ReTRo HouSeWiFe

RECIPES FROM THE RETRO HOUSEWIFE

DESSERT

CZECH CHRISTMAS BUTTER PIE, Czechoslovakian

Traditionally, on the Czech table, this pie appears only once in a year -- as a dessert at the Christmas dinner. There used to be two reasons for this pie becoming a Christmas dish. First, it is delicious. Second the dough has to be chilled 3 times before it reaches the oven, and our ice-box-lacking grandmothers could chill it fast enough only while it was freezing outside. In our times, there is no reason why one should not prepare this pie at any season.

Ingredients

First Dough
• 1 cup butter (preferably unsalted)
• 2 ozs. flour
Second Dough
• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 oz. white wine
• Lukewarm water
Filling
• ½ lb. apples, grated
• ½ cup raisins
• Rind of 2 medium lemons
• ½ cup almonds, chopped and peeled
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• Powdered sugar

Preparation Instructions

First Dough Mix both ingredients and put the resulting mass in the refrigerator, close to the freezing compartment.

Second Dough Mix flour, egg yolk and wine together, adding water to obtain rather solid, not too soft dough. Work this dough until you see air blisters forming on its surface. Divide this dough into two equal parts, rolling each into a square. Now take the chilled bitter dough from the refrigerator and roll it into a square of similar size. Place the latter on a square of the water dough and cover it with the other water dough square. Now you have a three layer square. Roll it out to about ¼ inch thickness, fold three times each way and put in the refrigerator for an hour. After the dough has chilled, roll it again to the desired ¼ inch thickness. Fold it again and repeat twice more.

FillingMix all ingredients together. Roll the dough out for the last time to a rectangle, cover the center with the apple mixture and fold the dough over it so that the edges just barely touch, but do not overlap. Bake at 375° until the pie gets a nice pink color. Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Contributed by Mrs. Susan Midloch, 1950

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