Company Pie

The pie I made for the fifth week was a Raspberry ButtermilkPie.  This pie was pulled together last minute, while most of my family had come down with head colds.  Needless to say, I was looking for a pie that I could make with only half of my brain alert.  My mom saved the day, so to speak, when she emailed me an article printed in the November 2012 issue of Real Simple magazine, entitled “10 ideas for: Pie”. 

Knowing that we were not going to be having guests over, due to the status of my family’s health, I was not overly worried about a clean kitchen or killing my friends with the germs that were so rampant around our house last weekend. 

Humble ingredients

For this pie I followed the basic flaky piecrust listed in the article, of which each of the 10 pies listed would use.  The crust was easy to make, flaky and buttery, and held up very well over the course of 2 days.  I par-baked it, as directed, as the filling also needed to be baked.   

The filling consisted of buttermilk sugar, flour, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt whisked together, poured into the pan, and baked.  Very simple. 

Buttermilk pie beginning to bake

After cooling on the counter for a couple hours, I chilled the pie in the refrigerator until we were ready to eat it.  The final step to this pie was to top it with 1/3 cup raspberry jam and ¼ cup toasted sliced almonds.

Topping with raspberry jam

End result topped with toasted sliced almonds

The verdict: two thumbs up from the family.  I was not really sure what the body of the pie would taste like, whether it would be gummy or custardy.  To my surprise the texture and flavor was a bit like eating cheesecake.  The thin layer of raspberry jam and sprinkled almonds were a perfect finish to a simple pie.  I will definitely be making Raspberry Buttermilk Pie again and next time we will have company.  

Happy taste-tester going for a hands-only approach.

Good pie.  Happy husband.

Peach Pie with Candied Pecan Topping or Bust?

Luther and Laurie, a local pastoral family, were the guinea pigs for the fourth week’s pie: Peach Pie with Candied Pecan Topping from Better Homes and Gardens.  After the previous pie’s lengthy crust process I decided to keep the crust simple by using Grandma’s oil crust, a recipe that I have memorized by rote over the years.  Luther and Laurie had requested a fruit pie, so peach seemed a fitting option, particularly with the candied pecan topping to welcome the cool autumn evening. 

My hopes were high. 

The pie was very simple in its setup.  Roll out a double crust.  Mix peaches with sugar and spice.  Pour sweetened peaches into the pastry lined pie pan.  Top with the upper crust and bake.  Even the topping was uncomplicated.  Mix pecans with brown sugar and butter, pour over the baked pie, then pop it into the oven for a few minutes to firm up.

Sweetening the peaches

Grandma's oil crust

Peaches ready for the upper crust and candied pecan topping

Finished product cooling before guests arrive

Not a complex pie, yet the results were my first big disappointment of my year long adventure (keeping in mind that this was only the fourth pie of fifty-two).  So here are my two main grievances:

1. Although I used Grandma’s oil crust, a recipe I have used and trusted for many years, it did not hold up to the power of the peach.  The first night it fared decently, but the second night it was gummy mush.  Yuck.    

2.  Although divine sounding, the candied pecan topping overpowered the peaches.  The pecans also did not crisp, as I hoped they might.  Rather than a nice crunch to the top of the pie, they created a layer of chewiness that did not suit the pie. 

It is challenging to write about a pie in the negative, because after all is said and done it is still pie that we ate and enjoyed (not to mention having great with whom company to share the experience).  However, as I am onboard to make 52 pies this year, there will be others that get a negative review, as well.  Onward, ho!  

I Thought I Saw A Graham Cracker In There

This third pie was made at the request of a new friend and his visiting girlfriend from Israel. 

I was excited to make a  Banana Cream Pie because I was going to try out a new pastry crust for the pie.  Typically I stick to my grandma’s oil crust, as I love its taste and texture.  However, as I was reading about some of the downfalls of cream pies being a crust that does not hold up when refrigerated, I knew this would be a great week to try out a new crust that had been tested by America’s Test Kitchen.  The consensus from their thorough testing is that a pastry crust rolled out on graham cracker crumbs would provide a more stable crust that could withstand refrigeration, without the sogginess that generally follows.

The crust did turn out quite magnificent, though the process was much more involved than my grandma’s crust, using both butter and shortening, and requiring both refrigeration time and freezer time.  The addition of the graham cracker crumbs added a nice flavor to the crust that complemented the filling well.  As for sogginess… there was none of that.  Even the second day! 

Complete pastry crust with graham cracker crumbs rolled in.

Homemade whipped cream.  Remind me why I ever buy the stuff in a can?

Ready to dish up!

The Banana Cream Pie was delicious and while I would not want to take the time for this particular crust on every pie, it did make a difference, and a notable one at that.  Our friends went away full and content.  I couldn't ask for more than that!

*As a side note, my 3 ½ year old son declared that his favorite part was not the crust or the filling, but the white stuff (homemade whipped cream) on top. :)

Sometimes You Feel Like a Walnut Crust

Rich and delicious are the first two words that come to mind upon my refection of the pie I made during my family vacation last week.  My only complaint about this pie is that I had not brewed a pot of coffee to accompany our tasting of the Chocolate Bar Pie from Better Homes and Gardens.

In my previous post I had mentioned that very little granulated sugar was needed to make this pie—it only needed two tablespoons.  I knew I did not want to pack a container of sugar for such a scant amount, so I made good use of the sugar packets, undoubtedly meant for the coffee brewed using the in-room coffee maker in the condo we had rented for the week.  The walnuts for the crust I had ground before leaving for vacation and the rest of the ingredients were easy to acquire at the local grocery store in Newport, Oregon.   

Simple ingredients

My first attempt at forming the crust was a little discouraging.  I quickly realized as I pressed the walnut crust into the glass pie pan, the one I used for almost all of my pie baking, that my ingredients were not going to stretch the distance or depth of the pan.  The recipe was designed for a smaller pan.  Thankfully my parents saved the day with a small metal pie pan they had packed, just in case I had not packed one of my own.  Thus, after scraping the first attempt into the second metal pie pan, the crust spread exactly the distance and depth for which it was intended.  Success!

Successful attempt at walnut crust using metal pie pan

While the crust baked, chocolate bars and marshmallows were melted with milk, and then combined with a whipped cream mixture. 

Chocolaty goodness ready to fill the crust

The walnut crust was filled with chocolaty goodness and then placed in the freezer while my family waited what seemed like forever for the pie to reach its desired chilliness. 

Chocolate Bar Pie

Since I began my pie mid-afternoon, and it needed to chill out in the freezer for 5 hours, we were all in our pajamas by the time we got our first taste.  We dressed up the chilly chocolate slices with a whipped topping and chopped chocolate almond bars. 

Dished and ready to go

EAT ME!

While my first impression of the Chocolate Bar Pie was rich and delicious, there was some discussion among my family of whether or not the crust needed to be walnut or if a graham cracker crust or a pastry crust would have sufficed.  Everyone enjoyed the pie, but the consensus seemed to be that sometimes you feel like a walnut crust, and sometimes you don’t.