A Nutty Twist!

If you've been reading my blog you know that I gave up my "famous" Peanut Butter Pie recipe for my first blog post.  I was planning on making some pies for a good friend/co-worker who transferred to another store and was trying to come up with something delicious but not too time consuming.  Upon finding a chocolate pie crust and cashew butter in my cupboards, I had a crazy thought.  What if I turn my peanut butter pie into CASHEW BUTTER PIE?? Why the hell not?  All I did was substitute roasted cashew butter for the peanut butter in the original recipe and the results were fantastic!  Just be sure your cashew butter is room temperature when you mix up the filling.  The cashew flavor is a little more delicate than peanut butter, but the resulting pie was rich and creamy!  I decorated the top with a smooth layer of chocolate ganache and salted cashews, which provided a perfect compliment to the sweetness.  Who knew that just a slight change in the recipe would result in something so unique and delicious!

The salted cashews on top were perfection!

I had to get my orchid in the picture because I'm just so proud of it!

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!

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.

When Just Chocolate Won't Do

When it came to making a pie for my friend Lindsay's birthday, my initial thought was chocolate cream.  But knowing how fabulous my friend is, and how "just chocolate" wouldn't do for such a special lady, I decided to she needed chocolate with something more.  Lindsay is a bona fide coffee junkie, so mocha seemed to make perfect sense.  And just to make the pie that much more fabulous, I added some booze too!  I think a girl has the right to go all out on her birthday.

Mocha Cream Pie
1 9" pie crust, blind baked
2 cups half & half
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tb. instant espresso powder
2 eggs
2 Tb. cornstarch
4 oz. quality semi-sweet or bittersweet  chocolate, chopped
1 Tb. butter
2 Tb. Baileys Irish Cream
2 cups heavy cream
3 Tb. sugar

In a small, heavy bottom pot, combine 1 1/2 cups of the half & half, the sugar and instant espresso.  Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.  Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup half & half, the eggs and cornstarch.  When the liquid mixture is simmering, ladle in about a cup of it into the egg and cornstarch mixture.  This will temper the eggs so that you don't add them cold into the hot liquid, thereby scrambling them.  Whisk the warmed egg mixture back into the pot and bring to a boil, whisking constantly to keep lumps from forming.  As soon as the mixture boils, remove from the heat and add the chocolate, butter and Baileys.  Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the cream is smooth.  You can strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to ensure a silky-smooth texture.  Pour the chocolate cream into the baked, cooled pie crust and smooth the top.  Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the cream to keep a skin from forming. Place in the refrigerator and let cool completely, at least 4 hours.  Whip the heavy cream and sugar together to stiff peaks.  Top the pie with the whipped cream and decorate as desired with cocoa powder or shaved chocolate.

A pie fit for a fabulous birthday girl!

Chocolate and cherries, oh my!

While this blog is focused on pie, I really do love cake also.  Sometimes I think about how to turn a particular cake into a pie.  Black Forest cake is basically chocolate cake with cherry filling, so that translates into a pie very naturally.  Chocolate pudding with a cherry topping...nothing about that sounds bad!!  This is a no-bake pie, which I like even better considering how hot its been in Denver.  I saved myself the step of even turning on the oven to make a crust and just bought a pre-made chocolate crust at work.  We carry a brand called Wholly Wholesome.  This was my first time using this product and I really liked it. The crust tasted great and is made without preservatives, artificial flavors and other nasty ingredients, BONUS!  The cherries in Black Forest cake are typically flavored with kirsch, which is cherry liqueur.  I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of that when I have perfectly good booze at home, so I went with rum and Grand Marnier (orange liqueur) which complimented the cherries perfectly.

This Black Forest Pie is rich and decadent, but pretty easy to throw together, so there's nothing stopping you from getting this delicious gem into your pie-hole.  Not even the oppressive heat outside.  Get going, you could be eating chocolate and cherries, for goodness sake!

Black Forest Pie
1 9" chocolate pie crust

Topping
3 cups pitted cherries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3 Tb. cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 Tb. Grand Marnier
1 Tb. dark rum

Filling
2 cups half and half
2 Tb.cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 Tb. butter
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 Tb.  powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

fresh cherries to garnish, if desired

In a pot over medium high heat, combine the cherries, water, sugar, cornstarch and salt, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the cherries are softened and the mixture is thick.  Add the alcohol and simmer just a few minutes more.   The mixture should be very thick and shiny.  Scrape it into a bowl and allow to cool in the refrigerator.

For the filling, bring 1 1/2 cups half and half, sugar and salt to a simmer in a pot.  While you're waiting for the mixture to heat, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup half and half, the eggs and cornstarch in a bowl.  Add the hot half and half slowly, whisking constantly.  Pour all of the mixture back into the pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat, whisking constantly until the pudding has thickened.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and butter.   Whisk until both have melted and the mixture is smooth.  Pour into the pie crust and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding.  This will prevent a skin from forming.  Place in the refrigerator and allow to cool about 6 hours, or overnight if you like.

Once the pie and cherry topping have completely cooled, make the whipped cream.  Beat the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla together with an electric mixer until stiff peaks are formed.  Remove the plastic wrap from the pie filling spread the cherry mixture over the top -- it will be a generous amount!  Use the whipped cream to decorate the top as you like.  I piped big swirls and garnished with fresh cherries.  Delicious decadence!

Saved myself the time and heat with this tasty crust.

Whisking the chocolate and butter into the pudding mixture.

Pour the filling into the crust and press plastic wrap on top.

When cooled, add the cherry topping.

Decorate with whipped cream and cherries.  Delicious!

Close up goodness!

I finally give it up for my first post!

I make this peanut butter pie and I've always refused to share the recipe.  I first made the pie back in 2004 when I was a personal chef at an assisted living community.  It was a big hit with the little old folks.  I made the pie frequently when I was the summer chef at a dude ranch, and then again when I was a pastry chef on a train.  There is just something about this pie that causes people to go ape shit, in a good way.  It could be the fact that it contains chocolate and peanut butter, which go together like, well, chocolate and peanut butter.  I don't mean to brag, but the people love this pie.  Many have asked for the recipe and I have always refused to give up the goods because a woman has to have some secrets, ya know!!  So, I figure for the inaugural pie on my blog, it's only fitting that I finally give it up.  This recipe has never even been written down before today, or even measured for that matter!  So consider yourselves lucky, folks.

First, a note about my photos.  They suck.  Spare the comments, I know they suck.  I have no natural light in my kitchen and I don't really know how to use my camera.  And I'm extremely impatient and really wanted to get the pie up on the blog so I didn't take the time to carefully research, practice and plan.  Deal with it.  I'll get better, I promise.

Elisa's Practically Famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

I use a 9.5" glass pie pan

CRUST

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 Tb. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup sugar

FILLING

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter

3 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided usage

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups heavy whipping cream

TOPPING

4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Additional sweetened whipped cream, optional

Combine all the crust ingredients and mix well.

                                        

Firmly press the crumbs into a pie pan.  I use a measuring cup.

                                     

Bake the crust for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

                                           

While your crust is cooling, make the filling and chocolate ganache topping.

Add the peanut butter and cream cheese in your mixer bowl.
Mix on medium speed until well combined.

Once combined, add 3 cups powdered sugar and the vanilla.
Turn the mixer on/off slowly so as not to create a cloud of sugar.

When the mixture is done it will look like cookie dough.
Scrape this into another bowl and clean out your mixer bowl so you can
whip the cream to stiff peaks with the remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar.

Fold/smash/stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream to lighten the mixture.
Fold in the remaining cream and try to be semi-gentle with it
so as not to deflate the mixture.  Don't worry if you have some streaks.

To make the topping, add your chocolate and cream to a bowl over a pot
of simmering water.  When the chocolate is melted, whisk well to combine.

Add your filling to the cooled pie crust and smooth the top.

Decorate the top with the chocolate.  I used a squeeze bottle and
you can see where air bubbles caused it to splatter all over.
I call that a "homey touch."  Decorate with whipped cream if you like.

This is a very rich pie and I recommend cutting it into 8 to 12 slices.  Sit back and wait for the swooning!  You're welcome.