Year of the Pie - Pie # 23 Butterscotch Pie

Pie # 23
Butterscotch Pie

I have been avoiding this pie like the plague. It wasn't until recently that I realized that it wasn't made out of the Nestle Butterscotch chips. The defining ingredient in butterscotch pie is 'brown sugar'. Go figure. Anyway, this pie was a pleasure to make. It made me feel relaxed. I only had to 'PHONE A FRIEND' one time. That was to my Aunt Martha. She is an uber-cook.
I was a bit distraught about the meringue. I have read that 'chill and meringue' don't care for each other. After a little more research this evening, I find that you bake it, let it cool away from a draft for 2 hours and then you may refrigerate it. Go here to get a little know-how about meringue.

There are a trillion butterscotch pie recipes. This is no surprise. All pies are like that. This particular recipe came from All Recipes.com.

I don't own a double boiler, so I made one from a large sauce pan and used a stainless steel mixing bowl for the top. Not ever having used one before I didn't really know what to expect. It was easy and fun. My Aunt Martha says that you don't have to use a double boiler, but if you don't you have to be VERY careful not to scorch the mixture. So I just thought I would be on the safe side and it was so liberating not to have to worry about scorching the stuff. I cooked it til it was thick and poured it into a baked pie crust.

If you don't want to click over there, here is the recipe.

1½ C. packed brown sugar
4 T. cornstarch
3 T. flour
2 C. milk
3 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)
2 T. butter, diced
1 t. vanilla extract

In a double boiler, whisk [whisking is fun] together the brown sugar, flour and cornstarch. Add just enough milk to make a paste. Mix in beaten egg yolks and then add the remainder of the milk. Cook slowly, stirring constantly; when thick remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Pour the filling into the bake pie shell.

Now for the meringue (yikes).
3 egg whites (at room temperature)
1/4 t. cream of tartar
6 T. sugar
½ t. vanilla extract

Beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in cream of tarter, white sugar and vanilla. I have read somewhere that once you start beating the mixture, don't stop until you are done.
Spread the meringue over the pie filling.
Bake at 375° until meringue peaks turn a golden brown.

Do NOT despair on the meringue. It may not work out, but don't stop trying pies that call for meringue. Hang in there.
If you have a super duper easy meringue recipe that you would like to share, please do.

I don't know if you can see, but the meringue is not flush with the filling.
I honestly don't know what a perfect meringue looks or tastes like. This looks a tad undercooked.

I hope you try this pie. It is surprisingly delightful. It reminds me of Sugar Cream pie in a way. Both are very rich and I can only eat a small slice.

We watched Julie Julia this past week. I was saddened that a cute movie required fowl language. One of the sayings of Julia Child follows and I find it most encouraging.

When cooking you strive for perfection. But if it's not perfect, never apologize. No excuses! No explanations!

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie #22 Sour Cream Pear Pie

Pie # 22
Sour Cream Pear Pie

Ingredients

• 1 - 9 inch unbaked crust
• 2 C. thinly sliced peeled pears ( the pears I used were fresh and not quite fully ripened, my sister, who shared this recipe with me last year uses canned pear halves and then slices them thin)
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 T. flour
• 1 C. sour cream
• 1 t. vanilla
• dash of salt

Mix together the ingredients and then gently stir in the pears and pour into the crust.
Bake for 25 minutes @ 350°

Now add the crumb topping, which is this:

• 1/2 C. sugar
• 1/3 C. flour
• 1/4 C. butter, really soft/melted

Mix it together and sprinkle on top of the pie.
Bake another 30 minutes at the same temperature.

While it is baking send some Christmas cards and do a bit of knitting.
Remove the baked pie from oven and let it cool.

I took this pie to our Tuesday gathering and everyone seemed to like it. It is to be eaten cold. We three tried it the night before while it was warm and it was o.k. then too. So I guess it would be your preference.
We give this pie

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie #21 Pecan Pie

Pie # 21
Pecan Pie

When I went to find the perfect pecan pie recipe, I ran into the same problem I had with all other pies......too many versions to choose from.
I had been collecting some pecan pie recipes for a little while now and had four. I let Chris pick which recipe and he chose this one:
1 C. light corn syrup
1 C. packed dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
3 eggs slightly beaten
1/3 C. butter, melted
1/2 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1 heaping C. pecan halves
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust already in the plate

In a large bowl combine all ingredients, mix well and pour into the crust. Sprinkle with pecan halves.

Bake at 350° for 45-50minutes. A toothpick inserted in center will come out clean.

The let pie cool.

I took this pie to church for fellowship meal and although I may have baked it a tad long and it looked 'old', the eleven people that ate this pie thought it was quite good. (The twelfth piece was at home in the fridge for Chris).
F.Y.I. in case you didn't know the word ELF is right in the middle of the word twelfth. Just a little minutia for this Monday morning.

We three gave this pie (Chris and I, two thumbs up, Maggie-undecided due to not tasting it yet-that little face represents undecided)

Until Next Time
(stay tuned for the next pie....it's a good'n)
I am making it later today and taking it to a Tuesday gathering tomorrow, so I will hopefully have two pie posts this week.

Year of the Pie - Pie #20 Raisin Pie

Pie # 20
Raisin Pie

This recipe is from the same cookbook as the Shoo Fly Pie recipe. It is a different little pie with my husband giving it a description between fruit and cream pie. He gave it . I gave it a 'maybe'. My daughter, again, is waiting to try it later.

Use the Betty Crocker recipe for crust and prick it thoroughly with a fork and bake for 8-10 minutes. Then let it cool.

While it is cooling, add 2 C. water to a smallish saucepan that is holding 1 C. raisins. Cover and cook slowly for 20 minutes.

Drain and add enough water to the juice to make 2 C.

Combine 1/2 C. sugar, 3½ T. flour, 1/4 t. salt to the liquid. Cook over direct heat until thickened, stirring constantly.
Pour a small amount of the hot mixture into bowl that contains one beaten egg, slowly, whisking the egg to keep it from cooking. Mix well, then return that mixture to the saucepan, mixing well, then bring to a boil.
Remove from heat, add 1 T. butter, 2 T. lemon juice-fresh, 1 t. lemon rind-fresh.
Cool and pour into the baked pie shell.
Then put plastic directly over the filling and refrigerate.

Like a cream pie, it will set up in the fridge.

You can put a meringue on it or Cool Whip.

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie #19 Shoo Fly Pie

Pie # 19
Shoo Fly Pie

I picked up this little cook book when I lived in Montezuma, Georgia. I chose the recipe for Shoo Fly Pie from it.

It goes like this:

One 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Bottom Part Ingredients:
1 C. dark molasses
3/4 C. boiling water
½ t. baking soda

Top Part Ingredients:
1½ C. flour
1/4 C. shortening
½ C.brown sugar

Dissolve soda in hot water and add molasses.
Combine sugar and flour and cut in the shortening to make crumbs.
Pour 1/3 of the molasses mixture into an unbaked crust.
Add 1/3 of the crumb mixture.
Alternate layers ending in the crumb mixture.
Bake at 375° for approximately 35 minutes.


We three gave this pie

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie # 18 Sugar Cream/Hoosier Pie

Pie # 18
Sugar Cream Pie
a.k.a Hoosier Pie

Mmmmm sugar cream pie sounds good doesn't it?
My sister (a Hoosier) mentioned sugar cream pie and I looked in my handy dandy Betty Crocker Cookbook and found nothing on it. Wikipedia has this to say about it. Scroll down to the Hoosier Pie section.
Here is another link for it. The Wikipedia article states that Sugar Cream Pie is considered an "Indiana Legendary Local Cuisine" along with Persimmon Pudding, which I am making for Thanksgiving and the above-mentioned sister will taste it.

Anyway, my Aunt Martha(a Hoosier) graciously shared with me (a Hoosier) a recipe for Sugar Cream Pie that my Aunt Myla(a Hoosier transplanted to Florida) gave to her in 1963. For cryin' out loud, with all of these Hooisers involved, it has gotta be delicious. Note: Bobby Knight was born in OHIO, therefore, making him NOT a Hooiser. P.L.T.

Crust:
1 C. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/3 C. + 1 T. shortening
2-3 T. cold water
Mix the flour/salt together, cut in the shortening really well with a pastry blender and then sprinkle in 1 T. of water at a time as you mix with a fork til it miraculously wants to cling together, then you can form it into a ball. Flatten the dough into a disk before you roll (on the clock, 12,6,3,9,2,8,10,4, etc.).

(I am getting better at the crust, because I only had a little ball of dough left.)
Place in pie plate.

Filling:
1½ C. sugar
2 heaping T. flour
2 C. whipping cream
4 pats of oleo (translates to 2 T. butter in my world)
pinch of salt
8" inch pie crust

Mix together, pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 400° for 5 minutes. Turn oven down to 325°. Stir carefully, bake 35-40 minutes. Note: After my pie baked 40 minutes I called my Aunt Martha with a pie dilemma-it was still a little squishy. She told me to bake it ten minutes more and then it will finish setting up as it cools.
Now, that is Myla's recipe.
I have read other recipes that state you should stir the ingredients carefully with your finger to prevent the crust from breaking. That is YOUR call. Note: I used a bamboo spoon and stirred gently.

This pie also falls into the category of a 'desperation' pie. This means that it was made with ingredients that were always on hand on the farm. Sometimes, the chickens didn't lay, so therefore, this recipe calls for no eggs.

Oh, looky, isn't it cute?
The filling was for an 8 inch pie and my plate is a 9 inch....it still turned out o.k.
I hope you try this pie. It is quite easy.
We three give this pie

Until Next Time

Year of the Pie - Pie #17 Cherry Pie

Pie # 17
Cherry Pie

For our cherry pie we used the Betty Crocker crust recipe. For a 9-inch pie crust do the following.

Right or wrong, I use Crisco. Every now and then, lard.

1/3 C. + 1 T. shortening or 1/3 C. lard
1 C. Flour
1/2 t. salt
2 to 3 T. ice water

Cut the shortening into the flour/salt mixture with a pastry blender til small pieces form, then sprinkle in 1 T. of water at a time til the dough can be formed into a ball-cleaning the sides of the bowl.
Form into a disk and then roll out, using flour to keep it from sticking to the counter and rolling pin. Roll out like this: Roll from the 'middle of the disk' out. Start in the middle and roll to twelve o'clock, then start in the middle and roll til six o'clock, then three o'clock, nine o'clock, then go to two o'clock, eight o'clock, etc. After you have rolled (or rocked) your way around the clock, start over if necessary to get the desired size of crust.
Then transfer it to the pie plate.

Mix the filling as follows:
6 C. red tart cherries, pitted (we used frozen that my mom prepared)
1 1/3 C. sugar
1/2 C. flour
2 T. butter, diced
1/4 tsp. almond extract
(I researched several recipes and only one did NOT call for almond extract-so if you don't have any...you might can get away with it-don't know)

Mix the cherries with the flour/sugar mixture and then sprinkle on the almond extract give it a nice stir.
Dot the top of the pie with the diced butter.

Margaret chose a lattice top crust for this pie. We just used the single crust recipe, rolled it out and then she used a pastry tool to cut the lattice. She chose a design that did not require weaving. It is pretty.

Use a pie shield for the edges of the pie til the last few minutes of baking.
Bake 425° 35-45 minutes.

This pie was a pleasure to make. The lattice was easy. Maggie has not tasted this pie yet, but my husband and I gave it
Also, after tasting the pie, my husband said...."You have gotten the crust thing down". That's a good thing.

Does anyone have recipes that use Almond Extract? I have almost a full bottle and I don't want it to go to waste.

Until Next Time