| A Cake and a Pie for May Celebrations (Tested Recipes) |
|
|
|
advertisement
|
By Joyce Rosencrans
Scripps Howard News Service May days culminate for many families with some celebration or other. It's shower-and-wedding season, a birthday month, the start of summer. The kickoff for warm-weather barbecuing is Memorial Day weekend, when local strawberries might also be ready. May flowers bring garden parties, and May is the month when some people trek to Michigan to bag the abundant morel mushroom. But not every May food gathering revolves around morels or strawberries or groundbreakings for gardens. The end of the merry month brings high school graduations, and they are among the sweetest of celebrations, calling for sweets if a post-commencement reception will be held at home for relatives and friends. High school graduation parties have certainly changed in recent years. The last home reception I attended included three of the graduate's "Internet girlfriends" from neighboring high schools. He had never met them face-to-face before, so getting his diploma that day was not uppermost in his mind. There was tension in the air when the doorbell rang. And there they were, three pretty girls from the same electronic "chat room." Their instant verdict on the graduate they hid very well. After cake and presents, they all disappeared to the basement computer room to sign on and "chat" some more with fellow graduates around the area. They definitely seemed more at ease doing that than chatting for real to the relatives and neighbors who had stopped by. And wasn't that a shame for us fogeys? At least the bakery cake with frosting "congratulations to the graduate" hadn't changed from previous decades, nor the napkins rolled up like diplomas. But whatever the occasion this month, I propose skipping the bakery cakes and creating a wonderful homemade pie or cheesecake. Either recipe here is something to celebrate all on its own. The Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Pie is less fancy, more homespun than the Champion White Chocolate Cheesecake. Some won't ever have tasted rhubarb before. I ordered rhubarb pie in an Iowa diner during a Midwest food seminar a few years back, and the food magazine editor sitting beside me in the booth asked for a bite because she'd never had it. Too bad that particular pie was so over sweetened that it could've been any fruit inside the crust. The tangy, slightly astringent rhubarb character had been completely covered up. I favor rhubarb custard pies myself, maybe because my grandmother made one every spring Saturday as far back as I can remember. I rode my bicycle a mile up the road to her house to watch the pie dough being rolled out, and because I was allowed to cut the scraps with a serrated pastry wheel and bake them with sugar and cinnamon. This fruit custard pie recipe includes fresh strawberries, too, rhubarb's primary partner, although sweetened crushed pineapple comes in a close second. If a truly regal dessert is required for a May occasion, then a strawberry-topped cheesecake is a fine treat. This one was named the top winner of a 1988 Kraft contest I judged in Chicago, and I have never found one finer. This is heavy, rich and moist, much like the old Lindy's cheesecake in texture. Chill it overnight for best slicing. I've tested it only in the 10-inch springform pan size, which is the size I own and is the one called for. But many other people own the more common 9-inch springform, so one could bake the extra cheesecake batter in a custard cup or two. Baking time might have to be adjusted, but not by much because the depth of the mixture would be thick in either pan size. If there's no time for baking, but you still want to offer a "homemade" May dessert some weekend, consider Lemon Custard Cake. It couldn't be faster. Lemon Custard Cake: Tear a store-bought angel food cake into bite-size pieces and place evenly in a 13x9-inch pan. Beat a package of instant lemon pudding with 1-1/2 cups milk and 1 cup sour cream. Beat pudding mixture 2 minutes, then pour and spread over the cake pieces. Press down slightly with the back of a large mixing spoon. Top with cherry pie filling, if desired, or cover and chill, then top with sliced fresh strawberries shortly before serving. Lift out portions with a small, square, pancake-turner.
Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Pie Ingredients: 1-1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups diced rhubarb (thawed, if frozen)
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
One 9-inch unbaked pie shell
4 eggs
1/4 cup low-fat milk
1 tsp. almond extract
Garnish: Fresh strawberries Preparation: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together sugar and flour. Add rhubarb and strawberries and gently toss until evenly coated. Spread rhubarb mixture into unbaked pie shell with a fluted rim. Do not prick bottom of pie dough; patch any holes or thin spots. Have oven, with rack set at lowest point, heating to 425 degrees. In same mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and almond extract. Pour over the rhubarb mixture. Bake at 425 degrees 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees and bake until a knife inserted near center comes out clean, an additional 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Note: If you use a frozen pie shell, it must be deep-dish style. Serves: 6 to 8
Champion White Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe was a Kraft "Philly" Hall of Fame recipe contest winner for Gloria Pleasants of Williamsburg, Va., in October 1988. It remains the best white-chocolate cheesecake ever.) Ingredients for cookie crust: 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts, toasted
4 (1-oz.) squares white baking chocolate, grated
1 egg, beaten Ingredients for cheese filling: 12 (1-oz.) squares white baking chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
3 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
4 eggs
Garnish: Bittersweet chocolate curls, strawberry fans, powdered sugar Preparation: For crust, combine the flour and sugar. Use a pastry blender or knife blade of a food processor to cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the macadamia nuts, grated white chocolate and egg; mix well. Press dough onto bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. Cover and chill. Meanwhile, for cheese filling, combine white chocolate and whipping cream in the top of a double boiler; cook over simmering water until chocolate is melted. Stir in vanilla. Keep warm. Have oven heating to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, with electric mixer at medium speed, combine the softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until well blended. Add 4 eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in white chocolate mixture; stir well. Pour over the chilled cookie crust. Bake the cheesecake at 325 degrees near center of oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan and cool before removing the rim of pan. Cover and chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Garnish with chocolate curls or strawberries. Dust with powdered sugar just before slicing to serve. Cheesecake is most easily cut by drawing a taut length of dental floss through it. Serves: 14
(Joyce Rosencrans is living editor of the Cincinnati Post.)
| 
