Now, my Granny usually made her chocolate pie from scratch, particularly if she knew we were coming down for a visit, since Mom's favorite pie was . . . yep, chocolate. Once, while I was visiting during summer break, I asked her about a butterscotch pie and she said, "Well, we can make one. It's not much different than a chocolate one." Granny was right, as usual.
Here are the recipes for both pies . . . butterscotch and chocolate. I've labeled them as medium, due to the process of cooking the filling. Otherwise, these are as easy as pie! Enjoy!
Butterscotch Pie
3 eggs - separated
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter (not margarine)
4 Tbsp Cream
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
6 Tbsp flour (no heaping, level off)
1 - 9 inch pie crust - baked (for pudding pie)
6 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Separate eggs while cold, set whites aside to get to room temperature - they're easier to beat into meringue than when they're cold.
Cook sugar, butter and cream in a 2 quart pot over medium heat until thickened and brown in color. While sugar is cooking, beat egg yolks until light in color, then add milk and vanilla. Using a coiled wire whisk, blend egg/milk mixture with flour until smooth. Pass this through a fine mesh sieve to eliminate any lumps. Add the egg/milk mixture extremely slowly to sugar mixture so that the eggs don't cook like scrambled eggs. Cook, stirring constantly using a whisk, until thick. Cool filling (put a sheet of plastic wrap on the surface of the filling to avoid a "thick" skin layer). Once cooled, pour into prepared pie crust, and top with meringue.
Meringue
Beat room temperature egg whites until frothy. Add sugar slowly and continue beating until whites reach stiff peak stage (when you pull the beaters out and the pointed meringue does not flop over). Gently stir in vanilla. Spread over pie making sure that merigue touched the pie crust edge and bake at 325°F for 15 - 20 minutes. Meringue should be no more than lightly browned in places. Chill pie thoroughly and store in the refrigerator.
This may seem like a great deal of trouble just for pie - you won't say that once you taste it.
Chocolate Pie
3 tablespoons unsweetened Hershey cocoa powder
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 cup water, divided
2/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter (don't sub, you'll regret it if you do)
1 tsp vanilla
1 - 9 inch pie crust - baked (for pudding pie)
6 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Separate eggs while cold, set whites aside to get to room temperature - they're easier to beat into meringue than when they're cold.
Beat egg yolks with a whisk until smooth. Mix cocoa and flour in top of a double boiler over hot water and whisk in half a cup of water, until you have a smooth paste. Blend in the sugar and the beaten egg yolks and add remaining water and milk. Cook over low until the mixture is thick; add butter and vanilla.
Meringue
Beat room temperature egg whites until frothy. Add sugar slowly and continue beating until whites reach stiff peak stage (when you pull the beaters out and the pointed meringue does not flop over). Gently stir in vanilla. Spread over pie making sure that merigue touched the pie crust edge and bake at 325°F for 15 - 20 minutes. Meringue should be no more than lightly browned in places. Chill pie thoroughly and store in the refrigerator.
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