Haussner's Strawberry Pie - World Famous Work of Art
Source: David B. via e-mail to Tom Shunick 10/13/99
Servings: 6

For The Pie:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon strawberry flavoring
1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
1 1/2 cups boiling water
3 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water
1 cup Pastry Cream -- recipe follows
1 9-inch flaky pie shell -- prebaked
1 1/2 pints strawberries -- washed and hulled
whipped cream for decoration
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Pastry Cream:
1 cup milk
3 each egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tbsp butter -- softened

To make a glaze, add sugar, strawberry flavoring and food coloring to boiling water. Add dissolved cornstarch and stir over medium-high heat until mixture thickens. Remove from stove and set aside.

Prepare Pastry Cream and let it cool, then spread in bottom of baked pie shell. Pour in 1/2 pint of strawberries (if large berries, cut in half lengthwise), cover with half the water-sugar glaze and add remaining strawberries. Cover with remaining glaze. Decorate the edge with a circle of whipped cream and sprinkle with slivered almonds. Chill and serve.

Pastry Cream:
Scald milk in a saucepan and set aside. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until light in color and very thick, then beat in the flour. Pour the warm milk slowly into egg mixture and blend well. Pour mixture into saucepan and cook, stirring with a whisk, over low heat until mixture comes to a boil. It will appear lumpy at first; keep whisking. Make sure mixture does not stick to bottom of pan and burn.

Remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter. Cover surface with buttered waxed paper so it does not form a skin. Allow to cool.

NOTES : Art lent as much to the dining experience at Haussner's as the German and continental cuisine that emerged from the 500-seat restaurant's cavernous kitchens--but some diners swore the desserts, particularly the strawberry pie, were works of art in themselves. Diners can still enjoy their wiener schnitzel while seated under a Whistler until September 30th.

The restaurant is reformatting, says owner Frances Haussner George. It will open next August as a training center for students at Baltimore International Culinary College. There were 400 items on the menu. People dressed up and waited in lines to have meals there, they often remarked, "We've moved up in the world". One patron of 61 years was asked if he had decided on another place to go. "There is no alternate place to Haussner's. That's like trying to find a duplicate to the Taj Mahal.". Mrs. George is donating the 73 year-old family business to the school. The art works will go on auction at Sotheby's 10M +