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Tarte au Sucre

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cup maple syrup

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 unbaked 10" single pie crust (1 bottom only)

METHOD:

Dissolve baking soda in maple syrup. Place in pie crust (first).

Mix flour, brown sugar and butter with your fingertips. Place in pie crust (last).

Bake at 350*F for 30 minutes.

YIELD: 1 pie.

SERVING:

Serve plain, "a la mode" (with ice cream - vanilla), or with not-too-sweet whipped cream.

NOTE:

You can use half-half maple syrup and corn syrup if, well, 1 1/2 cup cup maple syrup is too expensive.

Sucre a la crème

INGREDIENTS:

250mL of 35% cream

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

a lump of butter the size of 1/2 an egg

more or less 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (the alcohol-free kind, of course)

METHOD:

Boil cream and sugars together until a spoonful dropped in a glass of icy water forms a ball.

Add butter and vanilla.

Remove from heat.

Beat with a wooden spoon until it thickens.

Spread in a greased pan big/small enough to make a ~ 2 cm

thick layer. Chill until firm. Cut into not-too-big pieces.

YIELD:

A pan of delight.

NOTES:

Beating the mixture might tire you out. You can help the thickening process by placing the pot in a sink that has some cold water at the bottom.

For baking dessert squares and the like, I learned to line my pans with foil and then oil the foil, so that I later just have to lift the foil out for cutting the food – especially with non-stick pans.

Store your sucre a la crème in the fridge.

Best Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour (usually all-purpose flour)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup solid vegetable shortening (the "blue package" kind is what I prefer, to not name any names…)

2 tablespoons ICY water

1 egg

1 tablespoon white vinegar

METHOD:

Combine flour and salt

Add solid shortening, "cutting it in" with a pastry knife or 2 knives in a criss-cross manner.

Stir icy water, egg and vinegar together in a separate glass/bowl, then mix into the flour mixture until all is moistened (it will happen, just keep stirring).

Make 2 balls with the mixture, to be rolled out one at a time.

Rolling the dough (the less you handle the dough, the flakier it will be, insha Allah!):

Place 1 large square piece of wax paper on counter. Dust it lightly with flour.

Place 1 ball of dough in center, and another square of wax paper on top.

Flatten the ball by pressing down on the top sheet of paper with your hand.

Roll out the dough (with a rolling pin or - if you don't have a pin yet – a bottle) into a circle, so that it will fit your pie plate and still drag over its edges.

Carefully remove the top sheet of wax paper and invert the circle into the pie plate.

Carefully adjust its position.

Carefully remove the bottom (now on top) sheet of wax paper.

If all these "carefully"s were not sufficient, patch up any tears.

Follow your pie recipe from here.

YIELD: 1 double pie crust (1 bottom + 1 lid or 2 bottoms)

NOTE:

When using the second ball as a lid, cut some short slits into the lid, to allow steam to escape.

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