Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Tuesday, March 14, 2017





My first real job at age 17 was working as a waitress in an Amish restaurant where we assembled cream pies every morning. By 10 AM, we had refrigerator shelves filled with Banana, Coconut and Peanut Butter - ready for the noon lunch crowd who bellied up to the bar and filled every table in the small town restaurant where the pies were as famous as the Amish who drove their buggies past the big windows overlooking Main Street. And then there were the fruit pies, stunning in their own right with sugary golden crusts holding cherries, apples and peaches. Pecan pie was there, too, along with pumpkin and custard, but it was the Peanut Butter Cream that stole my heart.

My mother was a pie baker, too, and Cherry was her signature pie she made each week for the market route my Father had peddling baked goods, farm fresh eggs and garden produce out of the back of his 1960's Carryall. Regrettably, I don't have her recipe as she kept it in her head and when I was growing up, cakes were my thing. After all, she made pies perfectly so there was no need for me to learn, right? Sigh. How I wish I could go back in time to when it was just the two of us in her sunny kitchen working side by side!

I've made a lot of pies since my stint as a waitress, and recently I've discovered my mother's passion for baking fruit pies. But cream pies seem to be a part of my teenage years that carry their own nostalgia and it seemed only fitting I share my favorite with you on National Pie Day. 

So here's to first jobs and old-fashioned cream pies!

























Recipe...






Peanut Butter Cream Pie

Ingredients

Vanilla Pie Filling

  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Peanut Butter Crumbs

  • 1/3 cup peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

1 9-inch pre-baked pie crust
Whipping Cream


Process

Vanilla Pie Filling: In a medium heavy-bottomed sauce pan, heat one cup of milk and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar, salt and beaten egg yolks in a bowl and stir to create a paste. Gradually whisk in one cup of milk until smooth. Whisk this mixture slowly into the warming milk on stove top. Whisk constantly until mixture thickens and starts to boil. Allow to cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Pour the pudding into a bowl and press saran wrap or waxed paper firmly over the surface. Allow to cool slightly, then refrigerate until chilled.

Peanut Butter Crumbs: In a medium mixing bowl, combine confectioner's sugar and peanut butter with a fork until crumbly.

To assemble pie:

Place 2/3 of the peanut butter crumbs into the base of the baked pie shell. Cover with the pudding mixture and then whipped cream. Garnish with the remaining peanut butter crumbs.

This pie is best if eaten the first day, although it will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two.















1 comment:

  1. I, myself believe in eating healthy rather than dieting. It improves our lifestyle and quality of life. These recipe looks healthy and great!

    ReplyDelete