It's All About... Texture, Texture, Texture

If flavor could completely rule out texture, then my Sugar Free Chocolate Cream Pie with Sugar Free Meringue might have been doable.  The flavor of this pie for Week 23, however, did not have that capacity.

For Week 23 I wanted to celebrate a friend and long time member of my church by baking a pie.  Carole's birthday came as she was packing up her life to move to the east side of the county where she would no longer be able to attend our church.  Carole is diabetic, so I promised I would deliver a sugar free pie that she could eat at our next women's gathering.  I found a recipe called the Best Tasting Sugar Free Chocolate Cream Pie from Suite101.com, and based on the name I thought it might deliver the proper results.

Covering hot custard or cream filling with plastic wrap directly on it can help keep the filling from forming a "skin"

Hot filling ready for meringue topping

Whipping up sugar free meringue topping

Beautiful pie with fluffy meringue waiting to be baked

Overbaked meringue on a not so delicious pie.  Bummer.

Sadly, as I have already stated, the pie was not one of my successes.  All of the women gathered that evening were quite gracious toward my disappointing pie, but the truth remains....

The crust was excellent, as I stuck with the All Butter Crust recipe I have grown so fond of using.  The flavor of the filling was decent, but the texture and denseness were, um, let's just say I still squirm at the memory of it in my mouth.  The sugar free meringue topping is also a rather unpleasant memory--both overcooked and strangely textured.

While the company for the evening was delightful and entertaining, the dessert was laughable and will not be attempted again.  

High-Dive Belly-Flop Pie

It has been some time since I have sat before my computer to write about my ongoing pie adventures.  Although I have shied away from my writing the past many weeks, my readers may find joy in the knowledge that I have not given up on my pie making. 

The pie I made for Week 18 was one I had seen flipping through cookbooks, but one which I had no personal experience.  The Chess Pie was a mystery I thought I could handle.  I found a recipe for a Chess Pie in my A Taste of Kansas City: Then and Now cookbook called the  Myron Green Chess Pie.  The ingredients were not other-worldly, nor were the directions complex, but there was a mystery here that was beyond my comprehension.

I used the All-Butter Crust from the Cutie Pies cookbook and followed the rest of the directions precisely.  And yet there was something very wrong with my pie.  I let it cook for an additional 10 minutes to allow the pie to thicken, but to no avail. 

The last line of my recipe states, “Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted just off the center comes out clean.”  That’s it.  No instruction on cooling on a wire rack or refrigerating, so I let this pie sit on the counter for an hour or so to cool down slightly and thicken up more.  No luck.  I placed the soupy pie in the refrigerator for four hours, but still it would not set up.  The pie went back in the refrigerator for the night and when I woke up… not set. 

Later the next day, I decided I would try to cut a piece and at least give it a try to evaluate flavor and texture.  As I started to lift up the pie from the pie pan to my plate, the gooey mess fell apart onto the counter.  Giving up on notion that this pie could be put on a plate, I dove into the Chess Pie with a fork. 

Two bites were all that I needed for the Myron Green Chess Pie.  It was a failure all around.  I could not get around the fact that it looked like egg yolks, had the consistency of egg yolks, and was made with 2/3 cup egg yolks.  If I ever try this pie again, which is highly unlikely, I will have to find myself a new recipe with a few more details.  Though I have failed with my pies in the past, this definitely tops the chart as a high-dive belly-flop of a pie.

      

When Healthier Does Not Mean Better

When blackberries go on sale in the middle of winter, at $0.88 per container, it is time to make Blackberry Pie.  So during week 9, that is what I set out to do.  My recipe for Blackberry Pie came from Berry Fruit Pie recipe from  the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. 

I had loads of blackberries on hand and all of the other ingredients I needed.  Or so I thought.  I mixed up my blackberries with sugar, flour, and lemon zest.  My filling was ready.  I started to mix up my double crust, using Grandma’s oil crust, and sure enough my flour was going to only be able to make a single crust pie.  Rather than frogging the whole pie, I pulled out my whole wheat flour, thinking that I might be able to make a tasty (and healthier) pie by using whole wheat flour for half of the desired flour. 

Blackberries, sugar, flour, and lemon zest

Half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour crust

Bottom crust filled

The pie looked delicious going in and coming out of the oven.  The crust formed nicely and browned evenly.  The filling bubbled just so as I set it on the cooling rack.  Whole wheat crust?  No problem, I thought.  This pie was going to be delicious. 

What looked like a delicious pie... do not be decieved!

Wrong.

I LOVE berry pies, particularly blackberry.  This pie was ruined by its crust.  I am certain there are others out there that can manage a whole wheat crust that actually tastes nice, but this was the antithesis of what pie is about.  Perhaps Grandma’s oil crust is not meant for healthy pie.  Perhaps blackberries and whole wheat flour should not be combined.  Whatever it was… I do not want to repeat it. 

Lesson learned:  when you run out of all-purpose white flour, get up and go to the store and buy more before making a Blackberry Pie.

Don't Judge a Pie by Its Photo

The Festive Cranberry Apricot Pie was one that I had seen pictured in the Better Homes and Gardens 75^th Anniversary Edition Cookbook.  The picture showed a beautiful pie with leaves cut out of crust decorating the crust edge and a nice display of more leaf cut outs in the center of the pie.  The picture had me hooked.  I was not particularly interested in the contents of this pie as much as trying out a pie that could just look pretty because of its adornments.  Didn’t my mom always tell me not to judge a book by its cover?  Should the same be true for pies?    

Ingredients

The recipe for this pie calls for a double pastry crust, although the top crust is not used in the traditional way.  The bottom crust I rolled out and then lined my pie plate.  The top crust I rolled out and then used a small, leaf-shaped cookie cutter to cut out several dozen leaf shapes. 

Leaves ready to be artfully placed

Setting the crust leaves aside, I mixed up my filling and poured it into my pie plate.  Here is where disappointment number 1 begins.  The cranberries and apricots did not fill the 9-inch pie plate, which the recipe specifically mentioned to use.  So rather than a pie full to overflowing with beautiful apricots and cranberries, I had a two-thirds full crust.  I kept hoping I was filling a muffin tin with batter and while baking the pie filling would magically rise to a delightful dome, or at least rise up even with the edge of the crust. No such luck.  After baking, my pie looked even more concave.

Waiting for magic to happen...

My second disappointment may have been tied to my first, as the leaf shapes I had cut out an then placed artfully on the top of my pie, did not brown or firm up.  Ick.  The edge of the crust, lined with leaves, was gorgeous, but it did not follow suit that the leaves placed on the center of the pie were also gorgeous. 

Notice the contrast between the leaf shapes on the edge of the crust and those in the center of the pie.

The final disappointment for this pie was the taste.  While it was no surprise to me that it would taste like a Thanksgiving pie, I secretly hoped it would not taste like Thanksgiving.  Yes, I agree this is a silly disappointment, but I wanted the mild flavor of the apricots and the tangy flavor of the cranberries to shine through and make a bright pie eating experience.  Instead the pumpkin spice seasoning, called for in the recipe, overpowered the fruit. 

Final verdict?  No need to make Festive Cranberry Apricot Pie a second time.  I also need to remember not to choose a pie based on its photograph in a cookbook. 

 

 

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!