Walter's Pie

 

WALTER’s PIE

¼ cup butter

32 reduced fat butter crackers

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. cardamom

1 5.1 oz. box vanilla instant pudding

1¾ cup skim milk

¼ cup fat free sour cream

 

Preheat oven 375º.

 

Place mixing bowl (preferably metal) in freezer.

 

Crush the crackers in food processor or other crushing gadget. Combine with sugar and cardamom and mix well. Melt the butter and pour over mixture. Press into pie plate up the sides making a crust. Bake in 375º oven for 10-15 minutes, (until golden).

 

In frozen bowl, combine milk, sour cream and pudding mix and blend well.  Pour into cooled cracker crust. Let set up for about 2 hours. Serve with chocolate syrup, or if you’re going for healthy, fresh strawberries and blueberries.

 

*Walter was the name of a stuffed dog toy I had when I was a little girl. 

(I'm working on a new cookbook and I love how AI takes my picture and recipe and turns it into a cool looking recipe card).

Irish Bread Pudding

Happy Saint ♣ Patrick's Day

My Grandmother Averill was born 87 years ago today, (may she rest in peace) — does that make me Irish?  (ha ha)!  We always make a loaf of bread to go with Sat-day "beans, bath and tail" and one thing we found is once you have bread fresh out of the oven with the butter melting down your hands as you eat it, it just doesn’t taste the same cold or even heated up the next day. I kept finding these few pieces of bread accumulating in the refrigerator so I decided bread pudding was a good way to use up the leftover pieces.

And what better day than to have some good old fashion Irish Bread Pudding for dessert after a meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage?  (OK, so it's not really a traditional Irish recipe, I just made that up.)

8 slices day old bread (lightly toasted)
½ cup raisins
½ cup Bailey’s Irish Cream (use brandy you like)
¼ cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
3 eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups milk, *scalded & cooled

Cover raisins with Bailey’s Irish Cream; set aside for a few hours.

Preheat oven 325°

Spread 1½ tsp butter on each slice of bread and cut into 1 inch cubes; set aside. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and all spice; reserve 3 Tbsp for later use. Toss bread crumbs with mixture. Place ½ bread mixture in lightly greased 1½ Qt casserole baking dish.

Drain raisins (drink up); place ½ raisins over bread. Repeat layers. Combine eggs, salt and vanilla in mixing bowl, beat med speed for 1 min, gradually adding scalded milk. Pour over casserole and let stand 5 min.

Sprinkle with reserved 3 tbsp spice mixture. Bake 325° for 45-50 min. Serve warm with vanilla Sauce.

• Scalding milk is bringing just below the boiling point.

Irish Vanilla Sauce

½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar firmly packed
½ cup whipping cream
¼ cup Bailey's Irish Cream
½ cup butter
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients except the vanilla and the Bailey's in 1 qt saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens and comes to a full boil (5-8 min). Stir in vanilla and Irish Cream. Serve over warm pudding; store surplus in refrigerator.

© Crackerberries 2011