A Recipe from 100 Prize Winning Grand National Recipes from Pillsbury’s 6th Grand National $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (1955)

About the Recipe

Every now and again a breakfast recipe comes along and it feels like a lot of work just for some eggs in a flaky crust… Thankfully, this recipe is worth every minute of effort.

The cheesy crust is flaky and light and bakes just right around the eggs. There’s a dash of paprika on the top of each basket for a little bit of extra flavor, and that sauce is just right to finish off the dish.

That said, it’s a lot of work. If I make it again, I might try a pre-made crust with some cheese buried inside as opposed to making the whole thing from scratch. It was a rough crust to deal with, and the pre-made would make this go so quickly.

There’s also something to be said here for playing with the flavors a little bit – some hot sauce or veggies hidden somewhere would go a long way to taking this from good, to great! I went ahead and substituted fresh dill weed for the dill seed below and it was super successful. If you make this recipe and make any changes, leave your notes in the comments below!

For more recipes in the Pillsbury Challenge, click here!

About the book

For some reason this book’s recipes never spoke to me the same way the others did. This was my first time baking out of it after finding it in an antique mall in North Carolina just over a year ago. That said, it’s still a solid book, and the egg baskets have given me more confidence in the quality of the other recipes.

About the glassware

I’m so excited to pull out my Colonial Mist Pyrex pitcher for this one! My husband got it for me for Hannukah this year, specifically to match the Correlle platter. It makes me smile every time I have the opportunity to pull it out.

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup Crisco
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5-6 T cold water
6 eggs
salt & pepper
paprika

Cheese Dill Sauce:
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
2 T chopped parsley
2 t crushed dill seed
1/2 t salt

Directions:

Sift together flour and salt into mixing bowl. Cut in Crisco and cheddar cheese until particles are the size of small peas. Sprinkle cold water over mixture, a little at a time, while tossing and stirring lightly with fork. Add water to driest particles, pushing lumps to side, until dough is just moist enough to hold together. Form into a ball. Flatten to about 1/2-inch thickness. Smooth dough at edges.

Roll out on floured pastry cloth or board to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out six circles (about 5 inches across). Fit each inside a muffin pan or individual tart pan, pressing pastry against sides and bottom of pan to form a smooth lining. Let pastry edges extend 1/4-inch above pan for a rim.

Cut out six more circles (about 4 inches across), re-rolling dough for the last few circles. Cut a gash in the center of each. Break 6 eggs into the pastry-lined pans. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cover with the small circles. Seal edges of top and bottom crusts by pinching together to form a rim. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in a hot oven (450*F) for 20-22 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with sauce.

Cheese Dill Sauce:
Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan. Blend in flour. Gradually add milk; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese, parsley, dill seed, and salt. (Dill seed may be crushed between two sheets of waxed paper with a hammer.) Cover if sauce must stand before serving.