Afra Lineberry, Agee to her family, opened The Jerre Anne Bake Shoppe in St. Joe, Missouri, in 1930. It was the last stop on the trolley line. Conductors would leave their cars running while they ran into Agee’s for a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. “It seems like I just always knew how to make a good pie crust. It may take a little practice for some, but the only time to get excited about a pie crust is when you’re eating it,” Agee used to say. The little shop grew to be a smashing success, and by 1990, with Geraldine Lawhon (Agee’s niece) running the place, it was selling 625 pies at Thanksgiving alone. Sadly, The Jerre Anne closed its doors in 2008. When you eat Agee’s pie, send your thanks heavenward.
This pastry dough calls for pastry flour, a special flour that you may not already have in your pantry, but the results are well worth acquiring it for a crust that's both flaky and tender. We prefer unbleached pastry flour, such as King Arthur. If you prefer, you can substitute cake flour for the pastry flour. The pastry or cake flour keeps the pastry dough tender, and the vinegar strengthens the gluten and adds elasticity. This pastry dough has more salt than most. Kosher salt is coarser than table salt. If you are using table salt instead, cut the amount of salt in half.
Who knew banana pudding was such an elemental recipe? And who are we to argue. Grab a spoon and go!
For some people, Nutella -- a smooth chocolate-hazelnut spread found in the peanut butter aisle in most supermarkets -- is a nostalgic childhood treat. But I didn’t taste it until college, when a friend who’d been living in Europe introduced me to it, so I may always think of it as a more sophisticated sweet. The stuff from the jar is pretty darn good, although the fabulous pastry chef Gale Gand taught me how to make it from scratch, and that’s now my favorite version. You can really taste the hazelnuts and feel some of their texture. I’ve been known to eat it with a spoon, as anyone else who’s honest will admit to doing. -Christie Matheson
Slices of cool, fresh nectarines take on surprisingly concentrated flavors when bathed in a nectar-like wine syrup. This is one of the more intriguing fruit desserts you’ll taste, and there’s nothing to it — merely nectarines, sugar, wine and an interesting technique. We’ve been making it every summer since I first wrote about the dish in The Italian Country Table.
Sometimes you need a break from all that lush summer fruit with a sweet that reminds you of what good chocolate and summer cream can do for each other. The bite of strong, dark roast coffee teases out chocolate’s appealingly bitter edge, so things don’t go too far over the top. This desert comes together easily and holds in the fridge for several days.
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Ingredients
Blurring the lines between ice cream and mousse, simplicity and finesse, nostalgia and novelty, this is the kind of dessert that’s hard to categorize but easy to love.
Inspired by an old 19th-century American recipe, these golden peaches or nectarines are stained crimson by port wine and served in an intense vanilla cream, drizzled with their ruby cooking syrup. Make two to three days ahead and keep chilled. Assemble at the picnic site.