Butterscotch Pie

Old-fashioned, straightforward butterscotch pie baked over a flaky pastry crust with a whipped cream topping to satisfy the most urgent sweet tooth. Is it just me or is butterscotch outdated? Practically obsolete. I rarely see anyone baking up butterscotch-flavored goodies anymore. Pretty soon butterscotch will just be a memory from the good old days. A crying shame if you ask me because butterscotch is its own brand of unique deliciousness. Together with heavy cream and egg yolks cooked stove-top they form the filling. A close cousin to caramel. I know this may look like a run-of-the-mill "pudding" pie but it isn’t. The texture is not at all like pudding but much denser, a lot sweeter, richer and super silky. I must warn you it does have a slightly cloying quality to it. Sometimes my sweet tooth begs for that and will settle for nothing less. At times I have to feed it the richest, sweetest desserts just to get it to shut up. This did the trick. Sweet tooth silenced.
Crisis averted.

Pastry:
1¼ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
¼ tsp. sea salt
⅓ cup shortening
4-5 Tbsp. cold water

Filling:
1¼ cups dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup butter
⅓ cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 cups whipping cream
3 egg yolks
3 Tbsp. butter, diced
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Topping:
2 cups whipping cream
¼ cup confectioners' sugar
¼ tsp. pure vanilla extract

Make the Crust:
Stir together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives used scissor fashion until the mixture resembles small pebbles. Add a Tbsp. of water at a time tossing with a fork until the dough comes together. Pat into a disk and refrigerate 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C/210°C fan, Gas Mark 8).

Roll the dough out into a 12" circle on a lightly floured surface. Place in a 9" pie dish and trim so the pastry hangs ½" over the edge. Fold the extra pastry under, and crimp. Poke the crust all over with a fork.

Line the crust with a double thickness of foil and bake 8 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5-6 more minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Make the Filling:
In a medium saucepan combine ½ cup of the brown sugar and ¼ cup butter set over low heat. Stir until butter melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl stir together the remaining ¾ cup brown sugar with the flour and cornstarch. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Stir in the whipping cream a little at a time. Place the pan over medium heat and continue stirring until thick and bubbly then reduce heat to low and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Set a wire strainer over a bowl and strain the mixture pushing it through with a wooden spoon. Return the strained mixture to the saucepan.

In a small bowl lightly beat the egg yolks and gradually whisk in about 1 cup of the hot filling. Whisk the yolk mixture into the saucepan. Set over medium heat and stir constantly until it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and cook 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in the 3 Tbsp. butter and the vanilla. Pour into the cooled pie shell (if there is any stuck to the bottom of the pan DO NOT scrape it up). Place a piece of clingwrap over the surface and chill at least 2 hours.

Make the Topping:
Beat the whipping cream with an electric mixer on medium until soft peaks form then add the confectioners' and vanilla. Continue to beat the topping mixture until stiff peaks form.

Spread over the cooled pie or use a piping bag to decorate. Store in refrigerator up to 3 days.