Desserts from the south?!
Desserts from the south?
This weekend I'll be contributing a southern style fried chicken for my family's reunion dinner. Since I'll be making a southern themed menu, any good desserts (from the south) to go with?
Answers: My favorite is my paternal grandmother's Banana Pudding. This recipe is identical to hers except she used about 1/2 C cream and 3 1/2 C milk straight from the cow. I use 1 C heavy cream and 3 C milk straight from the dairy case.
Banana Pudding
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 eggs, separated
8 bananas
5 Tbsp. flour
4 cups milk or 1 cup whipping cream, 3 cups milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 box vanilla wafers
Slice bananas into 1/4 inch thick slices. Take a 9 1/2 X 13 1/2 X 2 baking dish and coat the bottom and sides with wafers then a layer of banana slices, alternating layers until just below the top, then set aside. Combine sugar, flour, salt, stir in milk. Cook over boiling water or in a thick pot over med. heat until it begins to thicken. Stir beaten egg yokes into hot mixture and cook 7 mins. more. Remove from heat and add vanilla then pour over bananas and wafers. Top with a meringue made with the egg whites (see below) and brown in a hot oven, 425. Serve warm or chilled.
Meringue
6 egg whites
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cream-of-tartar
Egg whites need to warm to room temperature. Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl, add salt and vanilla. Beat on high until they just begin to thicken. Then begin adding the sugar, a little at a time (beating well between additions). Continue beating until stiff peaks are formed. Test by pulling out the beaters and turn over, peaks should not curl over. Spread all over pudding, make sure it touches the edges to prevent shrinking. Take the back of a spoon and pull up points to make attractive. Toast the meringue uder a broiler or with a butane torch if you like. (Note. Grandad used his blow torch for this because he liked his meringue toasted - Granny would just shake her head and chuckle when he'd bring in his roarin' torch).
My maternal grandmother made Apple Stack Cake often. And Lane Cake was always a treat on Arbor Day - there were always several of them. I don't have family recipes for these but here's a link for them:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/cakerec...
Of couse any family gathering is incomplete w/o pecan pie. Here is a link for one that is very good. It's how I make them. Make sure you use cane syrup rather than dark corn syrup. If your local supermarket doesn't have it try a healthfood store, they usually carry it.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1737,146... Source(s):
A displaced Alabamian. How about sweet potato pie? Yummy!
Or try this USA deep south website: http://usadeepsouth.ms11.net/downhome.ht...
I reccommend a nice Caramel Apple Betty Southern Pound Cake
2 cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup Crisco
5 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour a tube pan.
Cream sugar and Crisco well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each egg.
Alternately add flour, milk and vanilla, beating after each addition.
Pour into greased and floured tube pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then invert onto cooling rack She can visit Paula Dean's website on foodnetwork.com and search there.
May I suggest the Gooey Butter Cake?
Her recipes originate from the South and are foolproof and turn out perfect every time. They are easy and do not call for a mile of ingredients. Peach cobbler would be yummy. Here is my family recipe handed down form daughter to daughter for years.
1 large can good quality sliced peaches ( drained, reserve one cup of the syrup.
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 stick margarine; melted
1 teaspoon vanilla Pecan Pie or Banana Pudding are pretty popular