Recipes

Holiday Baking Help At Your Fingertips

Posted 12/3/2010

A new way to make an old-fashioned pie can make any baker the apple of the eyes of family and friends.

(NAPSI) - Whether you’re a new baker or an old hand, you may be happy to learn you can get instant assistance-live and via e-mail—from full-time consumer affairs professionals with over 140 years of combined baking experience. After all, the holidays are a time when a baker wants to rise to the occasion, and these holiday hotlines, offering great advice and delicious recipes for breads, cookies and pies, can help you be a baking star.

Holiday Hotlines

Hours of operation for these ACH baking brand hotlines are Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Central Time. For advice about using Karo Syrup, call (866) 430-5276 or see www.karosyrup.com/ContactUs.aspx. To learn about Argo Corn Starch and Baking Powder, call (866) 373-2300 or see www.argostarch.com/Contact Us.aspx. For Fleischmann’s Yeast, the number is (800) 777-4959 or visit www.breadworld.com/Contact.aspx.

Pie Ideas

When you’re ready to start baking, the ACH Test Kitchen can also provide easy-as-pie recipes to inspire you. Here are two for your holiday menus.

Caramel-Glazed Apple Pie uses Karo Corn Syrup to bring out the fresh flavors of apples and spices. In fact, the syrup has been an important addition in homemade pies for over a century and remains an excellent ingredient today. What’s more, Argo Corn Starch thickens the filling with satiny smoothness and glossy appearance.

Then there’s Black Forest Brownie Pecan Pie, a delicious change from ordinary pecan pie. Traditionally made with dark syrup, this recipe lets you choose either dark or light syrup to add a complex flavor and natural sweetness to the pecan filling.

Caramel-Glazed Apple Pie

Prep time: 20 minutes

Bake time: 55 to 65 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Apple Pie:

Pastry for double-crust pie

8 cups peeled and sliced cooking apples (about 4 to 6 large)

⅓ cup Karo® Dark Corn Syrup

3 tablespoons butter OR margarine, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

1½ tablespoons Argo® OR Kingsford’s® Corn Starch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Caramel Glaze:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons Karo® Dark Corn Syrup

2 tablespoons butter OR margarine, melted

1 tablespoon Argo® OR Kingsford’s® Corn Starch

Preheat oven to 375° F. Fit one pie crust into bottom of 9½-inch deep-dish pie pan. Add apples. Combine corn syrup, butter, sugar, corn starch, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Pour over apples. Top with second crust, fold edges under, seal and flute. Cut a few slits in top crust to vent. Place a shallow pan under pie to catch any drips and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until crust is browned and apples are tender. Combine all Caramel Glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Dollop over pie and carefully spread over hot crust. Bake 10 minutes or until topping is bubbly.

Black Forest Brownie

Pecan Pie

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake time: 50 minutes

Yield: 10 servings

1 cup Karo® Light or Dark Corn Syrup

½ cup sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

4 ounces semisweet baking chocolate, broken into pieces

3 tablespoons butter OR margarine

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 Keebler Ready Crust® Graham 2 Extra Servings Pie Crust

1 can (21 ounces) Comstock® or Wilderness® cherry pie filling

Whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Combine corn syrup, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and butter to syrup mixture, stirring until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes. Slowly pour chocolate mixture over eggs, stirring constantly. Add vanilla and pecans; mix well. Place pie crust on a baking sheet or pizza pan (for stability). Pour mixture into pie crust. Bake for about 50 minutes, until center of pie is slightly puffed; cool at least 1 hour. To serve, top each slice of pie with about 1/4 cup cherry pie filling and a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.