Chapter 5: Kindness

The thing about baking is that it is not actually frightening. Above all else, you must understand that if you bring the most important ingredient, it will be a success, even if you set everything on fire. (What is that ingredient? I should think it would be obvious. Love.)

Oh—please do not set your kitchen on fire. Adult supervision may be the key here.

First, you must make your butterscotch. Homemade butterscotch is easy. It is the simplest caramel; you will not even need a candy thermometer. Do not buy butterscotch from the store. Butterscotch from the store is not made with love, it is made with plastic, and plastic belongs in the trash pile, not in your stomach.

You will need:

One cooking pot, bigger than you think you will need

Half a stick of butter, if your butter comes in sticks

Twice that amount of heavy cream and brown sugar

Salt

Vanilla

Heat the butter and brown sugar together in the cooking pot over a medium flame. Let the sugar dissolve into the butter and then pour in the cream. You will soon see why you need a big cooking pot! Stir it and keep stirring as it boils. Lower the heat. After ten minutes or so, turn off the heat, then add some salt and vanilla. Let it cool.

(Please do not get butterscotch or any caramel on your skin. I do not want any of you to be hurt.)

The butterscotch, I am afraid, is the easy part. Now we will go to the hardest part: the crust.

Crusts must be made with care. They are fragile and delicate, like a moth’s wings! But usually much less fuzzy.

You will need:

A rolling pin

Flour

Very cold butter

A pinch of salt

A very big pinch of sugar

Buttermilk, just a spoonful or two

You will also need time for cooking and cooling and chilling, but pies must be made with patience as well as love, and of course the important things in life are worth the wait, are they not?

Oh. Do not use shortening. Shortening is no better than plastic, not really. Use the best ingredients if you are going through all the trouble of making a pie.

Combine your flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces into the bowl, using a soft-bladed butter knife so you cannot hurt yourself. Then rub the flour mixture into the butter until it resembles wet sand. Then—and work quickly so that your warm hands do not melt the butter—stir in a spoonful of buttermilk, a little at a time. You should be able to form a ball of dough in your bowl, but it should not be wet.

Wrap your ball of dough in waxed paper and then chill it. If you have several hours, chill it for several hours.

Let us set aside the crust while it chills and think instead about the filling.

Your butterscotch should be cool, yes? Now, take four eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Set the whites aside in case you would like to make a meringue later. Add the yolks to the butterscotch, along with half a spoonful of cinnamon, another cupful of sugar, and some vanilla to taste. You can even splash in some cream if you like. Mix it all together. And that is all you need to do for the filling! Your oven will do the rest.

Then ready the surface where you will roll out the dough. If you have waxed paper, use that. Dust it with flour and be generous! You do not want the crust to stick. It must go in the pie pan when it is ready. Also dust your rolling pin with flour. And then roll your crust out thinly, but not too thinly.

When your crust is large enough to fill a pie pan, lift up your waxed paper and flip it so that the crust falls into the pan. This is difficult to explain without showing you myself, but I can only hope that these words are clear. Press the crust into the pie pan and pinch along the edges. Then prick the smooth surfaces with a fork. Parbake the crust. This means putting it in your oven for a few minutes so that the bottom of it can cook, but not all the way.

Wait until the crust has just begun to look dry. Remove it from the oven, pour in your filling, and then place it back in the oven and cook for about half an hour. It should jiggle just a little when you shake it (gently, gently!) but it should not seem to be liquid inside.

Let it cool before you serve it. Whip some cream, too. And enjoy! Butterscotch cinnamon pies are best when shared with friends and loved ones.