16 stewed california dried figs
3 cup milk
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp cinnamon
1 package chocolate pudding
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup slivered toasted almonds
1/2 cup toasted whole almonds
1 9-inch baked pie shell
1 cup heavy cream, whipped, sweetened, vanil
Directions
Drain stewed figs thoroughly. Set aside several figs to garnish pie
top. Cut up remaining figs into small bits, discarding stems. In 1/2
cup of the milk, dissolve the gelatin. Place remaining milk in
saucepan with coffee, sugar, cinnamon and package of chocolate
pudding. Stir over low heat until pudding thickens and bubbles up.
Stir in the gelatin. Cool. Then add vanilla and toasted, slivered
almonds. Pour into pie shell and chill. Top with sweetened,
vanilla-flavored whipped cream. Dry the whole figs carefully and use
with toasted whole almonds to garnish pie top.
Source: 48 Family Favorites with California Figs Reprinted with the
permission of The California Fig Advisory Board Electronic format
courtesy of Karen Mintzias
Servings: 1 pie
Black Beauty Pie Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Dessert; Pie
The History of Recipes
Food historians have proved the existance of recipes far back into the distant past, at least as far back into history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and potentially, even further back. In practice though, in the main part, these ancient records were just very basic hieroglyphic recipes for meal preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe in existence, according to experts is a collection of clay tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made people feel exhilarated and blissful. During the time of the Roman Empire a roman called Apicius created a few documents describing recipes prepared by wealthy Romans. In his publication, Apicius tells us how the roman meals were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. He also recounts how the Roman chefs used a wide range of herbs and spices, including many that are still in use today for example basil, rue and dill. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years we find some recipe books published in the fourteenth century - a recipe book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these have no connection with the spicy food that is served today, but rather accounts of the types of meals on the menus of the rich and powerful of that period. In the fifteenth century, people returning from the crusades brought us many foods and spices from Arab cooking, including spices like coriander, basil and rosemary. The introduction of these new tastes prompted an explosion in manuscripts on cookery, some of which still exist in private cookery archives. Over the following few hundred years, the upper classes competed with each other to offer the most extravagent banquests, and as a consequence, the best chefs and their recipes became highly prized. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 19th century that cooking and recipe publications really came of age. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to assembling, verifying, and recording recipes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, cookbooks were in great demand, as a result of more people being able to read, people having increased spare time and disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of television gave us TV cookery programs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing us all to access thousands of recipes just like those on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Black Beauty Pie recipe.
