Tag Archives: Baking

Pie #33 – 1975 Dick Taeuber’s Brandy Alexander Pie

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I’ve been staring at this recipe for a few weeks. It’s from the Essential New York Times Cookbook, which is out now. The recipe was previously covered by Amanda Hesser at food52.com, which is where I discovered this boozey delight. You can go here to read the story behind this concoction. I remember 1975 – 8-tracks, Led Zeppelin 4, and really bad color palettes. And now, one variation of many booze pies. Truly great days.

The  Crust!:

1 1/2 cups gingersnap crumbs

Booze Pie

1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the crumbs with the melted butter. Form in a 9-inch pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

The filling!:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

2/3 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup Cognac (I used brandy)

1/4 cup Crème de Cacao

1 cup heavy cream

Pour 1/2 cup cold water in a saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Add 1/3 cup sugar, salt and egg yolks. Stir in to mix. Place over low heat and stir until the gelatin dissolves and mixture thickens slightly (it won’t be as thick as a custard). Do not boil! Remove from heat.

Stir the liqueurs into the mixture. Chill until the mixture starts to mound slightly.

Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add remaining sugar and beat until it forms stiff peaks. Fold the meringue into the chilled mixture.

Whip the cream, then fold into the mixture. Fill the crust. Chill for several hours.

Pie #32 – Lemon Macaroon Pie

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Happy Independence Day! Like any good, upstanding citizen, I spent some dough on stuff. Bought a much-needed mattress from Costco online. We hear it’s nice:) My wife and I look forward to a new mattress.  We roll to the center of the current one nightly, like sleepy little bumper cars. I guess no more pillow tops…

Being that the day  went  spending dough on stuff, I didn’t start until about 7pm. And this weeks pie needs a lot of attention. It won’t be piped until tomorrow morning. This week it’s lemon macaroon pie, courtesy of Bon Apetit Deserts by Barbara Fairchild.

Lemon Macaroon Pie, not as beautiful as it would be in Bon Apetit, but probably just as tasty

The crust!:

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flower

1/2 cup cake flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. (1/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces

2 tbsp. chilled non-hydrogenated solid vegetable shortening cut into half-inch pieces

3 tbsp. (or more) ice water

Blend both flours, sugar and salt in food processor. Add butter and shortening; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Add 3 tbsp. ice water and process until moist clumps form. Add more water by teaspoon full if  dough is dry.  Gather dough into a ball, flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill at least an hour.

Position rack in bottom third of oven and pre-heat to 350F.  Roll out dough on lightly floured surface  to 13 inches diameter. Transfer to dish. Trim dough to half-inch and fold under. Crimp decoratively and freeze for 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights (I have pie weights!). Bake until crust is set and edges are pale golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans (or weights). Cool completely on rack. Maintain oven temperature.

The filling!:

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut

1/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp. (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp. finely grated lemon peel

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Using and electric mixer beat the eggs, egg yolks and salt in a large bowl to blend. Add sugar, and beat until mixture is thick and fluffy, about a minute. Beat in coconut, whipping cream, lemon juice, lemon peel, melted butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Pour into crust.

Bake until filling is golden and set, about 40 minutes. Cool pie completely on rack and then chill until cold, about 3 hours. Note that I’m typing this at 11:45 pm CST. And the pie is still in the oven. I guess, I’ll have a slice for breakfast. I’ll drop in a picture too. Enjoy your Independence Day, however you choose to celebrate!

An update on July 4-Finally got the pie piped with whipped cream and garnished with the lemon slice at around noon. The pie has a good taste of lemon but there’s a heavy texture of coconut that I’m not too crazy about. The crust baked well and thankfully didn’t burn. Pie collars are important:)Coming from a Bon Apetit cookbook, I’m bummed this doesn’t have a bigger lemon pop to the flavor.  It’s average to me. Too bad, considering the amount of time it took to put together. I guess I’ll have to drown my disappointment by going out and looking for a sectional sofa.

Pie #31 – Strawberry Cream Pie

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It’s a True Blood evening. Our friend Piph is coming over to watch it with Tammi. I don’t include myself in this as I don’t have much of an interest in the series. I’ll just do something else. But I did keep in a theme (sort of) for the show. Pie number 31 is a strawberry cream pie. Strawberries for the (tasty, delicious) bloody gore, and cream for these vampires silky complexions (until they fight and tear each other up). So saxy. I did this pie with a graham cracker crust. I don’t really have anything to tie into for the crust. Charring at first sunlight? Doesn’t sound very yummy. I don’t know. I don’t watch it, seriously.

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!:

Two (8 oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened

3 cups strawberries

1 tbsp. sugar

6 tbsp.  sugar

3 tbsp. corn starch

3 tbsp. confectioner powdered sugar

1/2 cup whipped cream

Place the sliced strawberries in a dish and sprinkle with 1 tbsp. sugar. Let sit for 30 to 60 minutes to make juice. Set aside 1/2 cup strawberries and juice for later.

Add the remaining berries and juice in a saucepan and add remaining sugar and the cornstarch. Set at medium low heat (don’t go too high, you could burn the berries) and simmer until berries break down and the mixture thickens, about 20 minutes. Let cool.

While strawberries simmer , beat together the cream cheese, reserved juice, powdered sugar, and whipped cream until smooth and creamy.

Place the set-aside strawberries in the bottom of the cooled pie crust. Spoon the cream cheese mixture on top of them, using a spatula or flat wooden spoon to smooth it out.

Pour the cooled strawberry sauce in the center of the pie and smooth out toward the edges with a flat wooden spoon. Top with more strawberries as desired. Chill for two hours and serve with whipped cream.

I had a bit of it before the steak-with-garlic dinner, and it is delish. It’s heavy on the creaminess. The taste of the strawberries is very sweet. I like it; it’s like jelly. The sweetness stays a while. Having it with a graham cracker crust is an extra added bonus. It’s a good one.

Pie #30 – Pecan Pie with Creme de Cacao and Chocolate Chips

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 It’s 104F in Austin today. Needless to say, things are moving slowly. Inside with air conditioning, baking and watching murder mysteries. Fun! I probably should have made something with ice cream. Pie number 30 is pecan pie with Creme de Cacao and chocolate chips. The original recipe called for Kahlua. Unfortunately, I don’t have any. And it’s Sunday so the liquor store is closed. You go with what you have, and perhaps serve it with ice cream.
The recipe is from epicurious.

Smiling pecan and chocolate

The crust was from the pie that I made last week.  If you want the recipe go to pie #29. Let’s just say, pre-made:)

The filling!:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

3/4 cup dark corn syrup

1/4 cup Creme de Cacao or Kahlúa or coffee liqueur

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I added a full cup; I like chocolate)

2/3 cup chilled whipping cream (or cool hwip)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Beat sugar and butter in medium bowl until smooth; beat in flour. Gradually beat in corn syrup, then Creme de Cacao and vanilla. Mix in eggs, then chopped pecans. Sprinkle chocolate chips over bottom of crust. Pour filling into crust.

Bake pie until filling is puffed around edges and just set in center, covering edge of crust if browning too quickly, about 45 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Beat cream in medium bowl until peaks form. Drop whipped cream in small dollops around edge of pie. Or slather with Cool Hwip.

It’s a good gooey pie with the melted chocolate and it tastes like hot brownie with nuts. I have a bigger piece later, probably with the ice cream. Hey, it is HOT!

After serving be sure to cover and refrigerate.

Pie #29 – Cindi’s Jambalaya Cajun Pot Pie

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This week I’m bored with sweet pies. Fruit too. I searched through a bunch of recipes this weekend and came upon this one from aaron cindi at allrecipes.com. The crust is a basic crust from the cookbook 500 Pies and Tarts.

The pie of pie

This pie clocks in at a whopping 858 calories per serving so let’s be careful people!

The crust (makes 2 crusts)!:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter

1 large egg

2 tsp. white vinegar

2 tbsp. ice-cold water

Combine the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the shortening and butter into small chunks and blend into flour mixture using a pastry blender or 2 knives in a criss-cross motion. Blend until mixture has texture of coarse sand with a few small pea size balls of butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, vinegar and water. Slowly pour into flour mixture and stir only until moist. The dough should stick together and hold the form of a ball. Divide the dough into 2 balls and wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten each into a disk and put in fridge a minimum of 30 minutes.

Please note, if you follow the filling recipe, you will have enough jambalaya for at least 2 large pies. My wife was happy about this; she had a bowl for dinner:)

The filling!:

1/4 cup canola oil

1 (16 ounce) package kielbasa sausage, cut into 1 inch
pieces

1 pound cooked chicken meat, shredded

2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning, or to taste, divided

2 tablespoons Cajun blackened seasoning, or to taste, divided

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 quarts chicken broth, or as needed

1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tablespoon ground black pepper, or to taste

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

2 (9 inch) prepared pie crusts

1 beaten egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

1. Heat canola oil in a large saucepan, and cook the kielbasa sausage and chicken meat over medium heat until the sausage has browned, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the meat with 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning and 1 tablespoon of blackened seasoning as it cooks. Remove the sausage and chicken from the pan, and set aside. Cook the onion, celery, and green bell pepper in the hot oil until the onion has turned translucent, about 5 minutes, sprinkling with 1 more tablespoon of Cajun seasoning and 1 tablespoon of blackened seasoning. Remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon, and set aside.

2. Make a roux (I’m still not sure what this is, even though I made it) with the oil left in the pan by sprinkling it with the flour. Whisk the flour and oil together, and cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is a pale brown color. This could take up to 15 minutes; watch carefully so the roux doesn’t burn. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, about 1/2 cup at a time, to make a thin, smooth gravy. Bring the gravy to a simmer, mix in the cooked sausage, chicken, and vegetables, and cook until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Mix the rice into the gravy mixture, and simmer until the rice is almost tender, about 15 minutes; mix in the shrimp and cook until they are opaque and pink, 5 to 10 minutes. Season the filling with black pepper and cayenne pepper remove the filling from the heat.

4. Fit a pie crust into 1 9-inch pie dish; brush crust with beaten egg, and poke holes all over the crust with a fork. You can also use pie weights, which I finally bought! Bake in the preheated oven for 3 minutes. Fill the parbaked crust with the jambalaya filling, top with the second crust, and pinch and crimp the edges of the crust together with a fork. Brush the crust with more beaten egg, and cut several steam slits into the top of the crust.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until the crust edges begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Line the edges of the crust with foil, and bake until the whole crust is golden brown, about 5 more minutes.

I have never made jambalaya before so I’m thrilled about it. To put it in a pie is certainly unique but I don’t think it’s totally necessary:) The whole thing put together does taste really nice though. The kids and their friends, who ate over before their big out-of-state  move , did really like it. So this one’s a winner. Thanks Cindi!