So, my sister is in town, and has informed me that she has given up sweets for Lent. So alas, I have decided not to enact cruel torture by filling my house with the smell of pie.
Instead, I want to recommend to you the movie Waitress for pie-making inspiration. This movie has it all--the dead-beat husband, caddy wait staff, "spontaneous poetry," and of course, lots of pie. Plus a gruff Andy Griffith--what more could you want?
The heroine in Waitress creates pies for every situation in her life, both good and bad. It's an excellent example of how pie-making can be therapeutic and rewarding, not to mention how it can bring people together. I would highly recommend it.
In the meantime, I recommend the "Poor Man's Pie," this week's Pie of the Week--courtesy of my friend Jen. I promised not to tell her grandmother that she leaked the recipe, so mum's the word! Enjoy!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
How to Make Delicious Chocolate Cream Pie!
So now that we've tackled sugar cream pie, it's time to delve into chocolate. This is one of my favorite pies, and a favorite of many of my friends (in fact, my roommate has inspired me to make this pie much more often!).
The first key to making any cream pie requiring heat is that you have to have a good saucepan. By which I mean, a pan that has a nice thick plate on bottom to distribute heat evenly. Cheaper pans tend to be thin on bottom, and will (I can tell you from experience) give you burnt chips floating around in your filling. Now, I am not suggesting going out and spending $200. I use a Farberware 3-Qt saucepan that cost about $30, and it works perfectly well.
So, once you have your pan, you're ready to start. Here is my favorite recipe:
1 C sugar
5 tbsp flour
3 eggs--separated (stir a little milk in with the yolks)
2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
First, separate your egg whites from the yolks. I do this by cracking the egg shell and breaking it in the middle, and then moving the yolk back and forth into each half of the eggshell over a large mixing bowl. The egg whites should fall into the mixing bowl in this process. Be careful not to break the yolk! Set the bowl with the eggwhites aside (you will use them later). Place your egg yolks in another bowl and mix them with a little milk and the vanilla. Set aside the yolk mixture.
Next, mix sugar, flour, and cocoa in your saucepan. Then add milk and put over med/high heat. This is the tricky part, and will depend on your stovetop and your pan. You want your filling to thicken over the course of 5-7 minutes or so. It won't hurt anything to start with medium heat and then turn your burner higher if it's not thickening. Be sure to stir constantly.
Once your mixture is thick, remove from heat. Then add the yolk/milk/vanilla mixture a little at a time while vigorously stirring. If you simply dump all the egg mixture in all at once without stirring, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your pie. And while I am an adventurous pie-maker, this might be going a bit far.
Once you've stirred in all the yolk mixture, return the mixture to heat for just a couple more minutes. Then pour the mixture into your pie crust and let it sit.
Then, pull out that mixing bowl with the egg whites in it. Add a little bit of sugar (a few tsp or so) and mix with an electric mixer. You will see it begin to fluff up. Keep going until it is not fluffing any more. Then pour on top of your pie, spreading it evenly and making sure that the mixture touches the edges of the crust all the way around.
Then place the pie in the oven and bake just until the egg-white topping browns. This will not take long--a few minutes or so. Then remove your pie and let it sit for a few hours before eating. Note that you do not cook this pie, other than browning the top.
If banana cream is more your style, you make it the exact same way, only without adding the cocoa, and placing a layer of banana slices either between the crust and filling, or between the filling and topping. Remember that the banana slices will brown in a day or so, so banana cream pie needs to be eaten more quickly than the chocolate, which will stay good longer.
Congratulations! Let me know how it turns out!
The first key to making any cream pie requiring heat is that you have to have a good saucepan. By which I mean, a pan that has a nice thick plate on bottom to distribute heat evenly. Cheaper pans tend to be thin on bottom, and will (I can tell you from experience) give you burnt chips floating around in your filling. Now, I am not suggesting going out and spending $200. I use a Farberware 3-Qt saucepan that cost about $30, and it works perfectly well.
So, once you have your pan, you're ready to start. Here is my favorite recipe:
1 C sugar
5 tbsp flour
3 eggs--separated (stir a little milk in with the yolks)
2 C milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp cocoa
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
First, separate your egg whites from the yolks. I do this by cracking the egg shell and breaking it in the middle, and then moving the yolk back and forth into each half of the eggshell over a large mixing bowl. The egg whites should fall into the mixing bowl in this process. Be careful not to break the yolk! Set the bowl with the eggwhites aside (you will use them later). Place your egg yolks in another bowl and mix them with a little milk and the vanilla. Set aside the yolk mixture.
Next, mix sugar, flour, and cocoa in your saucepan. Then add milk and put over med/high heat. This is the tricky part, and will depend on your stovetop and your pan. You want your filling to thicken over the course of 5-7 minutes or so. It won't hurt anything to start with medium heat and then turn your burner higher if it's not thickening. Be sure to stir constantly.
Once your mixture is thick, remove from heat. Then add the yolk/milk/vanilla mixture a little at a time while vigorously stirring. If you simply dump all the egg mixture in all at once without stirring, you will end up with scrambled eggs in your pie. And while I am an adventurous pie-maker, this might be going a bit far.
Once you've stirred in all the yolk mixture, return the mixture to heat for just a couple more minutes. Then pour the mixture into your pie crust and let it sit.
Then, pull out that mixing bowl with the egg whites in it. Add a little bit of sugar (a few tsp or so) and mix with an electric mixer. You will see it begin to fluff up. Keep going until it is not fluffing any more. Then pour on top of your pie, spreading it evenly and making sure that the mixture touches the edges of the crust all the way around.
Then place the pie in the oven and bake just until the egg-white topping browns. This will not take long--a few minutes or so. Then remove your pie and let it sit for a few hours before eating. Note that you do not cook this pie, other than browning the top.
If banana cream is more your style, you make it the exact same way, only without adding the cocoa, and placing a layer of banana slices either between the crust and filling, or between the filling and topping. Remember that the banana slices will brown in a day or so, so banana cream pie needs to be eaten more quickly than the chocolate, which will stay good longer.
Congratulations! Let me know how it turns out!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Sugar Cream Pie, in Honor of Indiana
The latest in pie news: The Indiana Senate recently passed a bill to appoint sugar cream pie as the state's official pie. If the bill also passes the House, the pie will be officially named Hoosier Pie, and Indiana will become only the third state to have an official pie (joining Vermont with apple pie and Florida with Key Lime).
In honor of Indiana, I thought it would be fitting to spend some time this week on cream pies. Sugar cream pie is an excellent beginners' cream pie because you do not need to heat it before baking it. There are many recipes out there which are all very similar. Here's one from All Recipes, a great source for...well, all recipes:
1 1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C flour
1 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (you can use cinnamon instead)
1/4 C butter, chilled and diced
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (225 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and cream. Add milk and vanilla extract, and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Pour into pastry shell. Sprinkle top with nutmeg and dot evenly with small chunks of butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake an additional 45 minutes.
Some people actually mix the ingredients in the pie shell, mixing the dry ingredients together in the bottom of the pie shell first and then pouring the wet ingredients (already mixed together) over the dry ingredients and stirring gently with a couple of fingers until it's mixed. Also, if the pie browns too quickly before it's done (you can tell it's done when the middle does not jiggle when you move the pie plate), you can put aluminum foil over it. Everyone has his or her own way of doing it, so experiment and find out what works best for you. Let me know how it goes!
Note that since you are cooking this pie so long, using an unbaked pie shell is best. You can make the pie crust just as you normally would, just without baking it first.
Cream pies tend to be just a bit more finnicky than fruit pies, particularly in getting them to set right. But they are well worth it in taste! Check back next week to learn to make chocolate and banana cream pies, which require heating first. Happy baking!
In honor of Indiana, I thought it would be fitting to spend some time this week on cream pies. Sugar cream pie is an excellent beginners' cream pie because you do not need to heat it before baking it. There are many recipes out there which are all very similar. Here's one from All Recipes, a great source for...well, all recipes:
1 1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C flour
1 C heavy whipping cream
3/4 C whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (you can use cinnamon instead)
1/4 C butter, chilled and diced
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (225 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and cream. Add milk and vanilla extract, and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Pour into pastry shell. Sprinkle top with nutmeg and dot evenly with small chunks of butter.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake an additional 45 minutes.
Some people actually mix the ingredients in the pie shell, mixing the dry ingredients together in the bottom of the pie shell first and then pouring the wet ingredients (already mixed together) over the dry ingredients and stirring gently with a couple of fingers until it's mixed. Also, if the pie browns too quickly before it's done (you can tell it's done when the middle does not jiggle when you move the pie plate), you can put aluminum foil over it. Everyone has his or her own way of doing it, so experiment and find out what works best for you. Let me know how it goes!
Note that since you are cooking this pie so long, using an unbaked pie shell is best. You can make the pie crust just as you normally would, just without baking it first.
Cream pies tend to be just a bit more finnicky than fruit pies, particularly in getting them to set right. But they are well worth it in taste! Check back next week to learn to make chocolate and banana cream pies, which require heating first. Happy baking!
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