This recipe, from mom’s Tampa Sewing Class, is a pretty simple to toss together and tasty dessert. Except for the fact that it comes out in pieces.
Of course, that could’ve been due to the fact that – oops! – I forgot to add the baking powder when I folded the cracker crumbs and walnuts into the stiffly beaten egg whites. No matter, the pie turned out nice, kind of like a pecan pie, but mebbe less sweet. It does need the topping, tho’, so don’t skimp on it.
INGREDIENTS
•4 egg whites, beaten stiff*
•1 tsp vanilla
•1 cup sugar
•Pinch of salt
•3/4 cup crushed Ritz crackers
•3/4 cup chopped walnuts
•1 tsp baking powder
•Whipped cream (or topping)
*My mixing bowl is stainless steel, and the research I did about beating egg whites suggested adding 1/8 teaspoon of acid – lemon juice, vinegar, cream of tartar – per egg white to fluff up and stabilize them once whipped. Worked for me.
Heat oven to 325º and apply cooking spray to a nine inch pie or tart pan.
Beat the eggs (and acid, if you’re using it) until stiff, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, and pinch of salt.
Fold in the cracker crumbs, nuts, and baking powder, then turn the mixture into your baking dish of choice.
Bake for 30 minutes – I checked for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center – then remove and cool on a rack.
The recipe suggested that the center will sink on cooling, and when it does, to fill the divot with whipped cream and chill for four hours; mine stayed pretty even – mebbe because I forgot to add the baking powder? – so I just left it as it was and then added whipped topping to each, ermmm, slice.
Yeh.
So, again, my pie looks fine and tastes fine, but came out of the tart pan looking like a kindofa crumble thing-y.
No matter, I liked it, Joe and his son, the nice folk who installed my wicked cool new stained glass window, liked it, and Rich is gonna like it, when he finally tries a bit.
Next time, tho’, I’m gonna remember the baking powder, and mebbe I’ll try pecans or hazel nuts in place of the walnuts.