Peanut Butter Chiffon Pie with Mesquite Crust and a Prickly Pear Jelly Glaze
Mesquite and prickly pear add a decidedly Texas twist to this traditional Deep South peanut country pie.
PIE CRUST
1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup mesquite flour (I like the mesquite flour from Cappadona Ranch in South Texas; cappadonaranch.com)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, diced and chilled in the freezer for 20 minutes
PEANUT BUTTER FILLING
¼ cup cold water
1 packet Knox unflavored gelatin
3 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
2⁄3 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup smooth peanut butter (just peanuts and salt; no additives)
1 teaspoon pure Mexican vanilla
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
GLAZE
10 ounces prickly pear jelly (find the recipe in my book, “The Field to Table Cookbook,” or order from Meier Ranch Foods in Fredericksburg; meierranchfoods.com)
Instructions:
Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Double-sift flours and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Cut in butter very quickly with pastry cutter or two forks until all butter chunks are pea-sized or smaller; add just enough ice water to make a firm dough. Press into a flat disk and chill for at least an hour or up to overnight. Roll out pie crust on a lightly floured surface and place in pan, then return to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Gently line the pie crust with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the pie dough is firm and just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove pie crust from oven and lift out foil and pie weights. Return pie crust to oven, reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake another 15-18 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Prepare the peanut butter filling: In a small bowl, whisk together the water and gelatin. Let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, milk and sea salt. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until custard thickens and begins to bubble. Remove from heat; add gelatin mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved and mixture is smooth. Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold about one-third of the whipped cream into the peanut butter custard. Gently fold in the remaining whipped cream until just a few streaks of white remain. Gently spoon filling into cooled pie crust. Chill at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
Glaze the pie: Melt jelly over medium-low heat just until it liquifies. Remove from heat and let it cool a bit — you want the temperature to come down but the jelly to still be pourable. Pour it all at once over the chilled pie, making sure it seals to the crust all the way around.
Store in a pie keeper in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Makes 1 pie