Ultimate Peanut Butter Pie

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In case I've never mentioned it before, I am in fact, a resident of The Peanut Capital of the World. Jealous? I thought so... In the Fall we, here in the Peanut Capital of the World, have a week long festival to celebrate all things peanut. Through the years, I've had many versions of the peanut butter pie. Peanut Butter pie is a truly a classic Southern dessert.  Most of the recipes I've seen for the pies are made using frozen whipped topping. I'm just not a fan of the stuff. Anything that looks and tastes like cream but contains no dairy just kinda scares me. The original recipe for this pie was also made with whipped topping but I decided to just whip up some cream and see what happened. Well let me tell you, it made a heavenly combo of peanut and cream. This is one decant pie, a creamy peanut buttery filling studded with chocolate and peanut butter chips, all held together with an Oreo cookie crust. Is your mouth watering yet?!? I made this pie for our family Memorial Day get together but I would be a perfect Father's day celebration pie as well. That sounds like a good excuse to make it again!

Pie is the new cupcake?

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I've read articles recently both from the Washington Post and the New York Times that have proposed that pie is the new cupcake. NPR declared the cupcake dead and put pie on its throne. Never fear cupcake lovers, your beloved little cakes aren't going anywhere. They just have a little competition for dessert supremacy from the lowly pie. Hand pies just may have a shot at beating out the cupcake. I have to admit, the hand pie has won my heart. Hand pies are a smaller, portable version of a pie, much like a cupcake is to a cake. However rather than frosting, its delicious filling is ensconced in a flaky, buttery crust. For me, a good pastry crust trumps frosting any day.

This month Half Baked turned 5! I can't believe it's been 5 years since I started this little blog. My own birthday is also just a couple days away. How better to celebrate than with some hand pies! I really love cherries so I filled the pies with a sweet cherry filling....move over cupcake, there's a new kid in town!

Cherry Hand Pies
Yield: about 6 hand pies
Printable recipe
FOR THE CRUST:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup(1stick) cold butter, cut in small pieces
1/8 cup shortening- chilled
3 to 4 tablespoons ice cold water

Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter and shortening over the dry ingredients and pulse until it is coarsely cut in-you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Drizzle the water over the mixture. Using on/off pulses, pulse just until the dough holds together when pinched. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Form into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

FOR THE FILLING:

8 ounces fresh or frozen sweet cherries, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375°

Pit and roughly chop the cherries. Place in a bowl and add the sugar, almond extract, lemon juice, and corn starch. Mix well and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Using a 4 inch cutter cut out circles. (I got five 4 inch and 1 smaller circle out of my dough) Place the cut out pieces of dough onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Place about 2 tablespoons of the cherry mixture onto one-half of each round. Lightly brush a little milk around the edge of the covered half of each round. Fold remaining dough over to enclose, forming a half moon. Gently press edges together with the tines of a fork to seal. Brush the tops of each pie with milk. Using a paring knife, slash the top of each pie.
Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pies to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Dust with powdered sugar. Pies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.
*NOTE: I used Rainer cherries because they are my favorite but Bing cherries are great too.You could also use sour cherries if you want, just add a little more sugar to the filling.

Just in case you thought that having pie meant you'd have to sacrifice your sprinkles, who says you can't have sprinkles on your pie? Just top the hand pie with a powdered sugar glaze and add sprinkles. Be afraid cupcakes, be very afraid!

You say tomato, I say...

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Long hot days, shorts, flip flops, and juicy red ripe tomatoes; it must be summer! I look forward to eating those first tomatoes of the summer, all year. I love eating them anyway, on a sandwich, in a salad, or even just sliced with a sprinkle of salt. In the July issue of Southern living, they have a whole section dedicated to fresh tomato recipes. This one for tomato pie caught my eye. I had about 6 super ripe tomatoes (from my parents farm) that I needed to use, so I decided to make the tomato pie. It is fabulous! Flaky crust, lots of fresh herbs, and of course tomatoes, all baked together under a little cheese...amazing! This is the perfect recipe for in season, really ripe, tasty tomatoes. I would not recommend making it with your run of the mill grocery store tomatoes.Find a farmers market, farm stand, or farm trail, near you, get some tomatoes and enjoy a true bite of summer.

Tomato Pie
Virginia Willis, Southern Living 
JULY 2012 
Printable Recipe

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 to 4 Tbsp. ice-cold water

For the filling:
2 1/4 pounds  very ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1 sweet onion, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground pepper, divided
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup assorted chopped fresh herbs (such as thyme, chives, parsley,and basil)
1/2 cup freshly grated Swiss cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise 

Method:


The crust: 

Process first 4 ingredients in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor running, gradually add 3 Tbsp. ice-cold water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, and process until dough forms a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding up to 1 Tbsp. more water, if necessary. Shape dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425°. Unwrap pie crust dough, and place on a lightly floured surface; sprinkle with flour. Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness.

Place the rolled out dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim dough 1 inch larger than diameter of pie plate; fold overhanging dough under itself along rim of pie plate, crimp a decorative edge, if desired. Chill 30 minutes or until firm.
Line piecrust with aluminum foil; fill with pie weights or dried beans. (This will keep the crust from bubbling up.) Place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake at 425° for 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil. Bake 5 minutes or until browned. Cool completely on baking sheet on a wire rack.
For the filling:

Reduce oven temperature to 350°. Place tomatoes in a single layer on paper towels; sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté onion and 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper in hot oil in a skillet over medium heat 3 minutes or until tender. Pat tomatoes dry with a paper towel. Layer tomatoes, onion, and herbs in the cooled pie crust, seasoning each layer with pepper (1 tsp. total). Stir together cheeses and mayonnaise; spread over the top of the pie.
 Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. If needed, shield the edges of the crust with foil to prevent excessive browning. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Celebrate Summer!

Pecan and Chocolate Chip Mini Pies

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Sorry for the long absence from posting here. Other parts of my life have had to take precedence over blogging, as of late. As much as I love both baking and blogging, I've had to put things on hold somewhat for the time being. Hopefully life will return to some form of normalcy very soon. Until then I'll do the best I can to share as often as I can. By the way pecan pie is great comfort food!

Pecan pie ranks right near the top of my favorite desserts. I'm pretty much a pecan pie purist. I don't usually  like to mess around with the traditional pecan pie I grew up eating. I posted that recipe here, way back when I first started this blog. It will always be a favorite of mine but decided to try something different this time. I mean pecans and chocolate are a match made in heaven, so I broke with tradition and have to say I was not disappointed. These little pies are very tasty. Mini pies are the perfect single serving and would be great for entertaining.

I discovered Lyle's syrups a couple of years ago and love the flavor. The golden syrup is great in all kinds of baking and can be used a substitute for corn syrup in many recipes. I highly recommend using it for this pie but if you can't find it you can use a light corn syrup instead.

Pecan and Chocolate Chip Mini Pies
Printable recipe

Crust:
Your favorite recipe for a single crust pie, dough chilled. I like the crust from this pie. You could also use a refrigerated store bought pie crust.

For the filling:
3 large eggs
¾ cup Lyle's Golden Syrup*
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cups pecan halves, or coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400°F, and place a large baking sheet on the bottom rack.

Roll out the crust to ¼" thickness. Cut the crust into 6" circles using a pastry cutter, and press each circle into a mini pie pan or a jumbo muffin tin.* If you don't have a 6" round pastry cutter divide your dough into 6 equal pieces and roll out each individual piece into a 6" or larger, ¼"-thick round. Press them into the pans.

Refrigerate the pan until the filling is ready.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, syrup, sugar, melted butter, salt, and vanilla.

Divide the chocolate chips evenly among the pies, sprinkling them  into the bottom of each pie.
Pour 1/3-1/2 cup of filling into each of the pies. Divide the pecans evenly among the cups, sprinkling them over the filling. Fill each pie or muffin tin about 3/4 to the top. Don't fill to the pies very top of the pie pan.These pies puff up a good bit while cooking and will cook out if overfilled.

Place the mini pie pans or muffin tin on the heated sheet pan, and bake for 15 minutes; then reduce the oven temperature to 300°F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the centers of the pies are set.
Remove from the oven, and cool the mini pies completely in the pan before removing them and serving.

Yield: 6 mini pies or jumbo muffin size pies. 8-10 regular muffin sized pies.

source: King Arthur Flour Recipes

*you can also make these using a regular muffin tin but will need to adjust the cooking time slightly. I baked these  for the first 10 minutes at 400 degrees and 15-17 minutes at 300 degrees.

I made a few in a regular size muffin tin. Perfect party sized pie!

“Come join Love the Pie with TidyMom  sponsored by Cherokee USA, Le Creuset, Wilton,Bags by Bloom and  Harvard Common Press”

Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies...

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or should I call them pop tarts?

I made these little cuties yesterday. After dinner last night, hubs grabbed one, asking mid-bite what it was he was eating. While I was saying, those are strawberry rhubarb hand pies, he says, "Oh my God those are the best pop tarts EVER."
No matter how much we begged, my mother refused to buy us pop tarts when we were kids. She said they were "all sugar, junk food". Whenever we asked for things like, sugary cereals, pop tarts, pretty much any prepackaged sweet, Mom would say no. She usually followed the "No" with, "You'd be better off eating the cardboard it came in." Don't feel too sorry for me. Mom did not withhold sweets from us. I didn't realize till I was much older that we were quite spoiled, in fact. She baked something from scratch nearly every day. The sweets in my lunch bag were the envy of all those around me at school lunch table! But as a kid, I always assumed my parents were withholding something wonderful, just to torture me.  I think I was in middle school or possibly high school when I ate my first pop tart at a friends home. I remember opening the foil package, thinking, "this is going to be awesome!" Wow, was I disappointed. I didn't even eat the whole thing. Mom was right, I'd have been better off eating the cardboard box it came in.
It didn't occur to me while I was making these hand pies, but they are very similar to a pop tart, sweet pastry with a fruit filling. Cut them out in rectangles and you've got the best pop tart ever!
Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies/Pop Tart
(Printable recipe) 
source: Southern Living May 2011
Yields about 2 dozen

Ingredients:   
For the filling
3/4 cup finely diced fresh strawberries
3/4 cup finely diced rhubarb
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest

For the crust:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup butter, cold
1/4 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice-cold water
3 tablespoons orange juice
Parchment paper
1 egg yolk, beaten

Method:
Combine strawberries, rhubarb, cornstarch, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp. orange zest in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine flour, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. Stir in orange zest. Drizzle with ice-cold water and orange juice. Stir with a fork until combined. (Mixture will be crumbly and dry.) Knead mixture lightly, and shape dough into a disk. Divide dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Roll half of dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a heavily floured surface.

Cut with a 2 1/4-inch round cutter, rerolling scraps as needed. Place half of dough rounds 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Top with 1 rounded teaspoonful strawberry mixture (Don't overfill or your pies will not stay together). Dampen edges of dough with water, and top with remaining dough rounds, pressing edges to seal. Crimp edges with a fork, and cut a slit in top of each round for steam to escape. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and strawberry mixture.
Stir together egg yolk and cream; brush pies with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar. Freeze pies 10 minutes.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days. 

I know another strawberry/rhubarb recipe. In my defense, they are both in season in Spring and I look forward to strawberries and rhubarb all year! When I saw this recipe in Southern Living I knew I'd be making it as soon as possible. I loved the idea of little pies. Pie filling encased in flaky buttery pie crust. The best part, you can pick it up and take it with you! So much more portable than a regular pie. Perfect for lunch boxes or picnics.

Quince and Apple Pie

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 "A quince for you, a quince for me, quinces we shall eat" Quinces are one the oldest known fruits. They proceed the apple and are believed by many to be the Forbidden Fruit that Eve offered Adam in the Garden of Eden. In Greece, it's known as the fruit of love and plays a part in most wedding celebrations. Quince trees have been grown in Asia and through out the Mediterranean for over 4000 years. Although quinces have been around for centuries, they are a relatively new discovery for me. They have begun to pop up recently in our local markets so I thought I'd give baking with them a try. Who doesn't want to try the "fruit of love"? I mean if it was tempting enough for Adam...

The quince is a relative of both the apple and the pear, but most varieties  cannot be eaten raw. In the raw form, quinces are usually very hard, even when fully ripe, and very astringent. When cooked however, they turn a beautiful rosy color and a have a lovely floral-like flavor. Because quinces naturally contain a high amount of pectin they are often used in jams, jellies, chutneys and marmalades. They are also wonderful to use in baking and can be substituted for apples or pears in most recipes.


I decided I'd poach my quinces and mix them with apples in a pie. I don't think that it's necessary (or possible!) to improve on a classic apple pie, but the quince mixed with the apples was a nice change from the traditional apple pie.  Because they are in season in late Autumn, quinces are a great choice for your Thanksgiving dinner. If you are looking for a little variety this Thanksgiving, consider a quince and apple pie.

 For the pie crust on this pie, I used part white whole wheat flour and part regular all-purpose flour. I also made a crust with some vegetable shortening as well as butter. Because I used the white whole wheat flour, the vegetable shortening helped make the crust a bit more tender, flaky. I also thought the white whole wheat flour gave the crust a slightly nutty taste that was great with the quince.

Quince and Apple Pie 

(Printable Recipe)

Pie Crust
Makes two 9 inch single crust or one 9 inch double crust pie.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour -( I used 1 cup of white wheat flour and 1 1/2 all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup(2 sticks) cold butter, cut in small pieces

1/4 cup shortening- chilled

6 to 8 tablespoons ice cold water

Put the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter and shortening over the dry ingredients and pulse until it is coarsely cut in-you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Drizzle the water over the mixture. Using on/off pulses, pulse just until the dough holds together when pinched. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. divide into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

Prepare the quince:
3 quinces peeled and seeded

2 cups water

1cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean

Quarter the peeled, seeded quinces, and cut into quarter-inch slices. In a heavy bottom pot, combine water and sugar. Split vanilla bean and scrape seeds. Place the vanilla bean and the seeds along with the quince slices in the pot. Poach the quince 15 minutes. Cool, drain and discard the vanilla bean.

Look at the beautiful color the quinces turn when poached!

Assembling the pie:
4 tart/sweet apples (Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, etc..) peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch slices

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. lemon juice

2 Tbs butter, cut into small pieces

Milk, to brush on the crust. 

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg. Pour the sugar mixture over the apples and quince stir to coat evenly.Add lemon juice, toss to coat.

Roll out one disk of the pastry dough on a floured board into a 14-inch circle. Fold the dough into quarters, center it on the pie plate, unfold and gently pat the dough into the bottom and sides of the plate.

Spoon apple/quince mixture into the pastry-lined pie plate. Dot with butter.
Roll out the second disk into a 14-inch circle. Fold the dough into quarters, center on top of the pie and unfold. Trim, seal and flute the edges.Make slits in the center to vent the pie. Brush the surface of the crust with milk.
Bake until the crust is golden brown and juices bubble, about 45 to 55 minutes.

I made little individual pies. So cute!

They dined on mince and slices of quince,

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;

And hand in hand on the edge of the sand

They danced by the light of the moon.

~ "The Owl and the Pussycat," by Edward Lear

Celebrate your 4th with an All-American Blueberry Pie

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If strawberries are a bite of Spring, than for me the blueberry is the fruit that signifies summer. Juicy and sweet, with just a hint of tartness, makes the blueberry perfect in all kinds of baked goods. I mentioned in an earlier post that I manager a local farmers market. Blueberries are at their peak right now at our market, just in time for the 4th of July.  Although other countries are beginning to grow them, blueberries are indigenous to, and primarily grown in, North America. Perhaps instead of the apple pie, blueberry pie should be considered the all-American pie! Head down to your local farmers market this week, pick up some fresh blueberries and celebrate all things American with a slice of blueberry pie.

I don't add a lot of extras to my blueberry pie. My pie has only a couple of ingredients. I think in the case of blueberry pie less really is more. Lemon is the perfect companion to the blueberry. It adds just a bit of tartness that really brightens up the blueberries and cuts the sweetness just a bit.

Fresh Blueberry Pie
(Printable Recipe)

For Crust
One unbaked pie crust in 9" pie pan
One disk pie dough, for top of pie, (your favorite recipe.)
I used Dori Greenspan's recipe Good for All-Most Everything Pie Dough for my crust. If you don't want to make your own pie crust you can use prepared pie dough found in the refrigerator section of you local grocery store. It won't be as amazing as a homemade dough but you'll still get a great pie!

Filling:

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup  granulated white sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch 

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Egg Wash:

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon cream
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream. 

Make the Blueberry Filling:  In a small bowl mix together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest.  Place the blueberries in a large bowl.  Add the sugar mixture to the blueberries and gently toss to combine.  Pour the mixture into prepared pie shell. I used cut out stars to top my pie with but you can do a lattice pattern if you prefer. Place the cut out pastry stars in a circular pattern on top of the blueberries, making sure to cover most of the top of the pie. Once the top of the pie is covered with the pastry stars, brush the entire surface with the egg wash. Place the assembled pie back in the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.   

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the chilled pie on a larger baking pan, lined with parchment paper or foil, to catch any spills.  Bake the pie for about 20 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.  Continue to bake the pie for about 35 - 45 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown color and the juices are bubbling and thick.  If the edges of the pie are browning too much during baking, cover with a foil ring. 

Place the baked pie on a wire rack to cool for several hours. If you cut your pie before it cools completely it will not set-up and will be very soupy. Serve at room temperature with softly whipped cream or ice cream.  

Apricot Raspberry Pie

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I can't believe that it's already July! It's been a hectic summer but I'm getting back into the swing of things. Managing a new farmers market has been fun but extremely time consuming. The best part however is I get to buy freshly picked produce right from the farmer that grew it.
Here in the South, we are blessed with an abundance of fresh fruit this time of the year. This week I found apricots. I look forward to fresh apricots each year. The apricot season is short so I try to eat as many as possible while they'er available. I bought a large bag so I could use some in baking. I wanted to make an apricot pie. I've used apricots in many things but had never made a pie with them. This pie is really quick to put together and looks beautiful when finished.

Raspberries and apricots really compliment each other so I decided to use both in this pie but you could use just apricots if you prefer. If you use only apricots, you will need to use about 2 pounds of fruit.

Apricot Raspberry Pie
Adapted from Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl

(Print Recipe)

Serves 8
1 1/2 lbs fresh apricots
6 oz fresh raspberries
1 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/3 cup slivered almonds (optional)

One 9" unbaked pie shell. You can use your favorite pie crust recipe or use a purchased pie crust.
Preheat oven to 400ºF with rack in lower third. Cut apricots (with skins) apart into halves, discarding pits. Melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, then stir in sugar, flour, almonds, and nutmeg, and remove from heat. Cool mixture until firm enough to crumble, 10 to 15 minutes.

Put apricots and raspberries in pie shell and crumble butter mixture over them. Bake pie, with a foil-lined baking pan on rack below it (to catch drips), 10 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF and continue to bake until top is golden, 50 minutes to 1 hour more.
Cool pie to warm or room temperature on a rack.

Chocolate Mousse Tartlettes

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I LOVE chocolate desserts. When I'm choosing dessert from a menu, I always look for the chocolate options first. I'm a sucker for any rich, decadent chocolate dessert. This recipe is for a pie that my mom used to make when I was growing up. It's an old recipe from Julia Childs. I like it because it's got rich chocolate flavor but yet isn't heavy like a cheesecake. It's a chocolate mousse in a crust. I've adapted her recipe slightly and instead of one pie I've made them into tartlettes and individual servings.
Vote for me in the Death by Chocolate contest

Chocolate Mousse Pie
Crust:
1 1/2cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 ounce melted semi-sweet chocolate
1/3 cup melted butter
Mix together and press into a 9 inch pie or tart pan or into tartlette pans or small molds.

Filling:
6 oz good quality semi-sweet or bitter sweet chocolate
3/4 cup of brown sugar divided
8 oz cream cheese at room temp
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs separated
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon Gran Marnier

Melt chocolate in double boiler over hot water. Cool slightly. Mix together in an upright mixer or with a hand mixer the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Add vanilla, salt, and the egg yolks. Mix only until well incorporated. Fold the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture. Beat egg white until stiff but not dry. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar and beat until stiff and dry. Take a small amount of the egg white and mix into the chocolate cream cheese mixture to lighten it then gently fold in the rest of the egg whites. Place the cream in mixing bowl and whip until about double in volume add the Gran Marnier and whip until it holds soft peaks. Fold about half of the whipped cream in to the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Reserving the rest of the cream for the top of the pie. Pour into prepared crust and chill overnight. Use reserved whipped cream to decorate the top of the pie.

Just one more... for now

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Okay it's not really pie it's a tart. Tart tatin to be exact. Something I've always wanted to make but have always been to intimidated to try. No scared of would probably be more accurate. Making caramel, caramelizing the apples, pate brisee, flipping it all out onto a plate, there's a high chance of failure with this one! I have read many recipes and thought; maybe someday... I came across a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine in 2003, that gave step by step instructions with pictures. Yes that's how long I've thought about making this recipe. Oh and I kept the magazine as well... What does that say about me? I thought maybe I could make this ...someday.
Anyway, it was to be Hubs last meal before deploying to Iraq and I asked what he'd like for dessert. (the rest of dinner had already been decided on.) Well he said pecan pie as he was walking through the kitchen to pack. No sweat I can make that in my sleep. Anyway dinner was under wraps, I thought. Then several minutes later he walks back through the kitchen and throws out "How about Tart Tatin?" What can I say?? "okay" (weakly without conviction) "Oh, you don't have to, pecan pie is fine" he says sensing my hesitation. "No I'll make it. I've been intimidated long enough! I can make tart tatin! I will make it!! If you want Tart Tatin for the last home cooked dessert you'll have in a year, then that's what you'll get!!" Well actually, I just said "I'll make the tart tatin!" This time with a little more confidence.
As I reread through the recipe(the one I've kept from Nov 2003), I realized there are only 4 ingredients in the tart. Apples, butter, sugar, salt. Wow. It's amazing what can be done with so few ingredients. Here is the recipe I used from Fine Cooking. All the pictures with the step-by-step instructions are included on the website.
So I've done it! I'm no longer afraid of Tart Tatin! It's not an easy dessert to make but not as bad as I'd feared. Give yourself plenty of time to make this. It takes 30 minutes, at least, to caramelize the apples. There's no quick way around that!

Making the caramel was the most worrisome part for me. The recipe stated it needed to be a rich mahogany color and not to under cook the caramel. I think I cooked my caramel a bit too long, but it still tasted great. My Pate Brisee making skills are not what they need to be but the crust tasty.

I'll make this again...someday...but I won't be afraid:)

Fall pies continued...

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I know I waxed eloquent in my last post about pumpkin pie and its fall significance and all around pumpkin perfection. All of which I stand by wholeheartedly, however, there is another pie which also evokes much of the same feelings for me. Many of my childhood memories of fall revolve around pecans. Growing up on a farm with 60-80 pecan trees, picking up pecans became a central part of fall. It's how we kids earned money for Christmas shopping and things like summer camp. I'm not saying we were always happy about it, there was plenty of grumbling, whining etc... But looking back there was a lot of laughing and good times as well. Needless to say we ate LOTS of pecans. Many in the form of pecan pie.
After marrying and moving away I really missed those fresh, organic pecans that were so plentiful on our farm. Buying pecans from the grocery store was always a disappointment. They can be anywhere from a year to two years old before you buy them. Those dried out nuts are nothing like the plump nuts we picked up, cracked out, and ate.
Hubs and I moved back near my family a couple years ago and since that time the pecan crop has been nearly non-existent. No nuts at all, so unfair! This year however things have amazingly turned around. In spite of a terrible drought though out whole southeastern US, this years pecan crop has been unbelievable. So many nuts in fact that many of the pecan trees have lost large limbs from the weight of the nuts. All the nuts on the farm are organically grown, picked up and hand shelled on the premises. For more info or to order pecans check out the farm blog http://waterberryfarm.blogspot.com/.
Hubs is not much a dessert person, he could take it or leave it. Unbelievable, I know! However pecan pie is one of the few desserts he doesn't ever pass up. Especially Bourbon Pecan Pie, a family recipe I've been making for years.

Southern Bourbon Pecan Pie

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 1/2 cup pecans

1 cup sugar* see note

1 cup Karo Syrup (light corn syrup)

4 eggs

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon good quality vanilla

2 TBL Bourbon (I use Jim Beam)

One 9" unbaked pie shell

Method

Preheat oven to 350

Melt butter in large skillet. I skim away any foam from the cream in the butter that rises to the top. Then toss the nuts into the butter and cook 1-2 minutes until nuts are coated with the butter and warmed. Remove from heat and cool slightly. In another large bowl, whisk together sugar, syrup, and salt. Whisk in eggs one at a time and stir in vanilla and bourbon. Stir in the butter/pecan mixture and pour into prepared unbaked pie shell and bake for 35-45 minutes until the center of the pie is set .

*You can use 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and 1/2 a cup of regular sugar for a more dense, rich pie

** Also great with cinnamon whipped cream from the last post:)

Heat wave cure?

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It happened this week. It's officially HOT here in the other LA. That's lower Alabama in case you were wondering. The temperature has hit 100 and seems to be determined to stay there for the foreseeable future- UGG! To reward myself for managing to survive so far, I thought I needed dessert! While any sort of ice cream would suffice, what I really wanted was Key lime pie. With the combination of cold/creamy/tangy, Key lime pie was just what I needed to break my 99% humidity induced funk.
Recipe
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup crushed ginger snap cookies
3 TBS sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
Combine all the ingredients and press into a 9" pie pan.
Filling
Pre-heat oven to 350
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup of Key Lime juice (regular lime juice just isn't the same)
1/2 TBS of lime zest
Combine ingredients, mix until smooth.
Pour filling into prepared pie shell and bake for 15 min.
Allow pie to cool then refrigerate until cold.
Serve with freshly whipped cream.

Luscious Berry Tart

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