Thursday, June 5, 2014

Mr. Jordan's (Honors) English Toffee Pie

With junior high and it's braces and thick, plastic-rimmed glasses a thing of the past, high school provided the perfect opportunity to reinvent myself. But, I needed a "thing." Seeing as how I wasn't the least bit athletic, the field was narrowed considerably. So, I did what any other self-respecting brainiac would do - I applied to be a staff member of the school's prestigious yearbook - the Decamhian (or Del Campo High Annual).

Within minutes of joining the staff, I was a full-fledged "yerd" (what the crazy young kids these days are calling "yearbook nerds"). I loved everything about it - the instant social group, the feeling of being needed, the growing confidence in myself and my talents and - perhaps most of all - Mr. Jordan.

Mr. Jordan was just plain cool. He was young(ish), was known to dye his goatee various shades of gold and blue in honor of our school colors, allowed the staff to keep a ten pound chocolate bar in the freezer for the duration of a school year and even had a couch in his classroom. (Coincidentally, my husband now has a couch in his media classroom, a la Jim Jordan.)

When junior year rolled around, I found myself spending two periods a day with Mr. Jordan - yearbook and Honors English. Under his guidance, I learned to love writing and really began to read for the first time since The Baby-Sitters Club. Suddenly the classics - Hamlet and The Great Gatsby - weren't so intimidating. I fell in love with Sylvia Plath - both as a woman and a poet - as I painstakingly wrote my most thorough term paper to date. 

By my senior year, I had graduated to yearbook Editor-in-Chief and Mr. Jordan was beginning to feel more like my third parent than a teacher. Given all the early mornings, after school deadline cram sessions and Saturday work days, I easily spent more time with him than my own parents. Yearbook was indeed my second family.
Somehow that little classroom - Room 17, hidden in the far back righthand corner of the school - opened up the world to me. I was so fortunate to be able to travel with my yearbook peers - to summer camp at UC Santa Cruz, to San Francisco and Chicago for Journalism Association Education conventions and to Kansas City to see our very own book being printed at the publishing plant. Thanks to yearbook, I even got to attend a taping of the Oprah show (sure, it was the Bryant Gumbel episode, but still...Oprah)!
Following graduation, I boarded a plane and jumped the pond to spend a week in London, celebrating the opening season of the new Globe Theater with a group of fellow graduates. While many of my classmates basked in the sun and most likely partied a little too hard in Cabo, I ate fish and chips, toured Westminster Abbey and attended Shakespeare...in his birthplace. Through Mr. Jordan's supervision (and my parents' checkbook), I learned that the world was so much bigger than my high school campus.
So, imagine my surprise when my husband began advising for his middle school yearbook a couple of years back! Immediately, I went into editor overdrive - offering opinions on cover options, photo quality and caption content (albeit, unsolicited). And after combing through that first year's proofs, frantically circling and editing with my red pen, I was once again forced to retire from yearbook, due to....shall we say "creative differences" (if only because it sounds so much better than "I was too bossy.")

So much of who I am today is a direct result of the life lessons I learned in that yearbook room seventeen years ago. Yearbook (and Mr. Jordan, more specifically) taught me to use my voice, to have confidence in my writing and to lead a group without (hopefully) ticking everyone off. In my life as a thirty-something, the manifestation of those lessons look a little less like producing an award-winning book and a bit more like blogging and leading my own two little people as a stay-at-home mom. But, I will be forever grateful to the man who took a chance on a painfully shy sophomore and gave her the opportunity to blossom into a confident leader, published author and (wannabe) world traveler. And that is absolutely deserving of a pie - Mr. Jordan's (Honor's) English Toffee Pie, to be exact.

Naturally, I began by preparing the most important component of an English Toffee Pie - the toffee. The reason being twofold, really - toffee requires ample time to cool and, in doing so, I would create myself a little sweet treat to snack on whilst baking.

So, I melted even parts butter and granulated sugar, a sprinkle of salt and just a touch of water and stirred until the mixture reached a low boil. Once the toffee had turned a golden caramel color, I removed the pan from the heat and whisked in a splash of homemade vanilla extract gifted by a dear friend. I poured the warm, sticky toffee out onto a parchment-lined sheet pan, waited impatiently for it to cool enough to handle and helped myself to a taste...or six.
In keeping with the English theme, I opted to use tea cookies in lieu of a standard graham cracker crust. I finely processed shortbread cookies and added just enough melted butter to help the crumble hold its shape before pressing the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a pie tin (and a couple of muffin tin cups for good measure). Then I placed the crust into the oven to bake until aromatic, toasty and lightly golden brown.
While the crust blind baked, I began my ganache, melting equal parts semisweet chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream until smooth. Such a fancy word for such a simple process.
I poured warm ganache into the cooled cookie crust and sprinkled a generous handful (or two) of chocolate toffee bit crumbles over the entire pie before placing it into the freezer to chill.
Did you know you can make your own dulce de leche caramel just by submerging an entire unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in your crock pot for eight hours? Apparently, you totally can. Unless, like me, you accidentally purchase a can of evaporated milk. In which case, you end up with...warm evaporated milk.

But then, you find this gem in the international aisle of the grocery store, slather copious amounts atop the pie, lick the spatula and wonder why you ever even bothered with Pinterest caramel anyway. Because it is that good. 
So, with my caramel debacle behind me and a lovely layered pie chilling, I began my favorite finishing touch - homemade whipped cream. Using my trusty handheld mixer, I whipped heavy cream and a bit of powered sugar until stiff peaks formed. It really is that easy.
Finally, a scattering of toffee shards and the haphazard application of both chocolate and caramel drizzles - and there you have it - Mr. Jordan's (Honors) English Toffee Pie.
Yearbook, for me, was so much more than layouts and copy and captions. It was more than the book itself, even. It was an opportunity to learn just who it was I really wanted to be.

I was blessed to spend three years with a teacher, advisor, mentor and friend gently pushing me onward and giving me permission to believe in myself. I can only hope that my boys are lucky enough to have a teacher as supportive and invested in them as Mr. Jordan was of me. And, hey...if they want to join yearbook, I won't stop them.
"So learn about life. Cut yourself a big slice with the silver server, a big slice of pie. Open your eyes. Let life happen." - Sylvia Plath
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl
Crust:
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/

Crust:

9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)

8 tablespoons butter, melted

Toffee sauce:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (preferably dark)

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

8 tablespoons butter

Filling:
1 + 1/2 cups heavy cream
5 medium bananas, ripe but firm

Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. To make the crust, line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan (or deep dish pie pan) with parchment paper. Blend the graham crackers in a food processor until they are finely ground and combine well with the butter, they should stick together when pressed. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom and 1½ – 2 inches up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
  2. To make the toffee sauce combine the sugar and 3 tablespoons of water in a medium-heavy saucepan over medium low heat, stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat until the sugar boils, without stirring, for 5 minutes. Whisk in the condensed milk and butter, continue whisking/stirring for five minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.
  3. Remove from the heat and spread 1 cup of the sauce over the prepared crust, including the sides, refrigerate for about 1/2 hour or until the caramel is semi-firm. Keep the remaining caramel sauce at room temperature.
  4. Using an electric or stand mixer, beat the cream until thick and very soft billowy peaks form. Thinly slice bananas into discs and fold into the whipped cream. Spoon into pie crust. Refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
  5. Rewarm the remaining toffee sauce gently over low heat, cool to lukewarm and drizzle or spread over top of pie. (Add a tablespoon of milk if sauce seems to thick). Refrigerate another 1/2 hour before serving.
  6. Best eaten immediately or within 24-36 hours. Additional bananas can be sliced over top right before serving.

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.99
9 ounces graham crackers or Maria cookies (I used the dulce de leche flavor)
8 tablespoons butter, melted

Read more at http://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/banoffee-pie/#a2WiGgAR8IPRl01U.