With the wedding of the decade just a few days away, more and more people are catching royal wedding fever, including pie aficionados. This year’s American Pie Council Crisco National Pie Championships added a special “Royal Wedding” category. The winner was this scrumptious engagement ring pie that was designed after Kate Middleton’s famous sapphire engagement ring. The pie consists of fresh blueberries on a crust of meringue surrounded by whip cream.
If you want to make the pie yourself, check out the recipe:
ENGAGEMENT RING PIE
For the meringue:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup vanilla wafers, crushed with rolling pin
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup dried dates, pitted and chopped
- 1 cup English walnuts, chopped
For the filling:
- 1 cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- cup cornstarch
- 2 pints fresh blueberries
For decoration:
- – Whipped cream (from can, or whip your own and squeeze through a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip)
- – “Diamond” dust (found at Michaels crafts stores)
- 14 candy “diamonds,” optional
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease pie pan.
2. Beat egg whites until fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar, then fold in wafers, baking powder, dates and walnuts.
3. Pour mixture into prepared pie pan and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. The center of the meringue may cave in slightly. This is OK.
4. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, bring the water, sugar and cornstarch to a boil until thick, like syrup. Allow to cool to room temperature. (At this point, mixture should be like a glaze.)
5. Combine the room-temperature mixture and the blueberries in a bowl and toss gently, taking care to keep berries intact. Pour the berries on top of the cooled meringue in its pie pan, leaving about a half-inch around the edge.
Finish pie edge with decorative whipped topping and a sprinkling of “diamond” dust. If you do opt to also stud the rim with candy “diamonds,” be sure to include 14 “stones” ” the same number of diamonds in Kate’s engagement ring.
[Ventura County Star]
