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Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca learned more than he wanted to know about pecans. During the six years he roamed Texas after his shipwreck on the coast, his Indian captors took him with them for their annual two-month sojourn on the "river of nuts," the Guadalupe, where they lived mainly on pecans. Cabeza de Vaca didn't think much of the nut, but then he never had it in a pie.
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Flaky Pie Crust
Butter tastes the best, and lard makes it flake. That's the simple, if awful, truth about pie crust. You can substitute vegetable shortening for some of the lard, as we do here, without losing the lightness, but if you get more modern than that, you will be the only flaky thing in the dining room.
¼ cup lard, chilled
¼ cup unsalted butter, chilled
¼ cup vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco, chilled
2 cups soft-wheat flour such as White Lily, preferably, or all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
5
to
7 tablespoons ice water
Makes a 9-inch two-crust pie
Using a food processor, a bowl with a pastiy blender, or your fingers, cut the lard, butter, and vegetable shortening into the flour and salt. Whatever method you choose, be careful not to overwork the dough, which would reduce flakiness. Add the water a few tablespoons at a time, until the dough just holds together. Divide the dough into two mounds, wrap them in plastic, and refrigerate them at least 30 minutes (or wrap one mound for the freezer, if you don't plan to use it in the next couple of days).
If the pie crust is to be baked, preheat the oven to 400° F.
On a floured board or pastry cloth, roll out the dough in a circle a couple of inches larger than the pie pan. To avoid stretching the dough excessively, roll it from the center outwards, lifting the rolling pin after each stroke rather than rolling back over the dough in the opposite direction. Loosen the dough, drape it around the rolling pin, and center the crust over the pan, dropping it gently into place.
If you're making a one-crust pie, crimp the edges decoratively. If your pie is to have two crusts, roll out the second mound of dough, too.
For a single prebaked crust, prick the dough in several spots. Cover the pie shell with foil, and weight the foil with dried beans or pie weights. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, and then lower the temperature to 350° F and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or follow the directions in your pie recipe.
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Technique Tip
All-purpose flour makes a fine pie crust with the combination of fats in this recipe, but if you want the ultimate in flakiness, use a soft-wheat flour. The lower gluten content does the trick.
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Peanut Butter Pie
Texas's other major nut also makes a great pie. You find two versions around the state, one baked and syrupy and this creamy style, which we fix with less sweetening than some people use.
FILLING
1 cup whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1¼ cups creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
9-inch Graham Cracker Pie Crust ([>])
¼
to
⅓ cup chopped peanuts, preferably honey-roasted
Makes a 9-inch pie
Whip the cream in a bowl until it is stiff, and set it aside. In another bowl, beat together the cream cheese, peanut butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Fold in the whipped cream, blending well. Spoon the filling into the graham cracker crust, and sprinkle the peanuts over the top. Refrigerate the pie, covered, at least 2 hours, or overnight. It will keep well for several days.
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Actually, peanuts are not a nut at all, but a legume, more closely related to peas and beans than to hickories and pecans. In some parts of the world, peanuts are a major food crop, of great importance in the native diet.
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Graham Cracker Pie Crust
1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs (from about 16 crackers)
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Makes a 9-inch pie crust
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In a bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Pour in the butter, and stir to combine.
Pat the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it is lightly set. Let it cool before filling it.
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Terlingua is famed for its chili cook-offs, but they weren't always the only game in town.
Steve Fromholz, a Texas musician, once sponsored the lesser-known Cookie Chill-off. Entries were limited to no-bake pies, cakes, and refrigerator cookies. The rules stipulated that the panel of judges had to include a kid with a sweet tooth and the local store's beer-guzzling goat.
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Sweet Potato Pie
The annual East Texas Yamboree in Gilmer wouldn't be worth a local subway token without the yam pie competition. Annie Belle Collier, who has been involved in the festival nearly fifty years, says the contest got a little weird at one point when freestyle rules led to pies containing everything from grapes to grain alcohol. These days, the competition is back to purism, which means the judges wouldn't get to taste this delectable version, spiked with a little bourbon and spiced with praline.
Unbaked single Flaky Pie Crust ([>])
PRALINE
½ cup chopped pecans
4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
FILLING
2½ cups (about 3 medium) mashed baked sweet potatoes
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons vanilla
1 tablespoon cane syrup or dark corn syrup
1 tablespoon bourbon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pecan halves
Makes a 9-inch pie
Preheat the oven to 400° F. Place the pie shell in the freezer while you prepare the praline.
In a food processor, or in a bowl with a pastry blender, blend together the pecans, brown sugar, and butter. Remove the pie crust from the freezer, and spread the bottom of it with the praline. Bake for 12 minutes.
Combine all the filling ingredients in a mixing bowl, and beat them together with a mixer until they are smooth and light. Pour the filling into the warm praline-filled crust. Arrange the pecan halves decoratively around the pie's edge. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F. Bake the pie for 45 minutes, until the filling is set and slightly puffed. The top will sink back down when the pie cools.
Serve the pie warm or at room temperature.
Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust
Many Americans like a slice of cheddar cheese on apple pie. Never shy on such a subject, some Texans just bake it in.
CRUST
3 cups soft-wheat flour such as White Lily, preferably, or all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (3 ounces) grated sharp cheddar cheese, chilled
¼ cup unsalted butter, chilled
¼ cup lard, chilled
¼ cup vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco, chilled
5
to
7 tablespoons ice water
FILLING
6 cups peeled and sliced tart baking apples (about 4), such as Rome or Jonathan
⅓
to
½ cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon anise seeds, ground
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1
to
; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Makes a 10-inch pie or a 9-inch deep-dish pie
For the crust, combine the flour with the sugar and salt in a food processor. Scatter the cheese over the flour. Cut the butter, lard, and shortening into small pieces, and add them. Process briefly, until a crumbly meal forms. (Alternatively, combine the ingredients in a bowl with a pastry blender.) Pour in the smaller amount of water, and process or blend until the dough holds together, adding the extra water if needed. Divide the dough into two balls. Wrap these in plastic, and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes and as long as 24 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Combine the apples with the smaller amount of brown sugar, adding the rest if they taste overly tart. Mix in the remaining ingredients.
Roll out both balls of refrigerated dough on a floured surface. Place one in the bottom of whichever size pie pan you're using, add the filling, and top with the second crust. Crimp the edges, and prick a few holes in the top to allow the steam to escape. Bake the pie for 50 to 55 minutes, until the crust seems well set and lightly browned. Check it after 25 to 30 minutes, covering the edges with foil if they appear to be browning too rapidly.
Serve the pie warm or at room temperature.
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You'll know you're in Medina, Texas, when you come across a 20-foot-high stone sculpture of an apple in the city park. If you visit during the summer, you'll be able to enjoy the International Apple Festival, when you can crunch into the honored fruit in everything from pies to pizzas.
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Buttermilk Pie
Tangy buttermilk pie evolved as a makeshift dessert when the cellar and cupboards were bare of fruit. Contemporary cooks make it for the distinctive taste, which is enhanced with a splash of fresh lemon juice.
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cups buttermilk
¼ cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
¾ teaspoon vanilla
Single Flaky Pie Crust ([>]), pre-baked 5 to 6 minutes at 400° F
Ground nutmeg
Makes a 9-inch pie
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
Beat together the sugar and eggs until they are well blended and the mixture is light yellow in color. Add the flour, and mix it in briefly. Add the buttermilk, butter, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla. Mix well.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell. Top the pie with a generous sprinkling of nutmeg, and bake it for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is well set.
Serve the pie warm or at room temperature.
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Texas A&M once provided Franklin Delano Roosevelt with fifty special orange chiffon pies for the president's whistle-stop campaign. FDR must have liked the newfangled icebox dessert, because the following year he approved a $2 million appropriation for the university, a yield of $40,000 per pie.
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Coconut Cream Pie
Coconut and custard are a combo no Texan can resist. This coconut cream pie isn't as sweet as some, but you can add a couple of extra tablespoons of sugar if you want more kick.
6 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
1 13½-ounce can coconut milk
4 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon almond extract
1½ cups shredded coconut
Single Flaky Pie Crust, prebaked ([>])
Makes a 9-inch pie
Stir together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Add the coconut milk, stirring to avoid lumps, and then add the egg yolks (reserve two egg whites, saving the other two for another recipe). Warm the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring up continuously from the bottom until the mixture is somewhat thickened. Expect this process to take 10 to 12 minutes; don't rush it or boil the mixture. The finished custard should still be runny but should cling thinly to the back of a spoon.
Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in the vanilla, almond extract, and coconut. Beat the two reserved egg whites in a bowl, preferably copper, until they are stiff. Fold the egg whites into the custard. Pour the mixture into the pie crust, and bake the pie 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is puffed and lightly set.
Let the pie cool for at least 30 minutes. It will deflate somewhat as it cools.
Serve the pie warm, or refrigerate it to serve chilled.
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Dallas's home-style but uptown Highland Park Cafeteria sells a lot of "millionaire pie," a chilled confection of crushed pineapple, pecans, cream cheese, and whipped cream.
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Big Thicket Coconut Cake
This cake is similar to one that Margaret McLean Ayres served during her 60 years as hostess of the old Bragg Hotel in the Big Thicket country of southeast Texas.
Not all cakes can be cut down in size successfully, but we've halved this recipe with excellent results.
CAKE
2½ cups cake flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup coconut milk (see Technique Tip, [>])
5 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
GLAZE
2 egg whites
1½ cups sugar
2 cups milk or any remaining coconut milk topped off with regular milk
3 cups shredded coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla
Makes a four-layer cake, serving 10 to 12
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease and flour four 8- or 9-inch round cake pans. Add waxed paper or parchment cut in circles to fit the pans, and grease and flour the paper.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, and set the bowl aside. In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the sifted dry ingredients in batches, alternating with the coconut milk, and then beat with a mixer.
Beat the egg whites in another bowl, preferably copper, until they are very foamy. Gently fold them with the vanilla into the batter by hand.
Divide the batter equally among the four prepared pans. Bake the layers for 20 to 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow the layers to stand in their pans for about 5 minutes. Then run a knife around their edges, invert them, and remove them from the pans. Finish cooling the layers on cake racks. With a fork or small skewer, poke a few holes in the top of each one.
Make the glaze: In a heavy, high-sided saucepan, combine the egg whites and sugar. Place the pan over medium heat, and add the milk, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Bring the mixture to a boil. Keep a close watch during this process, and reduce the heat a bit if the mixture threatens to spill over the sides of the pan. Sprinkle in all but ⅓ cup of the coconut, and allow the mixture to boil about 5 minutes more, or until the glaze thickens just a bit. The glaze will be thinner than most cake frostings. Remove it from the heat, and add the vanilla.
To assemble the cake, place one layer on a decorative serving plate. Spoon about one-fourth of the glaze over the top of the cake layer. Repeat with the remaining layers and glaze, sprinkling the remaining ⅓ cup of coconut over the cake's top.
The cake is best made a few hours ahead so that the glaze can ooze through the layers. Because it is so moist, the cake keeps, covered, for several days.
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Texans ate some unusual cakes in the past. More than one cookbook presented a Soup-to-Nuts Cake that called for canned tomato soup and pecans. The Watermelon Cake had an outer white layer serving as the rind and an inner layer dyed red and sprinkled with raisins playing the role of seeds. Raisins were also the prominent feature in the Bug Cake.
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* * *
Technique Tip
In the oldest Texas cookbooks,
coconut dessert recipes called for grated coconut and coconut milk made from the fresh fruit. References to coconut milk disappeared quickly, however, probably because of the effort required to prepare it. Water, milk, or a combination of the two became the easy substitute. Now you can get canned coconut milk—not to be confused with cream of coconut—and it's worth seeking out. Look for it in Asian food markets or regular supermarkets in areas with Asian communities.
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German Chocolate Cake
This cake is so popular in Texas, we assumed for years that it had roots in the state's German population. It turns out the name comes from the mild dark chocolate made originally by a company called German's, later acquired by Baker's, which was then absorbed into the General foods conglomerate. In 1957 a Dallas newspaper printed a recipe for a chocolate cake that suggested using Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate. Regional sales zoomed, and General foods began promoting "German Chocolate Cake" nationally.
Texas Home Cooking Page 49
