Maple Cream Pie

Edited to add this photo of some of the pies donated to the hall's dinner. One of mine is second from the right in the first full row. We had a good turnout, although numbers were down from pre-COVID events. And the food was just excellent; 

Tomorrow the local community hall where I work is holding a fundraising dinner. It is a popular one, or has been in pre-Covid years. We get three hundred people or more fed inside two hours plus a bit. To do this we need vast quantities of food, including sixty pies. One of our members is tasked with phoning the baking list and collecting these. My order is for three; and I have, for many years, made maple cream pies.

At present, the filling is in the shells and cooling. Tomorrow morning I will whip up the whites of nine eggs with sugar and spread the resulting meringue over the filling, shove the pies into a 400°F oven to brown it, let it cool and transport, with some care, the pies to the hall. We are asked to bring the pies into the hall in the morning; the dinner starts at 4:00 pm – that is 5:00 stomach time since we go back to Standard Time tonight.

Which reminds me that I have to reset a whole whack of clocks before I go to bed. We have two that set themselves as does, thank goodness, the clock in my car. But there is the microwave, my alarm clock, the one in the laundry room… you know the drill, I am sure.

So, given that the very thought of Maple Cream probably makes you hungry, here is the recipe for this pie. Easy, as long as you have a source of, preferably, dark maple syrup.

1. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a heavy pan
2. Stir in 1/2 cup flour
3. Add 1 1/2 cups maple syrup and 1 1/2 cups boiling water.
4. Stir until thick and add three egg yolks. Cook over low heat for five minutes. Pour into baked pie shell and cover with a meringue made from three egg whites and 3 tablespoons white sugar. Bake in 400°F oven until lightly browned.

This recipe came to me from a very good friend who was an amazing cook. It is easy and never fails. Plus, if you use a small pie plate, there is enough left over in the pan to scrape out and eat off a spoon before you wash the pan.

I will add photos to this, perhaps, after I deal with the clocks.