4 • October 2017 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


Eat Well & Prosper


AMERICAN PIE, from Red Wing by Executive Chef Ron Skaar ~ ronskaar@comcast.net


times “custard” emerged from “croustade”


which includes signifi ed


anything served in a crust. The sweet side of the custard fam- ily


fl ans or cremes


caramels, pots de creme, creme brûlée and cheesecakes. Pas- try cooks use creme patisserie or pastry cream to coat or fi ll a


or great alized


Redwing, MN. ~ The English word for cake can be traced back to the 13th century. It derives from the


word “kaka”. Sponge


old Norse cake,


using beaten eggs as a leaven- ing agent, originated during the Renaissance on the Iberian peninsula. During medieval


the variety mid


embellish of


baked sweets. Not until


was it possible


industri- 1800’s to


make a cake with refi ned white fl our and rising power of baking powder, like ones we know today. The com- bination of cake and a pastry cream fi lling dates back a cen- tury and a half. A “pudding pie cake” recipe fi rst appeared in


the New York Herald in 1855. It had a layer of custard in the middle and was dusted with ic- ing sugar.


The Boston cream pie’s


roots evolved from these early layer cakes, originally know as


version of jelly cake, made by boiling sugar with heavy cream until syrupy then beating the mixture until cooled, appeared. American cakes variously as- sumed names of “custard cake”, “cream pie” and the “Washington pie”, a jam fi lled layer cake topped with confec- tioners sugar. Baking experts believe


that


since pies predated cakes in the American kitchen that pie pans were the more readily available


equipment


to use. The Boston cream pie does indeed have


jelly cakes. Cooks spread jelly or jam on baked cake layers, stacking them up and serving them cut-up in wedges, like a pie. By the 1860’s a velvety


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roots in Boston but, like so many iconic things, there are a couple scenarios available. Owners of the local Parker House Hotel claim that


this


treat was created there in 1856, by an Armenian, French taught chef.


He created two layers of


butter sponge cake, fi lled with creme patisserie, brushed with rum syrup, the sides coated with more cream patisserie overlain with toasted almonds and the top embellished with a delicate spidering of dark and white fondant! This sounds more like a haute cuisine clas- sic of the great nineteenth century French chefs than an American dessert. In


kitchens across New


England simple adaptations emerged and home cooks turned to a similar recipe and began to improvise. The natu- ral progression from the cus- tard cake to the “Washington pie” could be the thru scenario to the Boston cream pies ori- gin. Using chocolate as a coat- ing was a delicious new pro- cess and created the perfect combination.


The Methodist


Almanac of 1872 was the fi rst reference to mention the Bos- ton cream pie. A box mix was put out by Betty Crocker in the 1930’s. At the Moscow Exhibit


4 • October 2017 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC. “Happiness is the result of a life well lived” ~ Danny Dover


EW & P Recipe October 2017


Boston Cream Pie GLAZE


1 cup heavy cream 1/4 cup light corn syrup


8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


1 recipe your favorite Sponge Cake, baked in two 9 inch layers and cooled


1 recipe Pastry Cream, about 3 cups, chilled


For the glaze: Bring the cream and corn syrup to a full simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and add chocolate; cover and let stand for 8 minutes. Add the vanilla and stir until the mixture is smooth. Cool until tepid, so that a spoonful drizzled back into pan mounds slightly-can refrigerate to speed process, stir frequently. To assemble: while glaze is cooling, place a cake layer on serving plate. Spread pastry cream onto cake, spread- ing evenly up to edges. Place the second cake layer on top. Pour the glaze onto the middle of the top of the cake, using a metal spatula to completely coat the cake and let it fl ow down the cake sides. Let cake sit until glaze sets, at least 1 hour. Serve the same day. Serves 10.


of 1958, the all- American Bos- ton cream pie was being served in the American display during that famous kitchen debate be- tween Khrushchev and Nixon. Today the classic combination is an American favorite and October 23rd is designated as our national day to celebrate this treat. The recipe included is yummy. Prepare the pastry cream fi rst, than the cake, and last the glaze.


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