Pie #24 – S’More Pie

Posted on May 8, 2011 by pieofthebeholder

Swap out campfire for oven. Swap out stick for plate.

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms! Tammi and I went to Taco Express with our friend Piph this morning for a few breakfast tacos to celebrate her day. The place was jammed. But the food is always good. After that, we went thrifting for costumes for an upcoming party. While Piph and Tammi continued on (I’m not much of a thrifter), I came home and jumped into baking pie #24. It’s S’More pie. I found this one on the Food Network website. The pie crust is from Martha Stewart. It’s my favorite pie crust, if you’ve forgotten. A suggestion to all you moms with young children, if you want your kids to worship you, make this pie. In parental circles, it’s known as “leverage.”

The crust!:

16 -20 graham crackers

5 tbsp. butter, melted

3 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend the graham crackers until fine. Add butter, sugar and salt and mix until blended. In a 9 inch pie plate, spread the mixture along bottom and sides of pan. Bake for approx. 15 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

The filling!:

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 stick butter, melted

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk

1/4 cup coffee liqueur or Kahlua (I used Kahlua)

2 cups miniature marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar thoroughly combined and pale yellow. Whisk in melted butter, cocoa powder, evaporated milk, and coffee liqueur. Set aside.

Place pie shell on baking sheet and place on an oven rack. Carefully pour in filling. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. About 5 minutes before pie is finished, mound marshmallows in the center of the pie (they will spread as they
melt). Continue baking until marshmallows are golden brown.

Let cool slightly. Serve warm. It’s gooey and I like the hint of liqueur along with the cocoa. The marshmallows make it fun, but a little sticky.

And now we’re off with the kids for Mother’s Day dinner. Canolli Joe style. So much for desert.

Pie #23 – Sherry’s Blackberry Cream Pie

Posted on May 2, 2011 by pieofthebeholder

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 #22 – Coconut Key Lime Pie

Posted on April 24, 2011 by pieofthebeholder

Happy Easter! It’s been a busy weekend. Getting ready for Easter Sunday. Easter egg hunt for the kids on Sunday morning. The Easter Rabbit brought the kids an Xbox Kinnect but didn’t bother to set it up. So I took care of that too. We also have a BBQ at friends today. I made Coconut Key Lime pie for the event. Actually I made two. The below recipe yields one pie. The recipe comes courtesy of Martha Stewart.

The crust!:

6 ounces cookies (about 12 graham crackers or 46 vanilla wafers or 30 chocolate wafers, such as Famous)

3 tbsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. coarse salt

5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). Add sugar, salt, and butter and pulse until combined.

Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. (If using a springform pan, press crumbs halfway up sides.) Bake until crust is dry and set, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely in plate on a wire rack before filling.

The filling!:

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1 can (13.5 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk

1/3 cup fresh or bottled Key lime juice

7 large egg yolks

2 cups cold heavy cream

2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar

3 tbsp. sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together condensed milk, coconut milk, lime juice, and egg yolks until smooth. Pour into crust and bake until set but still slightly wobbly in center, 40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, 1 1/2 to 2 hours, then refrigerate 3 hours (or up to 1 day).

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream and sugar on high until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. To serve, top pie with whipped cream and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

The pie is really tasty but quite heavy. Smaller slices will do quite well. The whip cream is thick, fluffy and sweet, they custard is rich. The graham craker crust is my new favorite. It’s very simple and holds to the custard well so you get the full range of texture and taste.

Pie #21 – Shimmering Strawberry Pie

Posted on April 18, 2011 by pieofthebeholder

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

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

Posted on April 11, 2011 by pieofthebeholder

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.