Week Seven - Mini Pecan Pies

I haven't met a pecan pie that I didn't like.  It's all just sugar and pecans, right?  These mini pies were a nice break from the traditional pie but still had a great crust.  We took these to a dinner party and impressed our neighbors.  I think my wife secretly likes my pie obsession.  Secretly.

 

Crust

2 1/2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

1/2 t salt

1 cup butter flavored shortening

1 egg

1 T vinegar

1/4 c cold water

Mix dry ingredients.  Cut shortening into dry ingredients until crumbly.  Beat egg and add to dough along with vinegar.  Add water.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes and grease two muffin pans.  Roll out dough onto a smooth, floured surface.  I used a wide mouth jar lid to cut the dough into a circle. Using either your hand or some weird wooden tool you find randomly at the only time you would ever possibly need it, press the dough into the cups of the muffin pans. 

Pecan Pie

2/3 cup chopped pecans, separated

1 c brown sugar

2/3 c corn syrup

2 t vanilla

3/4 t salt

2 eggs

2 egg whites

whipped cream for garnish

24 pecan halves for garnish



1/3 cup doesn't go very far when divided by 24 cups.



Divide 1/3 cup of the pecans among the muffin cups.  Set aside.  Stir everything else together unless it is for garnish.  I like this recipe because I really don't understand the point of doing weird things like 'folding' and adding eggs one at a time.  With this recipe, just throw it all into a bowl and stir. 

Spoon filling into muffin tins.  Be very careful not to spill onto the ouside edge of the dough (between the dough and the pan) as it will burn and taste nasty (see pictures below).  Also, don't fill it all the way to the top as it will overflow and burn and taste nasty.  I was a little worried about how much to fill and exactly how to spread the filling among the cups, but it actually worked out pretty perfectly. 

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  Cool for about 10 minutes and then loosen the mini pies, remove and cool them on a wire rack.  Carefully scrape away the places where the sugar filling burned on the edge of the mini pie.  It's a lot like scraping the burn off of toast.  Garnish and serve.

Week Six - Grasshopper Pie

So about a year ago I sent my wife on a hunt for Creme de Menthe.  All I wanted was some mint frosting, but I ended up with an entire bottle of the stuff from the liquor store.  I decided it was about time to try out a pie without the traditional crust and I have plenty of Creme de Menthe to spare.  Upon a little more research, I discovered a Creme de Menthe syrup which is probably the intended ingredient for this recipe.  Whatever.

Crust
20 finely crushed chocolate wafers
6 T butter

Combine crushed wafers and melted butter.  Spread onto the bottom and sides of a pie pan and chill for about an hour.  I had a difficult time getting the crust off the pan, so you may want to line the pan with something.

Filling
6 1/2 cups minature marshmallows (about 1 bag)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup creme de menthe syrup
1 cup whipping cream
Green food coloring

In a large saucepan, combine marshmallows and milk, cooking on low until the marshmallows are melted.  Remove from heat and cool.  Continue to stir.  Add creme de menthe. 

Separately, whip the whipping cream and fold into marshmallow mixture.  Add several drops of food coloring.  Pour filling into crust and chill for 2 hours.  Garnish as desired.

If you love mint, this recipe is pretty simple and tastes good.  The pie filling is a good consistency, much like a marshmallow creme but not as sticky.  Would I make it again?  Probably not, but that's only because I've found other pie recipes that I crave more.

Week Five - Razanna Cream Pie

I'm going to start by saying that I have never had Banana Cream Pie, so I wasn't stoked on the idea of a Raspberry-Banana Cream Pie.  A few years ago I decided that bananas were healthy so I started choking them down in record numbers.  Now I can handle them, but if I didn't think they were healthy I would spend the rest of my life without eating another banana.  Raspberries...well, I like to pick them.  In a perfect world I would be a raspberry farmer, selling my fruit on the side of some old highway, watching the cars go by... 

Back to the pie.  My wife volunteered to take dinner to a friend, which means I get to make a pie.  So, we decided on either a peanut butter pie or a chocolate pie.  Come to find out, these friends don't like peanut butter or chocolate.  What kind of people don't like peanut butter or chocolate?  What is wrong with these people? 
Anyway, they like fruity things.  Enter Razanna Cream Pie.  It was perfect because I sure as hell wasn't planning on eating it (or much of it) and this way I could still technically make it. 

Having said that, I stand corrected.  This pie changed my life.

Pie Crust

1/2 c butter

1/3 c lard
1/3 cup shortening
1 T sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 T nonfat dry milk
3 c flour
1/2 c cold water

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the lard, butter, and shortening into the flour mix.  Set aside.  Mix the nonfat dry milk into the water and slowly add to the other mixture until just blended.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.  Separate into 2-3 chunks.  Roll out dough chunks on a floured surface.  Using a fork, poke lots of holes into the dough.  Lift one half of the dough off of the counter and fold it over your hand.  Slide the dough onto a pie pan and unfold.  Knock the pan on the counter a few times to help set the dough into the pan.  Make sure there are lots of holes in the dough, especially in the corners.  Use the palm of your hand to press the dough against the sides of the pie tin, cutting off the excess dough.  Bake at 375 for 15-18 minutes.  Makes 2-3 shells.

 

See all the holes?  I'm not sure why the crust shrinks so much...

 

Razanna Cream Pie

 

4 cups milk, divided

2 cups half-and -half

2 T butter

1 1/4 c sugar, divided

3 egg yolks

1/4 t salt

1/2 c cornstarch

1 1/2 t vanilla

3 bananas

Raspberry jam or preserves (thinned with water)

Berries for garnish

 



Double-boiler



The recipe states: place 3 cups milk in a double boiler.  Add half-and-half and butter.  My double boiler holds only 3 cups, so I had to resort to a normal pan which means I had to stir like crazy.  Add 3/4 c sugar and cook until butter is melted and milk looks scalded.  I don't know what scalded milk is supposed to look like, so I googled it.  I found something that told me to turn the heat on to high and leave the room until the smell was terrible and then return and throw the pan away.  That didn't sound right, so I just heated it until it was almost boiling.

Normal pan

 

In a separate bowl, wisk egg yolks and 1/2 c sugar and slowly add to the hot mixture.  My neighbor told me to wisk like crazy when adding the yolks or else you may get chunks of cooked eggs in the cream. 

 

Stir constantly.  Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly and keeping the mixture at a temp just below boiling. 

 

Mix 1 c milk and cornstarch together and slowly add to the mixture.  Do not mix these together before hand or you will discover that the cornstarch sinks to the bottom of the milk and forms a brick.  Very unpleasant.  Stir like crazy.  Cook for another 15-20 minutes. 

 

When the pudding mixture is thick enough (i.e. thick like pudding), remove from heat and add vanilla. 

 

Slice bananas and line the bottom of 2 cooked and completely cooled pie crusts.  Pour filling on top of bananas.  When I served this pie I saw immediately that the bananas were brown.  Maybe you should let the filling cool before pouring it onto the bananas?  Who knows.

 

Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate for 3-4 hours.  Spread raspberry jam or preserves (thin with water until it is a syrup consistency) on top.  Top with berries or other garnish.  I had blackberries, so threw some on top. 

 

Makes 2 pies

 

I took a bite of this pie thinking it would probably be ok, but not anything great.  It was amazing.  I normally don't like to put bananas in smoothies or protein shakes because that's all that I can taste.  The banana flavor was subtle and the consistency of the cream was perfect.  I honestly wanted to eat the entire pie.  It changed my life.  I had to share it, so I took a couple of pieces to a neighbor.  The cream slide off the bananas while I walked, revealing the ugly brown bananas underneath.  I was worried that they wouldn't partake.  They ate it.  All of it.  This pie will go down in history.

 

Week Four - Chocolate Chip Walnut Pie

Who can resist the temptation of a giant chocolate chip cookie?  I made this one at my wife's request since we both love chocolate chip cookies.  Once again we also made this one for Sunday dinner with my family.  Members of my family have a general distaste for cooked fruit (or fruit in general) so I thought this one might be a little more popular with them.  They liked it, but now that I know just how good traditional pies taste (since I am now an expert), I would prefer to eat my cookies in cookie form. 

Pie Crust

1/2 c butter

1/3 c lard
1/3 cup shortening
1 T sugar
1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 T Nonfat dry milk
3 c flour
1/2 c cold water

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the lard, butter, and shortening into the flour mix.  Set aside.  Mix the nonfat dry milk into the water and slowly add to the other mixture until just blended.  Refridgerate for 15 minutes.  Separate into 2-3 chunks.  Roll out dough chunks on a floured surface.  Fold the dough over your hand and slide onto pie pan.  Knock the pan on the counter a few times to help set the dough into the pan.  Use the palm of your hand to press the dough against the sides of the pie tin, cutting off the excess dough.  Makes 2-3 shells.

Chocolate Chip Walnut Pie

2 Eggs
1/2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c brown sugar
3/4 c softened butter
1 c chocolate chips
1 c walnuts (way too many walnuts)

The ingredients list seemed simple enough - I started thinking that maybe this should have been my first pie.

Beat eggs until foamy.  Add flour and sugars and mix well.  Stir in butter and fold in chocolate chip and walnuts.  Pour into unbake pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown and set in the middle.  The key here is the part that states "set in the middle."  As mentioned before, my oven typically cooks very quickly so I took the pie out after 40 minutes.  It looked a little soft in the middle, but I thought it was done enough.  It wasn't done enough.  I ended up cooking it for another 15 minutes after the pie had cooled just so that it was solid enough to cut.  It still tasted pretty good, but be warned if you decide to make this one..."set in the middle" really means "set in the middle."  That may have been the reason that the walnuts and chocolate chips seemed to all sink to the bottom of the pie...we'll never know.

Week Three - Pumpkin Prailine Pie

Of the numerous pumpkin pies in the pie bible (Lion House Pies), my wife picked this as the first to try.  She's a lover of the pumpkin pie and told me that she wanted one all for herself.  Sharing is overrated.

Pie Crust

1/2 c butter

1/3 c lard (Yes, lard - it's in the meat department)

1/3 cup shortening

1 T sugar

1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 T Nonfat dry milk

3 c flour

1/2 c cold water

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the lard, butter, and shortening into the flour mix until just blended.  Set aside. 

Mix the nonfat dry milk into the water and slowly add to the other mixture until just blended. 

Refridgerate for 15 minutes. 

Separate into 2-3 chunks.  Roll out dough chunks on a floured surface.  Fold the dough over your hand and slide onto pie pan.  Knock the pan on the counter a few times to help set the dough into the pan.  Use the palm of your hand to press the dough against the sides of the pie tin, cutting off the excess dough.  Makes 2-3 shells.

Pumpkin Prailine Pie

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c butter, softened

1/3 c finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 c canned pumpkin

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground nutmeg

1/4 t ginger

1/4 t allspice

1/2 c sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

1 t salt

1 1/2 T cornstarch

2 eggs

1 c evaporated milk

1 c water 

Whipped cream to top

I know what you are thinking - holy shiz man that's a lot of ingredients!  The reality is that you just have to throw them all together so the pie really is easy.

Beat brown sugar and softened butter until creamy and stir in pecans.  Spread on the bottom of an unbaked pie shell.

Place pumpkin in a bowl and set aside.  Mix all dry ingredients together and add to pumpkin.  Mix well.  Add eggs and evaporated milk and mix well.  Add water and mix well.  Pour over first mixture. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  I ended up baking for closer to 70 minutes to get the knife to come out clean and my pie wasn't overcooked.

Do the dishes.

Since I was not allowed to partake of my wife's pie, I cannot rate this one.  However, she did pretty much eat the entire pie and loved every bite!

Week Two - Caramel Apple Pie

This time I decided to go with an all-American classic - an apple pie.  We're making a roast for our neighbors and this is the dessert.  I picked this recipe partly because I know our neighbors like the double-crust, but that also makes me a little nervous since that means I'm making pie dough.  Thank you Lion House Pie instructional DVD!

Caramel Apple Pie
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1 t cinnamon (plus more for dusting)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
8 apples, peeled, cored, sliced
1 T vanilla
2 T unsalted butter
2 T cream

First off, I bought 8 large apples which I found out was actually enough to make 2 pies so choose your apples wisely. 

Mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.  Peel, core, and slice apples, placing them in the biggest bowl you own or else you will end up dividing the apples amoung two bowls and mixing each of the separately. 

I used one of those apple corer things which cut my apples into large slices.  I was a little worried about that but it actually turned out perfectly.  Anyway, pour dry mixture over apples and add vanilla.  Stir.  Stir the mixture every 15 minutes while you are preparing the crust. 







Double-crust pie dough
2 1/2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t salt
1 c butter flavored shortening
1 egg
1 T vinegar
1/4 c cold water

Mix together flour, sugar, and salt.  Cut in the shortening.  Beat egg and stir into flour mixture.  Stir in vinegar and then slowly add water - I accidentally reversed these two ingredients (dumped in the water and then slowly added the vinegar) and it turned out fine.  Refridgerate while making the pie filling.

Shape pie dough into 2 balls.  Roll one ball flat for the bottom.  Fold the dough in half over one hand and lift into pie tin.  Drop the pie tin a few times on the counter to shape the dough into the tin and trim the edges. Fill with pie filling and brush edges with water to seal dough together. 

Roll the other dough ball flat.  Fold in half and cut 3 slits in the middle.  Fold the dough back over (so that dough is flat again) then fold it over your hand and lift it onto the pie.  Apparently you are not supposed to stretch the dough, but that was pretty much impossible.  As you can see from the photo, the apple babies inside of the pregnant pie were trying to escape so I sort of had to try and contain them. 
Trim around the edges and also gently press edges together to seal the top and bottom crust together.  Brush cream over the top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 80 minutes as follows:  30 minutes with foil around the edges, 30 minutes without any covering, and 20 minutes completely covered in aluminum foil.  I didn't take any pictures of the pie with foil around the edge because it looked stupid and I don't know what that means anyway...

Cool on the rack for an hour - make caramel sause while pie is cooking and cooling.

Caramel Sauce

1/4 c butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 c heavy cream
2 T corn syrup
1 t vanilla

Caution: This recipe makes enough caramel sauce for at least 2 pies.  In a heavy saucepan, melt butter on high heat.  Add brown sugar, heavy cream, and corn syrup.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat to medium until sauce slightly thickens (5-7 minutes).  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Cool for 15 minutes and drizzle over pie.  I totally fudged this part up so no pictures of the caramel sauce!

This pie was so good!  Amazing really.  I was worried about the large chunks of apple, but seriously it was sooo good.  I wouldn't consider myself an apple pie fan, but this one changed my mind.  It wasn't as good reheated, but it was still pretty good.  Since I don't know much about crusts, I had to ask the neighbors.  They said the pie was awesome and the crust was perfect.  I would definitely do this one again.

Week One - Lemon Truffle Pie

I am a little worried about starting out with a pie requiring a traditional pastry crust.  I need to break myself in a little first. 

I picked this one that has a graham cracker crust because that sounded a lot easier than a pastry crust.  Also, this pie is intended for Sunday dinner with my side of the family and my mom specifically requested something to use up her cream cheese.  Beggars can be choosers. 

Graham Cracker Crust

16 graham cracker squares, crushed

3 T sugar

1/3 c butter

Basically, mix all ingredients and press into a 9 inch pie pan. 

Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

My graham cracker crust burned.  The nice thing is that even though it was a little burned it still tasted ok which is another great reason to start with this crust.  Note: my oven cooks fast.

Lemon Truffle Pie

3T Cornstarch
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 c water
Zest from 2 lemons
Juice from 1 lemon (about 5T)
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 T butter
1 c white choc chips
16 oz cream cheese, room temp
Whipped cream for topping

 

Stir Together cornstarch, 1/3 c sugar, and water in saucepan.  Add lemon zest and juice.  In a separate bowl, beat egg yolkswith 1/4 c sugar until well mixed.  Pour into saucepan with the first mixture and cook on medium heat stirring constantly until it boils for one minute.

Remove from heat and stir in butter.  Set aside 1 1/2 c of mixture for middle layer.  Add white chocolate chips and stir until melted.  Mix in cream cheese until smooth.

I had a little trouble with the cream cheese.  At first I tried to cube it, but it was too soft so I resorted to the electric mixer.  I mixed the cream cheese by itself first to smooth it out before adding in the lemon mixture.

Pour mixture into 9 in graham cracker pie crust.  Pour the 1 1/2 c of lemon mixture on top of the first layer and chill for 2 hours.  Top with whipped cream.

My mom said that she can't believe this pie had that 2 packages of cream cheese because it wasn't dense at all.  I was actually worried that whipping the cream cheese first was a bad idea since it made the bottom layer so thick, but maybe that's why it was so 'light'?  Would I make it again?  Yes.  It was pretty easy and definitely worth the time.  Maybe next time I'll only use 1 package of cream cheese and see how it turns out.  Then again, why mess with something that I know works?