My Recipe Reviews

Recipe Reviews, Recommendations, Tips and Musings. Thanks for visiting!

cream pie

Divine Butterscotch Pie

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I do believe that this homemade Butterscotch Pie is one of the best pies I’ve ever made!

It’s a brown sugar and butter-based pie with plenty of whipping cream added in along with egg yolks and a little vanilla.

Butterscotch Pie
Cook and stir, stir, stir and you’ve got the creamiest, most delectable pie filling you’ve ever had. (NOTHING like Jello-O butterscotch pie filling, trust me.)

In my younger days I didn’t like pie crust. My Mom could bake some really good desserts, but I didn’t like her homemade pie crust. I’d eat the filling out of the pies and leave the crust. She didn’t take too kindly to that and wouldn’t let me eat pie because I threw the crust away.

I was ten – I’ve gotten much more polite since then.

Butterscotch Pie

After I discovered different pie crusts (graham cracker, shortbread, good flour-based pie crust), I found out that homemade pie is fantastic! Cakes and cookies are still tops on my list, but a really good pie is climbing up that list fast.

I made this for a dinner party last week and it went over well, so I made it again for some good photos. The first try at crust in a 9″ pan shrank up and was hideous.

I pulled out the 8″ deep-dish pie plate and tried again. It was fairly successful, but still shrank up a little. I’m gonna have to get better at crusts so this perfect pie filling will have someplace nice to be.

Butterscotch Pie

Although this Butterscotch Pie is fairly easy to throw together, be patient when stirring everything together while it’s cooking. You want a smooth, creamy texture and if you’ll give it a little time, it’ll be perfect.

I’ve made this pie twice this week and it will definitely be in my regular rotation not only for special occasions, but also when we’re wanting a divine, luscious pie!

Butterscotch Pie

*Adapted slightly from Midwest Living True Butterscotch Pie

Butterscotch Pie

Butterscotch Pie

Yield: 10
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Inactive Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 40 minutes

Creamy, dreamy butterscotch pie. Smooth, cooked filling - a fantastic homemade pie.

Ingredients

  • Baked and cooled 8 or 9" pie crust
  • 1 1/4 C packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 C butter
  • 1/3 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 C heavy whipping cream
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 3 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • Whipped Cream Topping
  • 1 1/2 C heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 C powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Bake pie crust and prepare filling while it cools.
  2. For the filling: In a medium nonstick saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until smooth , about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup of the brown sugar, and cornstarch. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter/brown sugar mixture, stirring to combine. (It will be a thick paste.) Gradually add the whipping cream while stirring to mix it in. Return the saucepan to medium heat and stir constantly until thickened and simmering. Reduce heat to low and cook/stir for 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat.
  4. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks together. Get 1 cup of the hot filling and slowly drizzle into the egg yolks, constantly whisking. Add the yolk mixture into the hot filling, stirring constantly. Bring the filling to a simmer over medium heat (still stirring). Reduce the heat and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla.
  5. After the butter is melted and mixed in, pour the filling into the cooled pie crust. Gently shake to remove air bubbles. Cool for 5 minutes at room temperature, then cover the pie filling surface with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at 2-3 hours before serving.
  6. When ready to serve, prepare the whipped cream: Pour the whipping cream into a clean medium bowl and beat with for 1-2 minutes until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat for 30 seconds to 1 minute more until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie (or put the whipped cream in a bowl and make it available to your guests). If you have any leftovers, store covered in the refrigerator.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The filling will look like it has brown sugar lumps in it when you're combining everything, but don't worry - they'll smooth out by the end.

This is a creamy pie - it won't firm up a lot.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 1191Total Fat: 79gSaturated Fat: 38gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 36gCholesterol: 172mgSodium: 743mgCarbohydrates: 109gFiber: 5gSugar: 33gProtein: 13g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© MidWest Living
Category: Pies/Pastry/Puddings

Prague Kolach – A Daring Baker’s Recipe

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The September Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Lucie from ChezLucie. She challenged us to make a true Czech treat –Kolaches!

I’m used to the kolaches down in West, Texas, which has a big Czech population, and they are terrific. The recipe I chose is called Prague Kolach (or Prazsky Kolac – I don’t have the appropriate Czech keyboard, so you can’t see all the language marks).  

The closest thing I can compare it to is a giant coffee-cake-like creme puff, but the cake part has a little more texture and is more bread-like. I know, terrible description, but here’s a picture of it to clarify:

Prague Kolach2
We ate a piece immediately after it was put together because I was thinking the bottom layer of bread might get soggy. I’ll update this tomorrow after it sits in the refrigerator overnight and let you know if it does. (Update: I think it was better after refrigerated overnight. No soggy bottom, either!)

I thought this was good, but wished I had a cup of coffee with it (no caffeine after 3 p.m.). The middle was creamy and delicious – it has a stick of butter in it, so it should be! I also liked the texture of the bread and the crunchy cinnamon streusel on top.

Prague Kolach
Bret thought it was OK, but lacking something. I thought it was pretty good, but I’d worked all afternoon on it and dadgummit if I wasn’t going to like it after all that. Every utensil in my kitchen is in the sink right now – not the fault of the recipe, but of the cook!

This was a very challenging recipe and I learned new things as I went, which is why I like participating in The Daring Kitchen’s baking challenges!

Prague Kolach

Prague Kolach

Yield: 8 - 10
Inactive Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Kind of like a Boston Cream Pie with streusel topping! Loved the cream filling!

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 C. mayonnaise, room temperature
  • 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
  • 1 small egg, room temperature
  • 1 pkt. dry active yeast
  • 5 tbsp. milk, warm
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • For the streusel topping:
  • 1/3 C. flour
  • 1/4 C. butter, chilled and diced
  • 1/4 C. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 small egg, lightly beaten
  • For the Cream:
  • 2 C. milk, divided
  • 1/2 C. granulated sugar plus 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
  • 1/2 C. vanilla pastry cream powder, I used vanilla pudding
  • 1 stick butter, room temperature
  • 5 tbsp. heavy whipped cream, chilled

Instructions

  1. In a bowl of your stand mixer, sift flour and make a hole in the middle.  
  2. Place the packet of yeast into the hole along with 1 tsp. sugar and about 3 tsp. warm milk.
  3. Mix yeast, sugar and milk  with a fork (just those three ingredients, not the flour around it) and lightly sprinkle the surface with flour.  
  4. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise for 10-15 minutes.  
  5. Add the rest of the ingredients (mayonnaise, sugar, milk, egg and salt) and knead with the dough hook on low speed for 10 minutes, until you have smooth (but sticky) dough.  
  6. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Cover with a towel or cling wrap and let rise for about an hour to double its volume.
  7. Form the dough into a ball and place it onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  With your palms and finger, gently press the dough and shape it to a disc about 8 inches in diameter and an inch thick.  Let rise for 30 minutes.
  8. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 325 degrees and make the streusel topping.  
  9. In a medium bowl, mix together sugar, flour and cinnamon.  Add cold butter and with your fingers mix all ingredients until crumbly.
  10. Brush the cake with the egg wash and sprinkle with generous amount of streusel topping.  Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.  Let cool on a wire rack.
  11. Prepare the Cream:
  12. In a small bowl, mix 1/2 C. milk with the vanilla pastry cream (pudding mix).  Set aside.  
  13. In a saucepan, mix the rest of the milk, 1 1/2 C. with the sugar and vanilla sugar and bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Add the milk-pastry cream mixture and boil for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.
  14. Transfer the mixture into a bowl of your standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment and let cool slightly, while mixing constantly on a low speed. Add diced butter and mix together.  Separately whip the double cream until stiff.  Fold whipped cream into the vanilla cream.
  15. Cut the cooled cake horizontally and spread the cream (all of it) onto the bottom part.  Cover with the upper layer.  Cut into 8 to 10 pieces and serve.  Refrigerate leftover.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

This was translated and I typed up the U.S. measurements to make it more clear.

For the vanilla sugar, I just mixed about 1/2 tsp. of vanilla in with the sugar before adding it.

The dough will be sticky right out of the mixer.

The original recipe called for 320 degrees, but I don't have that mark, so changed it to 325.

I think if I made it again, I will use less streusel - maybe half the amount.  It seemed to overwhelm the delicacy of the bread and cream.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 438Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 83mgSodium: 381mgCarbohydrates: 47gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 7g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© sblades
Category: Cakes