S'mores, please!

I've been seeing S'mores Pie around the internet for quite a while now and have had it on my "to do" list.  Twice I bought a bag of those Jet-Puffed Jumbo Marshmallows.  The first bag ended up being snack food.  Seriously, once you eat those giant, puffy, white wonders you'll never go back to the puny regular marshmallows again! The second bag remained unopened for several months until I finally got around to making this delightful pie.  Who doesn't love s'mores, the tasty, nostalgic treat?  Nobody, I say, NOBODY!  There is something about the crunchy graham cracker, sweet chocolate and toasty marshmallow that instantly transports me back to childhood.  I can almost smell the campfire smoke and hear the crackle.  Back to simpler times, when life was an adventure to be enjoyed, free of bills and responsibilities.  Oh, how I long for those days!  Sadly, those days are gone, but at least I can enjoy S'mores Pie!

S'mores Pie
1 9-inch graham cracker pie crust
12 Jumbo marshmallows (or however many mini or regular sized marshmallows you need)
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbs. cornstarch
4 oz. high-quality dark chocolate, chopped
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tb. unsalted butter
pinch of salt

To make the chocolate filling, heat 1 1/2 cups of the half and half, sugar and salt in a small, heavy pot until simmering.  Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2 cup half and half with the cornstarch and whisk to combine well.  Whisk in the eggs.  Add some of the hot half and half to the egg mixture to temper it, then whisk everything back into the pot.  Cook until the mixture comes to a boil, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.  Take the pudding off the heat and add the butter, vanilla and chocolate.  Let sit for a few minutes to melt the chocolate and then whisk well to combine everything.  Pour through a fine-mesh sieve directly into the pie crust.  Smooth the top then press plastic wrap directly onto the pudding to keep a skin from forming.  Refrigerate until completely cold and set, at least 6 hours.

Heat your oven to broil.  Arrange the marshmallows on the top of the pie.  Place the pie on the oven rack so it is about 3 to 4 inches away from the element.  DO NOT walk away!  I kept the oven door open and rotated the pie around constantly to brown the marshmallows evenly.  Do this until they are puffy and browned to your liking.  Enjoy immediately!

Get these.  NOW.

Line them all up on your pie.  If you like, you can cut some up to fill in the gaps.

Toast carefully under the broiler.

I'm eight years old all over again!

Sweet and Salty!

Salted caramel is all the rage these days.  And it's no mystery why, salty and sweet is delicious!  So why not apply that principle to a pie?  Salted caramel apple pie.  Hell yes!  As I've said before, I'm really not apple pies biggest fan.  But when you cover it with a crunchy topping and slather it in salted caramel, sign me up!

I used the salted caramel recipe from Kelsey Nixon on the Cooking Channel.  It's easy to put together and makes more than you need for the pie, so put the rest in a container and save it for drizzling over ice cream, dipping fruit or cookies in, or eating with a spoon.  When it comes to apples, pick a variety that can stand up to baking, like Granny Smith, Fuji or my choice, Honeycrisp.  Sweet and juicy, the Honeycrisp apples at work were so fragrant I could practically smell them from across the entire store.  They were the perfect match for the salted caramel.

This pie turned out to be so delicious that I did not bring it to work like I usually do.  Once in a while I fall so hard for a pie (see Sweet Potato Meringue) that I can't bear to share it.  I must be greedy and keep it all to myself.  So if you make this pie with the intention of giving it away, be sure not to taste it because it won't be going anywhere except your belly!

Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 Tb. unsalted butter
1 tsp. coarse sea salt or kosher salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil, without stirring.  Use a wet pastry brush to wash down any sugar crystals on the side of the pan.  Boil until the syrup is a deep amber color, about 5 to 6 minutes.  Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the cream.  The mixture will bubble up furiously.  Stir in the butter and salt.  Pour the caramel into a dish and allow to cool.

Crumble Topping
1 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sliced almonds
6 Tb. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Combine the dry ingredients and stir to mix well.  Stir in the melted butter and mix to form crumbles.  Set aside while preparing the rest of the pie.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie
1 9-inch pie crust, unbaked
2 lbs. apples
juice of half a lemon
2 Tb. sugar
2 Tb. flour
Salted Caramel Sauce
Crumble Topping

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a sheet pan on the middle rack.  Peel and core the apples and slice 1/4 inch thick.  Toss the apples with the lemon juice.  Combine the sugar and flour and toss with the apples.  Pour half of the caramel sauce over the apples and stir to coat.  Pile the apples into the pie crust and then cover the top with the crumble topping.  You will need to use your hands to press the topping onto the apples, forming a compact crust.  Place the pie onto the hot sheet pan.  Bake until the pie is well browned and  the juices are bubbling all the way through the pie, including the center.  This will take about an hour to 1 1/2 hours.  You may need to cover the pie with foil to keep it from browning too much.  When the pie is cooled, drizzle more of the caramel sauce over the top and if you like, sprinkle it with more coarse salt.

The apples tossed with salted caramel.

Crumble topping

Oh la la, gooey caramel and crunchy topping!

Sweet and salty perfection!

Pretty in Pink Grapefruit

Next to clementines, my second favorite winter fruit treat is pink grapefruit.  Seeing as how I think of everything in terms of pie, naturally I decided to make a pink grapefruit pie.  Just like a lemon meringue, but with pink grapefruit instead.  And the topping has to be Italian meringue, of course.  I don't know why anyone bothers with "regular" meringue anymore when Italian is SO much better!

I really like the tart-sweet bitterness of pink grapefruit and didn't want to lose that quality in the pie.  So I didn't go too crazy with the sugar and I folded in chopped grapefruit sections to drive home the fresh taste of the fruit.  To do this you need to supreme the grapefruit, which involves cutting off all the skin and cutting out the segments, which produces beautiful slices of juicy fruit with none of the pesky white membrane attached.  You can get a quick lesson on how to supreme in this video by Elishia's Kitchen.

This pie is easy to put together and provides a fresh, beautiful addition to any winter meal!

1 9" graham cracker pie crust
2 cups freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
pinch of salt
zest of one grapefruit
few drops red food color, optional
2 Tb. unsalted butter
1 grapefruit, supreme and chop

Italian Meringue
3 egg whites, saved from the yolks used in the filling
1 cup sugar
2 Tb. corn syrup
1/4 cup water
pinch of salt


For the filling, combine the grapefruit juice, cornstarch, sugar, salt and egg yolks in a small, heavy pot.  Stir well to dissolve the cornstarch.  Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.  When the mixture is thickened, remove from the heat.  Stir in the zest, butter, grapefruit sections and food coloring, if using.  I used just a few drops to produce a dark pink color that resembled the fresh fruit when cut.  Pour the filling into the prepared crust and press plastic wrap directly to the surface to prevent a skin from forming.  Refrigerate until cold, about 4 to 6 hours.

For the  Italian meringue, combine the sugar, water and corn syrup in a small pot and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Clip a candy thermometer to the side and cook over high heat until the thermometer registers 240 degrees.  While the syrup is coming up to temperature, whip the egg whites in a stand mixer until soft peaks are formed and then whip in the salt.  When the syrup is done, pour it slowly down the side of the bowl into the whites while the mixer is running.  Avoid pouring into the whisk, as it will fling the hot syrup all over the bowl.  Continue whipping on high speed until the mixture has cooled and is fluffy, firm and glossy, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Pile the meringue onto the pie and make decorative swirls and peaks.  Toast in the hot oven until lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Chill about 30 minutes before serving.

Beautiful inspiration!

Adding the meringue to the cooled pie.

So simple and beautiful

Oh, a slice for me!?  Aw, you shouldn't have!

The perfect Winter sweet treat.

Crazy for Coconut!

My birthday was in December and I fully intended to make myself my personal favorite, Coconut Cream Pie.  I even  bought all the ingredients but when the day rolled around, I realized I was too lazy and scrapped the plans.  Luckily, my dear friend Lindsay made me two delicious pies herself!  I tell ya, having someone else make pie for me was just about the best birthday gift I could get.  She made a fabulous peanut butter and jelly pie and, to my delight, a coconut cream pie.  Now that is friendship!

Fast forward to the New Year and I still have the ingredients in my cupboard.  Might as well make that pie now.  This one is full of the namesake ingredient - I use coconut milk and plenty of shredded coconut in the filling and shower the top with a thick layer of toasted coconut as well.  If you're like me and crazy for coconut, this one won't miss!

1 9" graham cracker pie crust
1 can coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
6 Tb. cornstarch
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 bag sweetened shredded coconut, divided usage
2 cups heavy cream
3 Tb. powdered sugar

For the filling, place the heavy cream, coconut milk and sugar in a small, heavy pot over medium high heat.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  While the milk is heating, whisk together the cornstarch and eggs.  When the milk has boiled, add a ladle full of it to the egg mixture and whisk well.  This will temper the eggs so they do not curdle when you add them into the hot milk.  Whisk the egg mixture back into the pot of milk and lower the heat to about medium.  Bring to a boil, whisking constantly to avoid forming lumps.  When the filling is thickened, remove from the heat and stir in half the bag of coconut and the vanilla extract.  Pour the filling into the crust and press plastic wrap directly to the surface to keep a skin from forming.  Put in the refrigerator and chill completely, about 4 to 6 hours.

Toast the rest of the coconut in the oven until golden brown.  You will need to stir it around frequently so it toasts evenly.  Watch it carefully to be sure it doesn't burn.  Let cool completely before putting on the pie.  Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar together to stiff peaks.  Cover the top of the cooled pie with the whipped cream and toasted coconut.  Enjoy!

Just some simple ingredients.

Make a coconut custard for the filling.

Creamy and chocked fully of coconut!

Cutie Pie

You're probably wondering where I've been.  No place fantastic, unfortunately.  I've just been busy.  The holidays, work (during the holidays!!), moving to a new house... You know, life stuff.  I really did plan on delving deep into holiday pies for the blog, but I never made it past the Cranberry Meringue pie.  Oh well.

So I was staring at our box of Cuties (California clementines, my winter favorite) the other day and it hit me, Cutie Pie!!  Damn, I am so clever I practically can't stand myself.  In my mind cutie pie looked like a fluffy mousse-like cloud, decorated with cutie segments.  Oh yes, it will be mine.

I found some recipes for clementine pies on the internet to inspire me.  I ended up making a clementine curd (based on the fruit curd master recipe in The Pie and Pastry Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum.).  To the hot curd I stirred in gelatin and after the mixture cooled, I added heavy cream and whipped it up.  Perfection!  Sweet, a tiny bit tart, creamy and fluffy, my Cutie Pie is the picture of perfection!  Not a bad comeback, I'd say.

Cutie Pie
1 graham cracker crust, store-bought or your own
1 cup freshly squeezed clementine juice (I use Cutie brand)
Zest of 4 clementines
2 Tb. lemon juice
1 packet unflavored gelatin
heavy pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tb. butter

1 cup heavy cream
2 Tb. sugar
clementine or mandarin orange segments for garnish, blot dry on a paper towel

Stir the gelatin into the lemon juice and set aside to let bloom.  In a small, heavy pot combine the sugar and egg yolks, whisking well to combine.  Stir in the clementine juice, salt and butter.  Set the pot over medium heat and cook ,whisking constantly, until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.  Be careful not to get it too hot, or your eggs will scramble.  Add in the gelatin and zest, stir until the gelatin is dissolved.  Scrape the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until the curd is thickened and partially set.

Put the clementine curd into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add one cup of heavy cream and whip on high speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes (this may take more or less time depending on the how cold and set the curd is).  The mixture is still not fully set at this point, so don't worry if it seems a little soft.  Pour the mousse into the prepared pie crust and smooth the top.  Refrigerate until set, about 2 or 3 more hours.

Whip the heavy cream and sugar to stiff peaks.  Decorate the top of your Cutie Pie as desired with whipped cream and orange segments.  Enjoy the sweet, creamy goodness!

Start with some beautiful clementines.

 

Make a delicious clementine curd.

When it's thick and looks like this when you stir it up, whip it with heavy cream.

Pour into a pie shell and refrigerate until set.

Cutie Pie!

Sweet, creamy citrus.  So beautiful and delicious.

A Little Something Different

I'm always looking for something just a little different.  I had a bag of cranberries in the freezer, and some egg whites leftover from making pumpkin cream pie and I thought, dare I make cranberry meringue pie?  I Googled possible recipes and found there were quite a few.  I decided on my own version flavored with orange juice and spiked with a touch of Grand Marnier.   Of course I had to make delicious, fluffy Italian meringue to top off the sweet-tart fruit.  Success!  This pie is both rich and refreshing and absolutely perfect if you're looking for something a little different for your holiday table.


Cranberry Meringue Pie
1 9" pie crust, blind baked (I use Wholly Wholesome)
1 lb. fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
zest and juice of one orange
1 Tb. cornstarch
1 Tb. Grand Marnier


Combine  the cranberries, sugar, water, cornstarch, orange juice and zest in a small pot over medium high heat.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low.  Cook until thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the liqueur.  Scrape the filling to the cooked and cooled  pie crust.  Refrigerate until completely cooled.


Italian Meringue (from epicurious.com)
3 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 Tb. corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
Place egg whites in a mixer bowl.   Whip the whites in mixer until soft peaks form.  Whip in the salt.  Stir sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Attach a candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat to medium-high and boil without stirring, occasionally swirling pan and brushing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush, until thermometer registers 240°, 6-8 minutes. Remove pan from heat.  Slowly pour hot sugar syrup down side of bowl into whites and beat until meringue is firm and glossy. Continue beating until cool, about 4 minutes.  Spread the meringue over the top of the cooled pie, being sure to connect it to the edge of the crust.  Bake the pie in a 400 degree oven until nicely toasted to your liking, about7 to 10 minutes.

Pile on the meringue.  I said pile it on!

Make decorative swirls and peaks.

Brown the meringue in a hot oven.

Fluffy meringue pairs perfectly with tart cranberry.

Nom.

I'm Drowning in Turkeys

So, it's Thanksgiving and work is just a tad bit busy.  And by busy I mean 1,000 pounds of stuffing and turkeys EVERYWHERE. I don't think I'm even going to want to look at a turkey for my own Thanksgiving meal.  Luckily I managed to make 2 delicious bourbon pecan pies (I doubled the recipe) to bring to work and share with my wonderful, hard working co-workers.  Actually, this is the second batch of pecan pies I  made as the first was not up to snuff and I had to give it another go.  But anyway, if you're in the market for a delicious, sweet, gooey, boozy, pecany pie, then search no more.  End of story.


Bourbon Pecan Pie
1 9" pie shell, unbaked
4 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 Tb. butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tb. bourbon
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. pecans (I prefer them whole, but you can chop them if  you like)

Put a sheet pan in the oven and pre-heat to 400 degrees.
Whisk eggs until thoroughly mixed.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except pecans, and mix completely.  Stir in the pecans.  Pour the mixture into the pie shell  and place on the hot sheet pan in the oven.  Reduce the heat to 350 degrees.  Bake until the pie is set and lightly puffed, about 40 minutes.  Let cool completely.