Tag Archives: Recipe

Pie #45 – Death by Chocolate Pie

Posted on by
Reply

My little Fuzzle cat has gone missing without a trace. She’s been gone since this past Tuesday. She’s the kitty in the first picture I put on this blog, who was there with me last Thanksgiving when I made my first pie. She is heaven-knows-where.  It makes me sad as I write this post. I want pie to associate with happiness and The Yum. But I cannot help wonder where she went, how she went and whether she’s ok, or at peace. Fuzzle, I hope you come home. And if you do you’re grounded.

Today, I decided to try a recipe from Kate Orenberg’s Summer of Pie blog here on WordPress. It won’t be the last. She’s got the pie thing going on. This weeks selection is Death by Chocolate pie. And people, it’s Chocolate. The crust is a brownie, the filling is chocolate pudding (home-made of course) and the topping is a chocolate ganache and chocolate whipped cream topping. It’s also garnished with chocolate:) Please note the recipe is copied almost in its entire original form. She’s also a sharp writer. Thanks, Kate.

Choco-holic delightThe crust!:

(From King Arthur Flour’s “The Best Fudge Brownies Ever.”)

8 oz. (one stick) butter

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tbsp. vanilla

2 large eggs

3/4 cups flour

6 oz mini chocolate chips

Butter and flour a 9″ deep dish (2 – 2 1/2″ deep) pie pan.

In a medium-sized microwave safe bowl melt the butter. Add sugar and stir until combined. Stir in cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Add the flour and chips, and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, being care to bring it up the sides and over the top slightly. Make as thin a layer as you can as the batter will rise in the oven.

Place in the refrigerator for 30 min – 1 hour to set.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line chilled crust with greased parchment paper, pressing it firmly but gently against the sides; fill with weights. Bake for 20 minutes or until sides are set. Remove the parchment and weights and bake for another 8-15 minutes. Set aside to cool. I baked at 8 because the crust started to burn. I’ll take undercooked brownie to burned brownie any day:)

The filling!:

Adapted from “Recipe of the week: Blackout Cake: Brooklyn’s long-lost dessert”

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup whole milk

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped

2 tsp cocoa liqueur or vanilla extract

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, half-and-half in medium saucepan, slowly whisk in milk over medium heat. Switch to a heat-proof spatula and stir constantly until mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in chocolate, continue stirring until all chocolate is melted (place on low heat if pudding is too cold to fully melt the chocolate). Stir in liqueur or vanilla, and pour into prepared crust. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. My vote is 2 hours…

Ganache!:

12 oz heavy whipping cream

8 oz. bittersweet (like my mood) chocolate, chopped

Heat 6 oz of cream in a small saucepan over medium/low heat until steaming, but not boiling. While cream heats, chop chocolate into small pieces (fine) and place in heat-proof mixing bowl. When cream is steaming, pour onto the chocolate. Mix until thoroughly combined and allow to cool to room temperature. You want the ganache to set up a little so it’s no longer liquid, but not so set up as it would be difficult to fold into the whipped cream.

In a separate bowl, whip the remaining cream until it holds stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture, then gently spoon into chilled crust. Wrap in plastic and chill overnight or for at least 3 hours.

I only used 4 oz. of the bittersweet chocolate. I’m glad I did. The ganache almost ran off the top of the pie. Delicious but messy. I’m also a poor judge of determining how thick the ganache should be before folding in the whipped cream.

The whipped cream!:

12 oz. heavy whipping cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. rum

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Pour cold cream into a large bowl. Add vanilla and rum. Sift in cocoa powder and sugar. Blend with a hand mixer on low until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated; whip on high until cream has the consistency of a soft frosting. Spread gently on top of pie.

Decorate with a handful of mini chocolate chips, grated chocolate, or dusted cocoa powder. Chill until ready to serve.

This pie is, ummmm, chocolatey. Super delicious if you are a fanatic about chocolate. And I am.

They say chocolate cures the blues. I’m going to need to eat the whole thing myself in order to get over the sadness of the loss of my beautiful, flame-point Siamese kitty. Good night Fuzzle. Wherever you are…

Pie #44 – Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Posted on by
2

Before I start on my pie tangent, I feel the need to plug a singer who is working his way onto the cultural radar. His name is Marc Martel and he’s auditioning for the Queen Extravaganza which is being organized by Roger Taylor, the drummer for Queen. It’s a touring show that will hit the road next year. The tour is looking for singers and musicians to play the very best of Queen. Marc sent in a video audition where he sings Somebody to Love. It’s on You Tube, the clip is here. It is absolutely unbelievable. This guy should actually replace Paul Rogers who is currently fronting the band. End unsolicited plug for Marc…

Pie number 44 is a cookie pie. André has expressed an interest in my making a big pie that’s like a cookie and today I was feeling the mood for it. It’s very simple; prep took about 20 minutes and the total time from start to finish is just over an hour. Perfect if you are trying to watch football:)

This pie recipe is from About.com and is attributed to Linda Larsen.

It’s a cookie! It’s a pie!

The pie!:

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup butter, melted

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 9″ unbaked pie shell

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Beat eggs well in large bowl. Add flour and sugars and mix until well blended. Stir in the melted butter. Add chips . Pour into unbaked pie shell, and bake at 325F for 55-65 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let cool at least two hours before cutting. It’s currently on a rack in my kitchen cooling. I’m ready to eat and have whip cream and ice cream to add. Go big. I love me some cookie pie!

8 to go:)

Pie #43 – Cherry Pie with Lattice top

Posted on by
1

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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…