TWD: Nectarine Blueberry Pie

So its hot. Baking is not really the best thing to do right now, but I did it anyways. The pie is in the oven as we speak and I'm outside on the patio while the hubs hoses down the baby moose.

Our puppy loves water like any other dog loves to chase a ball. Its so strange, but who am I to say how he should get his exercise. And on the plus side he stays very clean this way.

So here's a picture of my baking pie and the very wet puppy...waiting for MORE water.

Well here is the result of my efforts. I don't think I baked it long enough because what was once a very thick filling is all runny! Meh... it tasted good anyways and the kid ate two pieces and swears he doesn't like pie.

TWD: Pizza Rustica

Sheeeshhh I completely forgot to post about Pizza! I made mine for Sunday dinner... it was filled with caramelized onions and bacon and whole milk ricotta from scratch! Thank you very much! Ok ricotta from scratch is just dumb... at first glance it seems simple but its time consuming and mine didn't yield all that much. If I had more patience I probably would have had a better outcome but I think that my Pizza Rustica would have tasted exactly the same regardless. In the end it tasted like a quiche with a sweet crust. My honey seemed to like it but I just couldn't get over how wrong it all tasted together...

You can grab the full recipe on pages 430 and 431 or from the bakers over at Capital Region Dining or The Place they Call Home.

Next time Lemon Loaf Cake! Yum!

TWD: Sourcream Pumpkin Tart

I learned three very significant things while making this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. But I just forgot one of them while I was writing this so I will give you two.....

1. This makes way to much filling for one measly tart, and I should probably review the recipe because I might have messed something up.
2. Pumpkin pie isn't horrible if you didn't just eat your weight in turkey, stuffing and gravy!

I wish I could think of the 3rd thing because it was really important but its been a long long long day. We had open enrollment at my work and me being the HR bossy boss of such things I am super beat so I will leave it at that before I write something really stupid.

Oh frick I just remembered! Apparently my brain is not as mushy as I suspected.

3. Leaving out 2 tablespoons of butter really doesn't matter when you have a cup and a half of heavy cream in a recipe! 

Go see Miss Judy for the recipe this week over at Judy's Gross Eats because this is anything but....

Make sure you join me next week as I get to be the AND/OR host for one of the very last recipes. Good gosh I hope my Madeleines don't stick!

December 6, 2011 – Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table chose Honey Almond Fig Tart on page 373 AND/OR Nicole of Bakeologie chose Earl Grey Madeleines on page 169.

TWD: Tourtely Apple Tart

I feel sort of ashamed to put that tile up there... I can feel it mocking me because I really really winged the apple tart thing this time. 

I made the nutty crust but not the top and opted to put on a sort of almondy crumble. I threw in some Calvados instead of cider and I didn't cook the apples to a smooshy consistency because it just really didn't appeal to me last night.  The worst part was the whole thing really stuck in the pan, so you can see in my photo the edge there is a cavernous gap in the crust. Well regardless of my free wheeling on this recipe and my pan loving crust, it was super yummy. I really should try and stick to the recipe sometimes.....

If you want to see what this was really supposed to be, check out the post from our host Jeannette from The Whimsical Cupcake.

TWD: Rewind!

I'm not going to rewind very far, but I'm going to add a little twist. I'm not going to be the one baking it! Ha!

My friend and co-worker Lizzy Liz [Hi Liz if your reading this!] is coming over to help me make pies tonight and to learn a little something in the process. She wants to make an Apple Pie for her family, so I will be helping her make the All-American Apple Pie from a few weeks ago. I'm sure we will up the ante with a gorgeous double crust.

Hey you think you can have a double crust and a crumb on the same pie?! I just thought of that... yum!

Wish us luck!

TWD: All American Apple Pie

Culinary school or not, I still learn a lot from my TWD adventures. But I couldn't really figure out what I could possibly learn from making another apple pie. Well.... then it dawned on me, that every time I make an apple pie... I have to ship it off to a paying well deserved customer and then hear about how delicious it was. Don't get me wrong, I'm a total praise whore, so I love that they love my apple pie. But what I really want to do is sneak a slice! So I made this out of sheer pie envy....to hell with the learning!

I went with the crumb because all the TWD bakers had so many droolworthy crumb toppings today that I just had to! Mine was a little butter, brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon and pecans.

You can cruise on over and visit Emily at Sandmuffin for the whole recipe. Next week its my turn to pick the recipe! Woo hoo! Happy Dance!

TWD: Caramel Pumpkin Tart

I usually have a great time tweeking our TWD recipes because they usually come out really really tasty. Dorie's recipes are cool like that, they tend to be so good in the first place that any thing I manage to do to it won't muck it up to badly. This week, I wasn't so lucky....

I opted for a ginger snap crust pressed into a tart pan. How could that be bad right? The mahogany filling with a crisp cookie crust was mouthwatering. But sadly filling just gets into a total brawl with the crust, creating two great flavors that become horribly overwhelming together. Sad but true. I will have to try this again with a regular crust because it has the makings of something really fantastic.

You can get the full recipe from our host this week Janell from Mortensen Family Memoirs.

TWD: Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie

No pie for me this week. But you can find this weeks recipe at Spike Bakes.

TWD: Tarte Tatin

What! A Tuesdays with Dorie post... on an actual Tuesday! Its a Xmakwanzannukkah2k10 Miracle! Sorry for joking about our beloved holidays but it being January 5th and all... I am just burnt the hell out! I'm sure you've all noticed they started cracking out the candy hearts around the 16th of December... no joking. My sister in law thought I was full of it when I told her I was standing in front of Valentines Day stuff, I wish I had taken a picture for her and for you guys as proof!

This week we had 2 choices to celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of TWD Tarte Tatin or Cocoa Buttermilk Birthday cake. But don't tell my honey about that part (good thing he never reads this) because he will be mad I chose baked apples over chocolate.  You can find both recipes over on Laurie's blog Slush.

As for Tarte Tatin, back when I was in culinary school they told us this wicked story about two sisters, I don't know if its true but you can read it for yourself if you clickity click here. All in all this is just a lazy mans apple pie. I made mine using Honey Crisp Apples in a mini skillet, it was a little bland because I was being lazy and rushed with the crust by barely measuring the 1/3 of a recipe but nothing a little caramel ice cream can't cure! And besides I will feel far less guilty eating it for breakfast tomorrow (without the ice cream I promise) since its not too sweet ;)

TWD:Lime Cream Pie-Part Deux

I had to skip this weeks Espresso Cheesecake Brownies chosen by Melissa from Life in a Peanut Shell, for no other reason that they just sounded deadly. And since last week I had a haphazard post about the Lime Cream Pie, I thought maybe I should post an update, because that pie was gu--ouh--ood-a! (If your a Ron White fan just read that like he would and you know what I'm sayin')

One of my favorite restaurant desserts (there are very few believe it or not) is the Keylime Pie at CPK and this pie kicked its buttocks... By the time I brought any of it to work my honey and I had already eaten 1/2 the pie and could have easily polished it off and licked the pie pan. So thank you Linda from Tender Crumb my next CPK bill will be less now because of you, I know I can make it better at home!

TWD:Lime Cream Pie

It's about 8:30pm Tuesday night and I just finished making my filling. It's in the fridge chilling out.

It looks good, sounds odd... so the verdict will have to wait until we try tomorrow after dinner.

YWP: Mini Apple Pecan Pie

How do you make pie when its hot outside and you don't want to turn on you oven to save your life? Mini Pies!
Two fit snugly into my toaster-oven contraption and turned out perfectly without heating up the kitchen one bit. The recipe below makes two but they are big enough to share (no we didn't) and glutenous to enjoy by yourself (yes we did). The hubs is probably in a carbolicious sugar coma in his office right now......nope not yet I can still hear his spoon hitting the plate.

Thanks to Jacque from Daisy Lane Cakes for choosing the Nutty theme for this month's You Want Pie With That? it inspired a delicious pie!

Crust:
1/2 c Pecans
3/4 c Flour
2 oz Cold Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbs Sugar
Filling:
1 giant or 2 reg sized Apple (I used a big Pink Lady)
1/4 c Chopped Pecans
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Wiz the crust ingredients in your food processor until it comes together in a doughy mass. Split it into third and press a third into two mini pie tins reserving the last third for the filling. Put the crusts into the fridge to chill out and chop up a big apple. Mix the remaining 1/3 of the crust mix the apples and remaining filling ingredients and fill the pie shells. Bake in a toaster-oven at 325 until they are done. I forgot to time it but I guess everyone's would be different anyways. I had to put a foil tent over them about 1/2 way through so the top wouldn't brown to much.

YWP: Poison Apple Tart

No it doesn't really have poison in it....just apples... and sugar and buttery crustiness.....

The Literary theme for this months You Want Pies with That? shake down was chosen by Mary the Food Librarian. A pie inspired by the mountains of knowledge and entertainment found within the pages of books.

I read allot....more than the average schmo probably. But it was still hard for me to think of something that could be translated into a pie. I'm convinced that I'm just not particularly creative. My tendency to over think quickly turns into procrastination which then turns into something simplified. I decided to use Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and go with apple pie, but mostly because I really wanted apple pie, not because its my favorite book or anything. Besides just look at that girl... why the hell would anyone take an apple from that crazy witch, the bitch is clearly up to no good.













Super simple tart made with a butter crust layered with granny smith apples tossed with sugar and a little cinnamon. Served with a scoop of Trader Joe's Plain Tart Frozen Yogurt. [Side note: If your at all fan of Pinkberry and you have a TJ's near by you must try this immediately.] The super tart yogurt paired nicely with the sweet mellow apple tart.

Crust-o-licious

Making pies for the holidays have become a bit of a monotonous project for me. So when my co-worker asked for me to make a special crust on hers I was actually excited to make something as simple as an apple pie.

The crust was cut with small scalloped cutter and layered starting at the bottom and sticking them together using an egg wash. Its a little extra work but its so beautiful. It made the crust look even more flaky and the inevitable gaps between some of the pieces leave natural steam vents.

Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Gingersnap Crust

Every year my little bro makes pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving, but for some reason my mom still asks me to bring a dessert...maybe just so I feel useful because everyone would be happy with just the pumpkin.

This year I was asked to bring pumpkin cheesecakes, one Splenda-rized version (top photo) for my dad, and one regular (bottom photo) for everyone else.

Gingersnap Pumpkin Cheesecake ~ Splenda.com
Marble Pumpkin Cheesecake ~ Epicurious.com

Both cheesecakes got rave reviews and will find a permanent place in my cook book. The amazing crusts were both made with old fashioned gingersnaps & graham crackers, one with real sugar and one with granulated splenda, I tried to steal my honey's crust but he wouldn't fall for it.

Thanksgiving Pies

Over at Tuesdays with Dorie its Twofer Pie week chosen by Vivi at La Casserole Carree but I had to make a Threefer with a Tart chaser. All in all seven pies for the folks at work nice enough to contribute to my holiday fund by buying their Thanksgiving pies from moi.

Double Crust Apple Pie~ Fresh Granny Smiths from the farmers market this weekend. Tossed with sugar & spices, surrounded by flaky pie crust a la Martha.
Pumpkin Chiffon~ Fluffy pumpkin filling, way better than the traditional pumpkin pie. I hated making this pie when I was in school because I would always get a crap grade...mastered by making this every year since graduating.
Chocolate Cream Pie~ Chocolatie goodness in a buttery chocolate crust. Sadly we had extra filling leftover, my honey has to eat the leftover, I had to twist his arm but he's gonna do it. Way to take one for the team baby!
Lemon Meringue Tart~ Pate Sucree filled with tart lemony custard, topped with swirls of French Meringue.

I got a little carried away and put meringue on everything because I figure it might hold up better than whipped cream, its fricken tasty and I was having way to much fun torching things. I think I better hit the hay, the leaves on the pies are starting to look like turkeys to me.....

YWP: Pies as a Fashion Statement!

In my ignorance of blog baking challenges, I though that the first challenge over at You Want Pies With That? was a hard one until I saw challenge two, Pies as a Fashion Statement! Honestly I almost skipped it because in my life, fashion statements stop at what's clean in the dryer.

Like most girls I do have a penchant for shoes.....from cool tennies to high heels, but how does that translate to pie? Besides no one would ever call my shoe choices fashionable, they teeters more on the far side of strange. I love patterns and colors and usually have to stop myself from buying shoes that couldn't possibly go with anything in my closet. Still shoes and pies don't go no matter how I tried to spin it. So I threw out the shoes or more like hid them in the back of my closet with the others and applied my love of patterns and colors to the crust.

I wanted to create sort of a batik fabric look, so I used patchwork cutters to pattern the crust and then painted it with food coloring. I was surprised at how bright the crust remained, I imagined it fading while baking, I might try this technique to gussy up my holiday pies. For the inside we found some beautiful Arkansas Black Apples at the farmers market on Saturday. I had high hopes because the apples, before baking they were so good, but when baked up they had a weird texture that I didn't care for. I think if I ever find them around for purchase again, I would rather eat them fresh from the core than bake them up again. Either way the pies were more beauty that substance and isn't that sorta fashiony?

YWP: I Love that Movie! Part 2

Polar Express Pie

A cool pepperminty chocolate layer paired with a layer of soft creamy milk chocolate in a Sugar Cookie crust.

Crust:
Bake some of your favorite sugar cookie recipe or use store bought cookies. Process them into fine crumbs in a food processor. Mix approx 8-10 oz (depending on your pie pan size) with about 2 oz. of butter. Press mixture into the sides and bottom of the pan and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Filling:
16 oz. Whole Milk
4 oz. Granulated Sugar
1 ea. Egg Yolk
1 ea. Whole Egg
1.25 oz. Cornstarch
2 oz. Milk Chocolate
2 oz. Peppermint Chocolate Chips*
4 oz. Heavy Cream
1 oz. Powdered Sugar

Optional to garnish:
Chantilly Cream
Shaved Chocolate

In a heavy sauce pan bring milk and 1/2 sugar to a scald. In a heat proof bowl, whisk together remaining sugar, eggs and cornstarch. Pour about 1/2 of the scalded milk into egg mixture, to temper. Pour back into the pan and cook until thickened. Pour 1/2 (approx. 11 oz) into a bowl with the milk chocolate and 1/2 into a different bowl with the peppermint chocolate. Mix each until the chips are completely combined and the mixture is completely smooth. Cover milk chocolate mixture with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic is touching the surface of the filling so that it doesn't form a skin. Pour peppermint chocolate directly into the prepared pie crust, smoothing into an even layer, cover with plastic wrap. Put into fridge to cool and set. Whip heavy cream and powdered sugar to stiff peaks and fold into milk chocolate when it has cooled sufficiently. Spread evenly over the peppermint layer. Cover with plastic and chill overnight. Decorate with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

*I used York Peppermint Patty Premier Baking chips, I don't know where you could get these, I've looked online and can't even find them on the Hersey's website. You could probably sub in other peppermint flavored chips or reg. dark chocolate with a bit of peppermint oil.

YWP: I Love that Movie! Part 1

I joined another dessert inspired group called You Want Pies With That? Who doesn't like pie and who doesn't love a good challenge right?

First challenge ever is a tough one "I Love that Movie!" aka Movie inspired pie. Movies with pie in the title.... American Pie, gross! Movies with pies in them..... Sweeney Todd, double gross!! Having to change my thought pattern immediately; I tried to think of movies I loved first, then a pie I could create. Totally drew a blank, no inspiration, boo!

So of course I ask a few friends, swiftly dodging the aforementioned pie themes. My honey suggests Pineapple Express. Eh? How does that inspire a pie? I've never seen the movie but I know for sure it has NOTHING to do with Pineapples, but I could make this work. Pineapple pie sounds good.... never seen the movie but still love the name just the same. Dammit, do I create a themed pie on a movie I don't love?! (I know way to much angst over a pie) Then it came to me as I was drifting off to sleep as many things do Polar Express.

Its chilling away in the fridge, posting can only happen on the 8th.... Why the 8th? Well, Pi = 3.14. 3+1+4=8. (Trust me I didn't know this before I joined the group)