The Pie Hole

davegan:

After this evening’s news about Steve Jobs, I thought I’d post my favorite apple pie recipe as an homage to the late visionary. 

Ingredients

• 6 large apples (Granny Smith are great), cored and sliced
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 -2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 pie crust (to save time, there are some vegan store-bought ones if you look)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Core and cut apples into chunks.
• Boil water in a large pot and add apples
• Turn down heat to medium and simmer apples for 8-10 minutes or until soft.
• Save 1/4 cup of water used for cooking apples for later use.
• Drain apples and place in large bowl.
• Mix apples with maple syrup, cinnamon, and lemon juice and set aside.
• In a saucepan, add “applewater” and corn starch.
• Stir continuously until mixture is very thick, then add cornstarch mixture to the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix well and pour into the pie crust and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Adapted from: How it All Vegan - I really recommend this book because the recipes are great and there are a lot of basic, staple recipes in it that I come back to time and time again!

kneadedlove:

There are many food preferences that I can deal with without any grumbling or judgements, but I just do not understand people who don’t like Pie. During a drive from the Thousand Islands region back to Brooklyn a couple years ago, I delivered a diatribe that lasted for probably twenty minutes about Pie. It may have featured my belief that baking a cake is all well and good, but if you want to tell someone you love them, you make Pie. Even if the situation isn’t as extreme as that, Pie is still more meaningful. Pie is sincere, heartfelt, comforting, unpretentious, and delicious. Pie is the best dessert treatment for most seasonal fruit. Pie makes people happy. My father called my mother the Pie Queen, possibly his highest compliment. This is a man who never gave false praise, especially when it came to food. 

Today marks six months since my father died. It is cold and rainy and my driveway is still not usable. I’ve spent hours listening to Ray Charles and then switched to Richard Thompson, all while wearing my apron and doing the one thing that is most likely to make me feel better: baking. 

These apples may not be the prettiest and most perfect, but they are fresh and real, grown without anything strange ever done to them: I picked them at my mother’s house. And when I was done picking apples, I walked behind the barn and harvested elderberries. 

The apples and elderberries together made an amazing color— the berries started to stain the apple slices almost immediately, and this intensified after I added the sugar and stirred up the filling. Because this filling is a mix of apples and berries, I used a combination of cornstarch and tapioca granules as thickeners. The only other ingredients in the filling are the juice of one lemon and some cinnamon. 

This is not an I Love You Pie, it is a Thank You Pie. Yesterday morning a friend went to Whole Foods in Boston with a list, then drove to Vermont and delivered groceries to me. He was coming up anyway, but his grocery shopping for me was a huge help. He even bought parrot food for my mother. Beginning to restock my fridge after having to throw out so much food because of losing power for days feels great. I once again have dairy, which means I can make some gelato base and begin to build up my inventory.

So here I am, in the woods, on a cold, rainy, and sad day. But I have pie. It’s a start. 

(Source: kneadedlove)

cakeattorney:

So, my boyfriend REALLY loves this apple pie. According to him, it’s the Best Apple Pie in the world.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

2 cups of flour

200g (this is probably 1 stick) of butter in room temperature

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tablespoons of oil (like sunflower oil for instance, idk)

Cinnamon powder

For the filling:

6~8 apples, peeled and cored.

1 cup of sugar (I’d recommend using brown sugar if you don’t like your sweets TOO sweet)

The juice of one lemon mixed with one tablespoon of water

1 tablespoon of flour dissolved in water

For the frosting:

2 egg whites

6 tablespoons of sugar

You’ll also need:

A tart tin of maybe… 25 cm in diameter. 

1- You should start with the filling, so chop the apples into pieces and heat them with the rest of  the ingredients, minus the flour. Mix the apples with the sugar, then probably the apples will shed some water, so you should mix them and heat them until that water is gone. When this happens, throw in the flour dissolved in water, and mix them until the water evaporates. So the filling is ready, it should look like an apple jam, only not so gooey and with bigger apple pieces :D

2- Turn off the heat and leave the filling alone for a while. Let’s make the frosting! Separate the yolks from the whites of two eggs and store them in separate bowls. Save the yolk for later. Now, get a beater and start beating the egg whites until they’re firm (like snow :3, for instance). Keep beating and add one tablespoon of sugar at a time. It’ll start to get heavier and shinier, until you have a white frosting. Save it for later.

3- Now you’ll start making the pastry… Well, put all the ingredients in a bowl except for the cinnamon powder. Start mixing the stuff with your hands, until a firm pastry is formed. What I mean by firm is firm enough to line a tart tin. So, line the tart tin with a thin (as thin as you want it to be, really) layer of pastry. Even it out and make several little holes with a fork on the pastry (so it wont form bubbles).

4- Put the tart tin in the oven (low heat) for a little while (maybe 5~10 minutes) just so it can dry a little. Take it out of the oven (but don’t turn it off!) and sprinkle some cinnamon powder on top of the pastry. Tip the filling onto the pastry and spread the frosting on top of it. 

5- Now the tart tin goes back in the oven, (still low heat) and it stays there until the frosting is golden on the edges. Leave just a little peek of the oven door open (use a towel to keep it open). Keep checking the pie so it wont burn… When you feel it’s golden and firm enough, take the tart out of the oven!

That’s it :D

omomnom:

Strawberry Rhubarb Lattice Tart

Ingredients:

Sweet Pastry Dough:

3 cups All Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
Pinch Salt
16 tbls (2 Sticks) very cold Butter, cut into small cubes
2 Eggs
2-4 tbls Cold Water
Soft Butter (for greasing pan)

Filling & Finishing:

300 grams Strawberries, diced small
260 grams Rhubarbs, diced small
1 tbls Orange Juice
1 ½ tbls Corn Starch
1/8 cup Granulated Sugar
Pinch Salt
1 Egg, for egg wash
1 tbls Milk, for egg wash
Demerara Sugar

Procedure:

Sweet Pastry Dough:

Add flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor and pulse twice. Next, add the butter pieces and eggs and pulse a few more times until it practically comes together. Then stream water in (a tablespoon at a time) until it all comes together. You might not need all of the water, don’t add more if the dough has already come together. Take the dough out and on a lightly floured surface, push at all together so that it is one cohesive dough ball. Cut it into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap it in plastic wrap and push it into a disk shape. Let them rest in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.

Filling & Finishing:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine strawberries, rhubarb, orange juice, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix together and let rest until you are ready to fill the tart.

Take a large piece of parchment paper and trace the top outer edge of the tart pan you will be using. Use a nine-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (the removable bottom will make it easier to remove it once it is cooked and done). Butter the pan and put it in the freezer. Reserve the parchment paper for later.

When the dough is ready, take it out of the refrigerator. Roll out the larger piece on a lightly floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick. Fill it into the frozen tart pan and cleanly cut at the top edge of the pan. Put the dough filled pan back in the freezer. Roll out the second piece of dough and cut long strips that are ¼ inch in width. On top of the piece of parchment paper, proceed to form a lattice top, looping each strand over and under other strands (If the dough gets too warm, it becomes harder to work with. If you find this happening, simply put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes and then take it out and continue to work on it, and so on and so forth). When your lattice work is finished, cut a large circle out of the lattice strips a tiny bit larger than the pan trace you have on the parchment (Use the picture above as a reference of how this should look once cut).

Make the egg wash: mix together the egg and milk and put aside. Take the dough filled tart pan out of the freezer. Brush a small amount of egg wash onto the top edge of the tart. Going back to the fruit filled bowl, notice that a lot of juice has accumulated in it. Strain out most of the juice and then pour the fruit mixture into the dough filled tart pan. Carefully flip the lattice circle that is on the parchment paper on top of the tart, and ever so delicately, peel away the parchment paper. Fix the alignment if needed and press the edge of the tart slightly with the edge of the lattice top. Brush egg wash on the lattice top and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Place the tart on a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven. Cook for about 40 minutes (checking every ten minutes to make sure it is cooking evenly. Rotate while cooking if needed).

When it is done, let it cool for at least 20 minutes. Then carefully remove, serve and enjoy!

omomnom:

Banana Cream Chocolate Pie

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water

Filling

1 can (13.4 oz) dulce de leche
3 ripe medium bananas
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 450°F. In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and dough almost leaves side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

2. On lightly floured surface, shape dough into a ball. Flatten ball to 1/2-inch thickness, rounding and smoothing edges. With floured rolling pin, roll dough into 11-inch round, rolling from center to edge. Fold dough in half; place in 9-inch glass pie plate. Unfold; gently press in bottom and up side of plate, being careful not to stretch dough.

3. Fold and roll edge of dough under, even with plate; flute edge. Prick bottom and side of dough generously with fork. Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. Spoon contents of can of dulce de leche into center of cooled crust; gently spread to edge. Thinly slice bananas; arrange over dulce de leche.

5. In medium bowl, beat whipping cream and powdered sugar with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Spread over bananas.

6.In small resealable freezer plastic bag, place chocolate chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on High 30 seconds; knead bag to mix melted chips and unmelted chips. Microwave 15 to 30 seconds longer or until all chips are melted and smooth. Snip off tiny corner of bag. Pipe melted chocolate mixture over whipped cream. Store pie in refrigerator.

omomnom:

Frosty Almond Coffee Pie

INGREDIENTS:

18 creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, finely crushed
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 quart coffee ice cream, slightly softened
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 cup hot fudge sauce, warmed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix crushed cookies and butter until well blended. Press on bottom and up side of ungreased pie plate, 9x1 1/4 inches. Freeze about 15 minutes or until firm.

2. Carefully spread ice cream evenly in crust. Sprinkle with almonds. Freeze about 3 hours or until firm.

3. Remove pie from freezer about 10 minutes before serving. Serve with hot fudge sauce. Store covered in freezer.

omomnom:

Strawberry Cream Pie

INGREDIENTS

Crust

1 box (15 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1 package (7 oz) almond paste
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 egg white

Filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries*

Topping

1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
8 fresh whole strawberries, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Unroll 1 crust on work surface. Into medium bowl or food processor, crumble almond paste. Add 1 teaspoon cornstarch and the egg white. Mix or cover and process until smooth. Spread on crust to within 1 1/4 inches of edge. Unroll second crust; place on top and pat together gently. Place stuffed crust in ungreased 9-inch glass pie plate. Seal edges; flute. Cover edge with foil; fit second pie plate inside first pie plate on top of crust.

2. Bake 10 minutes. Remove top pie plate; gently prick crust surface over filling about 15 times with fork. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes longer or until crust is light golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, mix granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons cornstarch. Stir in strawberries. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 3 to 5 minutes or until filling thickens. Refrigerate about 30 minutes, stirring once, until cool.

4. Just before serving, spread strawberry filling in crust. In medium bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Spread on top of pie. Garnish with strawberries.

omomnom:

Creamy Peanutbutter Pie

8 ounces chocolate cookies
4 tablespoons butter {melted}
4 ounces finely chopped chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 {14 ounce} can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
extra melted chocolate, chopped peanuts and/or chocolate chips as garnish {optional}

Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well. Press mixture into the bottom and 1” up the sides of a 9” springform pan.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or in the microwave. Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula. Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place the pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use. Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner’s sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.

Stir a 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture {helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream}. Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan. Garnish if desired, and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight before serving.