What many folks don’t know is that lemon meringue pie is actually a Philadelphia invention born out of the Victorian-era, courtesy of Mrs. Elizabeth Goodfellow, a 19th century pastry shop proprietress who ran America’s first cooking school. This classic pie of contrasting sweet-tart layers evolved from one of Mrs. Goodfellow’s signature desserts, a rich lemon pudding. At some point she cleverly thought to top her famous pudding with fluffy meringue. Although there are recipes for decorating cakes, tarts, and custards with sweetened and flavored egg whites starting in the 1600s, adding meringue to a pudding (pie) doesn’t appear until the nineteenth century.
Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar and salt. Stir constantly over medium low heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and reduce the heat to low.
Pour half of this mixture into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Now, pour the "hot" egg mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly.
Return to the stove and cook for an additional 3 minutes stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and lemon zest. Finally whisk in butter one tbsp at a time. Stir occasionally until cool. (Setting in the bowl and placing in a larger bowl of ice will speed this up.).
Crust
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour (or use nonstick cooking spray) a mini-muffin pan. Set aside.
Roll the dough or pie crust out on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Using a round cookie or biscuit cutter (approximately 3 inches diamater) cut at least 24 rounds out ( or 12 rounds of each pie crust, if using store bought)
Carefully press each round into the mini-muffin pan. Use your fingers to round the ends into a pie crust.
Brush egg wash from one egg to the top edges of each pie.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden around the edges.
Remove from oven and let the crust cool. Once cooled, use the tip of a knife to loosen the crusts from the mini muffin cups, but keep them in the pan.
Spoon the lemon filling into each baked and cooled mini pie crust almost up to the top.
Meringue
In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the cream of tarter and salt and gradually beat in sugar until glossy, about another 10 minutes. Fill a pastry bag with the meringue and top filled mini pies.
When ready to serve, preheat the broiler to high. Place mini-muffin pan under the broiler until the meringue is evenly toasted, about 2 minutes, or brown the merinque with a kitchen blow torch.
Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Double Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies – This cookie gets high fives from adults and kids alike and the best part? You use a box of Devil’s Food Cake mix in the batter so not only does it taste awesome but the recipe is super easy too.
Lawrence, a dairyman in Chester, New York, was the first to mass produce an unripened fresh cheese known generically as cream cheese. In 1872, he began manufacturing Neufchâtel cheese. By adding cream to the process, he developed a richer cheese that he called “cream cheese”.
This cookie gets high fives from adults and kids alike and the best part? You use a box of Devil’s Food Cake mix in the batter so not only does it taste awesome but the recipe is super easy too.
Elizabeth Goodwell, an American Cook in Philadelphia, who wrote down the first Lemon Pie recipe in 1806. According to some historians, the first recipe for lemon pie with a pastry base and lemon custard filling was written down in 1806 by Elizabeth Goodwell, an American cook in Philadelphia.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a 9×9 square baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Grease it well, set aside.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar for 1-2 minutes, until smooth and combined. Add flour and salt and beat until just combined (the mixture will be crumbly, but it should hold together if you squeeze it with your fingertips).
Dump the dough into the prepared pan and press it gently into an even layer. Be careful not to pack it in too tightly, or the crust will be hard to cut through. If necessary, moisten your fingers or palm with water to keep the dough from sticking. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling.
Filling
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), beat cream cheese until smooth and combined. Add sugar and flour and beat until well combined. Add eggs, lemon zest and vanilla and beat until combined. Slowly add the lemon juice (I like to do this with the mixer running), beating until the lemon juice is fully incorporated.
Pour the batter into the crust and return to the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the filling is set. Place the pan on a cooling rack, cool to room temp, then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled (several hours).
Notes
It is good to serve these slightly chilled. Remove them from the fridge 30 minutes before serving to allow the crust to soften up a bit. Serve topped with whipped cream.
Classic Eclairs – You haven’t enjoyed an éclair until you’ve tried a fresh homemade éclair filled to the brim with pastry cream and topped with chocolate icing.
History. The éclair originated during the nineteenth century in Lyon, France where it was called pain à la Duchesse (‘Duchess-style bread’) or petite duchesse (‘little duchess’) until 1850. The word is first attested both in English and in French in the 1860s.
In a Medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup milk, 8 Tbsp butter, 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat then remove from heat and stir in 1 cup flour all at once with a wooden spoon.
One flour is incorporated, place back over medium heat about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes stirring constantly (to release extra moisture and partially cook flour), or until dough comes together into a smooth ball and a thin film forms on bottom of pan.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and beat using an electric hand mixer on medium speed for 1 minute to cool the mixture slightly. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, allowing each egg to fully incorporate between additions. Beat until dough is smooth and forms a thick ribbon when pulled up.
Pipe eclairs over baking sheet lined with silicone using a 1/2” round tip. Pipe 18-20 (4” long and 3/4” wide) strips, keeping them 1 1/2" apart.
Bake at 425˚F for 10 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce temp to 325˚F and, bake 30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool while making pastry cream.
Filling
In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups milk, vanilla bean and scraped seeds just to a boil, stirring to prevent film from forming.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup corn starch and pinch of salt. Add 4 egg yolks and whisk until smooth, creamy and lightened in color – it takes a couple of minutes but it will get there.
Gradually (so the eggs don't curdle), while whisking constantly, add hot milk in a steady stream until all of it is incorporated. Pour mixture back into saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking constantly then whisk another 30 seconds until mixture is thick and pudding-like in consistency.
Transfer pastry cream to a medium bowl (whisk in 2 tsp vanilla extract if using). Cut butter into pieces and quickly whisk into the custard until fully incorporated Cover with plastic directly over the surface of the cream, let it cool slightly then refrigerate 30 minutes or until cool.
With a small pastry tip, poke 2-3 holes through the bottom of each cooled pastry. Pipe cream inside, scraping off excess. Refrigerate eclairs while making chocolate glaze.
Glaze
Place 4 oz of chocolate chips into a small heat-safe bowl.
Heat 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (in a saucepan or microwave) until it is just at a simmer then remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips. Let rest 2 minutes then whisk from the center outwards until smooth sauce forms.
Dip the top half of filled and chilled eclairs into the chocolate sauce, allowing excess to drip off.
Georgia Pecan Upside Down Cake – There’s a type of cake that comes out of Georgia that’s chock full of pecans and coconuts and oh my… is it delightful.
Origin of the Georgia Pecan
Pecan nuts are the fruit of pecan trees (Carya illinoensis), a species of hickory in the walnut family. First grown commercially in Georgia during the late 1880s, pecans became one of the state’s most important commodities by the early 1900s.
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9×13-inch pan with aluminum foil, making sure it hangs over the sides a bit, then grease with non-stick spray.
Spread pecans, brown sugar and 1 cup of the coconut in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt, and drizzle with vanilla extract and melted butter.
In a medium bowl, beat together the 2/3 cup butter and 1 cup brown sugar on medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Continue mixing on low, and add eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla, mixing until thoroughly combined.
Add baking powder and salt, mixing on low until incorporated. Add 1/2 of the flour, followed by milk, and then remaining flour, mixing well after each addition.
Pour batter over pecan mixture in prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
Run a knife around the sides of the pan to loosen and let cake cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert cake onto a platter, using foil overhang as needed. Let cool 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
This is a wonderful Canadian dessert that originated in the Prairies in the 1920s. They called it Flapper pie because it was popularized in the same era as the Flapper girls – fabulous!
Flappers were modern, young girls in the 1920s, often with a slightly immoral behavior. Precursors of the 1920s flapper were both, the late Victorian ‘New Woman’ and the Edwardian ‘Gibson Girl’.
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter, and cinnamon in a bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup for topping the pie. Press the remaining crumb mixture in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 8 minutes.
Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat. In a non-plastic bowl, whisk together the 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, and vanilla. When the milk is hot but not boiling, slowly pour the milk in a steady stream into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return the custard to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or a heat-proof spatula. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes over low heat until the custard has thickened. Pour the custard into the graham cracker crust.
Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.
Beat the egg whites until medium peaks form; add 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat until the meringue is stiff. Scoop out the meringue on top of the custard filling. Sprinkle the meringue with the reserved graham cracker crumbs.
Place the pie under the broiler and bake until the meringue starts to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
