SC - PIGS...IN...PASTE!!! (Apologies to the Muppets)

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

Lainie,  I have always used a boiling lard pastry for work
that had to retain a shape.  It holds details well for parts like
ears and such.  I decorated a large coffer pie with a life sized
bouquet of iris and roses and transported the piece 150 miles
and it held together very well.  The recipe is (per) 1 pound of
flour sifted with 1/2 teaspoon salt rub 4 tablespoons of lard together.
make a well and pour in a boiling mixture of 5/8 cup of mixed  
milk and water and 1/2 pound lard. Stir in with a large wooden spoon
until you can stand hand kneading.  Knead well and let stand for 10
minutes.  You can use this as long as it is still warm and pilable to
sculpt your piece. For a large hollow piece like a boar head, I 
would make a rough core out of this pastry, stuff it and build a final
sculptural layer with detail encasing it.  This keeps the form from
slumping badly as the inside will have been set first. Set the core at
375 degrees for 20 minutes and let cool before adding final layers.
 Brush the pastry well with beaten egg, especially in connections 
like ears as this helps literally glue the whole thing together.  With a
core like this, you can get a pretty sturdy form as an end result.  Of
course if you have to transfer it to another platter rather than what you
bake it on, let it cool completely befor attempting a transfer.
Do make sure your you practice this a bit before the grand effort.  Lard
pastry IMO is a lost art and requires a bit of experience.

Akim Yaroslavich
"No glory comes without pain"