Apple Croustade

This past weekend my roommate had the urge to bake. He had a big bag of apples that he needed to use so he decided to make a crispy/flaky apple pie. He layered the phyllo dough along with a bunch of melted butter in my spring form pan since I didn't have a tart pan.

 

Even though the butter flowed onto the bottom of the oven and created a smoky apartment for a little bit, this tart turned out beautifully. My roomie asked if he could put his pie on one of my cake stands and I said yes.

 

It looked so pretty on my sturdy, white ceramic cake stand that I just had to snap some photos. After I was done, he went to the kitchen to clean up and I went to my room to get ready to head out for the evening.

 

Then we heard a pop. We couldn't figure out what it was at first but then my roomie saw that the cake stand had two cracks in it. I went over to touch the stand and *CLINK* *CLUNK* *WHAM*! The whole stand started crumbling in front of our eyes.

My roommate ran to get another cake stand but it was going to be too late so I did what any baker would do: I put both of my hands under the pie so the masterpiece wouldn't join the ranks of the broken cake stand. I moved it via my hands to another cake stand and then we just looked at the broken cake stand in bewilderment.

The pie had cooled before it went on the ceramic, but we're guessing the heat that was left bugged some weak spot and *POP*!

 

RIP cute vintage cake stand. Hello yummy phyllo dough and butter encrusted apple pie! It was SO delicious. I highly suggest using this recipe for a different take on the normal apple pie. (Just don't put it on an old ceramic cake stand!)

Apple Croustade (Flaky Apple Tart)

recipe found here: saveur.com

Bake well and prosper!

Blackberry Pie Pockets

I recently went a little crazy at the local health food store buying up all types of berries. They all looked delicious and they were all going for a really good price. I bought strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.

The next day I felt a little silly. How was I going to eat all these berries before they went bad? One solution was to freeze some and use them in smoothies. My other solution was to bake with them.

I decided to bring back an old recipe but change the inside filling, so I made these blackberry pie pockets for a friend's BBQ party.

I had forgotten how buttery this dough is! If you like butter, you'll love this recipe. If you like things on the sweeter side, I would suggest adding a little more filling and then drizzling a light powdered sugar frosting on top of these after they cool off from the oven.

Blackberry Pie Pockets recipe found here: Jameson Marmalade Pockets

Erika's Extras: Just substitute whatever jam you'd like to use for the filling. I used blackberry jam and then added half a blackberry in the middle

Bake well and prosper!

Sugar Cookie Lemon Pies

My coworker made me aware of this recipe since she loves lemons and knows that I'll bake something lemony for her birthday. (See the creations for the last two years below.)

Super Lemony Breakfast Rolls            Lemon Pull Apart Bread

 

Extra savvy readers will notice that we are still a month+ away from my coworker's bday. Well, I figured a test run wouldn't hurt for the 4th of July where the host of the fireworks watching party I went to is a big lemon fan.

 

(Don't worry...I was nice and saved some for my coworker and brought them in the next day.)

 

I must say, these lovely lemon pie filled sugar cookies are really good! It's like a lemon meringue pie but in a sugar cookie crust and without the meringue.

 

If you love lemony desserts, I highly suggest making this one.

Sugar Cookie Lemon Tart Recipe (from The Lady Behind the Curtain - has great step by step photos)
Ingredients (crust)
1 package of pre made refrigerated Pillsbury cookie dough (Erika's Extras: I used the roll of dough which requires a little more slicing work than a pull apart cookie dough rounds)
Directions (crust)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place each square of dough (Erika's Extras: or cut the roll of dough into 1 inch slices and cut the slice in half) into a mini muffin cup. Bake for 15 minutes.
While the cookies are still hot, dip the end of a wooden spoon into sugar and carefully make a well in the cookie making sure a hole in the bottom of the dough is not created. (Erika's Extras: I found you can be rather tough with the dough at the top of the cup without creating a hole.)
Sprinkle cups with sugar. Put pan back in oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Cool completely in muffin pan.
When cooled pop out of cookie cups. (Erika's Extras: Make the filling while the cookie cups are cooling.)

Ingredients (filling)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (Erika's Extras: my lemon lover friends could tell I squeezed the lemons myself!)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons butter
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
additional lemon zest (optional)
Directions (filling)
In a medium saucepan stir together the sugar, cornstarch, lemon peel, lemon juice, water and the butter. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Gradually stir about half of the hot lemon mixture into the egg yolks while whisking. Return egg yolk mixture to the saucepan along with the remaining lemon mixture that was left in the pan. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap; chill until needed.  Fills ~18 cups. 

Bake well and prosper!

Vegan Pie - Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie

My best friend in France (grant it, I only have 5 friends in France...but she's my best one!) sent me a vegan pie cookbook for a thank you gift. (She made the vegan brownies way back in 2010.) The thanks was due because I shipped her a gift for her boyfriend (and herself) from America which meant I had to drag myself to the post office a week or two BEFORE Christmas and fill out a customs form etc etc. *shudder*

Actually, it wasn't all that bad. Quite easy. And the thank you gift came as a nice surprise.

I should have made something sooner, but making this type of vegan dessert meant being able to go to a specialty grocery store. Seeing I hardly go to my normal grocery store, it took me awhile to go to Whole Foods to get the ingredients. But I got them! Here are some of the special ones I found:

(Really, I only needed to go to Whole Foods for the vegan chocolate chips, but I figured I'd get fancy graham crackers and corn starch while I was at it.)

I must admit that I was a little "meh" about making a vegan pie. 1. I'm a milk type of gal. 2. I'm a cookies type of gal. But I started on the crust and guess what! I made a mess!

I knew from then that this recipe was going to rock! And rock it did! I had one piece and then HAD to have a second piece right away!

(But please don't tell my French vegan friend that I had the second piece with milk. Shhhhh!)

Cette recette était super délicieux! Vous devriez essayer le faire. (Thanks google translate! I hope that translated correctly to "This recipe was super yummy! You should try making it.")

Vegan Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie (from Vegan Pie in the Sky)

Ingredients for the crust:

1 3/4 cups finely ground graham crackers

        (made from 10 ounces of whole graham crackers)  

        (Erika's Extras: Mine had oatmeal on it and I thought

          it was a nice flavor added to the crust.)

3 Tablespoons sugar

4 Tablespoons melted hydrogenated margarine, melted coconut oil, or canola oil

   (Erika's Extras: I used canola oil but I think the

    margarine would solidify it better.

    Mine was quite crumbly on the edges.)

1 Tablespoon plain soy milk or almond milk

   (Erika's Extras: I used almond milk because it's part of

    the ingredients for the filling.)

Nonstick cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F and lightly spray a 9-inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the graham crumbs and sugar. Drizzle in the oil or melted margarine. Use a spoon to blend the mixture thoroughly to moisten the crumbs, then drizzle in the soy or almond milk and stir again to form a crumbly dough.

3. Pour the crumbs into the pie plate. Press crumbs into the sides of the plate first, then work your way down to the bottom, Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until firm. Let the crust cool before filling.

Ingredients for the Filling

3 cups almond milk

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Big pinch of salt

1/4 cup semisweet vegan chocolate chips

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a small (2-quart) saucepan off the heat, combine 1 cup of the almond milk and the cornstarch. Use a fork to whisk it until the cornstarch is good and dissolved. Whisk in the remaining almond milk, the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. it's ok if the cocoa is a bit clumpy at first; it will dissolve eventually.

2. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking occasionally. Keep a close eye because once boiling, you need to lower the heat and bring the mixture to a slow rolling boil. Whisk consistently until the mixture is thickened, which should be about 7 minutes. (Erika's Extras: I never found that this "thickened." It became slightly more solid and then once it cools it is fine. Don't expect it to grab on the whisk much.)

3. Add the chocolate chips and mix to melt. Stir in the vanilla extract. Pour the pudding into the prepared pie shell and let cool for about 15 minutes on the counter, just until it stops steaming. To keep a skin from forming, place a circle of parchment paper over the filling when setting in the fridge. Refrigerate and let set for at least 3 hours. 

Bake well and prosper!

Fresh Blueberry Pie

As promised, the recipe for the blueberry pie that I showed in my post yesterday. But first, fireworkrk pictures!

This year I watched the Macy's fireworks show from NJ. This view has the backdrop of Manhattan and was lovely!

I love this shot because it shows the crowds of people in the green park below.

With FOUR fireworks barges, the sky really lit up!

Yay for celebrating America's birthday!

Fresh Blueberry Pie (adapted from all allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

1 prepared 8 inch pastry shell, baked and cooled (click here for no fail pie crust recipe)

2 pints fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar

Directions
1. Pour one pint of the blueberries into the baked pie shell. (Make sure to rinse the blueberries thoroughly before adding to pie.) (Pie shell should be relatively cool.)
2. Combine flour, butter, lemon juice and sugar in a pan over low heat.. Mix thoroughly until butter is almost completely melted. Add the remaining pint of blueberries and bring just to a boil over medium heat. Berries might begin to pop open.

3. Pour cooked berries over fresh berries. Chill pie and serve chilled or at room temperature with whipped cream.

Bake well and prosper!

Happy Fourth of July, Y'all!

Happy Fourth of July! Question: What's red, white, and blue?

Well, yes. Blueberries in a red colander with a white table.

 But I was thinking more patriotic...

Ah! There we go. The American flag!

The fourth of July is my favorite holiday and I made a blueberry pie. 

Isn't it pretty with the red, white, and blue? I will share the recipe tomorrow. As for now, I'M dressed in my red, white, and blue outfit and I have parties to get to and fireworks to watch.

 Bake well and prosper!

God Bless America!

Peach Schnapps Peach Pie

It's summer which means it's peach season! It also means that Fathers Day occurs and you know what? My dad's birthday is right around Father's Day. (Just like my mom's bday is near Mothers Day.) Since I wrote a post about her, I figured it was time to send some love my dad's way.

 

Unlike me, my dad enjoys a fruit dessert over a chocolate dessert. So, in honor of his birthday I decided that I should make a fruit pie. Since he lives hundred of miles away from me, he'll just get the pictures instead of tasting it (but I know he would have loved this!)  

 

More about my dad: He knows a fair amount about fruit since HIS dad had such a green thumb in Florida. In fact, I bet my dad knows what the inside of a peach pit looks like. I didn't until I made this pie. I was so surprised to even have a peach pit split on me while preparing the peaches! Look! It looks like an almond!

Speaking of peaches, my dad also let me know when I was 8 that the peach pits I planted in the back yard were NOT going to grow into peach trees. Um...well...maybe I was just composting early in life. Yeah.

 

My dad was also a great supporter of playing basketball. On game day when I was in high school, my dad would make my brown bag lunch and write on the outside "Rebound!" or "Go get 'em!" or "Square up!" Having those on my paper bag was better than all the cheering from the stands.

Another interesting thing to note about my dad is that he's a pastor. Yep! That makes me a pastor's daughter. *dun dun duuun* Along with raising me in the Christian faith he also taught me AWESOME things like, "The only one who can allow yourself to get angry is you." (I remember him telling me that while I was very young and super upset about something my silly brothers had done. What a gem of wisdom for a kid!)

Thank goodness he never preached that cleanliness was next to godliness. Because, well, um...you see...when I was making the pie crust...well...

 (Close Up)

It wasn't my fault. This pie crust attacked me. Yeah...

Ok. Back to prettier pictures...

Making this peach pie was quite time consuming, but also fun. Next time I'm in TX I'll have to make it for my super awesome dad. We can sit and play board games while eating this dessert (with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, of course!)

Peach Schnapps Peach Pie (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

6 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges

1/4 cup honey
2 fluid ounces peach schnapps, or more to taste (I used 3oz)
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pie crust (recipe below)

Directions
1.Place the peaches, honey, and peach schnapps into a saucepan over medium heat, and cook until the peaches are softened and the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Stir in sugar and cinnamon until combined. Stir in the flour, and bring the mixture back to a simmer. Simmer until the flour has thickened the filling, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer filling to a container, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

2.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

3.Stretch bottom pie crust into a 9 1/2-inch pie pan; cut some of the remainder of the crust into 1-inch wide strips. Spread the peach filling evenly into the bottom crust, and make a lattice crust from the strips, weaving the strips over and under each other. Pinch strips to the bottom crust at both ends.

4.Bake the pie in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, then remove and put a sheet of aluminum foil ligfhtly over the top of the pie (then the crust won't burn). Return to oven and bake until top crust is golden brown, about 30 more minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 2 hours before serving to allow pie filling to set up.

Never Fail Pie Crust (from My Mom's Best Recipe Book)
1 heaping t baking powder
1 t salt
5 1/2 C flour
Mix together

Mix 1 lb (2C) lard (Crisco) into flour mixture until crumbly

Put 1 egg in 1 C measuring cup; beat with fork. Add 1 t vinegar and fill cup with cold water. Mix well and mix with flour mixture. Dough can be frozen.

Makes 3 pie crusts

Can use combo of lard and Crisco (1 C of each.)

Bake well and prosper!

Jameson Marmalade Pockets

Have I ever shared that my mother is a great baker and that's where I get my baking genes from? She got it from her mother who not only made the most glorious pies but also had a sweet tooth to rival mine.

When I went home a couple of weeks ago I once again thanked my parents for going to all my basketball games, choir concerts, and plays that I was involved with during high school. It's very mind blowing to me that they worked full time and spent their precious free time supporting me and my siblings in our extra curricular activities.

When I said this to my mom, she replied with, "And don't forget. I also had a meal on the table every night." This is just another reason why the Wonder Woman "joke" worked for her. My sister bought her some Wonder Woman cards years ago to be silly, but it really seemed to match my mom well. Other Wonder Woman merchandise has been given since then and when I was walking in SoHo this past weekend, I couldn't help but snap a picture of this. Too bad it's not for sale, because I know who I'd give it to!

Another item I kept from cleaning out boxes at my parents' house was this sifter. I know, I know. I already have a sifter. But I grew up seeing my mom use this one and helping her by sifting the items in this cute sifter. I HAD to keep it.

Maybe using this sifter will give me Wonder Woman powers too...

Jameson Marmalade Pockets (adapted from Authentic Suburban Gourmet)

I've had this marmalade unopened in my fridge since my trip to Ireland this past summer. (Funny side note: my mom bought this too!) Finally decided to use it for the jam in these treats. (Any jam will do.)

Ingredients
2 ½ C Flour
3 T Sugar
1 C Butter (2 sticks), chilled and cut into pieces
2 Egg yolks
¼ C Ice water

Additional
Jam, Jelly, or Marmalade
1 Egg for brushing top of pastries
Course sugar for sprinkling on top

Use a food processor, combine the flour and sugar. Add the butter pieces and process until the mixture is crumbly. Lightly beat the eggs and add to the mixture and pulse until combined. Then stream the ice water into the processor and continue to process until the dough holds together. Remove and divide the dough into two balls and flatten. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

To assemble:
Use a large cutting board and generously flour. Lay one of the disks on the floured board. Place plastic wrap on top and begin to roll out to a thin sheet of dough. You will want to rotate the dough after a few rolls with the rolling pin. Use a square cookie cutter that is 2 inches in diameter or I used a ravioli cutter of the same size.

Each jam pocket will take two pastry squares. Lay one square on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Place about 1 heaping teaspoon of the fig jam in the middle. Fill a small bowl with water and use your index finger to dampen the top piece of dough and gently lay on top of the jam filled dough. Carefully press the edges all away around without letting the jam come out. To seal use a fork to press all around the pastry and using a pastry brush, give a gentle wash of the egg on top. Sprinkle with the course sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack. Keep in a airtight container.

Bake well and prosper!

Brownie Pecan Pie

I was in Virginia for Thanksgiving. This means I was making a dessert in someone else's kitchen. And this means I was making a mess in someone else's kitchen.

Whoops. Well, flour is my nemesis everywhere, not just in my own kitchen.

Naomi, my boyfriend's sister-in-law, was nice enough to let me use her kitchen for 2 hours Thanksgiving morning. And by use I mean commandeer.

On Bakerella's site I saw what looked like heaven. A pie with brownie in the middle and pecan pie on top. I HAD to try to make it for Thanksgiving. I'm not much of a pie person. (Seriously. I was born after my mom had two pieces of lemon meringue pie. I HAD to get out of that womb and get some chocolate.) Since this pie involved chocolate it was definitely for me.

It was a success at dinner and we got to eat it off of Christine's great great grandmother's lovely China plates. (Christine, my boyfriend's step mom, was the wonderful hostess of the dinner.) I also learned that there is a southern pie recipe called Chocolate Chess Pie that it is similar to. Awesome! Another pie to research and bake. Yum!

Brownie Pecan Pie (adapted from Bakerella)

I used my mom's recipe for pie crust instead of buying it pre-made. This makes 3 pie crusts.

Never Fail Pie Crust (from My Mom's Best Recipe Book)

1 heaping t baking powder

1 t salt
5 1/2 C flour
Mix together

Mix 1 lb (2C) lard (Crisco) into flour mixture until crumbly

Put 1 egg in 1 C measuring cup; beat with fork. Add 1 t vinegar and fill cup with cold water. Mix well and mix with flour mixture. Dough can be frozen.

Makes 3 pie crusts
Can use combo of lard and Crisco (1 C of each.)

Then I used my never fail brownie recipe for the brownie part.
Supernatural Brownie Recipe
 
Then I used the topping Bakerella used.
Bakerella's Mama's Pecan Pie Recipe

Instructions
Make the pie crusts and mold into pie pans. 

Make the brownie batter and pour an equal amount into each pie.

Make the pecan pie filling and pour on top of brownie batter.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and then place aluminum foil on top of pies for the last 15 minutes. This ensures the pie crusts don't burn.

Once completely baked, take out of oven and let cool for 3 hours. Serve at room temperature.

Bake well and prosper!