Crust from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. Pie adapted from BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes by Shirley Corriher.

Ingredients

The Crusts

• 2 package of Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Cookies, crushed or food-processed


• 2oz Confectioner's Sugar


• 6oz Butter, melted


• Hefty pinch of Salt

The Filling

• 2 cups heavy cream


• 6 large egg yolks (from pasteurized eggs, preferably)


• 1 cup sugar


• 1/2 cup water


• 1 tablespoon of water (don't combine the waters)


• 3 Tbls Knob Creek bourbon


• 1.5 packages of unflavored gelatin. If you have a hard time guessing, lean towards having more

Directions

The Crusts

Preheat oven to 375°F, and let sit for another 20 minutes.

Mix the ingredients. Press the mixture into a 2-9" pie-plates, divided evenly. Press down on the crumb using a round glass or measuring cup sprayed with non-stick spray. Try to get an even edge around the pie. Cut the top of the pie level with a butter knife. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on a baking rack.

The Filling

Whip the cream to soft peaks. Set aside.

Add the sugar to the egg yolks. Using a mixer with a beater attachment (unless you are mighty and prefer just using a hand whisk), whip the yolks and sugar until they increase significantly in volume and turn several shades paler.

Pour the gelatin into the 1/2 cup of water. Let sit for two minutes. Microwave for 20 seconds until just barely dissolved. Combine the gelatin, rum, and egg yolk mixture. Mix thoroughly.

Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the egg yolk mixture and mix thoroughly. Fold the yolk mixture into the rest of the whipped cream. Divide among the two pie crusts and refrigerate until set (probably an hour or two). Feel free to drink any of the left over filling mixture.

This entry is stolen… er, used under Creative Commons License from umami.com. I have made these cookies several times and love them ever so. They are my favorite cookies to make at Christmas, because they are easy and tasty and a bit more sophisticated than your average Christmas cookie.

I have not made any alterations to the recipe because the license of the site does not allow for derivative works. And although, as a recipe, I could alter it and make it my own, it's a very good recipe without any change. Other than the salt on the top, as I have used fleur de sel instead of the pink Himalayan stuff.

These cookies were made using from the recipe for Vanilla Wafers in the "Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking". Instead of sugar crystals as suggested in the book, which I did not have on hand, I pressed some pink Himalayan salt crystals on the top just before baking. The salt accentuated the sweet vanila butteriness of the cookies, intriguing those who tasted with its familiar yet novel sensation.

The recipe calls for one whole block of butter, and makes over 60 cookies. For a small household like mine it makes sense to freeze part of the dough. The ones above were from one of the frozen portions, slightly overbaked and crumbly, but still really rather scrumptious. Next time I might increase the quantity of flour.

250g butter

1/4 tsp salt (or if you are like me, omit this and use slightly salted butter)

125g sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tbsp vanilla extract

315g plain flour

Beat the butter, salt and sugar at medium speed untill smooth.

Add egg yolks and vanilla and beat at low speed until blended.

Add flour and mix until a dough forms.

Divide dough into three or four equal portions. Roll each portion into logs about 1.5 inches in diameter. Wrap logs in plastic wrap and freeze or refridgerate till firm.

Before baking, unwrap log and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices. At this point you can op to sprinkle crystal sugar, crystal salt or chopped nuts on the surface. Bake at 180 C for 12-15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.