For some reason, I tend to think of pie as a summer or spring dessert.  Maybe I hold that image of picnics and outdoor parties where the loaded summer fruit pies come out, peach and strawberry and fresh, juicy fruit – with a pecan pie thrown in for good measure.  But pie is really an all-round treat, and a perfect, creamy, tangy winter Southern pie is classic Buttermilk Pie.

I first came across a recipe for Buttermilk Pie as a kid, when I loved being in the kitchen, but my skills were generally limited to stirring and pouring.  Whisking was actually an advanced technique.  I have had the recipe on a card for ever, who knows where it originally came from, and it sees the light of day occasionally, particularly when I have a surfeit of buttermilk from making biscuits.  I have no problem using a purchase pie crust for speed, but if I have a homemade one in the freezer or am in the mood to make one, I feel very industrious.

Buttermilk Pie

You can sprinkle a little nutmeg over the top of the filling before baking if you’d like.

Pastry for 1 (9 inch) pie

½ cup (1 stick) butter

3 eggs

3 Tablespoons flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups buttermilk (low-fat or whole), shaken well

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Fit the pastry into a 9 inch pie plate.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool to room temperature.  When the butter is cool, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten.  Add the flour, sugar and vanilla and whisk until combined.  Pour in the butter and whisk throroughly.  Add the buttermilk in a drizzle while whisking until the filling is smooth and fully incorporated.

Pour the filling into the crust and use a sharp pointed knife to pop any large air bubbles that form.  Shape a piece of aluminum foil to fit over the pie before you transfer it to the oven, but put the pie in the oven uncovered at first.

Bake the pie at 425 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes, then cover the pie with the prepared foil and lower the heat to 325 degrees.  Continue baking until the filling is set, 30 – 35 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and cool completely.  I prefer to chill the pie overnight, but it can be eaten at room temperature.

Serves 8

British food gets a bad rap.  But I think some of that comes from the tourist trade.  When an American traveler heads to the UK, they generally want a lot of “ye olde” and this often involves chain restaurants, much like a Denny’s or a Shoney’s.  Even some of the most charming, half-timbered, stain-glassed pubs in England are run by companies that market “traditional” English fare, smack-dab in the middle of the most visited attractions. But much like at home, beware any menu that has pictures.  So Fish and Chips are soggy, Steak and Ale pie is gluey and Spotted Dick just makes people laugh. 

But I have a fondness for British food.  I think it is homey and comforting and when done properly, amazingly rich and satisfying.  Maybe it’s a little strange that I have developed this fondness, for a lot of my early introduction to real Brit food was either the tourist traps or institutional.  I have spent, summer, college semester and grad school as a student and the food in the dining halls of England is as dismal as it is so often in the States.  Meals were generally gray, and positively swimming in some form of greasy gravy, unidentified sauce and custard covering every imaginable dessert.  I could, however, see the beauty underneath the gravy – recognizing that any wonderful dish can be made poorly.  I have an ongoing obsession with creating versions of British classics that are true to original intentions, but move past the bad reputation.  I search them out when I am in England each year, read cookbooks and most importantly glean information from British friends.

All this being said, Sticky Toffee Pudding is a British classic that is good on every level. There are a few foods I fell this way about – even bad Sticky Toffee Pudding is still pretty good.  There is a museum café in London that serves a Sticky Toffee that is so stodgy and heavy, it would never make someone want to recreate it.  But that sugary, treacley sauce will make you eat every last bite.  And one of the first things I do when I arrive in London at my rented flat is hit the grocery store that is sure to have a small tin of Cartmel Village Shop Sticky Toffee Pudding ready to heat up.

First off, pudding is a generic term for British desserts.  This is cakey and moist and has nothing to do with Jell-O.  The dates lend moistness and sweet depth – this does not taste like a date cake.  After many years of eating Sticky Toffee Pudding, and many, many tries at duplicating it, here is my version. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

This is just nothing but good.  The toffee sauce is also fantastic on its own over ice cream. For the stickiest results, start this a day before you plan to serve it.

For the Cake:

8 ounces pitted dates, finely chopped

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup boiling water

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 Tablespoon dark corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Toffee Sauce:

2 sticks butter

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon dark corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the chopped dates into a bowl and sprinkle over 1 teaspoon of the baking powder.  Pour over the boiling water and stir slightly.  Leave to soak until soft and cooled.

Mix the flour, remaining 1 teaspoon baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Beat in the corn syrup and vanilla.  Add the date mixture and the flour mixture and beat until just mixed.

Spread the batter into a thoroughly greased 8 – inch round or square cake pan.  Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes, until a tester inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs clinging.

Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce.  Melt the butter in a saucepan then stir in the sugar and corn syrup until dissolved.  Stir in the heavy cream and salt and simmer over medium heat until thickened and reduced to about 2 1/2 cups.  Stir frequently and watch carefully so it does not overboil.

When the cake is done, remove from the oven and invert the cake onto a plate to loosen it from the pan.  Return the cake to the pan.  Poke holes all over the cake with a skewer or a fork.

Spoon over about a cup of the sauce. Leave the cake to soak for several hours, but it is best left overnight. When completely cool, loosely cover with foil and refrigerate until ready to serve.  If you’d like, you can warm the cake gently in a low oven but watch it closely so the sauce doesn’t burn.

Invert the saucy cake onto a platter.  Pour about a 1/2 cup more sauce over the cake and let it soak in for a few minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve with additional sauce poured on each slice.

Serves 8

I am a born and raised Memphis girl, so I could not let this day pass without a mention.  January 8 is Elvis’s birthday, and this year he would have been 75. And when you grow up in Memphis, Elvis sort of permeates the atmosphere.

Here in Memphis, Elvis is generally commemorated more on the anniversary of his death, on August 16, than on his birthday. I am not sure why this is the case, but every year in August, Elvis fans from around the world converge on Memphis for Elvis Week, the culmination of which is the Candlelight Vigil. Fans of Elvis and fans of Elvis fans stand outside the gates of Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard for the Vigil, waiting their turn to file pass the gravesite.  My friends and I marked this for many years, either by attending the Vigil itself, a true sight to behold, or having our own party.  The location of the tribute party rotated around various backyards, and one memorable year it was held on a used car lot. 

I had my 25^th birthday party at Graceland, the party in the admission plaza across the street, with tours of the mansion.  In a perfect piece of timing, mine was the first party right before the kitchen was opened to the public, so we had a very early tour.  It is straight out of its day, pure 1970’s, with an early version of a microwave oven. When Elvis lived there, it ran all day and all night, with shifts of cooks.  Elvis was a night owl, but anytime he was awake, he wanted food available – and lots of it.

Elvis was an eater.  True, he may not have had the most adventurous palate, but he liked his food.  He preferred good, classic Southern dishes, like meatloaf, pork chops or country fried steak.  Hamburgers were his favorite food, and he was particularly fond of a Memphis classic, the hamburger with pimento cheese. He was not much of a one for vegetables, and he liked his food delivered to the table already cut up for him.  And he had a TV in the dining room, so he never had to miss his shows.   Graceland now has audio guides, but in the wonderful days of live people leading tours of the house, much time was spent pointing out the unobstructed view of the TV and the Noritake china Priscilla picked out in the blue, gold and smoked mirror lined dining room.

Perhaps the most enduring Elvis food legend is the peanut butter and banana sandwich, a treat created by his mother, always his favorite cook. He could eat these butter-fried gutbusters day or night, any number of them at one sitting.  Today, in the Graceland gift shops, you can buy refrigerator magnets, potholders and recipe cards printed with a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich recipe.  A few years ago, the fine folks at Reese’s created a limited Elvis addition banana and peanut butter cup, a surprisingly good invention.

Elvis clearly pre-dates the cupcake craze, and frankly I don’t imagine he’d think much of these.  Food in miniature was certainly not his style.  He could eat a whole cake by himself, not just a slice or two.  But I think it’s worth celebrating the birthday of the King by, in Elvis’s own words, “taking care of business” with a nostalgic twist.

The King’s Cupcakes

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 medium ripe bananas

Frosting:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 to 6 Tablespoons milk (you may need a bit more)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, sour cream and vanilla and mix to combine thoroughly.

Combine the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl.  With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.

Using a fork, mash the bananas until smooth, then add to the batter, stirring to combine.

Scoop the batter into muffin cups, filling three-quarters full.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 6 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, cream the peanut butter in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the sugar and vanilla.  Add enough milk during mixing to create a smooth, spreadable consistency,

When the cupcakes are cool, frost and enjoy!

Makes 18 cupcakes

This cake can also be made as a cake in a 13 x 9 inch pan. With no frosting, this makes an excellent breakfast treat.

Peppermint is the one flavor that transforms itself at the holidays.  Some of the traditional tastes, eggnog, fruitcake, even gingerbread, hardly make an appearance at any other time of the year.  But not peppermint. I eat peppermint candy all year.  The little hidey-hole in the arm on the door of my car is always filled with peppermints pilfered from bowls at restaurants and shops around town. I love peppermint ice cream in summer.  But somehow, around Christmas, peppermint seems so utterly of the season.  There are starlight mints stacked up on store shelves, even the major candy companies go wild with peppermint bark, candy cane kisses and peppermint hard candies in every shape and color.  The standard, plain candy suddenly becomes a classic symbol of the season when December begins.

So I try to incorporate peppermint in my holiday baking as much as I can, before it is once again relegated to the car door.  This is the perfect holiday recipe, because it is easy to make, with spectacular results.  And you can leave these little cakes simple and plainly adorned, or really go to town on decorating. Crushed up candy canes, mini mints, edible glitter.  I found the little round mints pictured above at the dollar store.

I very, very rarely made any kind of angel food cake from scratch, until I discovered liquid real egg whites for sale at the grocery.  Remove the step of separating loads of eggs and finding a use for the yolks, and angel cake and cupcakes are a breeze to make.

Peppermint Angels

This recipe makes a little more batter than needed for 12 cupcakes – about 1 cupcakes worth.  Feel free to make that extra cupcake, but I don’t usually bother.

1 ¼ cup sugar

1 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups liquid egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Few drops of red food coloring

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

4 Tablespoons milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line a 12 cup muffin tin with baking liners.

Sift together the sugar, flour and salt and set aside.  In the large bowl of a stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar on high until stiff peaks form. Reduce the speed to very low and gradually sprinkle in the sugar mixture.  When it has all been added, stop the mixer and fold by hand with a spatula to incorporate all the ingredients.  Gently fold in the peppermint extract.

Using a large spoon, spoon about half of the batter evenly among the prepared baking cups. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the remaining batter in the bowl and very gently fold it through to get an even pink tint.  Spoon the remaining batter over on top of the white in the baking cups, filling each cup to the top.  There will be more batter than needed.  Using a thin-bladed knife, gently swirl the batter in each cup.

Bake the cupcakes for 12 – 15 minutes until the tops are firm and a tester inserted in the center of a large cake comes out clean.  Remove the pan form the oven, and immediately use a small knife to loosen the tops of the cupcakes from the pan.  Turn the cupcakes quickly out onto a wire rack, then immediately return to the pan to cool.  Set the pan on the wire rack for cooling.  This step prevents the cooled cupcakes from sticking to the pan, which would make them impossible to remove.

When the cupcakes are cooled, whisk together the glaze ingredients. Spread the glaze over the cooled cupcakes and leave to set.  If you want to add any decorations, do so while the glaze is still soft, then leave to set.

Makes 12 cupcakes

I have always liked the idea of making homemade hot chocolate.  I have tried many recipes; I have made hot chocolate with expensive, imported chocolates, cocoa powder and all sorts of permutations.  Butafter all the experimentation, I finally put together this recipe – using plain ol’ Hershey bars.  And it is some kind of good.

This is not hot chocolate for the faint of heart.  It is rich – really rich.  The kind of treat you make only for the holidays, or maybe when you’ve had a very bad day.  But I highly recommend you do make it.  Maybe on a cold morning when you can sip while still in your pajamas.  You don’t even have to share.

Decadent Hot Chocolate

If you want more than the two servings this makes, do it in separate batches, as most blenders won’t hold that much liquid without the top popping off. 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

2 (1.5 ounce) milk chocolate candy bars (such as Hershey’s)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon light brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

dash of cayenne pepper

dash of salt

In a saucepan, preferably with a pouring spout, heat the cream and milk over medium heat until just beginning to bubble.  Break the chocolate bar into small pieces and place in the carafe of a blender with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, cayenne and salt.

When the cream mixture is heated through, pour it over the chocolate mixture in the blender.  Securely place the top on the blender, and holding it in place with a towel, blend the hot chocolate mixture until smooth and frothy.  Always exercise caution when blending hot liquids.  Pour the hot chocolate back into the pan and gently warm through.  Serve in mugs

 Serves two

During my college semester abroad in London, I was determined to visit Austria on winter break.  I am not sure where this notion came from, maybe too much Sound of Music as a kid, but I set out alone to discover whether the hills were truly alive.  After a trying time in Vienna, I moved on to Salzburg, a lovely place I found charming and comforting and manageable.

I think it must have been nearing Christmas, though I don’t remember exactly when.  Throughout the squares of Salzburg, vendors had set up booths selling beautifully decorated spiced cookies, in every shape and size, with colored frosting and ribbons, wrapped in cellophane and paper.  I was on a tight student’s budget, having decided quite firmly against the hostel route.  Not that I was staying in Salzburg’s finest establishments, mind you, but I didn’t have to share a bathroom with a bunch of anarchist pothead backpackers (this time).  But those amazing cookies seemed a little dear to my wallet at the time, so I never bought one of the fancy treats.  I did find however, a sort of off-brand version at what I imagine was the Austrian version of a 7-11 and grabbed that up for a song. It was a little stale, and the frosting was rock hard, but the cookie was subtly spiced, very different from the gingerbread men I’d had in the States.

At the pension (to put it poetically) where I was staying, breakfast was included, and I must say it was quite good.  Hot breads with butter and jam, tea and rich hot chocolate served in a simple paneled room. In the bread basket, there were always some simple buns, studded with candied fruit.  I don’t know if this is an Austrian or Salzburg specialty, or just on sale at the bakery, but they were good, and somehow sitting in that room with a warm fruity roll and a creamy mug of steaming hot chocolate, looking out the windows waiting for the von Trapps to stroll by, I felt very much like I thought I might when I set off for Austria at Waterloo Station.

Now clearly I am no expert at either the spiced cookies or Austrian pastry, but years later, I tinkered with, basically, a fruitcake blondie recipe to add some depth and spice, and in the end the whole effect reminded me or Salzburg.

Spiced Fruitcake Bars

These are that kind of Christmas cookie that fills your house with the perfect spicy holiday smell, so enjoy! The bars are dense and chewy, so consider cutting them into small squares.

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

1 egg

¾ cup light brown sugar, packed

½ cup honey

½ cup dark molasses

1 cup chopped mixed dried candied fruits

Glaze:

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar

3 Tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with non-stick foil or parchment paper sprayed with non-stick spray, leaving some overhang to lift the bars from the pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, soda and salt.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg, then add the brown sugar.  Beat at medium until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Add the honey and the molasses.  Continue beating until thoroughly combined. Add the flour mixture about ¾ of a cup at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the candied fruit and beat to mix.  The batter will be very thick, so remove the bowl from the mixer and using a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula, give the batter a good stir to make sure the fruit is distributed.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and do your best to spread it around.  Dampen your fingers with a little water and press the batter evenly to fill the pan (you may need to wet your fingers more than once).

Bake the bars for 15 – 20 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes our clean.  Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove the whole bar, using the foil or parchment overhang,  and leave to cool completely.

For the Glaze:

While the bars are cooling, whisk together the glaze ingredients, making sure there are no lumps. Spread the glaze over the baked bars and leave to set, at least 15 minutes.  Using a wet knife, cut into bars.

Makes 2 dozen bars

My First Thanksgiving

The first Thanksgiving feast that ever I cooked was during graduate school in England.  An American friend and I decided to host a holiday meal at his digs, which had a larger kitchen, for a motley crew of Americans, Canadians, South Africans and an Ecuadorian thrown in for good measure.  This plan of course meant that I cooked and he, well, he ate.  I spent the weeks before we even decided we could do this scoping out the local markets to see if the necessary ingredients would be available.  I even went into London to some of the food halls to fill out the list.  Turkey, check.  Sweet potatoes, check.  Cranberries, check.  I even think I found Stovetop stuffing, though I would not have used it. I love grocery shopping, but I have never had such an extended mission.  I wrote my mom for advice, and she sent me a very funny set of instructions that some how got lost in the move back to the States.  The gist of her instruction manual was basically “why would you cook a Thanksgiving meal if you didn’t have to?”

So the big day arrived, and I spent all day in the kitchen with limited pots and utensils, and lots of disposable pans. The first foil pan was too small for the turkey, the second pan fit the turkey, but not the oven. So back to the smaller pan, wedged inside a teeny-tiny oven just barely big enough to fit the bird.  It was a beautifully browned turkey, probably due to it’s proximity to the oven walls and heating element. Getting that turkey out of the oven was a maneuver, too.  I had no pot holders, only thin dish towels that had been used by hundreds of students before me.  I had to sort of wiggle the pan to shift it out on to the floor before I could lift it on to the counter.   There were only two burners that worked on the stove, but I managed to cook sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce and green beans and corn. I made gravy and kept it warm by putting the gravy bowl in a larger bowl filled with hot water from the electric kettle. I even made homemade cornbread a few days before for dressing.  The first batch left in the kitchen disappeared, so I made a second pan.  Considering my limited resources and skills at the time, I produced a pretty darn good meal. 

As we sat down on the floor of someone’s room to enjoy our repast, the Americans among us, representing Tennessee, Kansas, Alabama and New York, told the age old story of Thanksgiving.  The pilgrims, the Indians, the prayers of Thanksgiving.  We made everyone go around the room and say what they were thankful for.  We did everything but act out the Thanksgiving story in our own little pageant.  After all this production – the weeks of preparation and discussion, the cooking, the meal, the party, the guests, the story telling, one friend from South Africa looked up over his empty plate and said “So, is this like a big holiday or something in the States?” Groans released from the Americans.  Where had we gone wrong?

I don’t remember what I served for dessert; it is possible I bought something from one of the bakeries in town.  But now, I have developed a number of dessert classics for Turkey Day, and this tart almost always appears.

Pumpkin Cream Tart

Crust:

2 cups gingersnaps (about 30 cookies)

½ cup cashews

1 Tablespoon sugar

3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

1 cup pumpkin puree (from a 15-ounce can), not pie filling

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¾ cup heavy cream

Chopped crystallized ginger, for garnish

For the Crust:  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grind the gingersnaps, cashews and sugar in a food processor to produce fine crumbs.  Drizzle in the melted butter and mix to combine and the crumbs begin to come together.

Press the crumb mixture on the bottom and up the sides of a inch tart pan with a removable bottom.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

For the Filling:  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and the pumpkin.  Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat in the spices and the vanilla.  Add the cream and mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust and smooth the top.  Cover lightly with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least three hours or over night.

When ready to serve, garnish the tart with a sprinkling of crystallized ginger pieces, remove the tart ring and slice.

Serves 6 – 8

Try Southern Pecan Pie as another great additon to the Thanksgiving table.

Maple Madness

Maple is one of those ingredients that always makes me look.  If I come a recipe in a magazine or cookbook for maple anything, I just have to read it, then usually cut it out or mark it with a post-it. Of course, sometimes I end up disappointed that these recipes only call for “maple flavoring,” which appeals to me not at all.  It seems like cheating or faking. Then, not every maple recipe I have made has lived up to my expectations, even made with real maple syrup. I like a real hit of maple, not just a subtle, general sweetness. But I have never given up and some of my forays into maple cookery have had superb results.

Like most people of my generation who did not live in maple country, my early exposure to maple syrup involved pancakes and waffles and came in the form of Aunt Jemima or Log Cabin, really just “maple flavored” syrup.  But both my parents went to college in New England, my dad in New Hampshire, so we occasionally got the good stuff “imported” in from their old stomping grounds.  I remember the little tin log cabin shaped containers; I think they came from LL Bean.  And my mother has a real fondness for maple sugar candy, so as kids we used to get it in Christmas stockings – super sugary, maple-y pieces molded into the shape of Santa Claus, or sometimes at Thanksgiving in the shape of pilgrims. I have a cousin who lives in Massachusetts now, and spends a lot of time in Vermont.  She has supplied me with some great maple syrup (hint, hint) and I hope in return I have given her some recipes to use her own supply.

So now I have really discovered maple syrup.  I absolutely disdain any form of “maple flavored” syrup and use only the good stuff. (Okay, there is lurking in my pantry some sort of low-cal, sugar free maple something intended to make me eat a diet breakfast. To no avail I might add.).  And I have been turned on to Grade B for baking, which really gives a maple punch to all your recipes.  I find it at natural foods markets, and it’s a little expensive, but well worth it.  And I am sure it can be found online as well, and I do recommend you search some out. These cookies have a nice warmth from the spice and a good hit of maple flavor.  I’d say they are perfect for curling up with a good book and a warm mug of apple cider on chilly day.

Maple Spice Crinkles

This dough needs to chill for a few hours before being shaped and baked to ensure the nice round shape and crackled finish.

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1/3 cup Grade B maple syrup

1 large egg

Granulated sugar for coating

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and dark brown sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer until light in color and fluffy.  Add the oil until blended, then add the egg and maple syrup, beating until well incorporated.  Slowly mix in the flour mixture on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until completely incorporated.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 hours.

When the dough is well chilled, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease two cookie sheets or line with a silicone mat. 

Place some granulated sugar in a shallow bowl or small plate. Scoop out balls of dough measuring about ½ Tablespoon and roll into balls.  Roll the balls in the sugar to coat completely and place on the cookie sheets, about 1 ½ inches apart.  Bake the cookies until the tops are crackled and the centers just begin to look dry.  Remove from the oven and cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 2 ½ dozen cookies

That’s right.  Candy Corn Mousse.  I am one of those people who loves good candy corn.  Only at Halloween, never at other times of the year, and never in great quantities.  When the first bags start appearing at the stores, I get excited.  It means fall is here and good fall food and I can start wearing sweaters and then it’s Halloween, then Thanksgiving….

I just had to try this idea out, adapting a favorite easy mousse recipe I usually make with leftover Halloween candy.  And it works!  I love that this is a silly thing you could serve to the kids, or dessert that will get a giggle out of adults at a dinner party.

Candy Corn Mousse

Go wild decorating these with candy corn or sprinkles or colored sugar.

8 ounces candy corn, plus more for decorating

2 ½ cups heavy cream

Melt the candy corn and ¼ cup of the cream in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  When the candy corn is melted and the mixture is smooth, set aside to cool, stirring occasionally.

Whip the remaining 2 ¼ cups cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.  Drop a few tablespoons of the whipped cream into the melted candy corn and stir until thoroughly combined.  The fold the mixture into the whipped cream gently, making sure to combine completely.  Spoon the mousse into ramekins, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 5 hours or overnight.

Garnish the mousse with the reserved candy corn.

Make 6 small or 4 large serving

Tough Nut to Crack

Pecans, it seems to me, are thought of as a particularly Southern nut.  I cannot tell you anything about its growing condition or to what region or country the pecan is indigenous, but the trees proliferate around here.  And the nuts feature prominently in Southern cooking from classic pie to divinity candy to pecan cheese straws.

You rarely see pecan trees in residential areas.  But out in the country, they are everywhere.  Driving through the Delta, you’ll see the evidence. One lone tree in front of a farm house, or two long rows making an alley up to a site where there clearly used to be a house.  And often the plot of land between the house and the cotton fields or the bean fields will be a pecan orchard, dark and shady and inviting.

Pecan trees are beautiful, with an arching canopy and dense foliage.  But do they ever produce nuts.  That’s the point, I know, but these trees produce a lot of nuts.  I have oak trees in my yard and the acorns that drop from those trees is nothing compared to what a pecan tree produces.  And pecan nuts are hard. I was once beaned on the head by a falling nut and it really hurt! Woe to the unwitting person who parks the car under a pecan tree.  Not only could falling nuts ding the paint job, but any tree with that many nuts naturally attracts a lot of birds.

So even with one tree, the proud keeper of a pecan is likely to have an overwhelming supply of nuts.  Paying kids a nickel a nut to pick up all the fallen from the grass is a common ploy.  Those nuts are gathered and scooped into brown paper grocery sacks which tend to sit out in the laundry room or screened porch until someone figures out what to do with them.  Pecans are hard to shell.  The outer shell is tough and hard and the nutmeat really clings to the interior walls.  I think this may be why many Southern brides through the ages received nutcracker sets as a wedding gift.  A pretty silver nutcracker and a set of picks that look like decorative dental tools.  Shelling pecans is labor intensive, arduous and just plain frustrating.  Now, this being the South, and the folks being hospitable, the general method for riding oneself of the bounty is taking one of those grocery bags full of little brown devils to a neighbor or relative.  As the recipient of such blatant kindness, one can only be gracious and say “thank you” and “how sweet” and “ooh, I love pecans.”  But the truth is that the passing on of the pecan is an evil.  It is impossible to say no thank you or to complain, but nobody wants a big bag of unshelled pecans.  That’s why the giver brought them – to get rid of them.  And there is always that vague feeling that in return for the pecan pest sharing the bounty, you just have to shell a mess of them and make a pie or some cookies to return the favor.

Pecan season is gearing up here. Fortunately, there are enough farmstands selling shelled pecans that we don’t have to forego our favorite sweets, a classic pecan pie ranking at the top of my list.

Southern Pecan Pie

Lightly toasting the pecans enhances the nutty flavor of the pie.  I prefer dark corn syrup for a rich, deep pie, but there are those who prefer to use light.  The bourbon is theoretically optional, but really?  It seems to add to the Southern flavor.  And I will never tell if the crust did not originate in your kitchen.

For the crust:

1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces

2 to 4 Tablespoons ice water

For the filling:

1 ½ cups pecan halves

4 large eggs

1 cup dark corn syrup

4 Tablespoons melted butter, cooled to room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons bourbon

For the crust: Place the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.  Drop in the small pieces of cold butter and pulse several times until the mixture is crumbly, but some minute pieces of butter are still visible.  Sprinkle the water over, a tablespoon at a time, and pulse to combine.  When the pastry just comes together, dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat into a disk about ¾ inch thick. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour before rolling. 

When ready to roll, place the disk on a lightly floured surface and using a floured rolling pin, roll out the pastry to a round about 14 inches in diameter, to fit a nine inch pie plate.  Carefully drape the pastry over the rolling pin and transfer to the pie dish.  Gently fit into the bottom and sides of the dish.  Trim any overhanging pastry and lightly dust the bottom of the prepared crust with flour. Set aside.

For the filling: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pecan halves in a dry skillet and lightly toast over medium heat.  Watch carefully and move the pecans around the pan with a spatula or wooden spoon. You do not want to brown the pecans, just toast them gently until you can smell a nice, nutty aroma.  This will only take about five minutes.  Remove the pecans from the heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until thoroughly blended.  Add the pecans and stir to distribute evenly.  Pour the filling into the prepared crust, pushing the nuts into the filling to make an even layer.

Bake the pie for 40 – 50 minutes until the center is puffed up and no longer wobbly. I recommend that you shield the edges of the crust with foil or a crust shield before the pie goes in the oven. It is hard to do when the pie is hot.  Remove the cooked pie from the oven and leave to cool completely.  The pie will keep wrapped tightly for two days, or can be wrapped in plastic wrap, then foil and frozen for up to six months.

Serves 6 – 8