You won't have to buy a hat or travel to Kentucky to enjoy this derby. Pearl M. Sherling of Baltimore requested a recipe for Derby Pie "similar to one I had at the Ladew Topiary Gardens."
Her answer came from Teresa M. Baker of Severna Park, who included a brief explanation of the pie. She serves the pie at her Kentucky Derby parties, but she noted that it should not be called " 'Derby Pie' because that is the registered trademark for the official pie made in Louisville, Ky.
"The recipe is from the Old House restaurant in Louisville. It was ++ published in a similar column in the [Louisville] Courier-Journal in 1993," she wrote.
Baker's Derby Dessert
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 teaspoons bourbon (Mrs. Baker uses Maker's Mark in Kentucky)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 (6-ounce) package chocolate chips
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
FOR BOURBON-FLAVORED TOP:
1 cup dairy topping (or lightly sweetened whipped cream)
1 tablespoon bourbon (or to taste)
Blend well and refrigerate until ready to use.
Beat eggs and gradually add sugar, mixing well. Add melted butter and bourbon. Blend in cornstarch. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake for 45 to 50 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Cool for 1 hour. Serve warm with bourbon-flavored topping.
*
A cool-rise bread, which is "prepared the day prior to baking, shaped in strips and formed like a challah," was the request of Dora B. Collector of Baltimore. The response came unsigned.
Cool-Rise Sweet Dough
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups softened butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups hot tap water
2 eggs, room temperature
vegetable oil
Combine 2 cups flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl and blend well. Add butter. Then add hot water to bowl all at once. Beat with electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes,scraping bowl. Add eggs and 1 cup more flour and beat at high speed for 1 minute or until thick and elastic. Scrape bowl occasionally.
Gradually stir in just enough of the remaining flour with a wooden spoon to make a soft dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a floured board.
Knead for 5 to 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with a wax paper or plastic wrap and then a towel. Let rest 20 minutes on board and punch down. Divide and shape as desired into 2 large loaves or 2 1/2 dozen rolls.
Place in greased pans or baking sheets, brush surface with oil, cover pans loosely. Refrigerate from 2 to 24 hours at moderately cold setting. When ready to bake, remove from refrigerator and uncover. Let stand 10 minutes while heating the oven to 375 degrees. Puncture any surface bubbles with oiled toothpick just before baking.
Bake on lower oven rack preferablyfor 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool on a rack. Brush with butter or frost and decorate as desired.
*
Chef Syglowski, with the help of chefs and students at the Baltimore International Culinary College, tested these recipes.
Recipe requests
* Tammy Masher of Carolina Beach, N.C., writes that she, "formerly from Lancaster, Ohio, is now a Yankee living in the south and back home we had Sugar Pies. I can't remember what is in them or anything, but that is one recipe that would give me a little taste from home. Can you help?" she writes.
* Elizabeth S. Williams of Baltimore writes that she is searching for a Bisquick cake recipe like the one once printed on the Bisquick container many years ago.
* Cynthia Linville of Baltimore would like to have a recipe for Baltimore Fudge like the fudge she purchased from the Wockenfuss Candy Store. She remembers her mother making the candy "when I was younger, but she doesn't have the recipe either."
If you are looking for a recipe or can answer a request, maybe we can help. Write to Ellen Hawks, Recipe Finder, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278.
If you send in more than one recipe, put each on a separate sheet of paper with your name, address and phone number. Please note the number of servings which each recipe makes. We will test the first 12 recipes sent to us.