RECIPES
A Dant Family Recipe: butterscotch Pie
Spring is so close we can almost taste it, literally! When we think about spring we think of the warm sunshine, the chirping of birds waking you in the morning, tulips and Easter lilies, and pie. Definitely pie. There’s nothing like the smell of a homemade pie, no matter the flavor, welcoming you in the door at your grandmother’s house. Speaking of the delicious, southern dessert, today is March 14th which means its National Pi Day. Pi is a constant value used in math that represents the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is just about 3.14. How do we celebrate Pi Day you may ask? With pie of course so we took to the kitchen with Amy Dant, hostess extraordinaire at The Homestead bed-and-breakfast for a Dant family favorite.
Amy is cousins to Wally, Lynne, and Charles Dant. Charles and Amy are first cousins. Their fathers had one sister, Mary Virginia Dant or as they called her “Aunt Ginny.” Aunt Ginny spoke fondly of her mother’s butterscotch pie so Amy adapted the recipe in memory of her. The original recipe came from a cookbook given to Amy’s grandmother Dant from her parents for Christmas in 1954. The title of the cookbook is The Modern Family Cook Book by Meta Given. This recipe will have you licking the spoon AND the bowl. We hope you enjoy!
Butterscotch Pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons corn starch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups scalded milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pre-baked 8-inch pie shell
Directions
Mix sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly add in the scalded milk and stir until well blended. Place over boiling water and cook, stirring frequently for 15 minutes. Beat egg yolks thoroughly then stir in a very small amount of the hot mixture to temper the eggs. Pour all the egg yolk mixture back into the double boiler while stirring and cook and stir constantly for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla and stir until mixed. Pour into the pie shell. Cool completely. Top with whipped cream (recipe follows) and serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Whipped Cream
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine ingredients and whip until it forms stiff peaks. Spread on the pie or top individual slices.
* Makes 5 – 6 serving. The egg whites can also be reserved and made into a meringue for the topping instead of the whipped cream.
