HOME COOKING

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30269, 23 October 1963, Page 3

HOME COOKING

RECIPES and KITCHENCRAFT

Coconut Meringue Pie Hot Or Cold

[By ELIZABETH] Quite the most delectable sweet of the week is this Coconut Meringue Pic. A spicy coconut meringue tops apple slices in a puff pastry’ shell to make a sweet which is fascinating to look at and delicious either hot or cold.

When cold it cuts neatly to show the applies jellied between their layers of pastry and meringue. Make sure they are cooked before the pie leaves the oven by running a metal skewer in.

Ingredients: 41b puff pastry 3 large cooking apples 2 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon cornfloiir The Topping: 2 egg whites Pinch of salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 4 tablespoons sugar 4 cup coconut. Method: Roll pastry thin, In a circle large enough to fit a large deep pie plate easily, and overlap the edge by an inch. Turn the edge under and crimp along to make a scalloped edge. Peel, core and quarter three large apples. Cut each quarter thinly into segments and toss the segment* in a mixture of two tablespoons sugar and one of cornflour. Pile into the lined plate. Whisk 2 egg whites with a pmch of salt until stiff, then whisk in 4 tablespoons sugar. When stiff, whisk in cinnamon and fold in coconut. Rough out to completely cover the apple right out to the pastry. Swirl into peaks with a knife. Bake at 400 degrees about 45 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and browned and the apples tender when tested. ¥ ¥ ¥ RHUBARB BUTTERSCOTCH PIE Ingredients: Boz shortcrust pastry lib rhubarb 2oz sugar 4oz brown sugar 3oz flour 2 eggs 3 tablespoons thick cream Icing sugar Cream or custard Method: Line a deep pie plate with pastry and decorate the edge as in the picture on this page. Cut the rhubarb in small pieces, arrange over the pastry, and sprinkle with sugar. Comb.ne the brown sugar, flour, beaten eggs and cream, and pour over the rhubarb. Bake in a hot oven <450 degrees F„ mark 8' for 10 minutes, reduce the heat to moderate <350 degrees F.. mark 4) and cook for a further 30 minutes. Dredge with icing sugar, and serve with cream or custard. Apples and other tart fruits ean also be used. From “Good Housekeeping.”

Apple Conde Rice and stewed apples has a dreary schooldays ring, but make an Apple Conde from the same ingredients and you have the wreck’s most delicious and lovely-to-look-at pudding. A cold creamy rice base has a topping of apple segments under a rosy’ glaze. It is very quick and simple to make and the quantities given here will serve four easily. Ingredients: 2 large cooking apples i cup wa'er i cup sugar The Base: 3 tablespoons rice 1 cup milk 1 cup water 2 tablespoons sugar 1 egg 1 tablespoon cream Pinch salt The Glaze: 2 good tablespoons grape. or any deep red jelly jelly 1 dessertspoon arrowroot Method: Peel apples and cut into quarter segments, then into eighths. Heat water and sugar until boiling, add the apples and cook gently until tender but whole. Lift out and cool, leaving the syrup. Place rice, t cup water, 1 cup milk, a pinch of salt in a saucepan and cook until tender and creamy. Whisk 1 egg with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a few drops vanilla. Stir into the . rice and cook for one minute. Add a tablespoon of cream. Turn into a serving bowl and allow to become cold. Arrange the apple segments round the top. To 4 cup of the apple juice add 2 good tablespoons of grape jelly (or apple jelly and a little red colouring). Mix arrowroot with cold water and stir in. Cook until clear. If apple jelly is used, add a little lemon juice. Allow to become cold, then spoon the glaze over the top of the pudding and chill until required. Decorate with whipped cream if desired for this is a sweet which will step from the “everyday” to the “occasion” class quite easily.

Banana Souffles If you have bananas in the house you can make a host of quick sweets, either hot or cold, without ever repeating yourself. If you Eke your bananas cooked, here are two “quick-and-easies” to remember on a busy day. Banaina and Apple Souffles make a delightful and usual dish, and Baked Nutty Bananas are delicious, too. Ingredients: 4 cooking apples 4 bananas 2 tablespoons sugar loz butter 1 egg A little icing sugar. Method: Peel half an inch from the top of apples and scoop out cores and most of the pulp leaving a hollow shell. Place on a lightly buttered ovenware dish and bake until almost cooked but still firm. Mash bananas and place in a small saucepan with loz butter and 2 tabespoons of sugar and simmer until blended. Beat smooth, then beat in one egg yolk and allow to cool. Whisk egg white with a small pinch of salt and when stiff, fold through the banana mixture and pile into the apple shells. Dust with icing sugar and place in the oven at 400 degrees and bake until puffed and browned. BAKED NUTTY BANANAS Ingredients: 4 bananas *4 a lemon loz butter 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts. Method: Butter an ovenware dish and lay the bananas in it. Squeeze the lemon juice over them, then sprinkle with brown sugar. Shred the butter into small pieces over them, then sprinkle with chopped walnuts.' Bake at 400 degrees about 20 minutes.

Grapefruit Meringues Make the most of grapefruit while they are in season by serving them for a sweet as well as merely an appetiser or queen of the breakfast table. Here sherried grapefruit is baked in the half shell with a meringue topping to make a deliciously tangy sweet Be sure to catch the juice according to the instructions and you'll have your opening number for dinner as well as the svyeet. Ingredients: 4 whole grapefruit 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon sherry 2 egg whites Pinch salt 4 tablespoons sugar Method: Place a sieve over a jug. Cut all the grapefruit in half, cut round the flesh close inside the shell, then with a sharp knife cut each section out into the sieve, catching excess juice in the jug. Select the best four halfshells and remove the membrane. leaving the shells clear. Squeeze all remaining juice from remaining shells and discard. Turn the well-drained grapefruit segments into a bowl and sprinkle with two tablespoons of brown sugar and one of dry' sherry. Stand for a few minutes, then divide out between the four prepared shells. Stand in a baking dish. Whisk 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt until very stiff, then whisk in four tablespoons of sugar, a little at a time. Cover the fruit in the shells right out to the edges, with the meringue roughing it up to peaks. Sprinkle with a little additional sugar and bake at 350 degrees until the meringue is crisped and lightly browned; about twenty minutes. (Add sugar and a little water to the remaining grapefruit juice, or combine with peach, pineapple or any other fruit syrup to serve as an appetiser.)

Peach Cheesecake A baked shortcrust shell is filled with a sweet cream cheese filling and topped with glazed peaches in this delicious and decorative new sweet. Cream cheese has a wonderful flavour and makes a host of attractive sweets, so make this one for the week-end and add a new string to your bow. Ingredients: 2oz butter 2oz lard t teaspoon salt Boz flour 3 tablespoons cold water (approx.) 2 packets cream cheese (8oz) 2 tablespoons sugar 1 16oz tin peaches 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 teaspoons arrowroot Orange colouring 1 walnut half 3 glace cherries Method: Rub lard and butter into flour sifted with salt. Cut in just sufficient cold water to bind and roll out thinly. Cover a large pie plate, overlapping the edge by an inch. Turn under and crimp along to a serrated edge. Prick the bottom and bake blind until pale golden and cooked. Allow to become quite cold. Cream the cream cheese with two level tablespoons of sugar until well blended, then spread out into the bottom of the shell. Drain the peaches (either halves or sliced will do). Leave draining in a sieve. Heat the juice with lemon juice and a little orange colouring and thicken with arrowroot, cooking until clear. On the centre of the cream cheese place one walnut half with small pieces of glace cherry round. Arrange the well drained peaches in pattern round. Place a lid on the glaze until it is quite cold, then strain through a sieve over the peaches. Stand in a cool place until required.

Date Pineapple Custard Flan It is a short ent to the week’s catering if yon make two pies while making one. for most pies will store away in the refrigerator until required, to be eaten cold or reheated at will. This is a quick and easy one to make and with a delightfully new flavour, too. Dates and pineapple team up to make it. Cold, it makes a change in the school lunch boxes or travels to a picnic for it sets quite firmly. Ingredients: ilb puff pastry 6oz dates 1 small (8oz) tin pineapple pieces 2 eggs 1 cup milk 2 tablespoons sugar Nutmeg Method: Roll pastry thinly to fit two inches over a sponge sandwich tin. Line the tin, turn the edge under as far as the rim of the tin and crimp along to make an overhanging serrated edge. Cut stoned dates into halves and place in the bottom of the tin. Drain the fruit from the juice of the pineapple and place the fruit over the dates, reserving' the juice to cook with another dish. Whisk 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a small pinch of salt. Whisk in one cup of milk and pour the custard into the prepared shell. Dust the top well with nutmeg. Bake in a moderately hot oven until the pastry edge is puffed and browned and the custard set. Use hot or cold.

CARAMELA PUDDING Ingredients (for six servings): IJoz banana custard powder 1J pints milk 2oz granulated sugar 2 bananas For the Caramel: 2oz granulated sugar 4 tablespoons water. Method: Mix the custard powder to a paste with a little milk. Heat the rest of the milk and the sugar to boiling point, pour on the paste, return the mixture to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until think. To make the caramel, place the sugar and water in a heavybased pan over a low heat and stir till the sugar caramelises (i.e., turns golden-brown). Add this caramel to the milk mixture and heat till it dissolves. Pour into a dish and leave until cold Just before serving, top with the sliced banana (or with other fruit, as available). From “Good Housekeeping.”