I come from a family full of fabulous cooks. There are certain dishes that only these women are allowed to cook for family gatherings. Example 1: only my Mom makes the boiled custard at Christmas and the homemade ice cream for 4th of July (the ice cream is made with boiled custard, so it's only fitting). Example 2: my aunt Beth always makes the caramel pie. I have not yet attempted the boiled custard since it requires so many things to be just right. I have, for the first time, attempted my aunt's caramel pie...
Years ago my older sister took our favorite (and Mom's favorite) recipes and typed them up and made us all our own cookbook of family favorites. As any woman who has hand written her own recipes knows, you don't always put all the details that someone who is unfamiliar with the recipe would need to know. I have run into this problem several times now while using this cookbook. the first time was when making 7 minute icing. At no point in the recipe does it say to beat the icing over a double boiler. so, I didn't. I don't remember who ate that cake with me, but we basically ate chocolate cake with uncooked meringue on top. Don't know how we didn't get sick.
the second time the cookbook bit me in the arse I was making Mississippi spice muffins for my mom and some of her friends. You may not be aware, but Allspice is usually only sold in the tiny little spice bottles...apparently for good reason. Regardless, when the recipe said 3 cups of allspice, I took it at it's word and bought about 10 of the small spice bottle of Allspice (not cheap by the way). For any of you with a mental image of what my muffin mix looked like after adding 3 CUPS of Allspice, you are exactly right. It looked like dry, dark mud (or poop). I actually cooked one batch of these 'muffins', but it didn't take me long to realize something was horribly wrong. I even kept saying to myself, "I don't remember the batter being this dark and dry!". As it turns out, a line had been left out of the recipe when it was typed up. Instead of being 3 cups of Allspice it should have been 3 cups of applesauce, several other ingredients, and then about a tablespoon of allspice. Won't be using that recipe again!
So this weekend I attempted my aunt’s caramel pie using the recipe from our family cookbook. This recipe basically consisted of: eggs, sugar, flour, milk- top with meringue. Not very helpful for someone who has never made caramel pie before. I even called my aunt Beth to get directions. She was driving and her cell phone was cutting out, so I didn’t have the chance to ask all the details I should have asked- what temp, how long, etc. To make matters worse, I called my Mom in the middle of cooking and she starts giving me different directions! Realizing it was too late to turn back, I resigned myself to throwing out the caramel pie filing as soon as I finished cooking it. Surprisingly, the pie was phenomenal! The flavor was perfect, the texture was smooth, and it looked pretty. My meringue did pull away from the pie crust a little and could have been higher, but all in all, was pretty darn good for my first time. My aunt beth better watch out... I will post a pic of my pie as soon as blogger quits janking up.
Years ago my older sister took our favorite (and Mom's favorite) recipes and typed them up and made us all our own cookbook of family favorites. As any woman who has hand written her own recipes knows, you don't always put all the details that someone who is unfamiliar with the recipe would need to know. I have run into this problem several times now while using this cookbook. the first time was when making 7 minute icing. At no point in the recipe does it say to beat the icing over a double boiler. so, I didn't. I don't remember who ate that cake with me, but we basically ate chocolate cake with uncooked meringue on top. Don't know how we didn't get sick.
the second time the cookbook bit me in the arse I was making Mississippi spice muffins for my mom and some of her friends. You may not be aware, but Allspice is usually only sold in the tiny little spice bottles...apparently for good reason. Regardless, when the recipe said 3 cups of allspice, I took it at it's word and bought about 10 of the small spice bottle of Allspice (not cheap by the way). For any of you with a mental image of what my muffin mix looked like after adding 3 CUPS of Allspice, you are exactly right. It looked like dry, dark mud (or poop). I actually cooked one batch of these 'muffins', but it didn't take me long to realize something was horribly wrong. I even kept saying to myself, "I don't remember the batter being this dark and dry!". As it turns out, a line had been left out of the recipe when it was typed up. Instead of being 3 cups of Allspice it should have been 3 cups of applesauce, several other ingredients, and then about a tablespoon of allspice. Won't be using that recipe again!
So this weekend I attempted my aunt’s caramel pie using the recipe from our family cookbook. This recipe basically consisted of: eggs, sugar, flour, milk- top with meringue. Not very helpful for someone who has never made caramel pie before. I even called my aunt Beth to get directions. She was driving and her cell phone was cutting out, so I didn’t have the chance to ask all the details I should have asked- what temp, how long, etc. To make matters worse, I called my Mom in the middle of cooking and she starts giving me different directions! Realizing it was too late to turn back, I resigned myself to throwing out the caramel pie filing as soon as I finished cooking it. Surprisingly, the pie was phenomenal! The flavor was perfect, the texture was smooth, and it looked pretty. My meringue did pull away from the pie crust a little and could have been higher, but all in all, was pretty darn good for my first time. My aunt beth better watch out... I will post a pic of my pie as soon as blogger quits janking up.
