Pie of the Month

Monday 19th November

First, kudos to Clauds for excellent management of the pie agenda, thus making sure that we’ve hit our monthly pie goal in an unprecedented two consecutive months.

The latest pie comes from this year’s American import, Mark, who successfully cleared the hurdles of overseas baking–or rather, who successfully convinced his wife to do so.  As has been the tradition since the pie blog was in its infancy, we had planned to align pumpkin pie with the week of American Thanksgiving.  We are somewhat disappointed to report a bait-and-switch: without warning, the pumpkin has been brazenly swapped out in favour of a completely different filling.  All is not lost, however, as this one was perhaps more widely appreciated in its pre-lunch time slot.  Or maybe it’s just that our British stoicism desensitises us to the random acts of disappointment of which Americans have proven capable these last 400 years.

And now, on to the pie.  We’ve never understood why cheesecake warrants the name ‘cake’ when it so much more closely resembles a custard pie.  Conveniently, Wikipedia agrees with us.  So with no further ado, below is the recipe, submitted with the cheeky comment, ”These are in American measurements… make them figure it out!”  Time for more of that stoicism, methinks.

Cheesecake

3/4 C sugar
16oz cream cheese, softened
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
pie crust - ideally Graham cracker, but all we could find is flaky sweet (not savoury!) pastry crust.
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)

Heat oven to 350F.  Beat cream cheese, add beaten eggs, add sugar, add vanilla.   Pour in pie shell and bake for 30 minutes until the filling sets.  Cool and refrigerate for 6 hours.  Top with fresh whipped cream.