crafty_packrat

For ellen_fremedon's wedding. Recipe is How to Make Homemade Marshmallows (sweetened with maple syrup) except that I didn't have arrowroot starch, so I dredged them in plain powdered sugar.

If you want to make your own, use a 9x9 pan and make sure you have a good candy thermometer.

Success! The pie is fantastic, the crust is flaky and light, and I think I need to get a set of pie weights, because pre-baking the crust with white beans to weigh is down only kind of worked.

I followed this recipe -- New Twice Baked Sour Cherry Pie -- though without the brandy, and it is a fantastically tasty thing. The cherries are tart and tasty, as they are the same kind of tart cherries that are made into maraschino, but without the over-sweetness from the preservation, the flavor really comes through.

I used the leaf lard I rendered myself and it worked wonderfully, even though I don't have a food processor and had to cut all the fat -- the lard and the butter -- into the crust by hand. Also, I added a bit more instant tapioca than the recipe calls for, but I really dislike runny pies. This is not a runny pie; it is a fantastic pie!

I had to mash up two recipes -- this one and this one -- and add some raisin to fill out the gooseberries, but I have acheived gooseberry pie! weee!

Tomorrow it will be an herb tart to use the other half of the pastry dough recipe.