meringue

Butterscotch Pie with Marshmallow Thyme Meringue and Pretzel Crust

I broke down and bought Joy the Baker’s newest cookbook.  I kept seeing it everywhere and couldn’t resist that pretzel cake on the cover.  That pretzel cake must have still been on my mind while I leafed through the pages because I stopped dead in my tracks at this pie with pretzel crust.  I needed to do some pie research for Thanksgiving, so I gave this a shot.  Strictly for research purposes…

Butterscotch Pie with Thyme Meringue and Pretzel Crust | Hottie Biscotti

The crust is pretty basic, but uses cold buttermilk instead of water.  I had to add a bit more buttermilk than called for in the recipe to get it to stick together easily, but that is the only issue I ran in to with the crust.  It rolls out nicely and bakes up well.  I love the way the pretzels look lining the crust.  It’s really too bad you can’t see it after filling and baking.

Pretzel Crust | Hottie Biscotti

Into the crust goes a butterscotch filling that is rich and creamy and amazing.  When the first step in any recipe is browning butter you can’t be on the wrong track.  After cooking it has to chill for 2 hours, so be sure to plan accordingly.

Butterscotch Filling | Hottie Biscotti

The meringue is surprisingly good.  I was hesitant to add in the thyme, but was very glad I did.  It’s just noticeable enough.  Not overpowering but you still know it’s there, a slight savory note to balance the sweetness.  And the marshmallow does make it very sweet, which I happen to like.  I think it would be especially good on a sweet potato pie.  As we all know, sweet potatoes and marshmallows are meant for each other.

Marshmallow Thyme Meringue | Hottie Biscotti Butterscotch Pie with Thyme Meringue and Pretzel Crust | Hottie Biscotti

After filling and topping, the meringue gets a nice toast in the oven.  I think I under-baked mine just a bit.  I only let it go for about 4 minutes.  It could’ve used just a couple more for color and for the meringue to get a little sturdier.  When sliced the meringue got a little oozy, which makes no difference in taste but makes for a messy presentation.

Butterscotch Pie with Thyme Meringue and Pretzel Crust | Hottie Biscotti

You can serve this immediately after cooking the meringue, or chill it in the fridge.  I had better luck slicing and serving after the pie had time to chill, and my meringue was more cooperative.

Butterscotch Pie with Thyme Meringue and Pretzel Crust | Hottie Biscotti

The pretzels get a little soggy but still have enough crunch to add some nice texture to the pie.  I love the idea and the look of the pretzels, but this would still be a delicious pie without them.

I am really looking forward to trying more recipes from this cookbook!  Go grab a copy, it’s so much fun to look through and drool over.

Butterscotch Pie with Thyme Meringue and Pretzel Crust

From Homemade Decadence by Joy Wilson

Pretzel Crust

Makes 2 crusts

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk
  • small twisted pretzels (20-34 depending on size)

Directions

  1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and whisk together.
  2. Add in butter and work in using either clean hands or a pastry blender.  When butter is broken down into pieces roughly the size of oat flakes with some large pieces make a well in the center and add in the buttermilk.  Mix together using a wooden spoon until dough kind of holds together, but is still loose.
  3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, knead into a disc, cut the disc in half and form each into a round.  Wrap each in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.  (You only use one of these rounds for this pie, so use or freeze the other.)
  4. Flour a work surface and roll one of the rounds into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.  Move to a 9-inch pie plate, press gently into the plate and trim the edges and fold or crimp the edges.
  5. Arrange the pretzels on the bottom and up the sides of the pie crust, pressing them slightly into the dough.  Chill for at least 30 minutes.
  6. Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and press gently into the pie plate.  Fill the foil with beans, rice or pie weights.
  7. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Bake crust for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and weights and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until it begins to brown.  Cool completely before filling.

Butterscotch Filling

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 egg yolks (whites reserved for meringue)
  • 1 teaspoon molasses
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

  1. Brown the butter in a small saucepan by heating it over medium heat.  Cook, watching it carefully and swirling the pan frequently until butter begins to brown and smell nutty. Remove from the heat immediately so it doesn’t burn.  Let cool.
  2. In a medium saucepan combine egg yolks, molasses, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt and whisk.  Heat over medium and whisk in the milk.  Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly until mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency.  Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl.  Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the custard and chill for at least 2 hours.

Thyme Meringue

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 1 jar marshmallow cream (7 ounces)
  • 4 egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

  1. Combine the sugar and thyme in a small bowl and use your fingers to rub the thyme into the sugar.
  2. Scrape marshmallow into a large bowl and whisk (at least try to, this stuff is sticky!)
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment whisk egg whites on medium speed until they begin to froth.  Add the salt, then add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time while increasing the speed of the mixer gradually to medium high.  Beat until stiff peaks form and the meringue is glossy.
  4. Fold half of the egg whites into the marshmallow to lighten it, then fold in the rest of the egg whites in 3 batches.

Assemble and Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and move oven rack to the middle or top third depending on your oven size.  You want the pie near the top to brown the meringue.
  2. Spoon custard into pie crust and smooth the top.
  3. Top with the meringue and spread just to the edges without covering the crust.
  4. Bake for 4-7 minutes, until meringue has browned to your liking.
  5. Serve immediately or chill for an hour.

Cheater Pie Crust & Lemon Meringue Pie

A bottle of canola oil fell out of the pantry.  The plastic cap busted, and oil spilled all over the floor.  I found another container for what was left in the bottle, but there was still some that wouldn’t quite fit.  What to do?  I wasn’t going to throw it out.  I needed to find something to make using about a cup of oil.

The ingredient search on allrecipes.com is nice when you’re trying to find something to make when you’re limited in your resources, or just want to use something specific.  One of the problems I’ve encountered is that when I type in what I want to use I find a recipe that requires something I don’t have.  That wasn’t the case this time!  I found this pie crust recipe using that feature and figured I’d give it a try.

I’ve always made pie crusts using cold fats like butter or shortening, which are cut into the flour, adding cold water to bind the dough, and then refrigerating  the dough before rolling it out, always being careful not to over mix so that a tender flaky crust is achieved.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a recipe like this one for pie crust.  There’s no careful mixing, no chilling time, and canola oil is used instead of butter.  You even mix it all up in the pie plate, so only one dish gets dirty!  I had to give it a try.

This does not yield a traditional flaky crust.  It’s more like a cross between a sugar cookie and a graham cracker crust in texture.  The flavor is similar to a plain pie crust, a tad salty, which went well with the sweet and tart lemon filling.  This lemon meringue recipe (also from allrecipes.com) was pretty good.  My mom has a lemon meringue pie recipe that is more delicious, and a little easier.  I need to get that recipe from her.  This one is quite good though.  I should know, since Ben doesn’t like lemon meringue, I had to eat the entire thing myself…over the course of a week.

If I find myself pressed for time, I would use this crust again.  If I find myself pressed for time and happen to have a Pillsbury refrigerated crust…I would use that instead.

Here are the links to the recipes.  I made no changes.

Cheater Pie Crust

Lemon Meringue Pie

Daring Bakers: Meringue Coffee Cake

Finally.  I have missed more than one of the Daring Bakers challenges in the last few months.  I am glad that I got back on track with this one!

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

I managed to get the coffee cake made this week despite the fact that my son has not been a fan of napping for more than 30 minutes at a time.  At the moment I am trying to get this post written before he wakes up!  So, forgive me if this one is short and sweet.

The dough wasn’t too difficult to put together, but even after an hour and a half rise it hadn’t really doubled in bulk.  I do not have a great relationship with yeast.  I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon of cardamom to the flour mixture.

The filling.  Oh my goodness.  The filling.  How can you argue with this?  Sweet meringue, chopped pecans, cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips.  I did one ring with chocolate, and one without.  I prefer the one without if I’m enjoying this for breakfast.  I found that the chocolate hides the other flavors too much.

Rolling this up was easy, but when I went to form the ring I couldn’t get the edges to completely seal together.  I also didn’t have much filling on the edges, so a section of my ring was just bread…which still tasted delicious.

After baking, the meringue puffed out of the vents and got nice and brown.  It is so lovely!  I couldn’t resist breaking off a piece of it to enjoy.  Yummy.

I made the coffee cakes the day before and sent half of each one to work with Ben the next morning.  I was worried that it wouldn’t stay fresh overnight, but I had a piece the next afternoon and it was quite good.

Here is the link to the recipe.  I am too pressed for time to put the recipe on this post!  Ok, now off to get the kitchen cleaned before the little man wakes!  Enjoy!

Pistachio Pavlovas with Lemon Curd and Raspberries

These lovely desserts were the finale to our Easter meal this past weekend.  I did not make them and cannot take any credit for their deliciousness.  My friend Jackie found the recipe in Cooking Light and offered to bring them.  They were the perfect end to the meal. 

The meringues were light and crunchy, the lemon curd and raspberries were perfect partners; tart and sweet, and the pistachios added such a wonderful richness to the whole dessert.  To top it all off, they were beautiful.  This is an impressive looking dessert, and Jackie said that it wasn’t all that complicated or tedious.  She even let the meringues sit in the oven overnight and they were still perfect.

Making individual dessert can sometimes me a pain, but these are incredibly easy to assemble.  I will definitely be putting this recipe away to make another time.  Thanks, Jackie!

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