Betty from Allouez, WI (2018 Week 5: Pies)

Baker

Betty

Location

Allouez, WI

Baking Challenge

Hand-raised Pie and American Pie

Give your pie a name based on the ingredients and decoration.

Leicestershire Pork-Pie and Gooseberry Custard Pie (Supper and Dessert)

Tell us about your proudest moment – or humble failure – in this week’s baking challenge.

My proudest moment was it all coming together in time for supper (twice). The first baking day was to make the hand-raised pies. I chose an 1870’s recipe called “Raised Leicestershire Pork-Pie.” It included the hot-water paste crust using part lard and part butter. I chose meaty pork neck bones to cut the meat from and to boil the bones for the jelly. The most fearful moment was at the time of forming and filling pies which took a few retries before settling with the right make-do glass jar dolly. The meat was chopped to the size of a”cob-nut” (hazelnut). Instead of using only meat – as with traditional English Pork-Pies -I added chopped parsnips, pearl onions and chopped celery to mine. The herbs called for in the recipe were sage and thyme. In the event these didn't turn out, I had some fresh-picked gooseberries on hand as a back-up to make an American pie instead. So, for the second day of baking, with one of my two hand-raised pies eaten the night before, I decided to go ahead and use the gooseberries in a pie for dessert. I created this pie in a tart pan (like the Brits did). It has a puff pastry crust, vanilla custard/gelatin filling and topped with fresh gooseberries in a pineapple lemon glaze. The only part that was baked was the crust. This creation used various recipes for guidance on each part; the custard/gelatin came from an historic Charlotte Russe recipe. The geese parading around the pie were made of extra pie crust dough.

Describe how you added a Wisconsin twist to your creation.

I used Allouez, Wisconsin-grown Gooseberries. The eggs in the custard were collected by me from some Wisconsin Silver Wyandotte chickens, also here in Allouez. All other ingredients were bought at a local grocery so I can’t vouch for their origin. While baking, I thought about my English ancestors settling on their American farms, possibly using the neck bones of one of their summer-raised pigs in soup and hand-raised pork pies like I did this weekend. It was a delicious soup and pies supper.

How did you do?

Pleasantly satisfied.