Tag Archives: Dessert

Pie #43 – Cherry Pie with Lattice top

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I took my wife to Sonoma, CA for the weekend in celebration of her 40th birthday. It was also our 5th wedding anniversary.  So it all came together quite nicely. We invited 15 of our friends to a beautiful and large home called Artisan House on the Russian River. It was truly a great weekend of fun and laughs. With a hot tub. In a small amount of spare time, I baked pie 43, a cherry pie with a lattice top.

Pie by the Russian River

The crust!:

2 ready-made pie crusts (hey, I was on vacation)

The filling!:

4 cups cherries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup unbleached flour

1 cup sugar

Thaw one of your ready-made pie crusts. You’ll cut that for your lattice.

Mix cherries, flour, cinnamon and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Pour into your frozen pie shell.

Flatten your thawed pie crust. Cut lattice from your thawed crust and weave on top of the pie. Pinch the edges to the shell.

Bake at 425F, for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake an extra 25-30 minutes or until crust is light brown.

It was really tasty and had a nice hint of the cinnamon. It was also quite juicy and sweet. Just like our weekend! All of our friends who tried it really liked it too.

Pie #42 – Butterscotch Meringue Pie

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And so today is 9/11/2011. Ten years ago I worked at an ad agency called Foote, Cone and Belding. On that day, as I was getting ready for work, I checked my email and a friend had just posted an email to our email list. It said simply, “Plane hit WTC. On fire.” I turned on the TV and couldn’t really process what I was watching. My first reaction was “is this some kind of joke?” I called a co-worker and asked him if he was watching TV. He handed the phone to my boss who told me that the office was closed for the day. I watched everything unfold and then rode my bike into downtown San Francisco. It was practically empty. I just sat on a bench on Market Street, took in the mental pictures of that day, where I was, and tried to rationalize. No rationalization came. Still hasn’t.

I find that after 10 years there’s still a lot of things I can’t watch in relation to the attacks. It’s still upsetting, unnerving, unsettling. It was one mindf*ck of a day. And so much has changed, on so many levels.

On this anniversary, it is also week one of the NFL football season. So I’ve spent my day watching games, buying supplies for pie number 42 and typing this. Today I made a butterscotch meringue pie. So much for low carb or vegan. The sweet is back. On the anniversary of a day that is anything but.

The crust!:

One pre-made graham cracker crust (Today is lazy-time)

The filling!:

1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
2  tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup cold water
2 egg yolks (slightly beaten)
This recipe can also be used (without the pie crust, of course) to make butterscotch pudding.

Butterscotch Meringue Pie

Combine sugar and flour in the top of a double boiler. I used a glass bowl as the top of the boiler, with a spaghetti pot filled 1/4 full as the bottom. Bring water to a boil. Add remaining ingredients in order given, adding the water and eggs last. Mix the egg yolks with 2 teaspoons of water before adding. Cook until mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. About 20 minutes. Remove from heat.Pour the mixture into a prepared 9-inch pie crust.

Meringue Topping!:
Beat 3 egg whites until stiff. While beating, gradually add 6 tablespoons of white sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form.Spread the meringue over the top of the pie, all the way to the edges. If you don’t spread it to the crusts to seal, the meringue may shrink.

Put the pie in a preheated 375F oven until the meringue has browned. Let cool to room temperature. Eat and enjoy.

 

Pie #41 – Healthy Apple Cinnamon Pie

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There’s a lot going on around town this long Labor Day weekend. It’s all spelled F-I-R-E. It’s really windy here and my wife and I keep a watchful eye as the wind whips and some of the surrounding area burns.  I wish all my friends in the affected areas surrounding Austin love and blessings. I hope you are alright. The only upside to the weather is that it’s a downright chilly 90F in the area today. It should be like this for the rest of the week. Which will be nice.

Pie 41 is a simple yet healthy apple cinnamon pie. The crust is a wheat flour crust/unbleached flour mix. I like the crust for this; it was manageable and easy to transfer. It was also really simple. The recipe for the crust only makes one so if you need a top for your pie you’ll need to double up on the ingredients.

The crust!:

Pie number 41, Healthy Apple Pie

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup unbleached flour

1/4 cup natural corn oil (Iused canola)

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup ice water

Blend ingredients together in a small bowl until it forms a flaky dough. If it seems dry, add one tablespoon of cold water at a time until it holds together.  Form into ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for one hour. Roll out one crust and transfer to a 9 in. pie dish. Place in fridge until you are ready to fill with your apples.

The filling!:

4-5 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced in thin wedges

2 tbsp. cinnamon

1 cup equivalent of sweetener (make sure you read the label for equivalent of sugar)

2 tbsp. wheat flour

1/2 cup margarine or butter

Pre-heat oven to 325F.

In a large bowl, peel and slice your apples. Add your cinnamon and blend into apples. Mix flour into sweetener. Place the peeled, sliced apples in the crust until it’s about 2/3 full. Sprinkle half the sweetener mix over apples. Place remaining apples slices into pan and sprinkle remaining sweetener mix over them apples. Slice the margarine and dot over the pie.

Roll out your top crust and transfer to pie. Crimp edges decoratively. Slice top to vent.

Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until the crust is light brown.

Mmmmm, delish. Sugar free apple ice cream adds to the pie as a nice garnish.

I have 11 pies to go:) It must mean that fall is almost upon us. Now if fall would only bring rain…

Pie #40 – Vegan Pumpkin Tart With Pecan Crust

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It makes me want to clean.

It’s a lovely if heated night here in Austin. I’m on vacation and have the week to stay-k. The homestead needs a few things done. I’m looking forward to the break.

So I accidentally made a vegan tart:) I need to look a little more closely at the details that surround the recipe when I decide I’m going to do them. Not that I wouldn’t have made it anyway. Pie number 40 doesn’t really fit with the time of year we are currently living in. But I’ve worn white pants after Labor Day and nobody seemed to mind.

 

The crust!:

3/4 cup pecan halves

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 pinch salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 tbsp. real maple syrup

Set rack in center of oven and pre-heat to 375F. Lightly oil a 10 inch tart pan. Spread pecans over a baking pan. Toast for 7-10 minutes or until smell of nuts permeates the kitchen. Set aside 16 of the pecan halves for your
garnish.

Combine the oats, flour. remaining pecans, cinnamon and salt into food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Transfer to a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and maple syrup. Whisk to create a soft dough. Press into and up sides of tart pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.

The filling!:

1 cup 1% low-fat milk

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin purée

1/2 cup real maple syrup

3 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream (for the non-vegans)

My first tart. My first vegan dessert.

Set oven to 375F. Blend the milk and corn starch in larger bowl until corn starch is completely dissolve, about 15 seconds. Add pumpkin purée, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and cloves. Blend until thoroughly combined. Pour filling into crust and smooth top.

Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Transfer to wire rack. Press the set-aside pecan halves into top for garnish. Cool to room temperature then chill until set, about 3 hours. You can serve chilled or at room temperature.

I had a slice with Olivia and, in my opinion, it sways between too much ginger and no flavor. It’s strange or maybe kind of bland. So we decided to try it with ice cream which made it a little more flavorful.

Pie #39 – Key Lime Pie – Low Carb Version

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I Hope you are having a good weekend and wherever you are, the weather is mild. This weeks pie is the low carb version of a key lime pie.  I’ll be looking for low carb versions of pie for a bit. I have found a whopping three that fit the bill. So if you have any good recipes, send them my way please. This one seemed the most in keeping with the time of year.

I’ve also never done a ground pecan crust. Easy and mesmerizing.

The inspiration for this pie comes from The South Beach Diet and allrecipes. I made a few mods to their recipe.

The crust!:

1 cup ground pecans

3 tbsp. margarine spread, melted (I used I can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”)

1/2 tsp. Truvia sugar substitute

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

In a food processor, ground up the pecans and Truvia. Add coconut extract and melted butter and blend until combined. Place in 9 inch pie plate and spread along bottom and up sides of plate. It may not look like much in relation to the pan, but this is why I say it was mesmerizing.

The filling!:

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp. Truvia sugar substitute

1 (6 ounce) package sugar-free lime-flavor gelatin

1/3 cup boiling water

1/3 cup cold water

2 (8 ounce) packages low-fat cream cheese, cut into pieces

1 tsp. lemon zest

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1/2 tsp. coconut extract

2 tbsp. ground pecans (optional as garnish)

In a medium bowl, mix together 1 cup ground pecans, butter, 2 packets sweetener, and 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract. Press firmly into bottom and up sides of an 8 inch pie plate; refrigerate until firm.

In a small bowl, whip the heavy cream with 1/2 teaspoon sweetener until soft peaks form. Set aside.

In a large bowl with high sides (this is important, unless you want green gelatin mix all over your kitchen), mix the gelatin with boiling water until all the gelatin has dissolved. Stir in the cold water. Using an electric mixer, slowly beat in the cream cheese. After the cream cheese is added, stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract, and beat at high-speed until smooth. Carefully fold in the whipped cream. With a spatula, scrape mixture into the pie crust and smooth out. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons ground nuts on top (optional). Refrigerate several hours or overnight to allow gelatin to set thoroughly.

I’ll have a slice after I eat dinner. During the Cowboys/Chargers pre-season game.