A Pie Per Week: Butterscotch Pie

Butterscotch Pie

Pi Day at ExactTarget

Brian:  It was a busy week at the Richardson house.  Pi Day, which is set aside to celebrate our mathematical friend π, was held this week.  To celebrate Pi day, people frequently eat pie, and my employer actually provided pie to employees as part of the event.  Angie, thought it would be fun to provide some pie to her co-workers as well.  There was one small problem, Pi day is 3-14 (like the number 3.14,) and I made a mistake in scheduling.  I had our production start on Tuesday night, which was a day early.  Doh!  There is actually a National Pie day as well, and my goal is to not make the same mistake when that event rolls around.  J

ExactTarget Logo Pie

Angie:   I came home Tuesday night all excited about making apple pie for my husband’s office and for my co-workers.  Because this was an extra event, we will include the apple pie recipe at a future time.  Brian was working late so it was my sole duty to make these pies.  When he came home and I was showing him the pies, my oldest daughter came in and mentioned that Pi Day was Thursday, not Wednesday, and I had made the 3 pies a day early.  Uh oh.  I felt like the pie should be fresh baked so yes, I came home the next night and made 2 more apple pies.  We gave 4 away and kept one.  I was really proud of the pie for my husband’s company.  It turned out really neat, featured their company logo, and won a prize!

Our good friend Valerie!

Brian:  To be true to our code, to keep a pie and give away a pie, we did give one to our good friend Valerie.  Apple is her favorite, so she got a special surprise delivery at work.  We also gave away one of the small pies from last week’s derby pie to our neighbor Erin.  I would like to point out, in order to stay committed to my goal of just having one dessert per week, I did not partake.  I have lost weight by only having dessert once per week, but not as fast as I would like.  So, I've decided to be a little more restrictive.  I can only eat pie on Sunday, if I have averaged a one pound per week loss.  I have posted a chart for the next several months and what my weight needs to be each Sunday.  This weight loss thing just got real.

My brother Mark and Paula Dean.

Angie:  This week I decided to use the Queen of the South’s pie crust recipe, Paula Deen.  I actually had the opportunity to see Paula perform in Atlanta with my brothers, mom, and John.  We all went together to the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show.  We met Paula and her husband in our hotel lobby.  She was very gracious and posed for pictures.  Back to the pie…   The crust came together really nicely and rolled out like a dream and I was so excited that I might have found THE recipe for me.  However, after it baked the crust dropped down the inside of the pie pans.  So my crust quest continues…

Crust before it decided to shrink.

Brian:  It was really strange.  When Angie rolled out the dough, it overlapped perfectly with the pie crust.  It virtually looked like every homemade crust we had ever used, but after cooking it in the oven, it just shrunk up like a “lay flat only to dry” shirt you accidentally put in the dryer.  One part of the instructions she didn't follow, was to let it set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  Could that be the "flaw in the slaw?"

Butterscotch Cooking... mmmm

Angie:  The filling and cooking instructions are very similar to that of sugar cream pie.  We were given several great recipes, and I ended up using a hybrid of them for this pie.  One of the recipes stated to cook the filling after it reaches a boiling point for two minutes, and the other recipe encouraged waiting until the mixture thickened.  I opted to cook it for additional 5 minutes, constantly stirring to ensure that it would not burn.

Brian:  Much like the apple pie, I was not as much a factor in the baking this time.  I was really interested in helping with the crust, but since this was a new recipe, I made sure to let Angie work with it as she is the true talent of this duo.  I was more of a sous chef, gathering ingredients, separating eggs, and helping to keep things moving.  I took on my role of “trophy husband,” but I really am interested in learning how to make crust.  The kids on the playground might beat me up if they hear I have to get my wife to bake my own pies.  How embarrassing would that be?

Angie:  I loved the taste and texture of the crust, yum!  The filling was very sweet and not the creamy texture I’ve had before.  The flavor was fantastic!!

Brian:  I enjoyed the pie, but I agree with Angie that the filling was really sweet.  It almost had a caramel taste, but since I like caramel, that was just fine with me. 

Pie Recipients

This week pie recipient is Jen.  We became friends in Bloomington about 18 years ago, and both families ended up moving to the same part of Indianapolis.  Butterscotch is her favorite, so we made sure to include her next.

Jen is pictured on the left as this week's recipient.  Erin is on the right with Keaton, Raenah, and a photo-bombing Levi.

Our friend BJ does not like crust, so we made him a crustless pie. Otherwise known as pudding.  He shared.

What pie should we make next?  Please feel free to comment with any suggestions, and if you have a family recipe you would like for us to try, please include that as well.

Here is the link to Paula Deen's pie crust recipe.

I was given recipes by three different friends this week, Jennifer, Laurie and Vonda.  I didn’t stick to one in particular, but sort of melded the three and ended up with the following…

Butterscotch Pie

1c light brown sugar

1/3c corn starch

1/3t salt

2c Milnot, scalded – I put in microwave for 3 minutes

3 eggs, separated

2T butter

1t vanilla

In a heavy saucepan over medium to medium high heat, blend sugar, corn starch and salt. Slowly stir in hot milk. Cook and stir until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add 1/3 of well beaten egg yolk, stirring constantly.  You do not want scrambled eggs yolks here!  Stir in the rest of the egg yolks.  Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat.  Add butter and vanilla. Pour into baked pie shell. Cover with meringue, place in preheated 350 oven and brown the meringue.