The Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Sixties Cookbook (29 page)

FILLING

8 large eggs

1⅔ cups sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter

Grated zest of 3 lemons

Perfect Pie Dough (
page 163
), fully baked

MERINGUE

4 large egg whites (reserved from the filling), at room temperature

⅔ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1.
To make the filling, beat 4 eggs together in a small bowl. Separate the remaining 4 eggs, adding the yolks to the beaten eggs, and the whites to a large bowl. Cover the whites and let stand at room temperature.

2.
Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together in a medium bowl. Add the beaten eggs and yolks and whisk again. Whisk in the lemon juice and salt. Transfer to a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking almost constantly, until the filling comes to a full boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Strain through a wire sieve into a bowl. Stir the zest into the filling. Pour the filling into the warm or cooled pie shell.

3.
Immediately proceed to the meringue. Beat the reserved whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer set at high speed until the whites form soft peaks. Beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat until the meringue forms stiff, shiny peaks. Beat in the vanilla. Using a metal spatula, spread the meringue over the hot filling, being sure that the meringue touches the crust on all sides. (This helps keep the crust from shrinking.) Swirl the meringue with the spatula to form peaks.

4.
Bake until the meringue is tinged with brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the cake rack and let cool completely, at least 3 hours.

5.
To serve, cut into wedges with a sharp thin knife, dipping the knife into a glass of hot water between slices.

PERFECT PIE DOUGH

Then, as now, pie was the true test of the home baker’s art, and even as the dessert repertoire has expanded, it remains an accomplishment to create a tender crust. The key ingredient to a reliably flaky crust is lard or vegetable shortening. This recipe adds butter for flavor and sugar to promote tenderness.

CRUST

1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

1 tablespoon sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons chilled lard or vegetable shortening, and cut into ½-inch bits

2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, and cut into ½-inch cubes

⅓ cup iced water, as needed

1.
To make the crust, stir the flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the shortening and butter and stir to coat with flour. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the fats into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces of fat. Gradually stir in enough of the iced water until the mixture is moistened and begins to clump together. Gather up into a thick disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. (Pie dough is easiest to handle when it is cold, but not chilled rock-hard.)

2.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and place on the work surface. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a 13-inch-diameter round about ⅛ inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan, being sure the dough fits snugly into the corners of the pan. Trim the dough to a ½-inch overhang around the edges of the pan. Fold the dough over so its edge is flush with the sides of the pan. Prick the dough with the tines of a fork. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 day.

3.
Position a rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Completely line the dough with a round of parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill the pan with pastry weights or dried beans. Place on a baking sheet.

4.
For a partially baked shell, bake until the edges of the dough look set but not browned, about 12 minutes. Remove the pan on the sheet from the oven. Lift and remove the parchment paper with the weights. Pierce the dough with the tines of a fork again. Return to the oven and continue baking until the surface of the dough looks dry, but not browned, about 6 minutes more. Remove from the oven. Transfer to a wire cake rack. The shell can be used warm or cooled.

5.
For a fully baked pie shell, bake until the edges of the dough look set but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan on the sheet from the oven. Lift and remove the parchment paper with the weights. Pierce the dough with the tines of a fork again. Return to the oven and continue baking until the dough is lightly browned, about 15 minutes more. Remove the pan on the sheet from the oven. Transfer to a wire cake rack. The shell can be used warm or cooled.

NESSELRODE PIE

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

For decades, Nesselrode pie was the ultimate holiday dessert, and it deserves a comeback. Named for a French diplomat of the 1850s who somehow became associated with chestnut desserts, it has a filling of candied fruits and chestnuts in a creamy, rum-spiked pudding. Make it for a holiday party, and it will probably become a tradition for you as well.

FILLING

¼ cup chopped candied fruit (any combination of candied green or red cherries, orange or lemon peel, citron, and/or pineapple)

¼ cup chopped marrons glacés, or vacuum-packed or drained canned chestnuts

¼ cup golden or seedless raisins, or a combination

2 tablespoons silver (clear) rum

1 cup half-and-half; divided

1½ teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder

3 large eggs, separated

¾ cup sugar, divided

⅓ cup heavy cream

Perfect Pie Dough (
page 163
), fully baked and cooled

TOPPING

¾ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon rum

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate shavings, for garnish (optional, see Note on opposite page)

1.
Place the candied fruit in a wire sieve and rinse well under hot running water to remove the surface food coloring. Pat dry with paper towels. Combine the rinsed fruit, chestnuts, raisins, and rum in a small bowl. Set aside.

2.
Place a wire sieve over a heatproof bowl near the stove. Pour ¼ cup of half-and-half into a custard cup. Sprinkle in the gelatin. Let stand until softened, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining ¾ cup half-and-half in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles appear around the edges. Whisk the egg yolks with 6 tablespoons of sugar in a heatproof medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the hot liquid. Return to the saucepan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly with a wooden spatula until the custard is almost simmering and reads 185°F on an instant-read thermometer (if you run your finger through the custard on the spoon, it will cut a swath), about 3 minutes. Do not let the custard boil.

3.
Strain through the sieve into the bowl. Add the softened gelatin and whisk until completely dissolved, at least 1 minute. Place the bowl of custard in a larger bowl of iced water and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold and just beginning to set, about 15 minutes.

4.
Using an electric mixer set on high speed, beat the egg whites just until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar and continue beating just until stiff and shiny, but not dry, peaks form. Whip the cream in a chilled medium bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into the custard. Stir about ¼ of the whites into the custard to lighten the mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Let stand in the iced water until almost fully set. Stir in the soaked fruits and chestnuts with the rum. Pour into the pie crust and cover with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly on the surface of the filling. Refrigerate until the filling is chilled and set, at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.

5.
To make the topping, using an electric mixer set on high speed, whip the cream, confectioners’ sugar, rum, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Uncover the pie, and spread the topping on the filling, and top with the chocolate curls, if using. Serve chilled.

NOTE
:
To make chocolate shavings, use a 3.5-ounce bar or chunk of semisweet or milk chocolate. Using a swivel-blade vegetable peeler, shave curls from the short end of the bar, letting them fall from the bar over the filling. You may not use all of the chocolate.

DAIQUIRI LIME AND GELATIN MOLD

MAKES 8 TO 10 SERVINGS

There’s something magical about food that shimmers as it shimmies. But when it comes to the perfect Jello-O mold, timing is everything. As a kid, it’s darn near impossible to wait for the gelatin to solidify (usually, tiny testing fingerprints end up on the bottom of the mold). As an adult, it’s critical to let the gelatin set just enough before you add the fruit or it will sink to the bottom (and hover embarrassingly at the top of the finished mold). A giant creamy, dreamy Jell-O creation that’s spiked with rum? That we can wait for. (If you’re serving kids, make sure to leave out the alcohol, or make them their own virgin version.)

Vegetable oil, for the mold

2 (3-ounce) boxes lime-flavored gelatin desserts

2 cups boiling water

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, cut up

1⅓ cups iced water

2 tablespoons silver (clear) rum

1 (15-ounce) can fruit cocktail in heavy or light syrup, well drained

1.
Lightly oil a 6-cup tiered gelatin mold. Combine the gelatin and boiling water in a heatproof bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese and whisk until the cheese melts. Add the iced water and stir until the ice dissolves. Stir in the rum.