Water Lily Pie
I was kind of feeling like baking something today, but was really unsure as to what it was I actually wanted to bake. I went into my studio/office to look through my books and see if I might find something which caught my eye.
Very early on in my blogging days I made friends with a fellow blogger named Susan Bellah Dahlem. She has/had a blog called Not Quite June Cleaver. I am pretty sure it was the June Cleaver tag which attracted me to the blog because I am a lover of anything June Cleaver-ee, June having been my ideal wife/mother when I was growing up. Even someone who considered themselves to not be quite June was very appealing to me. Susan and I connected and somehow became friends and have remained friends to this day.
A number of years back she published this Pie cookbook. Not Quite June Cleaver Bakes a Pie. It is filled with everything to do with pie. Crusts, fillings, hints tips, family favourites, recipes with a history, tarts, resources, etc. It caught my eye this morning . . . I suddenly I fancied pie, and when I was ruffling through it looking for a recipe, the Water Lily Pie really caught my interest.
It sounded simple and unusual . . . easy to execute, and I happened to have everything in the house to make it. I bet you do too.
It really only takes a few ingredients. Eggs. Sugar. Butter, and some flavourings (almond and vanilla). Oh yes and some cream of tartar.
It was very simple to put together. You just separate the eggs, whip sugar into both the whites and the yolks . . .
The whites get whipped into a stiff meringue with half the sugar . . . and the yolks get whipped until light, with the other half of the sugar, and then you add butter and flavourings to them.
The white meringue forms a type of crust . . . almost like a Pavlova . . .
Golden and crisp on the outside and marshmallow-like inside . . .
The yolks beaten with the flavourings and butter get poured into the centre of the whites prior to baking and they create an almost "Butter-tart" type of filling . . .
I don't know about you, but I totally adore butter tarts . . .
When it came out of the oven I wasn't quite sure if I had done everything right. I have never seen a Water Lily Pie before . . . but then I looked up water lilies and found this image and it looked kind of like the pie turned out looking like, so I figure I got it just right.
It is fabulously delicious . . . I think this is one of the nicest desserts I have baked this year.
And yes, I only meant to try one little bite . . . but after one bite, I couldn't help myself. I ate the whole piece of pie.
It really was THAT good . . . . I just kept digging my fork into it and before I knew it, the piece was gone, gone gone . . .
I had to cut another piece for Todd . . . .
and now I am thinking that this pie is far too dangerous for me to keep around for very long . . .
Too, too, too dangerous. I better invite someone over to help us eat the rest.
Water Lily Pie
Yield: makes 1 nine inch pie
A deliciously unusual pie recipe that I got from a book written by my good friend Susan Dahlem. It is maybe not the most attractive pie, but what it lacks in looks, it more than makes up for in taste! You are going to love LOVE this!
ingredients:
- 3 large free range eggs, separated
- 190g granulated sugar, separated (1 cup)
- 115g butter (1/2 cup) at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
instructions:
How to cook Water Lily Pie
- Preheat your oven to 150*C/300*F/gas mark 2.9. Butter a 9 inch pie dish and dust lightly with flour. Set aside.
- Separate your eggs, putting the whites in one (scrupulously clean) glass bowl and the yolks in another smaller bowl. Add the cream of tartar to the whites and beat with an electric whisk until light and then continue to beat whilst adding half of the sugar (95g/1/2 cup) until very stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- Beat the butter along with both flavourings. Beat the egg yolks until light, then continue to beat whilst adding the remaining sugar. Beat in the butter mixture. Set aside.
- Spread the egg white mixture into the prepared pie dish, spreading it to cover the bottom and up the sides of the dish and leaving a bit of a hollow dip in the centre to about 1 inch of the sides all the way round. Carefully pour/spread the egg yolk mixture into this hollow area.
- Bake for 55 to 60 minutes until the crust/meringue is golden brown and the filling is set. Allow to cool completely before serving.
- Fresh fruit and berries go very well.
If you are looking for a simple and easy dessert pie that is sure to impress, don't look any further. This is the one! It might be kind of ugly, but it makes up for its looks in flavour. We enjoyed it with some sliced berries. You can buy Susan's pie book on Amazon. I highly recommend. I have never baked a recipe from it that wasn't totally delicious. I think you would like it too!
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