Desserts & Pastry

Perfect Pie Crust

Two Crust 9" Pie or Two 8" Shells

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
5 tablespoons ice water

Mix flour and salt thoroughly.  Cut in  shortening until mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Gradually add ice water 1 tablespoon  at a time until mixture will just hold together in a ball. Form into a flattened ball, divide in half and roll each half out to cover pie pan comfortably.
Try not to handle the crust too much.  If it becomes warm to the touch, refrigerate for 15 minutes before rolling out.   Over handling will cause crust to become tough.

Perfect Apple Pie

6 to 8 firm, ripe apples use two or three varieties, such as  2 Rome, 2 Granny Smith and 2 MacIntosh
Peel, core and thinly slice apples.

 Mix:

1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt,
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon,
a pinch of allspice,
1 tablespoon lemon juice and
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

with the sliced apples. 

Line a 9" pie pan with Perfect Pie Crust. Mound the apples in the bottom crust, then dot with two tablespoons butter.  Cover with top crust, cutting decorative vents to release steam.  Crimp edges. Place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juice is bubbling out through vents.  Top with vanilla ice cream and serve immediately.

Pin Wheels

In February 2006, clamdigger wrote to tell us: "On bad days my Nana would be baking a green apple pie. When all the dough was made and put either for crust or topping there would be some pieces left over. Nana would re-roll the dough in a flat sheet and then cut it into long strips. Then she would sprinkle cinnamon and white sugar over these strips. Then she would roll them up and cut off the odd ends. She would put them in the oven with the pie. Of course they being the smaller of the two it did not take long for them to be done. I always got these special treats before my Grampa got a piece of the pie. They are the fondest memories of my Nana outside of rain I cherish the most.

Thank you for letting me tell you my most cherished memory of my Nana."

Apple Crisp

Fill an 8x8 baking dish about 3/4 full of sliced apples (use two or three   different varieties) 

Add:

1/2 cup sugar
a dash of salt
about  2 teaspoons of lemon juice. 

If the apples are dry, add another 2 or 3 teaspoons of water.  The apples need to make a significant amount of juice as they cook.

Top with a mixture of:

1 cup flour 
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

crumbled together.

Mixture should resemble course crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over the apples and dust with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.  Serve hot from the oven with ice cream or whipped cream. .

Mae's Caramel Pie

Melt (carmelize) 1 cup of brown sugar in a heavy skillet,  being extremely careful not to burn the sugar.

Separate 4 large eggs.  Add yokes to sugar with two cups of milk and a lump of butter the size of an egg. Combine thoroughly.

Add 2 tablespoons of flour and stir until all flour is incorporated.  Cook until mixture is the consistency of thick cream.  Add a few drops of good vanilla.

Bake shell while the filling cooks (15 minutes at 410 degrees.) Unless the filling is cool when put into the shell it will soften and weep. 

Top with meringue, bake at 350, until tips are browned. 
Serve while still slightly warm. 

Irene's Pecan Pie

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark Karo syrup 
1 cup pecans 
3 well beaten eggs 
3 tablespoons butter

Cream sugar, syrup and butter together thoroughly.  Fold in beaten eggs and nuts.  Line an 8" pie tin with crust.  Pour in filling and bake slowly at 325 degrees  until golden brown and set.
Serve warm accompanied by  steaming cups of strong coffee.

Shortcake

Make one batch of Nana's
Lemon Cream Scones

Add:

1 pint perfect, fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered.
Sweeten to taste with
1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar,
splash on a 
few drops of good orange liquor.

Split the scones, spoon berries over the bottom half, stack the top half on the berries, and top with, sweetened whipped cream.
Place a perfect whole berry in the cream for garnish. 

Papa and Nana will spend Christmas 2003 at home, celebrating quietly together. Rather than turkey and all the trimmings this year we will be hosting an afternoon gathering on the 23rd and serving desserts and coffee.

On the menu are Nana's Creme de menthe brownies, baked in individual mini muffin pans, then topped with a layer of the mint frosting, a layer of chocolate ganauche and another dab of mint frosting piped on in the shape of a star. I think I'll also put together a batch of Delectable Chocolates.

And the star of the show... a simple Christmas Log.

The over-all effect may be "death by chocolate" but these are tired and true favorites; simple to prepare and very showy for the amount of effort required. A win - win recipe in Nana's book.

Mocha Butter Cream

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup 10X (confectioners') sugar

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon powdered instant coffee

1 teaspoon water

Dissolve instant coffee with water, set aside. Beat butter in a small bowl, until fluffy. Beat in sugar, cocoa and coffee mixture.

BUCHE DE NOEL

(Christmas Log - pictured left)

Bake at 350 for 15 min.

Makes 8-10 servings

5 eggs, separated

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons flour

10x (confectioners' sugar)

Mocha butter cream (recipe follows)

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon 10X (confectioners') sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Grease a 15x10x1 inch jelly-roll pan; line bottom with was paper; grease paper again and lightly flour; tap off any excess.

2. Beat egg yolks in large bowl with electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy; gradually beat in granulated sugar and continue to beat until thick and pale in color. Beat in cocoa and flour at low speed.

3. Beat egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form; fold into yolk mixture until no streaks of white remain. Spread batter evenly in pan.

4. Bake in moderate oven (350°) for 15 minutes or until top springs back when lightly pressed with fingertip. Remove from oven; cover with wax paper and cool thoroughly on wire rack.

5. Sprinkle an 18 inch long piece of wax paper lightly with confectioners' sugar. Loosen edges of cooled cake from the pan and invert on to paper. Peel off paper. Trim edges and reserve 1/4 inch from narrow edges of cake. Spread cake thinly with 3 tablespoons of Mocha Butter Cream. (left)

6. Whip cream with 1 tablespoon 10X sugar and the vanilla in a small bowl until stiff. Spread evenly over cake on top of Mocha Butter Cream.

7. Roll lengthwise, using wax paper to aid rolling. Transfer to serving platter, seam-side down.

8. Frost roll with remaining Mocha Butter Cream. Form the trimmed edges into 3 or 4 various sized coils and arrange on "log" to resemble trimmed limbs. Frost coils and ends of log: sprinkle with sifted 10X sugar to resemble snow.

Fudge Batter Pudding

Nana's Coconut Custard Pie

In an electric blender, combine:

2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup biscuit mix
4 eggs
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cover and blend on low speed for 3 minutes. 

Pour into a greased 9 inch glass pie pan.  Let stand about 3 or 4 minutes: then sprinkle with 1 cup shredded coconut. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until set like custard. Serve warm topped with whipped cream..

Delectable Chocolates

Mix together:

1 can sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 lbs. powder sugar
1 lb. chopped nuts
7 oz. shredded coconut

Roll in walnut size balls.
Dip each ball in a warm mixture of:

12 oz. dark chocolate bits  
5 or 6 tbls. canning wax

melted together & kept warm in a double boiler.

Cool on wax paper & store in an airtight container.

Mrs. Little's Casserole Candy

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Beat eggs in an ungreased casserole, add sugar, beat well.  Stir in all remaining ingredients.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Remove from the oven and beat well while candy is still hot.  Cool mixture until you can handle it, then roll into balls using about 1 Tbls. each.  Roll each candy ball in sugar.  Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Mrs. Lewis' Bourbon Balls

1 cup crushed vanilla wafers 
2 Tbls. cocoa
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tbls. light corn syrup
1 1/2 cup chopped nuts 
1/4 cup good bourbon

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly.  Shape in 1 inch balls. Roll in confectioners sugar. Store in an airtight container.
Rum may be used instead of bourbon for "Rum Balls"