Recipe - Macadamia Bavarian Cream Pie

Stephen Ceideburg
One fourth teaspoon Baking soda
Three fourths cup Coarsely chopped unsalted
macadamia nuts
One fourth cup Water
One half cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Butter
FILLING:
One half teaspoon Gelatin
1 tablespoon Dark rum
1 cup Milk
6 tablespoon Sugar, divided
3 Eggs, separated
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
2 tablespoon Butter
Three fourths cup Coarsely chopped macadamia
nut brittle
Three fourths cup Heavy cream
1 teaspoon Vanilla
One 9inch baked pie shell
TOPPING:
One half cup Heavy cream
NUT BRITTLE:
Unflavored vegetable oil

This pie has a crisp, golden crust and a delicious creamy filling dotted
with nut brittle. It's a perfect ending to a simple meal.

Macadamia brittle: Spread a thin film of vegetable oil on a baking sheet.
Sprinkle baking soda over nuts in a small bowl.

Combine water and sugar in a 1 One half quart heavybottomed saucepan and place
over low heat; swirl to moisten the sugar. Heat until the sugar dissolves.
Add the butter, raise heat to medium, and boil the mixture until it
registers 280 degrees F. on a candy thermometer, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove from heat, immediately add nuts, and stir briefly just to combine.
(Too much stirring will deflate the brittle.) The mixture will foam. Pour
onto the oiled baking sheet. Set aside to cool and harden.

When completely cool, store in an airtight metal container for up to 1
month at room temperature. Makes 1 cup.

Filling: Sprinkle gelatin over rum to soften. Combine the milk with 2
tablespoons of the sugar in a 1 One half quart saucepan. Set over medium heat
and bring to a boil. Whisk the egg yolks with 2 tablespoons sugar and the
cornstarch in a small bowl. When the milk boils, remove from heat, and pour
about half into the yolk mixture, whisking to mix completely. Pour this
mixture into the milk, return to medium heat and cook, whisking constantly
as mixture begins to thicken. Whisk until mixture is smooth and very thick;
remove from heat. Add gelatin and stir until dissolved. Add butter, and
whisk until melted.

Pour into a bowl to cool. Place plastic wrap on top of the cream to prevent
a film from forming.

When cool, chop brittle in food processor into coarse piec es, about 1
cup. Reserve One fourth cup for decoration. Whip the Three fourths cup heavy cream with
vanilla until very soft peaks form. Whip egg whites with 1 tablespoon sugar
until stiff, shiny peaks form. Fold brittle into the cream filling. Then
fold in the whites alternately with the whipped cream. Pour filling into
the cooled baked crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, or until set. Cover
with plastic wrap.

Topping: Whip cream with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until soft peaks
form, then spread over pie. Sprinkle the reserved brittle on top. PER
SERVING: 460 calories, 6 g protein, 33 g carbohydrate, 34 g fat (15 g
saturated), 145 mg cholesterol, 245 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.

From an article by Flo Braker in the San Francisco Chronicle, 6/12/91.

Posted by Stephen Ceideburg

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini