Ritz Cracker Pie

 

I have always been a huge fan of salty and sweet combinations. Chocolate covered potato chips?  Yes I do!  Chocolate dipped Pretzels?  Count me in!  Sweet and salty anything and I am all over it. That combination is truly is a weakness of mine

 

I saw this recipe the other day on Pinterest.  The recipe comes from Tastemade UK.  I have adapted it to North American Ingredients so my North American friends and family can enjoy it as well.

 

It might well be one of the ugliest pies you have ever seen . . . if not THE ugliest!

 

Even a coat of icing sugar doesn't pretty it up . . .

 

There are not too many cakes and sweet bakes that don't look better with a dusting of icing sugar. This is the exception. It is still downright ugly.

 

But boy oh boy, what it lacks in looks it  more than makes up for in taste!

 

The crust is a mix of crushed ritz crackers, dessicated coconut, melted butter and demerara sugar.  I believe that is the same as Turbinado sugar in the US.  Its like a granulated brown sugar, or granulated coffee sugar.

 

You press that into the bottom of a spring form pan  . . .  and then make the filling.

 

The filling is a rich caramel custard . . .  you create it by melting butter together with heavy cream, two kinds of sugar, eggs and some dry milk powder.  I am not sure what the purpose of the dry milk powder is . . .

 

You melt the butter, cream and sugars together and then temper the beaten eggs with some of that.  That helps to prevent you from ending up with scrambled eggs. 

 

By tempering I mean you whisk some of the hot mixture into the beaten egg,  slowly,  a bit at a time, which slowly brings up the temperature of the eggs without cooking them. That way you can add them into the whole mixture with no problems.

 

You still should strain the  mixture as there are bound to be a few eggy bits that escape no matter what, and straining makes sure they don't end up in your pie. 

  

You lay out another quantity of crackers in your pie. I overlapped them, but in hindsight I wouldn't do that again. I would lay them out in a single layer, even if it meant not using all of them.

 

The whole crackers are very difficult to cut through when you go to serve the pie and you know what? This is a pretty ugly pie anyways, so why not just crumble them into coarse crumbles.  That would solve the whole cutting problem.

  

Todd enjoyed a slice of this still slightly warm with a dollop of clotted cream on top.  He said it was very nice  . . .  but you know, I had to taste it myself just to be sure.  And I would say it is more than very nice. Its dangerous.

Yield: makes 1 (9-inch) pie

Author: Marie Rayner

Ritz Cracker Pie

If you are a fan of salty and sweet, you will quite simply love this pie. Its not very pretty but it more than makes up for that in taste!

ingredients:

For the crust:

• 125g ritz crackers (4 1/2 ounces)
• 75g melted butter (1/3 cup)
• 75g demerara sugar (6 1/2 TBS, turbinado)
• 50g dessicated coconut (2/3 cup)

For the filling:

• 150g butter (2/3 cup)
• 150ml double cream (2/3 cup)
• 150g soft light brown sugar (3/4 cup)
• 150g demerara sugar (3/4 cup turbinado)
• 2 TBS dry milk powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 large free range eggs

You will also need:

• a further 125g of ritz crackers, approximately (4 1/2 ounces)

instructions:

How to cook Ritz Cracker Pie

1. Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter and then baseline a 9 inch spring form pan. Butter the sides really well also. Set aside.
2. Place the crackers for the crust in a food processor and blitz until fine. Add the melted butter, sugar and coconut. Blitz again to combine. Press into the bottom of the spring form pan.
3. Place the butter, cream, sugars and milk powder into a saucepan. Cook, stirring, over moderate heat until the mixture comes to a boil and everything is well mixed together. Let cool slightly. Beat the eggs together and then temper them with a bit of the caramel mixture. Whisk this mixture back into the caramel, then pour the whole thing through a sieve, discarding any solids and set aside.
4. Arrange the remaining crackers in the crust in a decorative manner. Pour the caramel custard over top and place the pan on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting. Yummo!

Created using The Recipes Generator

 

This is not for anyone who is on a diet, or trying to avoid sugar or fat. Its loaded with all of that and salt too from the crackers. That makes this a once in a blue moon, if not lifetime, treat! 

Up Tomorrow:  Perfect Pot Roast for Two