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Butterscotch Pie
1 1/2 cup milk 1 cup brown sugar 3 tablespoons corn-starch 2 eggs 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons powdered sugar Heat one cup of milk and the sugar until the sugar is free from lumps. Mix the corn-starch, one-half cup milk and egg-yolks and add to the hot mixture slowly. Cook in a double boiler until thick, stirring constantly, then for ten minutes longer. Add butter. When cool, pour into a baked shell. Cover with a meringue made from the stiffly beaten egg-whites and the powdered sugar. Brown in the oven. As an attractive variation, cover the top of the pie with halves of marshmallows and brown in the oven. In this case, one whole egg instead of two yolks may be used in the filling.
A brown-sugar custard pie thickened with cornstarch and cooked over water, from the era when a double boiler was the standard insurance against scorching. The filling is straightforward; the meringue as written is very lightly sweetened and needs attention.
- The hinge: don't rush the starchThe instruction to cook ten minutes after it thickens is not padding. Cornstarch needs sustained heat to lose its raw taste and to set fully once cold, and egg yolks in the mix will not tolerate a bare boil in a saucepan. Keep the water below the top pan simmering, not boiling hard, and stir the whole time.
- Brown sugarUse dark or light brown sugar, packed. This is where all the butterscotch flavor comes from, so light brown gives a mild pie and dark brown a much fuller one. Most brown sugar sold today is refined white sugar with molasses added back; break up any lumps before heating, as the recipe directs.
- Add salt and vanillaThe original gives neither. A quarter teaspoon of salt in the filling and a teaspoon of vanilla stirred in with the butter at the end will sharpen the caramel notes considerably.
- Powdered sugar in the meringueTwo tablespoons for two egg whites is very little by current practice, which runs to about two tablespoons of sugar per white. Expect a soft, faintly sweet foam that beads and weeps quickly. If you want a stable meringue, increase the sugar and add it a spoonful at a time once the whites hold soft peaks.
- Browning the meringueThe recipe gives no temperature or time. In a modern oven a few minutes at 400F will colour the top, or 350F for 12 to 15 minutes if you want the interior of the meringue set through; watch it rather than trusting the clock. Spread the meringue so it touches the crust all around, which keeps it from shrinking away from the edge.
- Filling temperature when you assembleThe original says to fill the shell 'when cool.' Modern practice runs the other way: meringue seals best against a filling that is still hot or at least warm, which cooks the underside and reduces the watery layer between meringue and custard. Follow the original and let it cool fully and you may see some separation.
- The marshmallow variationMarshmallows sold today are larger than the period article; halve them, set them cut side down, and watch closely in a hot oven, as they go from puffed to burnt in a minute or two. Use the whole egg in the filling, as the recipe suggests, since the whites are not needed.
- Shell and yieldA fully baked pastry shell; the quantities suit an 8- or 9-inch pie. Serves six, and the filling should be firm enough to cut cleanly after a few hours in the refrigerator.