French silk pie is liquid

[dd57chevy]

Hi , this is my first post .
I have tried several times to make a friend's (now deceased) recipe for French silk pie & it doesn't set up !
margarine & sugar creamed
add vanilla & chocolate squares
add 3 eggs (1 , beat for 5 min/ 1 , beat for 5 min/1 , beat for 5 min)
pour into pie shell & refrigerate

Anyone know why it doesn't set up ? I made this 20-25 years ago & it firmed up in the fridge .
Am I using the wrong margarine (Imperial , 53% oil) ?
Would "butter be better" ?

Am I missing something ?

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hi , this is my first post .
I have tried several times to make a friend's (now deceased) recipe for French silk pie & it doesn't set up !
margarine & sugar creamed
add vanilla & chocolate squares
add 3 eggs (1 , beat for 5 min/ 1 , beat for 5 min/1 , beat for 5 min)
pour into pie shell & refrigerate

Anyone know why it doesn't set up ? I made this 20-25 years ago & it firmed up in the fridge .
Am I using the wrong margarine (Imperial , 53% oil) ?
Would "butter be better" ?

Am I missing something ?

Welcome to the forum.

I have an idea about why the filling won’t set. But before I get to that I wanted to say something about the filling.

If you are in the US, you should not eat raw eggs. Salmonella infects the laying hens’ ovary or oviduct so the yolk is infected before the shell has a chance to develop around it. There is no way for you to determine whether or not a particular egg is infected with salmonella. In the US, The level of salmonella infection in US hen population is very high: 1 in every 20,000 eggs is infected. That is so high that other countries ban US hen and egg imports. More than 1.5 million people in the US are stricken with salmonella from eating contaminated food, including eggs. Each year, 450 people die from salmonella infection in the US.

My sister and I had food poisoning so bad we came very close to hospitalization. My brother-in-law was in fact hospitalized for three days due to salmonella. The risk is very real.


Regarding why the filling won’t set. French silk pie is not normally made with margarine. It’s made with butter. One of the problems with using margarine is its manufactured for spreadability. More so now than it was some 20 years or so ago.

Manufactures want the margarine to be soft enough to spread even when it’s cold. The process that they take the oil through to create that spreadability is called hydrogenation.

The more hydrogenation of the oil, the lower the melting point, and the softer the texture. So it’s not the percentage of oil in the margarine, but the extent of hydrogenation of the oil that is interfering with the setting.

Margarine packaged in a tub is far more hydrogenated than margarine in stick form. For this reason the rule with margarine in baking is use sticks, never tub margarine.

If you used stick form, then that brand is too hydrogenated for the application. You can try a different brand in stick form. But there’s no guarantee it will work.

Frankly, I recommend you find a recipe that cooks the eggs and sugar to 160°F to eliminate the salmonella risk. Also use butter to eliminate the issue caused by hydrogenation.

 

[Becky]

The level of salmonella infection in US hen population is very high: 1 in every 20,000 eggs is infected. That is so high that other countries ban US hen and egg imports. More than 1.5 million people in the US are stricken with salmonella from eating contaminated food, including eggs. Each year, 450 people die from salmonella infection in the US.

My sister and I had food poisoning so bad we came very close to hospitalization. My brother-in-law was in fact hospitalized for three days due to salmonella. The risk is very real.

Oh my goodness, that's awful! Back in the 80s here in the UK there was a salmonella scare, and there was a big effort made to eradicate it. There was a news story recently saying that 30 years on the chance of getting salmonella from eggs is so low that you just don't need to worry about it (unless you have a compromised immune system or something).

@dd57chevy where abouts in the world are you? I've never heard of 'French silk pie' but it sounds like it's probably not French

 

[dd57chevy]

There was a news story recently saying that 30 years on the chance of getting salmonella from eggs is so low that you just don't need to worry about it

Not sure what you mean , here . Are you saying there isn't a big risk of salmonella ?

Eastern Iowa . It was a recipe I got from a fellow schoolteacher a long time ago .

Sorry , I messed up my post .....

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Not sure what you mean , here . Are you saying there isn't a big risk of salmonella ?



Sorry , I messed up my post .....

DD57Chevy, Becky lives in the UK. She is correct that in the UK, the risk of salmonella infection is very low. Most of the European countries have changed the way eggs are produced after a major outbreak. They in fact routinely test the breeding hens for salmonella. In that way, the hens used for laying eggs are hatched from
salmonella free stock. I think Norway started this practice. Then other European countries followed suit.

In Italy the testing standard is so strict that salmonella is essentially non-existence in their hens. Every egg that goes to market is certified from a hen that was tested to be free of salmonella. The eggs are then stamped to indicate they are certified salmonella free. So in Italy, it’s safe to eat raw egg.

But in the US, the risk of salmonella is very high. Our government does have regulations to control salmonella in our food supply. The food lobby is very powerful. I worked for a major food lobby in DC. Trust me, they throw a lot of money around in Washington to influence our politicians. The food lobby wants no food production regulations and no labeling laws.

instead of regulating food production to remove salmonella in livestock, our government just tells the end consumers to cook the food to 160°F. The onus for food safety is on the consumer, not the farmer. It’s very much a buyer beware and be very aware of the food safety risks to you and your family.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Oh my goodness, that's awful! Back in the 80s here in the UK there was a salmonella scare, and there was a big effort made to eradicate it. There was a news story recently saying that 30 years on the chance of getting salmonella from eggs is so low that you just don't need to worry about it (unless you have a compromised immune system or something).

@dd57chevy where abouts in the world are you? I've never heard of 'French silk pie' but it sounds like it's probably not French

Lol, Becky, you are correct “French” silk pie is not French by any stretch of the imagination. It is an American invention. Between 1949 and 2014, Pillsbury ran an annual home bakers baking competition. They did not hold a competition for 2015-2016. When they resumed the competition, I think they made it biannual.


The French Silk Pie was a category winner in the 1951 Pillsbury Bake Off Ice Box Pie category.


The contest is restricted to non-professional bakers, bakers who have not completed a culinary program; have ever charged money for any of their baked goods; is open only to legal US residences and bakers 21 yrs or older. Recipes must be original, limited to 8 or less total ingredients (excluding salt, flour for dusting pans, etc.) and contain the specific Pillsbury ingredients selected for that year’s competition.

The award for the Grand Prize winner receives a cash prize $50,000 USD, plus a kitchen remodel. The total prize is valued at $92,000 USD. So it’s a very competitive bake off.

The winning recipe is featured on the Food Network. Pillsbury also publishes the recipe.


The category winners receive a package of cash and merchandise worth $20,000 USD.


The French Silk Pie was based on a chocolate mousse. When I was a kid this was the “IT” pie. It was sold in bakeries and restaurants. But with the high risk of salmonella, its popularity has waned. An now it’s never offered in bakeries. Some home bakers have converted the recipe to a cooked custard, heating the most egg mixture to 160°F.

 

[Becky]

Not sure what you mean , here . Are you saying there isn't a big risk of salmonella ?

Apologies for the confusion - I was just remarking that it isn't a problem in the UK, and I hadn't realised the extent of the problem in the US. It's quite horrifying that businesses in the US seem to dictate what they want in order to maximise profits, and the end result is that the consumers suffer

I really like the system we have here in the UK. Each egg is stamped to show it is certified, and you can type the code online to find out exactly where the egg came from. Pretty cool.

Lol, Becky, you are correct “French” silk pie is not French by any stretch of the imagination. It is an American invention. Between 1949 and 2014, Pillsbury ran an annual home bakers baking competition. They did not hold a competition for 2015-2016. When they resumed the competition, I think they made it biannual.

Ah I see, thanks for the history. That sounds like quite a competition! Wish there was something like that in the UK, I'd love a new kitchen

@dd57chevy do you think you'll try a cooked version of the recipe?

 

[-Daniel-]

Here's a article about salmonella in eggs in the UK: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41568998

At home in the UK I'm very relaxed about runny middles in eggs.

Here in Mexico thought I'm a lot more careful and won't eat raw eggs

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Here's a article about salmonella in eggs in the UK: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41568998

At home in the UK I'm very relaxed about runny middles in eggs.

Here in Mexico thought I'm a lot more careful and won't eat raw eggs

It’s wonderful that the European countries have taken the initiative to ensure food safety. It so disheartening that in the US the government and food producers put profit before people

 

[Becky]

Here's a article about salmonella in eggs in the UK: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41568998

Ah yes, that's the one I read last year

It so disheartening that in the US the government and food producers put profit before people

It's such a shame I really hope this changes at some point in the future! I've read a suggestion in the past that politicians should wear the names of corporations they have taken donations from - like Formula 1 drivers. Sounds like a good idea to me