January 8^th is Elvis’s birthday.  If you grew up in Memphis, you know that.  For my 25^th birthday (quite a few years ago, and not in January), I had a big party.  At Graceland.  The party was in the large lobby of the ticket pavilion, decorated (by Graceland) in pink, black and turquoise balloons.  We ate barbecue and danced to an amazing retro band called The Bouffants.  It was one of my favorite birthdays.  But the real bonus of a party at Graceland was a private, nighttime tour of the house.  Back then, they had just introduced the audio headset guide.  That was a real disappointment to me, because the personality of the Graceland guides had always been such a big part of the tour.  But that disappointment was very much balanced, because we toured the kitchen, which was opening to the public the following week.

The kitchen at Graceland, like most rooms at Graceland, is an absolute model of everything new and chic in the 70s.  It’s not a huge room, very much a standard family house kitchen.  It has dark wood cabinets and harvest gold appliances, with burgundy and avocado green accents.  But Elvis was a modern man, and there is on display one of the earliest microwaves.  It is bigger than the wall oven.  Elvis had a cook for many years who prepared him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, as Elvis kept irregular hours.  He was a country boy and liked county food, and a lot of it, biscuits and gravy, greens, and pork chops and mashed potatoes.  He liked each element of his meal on a separate plate.  These are the things you learn at Graceland.

Elvis did enjoy a peanut butter and banana sandwich occasionally, but was a real fan of banana pudding.  I think the peanut butter and banana connection is a sort of urban myth that has grown and grown in the years since his death.  It is held out as an example of his “peculiar” eating habits, which weren’t all that peculiar, just old-fashioned, Southern and copious. The eating habits of man who didn’t have enough to eat when he was a child. People laugh about the PB&B, but actually enjoy the flavor – and choose to eat the sandwiches on their own.  And man, is it a good combo for a cookie! It is not peculiar, it’s just part of the legend of Elvis.

Cookies for the King (Banana Cookies with a Peanut Butter Glaze)

These are a soft, cakey cookie with a light peanut butter glaze.

For the Cookies:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Glaze:

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

2 – 4 Tablespoons milk

¾ cup powdered sugar

For the Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs and mashed banana and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times.  Add the vanilla and blend thoroughly.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add to the wet ingredients, scraping the bowl occasionally, until everything is well incorporated.  Refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoons (I use a cookie scoop), 2 inches apart onto the lined sheets. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until puffed golden and firm. Remove to wire racks to cool.

For the Glaze:

Place some waxed paper under the cooling racks to catch drips from the glaze.

In a small bowl, using a sturdy whisk or hand mixer, beat together the peanut butter and one Tablespoon of milk until smooth.  Sift in the powdered sugar and mix well.  Drizzle in more milk, ½ Tablespoon at a time until you reach a consistency that will drizzle from a spoon over the cookies.  I consider this medium-thick.

Drizzle the glaze over the cookies and leave to set.

I like a light glaze on these cookies, so the banana flavor shines with just a little hint of peanut butter.  If you prefer a completely frosted cookie, double the glaze recipe and use just enough milk to make it spreadable.

Makes 12 – 16 cookies

Milk Punch has roots in New Orleans, with a history as a hair-of-the-dog remedy.   In fact, my best milk punch memory is enjoying a bit too much at a wonderful wedding brunch in New Orleans.  And now, that bride makes milk punch for a Christmas party every year.  I have to admit though, I make it differently from my friend.  I’ve had milk punch that is just milk and bourbon with a sprinkling of nutmeg and I have seen many recipes that use melted vanilla ice cream as the milky base.  I split the difference, mixing up a sweet, creamy syrup lightly spiced with holiday flavors to stir in cold milk.  Then I dose it with good bourbon, serve it over ice and grate a dash of nutmeg. And to reinforce that Crescent City connection, I like to listen to one of my favorite seasonal songs, Louis Armstrong singing ‘Zat You, Santa Claus while whipping up a batch.

I love the idea of serving fudgy cookies with milk punch.  Sure, you can fill a punch bowl with a big batch of punch and arrange a plate of cookies beside it.  But I think a glass of milk punch and a little stack of cookies would make an amusing dessert for a grown-up dinner party, adding a touch of whimsy to a sophisticated event.  These gently spiced cookies are rich with chocolate, soft and sweet, just perfect for dipping in milk punch.  Plus, they can be made ahead, stored in the fridge or frozen, and baked fresh.

Milk Punch and Cookies

Milk Punch

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup sugar

½ vanilla bean

2 sticks cinnamon

4 cardamom pods

1 quart whole milk

Bourbon

Nutmeg

In a small saucepan with a tight fitting lid, stir together the cream and sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.  The mixture may turn buttery yellow.  Just when it hits the boil, remove the pan from the heat.  Split the vanilla been and scrape out the seeds and drop them in the cream.  Add the cinnamon sticks and the lightly crushed cardamom pods.   Cover the pot and leave to cool completely.

When the creamy syrup is cool, strain it into a pitcher, add the milk and stir well to combine.  Fill a punch glass or highball with ice, add 1 to 1 ½ Tablespoons bourbon and fill with milk mixture.  Sprinkle nutmeg over the top of each glass.

Makes about 5 ½ cups punch, can be doubled or more

Chocolate Spice Cookies

2 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

3 Tablespoons butter

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the chocolate, butter and condensed milk in a large microwave safe bowl.  Microwave at medium power for 45 seconds, remove the bowl and stir vigorously until the chocolate is melted and everything is combined.  If needed, microwave in 15 second bursts until everything melts.  The mixture will be thick. Alternately, you can carefully melt everything together in a large pan.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices with a fork.  Dump into the chocolate mixture and stir beginning to come together. Add the egg and vanilla and stir until the dough it all combined.  It’s a thick batter and will take a little elbow grease.  Chill the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes, then divide into three equal portions.  Cut three lengths of waxed paper and use each to roll a portion for dough into a log.  Wrap tightly and keep in the fridge until ready to bake, up to three days.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the cookie logs out of the fridge and allow to soften for a few minutes, then use a sturdy serrated knife to slice the logs into ¼ inch slices.  Place on the prepared sheets and bake 8 minutes, until the cookies are puffed in the center.  Remove from the oven and cool on the pans.

Makes about 60 cookies

These nuts are another cocktail party recipe.  Yes, they are perfect for nibbling at a cocktail party, but I really say this because I picked up the idea at a cocktail party.  Some ladies and I were standing around with our drinks, nibbling on a bowl of glazed pecans and chatting about various flavored nut recipes.  One of the ladies remarked that her grandmother always made “these peanuts that she boiled in sugar syrup.” As is my wont, I asked for details.  She didn’t know anything more, just that her grandmother used to fix up a huge kettle of peanuts boiling in sugar and
water.

These ideas stick with me, long after the party is over. I experimented occasionally over the years, overthinking the idea as it turns out, until I got it right.  Raw peanuts simply boiled in sugar syrup.  These little gems are not as sweet as you might think, and the salt adds a nice balance to each bite.  The peanut flavor really shines through.  They will keep in an airtight container for quite a while, so they make a great little gift.  But put a bowl on the bar, and your guests will gobble them up.  I’ll admit, I made a batch on a Thursday to photograph over the weekend, and they were all gone before the camera came out.

Sugared Peanuts

Raw peanuts are the key.  Ready-roasted ones will not soak up the syrup.  Look for them in the bulk section of a health food store or market. 

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

4 cups raw peanuts

Salt

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line 2 rimmed baking sheets completely with non-stick foil, or foil greased with a light coat of oil.

Stir the water and sugar together is a large, high-sided saucepan.  You want plenty of room for the peanuts, so you can stir them around and avoid the pot boiling over. Bring the syrup to a boil over high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Stir in the peanuts and cook in the syrup, stirring frequently, until the peanuts absorb the syrup.  This may take 20 – 30 minutes.  As the process comes to the end, and almost all the syrup is absorbed, stir constantly to prevent scorching.  When there is only a little syrup left in the pan, put the prepared baking sheets by the stove and very quickly transfer the peanuts to the pans using a slotted spoon.  Shake the spoon to let any remaining syrup drip off. Keep the pot on the heat, being carefully of the really hot syrup.  If you take it off the heat, and the peanut syrup will immediately seize up and granulate. Spread the peanuts out in one layer on the first pan, trying to prevent many from clumping up. You largely want individual nuts, not peanut brittle.  Sprinkle a little table salt over the peanuts and place in the oven.  Repeat with the remaining baking sheet.  Bake the nuts for 10 – 12 minutes, until they are lightly golden.  Rotate the trays between racks at 5 minutes so the bottom pan doesn’t burn.

Cool the nuts on the baking pans.  You can break up any clumps with your fingers.

Makes 4 cups

Last year, for the big family Christmas Eve celebration, I was tasked with providing a dessert.  It’s a little tough to figure out the right dessert for a great big gathering, one that serves enough and pleases everyone.  In the past I’ve made cakes and pies, but you always need to make two or three, plus someone has to evenly slice and serve them.  And transport can be a tricky thing.  So it occurred to me that cupcakes were the best solution.  Easy to make, easy to transport and appealing to all ages.

During the idea search, I stumbled across a classic black bottom cupcake recipe in my files.  My mom used to make them when we were kids.  We requested them for birthdays and special occasions, though we called them cream cheese cupcakes.  These were a favorite childhood treat for me, and I hadn’t had them in years, so it seemed like the perfect way to incorporate an old family recipe into a new family celebration.  But I wanted to jazz them up a bit, give them some seasonal flavor and a little wow factor.  Add some peppermint flavor, white chocolate chips and a healthy dose of red food coloring and it’s Christmas.  I made two batches, transported them in plastic boxes and placed them on the counter in the host’s kitchen.  A crowd of children gathered around, with a few adults looking on, staring at the pink and brown swirly cupcakes, asking when they could have one.  That’s when I knew I hit the mark.

Peppermint Black Bottom Cupcakes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar, divided

1 large egg

½ teaspoon peppermint extract (or to taste)

Red food coloring

1 cup white chocolate mini morsels

1 ½ cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.  Gradually beat in 1/3 cup sugar until thoroughly combined.  Add the egg and beat until smooth.  Add the peppermint extract, then the red food coloring bit by bit until you get a nice, bright pink tinge.  Go a little brighter than the final color you want as it will soften during cooking.  Fold in the white chocolate morsels.

In a large bowl, combine the remaining 1 cup of sugar, the flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Stir together the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla in a measuring jug, then pour into the well.  Stir just until the batter is mixed.  Spoon the batter evenly between the 16 muffin cups, filling each half-full.  Spoon a heaping Tablespoon of the cream cheese filling over the batter in the cups.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle of a cake comes out clean.  Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 16 cupcakes

I was in a very fancy grocery store and saw a lovely, beautifully wrapped box of hot chocolate-on-a-stick.  My first thought was “I can do that.”  And those babies with their cellophane and ribbon and fancy label were selling for $10 apiece.  Yea, I can do much better than that.

These pops are basically block of chocolate ganache on a stick.  You can flavor the chocolate, coat the cubes in powdered sugar or colored sugar and use any number of ideas for the stick.  Serve these at a holiday party, for kids or adults, or wrap a few in cellophane of your own and give them as gifts.

Hot Chocolate Pops

8 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (60 % cocoa)

8 ounces milk chocolate

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Line an 8 ½ by 4 ½ inch loaf tin with non-stick foil, waxed paper or plastic wrap, leaving some overhang.

Break up the chocolate into very small pieces and place into a shallow bowl.  In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it just comes to a boil.

When the cream is hot, pour it through a sieve over the chocolate and leave to soften for a minute.  Stir the mixture vigorously until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. Scrape all of the chocolate into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the top, and leave to cool, then refrigerate for about an hour until just firm.  Gently remove the loaf using the overhanging wrap and cut the block into eight 1 ½ inch  cubes. Run your knife under warm water before each cut.  Insert the desired stirrer into the center of each cube, making sure they will stand up on their own.  Gently return the block to the loaf tin and refrigerate until completely firm.

The pops will keep in the fridge for a week, but bring them to room temperature before using.

If you’d like, you can coat the cubes of chocolate in powdered sugar or colored decorating sugar.

For Hot Chocolate:

Bring the pops to room temperature.  For each cup of hot chocolate, heat 1¼ cup of milk over medium heat until bubbles start to break on the surface, just before it boils.  Pour into a mug and add a hot chocolate pop.  Stir until the chocolate is melted.

Flavoring options:

1 teaspoon peppermint extract or

1 Tablespoon amaretto or

1 Tablespoon Kahlua or coffee liqueur or

½ vanilla bean or

2 cinnamon sticks

For flavored pops: Stir one of the flavor additions into the cream before heating it.  If using vanilla bean or cinnamon sticks, heat the cream with the add-in, leave to infuse for 1 hour, remove the solid, then reheat the cream and continue.

Stirrer options:

Popsicle sticks

Wooden popsicle sticks or heavy skewers

Candy canes

Cinnamon sticks

Red Velvet Cake is a real childhood memory for me.  I have an aunt who makes a great one.  But it was definitely not trendy or cool or in.  Red Velvet was seriously down-home, real country food.  It wasn’t even a standard on diner menus.  But that all seems to have changed.  I am dubious about this hipsterfied version.  I have had some really, really bad red velvet made by places that charge huge amounts for small cupcakes, and advertise that it’s the best-selling flavor. I even had a red velvet cupcake in London, but it was an abomination.  In fact, it seems that anything with a little red food coloring in it is now called “red velvet” and earns a premium and a lot of attention. No, I don’t like this trend at all.

But Christmas is different. We all love fun and whimsical at Christmas, and bright red sweets just fit the bill perfectly.  These cookies with their chocolate-y richness, ruby color and festive white snowdrops will delight kids, but they will also make an impression at a cookie swap.

Red Velvet Polka Dot Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 (1-ounce) bottle red food coloring

1 (11-ounce) white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light-colored.  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy and light.

In a small bowl, use a fork to mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Use the fork to break up lumps of cocoa powder.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter in the mixer a little at a time, mixing well after each addition and occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl.  When the dough is thoroughly mixed, add the food coloring, beating until the dough is a dark red color.  If you have some place important to be or just had a manicure, I’d recommend wearing gloves.  That red food coloring will show up in the oddest places.  When the dough is evenly colored, stir in all but about ½ cup of the white chocolate chips until mixed in.

Scoop the dough onto the lined baking sheets using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon.  Place the cookies apart from each other to allow room for spreading.  You will have enough dough to use on a third pan of cookies after these have cooked.  Wet your fingers and lightly press down the top of each cookie mound, then press the remaining white chips into each cookie to create the polka dots. The cookies spread, so press a lot of chips into the cookies.

Bake the cookies for 10 – 12 minutes until firm in the center.  Cool on the pans for a few minutes until firm, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.  When one pan has cooled, repeat with the rest of the cookie dough. Stored in an airtight container, the cookies will keep for several days.

Makes 30 cookies

The flavor of caramel covered apples is amazing.  Eating a caramel apple, not so much.  The caramel-to-apple ration in my opinion, tends to be too low.  I can’t abide those pre-made wrap around sheets, and making a good caramel is a bit of work.  And in the end, the caramel tends to slide off the apple.  Here’s the solution.

I’ve made these cookies for years, but not as often as their flavor warrants.  I used the square caramel candies, and slogged through the process of unwrapping each one, then cutting them into small pieces with floured scissors or a knife.  But I recently discovered caramel bits in the baking section.  Basically, caramel pieces with all the work done.  If you can’t find them, cut up the old squares.  These are chewy from the caramel with a little snap from the apples.

Caramel Apple Cookies

½ cup butter, softened

1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2cups finely chopped green apples (about 1 large apple)

11 ounces caramel bits, or caramel squares cut into small
pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer until fluffy, about 7 minutes.  Add the egg and beat until smooth.  Add the flour, cinnamon and baking soda , bit by bit, beating until smooth. Fold in the apple pieces and the caramel bits until well mixed.

Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop or spoon, scoop mounds of dough and inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets.   Bake for 8 – 10 minutes until firm and puffed.  Rotate the trays from the top shelf to the bottom shelf after 5 minutes.  Cool on the trays until firm, then remove to a cooling rack.  Some of the caramel may leak out and turn brown; those pieces will snap off.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

I don’t really know what else I can say about this recipe.  It’s a rich, Southern version of butterscotch sauce with fresh peaches cooked right in, and a nice little kick of bourbon.  Of course, this is great over a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my favorite way to eat this is with a spoon.  A few slices of fresh peaches on the ice cream amps up the flavor, and a sprinkling of chopped pecans ain’t a bad touch either.

Peach Butterbourbon Sauce

2 large peaches or 3 small, peeled and pitted

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup light brown sugar, packed

¼ cup bourbon

Cut the peaches into small chunks and set aside.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the sugar and stir until melted.  Carefully pour in the bourbon and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, and add the chopped peaches.  Simmer until the peaches are completely soft and disintegrating into the sauce.  The ripeness of the peaches will determine how long this takes.

When the peaches are completely soft, puree the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, mash the peaches with a sturdy wooden spoon, then press the sauce through a wire sieve.

Serve warm over ice cream.  The sauce will keep in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge.  Reheat gently in the microwave, stirring frequently, to loosen up.

Makes about 1 ½ cups sauce

Summer in the South, the heat, the humidity, is best dealt with by a cool slice of fresh watermelon.  The thwack of a big knife slicing into the thick rind and the slurp as it cuts through the flesh is up there on the list of summer sounds with crickets humming and the sprinkler whirring.  When I think of watermelon, I think of fireflies, because I remember summer evenings rounded out by a cold slice, watching the fireflies twinkle over the lawn, juice dripping down my chin, fingers sticky enough to like when there’s nothing left but rind.

For some time now, I have wanted to make watermelon into a pie. Not a kitchy watermelon sherbet pie, or some really old school watermelon rind preserve pie, but a cool creamy slice of summer. It has been a hit and miss exercise, lots of failures before I got on the right trail.  But I finally got to the pie promised land.  A sweet cookie crust and a creamy topping surrounding a cool, soft, jeweled pink, quivering burst of watermelon.  Yes, I am quite pleased with myself over this one.  This is a great summer dessert, and can be made over the course of a few days – crust one day, filling the next, topped with cream and served the next.  Lazy party planning at its best. 

Watermelon Pie

For the Crust:

1 (10 ounce) box shortbread cookies, like Lorna Doons

¼ c sugar

½ cup butter, melted

For the Filling:

6 cups seedless watermelon cubes (from about a 4 pound slice), to make about 4 cups puree

2/3 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

1 Tablespoon lime juice               

For the Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

¼ cup sugar

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees,

Process the cookies in a food processor with the sugar until crumbly.  Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are wet.  Scrape the crumbs into a glass or ceramic pie plate and press them in the bottom and up the sides of the pan to make a nice, cohesive crust.  You may have a little bit more of the crumbs than you need.

Bake the crust for 8 – 10 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.  Cool completely and chill in the fridge.

For the filling

Puree the watermelon chunks in a blender, then pour it through a wire sieve into a large saucepan.  Push on the solids to extract the juice, then discard the solids and thoroughly rinse the sieve.  You should have around 4 cups of puree. Measure out ¼ cup of the watermelon juice with a small measuring jug and set aside.  Add the sugar to the watermelon juice in the pan, stir, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  While the juice is coming to the boil, add the cornstarch to the reserved juice and whisk until the mixture is completely smooth.

When the juice is boiling, whisk the cornstarch mixture again, then whisk it into the boiling juice.  Boil for 4 minutes, whisking constantly and scraping the sides and bottom of the pot.  The mixture will begin to thicken.  Pour the mixture through the cleaned sieve into a bowl to remove and lumps that might form.  Leave the filling to cool for about 20 minutes.

Scrape the slightly cooled mixture into the prepared crust, smoothing it out to fill the crust and have a nice, flat surface.  Chill the crust in the fridge for an hour until it’s a little firm, then cover it with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight until completely firm.  It is okay if the plastic wrap sticks to the filling, it will come right up.

For the Topping:

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, then drizzle in the sugar and whip until very stiff peaks form.  Scoop the cream onto the chilled pie filling and spread it to the edges of the crust, covering all the filling.  Chill in the fridge for an hour before serving.  The pie will keep in the fridge for a day.

This pie is great right out of the fridge, but I have discovered that serving after it’s been out of the fridge for half an hour or more intensifies the watermelon flavor.  But don’t leave it outdoors!

Serves 8

If you have some leftover watermelon, why not make some Watermelon Sweet Tea?

If you scroll through the Sweets section on The Runaway Spoon, you may notice a host of very simple pie recipes.  Because I think pie is a perfect dessert, for the cook and the consumer.  The variety of wonderful things that can be packed into a pie crust is extraordinary.  And with little effort, you have a comforting treat that is sure to please.  Once you master a simple pie crust, you are ready for all eventualities.  But truthfully, I take no issue with a store-bought crust, though I prefer the pre-rolled kind to the already in a tin plate kind.

This particular recipe came to me by the circuitous route so many recipes seem to follow.  I bought a used community cookbook, in great condition, and as I leafed through the pages, a slip of slightly yellowed paper fell out.  On it was written: “Pie Put blkbrries in crust  Mix 2 c sugar 1 c flour 1 c milk  Bake. “ These are the culinary mysteries that intrigue me, suck me in until I am elbow deep in flour and sugar trying to figure out if this mystical scribbling can really be true.  Sometimes I find them on the pages of community cookbooks, sometimes I have to decipher my own back-of-napkin hieroglyphics, and sometimes they fall out of the sky, like this one.

So, as is my wont, I set out to decode this little gem.  It worked the very first time.  I fiddled a bit, with the amount of sugar and blackberries, and I added vanilla extract for a little depth.  But the mysterious scribbler had it right.  The filling is very sweet, but it balances perfectly with the tartness of the blackberries.  All tucked under a crackly, sugary carapace.  It is very much like one of my greatest childhood memories, blackberries fresh from the bramble, sprinkled with sugar and doused with cold milk, in convenient pie form.

Blackberry Sugar Pie

Gently rinse the blackberries, then lay them out on a tea towel to dry completely.  Discard any bruised or squished berries.

1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust (homemade or bought ready-rolled)

12 – 14 ounces fresh blackberries

1 cup flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat to oven to 350 degrees.  Fit the pie crust into a deep-dish pie plate.

Fill the prepared crust with blackberries, fitting in as many as you can.  In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, milk and vanilla.  Stir until the mixture is very well combined.  Slowly pour the sugar mixture over the berries in the pie, filling all the spaces in-between berries.  Roll the berries around gently so they all have a little of the filling clinging to them, and push as many under the filling as possible.

Carefully transfer the pie to the oven and bake for 35 – 45 minutes, until the pie is puffed up in the center and slightly golden.  It should only slightly wobble from side to side when you gently shake it, not jiggle all over.  Cool the pie on a wire rack.  The center will deflate, but that’s to be expected.  When the pie is cool, chill in the fridge until ready to serve.   The whole pie can be kept in the fridge for 2 days, but after it is cut, it will fall apart a bit.

Serves 6 – 8