raspberry custard pie - really? you'll actually eat my pie for me?

One of my biggest dilemmas in life is that I can't eat an entire pie by myself. Believe it or not, this little issue presents the everyday home baker with many problems. Let's say I find a great recipe for a pie. First I'd obviously have to bake it, then I'd have my typical slice to taste it. Now what the fuck am I supposed to do with the 90% of the leftover pie? I only wanted one goddamn slice. I could, of course, have one piece of pie for every meal for the next ten days- but that'd be just stupid and calorie consuming. I also have the option of giving it to people (such as my roommates), but that would completely dictate what type of pie I could make in the first place (just my luck for having picking roommates). My baking has now been forced to revolve around what to do with my leftover goodies.



While chillin' with some of my grandma's buddies at the local nursing home, the topic of desserts came up. I willingly offered to bake anything for them as long as it was all eaten up and out of my sight. Lucky me- I have miraculously found a group of old ladies so senile enough that they'd eat my pie for me!



The choice of dessert was obviously in their hands. A raspberry custard pie came up, and I was instantly convinced this would be immensely delectable. I rarely ever get to make custards (due to my picky crowd back at home) and I rarely get to use fresh fruit (the broke college student role coming into play). I was originally planning on adding blackberries as well, but unfortunately due to an empty stomach those were quickly devoured.


Okay, quick play-by-play as to what's going on here: Crust is not a basic pie crust; it's more of a crumbly shortbread dough with chopped walnuts. Main layer is a basic vanilla custard, already baked and cooled. On top of that is a layer of warmed raspberry preserves, which was intended to congeal and firm up in the fridge. Additional raspberries were placed in the preserves mostly for aesthetics (what else is new).



Dreams really can come true. What you see here is one single slice of pie- that is all. The remaining 90% of my pie is somewhere in a nursing home- and I really don't care what its future holds.


Lesson be learned: Find a group of old people willing to get their hands on freshly baked goodies. I'll be sure to start my search at all nursing homes and assistant living facilities from now on.

lemon meringue pie - goopy globs galore

Lemon curd has never really appealed to me. It's sour and goopy and it looks like shit. The only good thing about it is that I've never made it before. Pie crusts- check, Fruit pies- check, Citrus flavored baked goods- check. All that I'm missing is some citrusy-fruity-pie. Enter: Cook's Illustrated's Lemon Meringue Pie (okay, so I skipped the meringue part). Thus far, CI has yet to let me down. But even so, I don't think they'll convert me to a lemon curd lover.


My hands have officially found their calling- rolling out pie crust dough.


Interestingly enough, the recipe called for bits and pieces of graham cracker crumbs.


Accurate measurements, of course.


The citrusy stench permeated through the whole house for hours.


Goopy glob part one.


Goopy glob part two.


Okay, I should have let the pie rest before cutting it (Pie Commandment #1), but it was just so intruiging. I poked the top layer and it appeared to be firm as cake, but apparently while cutting it, I soon found out otherwise. I already broke the seal, so I figured I'd just slip out a piece and hope the rest congeals back together. Well to be quite honest, the pie remained goopy even after an overnight fridge rest, but most importantly, it did not defeat my lemon-dislike.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Cook's Illustrated.

pie crust ingredients:
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter , chilled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening , chilled
3–4 tablespoons cold water
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

lemon filling ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups cold water
6 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon zest from 1 lemon
1/2 cup lemon juice from 2 to 3 lemons
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

meringue ingredients: (omitted)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pie crust directions:
1. Mix flour, salt and sugar in food processor fitted with steel blade. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture, tossing to coat butter with a little of the flour. Cut butter into flour with five 1 second pulses. Add shortening; continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal with butter bits no larger than a small pea, about four more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.
2. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons cold water over mixture. Using rubber spatula, fold water into mixture; press down on dough mixture with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together. If dough will not come together, add up to 1 tablespoon more cold water. Shape dough into ball, then flatten into 4-inch-wide disk. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.
3. Generously sprinkle work area with 2 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs. Place dough on work area. Scatter a few more crumbs over dough (see illustration 1, below). Roll dough from center to edges, turning it into a 9-inch disk, rotating a quarter turn after each stroke and sprinkling additional crumbs
underneath and on top as necessary to coat heavily, (see illustration 2). Flip dough over and continue to roll, but not rotate, to form a 13-inch disk slightly less than 1/8-inch thick.
4. Fold dough into quaarters; place dough point in center of 9-inch Pyrex pie pan. Unfold to cover pan completely, letting excess dough drape over pan lip. To fit dough to pan, lift edge of dough with one hand and press dougn in pan bottom with other hand; repeat process around circumferences of pan to ensure dough fits properly and is not stretched. Trim all around, 1/2-inch past lip of pan. Tuck 1/2 inch of overhanging dough under so folded edge is flush with lip of pan; press to seal. Press thumb and index finger about 1/2-inch apart against outside edge of dough, then use index finger or knuckle of other hand to poke a dent on inside edge of dough through opening created by the other fingers. Repeat to flute around perimeter of pie shell.
5. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Use fork to prick shell at 1/2-inch intervals; press a doubled 12-inch square of aluminum foil into pie shell; prick again and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
6. Adjust oven rack to lowest position, heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake, checking occasionally for ballooning, until crust is firmly set, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees, remove foil, and continue to bake until crust is crisp and rich brown in color, about 10 minutes longer.


lemon filling directions:
7. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and water in a large, nonreactive saucepan. Bring mixture to simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally at beginning of the process and more frequently as mixture begins to thicken. When mixture starts to simmer and turn translucent, whisk in egg yolks, two at a time. Whisk in zest, then lemon juice, and finally butter. Bring mixture to a brisk simmer, whisking constantly. Remove from heat, place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling to keep hot and prevent skin from forming.


meringue directions:
8. Mix cornstarch with 1/3 cup water in small saucepan; bring to simmer, whisking occasionally at beginning and more frequently as mixture thickens. When mixture starts to simmer and turn translucent, remove from heat. Let cool while beating egg whites.
9. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Mix cream of tartar and sugar together. Beat egg whites and vanilla until frothy. Beat in sugar mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time; until sugar is incorporated and mixture forms soft peaks. Add cornstarch mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time; continue to beat meringue to stiff peaks. Remove plastic from filling and return to very low heat during last minute or so of beating meringue (to ensure filling is hot).
10. Pour filling into pie shell. Using a rubber spatula, immediately distribute meringue evenly around edge then center of pie to keep it from sinking into filling. Make sure meringue attaches to pie crust to prevent shrinking . Use spoon to create peaks all over meringue. Bake pie until meringue is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature. Serve.

sweet potato pie - lumpy and chunky and good

So what to do with an (almost) perfectly made pie crust? Fill it with something and bake it! While still searching for recipes that probably wouldn't be well-liked back home (thanks to my picky-eater), I chose a Sweet Potato Pie- the Neely's recipe to be exact. Okay, well I didn't technically go searching far and wide for a recipe like this; I actually went to the foodnetwork website and it was laying right there on the homepage. I though- how perfect; a recipe incorporating pie and an un-liked ingredient (sweet potato). Anyways, the directions seemed easy enough, and I love sweet potato regardless, so I thought I'd just give it a try.


First step was to roast these babies until they were soft enough to mash. I tasted a few (or more) tiny stragglers and I immediatly fell back in love with sweet potatoes. It's been a while since I had some, and I guess I had forgotten how delicious they tasted.


Mashing required some muscles (which I do not have) and it would have been nice to have a special someone help me out with this part (but only this part, because we know how much I hate help when it comes to baking).


The butter and spice mixture soon gets incorporated with the mashed sweet potatoes to become the final filling mixture. Granted, the mixture was quite clumpy (because of my bad mashing), but the spicing tasted good.


This of course then gets poured into my snazzy homemade pie crust.


After an hour of baking.


I was intrigued to know how my pie came out (and also how my first crust came out!)


All in all, it actually came out really good (contrary to the reviews on the website- It was not lacking in sweetness like many reviewers stated).


The filling part actually reminded me of pumpkin pie, but more a more chunky version. This would have been because of the pieces of sweet potato and what not due to my mashing skills (not that I'm complaining, I loved the chunks of sweet potato). The crust part came out flaky and even-cooked, although I felt it lacked a bit of flavor.


Next time I would probably more thoroughly mash the sweet potatoes (because there literally were chunks of it- due to my non-existent-muscles of course). I would also probably try a different pie crust recipe- I mean, now that I know I have the power to create pie crusts, why stop at my first recipe?

---RECIPE---
Taken from the Neely's.

ingredients:
4 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie crust (the recipe I used here)

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour in the oven on a baking sheet. When done, let cool. Scrape the pulp out of the skin, transfer to a large bowl, and mash. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add evaporated milk and stir mixture into sweet potatoes. Beat together with mixer until smooth and pour into an unbaked pie shell.
4. Bake on bottom rack of oven for 1 hour or until center of pie is firm.

my first pie crust! - without grandma's help

I asked my grandma if she had ever made a pie crust from scratch before. Surprisingly she said yes she had! But then proceeded to tell me how when my grandpa ate it for the first time, he told her it was the best tasting cardboard he had ever eaten. Well, too bad I already had an agenda for this trip (trying my first yeast bread included). I needed to bake my first pie crust while I was here, and I was extremely determined to do so. I even randomly found a pie recipe to fill it with once I was done.


I specifically wanted an all-butter dough. No shortening and no gross fat chunks. These mini butter pieces went straight into the freezer to chill.


We couldn't find grandma's food processor, so I had to do it the old fashion way. This was truly a pain in my ass. Needless to say, it didn't work out so well, and I ended up just using my bare hands instead. Ughh, how I constantly wish I had a food processor.


Flattened, chilled, and floured (hours later), my dough was ready to be rolled. PS- see that cool board underneath? We found that in my grandma's rubble. It's a rolling board with measurements of different size pies and what not. It really did come in handy.


My arms got the most workout they've gotten in weeks rolling this guy out.


Ugh, all the cracks were beginning to form. I had to overlap dough on some parts so the pie plate wouldn't show through.


Starting to overlap pieces together.


There we go... I folded the corners in and smoothed out the sides.


A little crimping for cuteness and voila- A homemade pie crust!


It really isn't as bad as it seems- it just takes a lot of time and effort. Otherwise, I think it is much cheaper than buying those refrigerated/frozen pie crusts from the grocery store. PS- Is that my finger in the bottom left corner? ...it's pretty creepy.

---RECIPE---
Taken from Simply Recipes.

ingredients:
2+1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 to 8 tablespoons ice water (I used all 8 tablespoons)

directions:
1. Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.
2. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix (ughh, I wish). Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.
3. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
4. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.

amount:
Makes 2 single 10-inch pie crust