Cookbooks

If you like the flavor of sour apples, cut the amount of sugar in the filling to 1/3 cup. If you want to enhance the sweetness, serve with a scoop of vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. This recipe comes from Cynthia Craig, a longtime baker at the restaurant.

Peach season is fleeting, but this seasonal pie is so delicious that you should slip it into your summer any way you can. If the edges of the crust begin to brown before the rest of the pie, cover them with foil. Enjoy plain or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This pretty pie is reminiscent of the toffee apples that were a fairground favorite in Mrs. Rowe’s day. The brown sugar delivers a gooey, sweet flavor. For an extra treat, serve with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream.

This moist and crumbly pie has a consistency almost like a coffee cake. As a result, unlike most pies, it’s safe to cut into this one when it’s slightly warm. As with all prebaked pastry crusts, it’s important to cover the edges with foil or crust shields while the filling bakes, so it doesn’t burn. Walnuts, almonds, or pecans work nicely with this pie.

This pie offers a perfect blend of apples and raisins. You can add the sweet icing, which is a surprising and delightful touch—or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a blisteringly hot, Southern summer day.

If you have never made your own whipped cream, you’ll be surprised by how easy it is—and by how much better the flavor is. Soft peaks barely hold together and make a lovely plop on the pie, but the cream doesn’t hold up well in this state, so use it quickly. Medium peaks will peak but flop over a bit, and stiff peaks will stand up straight. Stiff is what you want if you are folding it into something else. If you have any left over—most people don’t because it’s so delicious and easy to eat—it can keep in the refrigerator for a few days in any storage container, but you might have to whisk it a bit before serving.

The miniature marshmallows are a great time-saving device in this recipe. Full-size marshmallows also work, but they’re more difficult to measure and don’t melt as quickly.

Pile this meringue on as thick as you can for a splendid-looking pie. Meringue is a perfect opportunity for the home baker to get creative with the spatula. You can smooth it over, swirl it around, or make fancy peaks. No one way is better than the other. Mrs. Rowe insisted on using a chilled bowl for the mixing. It’s a bit of a mystery why, as modern bakers claim it’s unnecessary. Maybe her eggs were so fresh that they were still warm and she needed to bring them down to room temperature by using a chilled bowl. In any case, the bakers at Mrs. Rowe’s restaurants still use chilled bowls. Weeping can happen with any meringue. A “weeping” meringue occurs when the sugar solution comes out of the meringue in drops. Sometimes a weeping meringue makes a slimy layer on top of the filling. The meringue will still taste yummy, but it won’t be as pretty. Sealing the edges of the meringue is an important step in helping to prevent weeping; it also helps assure that the filling won’t spill over. Just add some water to your fingers and press the meringue to the crust along the rim.

Less puffy and showy, but just as delicious as Mrs. Rowe’s Meringue (opposite), this family recipe is a tougher breed. The salt and cornstarch fuse and stabilize it, making it easier to manage and giving it a harder glaze once it’s baked, which means less likelihood of weeping.

This sauce is a must for the Layered Ice Cream Pie (page 96), where it meshes with the cookie crust and ice cream for a sinfully delicious combination of textures and flavors. If you’re adventurous, this sauce could top off almost any pie.

You can crush the crumbs using a food processor, rolling pin, or kitchen mallet, whichever you prefer. This crust should be baked before filling. If you use pie weights or beans to keep the crust from bubbling during baking (highly recommended), remove the paper and weights for the last few minutes of baking so the crust will brown well.

This versatile crust, which is extremely easy to make, adds zip to any pie, and its enticing flavor offers many intriguing possibilities. In this book it’s paired with the Never Fail Lemon Pie (page 73), but you can also try it with pies like Cinnamon Sugar (page 84), Willard’s Chocolate (page 80), German Chocolate (page 79), Peanut Butter Custard (page 83), Peanut (page 92), or Layered Ice Cream (page 96). You can crush the crumbs using a food processor, rolling pin, or kitchen mallet. This crust should be baked before being filled.

The vinegar in this crust is a flavorless stabilizer, making the dough more forgiving and patchable. In addition to being easy to work with, it also tastes great—even butter-loving pastry fans enjoy the flavor.

Mildred’s light touch took years to master. Too much flour will make the dough tough. Use just enough to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin. Make the dough ahead of time and place it in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. If you don’t have a pastry blender, you can use a fork here, as well as your fingers—if you start with cold hands and work fast. The more the shortening melts, the less flaky the crust will be.

A simple pie crust with countless creative possibilities, the Chocolate Cookie Crust has been paired with the Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie (page 90) and Grasshopper Pie (page 94) in this book, but also consider using it with any of the lemon or peanut butter pies, or even the Spicy Pumpkin Pie (page 48). You can crush the crumbs using a food processor, rolling pin, or kitchen mallet. This crust should be baked before filling.

This crust, which has a nice tangy flavor, can be used in any recipe that calls for Plain Pie Pastry (page 17) or Vinegar Pie Crust (page 19). It’s a good idea to chill the crust for at least 15 minutes before baking; this will help the crust stick together better.