Category Archives: Homemade Pie Crust Pies

Pie #25 – Outrageous Orange Custard Pie

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Today’s selection comes courtesy Divaliscious in Dutchess County, New York. The recipe was located and attempted courtesy of GroupRecipes.com. Dutchess County just sounds like the kind of a county that would make really good fruit pies. This pie doesn’t have orange slices but is an orange flavored custard with a meringue topping.

The crust!:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 stick chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

3 tbsp. or more of ice water

Blend the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor using on/off turns. Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix until moist clumps form. Add additional water by teaspoon if the mix is dry. Remove from processor and form into a ball. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Let set in the fridge a minimum of 3o minutes. Once cooled, roll out to 13 inch diameter disk and transfer to a 9 inch pie pan. Trim edges and use extra dough to patch any holes or thin spots. I usually have a lot of those:)

The filling!:

Orange

2 eggs, separated

1 egg whole

1 cup white sugar

4 tbsp. sugar for meringue (goes with 2 egg whites you saved)

1-2/3 cups evaporated milk (12 oz. can; The Divaliscious recipe called for 14.5 oz. but no such can seems to exist in Austin, TX. Besides, 12 oz. = 1 2/3 cups. Not only can I convert measurements but I can lift heavy things too.)

1-1/3 cup orange juice (with pulp is best)

3 tsp. grated orange zest (I used 4. Hope it’s not a deal breaker.)

1 tsp. pure orange extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and have shelf placed on the lower level in the oven. Separate two of the eggs – beat egg yolks and 1 whole egg well in mixer. Add sugar and blend well. Add evaporated milk, orange juice, orange zest and pure orange extract. Continue to mix until blended. Pour into pastry shell and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until custard is firm and knife comes out clean. Cool pie slightly.

While pie is cooling, beat 2 egg whites and 4 tablespoons sugar to make meringue. Remember people, make sure the meringue is blended until it forms stiff peaks. Top pie with meringue and bake in moderate oven (325 degrees) for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

The pie came out looking like it hadn’t fully baked. I realized afterward that I put in 1/3 cup too much orange juice. So this pie is going to be outrageously juicy. I also burned the crust which is never good. I need to put tin foil collars on these when they bake at 40 minutes.

The pie tastes good but it’s not, as the name suggests, outrageous. It’s got a nice  balance to it, but it’s also soggy. Not my worst but not one of the better pies either. It’s mid-range.

Pie #23 – Sherry’s Blackberry Cream Pie

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Happy May Day. Lots to do today at the homestead in Austin. All manner of yardwork, cleaning, picking up kids, and baking of course. This week, I had a few people ask me what my pie of choice was going to be for week number twenty three. I didn’t have a plan for this one. Actually, generally speaking, my planning has fallen by the wayside. I usually scramble on the weekend figuring out the pie, and then rushing to the store to get any missing ingredients. Not really my preferred method but it works well enough.

A couple of these folks asked me if I had made a blackberry pie yet. I had not. Until today…

This pie comes courtesy of cooks.com. The pie guru who created this recipe is one Sherry Monfils. Why thank you!

The crust!:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 stick chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

3 tbsp. or more of ice water

Blend the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor using on/off turns. Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix until moist clumps form. Add additional water by teaspoon if the mix is dry. Remove from processor and form into a ball. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Let set in the fridge a minimum of 3o minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees  and remove the dough after half hour. Roll out on lightly floured surface into a 13 inch circle. Transfer to a 9 inch pie dish. Today I rolled up the dough in a log and unrolled it in the pie dish. It actually worked pretty well. Trim the dough and use the remnants to patch any holes you might have around the crust edge or in the dish.

You aren’t supposed to bake the crust but I did. It was a slight oversight.  I lined the bottom of the crust with foil and filled with uncooked beans to weigh it down. It was baked for 20 minutes. After it was baked, the beans and foil were removed and the crust allowed to cool.

The filling!:

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups light sour cream
1 tsp  vanilla
3 cups blackberries
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tbsp. butter, softened
whipped cream
Preheat oven to 400°F. In a bowl, combine sugar, 1/3 cup flour, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Toss in blackberries and stir well. Spoon into pie shell. If you’re someone who decides to bake the pie crust when you aren’t supposed to, drop the oven rack to the lower third of the oven, and put an aluminum foil collar around the crust so it doesn’t burn.Bake 30-35 minutes or until set. In a bowl, combine 1/3 cup flour, brown sugar, pecans and soft butter, mix well. Sprinkle over pie. Return pie to oven for 10 minutes. Let cool and slather with lots of whipped cream!
The pie tastes good. I like the contrast with the berries, the crumble and the flakey crust.  Thumbs up on this one.

Pie #21 – Shimmering Strawberry Pie

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It’s a beautiful day here in Austin. It’s not too hot but not chilly either. There was a long list of to-do’s around the house and I got a few things done. Among them, pie.

I wanted to make a fruit pie this week. My list of options for this seems to be getting more limited. I’m not a huge fan of peaches.  I’ve done apple and blueberry pies. I’ve done bananas. Rhubarb makes me skeptical. Strawberry pie sounded like a good one take make so this is number twenty one.

The crust!:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 stick chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes

2 tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

3 tbsp. or more of ice water

Blend the flour, butter, sugar and salt in a food processor using on/off turns. Add 3 tablespoons of water and mix until moist clumps form. Add additional water by teaspoon if the mix is dry. Remove from processor and form into a ball. Flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Let set in the fridge a minimum of 3o minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and remove the dough after half hour. Roll out on lightly floured surface into a 13 inch circle. Transfer to a 9 inch pie dish. Trim the dough and use the remnants to patch any holes you might have around the crust edge or in the dish.

Line crust with foil and add dry beans or pie weights and bake for about 15 minutes until the sides are set. Remove from oven, remove beans and foil. Heat oven to 350 degrees F and bake an additional 10 minutes until crust is a light brown.

The filling!:

6 cups strawberries, halved

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Few drops red food coloring (optional – I opted out)

Light frozen whipped dessert topping, thawed (optional – I opted in)

In a food processor or, using a blender and large bowl combine 1 cup of the strawberries and the water. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes.

In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and cornstarch; stir in berry mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. If you want the red of the strawberries to pop, stir in enough red food coloring to tint a rich red color. I’m a naturalist. I opted out to the food coloring. Cool to room temperature.

Fold remaining strawberries into cooled mixture; transfer mixture to pastry shell. Cover; chill for 3 to 4 hours. If desired (oh yes I do), serve with whipped topping.

Pie #20 – Momofuku’s Crack Pie

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I was having my morning coffee on Saturday, just reading about pie shops in San Francisco and Austin, and the pie blogs of others when I came across an article by Rene Lynch of the New York Times. In it, she discusses a pie so popular, people will pay up to $44 for this concoction called Crack Pie. Created by Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar in Manhattan, this pie truly is addiction in a pie crust, and a nice twist on the Chess Pie.

Momofuku’s Crack Pie

Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)

Cookie for crust:

2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. flour

1/8 tsp. each: baking powder, baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/3 cup light brown sugar

3 tbsp. sugar

1 egg

1 cup rolled oats

Crust:

Crumbled cookie for crust

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

Filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup plus 3 tbsp. light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup plus 1 tsp. milk powder

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

3/4 cup plus 2 tsp. heavy cream

1 tsp.vanilla extract

8 egg yolks

Powdered sugar, garnish

To make the cookie for crust:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment (I don’t have one), or in a large bowl using an electric mixer (I have one), beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

To make the crust:

1. Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together).

2. Divide the crust between two 10-inch pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt, and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air (this I don’t understand and don’t know if any air was added to my mix).

4. Divide the filling evenly between the two prepared pie shells.

5. Bake the pies for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a chess pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

I ditched the powdered sugar and went for the gooey richness. It is really delicious and the texture is nice. My wife and I tried it while it was still warm. It’ a very sweet pie that won’t hold shape unless it’s cold. Not a problem for me though:) This pie is a total diet buster. I’m going to freeze one and bring it to a potluck on Wednesday.

Pie #14 – Apple Vanilla Cream Pie

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Apple Cream

Nicole is in town from San Francisco. Jewelz is in town from Houston. Tammi and I are very excited to see the both of them. It’ll be a slumber party!

Nicoles favorite pies are in cherry or apple form. I looked up apple pies and found one that calls for vanilla and cream. It sounded tasty so I decided this weeks would be apple vanilla cream.

The recipe is Frankenstein. I did a double crust from a recipe in the Bon Apetit Desert Cookbook. I pulled the filling from a recipe in cooks.com. It’s attributed to CW. Thank you CW:)

The crust!

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flower

1/2 tsp. salt

10 tbsp. (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

3 tbsp. (or more) ice water

The filling!

6 cups thinly sliced apples
1 tbsp. vanilla extract or freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cream
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla
4 tablespoons butter, softened

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line a pie dish with the bottom pie crust. Mine became a 4 piece jigsaw puzzle. Todays bottom crust was not pretty. Amazingly, the top crust wasn’t as bad. And it was room temperature. Advice – roll out the dough while it’s still cold.

Wash, peel and core apples. Arrange thinly sliced apples in the bottom pie crust.

Combine all remaining ingredients, mixing well. Pour mixture over apples. Cover pie with second crust; crimp or flute edges and cut slits in top, creating vents to allow steam to escape.

Brush the crust with milk, cream, or an egg wash.

Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until apples are tender (check through the center vent). Make sure to check it at 45 minutes to see how the crust looks. If it’s got a nice tan to it, I might be time to remove from the oven.

After I pulled the pie from the oven, a small group of us went to the Salt Lick in Drifwood for some BBQ. We came home to a very pleasant desert, garnishing with vanilla ice cream. The pie is still slightly warm, the apples held up well and didn’t go mushy. It has a good hint of vanilla and cinnamon. The crust is a nice, flaky crust. My friends like it. I want another piece…