Banana Cream Pie.... or maybe not.

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a delicious recipe for banana cream pie I got from a fun book. Mrs. Rowe's Little Book of Southern Pies has all the old favorites, along with quite a few I've never heard of, including a recipe for "weepless" meringue. (You know, it gets those little droplets of sugar water and it doesn't look as pretty. Apparently, you can fix that!)

I thought this book would be a fun giveaway on my blog but as soon as it showed up, Thor took it over. 

I could hear him mumbling to himself as the pages flipped by...

So, first of all, we need a banana. Ooooo, lookey here!

 It was sort of sunny... but sort of not. I was trying to get a good picture, and it started to rain. I'm not sure whether I like the before rain sun, or...

 ...if the sunny-while-raining picture is better. So, here they both are and you can choose.

 (You can see the reflection on the wall where the water was running down the window. I should have gone out to look for a rainbow, but I was determined to have PIE!)

 One banana, 3 cups whole milk, 1/4 cup cornstarch, 3 egg yolks, one cup sugar.

 Also, 1 TBS unsalted butter, 2 tsp vanilla. For the meringue four egg whites, 4 TBS sugar, and 1/4 tsp cream of tartar.

 Mix three egg yolks, corn starch, and one cup sugar.

This is my vintage pie tin and she's quite the chatterbox. When she and Edna get going, you wouldn't believe the stories she tells: being forgotten in the oven until she thought she'd melt, overflowing with bubbling berry juice and filling the house with smoke, left on the windowsill and being snatched away by thieves, sitting in the cool shelter of a pie safe.

 So, I filled Miss Pie Pantry (her nickname is "peaches" but I just can't call her that, she deserves more respect) with pie crust. Preheat the oven to 350F.

 I sliced the banana and lay it inside. Miss Pie kept trying to say something, but it was so muffled under all that dough. I was in a hurry, so I gave her a little pat and  just kept on...

 Now, bring the milk to a boil, and then add in the egg/corn starch/sugar mixture, cook 4 minutes. (I have to say it looked a little lumpy. Edna said I added everything when the milk was too hot. I made another batch since the little guys loved this custard so much, and it was much smoother the second time).

 After 4 minutes, remove from the heat and add the TB of butter ad the 2 tsp of vanilla. YUMMY. The kitchen smells so good!

 Pour into the crust like so. Miss Pie Pantry was still talking. She sounded sort of insistent. I resolved to get her out of the cupboard more often. She must be very lonely.

Whip the four egg whites with the 1/4 tsp cream of tartar, When soft peaks form, add the sugar one TB at a time. I think I could have whipped this a little longer.

Enlist small boy to spoon the meringue onto the pudding.

 Gentle, gently.

 Miss Pie Pantry was still making noises, but soon she was completely muffled under all that crust, banana, pudding, and meringue.

 (This is the second batch of vanilla pudding I made. I had to share this shot because, int he upper left hand corner, there is an EYE. Creepy, eh? This is what happens when you cook pudding in a house with six kids. Random photo-bombing will happen.) Anyway, of course Edna was right and this was MUCH smoother.

 Thirty minutes in the oven and the pie is done! Perfect!!!

Happy boy! He can't wait to eat the pie! But it has to cool in the fridge for 3-4 hours, so I tell him that tomorrow morning, we'll cut into it...

Except, that night, right around midnight... I cut into the pie. Just to check, you know. It was HORRIBLE!! How did this happen??? 

Once I'd cleared a space, Miss Pie Pantry informed me that I needed to BAKE THE CRUST FIRST. Oh.... that's what all the muffled yelling was about. Edna's bowls were rattling with laughter and even Thor let out a few low chuckles. 

Hm. I think it's the cookbook's fault. They should have highlighted that bit. And a bigger font.  I mean "prebaked" is such a small word and no wonder I missed it.

So, until nxt time my friends. I wish you success in the kitchen and remember to BAKE THE CRUST if you make this recipe.

Lemon Queen Cakes with Meringue Frosting

Hello everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and we have a delicious recipe that will knock your socks off. And your blood sugar will never forgive you. But that's another story...

 

 Edna kept talking about 'queen' cakes. They sounded good until she got to the part about them being not quite cooked. WHAT???

 So, I had to try it out. I've always been told that the cake MUST BE COOKED completely. If I'd known raw cake was okay to serve, I wouldn't have had to poke so many cakes in my life. All those little sticks. All those little holes. All those wasted minutes.

 

 

If this worked out, I might never have to time a cake again. I'd just cook it... halfway.


Beat together (Isn't that the way all good recipes start??)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tbs grated lemon zest. MMMMM.


4 eggs separated (no lawyer needed)

 

 

Add to this mixture

1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp salt

 

Wisk the leftover egg whites until fluffy and fold into batter gently.

 

Pour into buttered ramekins.

 

 

I think you actually have to have them for this recipe. Edna said these could be cooked into oven safe teacups, but that kind of glassware is RARE around here. :) Vintage glass like this... if you see it, snatch it up and make queen cakes!

 

 

Set each ramekin in an inch or so of water.

 

 

 

30-32 minutes at 350, until firm on top. Here's the thing, there's no need to poke them! The bottom is pudding! Crazy, huh? I guess it gets hot enough that the uncooked cake won't kill you. Edna was telling me the bottom is like the best lemon cream I've ever tasted.

 

 

 

I was still thinking, "RAW! DANGER!" (Look at those pretty food poisoning microbes!)

 

 But hey, Edna knows best.

 

So, now whip 4 egg whites, 1 cup sugar, and 1/8 tsp salt into a stiff meringue. Add it to the top. Now, if you have one of those uber-cool kitchen blow torches, now would be the time to bring that out. But I did not. so I put it in the oven under broil.

 

 

Uhhhhhh, apparently there's approximately a 1.3 second window for the browning of the meringue. The leisure you gain by not having to actually poke the cake is taken back from you ten-fold with the dumb meringue.

 

Ok, this is better, now that I know I actually have to PAY ATTENTION.

So, here's the bottom of one of the cakes.

Layers of meringue, lemon cake, and then a smooth lemon pudding... Really, really fancy. I can see why they call them 'queen cakes'!

This definitely wasn't diet food, so after this we had to go outside and rake a big pile of leaves.

 And jump in them! Wheeee!

 I'm hoping our next outdoor photo will look like this...

 

A girl can dream!

 Until next time!

 

 

 

 

3

 meringue on top, simmiering water, whisk to 160F and then whip to stiff peaks, broil