Pie Golly, it's Pieathalon VI!!

Pie golly (see what I did there?), I’m once again humbled and honored to be a part of the SIXTH annual Pieathalon, where eminent food bloggers whom I’m barely worthy enough to be counted among swap pie recipes with each other.  This year I was assigned the submission of the Crust Queen herself, Yinzerella of Dinner IsServed 1972 fame.

The recipe, for “A Whipped-Cream-Topped Macaroon Pie”, comes from McCall’s Cooking School (1985), which promises “Step-by-Step Directions for Mistake-Proof Recipes”.  Good, because I 

a) hate making pies, and, 

b) am an idiot.  

It helped that there was no baking involved, only a little separating of eggs and stirring up stuff, which I can generally handle. And one of the ingredients is Knox Gelatin, well within my wheelhouse!

Here is the recipe, in case the pictures below are hard to make out:

Crumb Crust:

2 cups fine almond-macaroon crumbs

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

½ cup butter or margarine, melted

Filling:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup unsifted all-purpose flour

Dash salt

2 egg yolks

1 Cup milk

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons dry sherry wine

1 cup course almond-macaroon crumbs

1 cup heavy cream

4 egg whites

Whipped-cream topping

1 cup heavy cream

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

½ cup toasted slivered almonds

Now, let’s go over my challenges, which I will bring up and complain about as often as possible, to whomever will listen.

1)     I live in rural West Virginia, there is not an almond macaroon to be found. MAYBE I could have found some Manischewitz brand had it been Passover, but even that’s not a guarantee.  So I substituted Amaretto D’Italia cookies.  Which might be the same thing?

2)     Similarly, “Dry Sherry Wine” is a hard find in a town that rolls up at 9 pm.  I used Barefoot Pinot Grigio which seemed a reasonable enough swap as the advertised notes of lemon and apple would seem to lend themselves to the spirit of the recipe.

3)     I’m SUPER lazy, and a procrastinator, and as of this writing have yet to make the whipped-cream topping.  I predict that I will buy a can of Cool Whip on the way home and use that instead.  (prediction: FULFILLED!)

The crust was terribly easy to accomplish (nonetheless I would’ve used a pre-made one if I could’ve) and aside from swapping the necessary numbers of egg whites vs. yolks in my head before starting out, the filling wasn’t too hard to master either. 

The text indicated that I should be waiting for the filling to thicken as it heated, but mine was thick right from the get-go.  Only after I added in the egg whites and cream did it loosen up a little.

The finished product!

Now for the moment of truth – how does it taste?

Well...pretty darn good.  I was afraid the sugar added to the crust of already-sweet cookies would be overpowering, but I guess maybe the wine in the filling had a balancing effect?  I've never had sticky toffee pudding, but in my imagination that's what this pie tastes like. Only it's not sticky, it's light and lovely and creamy.  Like a Heath bar that doesn't get stuck in your teeth.  I would definitely whip this up again for company, especially since it doesn't involve baking and can be assembled the day before. (I'd suggest adding the whipped cream topping at the last minute, even if you're doing it the proper way.  Even my artificial spray-can whipped topping started melting the second I applied it.)

Be sure and check out all the other Pieathletes linked below!

Battenburgbelle's Betty Crocker Hawaiian Pie
Camilla's Flaming Peach Pie
Yinzerella's Dali Oasis Leek Pie
Greg @ Recipes 4 Rebels' Artichoke Pie
Jenny @ Silver Screen Suppers' Spaghetti Pie
The Homicidal Homemaker's Bamberry Turnovers
The Nostalgic Cook's Cheese Applesauce Pie
Kelly @ The Velveteen Lounge's Angel Pie
Surly @Vintage Recipe Card's Salmon Custard Pie
Peter @ Vincent Price Legacy's WW Cherrie Pies
Poppy at Granny Pantries' Banana Split Pie (This was my submission!)
A Book of Cookrye's Huntington Fidget Pie
Taryn at Retro Foods for Modern Times' Honey Cream Cheese Pie