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By Root 4290 0

Pie: Omit steps 7 through 11, thereby omitting the whipped cream, its additives, and flavorings, as well as the cooling process for the filling. With the filling still warm, preheat the oven to 425°F. Beat 6 large room temperature egg whites and ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar in a bowl with an electric mixer at high speed until you can make soft, droopy peaks off the end of a rubber spatula, then beat in 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar in 1-tablespoon increments. Continue beating until the mixture makes stiff, firm, glossy, but still wet peaks on the tip of the spatula. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, then spoon this meringue onto the hot filling. Seal the meringue to the crust’s edges by pressing down with the rubber spatula to adhere the two together; make decorative waves in the meringue with the back of the spatula. Bake until the meringue is golden brown, about 8 minutes. Cool completely at room temperature; don’t refrigerate until cooled because the meringue will shrink.

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Cold Cream, Room Temperature Egg Whites

Whipped cream is actually a foam glued together with fat. If the cream is cold—as well as the beaters and the bowl—it aids those fat molecules in sticking close together. Remember your high school science lessons? The warmer something is, the farther apart its molecules are. So use cream right out of the refrigerator; if you’ve just brought it home from the market, chill it a couple of hours so it will whip thicker and more smoothly. Also chill the bowl and beaters in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

By contrast, the highest meringues start with room temperature egg whites, bowls, and beaters. A meringue is a foam held with a lattice of protein chains from the egg whites. These chains need to be elongated to form the structure—thus, the egg whites should be at room temperature so the chains aren’t knotted up.

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Butterscotch Cream Pie

Traditionally, a butterscotch cream pie is simply a vanilla cream pie made with brown sugar. That method doesn’t capture the taste of butterscotch, so we developed this one, a derivative of the candy-making process. Makes one 9-inch pie

2 cups regular or low-fat milk (do not use fat-free)

¼ cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 large egg yolks, at room temperature

½ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 cups heavy cream

1 recipe Short Crust or Butter Crust, lined into a 9-inch pie plate and prebaked (for instructions on prebaking,)

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

1 ounce praline candy, peanut brittle, or almond brittle, crushed to a powder in a mortar with a pestle or in a food processor

Whisk the milk, cornstarch, and flour in a medium bowl until smooth, until no lumps of undissolved flour are visible. Also whisk the egg yolks and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Set both aside.

Place the butter and brown sugar in a large saucepan and set it over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly. Simmer for 3 minutes, then whisk in ½ cup cream (the mixture will roil up); whisk constantly and quickly until smooth and creamy. Remove the pan from the heat.

Slowly whisk in the milk mixture. Set the pan over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and barely bubbling, about 1 minute.

Slowly whisk about half this milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks, then whisk the combined mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk mixture. Return the pan to low heat (if you’re using an electric stove, place the pan over a second unused burner) and whisk constantly until slightly thickened, about 30 seconds.

Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the prebaked pie crust. Gently press a piece of plastic wrap onto the filling and refrigerate until chilled, about 4 hours or overnight.

Place a large bowl and the beater(s) or whisk attachment from your electric mixer in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

Remove the bowl and beater(s) from the freezer. Add the remaining 1½ cups cream to the bowl and beat with the electric mixer at