Pumpkin Pie

Tags

Christmas, cinnamon, cream, evaporated milk, pie, Pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, Thanksgiving

I had a very fun and successful day of holiday baking with my mom yesterday! We made our traditional array of cookies and goodies, including some new ones that we added this year. We made sugar cookies, cinnamon swirls, chocolate cherry thumbprints, melting moments, and pumpkin oatmeal cookies with cranberries and white chocolate. I have a list of cookies and candies I want to try this year, and hopefully they’ll be good enough to make the list for next year!

In the meantime, I wanted to share my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my family has pumpkin pie for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’m not a big pumpkin pie fan, unless it’s this pie. I discovered this recipe a few years ago, and have been making it ever since. It’s pumpkin-y, lightly spiced, and creamy, all of which makes for a delicious and perfect pie! The random amount of sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are kind of inconvenient, but just save the leftovers for fudge or another pumpkin pie!Pumpkin Pie

1½ cups pumpkin puree
½ cup brown sugar
⅔ cup heavy cream
7 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
6½ tablespoons evaporated milk
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground clove
Pinch salt
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
Pastry for 1 pie dough, or 1 prebaked pie crust

To prepare pie crust: Place rolled out pie crust in pie dish, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Ease dough into the plate by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while pressing into the plate bottom with the other hand, making sure to not stretch the dough. Trim overhang to ½-inch beyond the plate rim. Fold overhang under itself onto the flat rim of the plate, and use a thumb and two index fingers to flute the crust. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove pie pan from the refrigerator and prick with a fork. Line the crust with 2 pieces of foil, and fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake for 5 to 10 minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp.

To make the filling: Lower the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a medium saucepan, combine the pumpkin and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the majority of the water has evaporated and the mixture has thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream, milks, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and salt. Add eggs and yolk, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake until set, about 45 to 55 minutes. Cool and serve.

Source: Adapted from Food Network

Apple Pie

Tags

apple, cinnamon, pastry, pie

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I went to the store yesterday to pick up some stuff for Thanksgiving, and some stuff just because I needed it. I went to 2 different stores, and they were both out of normal whipping cream! I just wanted to be able to make whipped cream to top pies!!But if you’re fortunate to already have your whipping cream, whip some up to top this delicious apple pie! Or serve it with ice cream, or just eat it plain. This pie is the perfect treat for Thanksgiving, or any occasion. It’s sooo good! Part of what makes this pie so good is the variety of apples. The different apples provide different textures and flavors. Feel free to use any apples you like, of course.It was so fun to be able to make this using some of the apples I still have from the orchards. And I still have a lot more, so get ready for more apple recipes in the near future! It’s a good thing apples last so well in the frig, because at the rate I’m going, these apples might be around a while more! 🙂Apple Pie

Pastry for 2 pie crusts
2 cups thinly sliced, peeled Granny Smith or other tart apple (about 1 pound)
1 cup thinly sliced, peeled Pink Lady or other sweet apple (about ½ pound)
2 cups thinly sliced, peeled Rome or other firm baking apple (about 1 pound)
1 cup thinly sliced, peeled McIntosh or other tender apple (about ½ pound)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, divided
¼ cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons milk

Roll half of dough into a 12-inch circle; place in pie dish and chill while filling is prepared. Roll other half of dough into an 11-inch circle; cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

To prepare filling: In a large bowl, combine apples and lemon juice. In a separate small bowl, combine ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, spices, and salt. Sprinkle over apple mixture, tossing well to combine.

To assemble the pie: Remove pie crusts from the refrigerator. Spoon apple mixture into crust and top with the 11-inch crust. Trim the dough to have a 1-inch border around the rim on the dish. Press edges of dough together; fold edges under, and flute. Cut 6 (1-inch) slits into top of pastry using a sharp knife. Brush top and edges of pie with milk and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet; Bake for 15 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake an additional 45 minutes or until golden; shield crust with aluminum foil if it gets too brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Source: Adapted from Cooking Light

Basic Pie Dough

Tags

how-to, pie

I’ve been on a mini quest for the perfect pie crust. I love when they’re flaky, but I want a buttery crust. I’ve tried a couple different recipes, with some different combos of all butter and part butter-part shortening. Out of principle, I refuse to make an all shortening crust. It just seems too artificial, even if it means it’s flakier. Well, I think I found it. Combining 2 different recipes made for a delicious, buttery crust and it’s now my go-to pie crust recipe.I found that I prefer making mine in the food processor. Maybe because it’s still kind of new to me… But anyways, combine the dry ingredients… Then pull out your frozen butter. The colder the better. One of the biggest rules for pie crusts is to keep everything cold. Pulse it, beat it, or cut it into the flour to leave chunks no larger than small lima beans. I like my butter larger than the normal pea size called for in pie crust recipes because I found that it helps with the flakiness. Mmmm flaky crust. 🙂 You can just see the butter running in through the dough! Chill and then you’re ready to roll! Go for about ⅛-inch thick. Plate it up, and make a pretty crust… Prick it with a fork, too.Then it’s time to weight it. I like to use rice, and I save it in a bag so I can keep reusing it. Not all recipes need to be weighted, but I’ve had some bad experiences with shrinking and puffing, so I weight whenever I blind bake. Bake it up with the weights, then remove the weights and finish baking. A trick I learned to prevent leaking and soggy crusts is to brush the bottom with egg white.

If you’ve been looking for the perfect all-butter crust, you must give this a try!

Basic Pie Dough
Note: If making a custard or fruit pie, brush the bottom of the pie crust with egg white after removing the foil and finish baking. This will help prevent leaks and soggy crust.

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, frozen and cut into ¼-inch cubes
3 to 5 tablespoons ice water

To make the dough in a food processor: In the workbowl fitted with the blade attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and salt; pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small lima beans. Pour the flour-butter mixture into a medium bowl and add 3 tablespoons water. Fold together with a rubber spatula, slightly pushing down while stirring until dough starts to stick together, adding up to 2 more tablespoons of water if needed. Flatten dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

To make the dough by hand: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small lima beans. Add 3 tablespoons water. Fold together with a rubber spatula, slightly pushing down while stirring until dough starts to stick together, adding up to 2 more tablespoons of water if needed. Flatten dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

To make the dough in a stand mixer: Stir together the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small lima beans. Add 3 tablespoons water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together, adding up to 2 more tablespoons of water if needed. Flatten dough into a 4-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Lightly flour a work surface. Place chilled dough on the prepared surface and lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed. Roll it out into a 12-inch circle about ⅛-inch thick. Lift the dough with a bench scraper as needed to make sure it doesn’t stick. Roll dough loosely around the rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Ease dough into the plate by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while pressing into the plate bottom with the other hand, making sure to not stretch the dough. Trim overhang to ½-inch beyond the plate rim. Fold overhang under itself onto the flat rim of the plate, and use a thumb and two index fingers to flute the crust. Refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

To blind bake the crust: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove pie pan from the refrigerator and prick with a fork. Line the crust with 2 pieces of foil, and fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake for 5 to 10 minutes until crust is golden brown and crisp.

Source: Adapted from Williams-Sonoma and Cook’s Illustrated

Cookie Dough Cream Pie

Tags

chocolate, cookie dough, cream, oreo

A few days ago it was one of my coworker/friend’s birhdays. I like to make them little treats for their birthday, because everyone loves some pie or cupcakes for their birthday! And I love an excuse to make something special. This pie… special indeed! I came across it during my random blog browsing and knew I would have to try this. With my friend’s birthday coming up, I knew I would have a chance to make it. She loves cookie dough more than I do, and that’s saying something! With this delicious pie, there is an Oreo crust layered with eggless cookie dough. There will be extra dough, but it’s eggless so feel free to snack! Or make them into little balls and dip them in chocolate, and you have cookie dough truffles. 🙂 Next we have a brown sugar custard, kind of like cookie dough but in custard form! It’s all topped off with light and fluffy whipped cream and extra cookies just for fun. Now, just pretend this next picture actually came out well… I took the picture at work with my cell phone, and I apparently don’t know how to take up close pictures with my phone. So please, pretend it’s not all blurry! I just wanted to share all the pretty layers! 🙂In conclusion, if you love cookie dough, you’ll love this pie! It’s so unique and so fun, so give it a try next time you want a tasty treat!

Cookie Dough Cream Pie

Pie Crust:
21 Oreo cookies crumbs, crumbled
5 tablespoons butter, melted

Cookie Dough:
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

Filling:
¾ cups light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped Cream:
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with the rack in center position.

Place the crumbled cookies in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal  blade. Pulse until the cookies are finely ground. Drizzle the butter over the crumbs and pulse until the butter is evenly distributed and the crumbs are coated. Pour the crumbs into a 9-inch pie pan. Press the crumbs evenly along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pie pan and cool on a wire rack; crust will firm up as it cools.

To make the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the milk, sugar, and salt. Heat until sugar is melted and milk barely simmers. In the meantime, whisk together the egg yolks and cornstarch. Gradually whisk the heated milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and set it over medium heat. Whisk constantly, scraping the bottom and sides to prevent burning, until the mixture thickens and is the consistency of pudding. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

To make the cookie dough: While the filling is cooling, prepare the cookie dough. Combine the butter and sugars in a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the milk and vanilla; slowly beat in the flour and baking soda until fully combined and smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips.

To assemble: Break off pieces of cookie dough and press them into the cooled pie crust until the dough layer is about ½-inch thick (there will be dough left over). Pour filling on top of dough layer, leveling the top with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

To make the whipped cream: Right before serving, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until the cream holds stiff peaks. Spread the whipped cream on top of the filling, reserving about ⅓ cup to decorate. Pipe or dollop the whipped cream evenly around the pie, and garnish with mini chocolate chip cookies, if desired.

Source: Adapted from Love & Olive Oil

Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie

Tags

lemon, meringue, pie, strawberry

Whenever I bake stuff, at least some of it inevitably ends up at work. I need to get it out of my apartment, or else I’ll eat it all, and as tasty as that may be I don’t think my waistline would appreciate it. 🙂 But I think my coworkers have become spoiled. One of my coworkers actually commented that I hadn’t made him anything in a while, and he almost seemed hurt and neglected! That day he was looking through a Martha Stewart Living magazine and he found a section with pies. It had a full page picture of each pie, and he apparently found one he liked because when I came in to work the next morning, the page with the pie picture was sitting in my work cubby. Subtle hint, huh?

I was nice, and I made him the pie. And he was a happy camper! The pie was super lemony, but the meringue topping counteracted the tartness perfectly. And strawberries, they go perfectly with everything! The pie was a huge success and now I have all my coworkers asking for more goodies. 🙂Strawberry Lemonade Icebox Pie
Note: Strawberries and meringue should be placed on pie right before serving. Also, whipped cream can be used in place of the meringue.

Crust:
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1⅓ cup graham cracker crumbs (9 to 10 graham crackers)
¼ cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
⅔ cup strained fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)
2 large egg yolks, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten (reserve egg whites for topping)
¼ teaspoon salt

Topping:
12 ounces strawberries, sliced (2 cups)
¾ cup sugar, divided
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3 large egg whites, room temperature

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar, mixing thoroughly. Drizzle butter over graham cracker mixture and stir until mixture is moist and holds together when pressed between 2 fingers.

Press crust evenly into bottom and up sides of pie plate using your fingers or the bottom of a dry measuring cup, making sure all areas are pressed firmly so the crust wont crumble when baked. Bake crust until firm and turning darker around edges, 10 to 11 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To make the filling: While the crust is in the oven, whisk together condensed milk, lemon juice, salt, egg yolks, and egg.

Pour filling into warm pie crust. Bake until center is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

To make the topping: Sprinkle strawberries with 2 tablespoons sugar and the lemon juice. Let stand for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat egg whites and remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to mixer, and whisk on high speed until medium peaks form, 8 to 9 minutes.

Spoon berries over pie. Spoon meringue over top. Place pie under broiler, with rack in lowest position, until meringue is just browned. Make sure to keep a close eye on it. Alternatively, use a kitchen torch to brown the top.

Source: Martha Stewart Living