US Naval Academy Cannon Balls

By Hklbrries

[The Hard Sauce recipe isn't clear and there are a lot of inside jokes. It's unclear who the "speaker" is - Bill Kennedy or Frank Edrington? Anyway, Grandpa Costigan always talks about how much he loved the Cannonballs served at the USNA].

Among other conversations at the 35th Reunion were a couple involving Plebe Year and the ingestion of Cannon Balls for dessert. A number of the guys recalled this gustatory delicacy with fondness so I told them I have a recipe which, I think, came from Shipmate some years ago. So, here is the recipe for everyone.

Certificate of authenticity: The preceeding recipe has been served aboard USS John Marshall (SSBN-611) on the 38th submerged day of the last patrol before overhaul inside the Arctic Circle at 105 feet and five knots (standa

Ingredients

• Six (6) apples, cored and peeled
• One -half (1/2) pound of granular sugar
• Cinnamon sugar (Ground Cinnamon and granular sugar mixed, to taste)
• One quarter (1/4) pound of butter (recall the Academy only served us butter)
• Pie Dough - Six (6) Ounces, or of sufficient quantity

Preparation

Step 1

Roll out a one (1) ounce piece of pie dough into a circle approximately six (6) inches in diameter. Place a cored, peeled apple in the center of the pie dough. Fill the center of the apple with cinnamon-sugar mix. Fold the pie dough around the apple and place the conglomeration onto a greased (non-stick) cookie sheet pan. Bake the apples at 400 degrees Fahrenheit
for approximately twenty-five (25) minutes or until the apples are soft. Be careful you don't burn the pie crust.

Hard Sauce: Place the granular sugar and butter into a mixing bowl and beat them until they are thoroughly mixed. Add either Vanilla or Rum flavoring (to Taste, as the Flavor Gods demand) to the sugar-butter mix and stir it in. I recommend the Rum Flavor - no cracks from guys with long memories of Cruises and O'Clubs!

When the apples are baked, place a good, healthy dollop of Hard Sauce on top of the apple-in-crust. Then, eat the whole thing remembering fondly
those few times you were allowed to eat Cannon Balls while in the blissful state of "Carry-On".

Easy Hard Sauce: While it's quite possible to make Hard Sauce with granulated sugar as specified, it's a lot quicker and easier to use confectioners (powdered) sugar. It's more a culinary than a gustatory matter, but it's so. Hard sauce is simply flavored thick texture cake frosting. Confirm with the ladies that 'from scratch' icing is made a lot easier with confectioners than granulated sugar. It makes smoother stuff regardless of beating and takes a lot less beating effort to dissolve in the butter.