Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook
Page 6
2 beaten eggs (just whip them up in a glass with a fork)
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 and ½ cups mashed peaches 14
3 cups flour (don’t sift – pack it down in the cup when you
measure)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped blanched almonds
Hannah’s 1st Note: This is a lot easier with an electric mixer.
Beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar together until they’re nice and fluffy. Add the beaten eggs and the almond extract, and mix them in.
Peel and slice the peaches (or drain them and pat them dry if you’ve used prepared peaches or canned peaches.) Mash them in a food processor with the steel blade, or puree them in a blender, or squash them with a potato masher until they’re pureed. Measure out 1 and ½ cups of mashed peaches and add it to your mixing bowl. Stir well.
In another bowl, measure out the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix them together.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the peach mixture, beating at low speed until everything is incorporated.
Mix in the almonds by hand.
Coat the inside of two loaf pans (the type you’d use for bread) with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon in the peach bread batter.
Bake at 350 degrees F. for approximately one hour, or until a long toothpick or skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. If the top browns a bit too fast, tent a piece of foil over the top of the loaves.
You can also bake this in 6 smaller loaf pans, filling them about half full. If you use the smaller pans, they’ll need to bake approximately 45 minutes.
Cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack in the pans. Then loosen the edges and turn the loaves out onto the wire rack.
Yield: Makes 2 bread-sized loaves, or 6 small loaves.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: This bread is also good toasted. Mother loves it toasted with honey butter on top.
If you want to make these as muffins, pour the batter into greased (or cupcake papered) muffin tins and bake at 375 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until golden on top. (Mini muffins should bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly golden on top.)
Andrea realized that everyone was still staring at her and she gave a little shrug. “I’ve learned some things about cooking.”
Hannah had all she could do to hold her tongue. The last time she’d gone to lunch at Andrea’s house, several months before her sister had hired Grandma McCann to help her with the children and the meals, Andrea had served peanut butter sandwiches with mint jelly.
“Well, I have,” Andrea insisted when no one said a word. “I know a lot more than I did when I tried to follow the recipe for Hannah’s Lemon Meringue Pie.”
There was total silence for a long, uncomfortable moment. Andrea finally broke the silence by laughing. “All right. Maybe I’ll never be a good cook.” She turned to look at Hannah. “And I release you from your promise. You can tell them what I did when I made the pie.”
“I’ll tell them over dessert,” Hannah said, motioning to Lisa to carry out the dessert tray.
“Is that a lemon pie?” Andrea asked, spotting the meringue on the top of the pies Lisa was carrying.
“No, it’s a new recipe I’m testing for Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie.”
“PBJ Pie?” Andrea looked intrigued.
“Yes. You can use any jam or jelly.” Hannah paused and tried to be tactful. “But I really wouldn’t try it with mint jelly. I don’t think it would be very good. I used grape jelly in one pie, and peach jam in the other.”
“There’s a cake there, too,” Delores pointed out. “What kind is that?”
“Something new that Lisa and I just baked. It’s a Tapioca Cheesecake.”
“Two desserts?” Claire Rodgers Knudson asked. “Is that... allowed?”
Grandma Knudson laughed and patted Claire’s hand. “Of course it is, dear. Eating two desserts is never a sin as long as you take small bites.”
Pies
LEMON MERINGUE PIE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
1 nine-inch baked pie shell
THE FILLING:
3 whole eggs
4 egg yolks (save the whites in a mixing bowl and let them
come up to room temperature – you’ll need them for
the meringue)
½ cup water
cup lime juice
cup lemon juice
1 cup white (granulated) sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 to 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon butter
Hannah’s 1st Note: Using a double boiler makes this recipe foolproof, but if you’re very careful and stir constantly so it doesn’t scorch, you can make the lemon filling in a heavy saucepan directly on the stove over medium heat.
Put some tap water in the bottom of a double boiler and heat it until it simmers. (Make sure you don’t use too much water – it shouldn’t touch the bottom of the pan on top.) Off the heat, beat the egg yolks with the whole eggs in the top of the double boiler. Add the ½ cup water, lime juice, and lemon juice. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir until completely blended. Add this to the egg mixture in the top of the double boiler and blend thoroughly.
Place the top of the double boiler over the simmering water and cook, stirring frequently, until the lemon pie filling thickens (5 minutes or so). Lift the top saucepan of the double boiler, the one containing the lemon filling you just made, and place it on a cold burner. Add the lemon zest and the butter to the filling, and stir thoroughly. Let the filling cool while you make the meringue.
THE MERINGUE:
Hannah’s Note: This is a whole lot easier with an electric mixer!
4 egg whites
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
teaspoon salt
¼ cup white (granulated) sugar
Add the cream of tartar and salt to the egg whites and mix them in. Beat the egg whites on high until they form soft peaks. Continue beating as you sprinkle in the sugar. When the egg whites form firm peaks, stop mixing and tip the bowl to test the meringue. If the egg whites don’t slide down the side, they’re ready.
Put the filling into the baked pie shell, smoothing it with a rubber spatula. Clean and dry your spatula. Spread the meringue over the filling with the clean spatula, sealing it to the edges of the crust. When the pie is completely covered with meringue, “dot” the pie with the flat side of the spatula to make points in the meringue. (The meringue will shrink back when it bakes if you don’t seal it to the edges of the crust.)
Bake the pie at 350 degrees F. for no more than 10 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven, let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack, and then refrigerate it if you wish. This pie can be served at room temperature, but it will slice more easily if it’s chilled.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: To keep your knife from sticking to the meringue when you cut the pie, dip it in cold water.
KEY LIME PIE
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
THE CRUST:
Make your favorite graham cracker or cookie crumb crust in an 8-inch or 9-inch pie pan (or buy one pre-made at the grocery store – I used a shortbread crust).
THE FILLING:
5 eggs
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
½ teaspoon lemon zest (optional) 15
½ cup sour cream
½ cup key lime juice 16
¼ cup white (granulated) sugar
Crack one whole egg into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Separate the remaining 4 eggs, placing the 4 yolks into the bowl with the whole egg and the 4 whites into another mixing bowl. Leave the bowl with the 4 whites on your counter. They need to warm a bit for the meringue you’ll make later.
Whisk the whole egg and the egg yolks until they’re a uniform color. Stir in the can of sweetened conde
nsed milk. Add the lemon zest, if you decided to use it, and the sour cream. Stir it all up and set the bowl aside.
Juice the limes and measure out ½ cup of juice in a small bowl.
Hannah’s 1st Note: Key limes aren’t easy to juice. They’re very small, and a regular lime juicer won’t work very well. I just roll them on my counter, pressing them down with my palm, until they’re a little soft. Then I cut them in half on a plate, (so that I can save any juice that runs out), hold each half over a measuring cup, and squeeze them with my fingers. It’s a little messy, but it works.
Add the ¼ cup sugar to the key lime juice and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Now add the sugared lime juice to the bowl with your egg mixture and whisk it in.
Pour the filling you just made into the graham cracker or cookie crust.
Bake the pie at 325 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and set it on a rack to wait for its meringue.
DON’T TURN OFF THE OVEN! Instead, increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. to bake the meringue.
THE MERINGUE:
Hannah’s Note: This is a whole lot easier with an electric mixer.
4 egg whites (the ones you saved)
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
a pinch of salt
cup white (granulated) sugar
Add the cream of tartar and salt to the bowl with your egg whites and mix them in. Beat the egg whites on HIGH until they form soft peaks.
Continue to beat at high speed as you sprinkle in the sugar. When the egg whites form firm peaks, stop mixing and tip the bowl to test the meringue. If the egg whites don’t slide down the side, they’re ready.
Spread the meringue over the filling with a clean spatula, sealing it to the edges of the crust. When the pie is covered with meringue, either “dot” it with the flat side of the spatula to make points in the meringue, OR smooth it out into a dome and make circular grooves with the tip of your spatula from the outside rim to the center, to create a flower-like design.
Bake the pie at 350 degrees F. for an additional 12 minutes.
Remove the pie from the oven, let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack, and then refrigerate it if you wish. This pie can be served at room temperature or chilled. It will be easier to cut and serve if it’s chilled.
To keep your knife from sticking to the meringue when you cut the pie, dip the blade in cold water.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Key lime juice is a very pale green color, midway between green and yellow. The eggs and egg yolks added to the filling will color it more yellow than green. If you see a key lime pie that’s green inside, the baker added green food coloring.
MOCK APPLE PIE
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F., rack in the center position. Yes, that’s four hundred and fifty degrees F. and not a misprint.
Use your favorite piecrust recipe to make enough pastry for an eight-inch double crust pie.17
Assemble the following ingredients:
20 salted soda crackers
¼ to ½ cup softened butter
1 and ½ cups cold water
1 and ½ cups white (granulated) sugar
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 and ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
Butter the soda crackers. (I ended up using just a bit over a quarter-cup of butter to do this.) Put the buttered crackers in the saucepan, and break them up into fairly large pieces with a wooden spoon.
Add the water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cream of tartar. Give everything a good stir with your spoon and bring the mixture to a boil over medium to high heat on the stovetop.
Once the boil has been reached, turn down the heat and simmer for exactly two minutes.
Set the saucepan aside on a cold burner.
Divide your piecrust dough in half. Roll out the bottom crust large enough to line an 8-inch pie plate.
Pour the soda cracker mixture into the lined pie plate and cover it with the top crust. Crimp the edges together. Cut a couple of slits in the top crust to let out the steam while the pie bakes.
Bake the pie at 450 degrees F., for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top crust is nicely browned.
Cool and serve.
Hannah’s Note: This pie has fooled everyone every single time I’ve served it!
Lisa says she likes this pie best with vanilla ice cream. Herb prefers it with cinnamon ice cream. Lisa’s dad likes to accompany it with a slice of sharp cheddar. Herb’s mom likes hers with sweetened whipped cream.
*PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY PIE
DO NOT preheat your oven yet -- you must make the crust first.
FOR THE CRUST:
2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs (measure AFTER
crushing)
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup white (granulated) sugar
2 Tablespoons ( cup) cold water
In a medium-size bowl with a fork, whisk together the crushed vanilla wafers, the peanut butter, and the white sugar until the resulting mixture is crumbly and well combined.
Add ONE (only one, not both) Tablespoon of water and attempt to form the mixture into a ball with your impeccably clean hands. Use the second Tablespoon of water if the first Tablespoon isn’t enough to squeeze the mixture into a ball.
Once the ball is formed, spray a 9-inch pie pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
Set the ball of crust in the bottom of the pan, flatten it out with your hands, and press it up the sides. DON’T WASH THE BOWL YOU USED FOR THE PIE CRUST — YOU CAN USE IT AGAIN FOR THE NEXT STEP.
Slip the pie plate in your freezer and set the timer for 30 minutes. Your peanut butter pie crust must freeze that long before you use it.
FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER FILLING:
1 cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar
½ cup creamy peanut butter
Mix the powdered sugar with the peanut butter. You want to be able to spread it in the bottom of your pie crust, so you may need to heat the bowl a bit in the microwave once your peanut butter pie crust comes out of the freezer.
When your crust has chilled for 30 minutes, remove it from the freezer and set it on the counter.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F., rack in the middle position.
Spread the peanut butter filling on the bottom of the peanut butter crust. Set it on top of a drip pan (I use an old cookie sheet with sides) and leave it on the counter to wait for the “jelly” filling.
Don’t wash the bowl you just used for the peanut butter filling. Simply wipe it out with a paper towel, and you can use it again for the “jelly” filling. (Can you tell I hate to wash dishes?)
FOR THE “JELLY” FILLING:
5 eggs
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup plain yogurt (try to find whole milk yogurt — it’s better)
½ cup frozen grape juice concentrate 18
1 Tablespoon grape jelly
½ teaspoon lemon zest (optional) 19
Crack one whole egg into that same medium-sized mixing bowl. Separate the remaining 4 eggs, placing the 4 yolks into the bowl with the whole egg and the 4 whites into another mixing bowl. Leave the bowl with the 4 whites on your counter. They need to warm a bit for the meringue you’ll make later.
Whisk the whole egg and the egg yolks until they’re a uniform color. Then stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk.
Add the yogurt and the grape juice concentrate. Stir it together until it’s a uniform color and the frozen concentrate has melted.
Heat the Tablespoon of jelly until it melts and then stir it into the mixture.
Add the lemon zest, if you decided to use it, and stir well.
Pour the filling you just made on top of the peanut butter filling in your crust.
Bake the pie at 325 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and set it on a cool stovetop or a rack to wait for its meringue.
Hannah
’s 1st Note: The contents of your pie will be “jiggly”. That’s okay. It’ll firm up later.
DON’T TURN OFF THE OVEN! Instead, increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. to bake the meringue.
FOR THE MERINGUE:
4 egg whites (the ones you saved in that bowl on the counter)
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
a pinch of salt
cup white (granulated) sugar
Hannah’s 2nd Note: This is a whole lot easier with an electric mixer!
Add the cream of tartar and the salt to the bowl with your egg whites and mix them in.
Beat the egg whites on HIGH until they form soft peaks.
Continue to beat at HIGH speed as you sprinkle in the sugar. When the egg whites form firm peaks, stop mixing and tip the bowl to test the meringue. If the egg whites don’t slide down the side of the bowl, they’re ready.
Spread the meringue over the filling with a clean rubber spatula, sealing it to the edges of the crust. When the pie is covered with meringue, either “dot” it with the flat side of the spatula to make points in the meringue, OR smooth it out into a dome and make circular grooves with the tip of your spatula from the outside rim to the center, to create a flower-like design.
Bake your Peanut Butter & Jelly Pie at 350 degrees F. for an additional 12 minutes.