Page 117 - United States of Pie
P. 117
Peanut Pie
On a stretch of Highway 460, smack-dab between Norfolk and
Richmond, stands the Virginia Diner. Opened in 1929, and dishing
out regional specialties such as cured Virginia ham served atop fluffy
country biscuits, fried chicken dinners, and pulled pork sandwiches,
this restaurant is also famous for its salty-sweet peanut pie, a
crunchy dessert erupting with peanuts that satisfies even the
sweetest tooth. While the recipe for the Virginia Diner’s peanut pie is
a closely guarded secret, I found numerous recipes for peanut pie in
Southern cookbooks—after all, the South grows 99 percent of all the
peanuts consumed in this country.
The chopped peanuts in this pie rise to the top of the filling as it
bakes, creating an almost peanut-brittle-like shell. Some recipes I
found suggested light corn syrup, others dark. But with its ability to
keep this pie rich and deep, the murkier dark corn syrup won out for
me. Every peanut-lover who has eaten this pie has declared this
salty-sweet, chewy, candy-bar-like confection a success!
