Category: Pies & Tarts
Tartine’s Lemon Cream Tart P-Squared, Pie Perfection

Tartine’s Lemon Cream Tart P-Squared, Pie Perfection

By | | Comments 0 Comment

The kids were home for the holidays and have now gone back to school.  It was nice having them home although our house looks like a tornado blew through.  When home, Jordan catches up on sleep while Jamie bakes and watches her favorite TV shows.  Marathon sessions of The Crown and The Great British Baking Show were interrupted only by the beep of the timer signaling something yummy was ready to come out of the oven.

GBBS

Thanks to Jamie I am now HOOKED on The Great British Baking Show.  Between the hosts, Sue and Mel, 2 quirky, hilarious women (Ready, Set, BAKE!) and the judges, Paul Hollywood (I know-Is that really his name?) and Mary Berry (BBI-British Baking Icon), this is Epicurean TV at its finest.  To top it off, amateur contestants are expected to bake their way through cakes, biscuits, laminated doughs, and bread.  Pressure in spades and yet they manage to stay so polite and endearing.

I now understand the meaning of the British phrase “Keep a stiff upper lip”.  In contrast, American TV food shows remind me of a cooking version of Game of Thrones.

Inspiration

Inspired by GBBS, Jamie and I got busy in the kitchen.  Good thing, as we were tasked with desserts for our holiday family celebrations.  Both of us LOVE pie and Tartine’s Lemon Cream Tart is hands down, our absolute favorite.  Everything we love rolled into one FABULOUS, LUSCIOUS dessert.

The foundation of the tart is the sweet, cookie-like crust, a pate sable’.  The filling, a lemon cream, starts as a curd to which GOBS of butter is added. The butter emulsifies with the lemon curd to create a deceptively light, silky, lemony filling. TOTALLY worth the gazillions of calories that I am sure it has.  It is that good.

Don’t want to make a tart crust?  Make this cream, divvy it into pretty little glasses or jars and serve with buttery shortbread cookies and fresh berries.  Winner, winner, dessert for dinner!

The recipe for the tart dough makes enough for 4 9-inch shells but can be easily halved.  It can be kept in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for a month.  Similar to cookie dough, it is made in a mixer, gather in a ball and chilled.  Work quickly when rolling out the dough as the sugar in the crust causes it to soften fairly fast.  If this happens, toss it back in the fridge to chill again.

The dough is easy to work with, can be re-rolled and works equally as well with Tartine’s Banana Cream Pie (I found the recipe link on a blog I just discovered and really like, The Little Epicurean, check it out!), the next best thing to their Lemon Tart.  Bananas embedded in rich pastry cream, chocolate ganache, topped with whipped cream, shards of chocolate, and a drizzle of caramel. It is BEASTLY, don’t get me started.  Make sure you dock the crust before baking so it doesn’t bubble.  Pre-bake the shell to a golden brown and have it ready when you make the cream.

Curd-i-Licious

To make the cream Use an immersion blender to add the butter to the curd.  A countertop blender would work also.  As soon as you finish adding the butter, pour the lemon cream into the shell.  It starts to thicken quickly,  so for a smooth, even, shiny, surface, work quick. Chill and serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Print

Tartine's Lemon Cream Tart P-Squared, Pie Perfection

Tartine's Lemon Cream Tart-TO DIE FOR, it's that good
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cranberry curd tart, Dessert, lemon cream tart, lemon curd, Tartine

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup 2 tablespoons lemon juice Meyer or regular
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter

Sweet Tart dough

  • 1 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature 9 oz/255 g
  • 1 cup granulated sugar 7 oz/200 g
  • 2 Large eggs at room temperature
  • 3-1/2 cups All-purpose flour 17-1/2 oz/500 g

Egg Wash (optional)

  • Large egg 1
  • Salt pinch

Instructions

Directions for Lemon Cream

  • Pour water to a depth of about 2 inches into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer. Combine the lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, sugar, and salt in a stainless steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of a saucepan over, not touching, the water. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will cook the yolks and turn them granular.)
  • Place the bowl over the saucepan and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very thick and registers 180° F on a thermometer. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. If you don't have or trust your thermometer, don't worry. It should thicken to the point that your whisk leaves a trail through the curd.
  • Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool to 140° F, stirring from time to time to release the heat.
  • Meanwhile, cut butter into 1-tablespoon (15-ml) pieces. When the cream is ready, leave it in the bowl if using an immersion blender, or pour it into a countertop blender. With the blender running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition until incorporated before adding the next piece. The cream will be pale yellow and opaque and quite thick.
  • You can use the cream immediately, or pour it into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
  • To use after refrigeration, if necessary, gently heat in a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water until it has softened, whisking constantly.

Directions for Sweet Tart Dough

  • Bring eggs to room temperature by placing them in a bowl and running lukewarm water over them for about 5 minutes.
  • Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, and salt and mix on medium speed until smooth. Mix in 1 egg. Add the remaining egg and mix until smooth. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the flour all at once and mix on low speed just until incorporated.
  • On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into 4 equal balls and shape each ball into a disk 1/2 inch thick. Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  • To line a tart pan, place a dough disk on a lightly floured surface and roll out 1/8 inch thick, rolling from the center toward the edge in all directions. Lift and rotate the dough a quarter turn after every few strokes, dusting underneath as necessary to discourage sticking, and work quickly to prevent the dough from becoming warm.
  • Cut out a circle 2 inches larger than the pan. If the dough is still cool, carefully transfer the circle to the pan, easing it into the bottom and sides and then pressing gently into place. Do not stretch the dough, or the sides will shrink during baking. If the dough has become too soft to work with, put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up before transferring it to the pan. If the dough develops any tears, just patch with a little extra dough, pressing firmly to adhere. Trim the dough level with the top of the pan with a sharp knife. Place the pastry shell in the refrigerator or freezer until it is firm, about 15 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 325°F. Dock (make small holes in) the bottom of the tart shell with a fork or the tip of a knife, making tiny holes 2 inches apart. Place in the oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes for a partially baked large shell. The pastry should be lightly colored and look dry and opaque. Check the shell(s) during baking and rotate the pans if necessary for even color. If you want to brush the shell(s) with a glaze (see headnote), beat the egg with the salt in a small bowl. A minute or two before the desired color is reached, remove the shell(s) from the oven and lightly brush the bottom and sides with the glaze. Return the shell(s) to the oven and bake until the desired color is reached and the glaze is set.
  • For a fully baked shell, proceed as directed for a partially baked shell, but bake until golden brown, about 5 minutes longer.
  • Let cool completely on wire racks. The pastry shells will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
  • Any leftover dough can be used as a simple cookie dough. This dough keeps exceptionally well, so make some for use now and freeze the rest for future use (it will keep for up to 3 weeks), either in disks or in rolled-out rounds. If you roll out all the rounds to freeze for future use, place a sheet of parchment or waxed paper between them to prevent them from sticking to one another when you thaw them.
  • This recipe can be easily halved.
(Blueberry Hand Pies) Girls Just Wanna Have Pie

(Blueberry Hand Pies) Girls Just Wanna Have Pie

By | | Comments 2 comments

I am a pie kind of gal.  It is common knowledge, I will search for pie at every opportunity-family vacations, weekend jaunts, regattas, anytime, anywhere. Yes, some serious hunting for a slice of some “damn fine pie”.  A family trip years ago in a rental car did not deter me (our Suburban died in Salt Lake City on our way to Yellowstone for a bike trip) from stopping in Logan, Utah just to eat huckleberry pie…we had to drive through Utah to get to Yellowstone anyways, why not? Then there are my crewmates who have come to realize I don’t row to row, I row to eat pie.  Luckily they like pie too.  A 4-hour detour to Underhill Vermont for pie NBD, right?

Hand Me a Pie

I have been eyeing a recipe for blueberry hand pies from King Arthur Flour for awhile and just hadn’t gotten off my duff to try it.  A little nudge was all I needed, which happened when a post on Ipso Fatto (on my FAV blog list) for that very recipe arrived in my inbox. Coupled with blueberries that have been so good lately….made it a no-brainer to finally try it.   I’m glad I did, these hand pies are SUPER DELICIOUS!  The crust is flaky and buttery with a touch of tartness from the sour cream. The filling is simple and straight forward, blueberries with a bit of lemon like Fred and Ginger, the perfect duo.

Cold Cash, I mean Dough

The dough is fairly easy to work with so I would recommend this for pie crust novices.  Use a food processor to combine the dry ingredients and the butter.  Use quick pulses to break up the butter into the flour.  When the butter is about pea size stop and proceed by hand.  Out comes my wooden bowl, in goes the butter-flour mixture.  Add the sour cream to this and using your hand or a wooden spoon, stir to incorporate the sour cream.  You will end up with a shaggy mess that does not stick together (see above photo with blueberries).  Pour this mixture onto a flat surface and using a dough scraper or hand “smoosh” the dough together until it comes together.  Form into a disc and chill.

The Pi Golden Rule (I just made that up) if the dough gets soft or sticky and difficult to work with, throw it in the fridge to CHILL.  This will save you lots of tears and frustration.  Roll dough out between parchment and transfer it to a baking sheet so it can chill again before cutting.

The extra step for this dough is folding it like an envelope and rolling it out a couple of times.  Much like the puff pastry process, this creates layers of butter in the dough and makes the crust FLAKY.  SO YUMMY.  The recipe calls for an egg wash and coarse sugar sprinkled on the pies.  Me, meh, sugar on my pie crust is not my thing so I skipped it, up to you.  Dust the pies with powdered sugar to add some sweetness.  I adore lemon and blueberry together so I kicked it up a notch by adding a teaspoon of lemon zest to the filling.  La la la….love it!

So the name of the game is don’t overwork your dough, chill it if gets too soft, work quickly.  Ta-dah! Blueberry hand pies that will blow your family and friends away.

Print

Let Them Eat Pie

Ingredients

PASTRY

  • 2 cups 81/2 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup 16 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup cold sour cream

FILLING

  • 2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1 tablespoon Instant ClearJel*
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt a large pinch
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • *For frozen berries use 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1 1/2 tablespoons ClearJel.

TOPPING

  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 2 tablespoons white sparkling sugar for garnish

Instructions

  • The directions can be found here on the King Arthur Flour site.
  • Optional changes include:
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon lemon zest to the blueberry filling
  • Omit sparkling sugar and egg wash, dust with powdered sugar before serving.
  • I'm sure this would work with any seasonal fruit including strawberries and lime, or peaches with hint of almond extract...go for it!
Strawberry Fields Forever-Strawberry Pie Now

Strawberry Fields Forever-Strawberry Pie Now

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Tasked with dessert for Easter dinner at my brother’s this year, I pondered on what to bring.  Inspiration hit at my local farmer’s market when I spied the baskets of luscious, red, ripe strawberries.

It’s PIE TIME

I conjured up an image in my head, fresh sweet ripe strawberries piled in a crispy buttery crust and topped with a dollop of whipped cream.   This perfectly describes Rose Levy Beranbaum’s strawberry pie recipe. .  I own as many of her cookbooks as I do Dorie Greenspan’s and that’s saying a lot, both are baking gurus extraordinaire.  Rose’s recipes are organized, reliable, easy to follow, and best of all delicious. First, the ingredients are listed by volume measurements and weights (ounces and grams, how great is that?) in all her books and then formatted in tables.  In addition, each recipe has pointers for success, helpful hints, and a Harold McGee/ Alton Brown-like blurb on understanding the recipe.  My favorites include Rose’s Christmas Cookies, Cake Bible, and her more recent book  The Baking Bible.

Her Glazed Strawberry Pie recipe is from The Pie and Pastry Bible. In addition to being delish, it is super easy to make. The strawberries are the star of this pie so make sure your berries are ripe and sweet. Start by slicing the strawberries in half then make the glaze.  The glaze calls for sugar, cornstarch as the thickener, and cranberry-raspberry frozen concentrate.  Yep, frozen fruit juice concentrate.  Finally, fold the strawberries in the glaze and pour them into a pre-baked crust.

It’s all about the crust and filling, uh-huh

Use your favorite pie crust recipe (or mine), fully pre-bake it, and as it cools, make the filling.  Keep in mind the pie will need to chill in the fridge for a good couple of hours before serving.  Serve with whipped cream (totally worth the calorie splurge).

Take advantage of strawberry season and MAKE THIS PIE.  Your family will love you. Your friends will love you.  You could run for office (hint, hint) after making this pie.

Print Pin

Glazed Strawberry Pie from Pie and Pastry Bible

Ingredients

  • 1 Basic Flaky Pie Crust for a 9-inch pie
  • 1 tablespoon egg white lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup liquid cran/raspberry concentrate thawed, undiluted
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 4-5 cups strawberries rinsed, hulled, dried, and halved

Instructions

For pie dough:

  • Favorite pie crust recipe, need only a single crust.
  • Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll.
  • Roll dough 1/8 inch thick or less and about a 13-inch circle.
  • Transfer the dough to the pie pan. Fold under the excess and crimp the border using a fork or your fingers. Cover it loosely and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 24 hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 425°F at least 20 minutes before baking.
  • Line the pastry shell with foil and fill with pie weights, rice or dried beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully lift out the rice or beans with the foil. With a fork prick the bottom and sides and bake 5 to 10 minutes more or until the crust is a golden. Check after 3 minutes and prick any bubbles that may have formed.
  • Cool the crust on a rack for 3 minutes, so it is no longer piping hot, then brush the bottom and sides with the egg white.

Make the filling:

  • In a 2-quart saucepan, mix together the sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in the cran/raspberry concentrate and water until smooth. Over medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and cool completely.
  • Gently fold in the strawberries and spoon the filling into the baked pastry shell. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.
  • Serve with freshly whipped cream
  • Store:
  • Refrigerated up to 2 days.
  • The Pie and Pastry Bible
Mom’s Apple Pie

Mom’s Apple Pie

By | | Comments 0 Comment

I admit this is a misnomer.  It’s really not mom’s apple pie, at least not my mom.  My mom was not a baker.  In fact, I cannot remember a single baked good made by her…nada, zilch.  That’s not to say we didn’t have desserts or baked goods, they just happen to come from a bakery or restaurant or somewhere else, just not our kitchen.  There were plenty of bakeries in the city and in Chinatown.  My parent’s after-work excursions for dinner ingredients often included a sweet treat from one of the Chinatown bakeries.

We snacked on almond cookies from Eastern Bakery.  Swooned over the best damn sugar doughnuts in town (providing you ate them in the first 5 minutes after they were made) from Sun Wah Kue.  Hiked up the hill to the Fortune Cookie Factory.  For special occasions, we walked over to Victoria’s Bakery in North Beach, a stone’s throw away from Chinatown, and picked up a St. Honore.  Imagine a cake with layers of rum-laced pastry cream, covered with billows of whipped cream, and then wait for it…little cream puffs perched around the edge.  My mom’s absolute favorite cake.

Our favorite desserts came from a deli-restaurant we went to all the time, Ping Yuen Bakery Cafe.  Their Apple Pie was an American-Chinese mash-up.  Strictly sweet apples layered in a crust made with lard and painted with an egg wash that gave it a crackly pattern on top.  This was the apple pie of my childhood.

All About the Pie

Whoops, lost in nostalgia.  My first attempt at pie-making was an apple pie and it remains my favorite pie to make.  The crust is made with butter and a little bit of shortening, double F-bombs, flavor, and flaky (gotcha).  My current fav is Dorie Greenspan’s crust which you can find here.  For the filling, I have opted for mace instead of nutmeg, substituted brown sugar for some of the granulated sugar (caramel overtones), and added a squeeze of lemon (cuts the sweetness).  You could call this my lifelong project-perfect pie. When apple season rolls around I head to my favorite purveyor of apples Prevedelli Farm.  My favorites include Mutsu, Jonagolds, Pippens and Granny Smiths.  I  combine 2 or 3 different varieties of apples to hit sweet, tart, crisp, and soft all in one bite.  Experiment, that’s my mantra.

This is a good old-fashioned all-American apple pie, packed with apples, a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg surrounded by a flaky, buttery crust!  YUM.  Now go make one!

Print Pin

Mom’s Apple Pie

My go-to Apple Pie recipe, been using this for years. Tried and true.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Apple Pie, Cinnamon Bun
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

My current favorite pie crust recipe is from Dorie Greenspan. It makes a generous amount of dough so you will have excess that you can use for hand pies or small pie.

  • Pastry for 9 inch Two-Crust Pie
  • 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1/4 c dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour*
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Dash of salt
  • 6 cups thinly sliced pared tart apples about 6 medium
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon KA Boiled Cider (secret apple booster) optional

Instructions

  • Prepare pie crust. Place in fridge to chill while making filling.
  • Heat oven to 425 degrees.
  • Mix sugar, flour, mace, cinnamon and salt.
  • Stir in apples. Turn into pastry-lined pie plate; dot with butter.
  • Cover with top crust that has slits cut in it; seal and flute.
  • Make a 3 inch aluminum foil ring. Set aside to use if crust browns too much
  • Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Lower temperature to 375 degrees, bake until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, 40 to 50 minutes. Cover edge with ring if necessary.
All About that ‘Crust, No Filling (Pie Crust Recipe)

All About that ‘Crust, No Filling (Pie Crust Recipe)

By | | Comments 0 Comment

I absolutely love pie. Apple pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Peach Pie and BANANA CREAM PIE. Yum.  My favorite part of the pie is the crust, all that buttery goodness in tender flaky sheets.  My current favorite pie crust recipe is from Dorie Greenspan (ok, I might still be starstruck) it is really good.  A combination of butter for flavor and shortening for flakiness.  I tweaked it a bit, little less sugar  (1/8 cup) and a little less salt (1 tsp).  The recipe calls for up to one-half cup of water.  Start with 6 tablespoons.  I usually don’t use more than 8 tablespoons which is well short of one-half cup.

I like starting with a food processor and finishing by hand, the best of both worlds.  The food processor makes short work of cutting the fats into the dry ingredients while finishing the dough by hand prevents overworking the dough and ending up with a tough crust.  By all means, try each method to see what gives you the best crust possible without having you tear your hair out.  Use the food processor throughout or make it completely by hand.  Directions for both are in the recipe.

Just remember the golden rules, keep your ingredients COLD.  If your dough gets too soft at any point put it back in the fridge to chill. Don’t overwork your dough.  This link is to Food52’s  (a great website-check it out) article on what “overwork” means…it’s spot on and now I don’t have to explain it!

And…..EAT. PIE.

Print

Pie Crust

Course Pie, Pie crust, Pie dough
Cuisine American
Keyword buttery, Flaky, Pie crust, tender
Prep Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • For a 9 inch Double Crust
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/8-1/4 cup sugar
  • 1-1 ½ tsp salt
  • 2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter cut into tbsp size pieces
  • 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening cut into 4 pieces
  • About ½ cup ice water you should not need all of it

Instructions

  • Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse just to combine the ingredients. Drop in the butter and shortening and PULSE only until the butter and shortening are cut into the flour. Don’t overdo the mixing- what you’re aiming for is to have some pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley.*

Food processor:

  • Pulsing the machine on and off, gradually add about 6-8 tbsps of the water- add a little water and pulse once, add some more water, pulse again and keep going that way. Then use a few long pulses to get the water into the flour. If, after a dozen or so pulses, the dough doesn’t look evenly moistened or form soft curds, pulse in as much of the remaining water as necessary, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. Big pieces of butter are fine. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto a work surface.

Hand Method: (My preferred method it allows for more control)

  • Pour dough into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle water onto dough and mix with fork to bring dough together. The dough will look a little dry but when pinched should hold together. Try not to add too much water. Pour dough onto a lightly floured flat surface and knead lightly to bring dough together.
  • Divide the dough in half. Gather each half into a ball, flatten each ball into a 1"disk and wrap each half in plastic. Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour before rolling (if your ingredients were very cold and you worked quickly, though, you might be able to roll the dough immediately: the dough should be as cold as if it had just come out of the fridge).

To Roll Out Dough:

  • Have a 9 inch pie plate ready to go.
  • You can roll the dough out onto a floured surface or between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap. If you’re working on a counter, turn the dough over frequently and keep the counter floured. If you are rolling between paper, plastic or in a slipcover, make sure to turn the dough over often and to lift the paper, plastic, or cover frequently so that it doesn’t roll into the dough and form creases.

Little tricks of the trade

  • Roll from the center of the dough ball out (away from you. Rotate a quarter turn and repeat. by constantly moving you insure it isn't sticking. I cheat, I had hubby get me plastic strips approximately 16 inches long and 2 inches wide in varying thickness, 1/8", 3/8", 1/4", 1/2". The ends of my rolling pin sit on the plastic strips so I roll evenly and to the right thickness.
  • If you have time, slide the rolled out dough into the fridge for about 20 minutes to rest and firm up.
  • When baking lower the rack to the lowest position in the oven. This helps crisp up the bottom crust.

I hate a soggy bottom, don't you?
    Peche a Trois’ (Peach Hand Pies)

    Peche a Trois’ (Peach Hand Pies)

    By | | Comments 0 Comment
    I am going to miss Jamie’s and my weekly forays to the farmer’s market.  Not that the season is ending, but Jamie heads back to Houston this coming week so there goes my kitchen buddy for a while. We found some luscious peaches at the market (it’s been a good summer for peaches) and coincidentally Smitten Kitchen  posted a recipe for peach pie.  As Jamie perused the recipe she said “Is it hard to make pie crust?”  Well, what kind of mom would I be if I didn’t lay a little pie crust wisdom on my kid before she heads back to college? Kind of like a lovely parting gift.
    Though the Smitten Kitchen peach pie served as our inspiration, we decided to make peach hand pies instead.  Fingers over forks is our mantra so hand pies are the perfect ending for our final summer happy hour gathering.  Luckily, Smitten Kitchen also has a recipe for Bourbon Peach Hand Pies.
    DSC04343
    We turned to a favorite pie crust recipe from Julia and Jaques Cooking at Home.  It’s a great recipe to teach pie crust 101 making.  It has a high proportion of butter so it’s yummy and flaky and it is easy to work with.
    COLD, COLD, COLD.  Did I say to keep things cold? Butter and shortening.  I cut my butter and shortening or lard into pieces and put them back in the fridge while I measure out my flour.

    LESS IS MORE, DON’T OVER-PROCESS OR OVERWORK YOUR PIE CRUST

    Place your flour, sugar, and salt in the food processor and pulse a couple of times to mix.  Scatter your COLD butter and shortening or lard on top and PULSE mixture until the butter is approximately the size of peas.  At this point, you can pour your flour mixture into a bowl or you can continue using your processor.

    Add ICE-COLD Water

     to your flour mixture and pulse until it just begins to clump then STOP.  Do not overdo it, especially if using the food processor or you end up with tough pie crust, yuck.
    If you are not using the processor.  Sprinkle water on the flour mixture and stir with a fork until mixture begins to clump and come together.
    Reserve one tablespoon of water, if the dough still seems dry or does not hold together add the remaining one tablespoon water.
    At this point for either method, gather the dough into a disc on a sheet of plastic wrap.  Using the palm of your hand gently push a portion of the dough away from you.  This flattens out the butter lumps into sheaths and incorporates the butter and flour evenly. This creates a flaky, tender crust.  This is called fraisage ‘(yep, more French lingo) Repeat until you have pushed all of the dough.  Gather it into a ball, flatten into a disc and place it in the fridge to rest for approximately 30 minutes.

    How Easy is That?!

    As the dough chills start on your peaches.  We adapted Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for Bourbon Peach hand pies for the filling.  We added a bit of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Omit the cinnamon if you like.  Although delicious the hand pies have less filling and would have benefitted from a flavor boost.  I think I would add a bit of peach jam to the fresh peaches to try to intensify the flavor next time.  We had quite a bit of filling left and Jamie BRILLIANTLY (shameless parent plug) grabbed some ramekins and made peach crisps with the extra.  YUM!

    Back to the pie crust dough…

    On a lightly floured board or surface, pat your dough into a rectangle.  Divide in half and roll each piece into a 7×11 rectangle, approximately 1/8 inch thick.  You may need to trim the edges to make a pretty rectangle.  Divide the dough into 4 pieces 7x 2.75”.
    Hint– Roll it out on parchment paper on a flat cookie sheet, makes it easy to transfer to the fridge.  Once you have cut it into four pieces chill for 30 minutes.  While it is chilling, roll out 2nd disc of dough.
    Hint-Use a ruler and a pizza cutter to cut out your rectangles.
    Or if you like use a 4.5” round cookie cutter for half-moon-shaped pies.

    Pearls of Pie-Making Wisdom

    If at any time the dough gets too soft, throw it back in the fridge to chill.
    DSC04345
    Print

    Peche a Trois’ (Peach Hand Pies, Crisp, Unadulterated)

    Really, does this need an intro? Handpies of buttery, flakey crust filled with summer sweet peaches
    Course Dessert, Pie
    Cuisine American
    Keyword Peach handpies
    Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes

    Ingredients

    Peach Hand Pies

      Pie or Galette Crust from Julia Childs

      • 2 cups AP flour
      • 7 ounces cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 pieces
      • 1 tablespoon cold shortening or lard cut into 1/2 inch pieces
      • 1 tsp salt
      • 1/2 tsp sugar
      • 1/3 cup ice cold water reserve 1 tablespoon to finish dough

      Filling

      • 2 pounds fresh peaches
      • 1/4 cup flour
      • 1/4 cup granulated sugar + 1 T light brown sugar
      • Pinch of salt
      • 1 teaspoon bourbon
      • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      • 1/4 tsp cinnamon omit if you like
      • One egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water for egg wash or cream
      • Coarse sanding sugar for decoration

      Instructions

      See above for directions for making pie dough!

        Filling

        • Make the filling. Peel and dice peaches into 1/2 inch pieces. Add remaining ingredients, mix gently and set aside. If you wish, add 1-2 tablespoons peach preserves.
        • Remove chilled dough from fridge, let stand a couple of minutes until pliable. Spoon 1.5 tablespoons filling onto one half of each rectangle or circle of dough. Brush a little water on the edge and fold in half. Seal and crimp edge with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer to fridge and chill for 30 minutes. We used cream on our pies and sprinkled some sugar on top, you could use an egg wash if you like.
        • You can make these hand pies bigger or smaller as you want. The key is to keep the dough’s thickness at approximately 1/8 inch.
        • Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove pies from fridge and place on parchment lined baking sheet. Cut a small slit in each pie and brush with wash. Sprinkle with sugar and place in oven to bake.
        • Bake approximately 20 minutes until edges are golden brown. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.

        Peach Crisp

        • We had quite a bit of peach filling left so we made crisp using our apple crisp crumble topping recipe. So this is probably more crumble then you will need. Cut the recipe in half if you want. Fill lightly buttered ramekins with extra peach filling. Sprinkle crumble on top and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until crisp bubbles and top is golden brown.

        Crumble topping

          Mix topping ingredients, except for oats and nuts, with pastry blender or fingers until crumbly.

          • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
          • 1/2 cup brown sugar
          • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
          • 3/4 cup all purpose flour
          • 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
          • 1/4 teaspoon salt

          Add oatmeal and nuts and stir to combine

          • 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal (not instant or quick cook)
          • Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
          • Take excess filling and spoon into selected-size buttered ramekins. I like 3/4-1 cup ramekins. Top with crumble.

          Finishing the Crisp

            And to complete our trio....

            • Fresh ripe peaches, sliced, leave them whole, your choice. Take a bite, let the juice drip down your chin, hand or both. Yum!
            Crazy Stupid Lemon Love (Atlantic Beach Pie)

            Crazy Stupid Lemon Love (Atlantic Beach Pie)

            By | | Comments 1 comment

            STOP Whatever You Are Doing Right Now

            Go to your pantry, take out the box of Ritz Crackers, sugar, and that can of sweetened condensed milk from last year’s holiday dessert extravaganza.  Reach into your fruit bowl, grab a couple of lemons and from the fridge pull out eggs, butter and whipping cream.  That’s it, everything you need to make this absolutely scrumptious pie.  Six items to launch yourself into pie bliss.

            NPR-Nice Pie Review

            During my drive to work one day, a segment on NPR caught my attention when I heard the word PIE followed by “Oh My God, Oh My God, Oh My God”.  It was cookbook author Katie Workman describing her first bite of Bill Smith’s Atlantic Beach Pie.  I adore pie and here was a story about a lemon pie that originated in North Carolina and is a favorite of the folks in the South.  Is it a lemon meringue pie?  Kind of, except top the citrusy filling with billowy mounds of whipped cream.  No meringue here. The crust is made with saltines instead of graham crackers and is delightfully crispy, sweet and salty .

            I couldn’t wait to get home and make this pie.

            DSC04239Though the original recipe calls for saltines, I used Ritz crackers instead.  I love Ritz crackers and I always have a box around.  The crushed Ritz crackers (do not pulverize your crackers but should be fine crumbs) are mixed with sugar and softened butter.   The key is to mix the crumbs with the butter until they hold together similar to dough.  This is best accomplished by first pulsing your crackers in a food processor or smashing them with a rolling pin in a Ziploc. Then use your hands to combine the crumbs and butter.   Press crumbs into an 8-inch buttered pie plate.  Don’t worry, the mixture will still be loose when you are pressing it in the pie plate, especially on the rim, but it’s ok.  Bake until golden color about 15 minutes.

            Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy Filling

            Combine egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, and lemon or lime juice (or both).  I added two tablespoons heavy cream (not in the original recipe but an optional add). Whisk together, pour the filling into the pre-baked crust and bake for 15 minutes. EASY-PEASY  As the pie cools, whip one cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form and hold their shape.  I did sweeten my whip cream slightly (1-2 teaspoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla).  Chill the pie until set and then pile on the cream.  Garnish with a sprinkling of coarse salt and strands of lemon zest.  DIG IN!  Yum, yum, yum.

            Yep, CRAZY good, STUPID easy.

            Here is the link to the NPR segment on Atlantic Beach Pie in Found Recipes.

            Print

            Atlantic Beach Pie, Crazy Stupid Lemon Love

            This pie is so good it's iconic now, Atlantic Beach Pie, crumb crust, lemon filling topped with whipped cream, delicious.
            Course Dessert, Pie
            Cuisine American
            Keyword Atlantic Beach PIe, lemon, pie
            Prep Time 15 minutes
            Cook Time 35 minutes

            Ingredients

            For crust:

            • 1 1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers or Ritz crackers about 6 ounces
            • 1/3 to 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
            • 3 tablespoons sugar

            For the filling

            • 1 can 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
            • 4 egg yolks
            • 1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two
            • 2-4 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream
            • 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional I added zest to increase the lemon flavor

            Da Finish

            • 1 cup heavy cream
            • 1 tsp vanilla
            • 1-2 tsp granulated sugar
            • Coarse sea salt for garnish
            • lemon or lime zest for garnish

            Instructions

            • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
            • Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. I use my food processor or dump the crackers into a ziploc and crush with a rolling pin.
            • Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough.
            • Press into a buttered 8 inch pie pan.
            • Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust colors a little.
            • While the crust is cooling (it doesn't need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the condensed milk, then stir in the citrus juice. Make sure filling is well combined.
            • Pour into the shell and bake for 14-16 minutes until the filling has set.
            • Chill until set.
            • Pile whipped cream on top of pie. Sprinkle with salt or garnish with zest
            Baseball Been Berry Berry Good to Me

            Baseball Been Berry Berry Good to Me

            By | | Comments 0 Comment

            This past weekend I found some time to indulge in two of my favorite pastimes.  Baseball and baking.  The season has finally started and I can’t think of a better way to spend a drizzly gray weekend than watching the Giants play the Dodgers and baking something delicious.  I took the morning before the game to head over to the Farmer’s Market.

            I found beautiful ripe strawberries, plump juicy blueberries and ruby red raspberries.  Time for a berry galette (fancy name for a single crust rustic pie)  yum.  I also found leaf lard …so once again my curiosity got the better of me and I tried a new crust recipe using butter and lard.  I normally use a recipe by Julia Child, which calls for butter and a tiny bit of shortening which makes it tender and flaky. Her secret step is fraisage, smearing the dough to create elongated pieces of butter.  The recipe I used today was almost 50-50 butter and lard, it tasted okay but the crust did not hold up well while baking and actually seemed to melt and collapse. I might just send an email to Kenji Lopez-Alt of the Serious Eats & Food Lab with my pie crust woes.  But for this post I included Julia Child’s tart dough recipe instead, its a keeper.

            So while I watched the Giants beat the Dodgers (yes, yes, yes) the galette baked away.  The aroma of butter, sugar and berries filled the house.  I pulled the galette out of the oven, let it cool (I stood over it which was a mistake because everyone knows a watched pie never cools), cut a slice and plopped a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream next to it.  Giants win, Dodgers lose and I’m eating pie…..all is right with the world.  Hum, baby!

            DSC03659

            Print

            Triple Berry Galette

            Delicious berry galette that highlights the berries of the season
            Course Dessert
            Cuisine American
            Keyword blueberries, freeze-dried raspberries, galette, strawberries
            Prep Time 30 minutes
            Cook Time 40 minutes

            Ingredients

            Tart dough Julia Child Cooking at Home

            • 2 cups ap flour 10 ounces
            • 7 ounces unsalted butter chilled cut into 1/2 inch pieces
            • 1 T vegetable shortening or leaf lard chilled
            • 1/2 t salt
            • 1 tsp sugar
            • 1/3 cup ice-cold water plus a little more

            Filling

            • 3-4 cups mixed berries raspberries, blueberries and strawberries
            • 3 tablespoons sugar a little more if the berries are tart or if you like it sweeter
            • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
            • juice from half a lemon about 1 tablespoon
            • pinch of salt
            • 1 egg yolk
            • 1 teaspoon water
            • coarse sugar for sprinkling

            Instructions

            • Preheat oven to 425
            • Place flour, salt, sugar in bowl of food processor. Pulse a couple of times to blend. Scatter butter and shortening over flour mixture. Pulse 8-9 times, mixture should be crumbly with visible pieces of butter. Reserving 1 T of water. add ice water to flour-butter mixture through chute. Process until dough begins to come together (5 seconds). If it doesn't add reserved tablespoon of water. Process only until dough begins to clump or barely come together.
            • Remove dough from processor and place on a lightly floured surface or parchment paper. Using the heel of your hand push dough away as if smearing it (fraisage) this spreads the fat particles and incorporates it in the dough.
            • Gather dough into disc and chill for approximately 30 minutes to an hour.
            • Meanwhile prep filling. Pick through berries and remove stems. Slice larger strawberries in half or thirds. Combine berries in a large bowl and add sugar, lemon, cornstarch and pinch of salt. Set aside while you roll the dough out.
            • Roll dough on parchment paper into an 16 inch circle about 1/8" thick, you may have too much dough, trim excess. Doesn't have to be perfect, this is a rustic tart. Place fruit in the center, leaving 2-3 inch margin. Fold dough over fruit. Brush dough with milk or egg wash (1 egg yolk mixed with the teaspoon of water) and sprinkle with sugar.
            • Silde tart and parchment onto a baking sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Allow galette to cool for at lest 15 minutes before serving.
            • Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. EAT.