Friday 30 January 2015

Sugar Pie

Last year at Christmas, we got this mailer from the City with Christmas activities, traditional stories, and recipes.

Being a very busy person - I skimmed it and set it aside.  When I was doing a clean-out of my little "box of miscellaneous papers" (like 8 months later), I came across the mailer, skimmed it again, and found this recipe. 

To be honest, my thought process was like this:
"Oh yeah, I forgot about this recipe"
"Should I make it this weekend?"
"I kinda want to make something else"
"But I want to clean out this box"
"It's waaaaaay too much work to scan it and save it somewhere for later"
"I'll just make it this weekend"
"Crap, I don't have a 9-inch tart pan.  Whatever"

Reading the recipe over, it looks somewhat intimidating.  But, don't worry - it's pretty easy!

 
Start out by making the dough.  You'll want to do this fairly in advance because it needs to be refrigerated for an hour and then hang out on the counter for 20 minutes afterwards.
 
In a medium bowl, add the flour.

 
Then the sugar.

 
And the salt and cold butter.

 
Combine that using a pastry blender.  Or a fork.  Or two knives.  But I prefer the pastry blender.
 
Then, combine milk and an egg yolk and pour over the flour mixture.

 
Stir the mixture together using a fork (NOT a pastry blender) until it's kind of a shaggy dough.

 
Dump the mixture on the counter and knead until combined.  Don't overwork the dough or it will be tough.
 
Then press into a discy-shaped circle thing, wrap in saran-wrap, and put in the fridge.

 
After chilling in the fridge for 1 hour, take the dough out and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes.
 
Roll out the dough into a circle just slightly bigger than a 9-inch tart pan.  You want to be able to press the dough up the sides of the pan and have a slight "hang-over" that you'll trim off.
 
Because I don't OWN a 9-inch tart pan, I used a pie plate and the same method.

 
Then take a fork and prick little marks in the dough.  You don't want to press all the way through the dough, just kind of make an indentation.
 
And then line the dough/shell/pastry with aluminum foil and pie weights (or dried beans work too!) and bake until golden.
 
I skipped that part because I don't own pie weights either.  And I don't keep dried beans in the house.

 
Next up?  The filling.

 
In a large bowl, combine the flour,

 
The brown sugar,

 
And the two eggs.

 
And whisk it all together until really smooth.
 
Take a sec and look at how beautiful that is..... 
 
My.  Goodness.

 
While you've been mixing up the gloriousness above, you'll be heating the cream to a boil.
 
Right?
 
I didn't tell you that?
 
Oh boy.  Sorry.  Heat cream until just boiling.
 
Then SLOWLY pour the hot cream into the brown sugar mixture.  If you pour the cream in too fast you'll cook the eggs and, trust me, it's super-gross.  Pouring the hot cream in slowly tempers/cooks/creates magic and keeps the eggs from cooking. 
 
Once you've got about half that hot cream in the bowl, you can just dump the rest of the cream in.  It's most likely gonna be safe.

 
Then you'll pour the sugar/cream mixture through a sieve (to remove any clumps - it can happen).  You can pour it directly into the crust, or into another bowl and then pour the strained mixture into the crust.  Totally your call.

 

Then bake in a preheated oven until the center is firm. 

 
Let cool on the counter and serve!
 
Preferably with whipped cream. 
 
Okay - ALWAYS with whipped cream.

 
Let me just say.  For a pie with almost next to nothing in it, it was delicious!!
 
Sweet, creamy, and a beautiful crust - this old-fashioned pie absolutely won my heart!


 
The other day my Mom and I were talking about pecans.  She doesn't like them.  (I was making Sex in a Pan for dessert and she asked me to switch out the pecans for almonds)
 
It completely threw me for a loop as one of my favorite pies is pecan!  But Mom doesn't like pecan pie.  Well.  She likes everything about pecan pie - except for the pecans.
 
The moral of the story is that if you know a crazy person who likes pecan pie without the pecans - I would absolutely recommend this as an acceptable substitute.
 
Or you could make a different pie.  Totally your call.
 
Anyway.  Yeah.  This pie was FANTASTIC!  And I fed it to as many people as I could and they all loved it.
 
I also kind of love the look of the crust like this.  It's super-pretty.  I'm tempted to NEVER use a tart pan ever.
 
I hope you get a chance to feed it to your peeps.  And maybe to someone who doesn't like pecans.
 
xoxo - Heather 
 
Sugar Pie
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup milk
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup whipping cream
  1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, and salt.  Sprinkle with cubed butter.
  2. Cut butter into the flour mixture with pastry blender or two knives until crumbly.
  3. Mix egg yolk with milk, drizzle over butter mixture, tossing with fork to make a loose shaggy dough. 
  4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead until combined.
  5. Press the dough into a circle.  Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  6. Let soften at room temperature for about 20 minutes before rolling out.
  7. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 12-inch circle.  Fit into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing to side and trimming any excess from top of rim. 
  8. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  9. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals all over.
  10. Line with foil, fill with pie weights or dried beans.
  11. Bake in the bottom third of a 375 degree F oven until light golden and firm - about 15 minutes.
  12. Remove foil and weights, let cool on rack.
  13. In a large bowl combine the flour and sugar. 
  14. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until smooth
  15. In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil.
  16. Whisk the heated cream into the egg mixture.
  17. Pour through a sieve (to remove any lumps) into the baked pie crust.
  18. Bake in a 350 degrees F oven just until center is firm, about 30 minutes.
  19. Let cool in pan on rack.

2 comments:

  1. You're right - I'm sure I would like this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wish I could come for Sunday suppers too... :(

    ReplyDelete