Pennsylvania Dutch recipes are often associated with bygone days when grandmothers made after-church, family Sunday dinners. Most of those cooks knew the recipes by memory, and they typically made dishes that called for ingredients they had in the cupboard. While those dishes didn’t call for exotic ingredients, they were always rich and flavorful!
A prime example is the following recipe for Pennsylvania Dutch Custard-Cheese Pie, which was a mainstay at many of those Sunday dinners. But, you don’t have to be a grandmother to make it.
This dessert is a combination of two favorite pies: cheese and custard. It is light and fluffy and not overly sweet.
If you want to dress it up a little, drizzle a few tablespoons of caramel ice cream topping over each serving. In the unlikely event you end up with some leftover pie, it tastes even better the next day.
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH CUSTARD-CHEESE PIE
(Makes 2 pies)
1 (16-ounce) carton small-curd cottage cheese
1 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 egg yolks
1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups milk
3 egg whites
2 (9-inch) pie shells
Place cottage cheese in a strainer and let drain about 1 hour or until most liquid has been drained. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, sugar, flour, lemon juice, salt, nutmeg, egg yolks, evaporated milk and regular milk.
In a separate clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Carefully and lightly fold the whites into batter until smooth. Divide evenly and pour into crusts.
Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees and then reduce oven to 350 degrees and bake an additional 25 minutes or until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool on racks; then refrigerate until ready to serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
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