilitate its boiling.
Icing for Tarts. Beat the yelk of an egg and some melted butter well together, wash the tarts with a feather, and sift sugar over as you put them in the oven. Or beat white of egg: wash the paste, and sift white sugar. ”